I wanted to explore more mediums that might help me with staging and composition. An obvious source would be looking at Comics themselves. Comics are key examples of staging and composition as artists have to manage their arts around panels in the comic, making sure all the relevant information is visible and flows naturally for the story to work well.
In this post, I want to explore some Panels from the comic book The Wicked + The Divine. James McKelvie has paired up with, writer, Kieron Gillen on several projects up until this point. But this recent series, a favourite of mine, has some great page layouts and compositions and I would like to specifically look at scenes where characters are together is meeting like scenarios having heated conversations.
WIC+DIV 1920s
From Issue 1 of Wic+Div we have this great flashback sequence where the Pantheon meets around the table. The scene is fascinating as these godlike characters face their deaths. (TBC)
WIC+DIV 1830s
In a special issue, French artist Stephanie Hans took over as the artist to deliver beautiful illustrative pages of the Pantheon in 1831 as they once again meet around a table discussing their mortality. The setting is a secluded manor house in Geneva where the few remaining gods spend their final weeks alive before their two weeks is up.
The Scene is tense as the remaining gods discuss their past histories and relations with one another. And we gain insight into some of the fates of the other gods in a nice segment from Lucifer.
However, for me, the focus here will be the relationship between the two gods Woden and Innana. Before becoming gods they were half-sister, which came with its own trials, but after becoming gods their worlds change for the worst.
Woden’ s presence through the scene is intense. Her growing frustration with her Godhood and imminent death are only a fraction of her heartache during the scene. Hans captures a woman done with the world as she has tried several times to have a child only for all of them to die mysteriously. Even with all her power she clearly feels hopeless.
She takes her frustration out on her sister as she feels Innana doesn’t grasp their situation.
Firstly Innana describes her and her sister’s story before becoming gods. Clearly, there’s some attitude behind her words. Her delicate gestures seem to hide this competitive nature between the two.
What I also like during this scene is how Lucifer interjects the conflict by fleshing out the world slightly. He informs the viewer, unintentionally, of the fates of several others gods as they all died mysteriously. Its a nice bit of world building that adds to the mystery of why the gods never seem to survive their full two years.
Here Hans makes a style changes opting for more minimal colours, emphasising the use of red to really sell the sinister nature of the flashbacks.
And here are just some groups shots I like compositionally where they depict the full cast during their discussions. I enjoy the conflict clearly heating up between the sisters.
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Bandersnatch Designs 