Welcome to the final chapter of The Big Snow Job!
With some covers, I have a hard time coming up with an image that works as a good teaser while also being somewhat true to the actual events of the issue itself without giving too much away. This one was pretty easy though and I settled on it almost immediately as a silhouette set against the burning Ulon Dosi village.
The only major change from concept to final art is that the original thumbnail sketch featured Roka in silhouette. But then I realized that Roka usually gets plenty of cover attention so it would be nice to spotlight someone else, and since this is really Bennesaud’s story, it would make more sense to have him as the central figure of the cover.
Whoa!
_This_ is not a good sign.
Now, I want to see the next few strips immediately!
🙂
Nice cover. It really sets the mood.
While it is indeed Bennesaud’s story I feel it has been overshadowed a bit by Bocce’s flashback.
The flashback served the purpose of showing how ruthless the K.V. are, but it also makes me think that Bocce has a bigger bone to pick with the K.V. than Benne.
It makes me wonder what Bennesaud’s relationship with the KV was. If the KV are working with/under his old boss, it might mean that, at one time, Bennesaud was essentially allied with them in a way and it was not until this crush thing popped up that he had issues. In that case, there might be some tension between Bocce and Bennesaud in the future.
Good point.
Perhaps this was discussed earlier on one of the previous pages, but for me it is hard to imagine Bennesaud not being OK about the crush stuff, but being OK with cold blooded murder like we saw in the flashback. Seems unlikely he brought the big boss where he is today without participating in similar activities.
Very true. I guess I should correct my previous statement to reflect that. This particular story was meant to give both Bocce and Bennesaud a bit more “air-time.” With Bennesaud, you get some background and how his past ties into their current job and the entire Ulon Dosi village. While Bocce hasn’t been terribly active in the current story, he’s gotten a bit of flashback to add some background to his story as well. So yes, it’s definitely a story that focuses on both of them (more so than the other characters, anyway).
As far as this cover goes, where I needed a character standing in front of the village, Bennesaud made sense to me because, of the five crew members actually in the village (Bennes, Cember, Sky, Roka, and Ril), it’s more his story than any of the others. So I guess that’s what I meant to say.
And Bennesaud was the first to make a stand and said: no more! So that spot is well deserved.
Your comment about Roka usually getting the spotlight reminded me of a funny panel on the back of Runners REMASTERED #1.
(Now watch the back issue prices of this comic sky rocket as the curious fans want to find out what I’m talking about… 😉 )
I can’t help but think this cover will get a whole new dimension if Bennesaud at some point says: I’m Onen Suul…
I just realized what they meant in February 8, 2010 – Snow Job Ch 02 Pg 21. Keyla’s brother earning the right to put the KV mark on his neck. I am entirely to slow, I should be paying closer attention.
In one word – CFR – Crush, Fire and Rescue, baby!