Page 77 – 82
Big fight scene. I always have trouble writing these. I tried to use the surroundings a lot so it wasn’t a fight that could be randomly placed anyway. One idea that Tyler and I had for Phul is that while he is a new recruit, one thing he does that gives him an advantage is he can take a hit really well. So while Ave is jumping around and mostly dodging folks he is taking people more head on.
Page 83 – 85
I really like Scritch’s beat up face.
I wanted to have Ave start to leave and then come back for Phul as a reverse of her delaying saving Rheebee. This time she starts by being selfish but then listens to her own moral instincts. Then as they leave she changes Rheebee’s moto.
Page 86 – 87
I really like the faces gave Phul when he realizes how much blood there is.
Much like Ave is starting to leave her upbringing behind, Phul is learning too. So he needed to be the one to suggest they lie to his superior officer.
page 88 – 89
In case anyone was wondering where the Stone King has been all through the last half of the story, he’s literally getting pulled away. I like the groove Tyler put in the landscape to show that. They have a general plan for something like this, but this hasn’t happened in recent memory and the plan isn’t quite working. That give Ave and Phul their opening.
Page 90 – 95
These pages are important because they have to establish what the solution is. Basically Stone King “blood” and human blood mixing make the gems. So the Stone King doesn’t want the gem back. This is more a throne in the lion’s paw situation. Their prayer/warning about blood is a warning about this. But this hasn’t happened in so long that the warning has evolved into a blood taboo over time. So bringing up at the beginning was kinda to put the idea of blood on stone being bad in people’s minds. Then this solution isn’t coming out of no where.
Page 96 – 99
The gems have been growing all night so they are in pretty deep and there are a lot of them.
page 100 – 104
I like quite moments in comics. Ave and Phul appreciating the view would be something neither of them have had time to do during the rest of the story. It all takes place in roughly a day.
It also gives Ave a moment to let it sink in that she saved the city but can’t return to it. As they say good bye to each other I wanted them to bring up things they said to each other through out the day. Showing that they understood each other. When Ave tells Phul he can do a better job saving everyone, I asked for a sad smile. That’s an expression which is hard to nail. Tyler knocked it out of the park.
I really wanted to end on that last view of Ave riding Hey You away from the city, having sorta got what she wanted.