Clean or Gritty

I like artwork that reflects the tone of the setting, and gives ideas toward the types of narrative that might be found within the setting. I've also found that Lulu doesn't like printing paperback books with less than 32 pages.

So, with these two factors in mind, I've started writing up some mini comics to help set the tone for the urban sprawl of The Law. These mini comics will appear at the beginning of the various sourcebooks I'm writing up, and will be used to illustrate specific rule concepts within the game. If you've been following the blog, you'll know that this game is set in a pseudo-"Judge Dredd" urban sprawl, and the characters are agents of a megalithic bureau of law enforcement that is overworked and barely able to maintain peace despite having an incredible array of technology at their disposal, and the authority to act as Judge, Jury and Executioner on the streets. It's a post cyberpunk setting, where there is the potential for almost anything to be added to the environment, but generally anything too weird becomes a reality deviation that needs to be hidden/neutralised/eliminated just as quickly as any crime.

Here's the first page of the first mini comic, in two potential formats...one gritty, one clean. I haven't included text yet.

Just trying to work out which of these to use.

The gritty version sets the tone better, the clean version results in easier images to read. I'm probably going to go with the gritty version, I just thought I'd throw both versions out there to see what other people thought.