Midwife, aborted Page 22

Transcript

Dystopia: Chapter 2 – Midwife, Aborted, Page 22.
In a dim sparsely furnished classroom with cracked walls and a single window letting in pale light. A young Angie sits alone at a small wooden desk, surrounded by a few worn crayons. On the desk lies a simple drawing: a smiling figure with purple clothing, standing among green trees and red flowers under a blue sky. Angie is coloring carefully, but their thoughts reveal frustration — the colors never look as true or vibrant as they do in real life.

A teacher, wearing a pale dress, stands nearby as the classroom door opens. Two men in matching blue suits and dark glasses enter. Their appearance is formal and detached, suggesting authority or surveillance. One of the men gestures toward Angie and asks the teacher, “Is this the one?” The teacher leans closer to examine Angie’s drawing, studies it for a moment, and then quietly replies, “Yes.”

The atmosphere shifts as one of the suited men raises a small communication device to his mouth and says, “Yes, the potential is secured.” The other man steps forward toward Angie’s desk, extending his hand in a gesture that is polite but firm. He says, “Won’t you come with me, please?” Angie looks up at him silently, her expression uncertain.

Chapter 02: Midwife, aborted – Page 22

Posted on October 13, 2025 by ALFA

Creative notes: Flashbacks are one of those things that movies make look easy. Need to show the past? Toss on a wig, change the lighting, swap out the set — done. But in comics? Yeah… not quite that simple.

This week’s offering of Midwife, aborted dives into a flashback, and when Jackwraith and I started talking through how to make that transition work, we both realized just how tricky it can be to pull off in the comic book format. You can’t just rely on a costume change or a younger actor — everything has to be drawn in a way that feels different but still fits the flow of the story.

For me, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to show that shift in time without making it a distraction. We ended up playing around with the visuals — removing the panel borders and adding this soft, “fuzzy” edge that gives it a sort of dreamlike quality. It’s subtle, but hopefully it cues readers that we’ve slipped into the past.

You’ll meet a few new faces in this sequence, but for Angie, I wanted something that would connect her across the years. Her hairstyle stays in the same general style, and that little mole on her left cheek — that’s her anchor. It’s one of those small details that helps readers recognize her instantly, even when time itself starts to blur.

The free weekly webcomic updates on Monday. Dystopia offers unique takes on storytelling through genre-spanning arcs set in a richly imagined, multi-layered world. Across its towering levels and shadowed undercity, you’ll encounter cyberpunk conspiracies, gangland rivalries, corporate cults, digital ghosts, and the quiet struggles of those trying to survive between the cracks. With each story, Dystopia invites you deeper—into a world that feels both impossible and eerily familiar. The world expands as you read, revealing patterns, echoes, and secrets hiding just beneath the surface. It’s an evolving experience that rewards curiosity.