Here, we have this wonderfully claustrophobic gothic horror tale.

The old castle has been replaced with a smokey, storied antique shop space, where the space itself is just as much a character/instigator as the gem.

Along with intentionally using the shop to direct the reader, I wanted to begin to subtley show the stones lure over Jim. Whereas, from the get go, Jenny is clearly only interested from a purely curious stand-point.

In peppering the book with hints and nods towards potential dooms/things to come, I also took great care per body language. That little note of Jim's hand almost reaching out to take it, absent-mindedly is a perfect example.

Actually, that 3rd frame is properly illustrative of my tendency to think about comics through a film camera.

The framing is of utmost importance.