THE MARK IN AMERICA, PAGE 1, & 2/3

Mike Barr wrote “The Mark in America” in the heady days after the fall of Communism and the Berlin Wall. There are strong parallels in this story to those real-world events (though the fallen government of the fictional nation of Lutzany was fascist).

I was having my own “real world events”. Mike and I had to cram a novel’s worth of material into 24 pages in the introductory Mark 2 part story in Dark Horse Comics 14 and 15.  I gleefully anticipated working on “The Mark in America” where I would have four issues with 24 pages each in which to luxuriate. I wanted to funnel my joy with this newfound freedom into the double page spread on pages 2 & 3.

I tried to accomplish this by foregrounding the two ladies spinning each other ecstatically in an orgasmic vortex, as we see past them to the revelers in the middle and far distance. I penciled the lettering on the title and sound effects, not trusting the letterer after seeing his work in the previous 2 installments. It was imperative that the copy accentuated the swirling spiral of the figures.