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Ok, just so you know, while you can work around it, panel layouts like panels 4-6 here can be really unreliable when it comes to which order people read them in – I’m having trouble not reading the group shot panel before the lift (elevator) panel.

What happens is that people usually read the panels in reading order, going around the one in the bottom left of the trio, and then get confused about where the bottom left panel goes in the sequence – but for me, I went and read a graphic novel on making comics, which pointed out this issue and the fact that often it’s intended for the bottom left panel to be before the right panel, and apparently I took it to heart and now I’m defaulting to the more common intended order.

In case you’re wondering, the graphic novel is “Making Comics” by Scott McCloud and it’s a really helpful read (not that I’ve really put any of that knowledge to use).

Hey there. Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I worried about it being confusing. I tried my best to use the speech bubbles and lines of action to guide the reader but I knew it would probably still be a little confusing. Sometimes you try new and dynamic layouts and they just don’t quite work.
And I love Scott McCloud’s work!

I got introduced to his work when I randomly found Making Comics in the local library, and now I have a volume of ZOT!, which I have read multiple times.

Also, I just looked back at the original version of this scene (I’d forgotten that this comic used to be unshaded line drawings), and you used the same panel layout in a slightly different way, and I find it kinda fun that it doesn’t really matter too much which order you read those panels in – I’m pretty sure there’s an intended way, and I’m pretty sure I know which way that is, but the fact that you can read them either way and it makes sense is nice.

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