EMPOWERED 8's Mindf**k back-cover process montage

Behold, the various work stages for the somewhat enigmatic back-cover illo of Mindf**k from the upcoming Empowered vol.8, due to hit the shelves on Dec. 18. I already posted versions of the inks and colors, as seen below:



...but decided to post a "process montage" collection of the illo, just for the heck of it.

From left to right:

1) The first rough sketch, showing the heretofore eyeless and tongueless Mindf**k in full possession of her body parts, for reasons that Empowered vol.8 will one day make clear. (Well, sorta.) Also, I dressed her in the school uniform in which she appears when dropping on Sistah Spooky's unpleasant memories of high school.

2)The finished pencils for this version, stopped abruptly in the midst of inking when I belatedly grasped that, with eyes and tongue intact and not wearing her usual spacesuit costume, Mindf**k could easily be mistaken for our similarly blonde lead character Empowered... Not least because I'd drawn Emp wearing the same g-d school uniform on the back cover of Empowered vol.5, as seen below:



3) So, I switched out the school uniform for Mindf**k's usual costume, an elastic counterpressure vacuum suit (as she lived on a space station for quite some time). As I inked the revised pencils, another belated realization occurred to me: I'd drawn the curve of her behind a tad too (shall we say) pronounced, making her too similar to Emp in that particular department. So, with a pained tear in my eye, I whited out and re-inked her figure to the correct proportions.

4) Next up, my scrawled color guide (minus my many written notes and annotations), as marked up on a printout with red and blue pencils.

5) The final colors, as beautifully skillfully painted by the great .

More info on Empowered vol.8 here: www.darkhorse.com/Books/19-253…

Here's the exclusive (ooh, ah!), extended version of the book's solicitation copy:

Costumed crimefighter Empowered, her week already ruined by the grueling ordeal of "Superdead Boot Camp," finds herself roped into a tragic and desperate scheme by her grief-stricken teammate Sistah Spooky. On a reckless journey from a terrifying alien arsenal to the even-more-terrifying depths of hell itself, can the bickering duo free the soul of Spooky's slain lover from eternal damnation—or have our mismatched superheroines impulsively blundered into a (quite literally) hellish trap?

In the meantime, here's the cover (with ordering info in the Comment section!) for the latest installment of the series, Empowered: Nine Beers with Ninjette, now on sale:



In closing, I must of course paste in the requisite general-purpose Emp-related floggery: Print copies of Empowered's first seven volumes (and numerous one-shots in comics format) can be found on the shelves of your Local Comics Retailer or bookstore, or online at Dark Horse's retail website www.tfaw.com/Search?_results_u… or on Amazon.com www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos… .

All the existing Empowered books can be purchased rather more cheaply in digital form as well, via the Dark Horse Digital store: digital.darkhorse.com/search/?…