POST 499 PART 2: THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL

or: Oh those trixty numbers. They'll get you every time.

Wonderful problem with counting this weekend. It turns out that one doesn't count 1, 2, 2, 3 anymore. Had to re-letter a page because this new "1, 2, 3... Math" ruined the space-time continuum on the page. Also, apparently, when Blogger tells you that you have 297 posts on your blog? Yeah, that means the next post is probably going to be number 498, not 499. Steve Albini promised me a new number order and failed to deliver. I also screwed some other numbers up this weekend. The hardware store closes at 3:30 on Sunday. Which means they aren't open at 4:45. Returning home after failing to get inside the hardware store, I managed to turn down the wrong stree coming home. And then I couldn't figure out why my building looked so different.

At least I don't get paid to work with dates, APRs, point-redemption plans or numerically designated periods of time. Oh. Wait. Crap.

In the interest of preserving the BIG POST for number 500, I present to you the second half of Page 2 for EMAW #8:

POST 499

This is going to be the last post for a bit, as I have something big in store for the GINORMOUS 500th post.

In the spirit, a threefer. Panels 1-3 of PAGE 2:

PAGE 1

Some cleanup aside, this is the new page 1:

GO!

Seriously. Nothing but drag racing and transvestites. It's a friggin' breakthough.

GET READY! GET SET!

ON YOUR FABULOUS MARKS!

HONESTLY?

I think this is the best thing I've ever drawn. I should seriously consider only drawing future drag-racing transvestites forever.

AN UNEXPECTED ACT OF KINDNESS

Or just when I think I'm out, they drag me back in.

So, last week, I was working on my exit strategy. Get out of my job, get out of New York, get into doing nothing but comics... no serious thoughts beyond, "I just can't stands it no more!" though.

Today, I went in Uncle Moe's on 19th St., between 5th and 6th Aves. Uncle Moe's has the best burritos in New York, the city that never sleeps as it's trying to figure out how to make a decent burrito. I go there just about every Tuesday, or once a week if I miss Tuesday. Like most of my lunch stops, I don't even have to order anymore. The guys there just start making my food when I get to the front of the line. That alone, is awesome. I love being a regular.

Anyway, today they prepared my East LA and I went to pay. "Pepsi?" "Yes, please." "One pepsi." I went to hand the guy a ten, and he said, "This one's on me." "I'm sorry?" "This one's on me. Enjoy."

There is such a thing as a free lunch in this town, afterall! I enjoyed my burrito and read some of Kim Deitch's Shadowland, all the while thinking, "It's good to be me. In this town. With this job, so close to Uncle Moe's."

Do I have to pay this forward now? Hmm... I'll have to think about this. Who can I kindness unexpectedly. Something to mull.

Anyway, panel! Panel 2 of the new page one. I think Stelldora's finally got her groove back and is trusting her breadsticks. The rest should go down smoothly, unlike me, sporting three weeks of beard.

OKAY, I THINK IT WORKS

I reduced it to print size and did a test print. It's one sixth of a page. It will probably stay in a readers' mind for 1/6 of 1/18 of a second. BLAM!

Insanity now.

On to panel 2...

PENCIL PAGE TESTS

I was a little nervous that these pages would be too dense for the 6-panel grid, since I was drawing them so large. I shouldn't've worried. The layouts are a bit slapdash for speed, but I think they look pretty awesome.

Page 1:



Page 3:



And now... inks! Let's see if I can completely ruin them.

PASS ME OUT AND DOPE TO BUY

Sleep up! Inks tomorrow! Wait... wine. Then sleep! Then breakfast! Then inks! INKS!

A LITTLE HWINE AND LEMMY FROM MOTORHEAD

Where's MY rain, sleet and hail? I ask... because I AM THE POST MAN! Or Waterworld. One of those.

ACTUAL 2/3

I'n losing track. Doing these as batch, my post is well behind my draw. The next panel is drawn, but not scanned.

Here we go!

2/3 DON, 1/3 JOHNSON

PEE PEEING PISS GOLDEN SHOWERS URINE URINATION MAN AND WIFE FETISH HAIRY BATHROOM TOILET

Hello google visitor!

