About Panel Borders, Part 3 of 3:

WONDER WOMAN EARTH ONE

Part 1: Introductions and Wolverine insane in the brain

Part 2: Swamp Thing

Part 3:  Wonder Woman earth one

All colors from master Nathan Fairbairn

Volume 1

Flashback pottery.

Wonder woman origin stories start with Hercules fighting the amazon leader Hippolyta, she defeats him, but disgust my men world she goes into exile with her woman cohort to the secret island of Themyscira.

This is of course a spin on the Greek mythological tale of Hercules 12 labors, specifically the 9^th labor in which he as to defeat the annoyingly unsubmissive amazonian queen Hippolyta and stole her magic belt. Our hairy manly hero heroically murders Hippolyta and steal the belt, YAY MAN, manhood rule. So, a bit of a different ending there.

This epic ancient Greek history as been told and retold a hundred of time using the Comic of the epoch, vases and plates.

I thought it would be enlightening to directly confront this glorious archai patriarchal tale with the horrors of our own story by juxtaposing both. With extensive research on ancient Greek pottery, I’ve pieced out a parallel narrative I could use as Panel borders

To establish that panel style as the official Flashback device, I needed at least one other flashback sequence later in the story to make it a rule. I got one, in extremist on page 113

The Lasso of truth panel.

Volume 1 is a trial in which witnesses hold the famed Lasso of truth, thus insuring an honest testimony. Basically, every time the reader’s eyes jump a Lasso Border, we move from the present trial to a past testimony, and vice versa.

That is, you guessed it, a costum made brush and like my others I’ll make it available to download for the paying tier over here.

Volume 2

Leitmotif panel war! (if you haven’t done so, go read my leitmotif panel explanation in part 2 here)

WWE1 volume 2 is a fight amongst 3 panel style and the ideas they channel.

The Nazi panel:

I just feed on the nazi well established iconography to generate harsh black and white borders. Especially that SS logo that i’ve just extended.

The Amazonian Panel Vs Men World Panel

I translated that conflict into Art history term.

Amazon Art Nouveau

based on nature, free and sophistically sinuous organic lines.

Mucha

Again, Mucha

Men world Art Deco

Cerebral, mathematic, industrial, repetitive, symmetric, restrictive to 90 or 45 degree angles (in my case). Actually Art deco is quite lovely, but hey, I need a graphic style vilain.

Here are some examples of them in interaction.

Hippolita using a magic mind control device to break down Elsa Nazi convictions, ending up with a hybrid Art Nouveau / Nazi panel border.

In Volume 2, our main villain is Dr Psycho whom Morrison’s cleverly reframe as an ultimate dirty pickup artist, a foe for which our naturally trusting Diana is ill prepared. Observe how trough manipulation Psycho slowing take control, finally imposing his Art Deco spin on the panels.

 When he springs his Final trap on Wonder Woman, I went outrageously Scary Art Deco! The lasso being used in his trickery is also intertwines in the panel structure.

Volume 3

Future Panel.

A lot of the 3^rd volume takes place 1000 years into the future. I choose, well, no border at all to symbolize this utopian world in which there is no boundary left, genders and self-definitions are fully fluid.

Ares Panel.

Noting fancy, the God of War Mars or Ares’s symbol is the communally recognized man symbol, how telling and perfect for my needs. Hence circle panel with a protuberating top right excrescence.

I’ve also allowed myself some eccentricity like these wing panels for the Venusian winged amazons.

And there, you know mostly everything. Generalized panel designs are still part of my story telling arsenals, but I only use them if they can help a story and serve a logical purpose. Story is the only master to serve, it shall always come first.

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I leave you with thisPsychoverse panel I did for my INCAL book. Now that you know, go read it to figure out what this one is about.

Color by Dave McCaig

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