Chapter Five pencills continue! And thoughts on pacing and interpretation.

This week I have pencils and — if you look carefully — spoilers for you, so consider yourself warned. Though every time I write out a "spoiler warning" I feel like a doofus, because 1) no one around here has ever complained about being spoiled and 2) I suspect you are like me and you just don't care.

I lie, though. Recently Instagram has been serving me ads for the movie THE SUBSTANCE, which looks great. It's not my usual cup of tea, but looks great nonetheless. I considered watching a trailer, then decided not to, wanting instead to go in blind. So maybe I care more about spoilers than I thought.

As a spoiler buffer, here are a few quick recommendations:

• BBC Radio 3's THIS CLASSICAL LIFE - "the music show for people who like classical and other stuff too. Music, eclectic playlists and chat, with a new guest every week." I like hearing classical performers talk about music, even/especially if they're not talking about classical. And, at the risk of cheapening this recommendation, I also enjoy the host, Jess Gillam's, Lancastrian accent. See also: CBC Radio's THIS IS MY MUSIC.

• Zaho de Sagazan's LA SYMPHONIES DES ÉCLAIRS (YouTube, Spotify) - the closing ceremony for the summer's Olympic games began with a performance from this artist, singing Sous le Ciel de Paris. I thought she sounded great, so I looked her up (difficult, since she's not a big name and internet search is garbage now). As far as I can tell, she has only the one album out right now, and it's very different from the chanteuse standard that sent me her way — more synths! — but I've had it on loop ever since. 🤷 I'm learning a lot of French. See also: Canadian gem Jill Barber's new album of French standards, ENCORE! (Bandcamp, Spotify — oooh you can get it on chartreuse vinyl).

• Molly Muldoon's BOOK MAIL - have I recommended Molly's newsletter before? She and I have different tastes, but I like how her opinions are correct, so here we are.

- - - - - - -

Hey, hey, it's drawings-day.

I wanted the pirates to remind everyone (all the refugees inside the town walls, as well as the readers) that the Flagbearer / Quartermaster is still suffering from his wound. Seemed like a good opportunity to reinforce the pirates' vaguely supernatural qualities, to have a swarm of ravens drop little missives at people's feet. I like it because it's not swirly-spells and sparkles magic, it's tangible and, ideally, unsettling.

This panel (above) was one of those where, when I got to the end, I put down the pencil and let out a great big sigh. It's got a crowd, it's difficult to keep all their sizes right in perspective and with the stairs, there are characters interlocked with each other (it's easy to draw one character the right size, but I find when there are multiples and they're in contact with each other, it gets much harder), and there's architecture. Plus, this was the third panel on the page with a crowd in it.

That's a tricky hand angle (above), and I feel like I nailed it, no ref, on the first try. Fist pump.

Last night I was preparing for today's pages and realized, "ahhh, I've got too many important beats smushed into too few pages." There's supposed to be a funny beat immediately followed by some serious business. When I thumbnailed it out, I chose to put this all into the space of two pages.

Well. Looking at that again, I thought, "that seems insane." So I took a few hours and re-did the sequence, adding two pages. Was this the right idea? It is so, so hard to tell.

I am loathe to add pages. Mostly, because it's more work. More work takes more time. It makes the book thicker, too, which increases printing costs and makes for a heavier object that's harder to ship and travel with. I also get nervous about adding panels that feel like they aren't working hard (which is what I would be doing here), panels which don't tell the reader more than one thing at a time. And I am deeply conscious of wanting to respect the reader's attention (while simultaneously having no idea whether this is what I am doing).

On the other hand, if these beats don't land well, what is even the point of all the surrounding pages? I've already spent all this time creating meaning and significance — what good is any of it if I wrap up with two rushed pages that feel like the equivalent of, "and anyway, that happened." No, I've got to conclude ideas in a satisfying way.

Plus, I had recently been chatting with Scott Chantler (who is on Patreon!) about the importance of slowing down in the story-telling process. He says he keeps a reminder next to his desk along those lines, which struck me as a good idea. I thought this would be a good chance to do right by him and by this idea.

I don't know what to do about the thickness of the book — that's just a cost I'll have to bear — but I do take comfort in reflecting that comics are an easily-digestible medium. Two additional pages will not greatly tax the reader, especially if they're straightforward pages that do not require much in the way of "deciphering." I am still paranoid about the reader thinking, "ughhh this just keeps going," though in my own reading of the story (so far), I have not felt this way, so I lean on that feeling. (This is not me fishing for reassurances, BTW.)

I think I would feel more confident making these choices if I were working on, say, a film. When my primary question is, "is this proceeding at the right pace?" and, "have I let this beat breathe appropriately?" that's a lot easier to answer in a time-based medium. I can show you exactly what I want you to see for exactly as long as I want you to see it. In comics, where the reader controls the pace and fills in so many gaps in their imagination, what structures do I need to include in the work to encourage the intended result? Is that possible? How possible? Do I just have to have faith in my reader's interpretation? Is it more powerful if I am straightforward and explicit, or if I elide details and encourage the reader to invest more imagination in the reading?

I just want to make you laugh and cry, I don't know why it has to be so difficult.

I wish I knew the answers. I suspect I will find some simply by finishing the pages and then, eight months later, reading them "fresh." And then I'll try again.

- - - - -

Anyway, I'm off to try.

Chapter Five pencils might be finished in time for next week's update. After that, I think I will start thumbnails for Chapter Six. Then I'll be inking CH5 while CH6 thumbs "settle" and I acquire the distance necessary to notice things like "hey which dumbass put four pages worth of beats on two pages?" After that, I am considering maybe pencilling CH6, then colouring CH5 and CH6 at the same time in one great big push next year. Is that smart? I do not know! I am considering it, because switching "modes" is stressful.

Please enjoy "Spooky Season," or "October" as we used to call it! I look forward to trying to puzzle out who used to be who with all the "spooky" social media handles.

Until next week,
I remain,
a doofus,

TC