Astute readers might spot something familiar about the sequence of moves Emp is unleashing here. (Answer tomorrow, in case you can't spot the familiarity.)

Panel: Ehh, Emp's outflung right hand no doubt looked better in the rough sketch, as this sure seems like an odd and ineffective choice in the final version of the artwork. (Oh, well.) Clearly, I was trying something a li'l different from the "clenched fists" image I'd usually depict in this context, but the results were less than ideal.

Panel 2: The ol' elbow strike still makes me think of playing the videogame Double Dragon at the Rockaway Mall arcade during my late-80s Kubert School days; IIRC, the oddly named "elbow punch" (at the bottom of the list here) was a seriously if not anomalously useful move against the tougher enemies.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. However, my vast archive of years of Patreon posts—extensive Empowered previews, vintage con sketches, work stages on covers, "damsel in distress" commissions, life drawings & much, much more—remains available for Patrons' perusal.

-Adam Warren