*This comic went through a number of changes before it's current format and layout. Here is a deleted page I'll relegate to my blog, now that you've read (I hope) the original as it was meant to be read:
*And: I’m sure this observation has been made before, but one thing that distinguishes most great European action-genre cartoonists and great American action-cartoonists is the emphasis Europeans have on people having to navigate their way through environments. Superheroes smash and gesture their way through New York or science labs, location never seems to matter much to the super-strong and agile heroes of Frank Miller’s Sin City. The set-pieces in Tintin involve him making his way through boats undetected (I think this happens a lot), hiding behind doors, vents, running around cramped corridors. In Tardi’s West Coast Blues the action is dictated by the location, whether it’s at the beach or at a gas station or getting thrown out of a moving train like in the American book cover.
The American who most fits into the European tradition most is maybe Roy Crane, especially this Buzz Sawer sequence. The hero is presented with a goal, an obstacle, and uses the specifics of his location to escape his pursuers. He only reacts and uses what we know is there or assume is there, Crane doesn’t cheat by having a pursuer suddenly slip or anything.
So I tried drawing a quick scene like that; woman descends by rope to a rooftop, opens a door and goes down some stairs. At the bottom of the stairs a man enters a door she is about to open but she gets the drop on him. Just a simple exercise.
