Hardcore

[Wanderwolf]

*style critique*
Ralph, are you sequencing the film panels this way to avoid having to get references for the actual scene? The symphathy might have worked better if you added a bit more smugness to the terrorist, because he's indulging on the concept that his work is inevitable, that no incident could stop it. Therefore the sudden apprehension he gets by Nip is too soon to start with. I would have added a panel before that characterising the radical muslim in his full arrogance. How about that? Actually Wolfie, it looks like the guy is taking the burn rather well, or the text for the scream should be louder...

*/style critique*

I chalk both text size and sequencing up to the limited drawing area of the strip. RH works in a specific size, as a rule, much like professional (by which I mean "syndicated") comic artists. Leaving out the panel borders allows him more room, while the positioning of the artwork (left corner/right center/bottom center) guides the eye from the first panel all the way down to the audience at the bottom of the frame.

As for the text size, he can't really make it much bigger without interfering in the positioning of section 3. Part of Nip is behind the terrorist, part of Nip is behind his text balloon; increasing the size of the terrorist's scream would throw off proportion and the position of the "Let me clear y'all up on somethin'..." text balloon. (Besides, the terrorist already has a balloon in section 3, as he whimpers about his eye.)

Of course, I'm only guessing.

Yours with no artistic talent,

The art-loving,

Wanderer

P.S.: Wolfie? Why, thank you.

[T.s.a.o]

I just was too tired to write "Wanderwolf," so I took the next best guess.
Ungh, I'm doing this essay on 'Frida,' and now I can't look at the panel anymore, but I meant what I'm guessing to be the 'second' panel-although I could say that he didn't have enough beath to actually scream, but then wouldn't that mean he was in too much shock to talk anyway? Either way it's the first panel that's throwing everybody on edge, the amount of malice isn't balanced between the characters-

*style critique*
Ralph, are you sequencing the film panels this way to avoid having to get references for the actual scene? The symphathy might have worked better if you added a bit more smugness to the terrorist, because he's indulging on the concept that his work is inevitable, that no incident could stop it. Therefore the sudden apprehension he gets by Nip is too soon to start with. I would have added a panel before that characterising the radical muslim in his full arrogance. How about that? Actually Wolfie, it looks like the guy is taking the burn rather well, or the text for the scream should be louder...

*/style critique*

I chalk both text size and sequencing up to the limited drawing area of the strip. RH works in a specific size, as a rule, much like professional (by which I mean "syndicated") comic artists. Leaving out the panel borders allows him more room, while the positioning of the artwork (left corner/right center/bottom center) guides the eye from the first panel all the way down to the audience at the bottom of the frame.

As for the text size, he can't really make it much bigger without interfering in the positioning of section 3. Part of Nip is behind the terrorist, part of Nip is behind his text balloon; increasing the size of the terrorist's scream would throw off proportion and the position of the "Let me clear y'all up on somethin'..." text balloon. (Besides, the terrorist already has a balloon in section 3, as he whimpers about his eye.)

Of course, I'm only guessing.

Yours with no artistic talent,

The art-loving,

Wanderer

P.S.: Wolfie? Why, thank you.

[EdBecerra]

RH, I'm not so sure if Terrorism really works.

Right! It had no effect on the governments of Spain or France, did it?

Well, it works on weak-willed, cowardly governments. ...It's yet to have any effects on the government of Israel, beyond pissing them off.

Which is why the French government lives in fear of it.

[Wanderwolf]

I just was too tired to write "Wanderwolf," so I took the next best guess.

Good guess. My actual online name is Wanderer, but there's already a Wanderer registered on these boards. Calling me Wolfie is nice, though.

Ungh, I'm doing this essay on 'Frida,' and now I can't look at the panel anymore, but I meant what I'm guessing to be the 'second' panel-although I could say that he didn't have enough beath to actually scream, but then wouldn't that mean he was in too much shock to talk anyway? Either way it's the first panel that's throwing everybody on edge, the amount of malice isn't balanced between the characters-

An essay on Frida Kahlo? I admit, I've never been a big fan of her work. She always painted herself so blasted masculine, you couldn't really tell it was the same person you'd seen in the photographs. And let's not go into "A Few Little Nips"... ick. Still, the critics liked her, and she has a devoted following, even now. <shrug> So what do I know about art?

But I do agree: The panel as presented doesn't give us a clear balance between the terrorist's emotion and Nip's character's actions. It's unavoidable, of course, given the constraints of the medium, but it still jars to see Nip Tod (or at least the character he plays in the movie) burning someone's eye out with a cigarette when you haven't actually seen the guy in the chair do anything.

This is actually a common problem in action movies: The captured bad guy can't be the Big Bad, or the movie would slow down a lot. If it's a major flunky, you remove some of the hero's later opposition. That means you're stuck with a low-level flunky who hasn't actually had much screen time, and thus hasn't been shown doing much (if anything) that the audience can hate him for. For that reason, captured flunkies typically do something stupid like spit on the hero, to establish that they're mean, evil people. That sets up the moment when the hero beats the bad guy bloody: The bad guy has lost the initial sympathy new characters get, while the hero's been shown to be a Good Guy in previous scenes. Thus, the hero can beat the bad guy bloody, and the audience understands perfectly. In a comic strip like "Nip and Tuck", you don't get the setup, which throws the psychological moment out the window.

Yours analytically,

The moviegoing,

Wanderer