Classic Hard Knock – “Listen”

“Listen” appeared in Hard Knock #2 from 1995.

There’s a lot going on here. At it’s core, it’s about two people sitting across from each other, not having a conversation. Not listening.

It’s one single image. At the time, I wanted to see how much of a story I could tell with just a single drawing.

There’s math. The frequency of panels devoted to each character shifts from one to the other like a gradient. I’d like to think that this was influenced by Alan Moore’s treatment of the Rorschach pages in Watchmen, but I kind of doubt it. Sounds like an artsy thing I would have done at the time.

There’s Photoshop, of course. While it may appear that I was simply trying to show off every filter in the toolbox, I hope that the manipulation of the image serves to bolster the emotion of each character.

Finally, I broke this up into two-panel images for mobile friendliness. I also love that a four-page story can become one single long one on the web. Perhaps that is what my 1995 self intended all along.