Commentary - Open Trade 256-257 (Patreon)

I think for this set, the more interesting stuff to talk about is on page 256.

It feels weird as I come back to my files to see that I didn't draw any backgrounds. Like, I knew what the backgrounds were. I really thought I must have dropped in Lexi's bed so I could make sure I had everything lined up right, but I didn't do that at all. Lexi and Victory are just kind of floating, and I'm assuming that I'm going to get it right when I insert the backgrounds.

I did work on the backgrounds before this page, so I knew them well. I'll do a new post for them in the future. Because there are a couple fun things to point out. As I had to update them since the last time we saw Lexi's bedroom.

Something else to see that changed from the working version to the final version was that I changed a panel size. I was planning on having Lexi leaning in from across the room in the first panel, but the flow didn't feel right. And Lexi needed a little moment alone before Victory entered the scene.

And yeah...I copy paste things on the pencil stage some times. 'Sitting Victory' got duplicated, but the head redrawn. But when it comes to the inks, they are drawn in their entirety.

Also as far as edits and changes, The full image of victory is much further right in the final version than that is even seen in any of these versions. I mostly moved it 'in post'.

As for 257, there was a lot of moving around and rewriting. I'm trying to keep these pages tight. We are only getting 3 pages of either side each month, so everything needs to move the story forward.

Mina/Milo's talk about people thinking Steph would only be considered to be South Korean was originally back when they are walking through the airport. And there was even a scene with this talk on the airplane before. But it kept getting pushed back.

As a side effect, the comments about how much money is being offered got pushed to the next page.