Initially, the plan for Emby was comic using strictly black and white ink with narrative-driven elements of color. However, as I was cleaning up the pages for digital presentation, I began experimenting with subtle shading techniques for added depth. On this page, I decided to incorporate a little soft shading, similar to page 11 – “Just trust me”. One theme you’ll find in The Emby Chronicles is elements being added over time, so the comic feels like it’s evolving along with Emily as her journey unfolds. Now, let’s continue…
Em is sparring. JC is typing, and panicking over whether or not to message ‘Em on the Link. It’s only been a few hours… is that too obsessive?? We’re Link buds now, it’s no big deal… right??
JC is excited to share more of her tech and asks Em to bring defensive gear tomorrow… aaand pop! right to the cheek. Whoops!
Hey! Look! The Lynk is green! Emily and JC are officially friends! in the city of Metro Bay, denizens have opted for a more active lifestyle, ditching phones in favor of a new wearable device. Wonder what else it can do?
With this page, I wanted to play with the panel norms and have JC subtly “breaking” the borders as the reader follows the dialog. I sort of achieved that, with her looking up in top panel at Emily climbing down from the cafe rooftop, looking down in middle panel at Em as she’s re-tying her shoes, and finally her pulled back coat sleeve revealing a wristband similar to Emily’s… Oh and hey! Now they’re formally introduced. ^^
“This is my robot!” Emily’s way of saying she’s about to show off her passion! I wanted to keep a continuous flow of Em’s acrobatics and verticality, as well as maintain focus on the alleyway, so I decided on a large page spread of movement, capturing her at every pivot. As the comic goes on, I’ll be playing with perspectives and maintaining this format whenever Em is traversing the city’s topography to try and convey her daring maneuvers. ^^
After JC impressed Emily with her tech, Em was eager to strut her own stuff! So she asks JC to pick a high spot. A high spot? Umm ok… Turns out Em likes a spontaneous challenge! She takes JC up on it, and preps to strut her stuff. On this page, I added a little shading on Em’s tank top and her close-up face in post. I liked the way it turned out and so future pages will have more shading as a result!
Here we have JC showing off what’s she’s all about! Cybernetic research is her jam, and this prototype is the tip of her research’s iceberg. Em is clearly excited to see where this goes!
JC is coming out of her shell and wants to show Emily firsthand what she’s been working on. Fun fact: when I first inked this page, it dawned on me that Em was much bigger than the Bunny Brews door lol. Sooo the window had a redo. Stretched to the right, and the interior was redrawn. Did I nail it? 😀
JC and Em’s meetups have become routine. JC decides it’s time to pick Em’s brain a little and see what makes her tick. I liked drawing this page – it was a fun exercise figuring out a way to make series of panels of two women chatting at a cafe booth come across more entertaining than just chatting, so I showed this through Em’s body language and JC’s hand gestures and subtle head tilt. We’re about to leave Bunny Brews, so stay tuned!
On this page, my first idea was to redraw the first few pages all over again – albeit with slight differences in facial expressions and dialog – to emphasize the routine they’ve established. Then, as I began drawing that first rehashed page, I decided it would be a nice change to instead incorporate some inner monologue from JC while still presenting the main page from that first day at Bunny Brews, this time with Emily waving to JC.