More of this. Safety glass. Cartoon man peeing in a toilet with lots of splatter. Yelling. To his wife. Spikes stab skull! She is calm. Books, Honey. Dutch girls must be punished for having big boobs.

BEGIN PAGE 4

ON YOUR HIGH THREE-QUARTER MARKS!

Seventy-five cents done.

I promised myself I wouldn't buy any new comics until I finished the ones I already had. But then I finished the ones I had on me at work.

Paul Pope's tightest work to date was his new Batman Year 100 book. It was also the first time I've seen his work work well with color (in a comic). He's got a bit in the Fantastic Four anniversary issue coming out and then... that art book, I guess. He promises more announcements in the future. Hopefully something tight like Batman but not... well, you know.

Atlas #3 is the latest in Dylan Horrock's new series. The first issue came out in... I think I was still in college. At this rate, he should get to the actual story sometime in 2035. The good news is, the book looks nice. I think it's his best cartooning to date.

Mushishi is teen Hellblazer with ameoba-insect-bacteria things for demons. Enjoyable. More promising than successful, but pretty successful. Next one's in May, probably before the next Atlas. Ouch.

Tank Girl 3! This is the first Hewlett-arted Tank Girl I've found in my 'quest' (I think you need to spend more than forty minutes over two weeks to qualify what you're doing as a quest). This was collected after the movie was made and features some bits where writer Martin bemoans the whole of Hollywood. So far, the book is quite fun, but I'm trying to decide if the occaisional unreadability of the thing is part of the genious, a flaw or just the price best paid. I have this question about a lot of the olde Britishers...

IT'S NOTHING AT ALL

Sunday morning...



There's weaknesses in all of these images, but I'm waiting for that iredeemable crap panel to pop up. I don't think it has yet (in these new pages). Oh well, maybe when I do the final inks.

JOHNSO?

Two-thirds of my way to 3/4 of the new pages — pre-finals. Finish by end of weekend? Or Finnish by end of weekend? You make the call!

IT'S NOT YOU

Listening to Smokey Robinson's The Ultimate Collection. Smoke wrote a number of songs with this theme: "It's not you, it's me. And I can do a lot better." Ah, Smoke.

Of course, a lot of his other hits are on the themes: "You cheatin' bitch!" or "Wha hoppen? Oh. You're a cheatin' bitch!"

Here's a panel. If it seems like it sucks, it's not you — it's me. And I can do a lot better. What?

X? IS THE NEW BLACK

Manny Thangues to Kenny, Marcos and Rob for kind words. What good is delusion if no one's reinforcing it?

MY OWN SON!

I actually turned the computer off and was heading to bed, but I walked in the opposite direction of my bed and sat down to draw. This is the first panel of the new page 3. I think dad's hand should go behind son's head. It will get those eyes going in the right direction.

NOW I'm off to bed.

THAT'S ONE KISSER OF A BOO-BOO!

I just realized, I screwed up my bizzare naming convention for this whole page. Oops.

I also put the word balloon in the wrong place. But that's because I did it before figuring out exactly where the figures were supposed to be. This was, again, a complete redraw from my original pencils. The characters kept switching positions on me.

One thing I'm sure of though, these two are getting their own chapter. Somewhere down a line.

I'M TOM, BY THE WAY

BIGGER JOBS!

Marcos got quoted on the latest izzer. It's towards the end, and is pretty much the Cliff Face motto.

There's a robot bulldozer named Mek-Quake in Nemesis the Warlock who speaks a little bit like Carl is the Awesome. Always shouting, "Big Jobs!" Robot street cleaning in the distant future might be "Bigger Jobs!" Who is to say? Me.

Speaking of Mek-Quake, Mr. Britcoms, The Bad Librarian posted a link to David Bishop's blog. Bishop is a former 2000AD editor and is posting his and other employees reccollections of that mag's history. The Pat Mills bits are my favorite. He's becoming a must-read writer for me, and I love his angry talk in this and this interview. Also: Kevin O'Neill! There should be 21 more days to go in his 28-day series. Should be some interesting stuff to come.

