An actual heist in the heist comic!
Issue 1, page 14
I don't know a lot of comic book artists who like drawing backgrounds. You don't get into sequential art because you like drawing static imagery, I guess. Most classic comics reflect this notion. Even genius level talents like Kirby and Eisner didn't pack every panel with tons of background detail. Then the 90s came along and those Image guys started drawing all the things and ruined it for the rest of us.
2005 Tim did not have time or the inclination to put that level of detail. Earlier Reckless Life arcs solved this mostly by having shitty backgrounds. That's a choice, I suppose. Third Wheel is where I figured out I can imply a lot of background detail using something I do enjoy and that's abstract design. This page is a great example. If you look at this page there isn't much in the way of background detail. It's just a lot of shapes but it's clearly a parking garage full of cars even though I barely drew any cars.
This wasn't just me being lazy either. This way of ding things allowed me to crank out three completed pages a week while working full time and going out with my friends on Friday and Saturday nights. That's not bad and I'm pretty sure the Reckless Life fans at the time would rather have another update per week to keep the story moving rather than another car drawn in great detail.
Issue 1, page 15
After another quick "I don't want to draw this parking garage" panel we get to some cool "I don't want to draw this building" panels. Again, I think it works. Scale is established by Locke looking up with the wind in his hair rather than drawing every window on this presumably tall building. This keeps the focus on the character as well. (Excuses!)
I'm not sure if silenced c-4 is a thing. Knowing 2005 Tim it's probably something he saw on 24. Either way I like Locke talking with his mouth full.
No, YOU, shut up, Jack Bauer.
Issue 1, Page 16
Yes, Locke is tire of laser grid sequences in heist stories too. They're fun to draw though so I jammed one in AND made a joke out of it. Yes, even when I'm criticizing my choices in this arc they're still somehow self-congratulatory. I'd been doing RL for years at this point and I was self-aware enough to know when I was making a wrote choice and if I was going to do that I'd at least let the reader know that I did it on purpose.
Issue 1, Page 17
The nice part of doing a heist with an unseen second party is when I feel like I've done enough heist stuff I can just have the other character remove obstacles off-camera.
I'm pleased to see that at this point in the series I can actually draw lock sitting at a desk. That's another thing a lot of (super hero) comic book artists struggle with -- naturalistic poses. We're all raised on punching and yelling and it's hard to draw people doing normal stuff as a result because we don't have as much practice at it.
To end the week here's another effective use of cloning a panel in photoshop. The gag works well AND it keeps the production train moving.
NEXT TIME: The escape sequence!