SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-THREE

CRICKET! It’s Cricket, everybody! She’s awesome! I’ve known many a Cricket in my days. Good people!

I thought about bringing Cricket back several times throughout the series, but it never seemed right. She works better as this burst of positivity that lifts Sera up for a moment then vanishes forever like some weird pixie ghost.

In that typical artist way, this first book is hard for me to look at sometimes, especially the first issue. But I always liked this page. After bumbling around for over twenty pages I think I’m starting to stitch Sera’s character together here. She’s directionless and depressive, but there’s still a hopefulness to her. Sera is always on the lookout for a rope to pull her out of her own brain-swamp. I mean, she’ll be suspicious of that rope, but she’ll test it. A genuine, no-strings-attached compliment about her artwork is a very tempting rope.

This page has the first reference to Sera’s voice, “Like a small child choking on a rattlesnake.” I thought it would be more of a running gag (“Like a chain-smoking 8-year old.” “Like the corpse of Betty Boop.”), but I don’t think it comes up again until book three? Maybe I’ll surprise myself and discover another one as we go along. Definitely not reading ahead!

Speaking of Sera’s extremely specific voice, when I made my Serenity Rose short films at CalArts, I was dead set on doing the voice myself. My classmates would say, like, “You should put up flyers in the drama department to find an actor,” but I never seriously considered this clearly wise advice. Sera is me, so she should be me. Even if it required heavy digital assistance. Which it did, because my voice is definitely not “cave troll full of helium.” I tried to get as close as possible without computer intervention, though, using a method I’d describe as “violent whispering.” Absolutely devastated my vocal cords. Couldn’t speak very well for several days after recording. But hey, I don’t speak very well even on my best days, so I don’t think anybody noticed?

The “I’m thinking of maybe making a children’s book, maybe” line becomes significant many years later.

SR 1 PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

The text is just unconscionably small on these two pages. 

Some of it doesn’t fit in the balloons very well, either. That’s something I would consider fussing with if I ever found the resources for a third printing. I mentioned in a previous post that I’m opposed to “George Lucasing” this thing, but that’s more about awkward drawings and cringey dialogue. Tiny text isn’t the good, fun kind of awkwardness; it’s just plain hard to read.

That said, once you start reworking the text, where do I stop? Do I end up re-lettering the whole first issue? The whole first BOOK? Bits and pieces of all THREE books? A genuine slippery slope! I recommend the zoomable digital version to anyone who values their eyesight.

Would you believe there’s actually a hand-lettered version of issue one? It’s obviously even harder to read. Huge respect for anyone who letters their comics by hand. That is not easy. And I say that as a person who drew their comic with a mechanical pencil!

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

HAPPY ALMOST NEW YEAR! As you’re reading this I’m on my way back to L.A. from visiting family in Chicago. However – pulling back the curtain a bit – I’m actually writing this before I even leave California. (Didn’t want this post to get forgotten in the holiday shuffle.) That means I have absolutely no idea how the trip went, what Santa brought me for Christmas (if anything), or, indeed, if I’m even ALIVE on December 29th.

How spooky would it be if this pops up in your inbox post-mortem? A genuine holiday haunting!

YOU ARE WELCOME.

NEXT WEEK: WOO AND TWO.