Comet, Krypto, Beppo & Streaky: Mourning a Fallen Friend
This morning, I put the finishing touches on this commission — a tribute piece featuring Comet, Krypto, Beppo, and Streaky mourning the loss of a rather unfortunate Proty.
The inks took a little longer than expected, mostly because I decided to go about 90% brush on this one. I love working with brush — it gives a warmth and depth you just can’t replicate — but for my regular comic pages, I usually lean on a brush pen to save time. The line quality isn’t quite the same on board, though once scanned, it’s barely noticeable. Still, for this piece, I wanted the best possible finish, so I took my time with every stroke.
The background, though — that’s where I wrestled a bit. The final version didn’t stray much from my original sketch, but once I started spotting the blacks, I worried it might feel too flat. I slept on it, then the next morning tried a few experiments on a printed copy — a splatter technique to gray out the background. (If I’d had some zipatone handy, I probably would’ve gone that route!)
The splatter just didn’t work the way I envisioned, so I went back to the basics — added some subtle texture by hand, softened the blacks, and suddenly everything clicked. Sometimes, the simplest solution really is the best.
You’ll notice that when the video starts, the typography outlines are already inked in — I like to handle those early on, because if something goes wrong there, it’s easier to start fresh before diving into the rest.
