This page kicked my butt and adding text in Photoshop is not exactly a nightmare, but more like one of those frustrating dreams where you’re trying to do a simple task and your brain keeps generating obstacles.
I’m still working out the art style and used some fancy brushes for this one. Let me know what you think.
Below the cut to save your RAM:
You can also find this page on Patreon.
Image Description:
A four-panel, black-and-white comic page.
Panel 1: A man sits on a chair against the wall, his head bowed. One hand grips a sheathed sword and the other a scroll of paper. His black hair is streaked with white and arranged in a topknot, and his ears are long and pointed. The shadows of a shoji door, a bare willow tree, and a small stone shrine show on the wall beside him. He wears a kimono.
Caption: And of the reign of the shōgun, Teramune Nobuo, the thirty-ninth year.
Panel 2: A close-up of the man’s hand gripping the scroll. The bones in his hand stand out.
Caption: Likely the last.
Panel 3: A long panel across the middle of the page. A dark hallway. At the end, a great door is open a crack, allowing in a rectangle of bright light. A figure dressed in robes stands beside the light, closer to the viewer. He has a pair of some kind of tubes over his shaven head, and a socket at the base of his neck. Much larger tubes hang from the ceiling, running the length of the hallway. The sound effect “HUMMMMM” runs along one curve of tubing.
Caption: It is at the start of this inauspicious year that I am summoned before the Emperor’s holy presence.
Panel 4: A large panel, taking up half the page. A grand staircase, mostly in shadow. A black doorway stands at the top. Four figures descend the steps toward the viewer. Three are masked priests, dressed in long vests over floor-length robes with voluminous sleeves. Their masks have high, arched eyebrows, four curved, vertical slits in place of mouths, and three black eyes, the third positioned vertically on the forehead. The fourth is a very tall, thin man with long, rounded ears and hair in a large bun or topknot. He carries a staff decorated with prayer beads and wears a simple robe down to his knees, leg wrappings, and soft shoes. Two of the priests flank him, while the third is walking ahead. Two more huge tubes are attached to the ceiling, coming toward the viewer; each has the sound effect “HUMMMMM” beside it.
Caption: To the sacred throne at the heart of Shiba castle.
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