This is it, the Grand Finale, part 4 of 4. I hope the comic was just as fun to follow as it was for me to create. So far, if you have been visiting my site, you’ve already seen Prt1, Prt2, and Prt3 of The Making of an Eben 07 Comic. So you already know how all this works. Since I already had the character conceptualized, all I had to worry about was the page layout, at least to begin with. Of course, as always I start off with my thumbnail sketches.
After making all four pages, I definitely had a system. With my road map layed out ahead of me, I was ready to enlarge my thumbnail. The little things that antagonized me in earlier iterations like to what degree I needed to enlarge my thumbnails by, I had down to the exact percent. It was a great feeling to have so many process details figured out. By in large, the guessing games were over.
I could hardly remember the arduous days of working on page 1 when I knew only vaguely what I needed to do to craft a full fledged comic. By page 4, I felt I had it down to a science even though I have no doubt D. Bethel (The regular illustrator of Eben 07) could still give me a tip or two.
On the page above, I had no rough draft. I tried to develop it as far as I could while still a thumbnail and for this reason I felt perfectly comfortable proceeding directly to the final draft.
The most difficult panel to render was the shot where the Mountain Troll’s head splits violently in two. Being the sick and twisted individual I am, it was an image from the script that I was really looking forward to doing. Still, there was some uncertainty in the execution. I concluded in the end that I would just refer back to my thumbnail and stick as closely as possible to it while only adding more nuanced detail.
The bloody end of the Mountain Troll was the second to last image I drew. The very last image I drew was Eben posing with the girl hanging off his leg. I have to admit I was a little intimidated by this concluding pose. This was going to be the last picture within the dream state and the stakes were high. I wanted to go out with a bang and I knew a lot was riding on the panel to satisfy the viewer and frankly myself.
I took my time with the panel, almost too much. Truth be told, I just stared at it a lot plotting my next move with incredible deliberation, but in the end I was pleased with the results.
When I peeled myself from the page in fear of overdoing it, which happens to me from time to time, I scanned the page in and decided it would be appropriate for the sake of transitional impact to color the last panel since O’ Seven was finally waking up.
I studied some of D.Bethel’s work and tried to stay true to his style of coloring. There was certainly room enough to leave my own thumbprint. It was a refreshing exercise in contrast to all the pencil work I had been doing lately.
I really appreciated the level of freedom both Eben and D. Bethel gave me while working with their character (Note the herasay of showing Eben’s pupils). Now, I absolutely insist that you journey on to Eben07.com to witness my concluding guest comic. Give them boys over there much love. They write and illustrate a kick ass webcomic that it was a pleasure to be apart of.
very satisfying ^_^