JL8 #20 - Creator Commentary

JL8 #20 by Yale Stewart

Originally published on March 2nd, 2012

First off, apologies for missing last week's installment. I got caught up with some other stuff and it completely slipped my mind.

I love the simplicity of this strip. It gets the point across nice and cleanly.

In panel one, I do like how straightforward the shot is: Mr. Schwartz holding the door as the kids re-enter the classroom. That's really the whole point of this installment, the kids coming back to class. However, I wish I would've done something a little bit more with Hal and Barry--the way Diana is comforting Karen--and I'm also unsure why J'onn isn't shown. That must've just been a mistake. 

I really dig panel two. I like how I knock out Schwartz with a solid blue, and I think Clark's begging face and the lettering work really well. The shot composition breaks up the repetition of panels 1, 3 and 4 pretty nicely. It probably would've been correct to at least partially show Clark in panel one--probably at the back of the line--to set up his appearance here.

Panels three and four are just a solid gag, in my opinion. Clark is so worn out he's brought to his knees as Bruce wanders in (panel 3) and faceplants from exhaustion (panel 4). After all, when in doubt, make fun of Batman.

Part of me wonders if my modern self would be dumb enough to draw what's beyond the doorway, for fear that not doing so would seem lazy. Looking at it now, leaving the doorway an empty, solid color is 1000% the correct call. Unless there's more to the gag within the background beyond the doorframe, there's literally zero reason to add anything there. All it would do is distract from the subject matter. Back in 2012, it may've just been my novice that left it "empty," but ten years on I can look back and say that's actually the correct choice 99.99% of the time. Way to go, young me.

Short and sweet, but that'll wrap up my thoughts on this one. Again, apologies for the lack of update last week. Also, keep your eyes peeled for an update on Patron rewards. Unfortunately, we hit some road bumps there but things seem to be smoothing out now. I'll talk about that in a separate post scheduled for tomorrow.

As always, thanks so much for your support, and I hope you have a good one! Talk to you again soon. Take care.

-Yale