JL8 #10 - Creator Commentary

JL8 #10 by Yale Stewart

Originally published on January 18th, 2012

Wow. Originally published on my 24th birthday. I turn 34 in twelve days. Time really flies.

Moving on. This is my first strip "back" with a substantially larger audience than the strip prior, but I don't think it really had a significant impact on anything. I was already trying pretty hard to make each update the best I could, and that would only continue.

I like how much character development I was able to squeeze into these three panels. We get a pretty good idea of what kind of kids Clark, J'onn and Barry are from a mere four speech balloons, which is kind of neat.

J'onn frets because he's the shy new kid who has already unintentionally rocked the boat. Little does he know how much he'll rock it in the future, but J'onn going into Bruce's head was not a story idea I had at this point, so I'm not going to retcon and say that I was already planting seeds this early in the strip's run. J'onn's rather timid nature continues through the series, but we do see him start to grow into a more confident and assertive character at times.

Clark isn't "lying" so much as he a) believes in the best of Bruce, as well as b) he's wanting to comfort the new kid who's clearly stressing out. I also like to think the little glare he shoots Barry in the final panel is less "being called out" and more frustration that Barry doesn't also see Bruce the way he does.

And then there's Barry: frank, funny, and also fair. He does have a point, that it's maybe a little irresponsible to tell J'onn there's nothing to worry about when they all know Bruce is one to hold a grudge. He's also just dropping a one-liner, which becomes fairly common for his character. I don't actually know, but I imagine if you counted them all up, Barry would have the most one-liners of the entire series.

I've talked about it before, but I do have a fondness for the coloring approach on these early strips. It's 100% attributable to the fact that I really had no idea what I was doing, but I think there's something charming about it, and particularly true to the Silver Age aesthetic that I was originally aiming for but have since definitely gotten away from, to a degree of dismay.

It's also very clear that I still had no real idea of what 8-year-old life is like, because that classroom is very much designed more like a kindergarten than a third grade classroom.

That's it for today, but join me next Thursday for more commentary with JL8 #11! See you then!