DISTRESSED DAMSELS: "THE TROUBLE WITH EMERALD," part 4! (Patreon)

[Link to our previous installment in this series.]

Note that I changed the title of this goofy little pseudo-story effort to The Trouble with Emerald from the previous We Have an Emerald Problem, as I found the former a tad punchier.

So!

I've been trying to think of something to do with the various DiD sketch sets I have kicking around that feature backup superheroine Emerald, who appears as basically a dark-haired, maskless variation on Emp's tattered-suit design (and modern-era  physique) from Empowered. Technically, the character predates Emp as a DiD commission subject by quite some time, but that's another story I'll address at a later date (well, maybe).

Recently, my ever-mercurial muse abruptly informed me of a wacky yet strangely compelling narrative concept into which I could twist and repurpose the Emerald sketch sets. I can tell you, dear readers, that this approach to a suspiciously distress-prone superdamsel will wind up treading rather different teritory than Empowered, though conveyed via similarly heavy (if not even heavier) doses of cheesecake.

Much like some of the earlier Rose & Lily sets, this non-comic story format will feature mostly random DiD sketches slathered on with plenty of new text conveying the narrative proper, such as it is.

Previous installments established, via the narration of conspiracy-theorizing supervillain Deathmasque, that distress-prone  heroine Emerald was by far the favorite "superhottie" of the so-called "dark-cape community"—to a possibly anomalous if not inexplicable degree.

I'm very short on time right now, so let's get straight into the action, as these new pages continue Deathmasque narrating an incident based on several famous Spider-Woman issues from the 70s, which have been the basis of many such damsel-y commissions on my part:

A previous set of now-outta-Emerald-continuity(!) pages covered the Hanging Jusge's disappearance, in case this seems familiar.

And now, we move on to supposed video of a distressing Emerald encounter with "Mister Magnetik," which similarly is riffing on an old Marvel incident pitting the Invisible Girl against Magneto (ehh, somewhere around Fantastic Four #102-04 in 1970, looks like; couldn't find a convenient link), which I'd likewise done a commission or two based on:

The distress continues with plenty of supervillainous gloating, before Deathmasque again cuts in:

For the record, these last few pages were old pose roughs for an unused Empowered sequence, which I worked up and repurposed t'other day with Emerald tweaks and text. Alas, we're getting no closer the first Big Reveal of what the hell's going on in the "Emeraldverse" with these pages, but I hope these sketchy reworks might tide the DiD crowd over for a bit; plus, TBH, working with my recently discovered and already beloved 8B pencil leads(!) for an hour or two was a welcome respite from beating my head against the wall with art tests on The Chaste and the Chained and failing on the ol' Wacom Cintiq.

Wellp, maybe in our next Emerald update, I can actually advance the narrative a tad? Mayhap yea, mayhap nay, dear Patrons!

NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: No idea, TBH, but something should be coming up in the next M/W/F slot. Let's find out together, shall we? 

UPDATE: In fact, Monday's just-scheduled post will feature the first of a (possible) series of essays re: perfectionism run amuck (or amok, if you prefer) in my creative process, illustrated with comics examples old and new(er). Yay? Note also that today's post was originally slotted to be a Failed-Project Friday feature wrapping up that three-part look my long-term Iron Man plans circa 2005, but I'm punting that sucker into next week (and month) at the the earliest.