SR 1 PAGE ELEVEN

It’s a miracle I never slept through any classes in college. Throughout my CalArts career I regularly went to bed around 4AM, but always managed to be at least mildly conscious in time for Life Drawing II. 

You know who DID sleep through classes at CalArts, though? Tim Burton (allegedly). The story goes that Tim Burton would literally bring a sleeping bag to classes he found especially tedious. I cannot confirm this is true, but choose to believe it!

Definitely true, though? Walt Disney’s frozen head is hidden deep in the CalArts basement. It’s in a fridge with some frozen burritos and stuff. Sometimes we’d take the head out and let it rot a little bit, just for a laugh. The look on his dumb wet face!

Big introductions on this page: Kelton and the goblins. Lots to say about Kelton as we go along, but for now I’ll just mention he’s named after Kelton the Cop from three different Ed Wood movies. “Why do I always get hooked up with these spook details? Monsters! Graves! Bodies!” Perfect haplessness. Dweeb god.

For the record, here is the oldest drawing of Kelton I could find (around 1999 or so):

…And I’m just now realizing this is basically me from 1999. Only with a weird little goatee instead of glasses.

NOTE: If there’s ever a movie adaptation of Serenity Rose (Sure, Jan), this baloney conversation must be reproduced verbatim or no deal.

SR 1 PAGE TWELVE

Hey everybody! I hate this page! 

Yeah, it’s important for Sera’s character arc to set her up as a judgmental little toad bubbling with hostility toward the world. But this page skirts the edge of making her downright unlikable. I think I recognized that at the time, too, because I tried to undercut it with a little self-judgment at the end. Is it enough?

This is the cleaned-up version I did for digital sales a while back. The original print version had THE SHRIEK named “LARDLOUD,” and the description read “Thinks volume compensates for obesity.” Yikes. That for sure chucks Sera into the Unlikable Zone. Hats and haircuts are fair game, but who wants to read about a character that tears into people for their weight? Pretty confident about that change. 2001 Aaron messed up.

Oof, still go back and forth on the “F” word in the next panel… I let it stand because it’s describing the attitude of a hateful character. BUT… I wouldn’t use the same logic to let the “N” word stand. Tricky issue, clearly not sorted out by me. Maybe it’ll be changed by the next printing?

Either way, MY VOW TO YOU: I’ll never fix any dumb mistakes or rework any inoffensive-but-cringey awkwardness in future editions of Serenity Rose. I don’t want to George Lucas this thing. But I never want my fellow outsiders to feel unwelcome here, either, so if any word choices are pushing my people away, torch ‘em. FWOOSH. Done.

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

I think SHOCK CITY book one might be… done? Probably a few tweaks here and there before it heads to the printer, but I think this particular turkey is juuuust about ready to devour. Hope you all like it! And don’t worry, vegetarians: devouring a book turkey is 100% cruelty-free (almost).

So on to SHOCK CITY book two! My editor has my first draft of the script on her desk now, and I am desperately hoping she doesn’t hate it. I’ll let you know! If everything goes according to plan, book two will be twice as ridiculous, three times as emotional, and ten times as horror-y as the first one.

NEXT WEEK: THE FLYER!!