Monday, 9 July 2018

Blockbusters and Us

Hello Valued Listener(s)!

Oooo, oooh lookie lookie! What's this?! A comic with recurring characters! Calm down, you'll wake the children.

So... Since seeing the Star Wars movie Solo, I've had this comic idea kicking around in my head. So, yes, Lenny's complaint in the second panel are my words and feelings. My biggest concern here was that the dialogue would be too "on the nose". Thanks to Christine for her editorial work.

Yes, the lines are that scratchy textured line. I find it more expressive, and easier to use than a solid, marker-like line. Maybe I'll give the non-textured line another try sometime... or... maybe not.

I like the shadows here - the last comic looked too dark, but the grey toned shadows adds depth. Also, by making the word bubbles grey and putting them behind the characters the comic looks less crowded. Yes... Mr. Ghost, I can hear you. Colour. I might try that on the next one... or... maybe...

I really like the little devil character. He's pretty cute what with his little goat legs, big compassionate eyes (devils can have compassion, I expect... maybe?!) bat wings and his knitted tie. He cracks me up. I was trying to put a goatee on him, but you wouldn't really be able to see it, so I left it off. Maybe it'll be like Hellboy's horns that appear now and then and then that needs trimming.

Oooh, and the happy accident in this one was how the little devil moves closer to the camera and by doing so, gains more importance and visual power over Lenny, while not really changing size - as compared to the can Lenny kicks. I didn't plan that in my roughs, it just happened! 

Looking at it, I can see things that need attention, but, it's posted now, which means I can't go back and fix it... right?!  Well...

It's fine... leave it. Don't try to be perfect.

5 comments:

  1. Good cartoon!

    The new Devil character is very cute and expressive. I noticed how he got bigger and more important as the page went along -- and you didn't plan that?!! Wow, your subconscious is really, really good!

    Was it your subconscious that set the theatre on fire?!!

    I like your rough line. I think it really works. However, my one criticism would be that you're getting a bit too rough here. Keeping in the rough circle used to form the Devil's head is a bit sloppy and distracting. So are the little bits of "dirt" hovering around his tail in the last panel. I know what you're going for there but I'm not sure that looseness works in a cartoon. Your finished lines are so nice and well-chosen that the rough underlines kind of don't fit, you know?

    Also, sorry to say this but I think you should type in your captions rather than hand printing them. They're a little dodgy.

    Aw, ignore me, I'm just a cranky old guy,

    Illustrated Ghost

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  2. WOW! Those are some criticisms. Useful!

    Ok, I can try to make the comic a bit cleaner. I can see that it got a bit dirty.

    And to type the words, not print them by hand. WOW! Were you the same Illustrated Ghost who suggested I print them... those were on the orchid related cartoons. Is it that my lettering is really that bad, or that it doesn't suit this comic?!

    Thanks for the input!

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  3. Aw, I dunno about the lettering. I kinda think most strips use fonts these days and it's a quick, easy way to get really good lettering. Yours isn't bad but it looks a bit irregular. I find that format and lettering that look standard and professional make everything else look a bit more professional, you know?

    HOWEVER... feel free to listen to me but then totally disregard my comments if you don't agree. You've got a pretty sweet comic there. The writing and the drawings are spot on and don't need any help at all. Maybe your good work is making me get picky.


    Illustrated Ghost

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  4. It's a good point about my lettering being not so clean and irregular. I was rushing it, maybe that's part of the problem.

    I understand there are some really good fonts out there, one called... oh what is it?! Oh yeah! Comic Sans! I'll try that one!

    I can't believe you didn't say anthing about the devil landing in the 3rd panel. That pose is total gold!

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  5. There's a font called "Zitz" that has a really good hand-done kind of look.

    As for the Devil landing on frame 3 -- yeah, it's very good but it's the positioning of his legs in frame 4 that really caught my eye. Perfectly modelled and just the right amount of movement there.

    Noice!

    Illustrated Ghost

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Thanks for your input!