Double Cross Scene Compilation - CH1 Pgs 27-37

Hey, y'all!

It's been a crazy couple months. Some rough things have been going on with my Mom's health (more hospitalizations) and I caught COVID (2nd time!) But some good things, too (my husband took me away on much needed escape this month and things with the first draft of my novel are going well).

But now I'm back at my desk and it's high-time to share another scene compilation! These pages were published way back in May-June 2019, and show the first real action set-piece of Double Cross as our heroes launch their attack against The Platinum Priestess and her minions!

This battle took up almost all of Chapter One, so I'm going to break it down into more manageable 10 pages chunks (more or less).

If you want to read the previous scene compilations (and, even better, read them all at once), you can find them on the TYP:DC Scene Compilation Collection page.

Anyway, onwards with the next scene! My DVD-style commentary is below the comic pages!

(The comics pages are full-resolution here on Patreon so feel free to zoom-in!)

Ouch.

So, let's get into what I was thinking as I wrote this scene and worked with Adam and Vero on the final pages!

Wizard Battles Are Awesome

One thing I was really looking forward to showing in this chapter was Spooky Jones and The Platinum Priestess at their peak having a full-on wizard battle. We know from previous arcs that these two have some history, but for various reasons, we've never seen them directly fight each other.

The first chapter of Double Cross was a chance for me to rectify that and because both are so powerful and imaginative, it really gave me the opportunity to stretch my own imagination to make things as visually interesting as possible.

With magic, sky's the limit in terms of what can happen and, as I often say, with comics you have an unlimited special effects budget. And that's especially true when you get the chance to work with such amazing talents as linework artist Adam DeKraker and colorist Veronica Gandini.

That double-page spread of Spooky's first blast at The Platinum Priestess is one of my favorite action-art pages in all of our comics, both in terms of linework and colors. Spooky combines Enochian and Demonic magic as he learned to do in Chapter 4 of Engaging the Enemy and The Platinum Priestess literally explodes out of that first panel at us!

But that's just the appetizer. We know The Platinum Priestess can open portals to different places with her staff, so why not send a pesky, meddling wizard all the way to Jupiter if he gets in her way! (And we know it's serious because he loses his cap!)

And likewise, he can use his ectoplasmic power to create practically anything, so why not vines to save himself and then use them to smack her into a bunch of trees like a rag doll. (I definitely had that scene between Hulk and Loki in mind when I wrote that. Not sure if that's clear, but that was the intention with the art.)

I do love quiet moments of character development and connection. But boy, do I also love me a big, spectacular action set-piece! :)

Our Heroes Get To Be Heroes

Another goal of mine with the Double Cross arc was to refocus the story on our superheroes actually saving people. Legendary was a chance to explore some 18+ content, and Past Sins gave me the opportunity to delve into Spooky's past, but ultimately The Young Protectors team are meant to be true heroes, and that means we need to see them rescuing people in epic ways.

Here we have a bunch of kids in danger and not only Spooky, but Flyboy and Cory have to step it up vs. very dangerous enemies to try to get them safe. It classic superhero stuff, just with heroes who happen to like other guys.

Cory Has To Fight

And speaking of stepping it up, I knew even before publishing the first page of Double Cross that Cory was going to need to helm his own arc in Fallen. We got to see him use his powers in the Flyboy Bonus Comic, but that was almost all reactive. If he's going to be a true protagonist, he's going to need to use his strengths with agency. This is his chance to start doing just that.

The action here is both a confidence-builder for him, but it also shows us how far he has to go before he's truly ready to be his own hero. Still, I always smile when I see that first moment when he realizes he can actually use his powers to help instead of hurt.

(And again, him using his telekinesis gave us an opportunity to try to show the action in an interesting visual manner. Some things are much easier to show with live action video than with still pictures, but I think the way Adam and Vero showed Cory knocking heads together worked really well.)

So, those are my thoughts on the latest scene compilation! Please let me know your own thoughts below. It's your feedback that makes it fun for me to create these, so please jump in and share!

And thank you, as always, for making this comic possible. Y'all truly rock. :)