All you people who’ve said you’re reading Alexander II for the plot, this one’s for you. See, I was over halfway through when I realized this issue had no sex. I was also a little short on page count, so I was able to insert the scene with Britt. But still, it’d almost be SFW without that page and Alexander’s inadequate pants (and, if you look closely, Terror Volt falling out of her top).

One of my peeves with comics is that since the 90s fights have become just a series of splash pages and posturing. You can barely even tell what powers characters have. I’ve been reading 70s and 80s Avengers and Legion, and there were actual tactics and fight choreography and clever stunts – stuff the various DC animated series did well, too. I knew the Companions were going to throw down with Overwatch at some point, and I wanted it to be more than a couple of splash pages; I wanted you to see how these people use what they have. Which is how “Operation Grizzly” turned into a two-parter, and how the action pushed the sex out of a porn comic.

Technically, this issue pushed me. DAZ Studio is missing some of the tools I absolutely needed to do some of my special effects. So for every shot of Aurora, I had to do the equivalent of adding CGI to my “live” shot, to get her plasma effects. A lot of stuff gets broken, so I learned to use Blender’s fracture modifiers and particle systems to blow things up and make debris. There are a few panels rendered entirely in Blender; I’m curious if you can tell which ones. I’ve used Blender to make assets before, but this was my first foray into compositing Blender and DAZ Studio renders together. I hope it’s convincing. Honestly I’d like to do all my renders in Blender, but I can’t manage to get skin materials I’m happy with, especially starting from DAZ figures (and I’m not ready to tackle learning to rig in Blender).

SPOILER WARNING: I’m going to talk about some of the plotting decisions I made this issue. Stop now and go read the issue.

Cloud 9 was another thing that came to a head this issue. I’d envisioned her as Brainiac to Alexander’s Luthor, but the further I went the more I realized that the Brainiac-Luthor team isn’t all that interesting. She was a good vehicle for exposition, but there just wasn’t enough character there. So I decided to let her go, and let losing her as an asset be a driver for future problems.

Also this issue, you get some sense of how powerful Cleopatra is, and why power hasn’t been enough. She can transmute any non-living matter, but she let herself get drawing into a dogfight where she had nothing to work with. On the other team, Midnight got to show why he’s a force to be feared, taking out Brainchild and Solitaire while standing off Hong Hua.

Anyway, a peek behind the scenes. As always, looking forward to your comments!