I’ve mentioned before that I am working with two colorists on this volume, Wes Hartman and Cyril Vincent, and I‘ve been super happy with their work.
For this page and the big armada double spread a few pages back, I did the coloring myself (although Wes did the big space background, which I asked for as a reusable asset for all these pages). I decided to personally do the armada scene because I had not figured out the color schemes for all the ships and I knew I’d need to play around a lot to settle on something that worked. So instead of making a colorist do countless annoying iterations, I figured it would just be best to do it myself.
Similarly, with this page, I knew I wanted the weapon to have a distinctive web-like energy look to it, but I didn’t have that look figured out in the penciling and inking stage. I knew it would be something to be played with in the coloring stage, and again, it made more sense for me to do it than have a colorist try to nail what was in my head.
can feel the power!!!! well done!!!
I hope those explosions are not the fighters we saw flying around earlier! (or that they were uncrewed, at least)
It looks like a giant net. So it like engulf any space ships, thus destroying them. That’s cool! Your story & art design is cool as always! 🙂
I wonder what are the two things that went THOOM. We can presume it’s not Tet’sali ships, as that would cause a diplomatic issue. We can also presume it’s not Hiura’s cloaked ship, because there’s only one of it and that crew should have enough plot armor not to be killed off with so little drama.
They could be targets for the demonstration. But then there probably would be more than two, just to make the demonstration more demonstrative.
Thanks everyone for the kind words! As for the nature of the weapon, it will be revealed in time. Spoiler: it’s just a big mosquito zapper. The Tas’Qelar just really hate mosquitos.
The weapon reads four different ways in terms of geometry and I am not sure what I am looking at.
Panel 1: Ovoid emanation, so would expand into a flared jet.
Panel 2: Hollow cylinder.
Panel 3: Dome
Panel 4: Waves in a 2-dimensional, 85º wedge.
I think it emits a mosquito-zapping net (I hate mosquitoes, too, and am glad that they’re taking decisive steps against this menace) that gradually “opens”. Think of the petal of a flower. First it’s closed, then they gradually spread out, going through the “ovoid, cylinder, dome” steps.
The “waves” can be seen in the cylinder stage, too.
Since we didn’t see any demonstration targets and the two ships have been in view since page 13 I also assume they’re the ones that went THOOM!
So in uneasy alliance the Tas’Qelar knows the effect their new weapon will have on Liotian ships. Of course now they have shown their hand and the Liotans and Cetii can take counter measures.