Panels 2 and 3: Note the way that the cheeks of Emp’s supersuit mask transition abruptly between high-contrast shadows and highlights in panel 1 and the “angry blush” hatching of panel 2. Later in the series, circa Empowered vols. 9 & 10, I wound up drawing the “blushing mask” almost all the time, as I seemed to prefer that version for some ineffable reason. Howeva, as of the still-in-progress vol. 11, the mask’s cheeks have returned to a high-contrast version as a default. What can I say, folks? As an artist, you tend to cycle through stylistic preferences over time, often for aesthetic rationales that can seem unclear in retrospect.

Panel 5: Heh.

-Adam Warren