My, my. This is so high level I don't know what to say. Love that shotgun blast panel disintegration. The eye travel on a story told per page has to be as good as it gets. And of course the line work is crazy good. The forest silhouette is so good you think it might be photo stamping brushes. But close up is obviously that great hand made line art. This needs to be finished.
Ellis!! Thank you so much for the kind words! I really need 'em today. Just got told CSUF isn't gonna renew my teaching appointment for next semester (some feeble mention of possible other classes they may offer me at some point). All feels like a big waste of time and energy to have knocked myself out to provide a last minute university course (and for an absolute pittance), but, oh, well, that's the nature of the beast....
So it's extremely good to read your thoughtful appraisal. Thank you!
p.s. if you look REAL closely at the trees, you will see A FEW maple leafs conjured via the magic of a stock Photoshop brush (IN MY DEFENSE: I was trying to heal two pieces of art and don't have any tablet/drawing device besides my mouse!)
Good news...I just checked my email to find a new note from the school saying they've changed their mind, can I teach animal drawing for them again next semester?
Good news, indeed--but they've got me on an emotional yo-yo!
The politics of College. Someone probably figuratively brought out a knife that envied what you were presenting. Almost got you cut. And then someone else with a cold eye and the final say said "Davis stays." Good news for the students.
Agree with Ellis. This is so good on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin, drawing and dialogue superb, love the use of the word "succulent". Love the fact that you are able to do your version of Cork. It almost makes me feel like the group of us are a real comic book company publishing a crossover event.
That's the one real glaring weakness with this story--it drops you into the Cork situation assuming you already know what's going on.... My original scheme (concocted retroactively after creating the "Taled from the Cork" spoof comic cover) was to have a series of "chapters" done by different TAG artists that told the tale of Cork and Sam crossing the country to get to the N.A.D. S.T.O.M.P.E.R. convention and meet Robert Osborne (of Turner Classic Movies). Interweaving Cork with various TAG created characters (Rick's Creeple, your Dr. Cosmic, Ellis doing something Goodson-y). Best fit was probably Tom Carroll: his Gun-Nose character would be living in Vegas, doing a lounge act, and becomes embroiled with our heroine when she flies into town, leading to our crescendo.
I know what you mean about the problem of how to introduce a character like Cork into the story. I have done some thinking about this as well. For Cosmic Theatre, I want it to be the kind of comic where any newcomer can pick up one of my stories and read it without a whole lot of backstory or exposition.
That was how the old comics from the Silver Age worked. The editor would put in a simple "editor's note" to explain something the new reader might need to know. Nowadays mainstream comic stories are written so that you have to know 30 years of DC or Marvel history to know who the characters are or what the heck is going on. I hate it.
In "Silent Joe" where the main story is bookended by Doctor Kozmic narrating the story to his niece Zoe, I felt that it was enough to have the opening panel contain two small text boxes. One over Dr. Kozmic's head that just said, "The laboratory of Doctor Kozmic, Super-Scientist", and the other over the head of his colleague that read, "Professor Hamilton Beardsley, Ultra-Genius" I think that much undisguised narrative exposition is acceptable.
The new reader just wants reassurance that they are "qualified" to be reading the story. If you don't do this, the new reader upon encountering a new character will think "Did I miss something? Am I supposed to know who this is?" The two text boxes are my way (as the thoughtful omnipotent author) of telling the new reader, "Don't worry. This is really all you need to know for this particular story."
(How successful do you think I was in this?)
So I say ask yourself, what two brief sentences could be used to sum up who Cork and Sam are? What's the minimum a new reader needs to know about them to understand the present story? Then just say it in a brief text box of unabashed exposition.
OOF. Forgot to thank you TOm for your thoughtful comment. Thank you! Yes, I agree about story drop ins...but can be maddening to integrate into today's strict naturalism!
12 comments:
My, my. This is so high level I don't know what to say. Love that shotgun blast panel disintegration. The eye travel on a story told per page has to be as good as it gets. And of course the line work is crazy good. The forest silhouette is so good you think it might be photo stamping brushes. But close up is obviously that great hand made line art. This needs to be finished.
