SR 1 PAGE NINETY-SEVEN

FORSOOTH!

Very much enjoy the Disconnect leader talking in that florid, vaguely Shakespearean dialect. If only these characters had stuck around long enough to play with that more, but alas. 

Why do you think the leader talks like that? I assume all of The Disconnect were – like Humbly – once attached to the end of cable lines, diligently making images on TV screens around the world. For various reasons they got fed up, disconnected themselves, and went hunting for their boss. Maybe The Disconnect leader here was serving up some Shakespeare on PBS and took a shine to it. After a night swooning to Coriolanus, he couldn’t bear to go back to Big Brother and TMZ, so he unplugged and set out on a mission to seize control of all media.

That’s a decent starting point for a character. Needs another twist and/or turn to be really fun, though… Maybe the leader’s only ever seen the one Shakespeare play, and his dialect is a deeply pathetic attempt to replicate the language. The rest of the Disconnect are constantly rolling their eyes about all that wobbly “forsooth-ing,” but put up with it because he’s big, strong, confident, driven, etc. Whatever leads to a dead Twitchriddle is fine with them. The one with the lipstick wants the Twitchriddle dead because of unrealistic beauty standards in cosmetic commercials. The little one with the mask hates the Twitchriddle because there aren’t enough Friday the 13th sequels on linear TV. Real diverse bunch!

HOLD ON… Just noticed some weirdness in panel five: The Disconnect “met” Mary Grissle, and THEN they “went to meet” her? That makes no sense. It should probably be “Until they HEARD ABOUT wee Mary Grissle.” Maybe I’ll change that for future. Or maybe it should stay there forever and teach me about humility. 

The “this page has no discernible center of interest” footnote is way too harsh, 2004 Aaron. A page doesn’t have to have a center of interest, just the individual panels. As long as your eye is being led around the page in a pleasing way, it’s FINE.

SR 1 PAGE NINETY-EIGHT

There is nothing I love drawing more than a big, screaming mouth. Gums exposed, teeth arcing back into the molars, it’s the BEST. As someone who never raises their voice, there’s something cathartic about drawing a character raising their voice beyond all reality into the realm of cartoon distortion. Good stuff!

Whenever I draw Tess’ teeth I try to remember to give her big stabby canines. Looks good and feral that way. 

The rhythm of this page works pretty well. The point is to communicate Tess’ steadily-increasing rage, and the repeated contrast with of Sera’s indifferent nail-chewing and the monotonous hum of the engine helps sell the rising anger. I’m not shy about kicking my own stuff when it doesn’t work, so I should point out when a page really comes together, and this one definitely plays a nice little tune:

duuuuuuuulllllll huuuummm… 

dull hum. 

bored chew. 

SEETHE. 

duuuuuuulllll huuuumm… 

SEETHE–bored chew–SEEEEETHE–bored chew–SEEEEETHHE–dull hum- 

EIGHTY! MILLION! DOLLARS!!

I’ve been to worse performances than that.

BACK TO THE PRESENT!

BIG NEWS THIS WEEK! And you already know what it is: SHOCK CITY, my first solo book since Serenity Rose, is OUT.

My diabolical plan worked! You’re all doomed! Can you feel your flesh melting as we speak?? Not great, right?

What is great is the book, though. And that’s not just me and my mom saying that, it’s several other people, too!

”An off-beat, original world sure to appeal to middle-grade fans of horror-lite monster stories.”  – Booklist, STARRED Review

“This hilarious, action-packed tale of friendship hits the middle grade sweet spot.” – School Library Journal

“Against a backdrop of imaginative thrills and chills, Alexovich explores themes of friendship and perseverance in genuinely touching ways.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Why are you reading this quote when you could be reading this mind-blowingly awesome book?” –  Emmy Award-winning actor/producer Seth Green

“Equal parts nightmarish and outrageously funny, this graphic novel adventure isathrilling joyride through an electrifying world!” – Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Kids on Earth

Thank you to all those nice people for the nice words, and thank you if you’ve already bought the book. If you haven’t, thanks for tolerating this promo stuff. It is exhausting.

We’ve got a bunch of signings coming up to celebrate the newness (including one at Dark Delicacies tomorrow, if you happen to read this in time), but if you can’t make it, no worries! I’m offering FREE signed bookplates to the first hundred folks who post a photo of their new book on social media. Just send your shipping address to aaron.alexovich@gmail.com. Bookplates look like so:

Thanks again for putting up with all this, folks! I promise the book is worth it!

NEXT WEEK: I’MSORRYI’MSORRYI’MSORRYI’MSORRY