Sneak Preview Sundays #2 (Patreon)

Flyboy's popularity as a character caught me off-guard. Don't get me wrong—I write every character with the hope that folks find them appealing, and people were certainly supposed to like the youngest member of The Young Protectors. But a bunch of readers especially connected with him, cheering his appearances on the page, and wanting to learn more about him. There's definitely something compelling about the cool, confident, totally together hero, who knows just what to say and when to say it—it's who a lot of us want to be and Spooky Jones, who fits that bill the closest, seems to be the most popular character for that reason (and others). But I think there's also something really compelling about a character who hasn't got it all figured out yet, who still has a lot to learn, but has tons of heart. That's true from a reader perspective, but also from my perspective as a writer, and the special connection so many readers have with Flyboy has encouraged me to expand his role in the story both for the Engaging the Enemy arc, but also for the next arc of The Young Protectors I have in mind. My initial note that I sent to Adam for the Flyboy Romance card said: "I'm not 100% sure what I want here, but I could see him playing with a paper airplane, perhaps flying after it. Or he could be floating in the air along with a computer, keyboard and mouse." I also asked for the tone to be "upbeat." I was a little vague for this one, because I wanted the piece to be connected to his powers and perhaps also to his interests (he is "the computer expert"), but I also wanted it to feel like the kind of posed pin-up of a celebrity that a teenager might have in their bedroom. For the first pass, Adam sent me Flyboy reclining at his chair at TYP HQ, looking at the computer, along with this note: "I was thinking for the Flyboy piece that I might want to add in some of the paper planes as you suggested. Maybe in his right hand he has one about to throw, but he clearly got distracted by what's on the screen before he throws it. An additional 'grounded' paper plane or two on the floor around him?" I liked the idea of Flyboy throwing paper airplanes in the office as being a fun way to connect him to his superhero identity, so I gave that the thumbs up and suggested capturing the image after he had thrown the paper airplane and even including a few more paper airplanes already in the air. I also added that I wanted him looking at us, because on a gut level, that just felt like the right thing for this kind of "posed and staged" shot, a look that would create a connection between the viewer and the character (and, after seeing how well that worked here, the direct gaze became the default for all the Romance Card art). The images attached to this post are the approved thumbnail sketch (the "thumb") and the final pencils. You can see that while the thumb is still rough, it's definitely more polished than Fluke's thumb. Now that we had one of these under our belts, Adam was becoming more confident about how these should look. And one thing that's particularly interesting about the difference between the thumb and the pencils is the change in Flyboy's expression. In the thumb, Adam definitely took my note for "upbeat", that smile is almost kid-like. But when Adam rendered the pencils, he went with a look that spoke much more to Mitch's maturity. To me, this felt a lot more engaging—it's not quite a Mona Lisa smile, but there definitely some real inner life going on behind those eyes; he's looking even more directly at us and you want to ask "What is he thinking?" I feel that expression really helps sell this as an image that might be used for a celebrity pin-up. And it also speaks to the fact that Mitch does have a real maturity and depth about him, possibly even more than some of his older teammates. I thought the expression change did all the right things and gave the change my enthusiastic approval. Mitch does have layers to him, and I look forward to sharing more about him as the comic pages continue. :) So, that's a sneak preview of Flyboy's Romance Card art. I hope you like it and hearing about how it came together. Please let me know what you think in the comments! Next week, we'll see a sneak preview for the Romance Card art for Spooky Jones! :)