That's Just Plane Crazy Part 5

Air Raid Robertson on Nov. 23, 2010

This page finishes off the “That's Just Plane Crazy” story. I went through a couple of different ideas for how the final page would go before I settled on the version posted above.

One thing that irked me was how this story would fit into the overall continuity of Air Raid Robertson. “That's Just Plane Crazy” doesn't really function all that well with the other stories, but I still thought that it worked well enough on its own. I was prepared to just let it stand as it is. I consider characterization and plots to be more important than some kind of self-important mythology.

It then came to me to make this story a dream sequence. I know that's the ultimate cop-out move, but doing this allowed me to have my cake and eat it too. Besides, I'm not using “it was all a dream” to undo a major character's death or anything.

When I laid out this page I was immediately happy with it. I usually don't mess around with the panel borders in my comics. It tends to look ostentatious and forced when other artists mess around with the panel borders. In many cases they seem to be doing it solely for the sake of doing it. I never try any stunts with my drafting or artwork unless it serves the story in some kind of way.

On this page it makes narrative sense to have the top panel appear with a cloudy thought bubble as its border. I think it fits very well and I'm happy to do it.

I also enjoyed the opportunity to throw a splash of color on this page. I've been doing a lot of black and white pages lately. I love black and white comics, but I do think it's high time to bring some vibrant colors back to Air Raid Robertson. They really reinforce the intended tone of this series.

I took the time to go back and look at the coloring scheme for Air Raid Robertson's bedroom. For some reason it was very important to me that I keep the colors the same. I'm sure that nobody would've noticed, but that's just the way it is.