I'm glad I got to crank some less-detailed panels out tonight, so far. It makes it look like progress. After some flooding last night (YAY! Flooding! It's been years. How I've missed your dirty trickle.)

I might do one more before making some dinner and cuddling up with the first new episode of Lost in months. YAY! 18 straight weeks to go, I think. Who else can claim that?

OL' FACEFUL

STRADDLER!

I AM. REALLY. I AM.

CLOSING OUT THE NEW FIRST PAGE

Completely redid the pencils on this one. The original bears no resemblance to this one, except that it's a reverse orientation image featuring the same characters. I'll see what I think about doing another pass when I revisit it.

I also left out some of the details. Huh. Didn't realise that until I started posting.

And I still haven't gotten Boo Boo's hair where I want it, but the left side is a lot closer. There's a panel in Marshal Law: Blood, Sweat and Fears where Kevin O'Neill has drawn a 'super hero strip club' sign. The girl in the sign has "Passion Pit" written in her hair. Awesome. I think Boo Boo styles her hair after that image, except she does it a bit more Filmore West. Awesomer.

A VOUPLE PASSES

This took me a couple passes to get the poses where I needed them to be. The initial pencil was a little stiff.

ON YOUR FABULOUS MARKS!

Widen the gap between buildings and silouete 'em

TRES TRACE

Needs more roof.

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELINGS

The felt-tip 'pencils' for panel 2:



And now it's time for bed. If I stay up any longer, I'm going to have to eat another dinner.

"PENCILS" ROUND 2

Here's the second round of pencils for the first panel of the first of the new pages. The pages use a 6-panel grid, but I may break those in half (upping the auntie to 8 pages) if I think it's all getting too small. The beats all happen on every third panel, so it shouldn't ruin anything.

Still, the idea of super-density appeals to me. We'll see if it works. If not, harmy fouls, as the kids say.

The thumbnails, where I wrote the pages out, were done in check-fraud-preventitive purple pen. Apparently, the ink absorbs into the paper to such a degree that it can't be erased. Who knew? Anyway, six panels on each 8.5x11 sheet of paper. The backsides of a certain old movie script.

I then pencilled each panel on 8.5x11 paper. Each panel is 9.75x8. Done in 8H pencil (the actual 8H of Turquoise brand and the soft-enough-to-be-HB 8H of Kimberly). I had to use what was already sharpenned, because I killed my pencil sharpener two weeks ago. I haven't replaced it because, I haven't had to do any pencilling until this weekend. Now I'm creeked up the shit.

I'm then light tabling those pencils onto 8.5x11 graph paper. With so many rounds, I'm trying to keep the thing loose, so, it's freehand. The graph paper helps keep lines from squiggling to far in any direction. These 'pencils' are actually felt-tip flair pens. A couple reasons. 1. I have no sharpened pencils left. 2. the felt-tip will read a lot better when I light table the final inks. A few, really. 3. The pens keep the liine loose, and I'm less likely to be overly careful. Ah-hem. Several. 4. The pen line is thicker and blunter than a pencil, giving me a better sense of line-negative space relation.

Anyway, here's a future city in lou's pen, proper perspective be dams:

ULTIMATE

The last panel drawn of chapter 3 is the first panel of page 39.



Time to pop a cork of the good stuff! Or, at least, the stuff I have on hand.

I'm alternately pleased and appalled by the book right now. Of course, that's a lot better than how I felt about the last issue. Good signs!

I do, however, feel like something might be missing. While I want to get the book done, I also don't want the issue to beef, forcing people to inhale the whirlwind.

I think I might want to Tharg this a bit. I was going to do a 24-hour comic to get me into a place for the next issue. Now I think I'll spend this weekend working on a little something extra for this issue.

Not done yet!

ULTIMATE PEN

The penultimate panel! The second panel of page 39.



Now onto the first panel of page 39...

TOP OF 38

Page 38 is done. I had to, once again, see if one of the images even works...

BOTTOM PAGE 37

The bottom half of page 37:

PAGE 36