Screen 1
ONE:
DRAKE and DRUM exchanging looks, as SABRE waits, much as before.
1. DRAKE: This key…
TWO:
DRAKE looking at SABRE. Measuring her, and her response.
2. DRAKE: …what makes it yours to claim?
3. SABRE: Aside from the fact that I have what it opens? Nothing at
all.
THREE:
SABRE, a little sexy, a little sassy, closer to DRAKE. DRAKE still as above.
4. SABRE: Don’t you want to know why men are willing to kill for
that little piece of metal?
5. SABRE: Don’t you want to know just what it unlocks?
FOUR:
Stet.
SABRE is amused.
6. DRAKE: Not particularly.
Screen 2
ONE:
SABRE shifts, arms folded. Looking at DRAKE with new eyes. She likes him more and more.
1. SABRE: Aren’t you just full of surprises.
2. SABRE: And what is it you do want, Marshal Miles Drake?
TWO:
DRAKE in FG, DRUM past him. DRUM is in silent, emphatic agreement, with Drake’s words.
And Drake means what he’s saying.
3. DRAKE: A man was murdered, a judge was bought, and the law
was made a whore.
4. DRAKE: If Darius Payne weren’t behind it, he knows who is.
THREE:
SABRE, still cocky, still swagger, maybe opening her arms to gesture, oh, that’s easy. Amused.
5. SABRE: I know who is, Marshal.
FOUR:
SABRE, more serious.
6. SABRE: Trust me when I say, you’re happier in the dark.
You know, this might the first time that the word “winsome” came to my mind when I thought about a character. I’m not if it’s enough to tug one off of one’s principles…but then again, if she had also just saved my life…
…I say this to say that this is a TREMENDOUSLY well executed sequence of pages. I mean, I know this is the “down time,” the calm AFTER the storm, the point at which we begin building toward our next climax, but WOW.
As someone who does this, ostensibly for a living, I can’t help but feel like this scene is a primer on how to do this right.
When you guys are writing and drawing, do you think about where the page turns are going to be in the trade? Or about which pages are going to be facing each other? Or are you focused on the web experience right now, where each page is essentially a page turn?
The movement from Sabre’s panel at the end of the previous page and Drake and Drum’s panels at the start of this one had me thinking about that.
Thanks for the work you’re putting into this. Very enjoyable. Really like that next to last panel. That is some classic comics right there, like something out of a John Severin comic.
I’ll go one further. Is the Sabre Team churning out two trade pages per release?
I like how hard core Drake is about the law. This makes Sabre’s flirting and his agreeing to ride-along even more interesting. I wonder if Sabre genuinely likes him, or if she’s just playing him? Drake doesn’t seem like the kind of man who can be played like that…then again, a pretty redhead can make any man weak at the knees.
I’m pretty excited that Payne could just be a pawn of some bigger bad, very cool…
Shouldn’t be if Payne “wasn’t”* behind it instead of “weren’t” behind it??
…Did you just grammar check a cowboy? Has it come to this?
Weren’t nothin’ wrong with Drake’s grammar nohow.
And actually, Drake has outstanding grammar. He’s using the (now rare) English subjunctive mood. If he were a modern American, he’d have said “was,” but he’s not – clearly he’s a man of some distinction.
Ah, but Drake is neither American nor even an Earthling. Drake, Sabre and all the rest are not held to the same grammatical scrutiny we are.
That line about the law was perfect
Drake does not seem the type to allow law breakers to remain unknown and not brought to JUSTICE.
Panel 2 of page 2 might be the first time we’ve seen Drum really serious. He usually has that half-smile fixed on his face.
Again, I can’t say enough how much I love this series. Silly detail question- the picture of the Pegasus on Lady Sabre’s wall… is that a photograph, or a painting?
I’d have to double-check with Rick on this, but my suspicion is that it’s a painting. In fact, I can even imagine who painted it. And it wasn’t Lady S.
Nice! I love how much detail you’ve poured into the setting. When you can answer questions like that, even if you haven’t thought about them ahead of time, but when you can look at something and just instinctively *know*… that tells a lot about how much time you’ve spent imagining this story. Thanks for responding!
Has anybody ever stopped questioning further when told they are better off not knowing?
I have been a Deputy Sheriff in Sumter County close to 28 years….
When I say “and the law was made a whore.”
And I hope to work it in soon with the same anger and dismay, how much do I owe you?
Consider it gratis for services rendered.
I’d have to check, but I’m pretty sure that if you actually say that to someone, it’s legally required that you be bumped up to full sheriff.
A man was murdered, a judge was bought, and the law
was made a whore.
If Darius Payne weren’t behind it, he knows who is.
I love this line!! I’ve rarely read a single line that seems to capture the core of what a character cares about. Bravo!