This third page is a transitional page. Not that it’s any more or less important than those that proceed it or follow, just that it has an important function of bridging the gap from the book’s first prologue into the main narrative.
The way this functions is to begin shifting the tone–the first two pages are, purposefully, rather cold and sterile. This page here, though, begins to break into the human side of Terminus–the effects this new world we’re beginning to discover has on the daily lives of real people.
JM and I established this through two techniques. The first is the most obvious–through the juxtaposition of Maxwell’s voice-over. We see the beginnings of the cost of a “perfect world,” that there are always those at the bottom, always those who draw the short straw, and they are affected in very real ways. This is exactly what I wanted to show, but without being melodramatic or shifting the tone too far away from what’s established in the first two pages–that cold feel is something JM and I are very sensitive to, especially its need to be at least in the background of the entire book. It’s necessary to be aware of how the world of Terminus functions, and that is the purpose behind the prologues in each issue. I’ve seen later pages and can attest that JM has established to book’s mood perfectly.
The other method is of JM’s creation, and again involves symmetry. This page is divided perfectly in half. On one side you have the cold, detached world of the nursery, of Maxwell and his rhetoric. One the other you have the much more human side. A real couple, filled with fear, anticipation, love, and, eventually, sadness. That’s the battle of Terminus–the dictates of science against the allusive nature of humanity.
So there you have it–page 3, and the end of the prologue. Next up, page 4, which introduces two of the book’s main characters. I also plan on dedicating a post to the editing process, which Terminus underwent heavily. The book was completely scrapped at one point–my first complete draft resembles what now exists in few ways. It was the most intensive editing process I ever put myself through, yet completely necessary. More on that later.
