PAGE SIX - A Story in Pictures - Part Three

Previously, we saw several different early versions of both script and art for SHADRACH STONE, page 6. Again, here’s the final lettered and colored version:



Once we had enough art in, I sat down and created balloon-placement guides for the letterer. Balloon guides are time-consuming; sometimes the writer draws them up, and sometimes the editor, but I like doing my own when I can. It shows you things you might not otherwise notice, even just looking at the script and art together. Balloons don’t fit the way you think they will, or dialogue just looks wrong with a face or body language.

The numbers on the dialogue correspond to the balloon indications on the guide.





As you can see from the different script versions, I changed my mind a few times about Shadrach’s father’s dialogue in panel 4. On film, I would have trusted an actor to get across the emotional effect without any words; but that’s tougher to pull off with still images. Looking at it this time, I decided I’d overwritten it somewhere along the line, and that something shorter and more suggestive would work better.

Here’s the first lettered version of the page, courtesy of Jason Levine:



I wish I could show you the final composited version, but I haven’t seen it yet.

And that’s The Saga of Page Six. Multiply by 102, and you have SHADRACH STONE!