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Young Wayne at Grady Orchard

« Wayne in the Northern lands‹ Wayne and Myra FineRicardo's planYoung Wayne at Grady Orchard ›Young Wayne at Grady Orchard »

Page 105

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Wayne’s musical vision, courtesy of what could perhaps be a redefined type of “command performance” by trombonist Myra Fine, settles in on a scene from his early youth. Here among the trees laced with Spanish moss (err… Silnai moss, that is), growing in spiraling pathways, are the dodecahedron-shaped fruits known as henchberries. A most controversial plant, the henchberry. But one that is deeply entwined with the cultural roots of the Silnai. Here amid the sun-dappled pathways, we see the cultivators of the henchberry orchards making their rounds, playing the rhythms that help the berries ripen. It gives me a deep joy to draw people beatboxing on behalf of berries.

Wayne refers to “Thirsty Coin” Grady as his mentor and his jourai sonsaiun. This is a Kuranai term (Kuranai being the name of the alligator-like people of whom Wayne and Thirsty Coin are both) that is explained in more depth about twenty pages from now, but in a rather broad stroke it refers to a particular type of mentor. Informally, jourai are addressed as aunt or uncle, although they aren’t blood relatives.

This is also a notable page because it’s the last page of Zoonbats that has been published in any form – it was the final page of the ninth issue of the series of blue minis. And that ninth issue had a pretty limited print run compared to all the previous ones. So, that’s pretty exciting… beginning with next week’s page, everyone will be seeing pages that have never been seen before.

Page 106

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The Grady Orchard in West Sunnh looks like a great place! And here’s our best look yet at this mysterious and powerful fruit, the henchberry.

Unfortunately, the pastoral recollections are short-lived, as strange things are afoot in the orchard in the middle of the night.

Page 107

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Well, the Shinma Domestic Security force has shown up in the middle of the night to the Grady Orchard. That’s reassuring, isn’t it? Keeping things secure and all. Probably not here to enjoy some henchberry pie, judging by how they’re dressed.

Working with this particular style of hatching has its advantages and disadvantages. But on this page and the next few pages I think the real action occurs with the solid blacks, the shadows that are spreading out toward young Wayne and enveloping him in each panel. On second thought, it kind of bums me out thinking about it like that.

Page 108

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Some fast thinkin’ in the middle of the night! Things aren’t looking so great, but the crew at the Grady Orchard is going to sort things out.

There aren’t too many pages featuring this setting, but I enjoyed trying to add the little details that make it a lived-in space, a home. Really there could be a whole lot more of that sort of thing. Sometimes it’s hard to balance that sort of stuff with the composition of the characters in the panels, word balloons and so on. It can become visually confusing, especially with a limited color palette. But, what fun to try. Drawing is a joy, ominous flashback sequence aside.

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