I like little beats like this sequence, although sometimes I wonder if readers will be thinking, “Really? A scene with Bocce making snowmen? How does that advance the plot?” Well, maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. Okay, it doesn’t. But I thought it would be a nice short scene to show just how bored Bocce is and also add a little bit of visual humor, with all the snowman versions of the crew. And I really like the gag of Bocce having trouble capturing Ril’s likeness until he adds angry eyebrows and a frown. I guess the other function this scene serves is to just cut away from the Roka story once in a while, so that it isn’t all about them all the time.

In concepting the alien wolves, I was really happy with the designs since they came out kinda wolf-like but different enough anatomically to look a bit more other-worldy. It wasn’t until I had finished coloring the page that I realized they looked a bit like the wargs in the Lord of the Rings movies, with the hunched back and bat-like head. Ugh. Anyway, it was different enough that I didn’t try to rationalize tweaking the design, especially with my time needed on the other 80 or so pages left to pencil, ink, color, and letter for the arc!