Evolution of a Comic Book Cover (Patreon)

Here we see the work I did on the cover to StH#217.

When doing a cover, I always start with several thumbnail sketches, showing several different ideas. This one happened to have 7, which is more than usual. The story theme was "Thicker than Water" which refers to Bunnie's Uncle, who runs an oil refinery for Dr. Eggman. So, oil was a natural direction to go with the visuals. Once I have a few ideas down, the editor and I decide which one is best to move forward with.

As you'll see, the first draft of the pencils had Sonic a little smaller in the frame and not looking in too much peril. So, I zoomed in on him a bit and had him really grimacing in the second draft.

We thought maybe that was a little TOO gruesome, so you'll see my final, more toned down expression in the inks. And then we have Matt Herms' slick (pun intended) colors. I thought it would be fun to have the logo covered in oil too, so I worked up that addition to the logo, and I was happy they ended up using that as well.

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