Panel 2: Slightly odd choice, here, to flip the orientation of Emp in the scene from left side (in panel 1) to right, in a minor violation of the “180º rule.” Flopping orientation also places the partially visible rope and Goatee Guy’s hand on either side of the center gutter between panels, which is a bit of a screw-up. Not quite sure why I did this, but I suspect this was an attempt to fit the shot within the slightly peculiar, angled shape of the panel—or maybe not. Mysterious!
Panel 3: Note the slightly odd artistic flourish of having a lone lock of Emp’s hair loose—and not tied back by the blindfold, as clearly should be the case from the previous page’s panel that showed Emp putting it on. While technically this is an—ahem—“unrealistic” bit of artistic license on my part, note that this is something I do all the time, as I play around rather randomly with Emp’s hair to add visual interest to an image. Here, I thought the “rogue lock of hair” made the shot a teeny bit more interesting, admittedly for reasons I can’t quite define. This concept is why I occasionally draw her hair quite a bit longer than it should theoretically be, or flowing dramatically in a manner =that would seemingly require violent motion or an unseen wind machine. “The Rule of Empowered Hair-Related Cool,” one might call it, in reference to the familiar TV Tropes category.
Note that, between panels 4 and 5, randomly “flopping” the way Emp is facing is another form of minor “180º rule” violation. A better way to handle such a change of character orientation would have been to switch the camera angles for panels 3 and panel 4. That way, Emp would’ve started out facing to the left (with the transposed former panel 4), then be seen from a straight-on view (with the transposed former panel 4), then end up facing right in panel 5. This would’ve made for a trio of panels with a more pleasing flow (IMHO), as if the camera would be smoothly circling around Emp, rather than jumping placement without rhyme or reason. Judge for yourself below, though pardon the cropping in this quick 'n' dirty Photoshop job showing a marginally better series of camera angles:
-Adam Warren
