You'll notice that these images are pretty small, this is because I figured it might not be the best idea to upload hi-res images of Jonah to the web just yet. That said, I think it's safe to post a few images in "you-can-barely-see-em-o'-vision".
Page 1, as you can see closely resembles the original idea I had for the layout, I wanted something reminiscent of those great Kirby space-vistas,, where space is a hundred different subtle colors, and the title card and text pretty much jump off the page and scream at you. however...
... this original layout for page 2 just didn't work. I felt it was somewhat indulgent to have another large, almost full page panel so soon after the first page, which was also a large full page panel. It really didn't help get the story moving at all. In fact, the only reason I felt drawn to this (nyuk! nyuk!) was because I was eager to draw all kinds of 50's style dials, levers, knobs and whatch-ma-bobbits for the interior of the crashing space ship. I also didn't really like the panel break being diagonal, it's dynamic sure, but JJ isn't really meant to be a dynamic book in that sense.
So I went for this. It's pretty different. They layout is a lot simpler and this "four rectangles a page" layout is one I'm likely to stick to for most of the book with only the occasional deviation. The reason being that I'd like Jonah to be easily adaptable to portable media devices like the Kindle, iPod, Smartphones and PSP, which all have widescreen aspect ratios. I'm also targeting delivery via outlets like the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, so I try to make sure the comic looks good and is legible on an HD screen.
Here's a detail of my favorite panel from page 2.Anyway, I'm off to start work on page 3, wish me luck!
6 comments:
Looking good Shobo. I think it was a great choice to break down the layout of page 2 and the four panel break up has some interesting narrative potential. I do think that the first panel on page 2 needs to be a frontal composition of the characters or at least have Funlola turn her head toward Jonah because that's the first time we ever see them in a panel and it would be good to see them both clearly and with some expressions that introduce the viewer to the dynamic/relationship Jonah has with Funlola. Also did you change the color of Funlola's suit because of the interior of the ship? I liked the old color and methinks you should switch them... phew!
Anyway like I said looking sharp bra!
Oh and I really like the shape of the phylacteries... text bubbles in case you were wondering.
Again, I looove what you are doing with the colors and textures, the whole aesthetic you've got going on in this is great. Also I agree with Shof about the phylacteries, they go well with the art.
So this whole thing will be in color then? Awesome. How many pages are you planning on?
Shof,
Thanks. I'd considered a frontal view for the first panel in which we see Jonah and Funlola, but ultimately I decided it didn't bother me that we didn't get a good clear look at them in the first panel that introduced them. There's a possibility this will change as I expect to come back and possibly re-draw some stuff down the line.
As far as Funlola's suit's colors go, I've been toying with the idea of having the colors change randomly every couple of pages and not explicitly explaining the reason why in the script. This could change in the end though.
Michelle,
Ta for the kind words, the phylacteries really only worked that way, everything else looked a bit too polished on top of the texture and grit of the page :)
It is in fact going to be entirely in color, though there might be some monochromatic flashback sequences. I'm targeting 60-70 pages. Long way to go!
This is looking really cool. Just to echo Michelle's and Shofela's comments about the phylacteries and the texture on the pages. Really excellent stuff.
I also think you definitely evoked the look of Kirby space without just aping him.
Looking forward to seeing this finished. The premise is something that definitely appeals to me as well.
As for the introduction of Jonah and Funlola, I actually dig that we only see their faces partially, makes me feel like they are too concerned with keeping the ship steady etc. to pay attention to us as we look on. Something like that anyway.
beautiful shobo!
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