JL8 #12 - Creator Commentary

JL8 #12 by Yale Stewart

Originally published on February 1st, 2012

Terribly sorry for missing last week's installment (and this week, sort of, since it's Friday). I've been utterly consumed with a commission I've been working on and time just completely got away from me. I really need to just do a bunch of these in a single sitting and schedule them to be posted so I don't keep missing them. Anyway, let's get into it.

I'm still pretty happy with the comedic payoff of this strip. I like how it's divided among all the characters in the panel: Bruce pulls a swerve and acts in a way we don't expect, Hal looks dumbfounded, Clark gets to say "told you so" and Barry can't believe his eyes. Even J'onn gets to breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone gets to shine a bit.

I do really like how subtle Hal's expression is. I'm kind of surprised it's as restrained as it is, but maybe I referenced myself and realized it didn't need to be that extreme. Either way, I think it does a great job of showing how he doesn't quite understand what's happening while still being pretty funny, in my opinion. 

Clark's pose in the final panel is also pretty impressive. And when I say impressive, I mean I'm surprised I had the wherewithal to draw something that interesting, especially this early in the strip, and at that age in my life. It easily could've just been a smirk, but having him lean in on Barry while ALSO draping his arm over the back of the seat is a nice touch that I'm proud of.

The backgrounds are VERY interesting. I'd be curious to know if I felt I was under deadline pressure or what, but I'm shocked that that first panel is just blank. I think it works, but one of the hallmarks of young cartoonists is putting TOO much detail into things (sort of) because they're afraid of looking lazy or whatever. Even today, I'd probably think twice about leaving that panel wide open like that, but honestly, I think it works fine.

The coloring is very punchy, and I kind of miss this approach. For starters, I colored in all the speech balloons, except for Bruce's exclaiming "HAL!". I'm surprised I left that white, as opposed to coloring it orange or red, some sort of angry color. Also panel four, the entire background is just a knockback of pink: table, crayons, all of it. And not only is it all pink, it's just one slab of the same shade. If I did that today, I'd maybe be tempted to go with different shades for the different elements, but truthfully, again, I think this works fine. I need to keep these things in mind in my modern work. It's funny how you can just forget certain techniques over time, even when they're good ones! But yeah, the coloring is interesting, and I'm enjoying revisiting it.

So, some good character work, nice poses, interesting color. I think that about sums it up for this one.

Oh, and this is the first time we ever see Bruce smile.

'Til next time!

-Yale