Double Cross Scene Compilation - CH3 Pgs 83-93

Howdy, everyone!

Here's the next scene compilation with "DVD-style" commentary from Double Cross. I'll keep posting these scene compilations weekly(ish) until I start getting the completed pages from Gabriel and Vero for Fallen Chapter Two soon. I've officially sent the contract for the next pages to Gabriel, so I should start getting art in the next couple weeks. Exciting!

On the personal front, my Mom got diagnosed with RSV not long after my last post. She probably got in the hospital, but I made sure she got vaccinated in the fall, so even though she's been pretty sick, it has not been life-threatening. She's on the mend.

And on the writing front, I've booked the copy editor for my MM urban fantasy novel for July and, even more exciting, I got the second pass of the cover for that book. I'm honestly over the moon about it. I can't wait to share it with you. This is my first time working with a designer who uses stock models and photo manipulation (which is mostly what you see for novel covers in this genre). While there are limitations compared to creating the art from scratch like I do with Adam and Vero, I have to say, I'm very pleased to discover how much can be changed and tailored based on what I'm looking for. (And without generative AI, which is a complete no-go.) The cover really did come out exactly how I pictured it. Super happy.

Anyway, in this scene comp, Teen Spooky finally is able to fight his way through to Daniela, the little girl who'd been kidnapped. Check out what happens under the fold!

These pages were first published way back in March 2021 - May 2021. If you want to read the previous scene compilations (and, even better, read the whole first two chapters all at once), you can find them on the TYP:DC Scene Compilation Collection page. 

My DVD-style commentary is below the comic pages. And the pages themselves are full-resolution here on Patreon, so feel free to zoom-in! (Especially on that double-page spread!)

Time to save a sweet innocent!

 Ka-boom!

Adversaries great and small

This scene was leading up to the big moment with the cannon, and I wanted to bring the tension to a boiling point, so I loaded it with lots of simultaneous action. But the main challenges are that we have Shades trading shots with Spooky, and we have a sweet, innocent girl who refuses to be rescued. (Despite Spooky and Adam DeKraker creating that adorable teddy bear! How can she not be charmed?)

Her running away is a bit of a comedy beat during this tense scene, but many readers also took it as a clue. Is Daniela more than she appears to be? (What do you think? Is she?)

But comedy beat aside, I kept my foot on the gas pedal showing a pitched battle between Amanda and the minions, and Flyboy desperate to get to and disable that cannon!

Lots of tricky action

There's a lot going on here. And, to be honest, the main thing I remember about this scene is being concerned that the action might not read clearly. Let's take stock:

• the "no! stay away!" moment with the minion and the blue imp was meant to feel like a close call that the minion barely escaped from

• Shades had to (cleverly) co-opt a sticky cannon ball in flight to take out the dragon

• Amanda had to roll and dodge to avoid multiple minion blasts

• It needed to be clear that Spooky's magic is useless against the swordfish because it's surrounded by Shades's magic

• Finally, it was Mitch bumping into the cannon with his glowing arm that caused the explosion

Were these action beats going to be clear to the reader? Adam and I sure spent a lot of time on these pages trying to make that so. (Adam even included an arrow in one of the panels to connect a close-up of Shades with his wide shot.)

Reading this over now, I'm still not 100% sure we pulled it off. You can let me know in the comments what worked for you and what didn't. But I do think we did an okay job building the tension to a fever pitch to make that explosion feel like a culmination.

The Midpoint Pivot

Besides being a big, epic action set-piece, this scene also represents the midpoint of Double Cross, and from a plot structure point-of-view, it's always a good idea to throw in some new information, a "twist," at the midpoint to give you momentum into the second half of the story.

This is the beginning of that. The biggest twists in this scene are yet to come, but with this cannon explosion, we still get some important information. We see again how Mitch's blue glow can react explosively and since we now have two data points (it reacted explosively outside the church, too), readers can start drawing some conclusions about what is happening here.

Any guesses what might be causing it?

That was a question I was hoping folks might be asking themselves before we got into the even bigger reveals on the following pages...

Let me know what you think!

Anyway, while some cool things happen in this scene, it's what comes next that I was most excited to share with y'all at the time. But please let me know your own thoughts about this scene 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. Sharing these scenes with you helps remind me of how much I enjoy creating this story. And it's only possible because of your support.

I hope you all are doing well and had a great January. More soon!