One of the coolest parts of creating Dead Air, personally, is the front row seat I have to watch artist and co-creator Joe Ng build the 90s-era world that our CJNK DJs live in. While I’ve previously touched on how fashion and musical subcultures have played a big role in character design, Joe has also put a huge amount of effort into recreating all of the little 90s details that transform a standard setting like a dorm room or a university campus into a living, breathing set.
This panel from Issue 2, shown here in glorious black and white, perfectly illustrates the investment Joe is making. There’s so much that I love about how this panel is constructed.
First, we see each and every one of Dead Air’s main characters in the university years, and the use of perspective really lets Joe go deep on the details of their faces and outfits while also allowing for their personalities to seep into the panel. Next, the viewing angle allows for Michelle to be shown entering the scene, giving it more energy than we’d have if it were simply a static snapshot of the moment.
The room itself—the DJ lounge at CJNK—also has an incredible lived-in feel that rings true to what happens to a space when students are allowed to fill it with their energy, and, well, their messy esthetic. Each time I look at this panel I see something new, whether it’s the missing cover for the fluorescent lights, the pencils and scissors stuck into the ceiling, the doodles on the DJ schedule that Josie is leaning against, the water stains, the keyboard leaning against the wall…it’s a smorgasbord for the eyes that goes a long way towards adding depth to the environment and, by extension, the story itself.
You may also notice that this panel crop also includes a section of the next panel below it. That’s because Joe, realizing the importance of this panel, gave it a visual weight that pushed it past the usual boundaries found in our book. The way it envelopes and surrounds the smaller panel that follows further elevates it in the perception of the reader, helping them to give it the attention it deserves.
