Broken Frontier

Inside Look is Broken Frontier's director’s commentary-like feature in which creators take you behind the scenes of one of their latest comics to hit the stands. In this edition: Michael Malkin on Complex #1. The book's artist, Kay, also chimes in with some quotes on the artistic process.

Welcome back for part 2 of our inside look at Complex. If you haven’t had the opportunity to read Complex #2 yet you can do so in the embed above.

If you would like more information on Complex or to read new issues as they are released you can go to http://www.readingcomplex.com or http://www.impulsiveideas.com

Page One

Malkin: The expectation coming into the second issue is that we are going to continue where the first issue left off. However, I wanted to play with this idea by setting issue 2 about 5 minutes before the beginning of the first issue.

In panel one we see the exterior of the van. It has a hand-painted Rod of Asclepius. This is an ancient greek precursor to the more widely known medical symbol the Caduceus and implies that the people inside are doctors. It also references the Greek God Asclepius. Greek and Roman mythological figures and symbols will be important for the remainder of the series and this is their first appearance.

Kay came up with the rear-view mirror shot in the last panel and also love the expressions in Panel three -- I am comfortable writing the silent panels because Kay’s facial expressions and storytelling are so strong.

Kay: Inking is laborious and solitary work, so I usually listen to audio books or comic book podcasts. I think I was in the middle of an interview with Kim Deitch while I was inking the cover. It could be the reason why it turned out somewhat offbeat!

I felt more confident with my style and characters here. I was particularly happy with panel 5. Granted, it’s just a variation on one of Wally Wood’s “22 panels that always work”, but I thought it was nice.

Page Two

Malkin: Here on page two you can see in the first panel that this is the same house from the first issue. The reveal of Zach in the last panel should be the moment where most people have a light go off and realize that this is taking place immediately before the events of the first issue.

I was originally thinking of putting a “10 minutes earlier...” caption on the first panel -- but ultimately decided not to, trusting the readers to suss that out on their own.

This is also the first time we are introduced to the concept of Towne being a home to “broken things.” This is a metaphor, but is an important clue to discern the purpose of Towne and the project.

Kay:  One of the challenges was depicting night without inking the sky black every time. I hope the shadows and silhouettes do the job, although I’m still curious what a colorist would add to the mix. Think we can get Hollingsworth to do it?

Page Three

Malkin: Amber is first mentioned in Panel three. She is a very important character to the narrative and we will see more of her in future issues. (Note: I also love how Kay shrouded Jason in shadows here -- it added an additional foreboding to the panel)

Notice how startled Helen is in panel four. Amber is a source of great fear and awe for Helen and the other members of the project.

We are also introduced to the concept that Zach and Helen will be playing at being a married couple during the series and that sets up the tension of the series and the previous issue.

Kay: Again, I can only hope I did Michael’s script justice here. (Enough with the subtle emotions, man - give me some dragons to draw!)

Page Four

Malkin: Philip & Amelia. Amelia & Philip. They are your classic foils to Zach and Helen. They have been in Towne for quite a long time and their relationship is very similar to that of Zach and Helen.

Philip has slowly realized over time that something is wrong in Towne and that has caused tension between him and Amelia and has also led to Philip becoming more and more of a trouble maker.

While in a much smaller scene -- notice how ineffective Amelia is at calming and controlling Philip versus what Helen did to Zach in the first issue.

Kay: Michael leaves me a lot of freedom, so I can get away with panels like the first one. If there’s an intense inner drama instead of dragons in the story, one of the ways to convey it is dynamic layouts of seemingly ordinary scenes. It’s a great joy for an artist to work on the script that’s not “artistproof”.

I wish I’d done concept art for Philip and Amelia though. I admit I just dived into it without thinking the characters through.

Page Five

Malkin: Ring knockout. We saw the syringe ring in the first issue and it is apparently standard issue to the wives in Towne.

Jason’s dialogue in panel six implies that this drop off was a planned event and that no one should be out and about during this drop off. How is this information communicated? Stay tuned for future issues...

Kay: “Show, don’t tell” – it works well even when the artwork is not so strong!

Page Six

Malkin: Jason sends the other man over to help Amelia get Philip back into bed so they can finish their assignment. This should seem like a throw away line and moment -- ultimately inconsequential to the plot, but the next issue is entirely built around the interaction between Amelia and the other man.

Kay also came up with the layout for the last panel. It was originally just a 3/4 overhead shot -- but Kay smartly made the snow globe the focal point of the panel.

From a story standpoint we can see that everything in that bedroom was put in place literally moments before Zach wakes up at the start of the first issue. Also notice that the dialogue in the last panel of this page appears on the first page of the first issue. My hope is that the first two issues would become like a loop that you read issue 1, then two, then 1 again and that everything interplays together.

Kay: The last panel was changed at the last moment, and while the perspective might be a bit off, here’s hoping the idea behind the layout is interesting enough to get you thinking.

Page Seven

Malkin: Not much to say about this page -- except for I really like the window reflection in the last panel. We also learn Jason’s name for the first time.

Kay:  Looking back, it’s strange to see some Ernie Colon in panel 2. He’s another favorite of mine (and one of the most underrated artists ever, by the way). Funny how it comes to surface even when you don’t plan it to.

Page Eight

Malkin: For this page I actually wanted to include the panel description from the script, as it captures best what this panel is supposed to be:

We see a shot of Helen. It is a close up of her face -- the rest of the room is behind her -- Zach is lying on the bed next to her. She is standing. She has a look on her face theta you would expect to see from an elite athlete like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant -- absolute determination and confidence. Outside the bay window we can see a pretty large lightning bolt fill the sky -- lighting the side of her face.

Helen: I'm ready.

Also, note that the BOOM sound effect both closes issue 2 and opens issue 1, playing into the loop concept I talked about earlier. The BOOM will make one more appearance in the next issue.