Eh, true to type, Vane is willing to postpone her revenge rampage if she has a chance to watch a demo of this mysterious dowser. (*reading previous chapter again* or was she after it the whole time, and Hunter is a very annoying interference? She seemed surprised to meet him in the previous chapter)
But watch out, Pr Crawford. If you keep piling praise on Hunter (er, I mean, Mr Black), Vane may decide it’s time for a personal appearance. Especially since her version of Hunter’s heroic deeds may slightly differ from the official one. She was there, too, so she know how it was both their antics which put the apparatus in jeopardy in the first place …
I wonder if he is aware of her there as he very often seems to be. I wouldn’t count on her hiding in the crowd for very long.Certainly she is curious however. And before I get onto something else, love the scenes!
I just wanted to issue a blanket apology for not being more active in my comments lately; I used to make more of an effort to respond to everything but things have been kind of consistently cray for awhile. Please know that I still read and appreciate everything that gets said even when I’m absent in replying.
Crawford’s body shape with the tiny waist and tapering torso seems more stylized than any other character I can recall. Or at least, not in a way I’ve ever seen a male drawn
(I am nowhere near a professional or experienced artist so take these observations with a grain of salt)
(and I’ve always enjoyed how unique from each other your characters look. I hate comic art where if you swap out the hair and the colors it’s all the same face)
Yep, good eye. Let’s mention Chekov’s gun here. If the artist goes to the pain of showing a specific detail, it’s very likely to be relevant later on. Or the artist is just messing with us 🙂
Professor Crawford looks like Mephistopheles, to me. Accustomed to power and attention. And that big necktie knot makes him look even more thin and upright, just as Hunter’s little bowtie makes him look even more robust.
And Hunter’s waistcoat… This is the first time we’ve really seen more than a hint of it. Best rig yet, for sure.
I had to actually return to earlier chapters to see if we’ve ever seen Hunter referred to as Mr. Black… not that I could find. The poster in the plague camp was of “Hunter” – though that didn’t specifically say it was his name. I wonder if Vane even heard the professor, or is she just mesmerized by the device, as she was on the train (allowing JHH to turn the tables on her).
Knowing what was on the bottom of the exhibition poster, I think of the smolder in Vane’s eyes as like something else…
I wanted to mention how beautifully I think you handle the gloves, and the pressure of fingers into soft material, like Crawford’s hand on JHH’s shoulder in the previous page. Hands are tough – gloves can be tough in a different way – either way you have to get the bones and alignment just right, or they look wrong. We pay so much attention to faces and hands, since they express so much; it makes us all experts at looking and judging, but few of us can be good at drawing them.
Finally, I appreciate the care you took with the complex backgrounds in these pages – lots of believable detail, and yet lined up with the foreground in ways that complement when there could easily have been conflict. You handle value gradation so that the eye goes where you want it – that and your great cropping decisions, like the close-ups in movies…
I am really looking forward to Hunter’s public words in the next few pages. And the reaction/actions of Vane (and of anyone else we haven’t spotted yet in this crowd – like Ms Dauterive, the doctor who is still on the loose, or that posse).
Thanks, as always, for so much to think about and such a beautiful page. I love the light in the first two cells…
Now I wonder if there’s any particular significance to the use of Black as his last name-will that irritate Vane even more? Surely she is provoked to find out what’s happening next.
Hmm, I hear John Henry with more of a Southern accent. Oh dear, I think we are going to have a lot of folks guessing who sound like what now. More fodder for your full length animated motion picture. Well, one can always hope.
You know I want to jump in feet first on these kinds of discussions because they’re super fun for me but since I make the comic I’m afraid folks will take what I say as somehow canonical, and I don’t really want that; I think it’s preferable people have their own favorite JHHs (or whoever) cast in their head. It’s more your own, then — kind of a dialog between our respective imaginations vs. an edict from me you have to passively accept. Another strength of the medium as far as I’m concerned. 😀
Interesting that he’s using the last name “Black”, which is also Vane’s last name. Is “John Henry Hunter” perhaps his stage name, while Hank Barlowe Black is his real name?
Eh, true to type, Vane is willing to postpone her revenge rampage if she has a chance to watch a demo of this mysterious dowser.
(*reading previous chapter again* or was she after it the whole time, and Hunter is a very annoying interference? She seemed surprised to meet him in the previous chapter)
But watch out, Pr Crawford. If you keep piling praise on Hunter (er, I mean, Mr Black), Vane may decide it’s time for a personal appearance.
