The Night After Axemas Annotated 7
Those boys are probably in shock in the first frame there, but there’s a good chance they’ll be okay in the long run–a little paranoid about things that go bump in the night, maybe, but that seems only sensible.
I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating that second panel. Scipio’s mouth is almost perfectly a straight line there, but something about it… maybe the eyes, maybe the soft colors, maybe just the context… makes it seem like an obvious smile to me. But then I look again and I can’t quite be sure he’s not maintaining his reserve. It’s like one of those face-vase images.
With regard to the offer of fame, Scipio’s reserve seems clearer, but it’s not clear how much of that reserve is something he decides to have. He lived for the crowd’s approval when he was younger and that hunger led him to some bad situations. It’s possible that as a result, he genuinely does not care about anyone remembering him, but it’s also possible he just doesn’t want to let himself care. Hey, if your gimmick is being laconic, you got to maintain a little mystery, sometimes even in the eyes of your creators.
It might just be me, but the comic appears to be missing.
Not just you, it’s missing for me too.
Not only is the comic missing, the title is wrong too!
Well I can see the comic just fine, but the date on your comments are all off by a month!
I see the same thing, Jason. Comments a month old…zombie comments?!?
Anyway T, I see Scipio smiling in panel 2 as well, so it’s not just you.
I can see the smile as well. But I can also see how it’d be hard to tell.
Waltrip Wizardry, don’t even ask how it works, it drove stronger men to madness.
Scipio is definitely smiling just a little in panel 2 at a good deed well done. Given his base state of total reticence, that is practically a grin by his standards.
The eyebrows.
It’s the shading on the cheeks, it gives him dimples.
His mouth may be a straight line, but his eyes and cheeks are in full smile.
There’s literally a pixel higher than the others at the corner of his mouth. That’s how you know he’s smiling.