Author notes

Issue 13-07

fukujinzuke

on March 3, 2010

I was trying to convey a slight burst of speed for SHELL on that last shot… I think it did okay doing that… but I'm not sure because dat ass keeps distracting me.

Panel planning lesson from me (lucky you…):
From page 4 through this one (scene in Hanoi, Vietnam), I've kept it consistent that SHELL is on the right side of panels while whomever he's opposed to (HU HQ agent or Venom Mist) remains on the left. Even when I "switch cameras" to show the event/scene from different angles, this positioning stays true. This is a highly taken-for-granted element in comic/tv/movie story telling. Keeping the consistency of the "positioning" of your subjects allows for smooth continuity of a single event.

So in keeping true to the positioning, when you have SHELL looking toward the left hand side of the page while Venom Mist is looking to the right, there's a better feeling of tension there, even if they're not in the same panel. Take the build up to panel 4, for example. From panels 1-3, SHELL is on the right side of the panels (relative to Venom Mist's position), facing right, producing minimal tension/conflict (which matches with the fact that he's kinda fleeing). Now come panel 4, he turns, and even without the text, you know that he senses something isn't quite right.