Twitter Contest Recap

Just to recap, I ran a Twitter contest for the last couple of days. In Love and Capes #12, there's a scene where Abby kisses Mark. When I wrote it, I could hear the soundtrack in my head So I asked people to guess which song that was. That's wildly random, so I gave out a hint a day.

I only got two hints in. The first was that it was a song from 2007. The second was that I referenced another song by this band in my other romantic comedy. That was Long Distance, which referenced Hanging by a Momentby Lifehouse.

I figured that second hint would only work for people who had read that unproduced sitcom script, and I figured there couldn't be that many. Only people who'd followed a bunch of my work would even have a clue that I'd done that project, yet it was all Mizelle needed to figure out that the song was First Time, also by Lifehouse.

I'll use music, frequently, to try to get the right mood for a piece. Here, though, everything just came together.

In #12 (and spoiler warning if you haven't read further) Abby thinks Mark is going to go away forever, and runs up to him in a dramatic moment and delivers, as Some Kind of Wonderfulonce put it, "the kiss that kills." It was a huge moment in the story, and I really needed to nail it. I was worried from all sorts of angles. Drawing two people kissing is always rough, because of how the faces interlock, and trying to make sure both faces can be seen well enough. Plus, it was a big moment and needed to have that feel.

I drew it and thought I did okay. When I colored it and dropped in the background, though, that's when it happened. I could hear First Time and could almost imagine one of those spinning shots as the camera circled around the two lovers. And the lyrics of the song could easily be applied to Abby, with her being scared for Mark and it's definitely a first kiss that isn't a first kiss.

Read the book, you'll get it.

All that was missing was the rain. That probably woud have been too much. Plus it's a hassle to draw.

The contest was fun, though. I'm going to have to do more of them. So keep following me on Twitter for more.

Get to Know Me

Here's another reason to follow me on Twitter. Sometimes I run contests. In the panel after this, Doc Karma talks to his receptionist. I needed a name for her, so I put out a Tweet saying "Next female who Twitters me her name gets the receptionist named after her." (Not to be all Mirror Universe District 9, but I had already drawn a lady, and calling her "Dave" just makes no sense.) The winner, Vaneta (yes, Newsarama's own Vaneta Rogers) now has her name in the next issue.

I'd show you that panel, put it's the beat panel. Besides, I really like the body language here with Doc Karma confused and whipping around, and Abby really does look smug.

I need to do three more pages before the end of the month to stay On Pace for the new issue. I've got a little holiday planned next week, so it's not quite as safe as it sounds, but I still think I can do it.

Twitter: Because All the Cool Kids Are Doing It

In an effort to be pro-active, edgy, web 2.0 and hep, I've gotten myself on Twitter. My screenname is loveandcapes.

I'll be Twittering my creative process, such as it is, on Love and Capes #8. I'll be starting the first page this afternoon. I meant to start this morning, but setting up Twitter took some time. But, if you notice, there's a cool purple box in the sidebar on my blog page, you'll notice the updates. Soon I'll add it to my Love and Capes website, too.

So, if you have a Twitter account, please add me to your peoples-you-follow thingee.