So for this splash page, I wanted to open with a really strong visual tone — dark, stormy, heavy rain, black suits with red ties. The whole scene is designed to immediately communicate that Athena and Ares are not just dealing with another case — they’re stepping into something grim, ritualistic, and emotionally loaded. The rain is doing double-duty: it reinforces the somber mood, and it also isolates them visually, like the world around them is washed out and nothing matters except this case.
You’ll notice Athena is calm and composed, but Ares is sitting on a tombstone.
That’s not just a gag — it’s a contrast. Athena shows respect for life and morality; Ares shows disdain for everything, including the dead. That’s their dynamic in a nutshell: she believes in rules and principles, he believes in results and efficiency. I intentionally wanted their clash to happen before they even start talking about the murders. It tells the audience who they are before any exposition kicks in.
When Athena calls him a jerk for sitting on the tombstone, it’s not just annoyance — it’s personal.
She sees disrespect as a moral failing. Ares sees respect as irrelevant. This is a theme I want to carry through the whole story: their values collide constantly, but they still have to work together.
Then we get to the coroner details — and here’s where the page shifts from personality to horror.
Jeffrey Jarvis with blunt force trauma, Bianca strangled, Hina poisoned — each member of the family killed in a different way. That choice was deliberate. I wanted the audience to feel the killer’s psychological complexity. This isn’t random violence; it’s controlled, ritualistic violence. It also mirrors the killer’s message-driven nature, leaving hints without explanation.
Athena asking about witnesses highlights another important layer: she’s a detective, not a goddess.
Even though she’s Athena — the goddess of wisdom — in this universe she is not omniscient. She has to work for answers like everyone else. That grounds her character and keeps her relatable. And when Ares tells her there are no witnesses, it reinforces how isolated and dangerous this killer really is.
The final line — “YOU will be next.” — is the hook.
I wanted the splash page to end with a threat that feels direct, intimate, and unsettling. The killer isn’t just murdering families; they’re communicating. They want attention. They want the investigation to feel personal.
Ending the page on that message ensures the reader feels the same tension as Athena — this isn’t a normal case. It’s a challenge, a warning, and maybe even an invitation.