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Duplicity - Complete

You should have played football

Brock Beauchamp
February 7, 2012

It’s one of my favorite lines of the issue and it says a lot about the Variables universe. Why wouldn’t Karter go play football? He’d be an unmatched striker or goaltender. He’d make millions and be showered with public adoration. It’s the kind of allure that many of the Sui Generis would have to face and realistically, one that would pull in many people with extraordinary abilities. It beats fighting crime and putting yourself at risk for no pay or starting a highly illogical “life of crime” when as much (or more) money could be made by using those powers... View Article

Dialogue pages are FUN

Brock Beauchamp
February 2, 2012

At least they better be or I’d drive myself insane doing this comic. There are bursts of action in Variables (and this story is probably the most action-ish I’ll do until the grand finale of the comic, if/when that ever comes) but most of the stories revolve around exploring situations that might actually occur if people like this existed. The comic isn’t set up for action-heavy sequences, from neither a story nor a character perspective. In Variables, if two Sui Generis (meta-humans) fight, one of them will probably leave the fight dead or critically injured. Batman has had enough rounds... View Article

Henri & Karter talking

Brock Beauchamp
January 31, 2012

In this page, Henri and Karter reveal a bit more about what is going on in the issue and why Karter must react (his “call to action”, so to speak). Visually, they’re not the most exciting of pages but sometimes, that just can’t be helped. These three pages lay out what happens in the next 30+ pages and they reveal to the reader that Karter isn’t exactly the nicest man in the world. He’s bitter, angry, and not afraid to use his powers to further a political ideal. I’m excited to see these pages go live but really, I can’t... View Article

How much to expect from a reader?

Brock Beauchamp
January 26, 2012

  This is something that I’ve been mulling over for awhile ever since I started drafting the 2002 story arc. The first Variables arc (that I have yet to finish) is very Ameri-centric in nature and can easily be picked up by any English-speaking person and read without difficulty. But that’s not what Variables is about, really. When I started drafting the concept with my friend Nick back in 2008, it was about placing super-humans in the real world and fitting them into realistic situations and actual events that happened. It also wouldn’t be confined to North America, as so... View Article

Introduction to Henri

Brock Beauchamp
January 24, 2012

This page starts off the explanation phase of this issue with the introduction of Henri. He’s a bit of a weasel and Karter has known him for quite some time. But given Karter’s past, he knows many sketchy characters because he is one himself. He’s not really a good guy. He has the best of intentions but, as with many nationalistic people, that fervor for their country is often led in a destructive direction. In other stuff news whatever, I’m building a bit of a buffer up right now. I’m one full page ahead as of today and by next... View Article

New art preview setup

Brock Beauchamp
January 23, 2012

I have never been entirely satisfied with the art preview setup I’ve used for Variables. While I think it’s cool to show the inks for an upcoming page, I wasn’t sold on showing the entire page and revealing what happens next in the comic. So I’m going to change it up for awhile and see how it goes. Instead of showing the entire page of inks, I’m going to show part of the page, fully colored, with no text bubbles in place. So there you go. I’m really enjoying this new coloring method I’m using, though the tiered nature of... View Article