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Here Is a Look at the Push and Pull Game that Goes Into Comic Creation

The artist-author pair behind ‘Limbo’ talk divvying up work, breaking up action, and incorporating VCRs.
Panel selection from Limbo by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard. Screencap via

The eject button is pushed, someone thumps the top of a static-filled TV screen, and then, from the tape-slot of a VCR, a pair of bandaged hands emerge. Thus begins one of the most visually arresting pages in the comic series Limbo, created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard for Image Comics.

Dan and Caspar continue their conversation about the comic—including this VCR page in particular—in the latest episode of Strip Panel Naked, the comic mini-masterclass hosted by Hass Otsmane-Elhaou. In this page Clay, the main character, is forcibly ejected from a VCR, and through the latest Strip Panel Naked we learn more about how the author-artist pair works together and divides up their work.

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Panel selection from Limbo by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard. Screencap via

“You sort of learn how each other works,” explains writer Dan Watters of his collaboration with the artist, Caspar. “I sort of know with Caspar he’s probably going to add in a few panels. He likes to break things down.” Indeed, Caspar’s pages are often filled with tiny boxes full of action and movement. Watters says Caspar’s tendency to take on more panel work “is great for me, it reduces my work, but it also means I can’t write nine panels on the page because it doesn’t give him room to breathe or do his own thing.”

To learn more about their collaboration together, Caspar's thoughts of his work, and the creation of what Watters calls “probably one of the most absurd things that happens in the book,” watch the second installment of the duo's interview below:

To see more, visit the Strip Panel Naked YouTube page, and check out its Patreon page to support the series.

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