Comic 1131 - Expecting Blue, Page 3
14th Jan 2022, 11:00 PM
in Expecting Blue
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Author Notes:
Yeah, this was actually something we were originally going to wait to reveal through the whole chapter, have Jake kind of get this news early on offscreen and then be acting off throughout while we focused on the kids settling back into things... and then the fine folks at our Discord figured out that Vespi was pregnant as soon as we started foreshadowing it. You might recall that she mentioned feeling sick back in Wasted on the Blue, and then subsequently in the filler taking place after the chapter mentioned having been nauseous... Yeah, that's what gave it away. So then we leaned into it a bit with her mentioning she was hearing baby crying while under the effects of the Night Terror, and of course it's not as though the title of this chapter and the logo for it are particularly subtle either.
In general something I enjoy about this page is I think in a lot of respects it shows that while we're back to something of the old status quo - Jake and the kids together at the school, ready to fight crime - a lot has still changed from where things were pre-Marvelous Man. They're still public and with that they're still going to have to work to prove themselves, Jake has a new job, there's a new headmaster, and Vespi's pregnant. A lot is different from where it was, even if there is a certain return to normalcy in other respects.
Speaking of, yeah, Protocol's going to continue to be something of a presence going forward. I don't know if she'll be an all-the-time thing exactly, kind of see how that shakes out, but she's in this page if nothing else for this chapter and can say she will be prominent in the next one. Probably be awhile before we reach that next one though, dunno how long this chapter will be running for. Though hopefully we can get back onto a regular schedule sooner rather than later to at least help hurry it along.
Naturally next page will give more in the way of unpacking this, but yeah, pretty big shakeup. Really disappointed we weren't able to post it last week but y'know, was an especially stressful period of time and all. Still kind of is, but for the moment at least things are relatively stable.
Oh right, thoughts on the new lines under the eyes? Those are something I've been flirting with in other art of late and decided to try integrating into the comics proper in this page, though I think it's something that still kind of needs some workshopping. Speaking of I shaded this one, mostly to save Adam a little time but also because I've been experimenting with making the shading more pronounced of late and figured this would be a good page to kind of test drive it on, so feedback on that is also definitely welcome.
Like we said, we didn't want to get exactly back to the status quo and we'd had the pregnancy thing planned for a while, so it felt like the perfect bomb to drop to suddenly mess with everyone's expectations. Martin pointed out we were going to be more coy with it, but since the Discord already put it together and we wanted to announce it, we just moved it up.
Thoughts on the idea going forward?
.... Oh, right, with how huge this is, should probably mention the other things set up here; Jake meets with Protocol about the hero test coming up, so that'll probably be a chapter in this arc.... And we see that he got a promotion. That's been in the plans for a loooooong time, and it felt like a natural step for him, so was good getting it out. We also see the school's new headmaster, Mr. Makavan. Originally he was going to be a Uncle-Iroh-style kooky old man, but Maritn pitched the idea of him being a "trying to be hip" sort of teacher. As it stands he wound up having this sort of Hunter-Adams type energy, which is actually a pretty natural step for a teacher.
As for me... My mental health is a lot better and I'm getting more in the mood to draw, so I'm hoping to get things more on track pretty soon. Problem is my car is currently in the shop, and until it's fixed I can't make any future moving plans. I'm shacked up with my Mom in South Carolina waiting for it to get repaired. More as it develops, thank you for your continued support.
"Yippie, I love babies...other peoples' of course"- Mary Jane Watson