In many ways this is a bit of a rushed ending, and ideally I'd have liked to have included one or two additional panels in order to mix-up the composition of the frames a little more. I think the simple punch - kick- punch frame combination makes the sequence look too repetitive or monotonous as a single page layout.
The last panel is actually a bit of a rush job as I'd scripted showing Sensei Cheng Fu leaping out of the Embassy's window from an exterior perspective. However I was somewhat stumped as to how to portray the Chinese soldiers discovering the combatants, and their arrival causing the British martial artist to flee so dramatically. With hindsight I could have composed a much smaller frame simply showing the guards' appearing, and placed that within a normal sized panel depicting Cheng Fu smashing out of the upstairs window.
Indeed I'm not sure its even clear that most of the action in this concluding part of "Embassy of the Fist" takes place on the building's top (residential) floor; although the Chinese soldier in the final frame does allude to it by stating "A masked intruder escapes into the gardens below".
I was also keen to show that Cheng Fu does not actually kill Yamamoto. Not only because I wanted the opportunity to be able to write a sequel at some point, or at least a second adventure featuring the Chinese assassin. But I also wanted it to be clear that despite his anger at the former Triad bodyguard, the hero of the story is not a murderer.
Next time Kung Fu action gives way to science fiction and alien invasion as the Earth is attacked by the Glooms in the first story of the serial "Cosmic Custodians"...
Hi Simon, enjoyed the story, I see what you mean about the ending though I must admit I didn't get that he was leaping out of a widow until I read your description below, I imagine it would be a lot more work on your part to do the shot of him falling from out side the building?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to a bit of Sci/fi though
Always the problem. I get halfway through a story and then want to start the next... I've just bought a digital pen and pad though, which will hopefully mean I can draw some smaller pictures in the future - so a wee figure of Cheng Fu leaping out the window will be easier than now where I'd need to hand-draw him, scan, clean-up and then colour etc. "Gloom of the Glooms" was drawn in just a few days at the request of my eldest so its a bit of a gore-fest as a result :-)
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