SR 1 PAGE SEVENTEEN

Can’t say how long it took me to put all those fussy little textures on this page… Back then I think it took me at least three or four days to draw every page. Which is horrifyingly long! But remember, at this point I was still working a full-time day job as a character designer on Invader ZIM, so comic-making was still a “nights and weekends” situation.

I was also still trying to figure out HOW to make a comic book. One with loads of rich, rich pencil texture. Mechanical pencil texture. On paper. Most comic artists aren’t dopey enough to embrace such a labor-intensive process, so there really wasn’t anywhere I could go for advice. FACT: If I went up to any professional veteran comic creator and told them what I was doing they would instantly shatter my hands to spare my mind. It would be their DUTY. I’d do the same for you today.

Page looks real nice, though!

SR 1 PAGE EIGHTEEN

WELCOME TO STATICKLAND! The “ICK” is for “ick.”

“Backup features” are cool. I always loved comics that would have one or two main stories in each issue, then a scattering of bits and bobs to fill it out. Jhonen was great at that. Evan Dorkin and Roman Dirge did it, too. Dan Clowes’ Eightball and Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve were more like anthologies, but had a similar feel and were a big influence on me. American Splendor, too.

There was a time when I thought Serenity Rose might feel more like those comics. Like, maybe there’d be one or two short stories about Sera, then a couple pieces drawn BY Sera, then a page or two with some other resident of Crestfallen, some in-world ads, flyers, bits of newscasts. Something cool like that.

Statickland is kind of the last remnant of that idea.

It became clear pretty early in my comic-making adventure that my brain isn’t built for “short and punchy.” I’m more of a “moseying Sandman.” It’s hard to dive straight to the point when you’re trying to feel out the point as you go. That moseying style was perfect for Sera’s personality – a hesitant, meandering style for a hesitant, meandering character. Not great for making a quick point and bailing out, though.

Statickland wasn’t built for the short-n-punchy lifestyle, either. It was a long-form story, too. Ultimately, with Statickland I started to feel like one page every three months wasn’t enough to build up much of a story. And when I switched to the webcomic format with book two, the whole thing made even less sense. Felt like sprinkling a different comic throughout my comic. Just make it its own thing, man!

Kind of a shame because Statickland is an interesting little world. Still really like The Twitchriddle’s design. Never say never.

DEFINITELY don’t miss drawing those borders, though.

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

Spent the week addressing SHOCK CITY notes, firing up the promo engines (HEY! Know any famous folks who might want to give me a flattering quote? Are you yourself Neil Gaiman? Drop me a line!), blah blah blah…

Did a fun thing on Monday, though: I managed to check out the second-to-last show in legendary industrial band Skinny Puppy‘s big farewell tour. Skinny Puppy has been tearing it up since 1982, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at frontman Nivek Ogre. Doesn’t look a day over 30!

Such a great show. Really glad I got to see these guys one more time. Gotta say, though, security at The Belasco theater needs a little tightening up. Throughout the entire performance this guy in a horned helmet kept attacking Ogre with a cattle prod and butcher knife. How did he even get those on stage?? At one point he bashed poor Ogre’s head in and pulled out his brains. Messed up! Nobody did anything! Even when the guy – swear to God – HACKED UP A BABY in front of everybody. Sure, it was some kind of alien baby, but alien babies have rights, too (probably)!

To his credit, Ogre didn’t miss a beat during all that chaos. Even with his grey matter dangling down one side of his head, he hit every lyric.

Folks, that is what we call “professionalism.”

NEXT WEEK: THE LOST PAGE!