Far Out There

This was one fun page to do, which is good since it was done in the midst of sheer panic over how much I stuff for Otakon wasn’t (and still isn’t) done yet.

I always like any chance to see Layla NOT acting jaded and mature beyond her years. This is the first time we’ve seen her just hanging out with another girl her age, so this could be a rare glimpse of what Layla would be like as just a normal KID! I also like this sudden burst of theatrics from Tabitha. I guess she’s more her father’s daughter than she cares to admit, eh?

(Historical Notes: Okay, I defended Tabitha acting out of character while in the company of her Dad, but these scenes between her and Layla are much harder to look past.  In fact, it’s specifically her interactions with Layla that CAUSED Tabitha to turn out the way she eventually would.  I liked the idea of Layla having another girl to hang out with, but also knew they seemed waaaaay too similar for that to work right.  Thus, Tabitha changed to be a direct counterpart to Layla.  The obvious change is visual, from de-emphasizing the shared bangs and thick eyelashes to making Tabitha tall and skinny in contrast to Layla being short and buxom (the later was actually exaggerated to make the contrast stronger) but the personality changed too.  If Layla’s constantly cynical and grumpy, then Tabitha’s going to be wide-eyed and exuberant.  If Layla doesn’t smile very often, Tabitha’s gonna smile CONSTANTLY.  And vice-versa, if Layla turns out to have a soft and cuddly side deep down, then Tabitha has an exasperated grouch deep down that only her Dad can bring to the surface.  But that just brings us back around to how weird it is to see that exasperated grouch ALL THE TIME in these early pages.)