Volume 1 Page 101
Posted November 20, 2015 at 12:33 am

Panel 4 features twin examples of the dreaded “talking butt”—that is, a panel where female characters are speaking, but we only see their (presumably fetching) backsides. I would generally try to avoid using such a markedly obnoxious shot in a “real comic,” unless I theoretically had some actual point for said camera angle. (Not quite sure what that might be, to be honest.)  Ah, but at this time I didn’t consider Empowered to be a “real comic” as such, so I felt free to indulge in mildly provocative goofiness like this.

Hilariously enough, the “talking butt” shot has plagued me on comics on which I worked solely as a writer, given that artists occasionally ignore my layouts and show a speaking character’s behind and not her face, much to my chagrin. (My normal rule of thumb: Whenever possible, show the face of a character who’s delivering dialogue, maximizing a panel’s opportunities for expressive “acting.”) I just have to shake my head when “talking butts” appear, though, as this seems like karmic retribution for the multitudes of, shall we say, "Sir-Mix-A-Lot-ish" images I’ve produced throughout my career…

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