"Escape from the Battle Crater" (VOL 1) Prologue (2021)-#5
12/09/2023
Volume 1 Cover
A fun volume cover I made to prepare the move of the series to Tapas! Preamble: Volume One is defiantly not my proudest work, it’s sloppy, I still couldn’t decide how I wanted to render faces, and pale Riva is just flat out cursed. But frankly, I’m still proud of it. Despite the growing pains I still feel as if this was a great foundation for improvement, and I’ll forever be happy with the origin of Bonne and Riva’s relationship. There are still some emotional beats in this volume that touch me, and I’m always going to be happy that I stuck with this series. This volume was when I had to figure out everything on my own, my collaborator Lottie was not helping me with the artistic process anymore, stepping back to do more emotional and proof reading activities. This was where I really came into my own as a comic creator, and so I’ll never not have a special place in my heart for these issues of the series.
Prologue (2021) (21 pages)
The original beginning to the series! Looking back at these pages always feels weird, as my art had defiantly come a long way from what it was here. When I started this Prologue, I definitely wanted to establish a feel more than like lore or extra details. That is a motto I took with the entire series, as I wanted Omnia Paratus to be less World-Building and more personal to the characters!
Chapter 1 (22 pages)
This Chapter sets the groundwork for Bonne and Riva's character and relationship! I consider this the real start to the series, as the Prologue acts more to just establish the setting and mood. First few pages are in landscape, which is a hold over technique from the previous 2020 iteration of the series. I thought it was a good way to emphasize how both Bonne and Riva are the leads.
Chapter 1.5 (10 pages)
To clarify something here, Bonne has Dyslexia, which is something that is more clarified later on but hey, why not say it here. This chapter shows my penchant for character dialogue, I just really enjoy writing banal conversations. It heals me~
Omnia Paratus Chapter 2 (21 pages)
This is definitely a more plot heavy chapter! Here I tried to establish a lot of the stakes and whys and whos of the story. As in why is Bonne here and who the hell are they? In addition, this was probably the chapter I really realized the potential that King Snake had as a character. So much so that I sidestepped him being the main antagonist of the arc. Fun fact, King Snake was always related to Riva, but, I originally had him be insane or something until I gave that role to a character introduced here!
Omnia Paratus Chapter 3 (23 pages)
A big turning point for the series! I remembered that for this chapter I wanted to make sure to put extra emphasis on Riva, which Riva may have some words with me considering what happens to her this chapter. But I definitely did not want people to think that Riva was some secondary character.
Omnia Paratus Chapter 4 (23 pages)
A Bonne focused chapter, for the most part I wanted to sprinkle in some small backstory for them, and plant the seeds for plot points expanded on in the future. It was also fun to draw their anxiety attacks, as I remember I was going though something similar at the time I was drawing this, as I was in sophomore year I think and it sucked.
Omnia Paratus Chapter 4.5 (14 pages)
Out of all these early chapters, this is probably one of my best! A small flashback before the big climax of the arc! I actually really enjoy this chapter as it was really when both Riva and King Snake really came into their own. I really enjoyed adding more depth to Riva, as she starts out so extraordinary, yet in flashbacks, she was really just your average everyday person. Makes you wonder..what changed her before the start of the series?
Chapter 5 (Part 1-2) (57 pages)
This used to be a two parter, but for the website I felt that it worked better as a singular chapter. Yet personally, I still consider this two separate issues. This acts a big breakneck finale for this beginning arc! In a way, finishing this chapter was super relieving. This was sort of the end of an origin story for Bonne and Riva, and I felt that I could start writing and drawing new stories that did not need to establish these two's relationship. So enjoy the end.. and the beginning..!
