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It's another "2AM and Fender Has Had Too Much Caffeine!" post about the Dark Horse comics.
First off, this post is not meant to offend anyone. I just noticed a topic of conversation and felt the need to point out some stylistic choices surrounding that topic of conversation about the new Jane E. Spike web-comic. Mostly I did it to sate my own curiosity to see if my remembrance of the artwork from the series was correct and to see if I could visually prove what was rattling around in my head... In the end, I make my own fun, so please no one hit me with virtual hammers or anything.
Question:
Is Buffy tearing up/crying in the new Jane E. web-comic?
You see, I notice the art... a lot. Like more than I should. When I first saw that panel, I did not think anyone was crying. Why, you may ask? Because that person does not have "Jeanty Tears." What are "Jeanty Tears?" They are the big fat greasy-looking glycerine tears that Jeanty draws a good 98% of the time (the colouring is not his fault). There is a lot of crying going on in Season Eight. A lot. So once again let's have some fun comparisons!
Here there be spoilers for all of Season Eight, just in case.
Some ground rules: These images came from issues #1-#34 and then #40 because my hand was cramping from cropping and saving, so I may be missing some along the way, but I figured people would get the jist. I also left out the pages not drawn by Jeanty (like the Karl Moline ones) because these are, after all, "Jeanty Tears" even though the colourist was the same and there isn't much a difference. The following images have been cropped from the full size of the scans that I have and haven't been shrunk down; they are seen at the 100% size they are supposed to be (at least with the scans I have).
The panel in question from the Jane E. web comic...
I was reading that the little spot where Buffy's tear duct is defined by the white of her eye and skin tone rather than with an inked line and that the bottom of her iris is not inked are signs of an actual tear. Well, let's have a look at some examples of where Buffy's eye does that without her crying...
The following are too big to post on here.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
And here are "Jeanty Tears." "Jeanty Tears" tend to be grayish blue in colour with a inked line delineating it from the surrounding skin and eye. This line is either black or a darker shade of the grayish blue.
Examples that were too large to post...
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
A Whole Page of Examples.
Another Whole Page of Examples.
Half-Page of Examples
HOWEVER, here are three images that do not fit the perfect example of "Jeanty Tears." The three following examples have no colouring to them unlike the others listed above. They are left white, but a whiter white than the surrounding eye-white, with the exception of the pop art cover which has the same white for both. They are also all only partially delineated from the eye.
This one is slightly shiny.
The pop art cover is too big to post, so forgive the link.
Example.
This one of Willow's single solitary tear is the closest thing I've found to matching what Buffy's eye looked like in the web comic, but note that the tear is still separated from the skin tone by a demarcation to give the teardrop some weight.
So, is Buffy crying in the web comic? Has she got spaceship dust in her eye? Is she just being scowly? Is Jeanty just not drawing every line he has to because it's not a close-up? You be the judge... or wait until someone asks Georges Jeanty! :D
First off, this post is not meant to offend anyone. I just noticed a topic of conversation and felt the need to point out some stylistic choices surrounding that topic of conversation about the new Jane E. Spike web-comic. Mostly I did it to sate my own curiosity to see if my remembrance of the artwork from the series was correct and to see if I could visually prove what was rattling around in my head... In the end, I make my own fun, so please no one hit me with virtual hammers or anything.
Question:
Is Buffy tearing up/crying in the new Jane E. web-comic?
You see, I notice the art... a lot. Like more than I should. When I first saw that panel, I did not think anyone was crying. Why, you may ask? Because that person does not have "Jeanty Tears." What are "Jeanty Tears?" They are the big fat greasy-looking glycerine tears that Jeanty draws a good 98% of the time (the colouring is not his fault). There is a lot of crying going on in Season Eight. A lot. So once again let's have some fun comparisons!
Here there be spoilers for all of Season Eight, just in case.