Ellis!! Thank you so much for the kind words! I really need 'em today. Just got told CSUF isn't gonna renew my teaching appointment for next semester (some feeble mention of possible other classes they may offer me at some point). All feels like a big waste of time and energy to have knocked myself out to provide a last minute university course (and for an absolute pittance), but, oh, well, that's the nature of the beast....
So it's extremely good to read your thoughtful appraisal. Thank you!
p.s. if you look REAL closely at the trees, you will see A FEW maple leafs conjured via the magic of a stock Photoshop brush (IN MY DEFENSE: I was trying to heal two pieces of art and don't have any tablet/drawing device besides my mouse!)
Good news...I just checked my email to find a new note from the school saying they've changed their mind, can I teach animal drawing for them again next semester?
Good news, indeed--but they've got me on an emotional yo-yo!
Good deal Marty. They would be stupid NOT to bring you back. The stuff you did was fantastic.
The politics of College. Someone probably figuratively brought out a knife that envied what you were presenting. Almost got you cut. And then someone else with a cold eye and the final say said "Davis stays." Good news for the students.
Agree with Ellis. This is so good on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin, drawing and dialogue superb, love the use of the word "succulent". Love the fact that you are able to do your version of Cork. It almost makes me feel like the group of us are a real comic book company publishing a crossover event.
And yes, congratulations on being re-hired for the college class. Guess they got smart at the last minute.
TOMMOON: YES!! CROSS-OVER EVENT!
That's the one real glaring weakness with this story--it drops you into the Cork situation assuming you already know what's going on.... My original scheme (concocted retroactively after creating the "Taled from the Cork" spoof comic cover) was to have a series of "chapters" done by different TAG artists that told the tale of Cork and Sam crossing the country to get to the N.A.D. S.T.O.M.P.E.R. convention and meet Robert Osborne (of Turner Classic Movies). Interweaving Cork with various TAG created characters (Rick's Creeple, your Dr. Cosmic, Ellis doing something Goodson-y). Best fit was probably Tom Carroll: his Gun-Nose character would be living in Vegas, doing a lounge act, and becomes embroiled with our heroine when she flies into town, leading to our crescendo.
Or something.
Very glad you like it so far!
I know what you mean about the problem of how to introduce a character like Cork into the story. I have done some thinking about this as well. For Cosmic Theatre, I want it to be the kind of comic where any newcomer can pick up one of my stories and read it without a whole lot of backstory or exposition.
That was how the old comics from the Silver Age worked. The editor would put in a simple "editor's note" to explain something the new reader might need to know. Nowadays mainstream comic stories are written so that you have to know 30 years of DC or Marvel history to know who the characters are or what the heck is going on. I hate it.
In "Silent Joe" where the main story is bookended by Doctor Kozmic narrating the story to his niece Zoe, I felt that it was enough to have the opening panel contain two small text boxes. One over Dr. Kozmic's head that just said, "The laboratory of Doctor Kozmic, Super-Scientist", and the other over the head of his colleague that read, "Professor Hamilton Beardsley, Ultra-Genius" I think that much undisguised narrative exposition is acceptable.
The new reader just wants reassurance that they are "qualified" to be reading the story. If you don't do this, the new reader upon encountering a new character will think "Did I miss something? Am I supposed to know who this is?" The two text boxes are my way (as the thoughtful omnipotent author) of telling the new reader, "Don't worry. This is really all you need to know for this particular story."
(How successful do you think I was in this?)
So I say ask yourself, what two brief sentences could be used to sum up who Cork and Sam are? What's the minimum a new reader needs to know about them to understand the present story? Then just say it in a brief text box of unabashed exposition.
Could somebody explain the NAD STOMPER joke to me? Is it supposed to be like "Gonad Stomper"?
Nads is gonads. I wouldn't go to that convention.
OOF. Forgot to thank you TOm for your thoughtful comment. Thank you! Yes, I agree about story drop ins...but can be maddening to integrate into today's strict naturalism!
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