Unused Mike/Ball-Peen strip round-up (Patreon)

First, above:  Everyone knows this one!  I thought focusing on Amazi-Girl's eyeline to Blaine was the most important, so I used a closer shot, but apparently I needed to zoom out more to show how Blaine's legs were positioned so we saw how he wasn't falling over.  Whoops.

Next up:

Before publication, there wasn't any dialogue in the first panel above because I liked the idea of this silent moment where he rears back with his hammer.  But after drawing all the rest of the strips that followed, it didn't really match the rhythm, and so I went back and added in more dialogue.  Which I'm glad for, because I liked highlighting the different-yet-similar ways Blaine and Amber think of their respective masks.  

Next: I thought Amazi-Girl's punch in the final panel was kind of limp, even for a fight in which she's textually not 100% hate-engaged, so I redrew it before publication.

This next change is the one I anguished the most over.  The two non-flashback panels are... I consider them pretty perfect.  One-two they tell a good story, and it's Amber's story.  But they don't fit as well into the over-all arc of the fight narrative.  First of all, we need to be focusing on Mike, and second -- if he's gonna jump Blaine, we need to believe that he believes Amazi-Girl's in trouble.  She can't be mid-jump when this happens.  So I EXTREMELY SADLY moved the jump back a panel, and created a new one focused on Mike's face.  This was definitely me killing my darlings.

Additional general comments: You can get pretty gung-ho in the abstract about the idea of Amazi-Girl fighting her dad as a supervillain, until suddenly you start drawing it and realizing.... what the heck I'm not gonna draw Amber getting punched by her dad, that's just the worst.  And so I somehow managed to stage a fight scene without Blaine punching Amazi-Girl.   It's all smacking scooters out of hands and throwing her around by her leg.   The worst that happens is probably what occurs out of panel in that final last-minute Mike Reaction, which is as close as I let myself get.  

It's part of why I give him a hammer!  Then suddenly he's operating on Ninja Turtle rules, where Leonardo has swords, but he never actually ends up stabbing any non-robot people with them.   Up the illusion of menace with a visual, when you know you have to stand down from full depictions of violence.