All PostsIf you’ve also been following my comic, Things Change, you’ll have noticed my use of the silhouettes of leaves to alter the shapes of my panels (starting in last Wednesday’s strip and continuing today and this week’s forthcoming strip). While the particular use I put these silhouettes to is my own, the visuals came from an old Flash Gordon episode by Alex Raymond. The half page below is from November 10, 1940 and can be found in Checker’s Flash Gordon Volume 5.
You’ll note the silhouetted leaves in the outer panels and a rock in the center panel that Raymond uses to open up space for his text. This is a much more clever way to insert the text than his usual method of putting the text right over a colored section of the panel or having the art just stop around the text. It integrates much better into the panel and looks great. (I should mention this is after Raymond gave up the use of word balloons in the strip.)
Nice! I was wondering if the shrinking image with the leave-panel edges is also a metephor for the growing cancer? Or am I just over-intellectualizing.
Also, since you like clouds so much I thought I’d tell you I’m working on a strip today with lots of clouds inspired by Durer’s woodcuts. I’m not sure when it’ll go up since Wayne gave me lots of strips for the Fright Night 8 thingie.
I wouldn’t say you’re over-intellectualizing. The shrinking panels is metaphorical. “Cancer” is your interpretation, but not one I’d argue with. (Someone else say it as “depression”, so I feel successful at what I wanted to convey).
Looking forward to the clouds strip.