The Capital of Helsinki

Author notes

25. A Pitch Dark Aria

Air Raid Robertson

on Oct. 2, 2009

I don't think this will go down as my favorite strip, but I think I've done worse.

I've been wanting to do a riff on Milton's Paradise Lost for quite some time now. However, I couldn't really think up a workable gag for it. Then, a day or two ago I was listening to free jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman. While doing so I thought about how controversial his harmolodic theory was. It seemed to fit what I had in mind.

I tried to make it so that one wouldn't have to know much about music in order to "get" the strip. Still, I think it's improved when one is aware that Lucifer is making a good point in panel four. He's not being polite about it, but he is right.

I wanted the choir to stand apart from Lucifer and God. So, not only do they lack cross-hatching, but they're also lit from an opposite angle. I tried to make God in the same model as I depicted him in prior Capital of Helsinki strips. Lucifer is loosely based on Gustave Dore's depiction of him in his illustrations for Paradise Lost.