Panel 4: Tragically unanswered is the question of whether or not this siren-headed cape can alter the sound of his incessant "WEE OOOs" to facilitate communication with his peers.

Panel 6 & 7: As I've noted before, the alien-language characters on the Lotus Node were originally derived (however loosely) from a brief excerpt of the Culture's untranslated language at the end of Iain M. Bains' SF novel The Player of Games.

Today’s Patreon update: In an attempt to scratch 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