Is it possible that Midnight has his first (and possibly original?) archnemesis? My subconscious certainly seems to think so and you’ll see what I mean in a post later this week.

This strip is the beginning of a style shift for me and hopefully all work going forward. The time that it takes to work on these pages from week to week is just too much to handle, so I’m working on cutting down details and streamlining everything, from characters to background. Like almost any artist, I want the lines to flow from the pen naturally and effortlessly, so a looser style is my first attempt at achieving this goal.

You might also notice the backgrounds are more angular and exaggerated. You can thank old-school Looney Tunes episodes for that little tweak. Those cartoon shorts filled my childhood with their mirth and merrie melodies and a large part of my enjoyment (at least now) comes from the emotion those animators were able to draw from the settings themselves. Not a single building, nary a lone doorway stood without almost becoming a character themselves. Now, is copying that style necessarily the way to get the same effect for my comic? Doubtful. But hopefully it will evolve over time and in the meanwhile, be that much faster to draw.

It’s all a process, and I’ve got two process blogs to post this week before Page 5 hits next Monday, so stay tuned!