Panel 1: Odd combination of completely different art techniques on Emp’s eyebrows in this shot. See, one eyebrow is still visible through the obstruction of her hair—a cartoonily stylized riff often used by certain manga artists—while the other isn’t. Normally, you go one way or the other with, ah, “bang transparency”; doing both at the same time in a single image seems a puzzling choice. Note that, in panel 2, I’ve switched over to a more consistent approach of non-transparent hair for both eyebrows.
Panel 4: Wow, these bad guys really put some serious effort into embarrassing Emp, with the tiara and sash seeming to involve considerably more arts-and-craft labor than one might expect. (Especially since, as we saw two pages earlier, they were all wearing costumes with gigantic UFO-like headpieces, which certainly would seem to complicate the production of such work.) I should note that Emp does eventually get her revenge on these UFO-headed rejects from a Michael’s (arts-and-crafts) store in a later volume, though this really isn’t much of a SPOILER, given that said retribution occurs effectively in the background of an Empowered vol. 5 panel.
Wonky anatomy on Emp in this shot, though the excessive narrowness of her waist may not be a case of the oft-mentioned Mysteriously Intermittent Post-Millennial Torso Glitch as such. Rather, this is rather directly applicable to the fact that I very likely didn’t pursue the ideal drawing technique of constructing her figure fully before draping the sash over her, instead drawing the sash and Emp’s body in a single sketch, which led to the anatomical wonkiness we see here. For some reason, I find it incredibly difficult to correctly construct a figure that’s partially obscured by another graphic element or cut off by a panel’s edge. Nowadays, whenever possible, I try to “draw through” such a figure sketch fully on a separate piece of paper, rather than struggle with correct construction within the limits of a panel.
Along those lines, look at the background figures of the SuperHomeys in panel 3, and note that Havoc and Rivet’s respective “chest labels” aren’t lined correctly with their heads, as I likewise tried to squeeze their individual drawings into the cramped space available.
-Adam Warren
