Almost kind of mean to cut out in the middle of an action sequence, but that's the least of the challenges here. Epic action is hard to portray in webstrip format; that's why I'm happy sticking with the little people. But even their action sequences have to be scaled back. The set piece is pretty elaborate, with the Rube Goldberg like consequences of ropes tugging characters from place to place, but when you get right down to it, there's only three or four action beats before the action scene outstays its welcome. Because it takes too long to roll out in a day-by-day three-panel at a time format.

Monday, Strip 58 -- Don't you wish every Monday could start an image like this? A Squib clinging tenaciously to a rocketing Artoo unit? The script originally described Smiley as riding the droid "Dr. Strangelove" style, but the strip is just too small to fit that image.

Tuesday, Strip 59 -- Here's where the labelling of the doorways comes in handy, since Deo is soaring towards 6B, one level down and across from his origin point. And yeah, no one instinctively lets go of anything in this story.

Wednesday, Strip 60 -- The rope snaps taut, knocking Raal over and pulling Sammie over the edge.

Thursday, Strip 61 -- Here's Sammie action star moment, but Raal hogs the heroism here. And it was needed, lest anyone think his little cornering a few weeks back made him a wimp. No, Raal's no wimp...

Friday, Strip 62 -- ... he just needs to find his game. And it's apparently smashball.

Monday, Strip 63 -- When I submitted this strip for approval, Tasty Taste commented that it reminded him of the hapless stormtrooper in the weapons testing facility in the Behind the Magic CD-ROM. That was definitely partial inspirational, but I also looked to the Marvel Series. I know clone troopers -- and by extension stormtroopers -- are very much n cool vogue, but I like to return to the bumbling troopers of A New Hope every now and then, and the Marvel series captured moments like that really well, especially under David Michilinie's tenure.

Tuesday, Strip 64 -- How the heck did Barezz survive this? Well, he might have. I'll leave that to everyone else to decide, but I've always been of the idea that he died on Mesa 291, and other events in his life mentioned in the Imperial Sourcebook actually occurred before the events of Rebel Breakout. But there's enough vagueness in either direction, I think, that I'll let individual timeliners play with it.

Wednesday, Strip 65 -- If I had more room, I'd have one extra frame of inactivity before dropping in that stormtrooper helmet, for timing effect.

Thursday, Strip 66 -- Now this goes back to the very first week of Rookies: Rendezvous. Kestrel obviously has some issues. I like how Raal's line of questioning is not very helpful.

Friday, Strip 67 -- I know how I often talk about the need to keep things moving in the webstrip format, but sometimes, you just have to take a pause and let the characters collect themselves.

Monday,Strip 68 -- What was I saying about making Raal a hero?

Tuesday, Strip 69 -- Moving right along...

Wednesday, Strip 70-- You can never put your characters in so bad a situation that it can't get worse. I had originally sketched Kestrel in hysterics, but I thought a more simmering delivery would be better. And if it's unclear, that's their escape shuttle that's wrecked by a crashed X-wing fighter. The staging difficulty here was including the tarps that pay off on Friday, but not making them too obvious.

Thursday, Strip 71 -- Tiree returns. There's a few recognizable X-wing pieces in here. I presume he ejected, but was somehow caught in the crash regardless. Kestrel is passing Sammie a medpac from her ever-present shoulder bag.

Friday, Strip 72 -- For those who remember the original "Rebel Breakout", you'll know we're very much nearing the end....

****

In response to a few previous comments.

> What [3D Program] did you use?

Poser 6. It's a fun and relatively inexpensive 3D program. I've also started playing with Google Sketchup, which is free.

> Not sure if it's even remotely possible, but I'd love to have these in trade paperback (and color) one day!

I really don't see that happening, as to be honest, a lot of this art is finished in web resolution, so it would require a lot of work to get them up to snuff for print. That was a conscious decision because working in web resolution quickened the whole process considerably, and I really can't spent too much time on these.

> How many strips total do you expect this to be?

Just shy of 80.

> Dood! I freakin' love how you're wrapping up that action sequence in the webstrip. Emotions are bare, which tends not to be the case in the average post-action banter. I swear, if I hear "Come on, let's go" one more time...

This was meant to be of an antidote to the usual "Let's get out of here" resolution to scary combat scenes, but specifically because these are rookies -- these are first-timers, and they're going to need some time to process what they're getting into. I think it makes them a little bit more relatable as far as SW heroes go.

ph