Especially since her version of Hunter’s heroic deeds may slightly differ from the official one. She was there, too, so she know how it was both their antics which put the apparatus in jeopardy in the first place …
I wonder if he is aware of her there as he very often seems to be. I wouldn’t count on her hiding in the crowd for very long.Certainly she is curious however.
And before I get onto something else, love the scenes!
Thanks for the comments, guys!
I just wanted to issue a blanket apology for not being more active in my comments lately; I used to make more of an effort to respond to everything but things have been kind of consistently cray for awhile. Please know that I still read and appreciate everything that gets said even when I’m absent in replying.
You give us a lot already–I think we can consider your commenting on our comments to be icing on a very full layer cake, I know I do. 😀
Are Professor Crawford’s hands really blue?
Emily, Crawford is wearing gloves just like JHH.
Crawford’s body shape with the tiny waist and tapering torso seems more stylized than any other character I can recall. Or at least, not in a way I’ve ever seen a male drawn
(I am nowhere near a professional or experienced artist so take these observations with a grain of salt)
(and I’ve always enjoyed how unique from each other your characters look. I hate comic art where if you swap out the hair and the colors it’s all the same face)
What’s with the left handed hand shake? Or is that a custom to this place,or world?
Another observation if I may. Does Prof. Crawford’s gold ring have a pentagram on it? Uh-oh.
Good eye, and your two observations are possibly related.
Yep, good eye.
Let’s mention Chekov’s gun here. If the artist goes to the pain of showing a specific detail, it’s very likely to be relevant later on.
Or the artist is just messing with us 🙂
Professor Crawford looks like Mephistopheles, to me. Accustomed to power and attention. And that big necktie knot makes him look even more thin and upright, just as Hunter’s little bowtie makes him look even more robust.
And Hunter’s waistcoat… This is the first time we’ve really seen more than a hint of it. Best rig yet, for sure.
I had to actually return to earlier chapters to see if we’ve ever seen Hunter referred to as Mr. Black… not that I could find. The poster in the plague camp was of “Hunter” – though that didn’t specifically say it was his name. I wonder if Vane even heard the professor, or is she just mesmerized by the device, as she was on the train (allowing JHH to turn the tables on her).
Knowing what was on the bottom of the exhibition poster, I think of the smolder in Vane’s eyes as like something else…
I wanted to mention how beautifully I think you handle the gloves, and the pressure of fingers into soft material, like Crawford’s hand on JHH’s shoulder in the previous page. Hands are tough – gloves can be tough in a different way – either way you have to get the bones and alignment just right, or they look wrong. We pay so much attention to faces and hands, since they express so much; it makes us all experts at looking and judging, but few of us can be good at drawing them.
Finally, I appreciate the care you took with the complex backgrounds in these pages – lots of believable detail, and yet lined up with the foreground in ways that complement when there could easily have been conflict. You handle value gradation so that the eye goes where you want it – that and your great cropping decisions, like the close-ups in movies…
I am really looking forward to Hunter’s public words in the next few pages. And the reaction/actions of Vane (and of anyone else we haven’t spotted yet in this crowd – like Ms Dauterive, the doctor who is still on the loose, or that posse).
Thanks, as always, for so much to think about and such a beautiful page. I love the light in the first two cells…
I’ve had a rough week in terms of art confidence so an extra thanks for your analysis this week!
Now I wonder if there’s any particular significance to the use of Black as his last name-will that irritate Vane even more? Surely she is provoked to find out what’s happening next.
When I read NTO, in my head Hunter sounds like Powers Boothe. Not sure why.
Not a bad VA pick! Especially as Cy Tolliver.
Hmm, I hear John Henry with more of a Southern accent. Oh dear, I think we are going to have a lot of folks guessing who sound like what now. More fodder for your full length animated motion picture. Well, one can always hope.
You know I want to jump in feet first on these kinds of discussions because they’re super fun for me but since I make the comic I’m afraid folks will take what I say as somehow canonical, and I don’t really want that; I think it’s preferable people have their own favorite JHHs (or whoever) cast in their head. It’s more your own, then — kind of a dialog between our respective imaginations vs. an edict from me you have to passively accept. Another strength of the medium as far as I’m concerned. 😀
Touche’ Canonical? Oh your good. I like that.
Miss Black looks annoyed and confused, simultaneously.
Also, Hunter has one hell of a long-coat.
Miss Black is doing the Eastwood squint. Yup, she annoyed.
*Hears the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in the background*
Crawford kind of reminds me of Jefferson Davis to look at. He has the same gaunt look, and dat chin beard doe.
Interesting that he’s using the last name “Black”, which is also Vane’s last name. Is “John Henry Hunter” perhaps his stage name, while Hank Barlowe Black is his real name?