Just found this from Evan Dahm’s flat art show, binged it in about 4 hours. Truly a breathtaking work, the laser sequences manage to hit every time, and I deeply care about and for these characters. It took a while for lettering to grow on me, but what I was continually impressed by was the ways the balloon placement and shape were used. It is a small thing, but in the panel where Royal is hyping himself up to talk to his dad about work in the mirror, one set of balloons is attributed to the physical Royal and the other to the mirror one. I wish I commented this on that page, but that touch really did a lot for me.
1. It enhances the feeling of it being a dialogue, that Royal is talking to himself.
2. It frames the subject of the image well and adds to the panel composition without having a long tail connecting the bubbles.
3. Reflections as a notable part of the trans experience, feeling like two different people
4. Royal and Raf both have this experience of feeling like they’re speaking from behind glass, that the people they have to talk to (specifically family) just want to see them, so the tail of the balloon pointing towards mirror Royal when he’s trying to figure out how to talk to his father is !!!
4. It just kinda looks neat and adds to the visual interest of the panel.
I probably would have more to say about it if I was looking at the page in front of me.
I’m still not sold on the font choice or the base balloon, but I once I got a ways in it didn’t stick out quite as much and the formal stuff being done with the placement and shape of the balloons kept me invested in the lettering side of it. (the mirror thing was the one that stuck out the most, but throughout y’all do some really cool stuff)
Sorry for primarily ranting about balloons, this is a lovely comic and I’m excited for it to continue.
I was reading the comics beat article and the sample they have of the comic has lettering that appeals to me way more. Since the article is from 2019, my best guess is that y’all updated the lettering during one of the website updates, probably for visual clarity and to accommodate for colorblindness or something of the sort. Which is commendable, I’d rather the work be accessible (in the sense of disability, keep the story itself weird) than not, but I won’t lie and say some part of me doesn’t wish I could see it with the old colorful lettering.
oh wow, i’m amazed by your attention to detail here siobhan and sincerely appreciate your review! if you don’t mind me asking, just to make sure i understand you fully, by “colourful” do the more recent pages fulfill what you’re talking about? like using different tones (warmer/cooler) on pages 16 or 23 of this chapter?
mostly, we didn’t want the speech bubbles to integrate too much into the artwork itself– when they’re in colour, they take on a new attribute; serving a new function. i’m not a fan of using bright white if i can help it, preferring grey especially on darker pages, so i feel you there and it’s something i plan to standardise (it took a break from the comic to really let me evaluate these aspects of it.) i hope we can settle on something that doesn’t totally take you out of it! i’m really happy to hear you feel strongly for the story and characters anyway :^) thank you so much again,
seosamh
I’m specifically referencing the way the bubbles/balloons look in the sample images at the very end of the comicbeat article, which I’m not sure where they sourced from for. The balloon and text color seem to reflect the background color, which further emphasizes the mood of a scene and makes the balloons’ presence less jarring. I also just prefer the lettering shape in the sample.
Their segment starts with arc i: prologue – 20 https://www.comicsbeat.com/a-year-of-free-comics-superpose/
(I know you know what the comic beat article is, just seemed easier to have it here for reference)
I’ve been reading SuperPose for maybe over a month now and I just caught up. Authors, thank you so much for this story. Rafael, Kas, and Royal are each so real to me. The art is so incredibly beautiful. I’m constantly caught by surprise by your paneling. You’re crazy talented!!! Wishing you the best! And I’m so stoked to keep reading!
Just found this from Evan Dahm’s flat art show, binged it in about 4 hours. Truly a breathtaking work, the laser sequences manage to hit every time, and I deeply care about and for these characters. It took a while for lettering to grow on me, but what I was continually impressed by was the ways the balloon placement and shape were used. It is a small thing, but in the panel where Royal is hyping himself up to talk to his dad about work in the mirror, one set of balloons is attributed to the physical Royal and the other to the mirror one. I wish I commented this on that page, but that touch really did a lot for me.
1. It enhances the feeling of it being a dialogue, that Royal is talking to himself.
2. It frames the subject of the image well and adds to the panel composition without having a long tail connecting the bubbles.
3. Reflections as a notable part of the trans experience, feeling like two different people
4. Royal and Raf both have this experience of feeling like they’re speaking from behind glass, that the people they have to talk to (specifically family) just want to see them, so the tail of the balloon pointing towards mirror Royal when he’s trying to figure out how to talk to his father is !!!
4. It just kinda looks neat and adds to the visual interest of the panel.
I probably would have more to say about it if I was looking at the page in front of me.
I’m still not sold on the font choice or the base balloon, but I once I got a ways in it didn’t stick out quite as much and the formal stuff being done with the placement and shape of the balloons kept me invested in the lettering side of it. (the mirror thing was the one that stuck out the most, but throughout y’all do some really cool stuff)
Sorry for primarily ranting about balloons, this is a lovely comic and I’m excited for it to continue.
I was reading the comics beat article and the sample they have of the comic has lettering that appeals to me way more. Since the article is from 2019, my best guess is that y’all updated the lettering during one of the website updates, probably for visual clarity and to accommodate for colorblindness or something of the sort. Which is commendable, I’d rather the work be accessible (in the sense of disability, keep the story itself weird) than not, but I won’t lie and say some part of me doesn’t wish I could see it with the old colorful lettering.
oh wow, i’m amazed by your attention to detail here siobhan and sincerely appreciate your review! if you don’t mind me asking, just to make sure i understand you fully, by “colourful” do the more recent pages fulfill what you’re talking about? like using different tones (warmer/cooler) on pages 16 or 23 of this chapter?
mostly, we didn’t want the speech bubbles to integrate too much into the artwork itself– when they’re in colour, they take on a new attribute; serving a new function. i’m not a fan of using bright white if i can help it, preferring grey especially on darker pages, so i feel you there and it’s something i plan to standardise (it took a break from the comic to really let me evaluate these aspects of it.) i hope we can settle on something that doesn’t totally take you out of it! i’m really happy to hear you feel strongly for the story and characters anyway :^) thank you so much again,
seosamh
I’m specifically referencing the way the bubbles/balloons look in the sample images at the very end of the comicbeat article, which I’m not sure where they sourced from for. The balloon and text color seem to reflect the background color, which further emphasizes the mood of a scene and makes the balloons’ presence less jarring. I also just prefer the lettering shape in the sample.
Their segment starts with arc i: prologue – 20
https://www.comicsbeat.com/a-year-of-free-comics-superpose/
(I know you know what the comic beat article is, just seemed easier to have it here for reference)
I’ve been reading SuperPose for maybe over a month now and I just caught up. Authors, thank you so much for this story. Rafael, Kas, and Royal are each so real to me. The art is so incredibly beautiful. I’m constantly caught by surprise by your paneling. You’re crazy talented!!! Wishing you the best! And I’m so stoked to keep reading!
I just wanna give Rafael a hug omg