Some ground rules: These images came from issues #1-#34 and then #40 because my hand was cramping from cropping and saving, so I may be missing some along the way, but I figured people would get the jist. I also left out the pages not drawn by Jeanty (like the Karl Moline ones) because these are, after all, "Jeanty Tears" even though the colourist was the same and there isn't much a difference. The following images have been cropped from the full size of the scans that I have and haven't been shrunk down; they are seen at the 100% size they are supposed to be (at least with the scans I have).
The panel in question from the Jane E. web comic...
I was reading that the little spot where Buffy's tear duct is defined by the white of her eye and skin tone rather than with an inked line and that the bottom of her iris is not inked are signs of an actual tear. Well, let's have a look at some examples of where Buffy's eye does that without her crying...
The following are too big to post on here.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
And here are "Jeanty Tears." "Jeanty Tears" tend to be grayish blue in colour with a inked line delineating it from the surrounding skin and eye. This line is either black or a darker shade of the grayish blue.
Examples that were too large to post...
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
A Whole Page of Examples.
Another Whole Page of Examples.
Half-Page of Examples
HOWEVER, here are three images that do not fit the perfect example of "Jeanty Tears." The three following examples have no colouring to them unlike the others listed above. They are left white, but a whiter white than the surrounding eye-white, with the exception of the pop art cover which has the same white for both. They are also all only partially delineated from the eye.
This one is slightly shiny.
The pop art cover is too big to post, so forgive the link.
Example.
This one of Willow's single solitary tear is the closest thing I've found to matching what Buffy's eye looked like in the web comic, but note that the tear is still separated from the skin tone by a demarcation to give the teardrop some weight.
So, is Buffy crying in the web comic? Has she got spaceship dust in her eye? Is she just being scowly? Is Jeanty just not drawing every line he has to because it's not a close-up? You be the judge... or wait until someone asks Georges Jeanty! :D
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From:
no subject
Jeanty may not be the best artist but he can draw emotions, and he's drawn Buffy in a lot of different stages of crying, and the one from the web comic does not appear to be one of them, to me. I think the only way for people to know for sure is to ask Jeanty or Jane E. They'll probably say that it's whatever one wants it to be so that everyone is appeased. Normally, I would say that Buffy doesn't cry or tear up at the drop of the hat, but in Season Eight she cried all the time including when he came back in #40. I just don't see it in this instance because Buffy is the one character that always got her tears over-emphasized in a "Hey, I'm the hero! And I'm crying! Pay attention!" even when it was just a splash or beginnings of tears... but I think for ultimate clarification, if one wanted to, one could e-mail Jeanty at his website to ask. He seems like a nice enough fellow, and he'd probably answer.
ETA: If she's tearing up in every scene where her eye looks like that , I'd be adding a panel from almost every two pages. The ones I've included were just a small sample. If she's got that much tear over-production, she needs to go see a doctor. I just have to repeat that tears are deliberate, especially for the main character; and the artist wants you to know that they are crying or tearing up. If the first response most people are having is "I don't see any tears" or "What tears?" and need to be told by a third party that the character is crying or tearing up, then I don't know... It's seems out of place with all the other pages.
From:
no subject
I've tended to read a lot of Jeanty's pictures of Buffy as somewhat moist-eyed, with the intent of conveying "heart-felt feeling of some sort." So that might also be part of the difference between us. Maybe you haven't read those panels that way either.
In any case, I like the way it looks to me. It's just a hint of the urgency behind the question (which wouldn't be asked in any case if there were no urgency). She's isolated and on the ropes and it'd be surprising to me if she didn't have some watery emotions in the mix there.
From:
no subject
Probably not. Moistness tends to imply certain comic conveniences of how to portray that, and unless I see those which Jeanty uses, I'm not going to assume something is moist. She just looks angry to me, and her words and expression leave me rather cold. However, I'm glad that other people have enjoyed her inclusion in the web comic and are getting something out of it. Ah, comics, there's a little something for everyone.