Volume 1 Page 187
Posted March 24, 2016 at 12:01 am

In panel 3, behold the very first appearance of the as-yet-unnamed Superhomey with cinder blocks for head and hands, whose extreeeeme and violently 90s-style supranym won’t be revealed until the beginning of Empowered vol. 2. (Hey, we’re only about 60 or so pages away from that point, so webcomic readers won’t have to wait all that long to find out.) This character really seemed to take casual readers aback, though yet another magically enabled superhero doesn’t seem to me all that more outlandish than some of the more peculiar capes we’ve already seen in the series. Might be that his “cinder-block-for-a-head” visual motif crosses some invisible line into unacceptable goofiness for readers who prefer some ritualized veneer of—ahem—“seriousness” in the otherwise blatantly ludicrous superhero media they consume.

Interesting background work in panel 3, in that we can see some vague indication of classical interior detail on the Homeycrib’s walls, a notable improvement over the “pillars and open sky” I’d previously—and hastily—sketched in during earlier pages depicting this setting. Have to say that I’d completely forgotten about this scene’s backgrounds in the decade or so since I drew it; I’ll try to remember to revisit this environmental detail in future volumes.

Just realized that, judging by the very different look used for the team’s as-yet-unnamed short-guy member at panel center, this page must be a first-generation Empowered original, dating back to the series’ initial, rather more primitive iteration. I refined this Superhomey’s design in later installments, then went back and inserted the redesign when I was recopying and redrawing the early stories for publication. Long-time readers will, of course, know that this diminutive fella sports a supranym even more 90s-tastic than his (cinder)blockheaded teammate; I humbly petition said long-timers not to spoil the magic and the mystery for our webcomic readership in the comments below. Please?

Now, let me ruin the magic of comics art for you a little bit! The perspective drawing at the bottom of the panel is completely and utterly faked, as we really should see much less of Major Havoc’s legs from this camera angle—if, that is, I had actually ruled out a horizon line and vanishing points for this shot, which is not the case. Instead, I crudely “eyeballed” the panel’s rough perspective, then used the Major’s cape to obscure the wonkiness and bamboozle the casual reader. Plus, I cannily deployed a low camera angle, which is arguably The Deadline-Driven Comics Artist’s Best Friend—or mine, at least—for saving a little time and effort. In fact, given a camera angle low enough to the floor, it’s almost impossible to tell technically accurate perspective drawing from “eyeballed” and unruled fakery. Wheeeee!

-Adam Warren

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