You’ve seen “Stuart” and “Integral” … today we offer up a third story from Chris Arrant’s recent anthology, Four Stories. Brace yourself for “Passenger,” in PDF format and featuring art by Joanna Estep.
We’ll have the fourth and last story, “Snowblind,” up next week, so be sure to check back for it. You can also find his webcomic “1 Way Ticket” over at the Chemistry Set.
September 15th, 2006 at 8:13 am
From Joanna Estep, artist of PASSENGER:
Passenger introduces us to Wes, a bachelor who can’t seem to let go of his old girlfriend, Claire. It seems, however, that her memory returns to haunt him in more ways than one. Chris raised a lot of questions in these five pages, but provided few answers. That’s fine by me though, I love a good mystery, and I look forward to seeing where he might take Passenger in the future.
All in all, this was kind of a fun thing for me. I’m no stranger to working with writers, but I’d never really had the opportunity to draw a piece quite like Passenger before. Thus, I decided to break out the brushes and inks, and go for a rougher, darker look than my manga work usually affords me.
The five pages I drew act as more of an introduction than a complete story, so there was less emphasis on plot, and more focus on atmosphere and tone. This gave me an opportunity to utilize some of my manga sensibilities, but also to really play with the layout and paneling in ways that I’d previously never tried. I asked Chris for panel breakdowns, but after that he pretty much handed me the reins… which, in and of itself, is pretty flattering.