A delicate situation delicately handled, 3MM-style! Because we’re all about the sensitivity.
Besides, given the chronological constraints, it was time for Countdown to go on the offensive. Fortunately, he’s got spirited backup to make sure his opponent is in deep sheet.
More below!
Bobservations
Staging A Battle
First off, I have to say I’m pretty pleased with the new muzzle flashes on the last couple of pages. I’ve been wanting to do some 4K flashes for a while now, but decent blank ammo has been really hard to find. You can find stage ammo, but that’s generally pretty pathetic, since the manufacturers have to assume that people are going to do stupid things with it. Regrettably, Jon-Eric Hexum and Brandon Lee would probably agree with them. I used to have a reloading specialist that would make custom blanks for me, but he’s apparently dropped off the face of the earth.
So these flashes are actually something I’m calling “22 Supers” – which are nothing more than short nail-gun blanks in a .22 revolver, with the remainder of the cylinder space filled with slower-burning shotgun powder and capped with a bit of wadding. When fired, the majority of the powder is burned in the air, creating a stunning basketball-sized muzzle flash and an earsplitting BOOM that rattles windows. All from a Dan Wesson .22 revolver. Here’s an image. You can see the size of the blast compared to the end of the barrel to the right, there.
The problem, of course, is that while they may be blanks they are scary loud, even though I am using them in an enclosed staging area. Not popular with wives or pets, so I only shot enough to cover our needs for these pages. And even that was tough; muzzle flashes happen so fast that even with a slow shutter the camera only catches about one out of three, and half of those are only partials. That’s why movies — even if they are doing practical gunfire using blank ammo — generally have to “sweeten” the footage in post by adding flashes. I’ll get more, but I’ll have to make a night run to the Mojave to do it.
I also have to say I really like what Max was able to do with the action on this page. We used gChat as we usually do, but this page took longer than most, since we were trying to work out the posing for a fight sequence. Naturally Max could have done it anyway, but anything I can do to expedite things. He was directing me into the moves and then we’d try to get the angle right, which got extra complicated when we realized that his monitor showed a mirror image of what I saw on my own monitor. So I’d have to get the fight pose and then try to figure out how to do the same thing but with the other hand, and facing the opposite direction. And then hold it while he sketched. It got complicated, but it was damned amusing at the time. Here’s a screen grab of what was on my monitor as we tried to work out Panel 3.
Yeah. Probably best I stick to effects. I think any ambitions I may have had as a camwhore are going to be necessarily limited. It was fun though!
— Bob out
I was going to say “Oh sheet!”, but it seems you’ve already got that pun covered.
Look at Sophie doing the whole “Xena” thing……………………..
You really know how to pick them, don’t you Max
There’s some interesting things happening on this page. I like the teeth. That’s a nice detail right there. But more importantly, we have comfermation that Sophie can interact with the material plane. Great work guys!
Bob, have you thought about using a remote flash slave to trigger the camera when the gun is discharged? You can pick up a cheap one for less then $20 and I’m sure there’s a way you can jury-rig it to trip the shutter. You might be able to increase the shutter speed that way and cut down on the blur.
Thanks! And intriguing idea! I’m shooting 4K video, though.
Just realized – what happened to Max’s timer on his chest? It was on when he arrived, then he took a bullet to the visor, and it’s been off ever since.
This is not final art. The timer, cracked faceplate and other details are still to come, hopefully later tonight.Ah. I thought maybe it was plot-relevant instead. Not gonna complain about the art HERE, of all places!
THIS… IS… ROCHESTER!!! (KICK)
All my internets to you, sir!
Hey Bob, you might want to check the settings for the gChat. The video software we use for our conferences at work has a flip the screen option so you see what the other person does, which does help with presentations.
Thanks, PS! We’re still figuring it out on the fly.
“When Letoa Met Sophie” should prove to be pretty interesting, just going by Sophie’s moves as a recent spirit. 😀
Sophie DOES seem very… active for a ghost.
I haven’t gotten the impression that anyone else’s ‘spirits’ are pantsing people or stopping time for them. If, on the other hand, everyone’s spirits can interact, it may get REALLY exciting
But only when she’s with Max while he’s doing his teleporty goodness, so it appears to be related to that.
My thoughts, too. Max is giving her power, and vice versa. Also, the teleportation device may be weakening reality, so that’s a thing.
Heh 🙂 great idea! That would explain a thing or two. (IMHO Sophie is getting quite a bit physical here…)
in relooking at the picture Sophie didn’t pants the mook. As Bob noted in his comment she speaks softly can carries a big sheet. Kinda appropriately considering she is a ghost.
Another episode that can also be read vertically, well done!
That is an awesome notice. It only changes the pacing slighty and still flows smoothly. I think I almost like the vertical read better, the action is less back and forth but perhaps sophie’s role is less impactfull, we cut to the outside again as the perp takes a surprise header out the window. Sadly I think the punnishing deed is about to happen. The guy is either going to plop on the burning car, or somehow get hung up and roast like a pig on a spit over the flames. That poor kid is going to need some A-Level counseling either way.
How much counseling he needs may well depend on how he perceived Sophie.
I’m pretty sure she may have a impact on his perception of the entire episode.
In the first panel the fist-punch gets a large “whack” while the gunshot gets nothing? I’m pretty sure gunshots are usually a lot louder than fist-punches. (But I’m not at all sure that this comment will be seen by the authors. The mis-match still needed to be pointed out.)