If you’ve never heard of the three-act structure, it’s the architecture that underlies how most plays, movies and comics are written. Meaning the standard screenplay can be divided into three parts: Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution.

Act I — The Setup, usually takes up about the first quarter of the script. (For a our little serial entertainment, Act I is complete as of this page). The setup includes the inciting incident and the first plot point. The first plot point ends the first act and is often the instant where the hero takes on the central problem. You see that happen here — as Conlin induces the general solution to who killed Sandy and how he was framed, then thinks, “They should’a done it the other way ’round.” At that point he hardens emotionally and takes on the central problem.

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

So here we are, 26 pages in and we’re off and running with the real plot of the story. Too slow a build up… or just right? What do you think?

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

Layer by layer, O’Donal’s personal Hell is revealed. Who he is, where he came from, what made him the way he is.

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

A stroll down memory lane… kicking and screaming the whole way.

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

These are the kind of pages that challenge me. Running, jumping, flying, explosions… these things are easy. Talking heads… making that interesting… that’s hard. Easiest pages to write, hardest for me to draw. Gotta’ keep moving the camera, pivot back and forth between characters… gott’a make it seem more than it is… a series of little portraits.

Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

From “Sand Cats of Rogue, a ten year study,” by Dr. Clive Bailey published in Xenos, the journal of otherworld biology, Spring Issue 2240 CE: I can only hope that one day, with further study, my conclusions will be substantiated.

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

The idea of interrogation is to throw them of balance, catch them in a lie, pick at the inconsistencies of their story like a turkey vulture picking at road-kill. Get an emotional response. Goad them into telling the truth. It’s a psychological chess game.

We’re back!!! Belter will be updating Tuesdays again starting — well starting now. As you can see our buddy, Con is in the shit — OPR is the Office of Processional Responsibility. The cops what watch the cops. So is this about that slap and tickle with Aackster, or something more sinister. Stay tuned.

Written & Lettered by Clifford VanMeter. Artwork by Joe Querio

From “Sand Cats of Rogue, a ten year study,” by Dr. Clive Bailey published in Xenos, the journal of otherworld biology, Spring Issue 2240 CE: … and with the vast majority of the original colonists either dead or scattered elsewhere in the empire, the opportunity for corroboration of my collaborative hunting hypothesis has been virtually erased. The existing evidence will probably never be sufficient to prove it out.

Written & Illustrated by Clifford VanMeter. Colors by Andrew Barlow

Things are looking dark for our boy. What will become of him? Find out in a few weeks when we return with Belter | Chapter 3: The Box.