Panel 2: Gotta say, I was tempted to go back and invert that "FULL-TIMER HUG #217" caption to white text in a black caption box, as I would do nowadays to disguise how mehh—or "mid," I suppose—my caption lettering looks. As I've said, for some reason inverting the text in Photoshop improves its perceived quality in my eyes at least, though I've no idea if anyone else feels that way. Then again, I don't really care what others think about this issue, as I gotta do whatever makes the work seem at least semi-acceptable to me as the book's "first reader."

Panels 4-6 isn't the most subtle of sequences, true, but this does help to hammer home Emp's perception of Rivet as a father figure.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

-Adam Warren