I should apologize once more for Thugboy’s baggy T-shirt in panel 2, which was a sartorial choice questionable on multiple levels. For one thing, no prideful young man who works out as much as Thugboy must would be caught dead in such a “mumu-esque” shirt. A “smedium” tee or maybe a loose tank top might be possible, but not this particular size-XXL dealie. Later I would wise up and just draw him shirtless most of the time, for both bonus beefcake value and to get away from the tragic reality that I’m shockingly bad at drawing baggy T-shirts. 

I suspect—but can’t quite say for certain—that panel 5’s line about Emp’s “trying not to pout” face was taken from real life. I likely overheard that line being said between, ah, domestic partners in heated discussion, and thought it too neat not to be repurposed for my own writing. Warning for any normal humans out there: Whenever a writer says “That’s good!” after hearing a clever or amusing phrase in conversation, you may rest assured that he or she has just squirreled that line away for future usage.

For the record—though I may well have addressed this point already—note that Emp’s mask does, in fact, reveal her expression quite clearly, thanks to the way that the upper line of its “eyes” mirrors her (unseen) eyebrows. (Not to mention that Emp’s all-too-frequent blushes are likewise rendered prominently visible by the supersuit’s hypermembrane.) To be at least semi-honest, I probably started drawing this “expressive mask” visual riff purely as a whimsical and cartoony device to add emotive value to early Empowered panels; a more—ahem—“realistic” depiction of a superhero mask would’ve looked too flat and impassive for my taste. After the fact, of course, I retroactively explained away this unusual trait  by claiming—if only to myself—that this was yet another example of Emp’s mysterious and enigmatic supersuit at work. 

-Adam Warren