Green pills in a cologne bottle, skulls in a crate, Netekim… I’m trying this new 6 panel layout for this page and I gotta tell ya, I really like it. I hated the idea at first, but, I needed to do something different. Those thick black frames began looking like hipster glasses. 132 pages later, the frames got a trim. Change is never easy, even for something like this.
Originally, I had done the sketches with the classic 9 panel layout the night before. I went to sleep, just thinking about the panel layout for some reason. That’s the kind of nightmare that I welcome. I rather have dreams about panel layouts, than “your inventory is full” error messages; ’cause I got those too.
Anyway, I thought about it long and hard and… I decided that having a 9 panel layout draws out the comic too much because most of the type of panels that I do. This isn’t about the number of panels, as much as the content of the panels. My mission was to cut the panels – like cutting film – and still tell the same story within the page. In fact, a better story. After looking at the rough sketch, I knew exactly what 3 panels I needed to cut. That part took about 3 seconds. That was the revolutionary point. I will still do rough sketches with more panels than I need. Once it’s time to do the actual layout, I will cut some panels out to fine tune the page. This time around, I had to edit the dialogue some to fit the new layout. It might be a bit corky. I may not be working out as well as I think it is. In the future, I’ll try to come up with a little finer method for the dialogue.
On another note, can you guess who Netekim really is? He is an historic figure. His name is the hint.
I really like the new frame borders, they greatly improve the appeal of the story. The progression of your art, as well as the storyline, so far, are very impressive.
Thanks! I’m playing a little bit more with it for this week’s comic. But, I’m liking the thin frame lines so far.