Another Year, Another Page

The first new page of the new year is page thirteen. It's an okay page, but it's by far not my favorite.

It's one of the few pages I've ever done that I rewrote/redrew a joke after it was done. The joke was funny, but the replacement joke was funnier.

I think some of the frustration came about because this sequence features a Plot Joke. To my mind, there are two types of jokes in Love and Capes, Plot Jokes and Joke Jokes. The latter are jokes that are just funny on their face, and the funny is written first. To use issue eight as an example, Mark and Abby going to a comic book convention, that's a joke joke. The situation is set and the jokes pour out of it.

The other type is a Plot Joke, which serves to advance the story or rearrange characters on the stage first. I can cover a lot with caption boxes, but sometimes you need to show Mark flying Abby to Paris or something along the same lines. In issue eight, the bit where Crusader is set up to fight Psi-Clone is a Plot Joke. I have to introduce Psi-Clone, introduce his powers and have him change into the Crusader. There's a lot of business there to cover. On top of that, I throw a joke in it.

Page thirteen starts with a Plot Joke. Abby's co-worker Jason has to walk into the bookstore. That's very much moving characters on the stage. He needs to be introduced, have a joke, and leave. For four panels, that's a lot to do.And it woks fine, it just doesn't sing the way some of the other jokes have.

Oh well, ever forward. I have to go write another page now, which will feature a couple of Joke Jokes. But they also advance the plot. The lines, they are a blurring.

Mission Half Accomplished!

Yes, I am all about the schedule, baby! Page twelve is done!

I really like the panel shown here. The body language and cartooning works really well. I like how Mark is using his chin to balance the stack of books. Abby's turn is pretty natural, and she looks very cute.

I'm sure in six months I'll hate it, but for now, it's kind of cool.

I think I even have pages thirteen and fourteen planned out. We'll see how they break…in the New Year!

Page Eleven

My New Year's Resolution? To have only twelve pages to do on issue #10 in the New Year. One page shy of that, and a day and a half left to make it happen.

Here, Abby asks Mark how he came up with the name "Crusader." His story is actually based on a chapter of my life: He says that it was the name of his grade school's mascot. I'm a proud graduate of Immaculate Conception Grade School, and we were the I.C. Raiders. I did a strip in grade school called Laser Raiders (based heavily on Dynamite Magazine's Dynamite Duo) and then later a little book called Raider.

The reason he has to specify grade school is that it's established that Mark went to my High School here in Ohio, Lake Catholic. There, we were the Cougars.

As for how I came up with "Crusader" for the hero of my strip? Two factors: The main inspiration is that frequent Batman sobriquet "Caped Crusader." The other was a legal and financial reason: The Crusader is a name is common usage, and as such, not really copyrightable. You can name a car "The Nova" but you can't copyright the name "Nova." And, while I'm sure there have been characters named The Crusader, there's nothing to stop me from using it, too.

Now, there might be issues with naming the book "The Crusader", but you'll notice that none of the character's names appear on the book. It's called Love and Capes, and I did do my trademark and copyright search on that.

It also means that should LnC ever become a sitcom or movie, and there's some other legal reason to change a character's name, it wouldn't affect the title of the show. See, always thinkin'.

Page Ten

What? Who's talking to Darkblade? Is it Mark? Or is it someone else?

With this page, I've run out of paved road. I had the issue planned out until this point, and now I'm left with vague "write something funny" guideposts. I've got the ending pretty tight, which is normal. I always have the ending in mind when I start the story, so that I have a target to aim for. Some of the staging is a little sketchy at this point, but I know how it's going to wrap.

If I can do two more pages this month (and yes, I know I'm running out of month) I'll be exactly on schedule for where I should be on this issue. That's all the more impressive when you realize I have a month less to get this one done than I do on most issues. We'll see if I can keep up that pace.

Color My World

I've wanted to do this for a while.

For Christmas Eve every year, I have my relatives over. Timberlake's got an arrangement with Santa so that he comes to the houses in the Village before his yearly rounds and drops off a present or two. So my house is popular with my nephews and neices and Goddaughter. And, of course, waiting for Santa is always a trial for them. I remember it was for me.

So I got the idea that I should do a coloring book for them. This desire was increased by the new Brave and the Bold series on Cartoon Network. It's a fun show, but it's also just so frakkin' pretty. The character designs are just gorgeous (thanks in large part to artist Mike Manley) and I'm trying to figure out the way those characters are built. I decided to put the two of them together and try to do some Brave and the Bold-esque coloring book illustrations.

Some of them came out really well and are shown here. The actual coloring book breakdown includes Firestorm, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Doctor Doom, Thor, Iron Man, Black Lightning, Hawkgirl and more. I did more the clean-shaven Jim Aparo Aquaman for the cover instead of the design they did for the actual cartoon. I still think it looks pretty cool.

If there's any interest, maybe I'll post the PDF so you can print your own for those of you who have kids who might enjoy it.

Click on any image to embiggen.

Clipping Mask

Look, it's page nine. And, it's a silent panel. I worry that I rely too much on dialogue, so I like when I can work silent panels in.

Plus, this one was had a difficulty level to it. Trying to get Mark's hands to make the shape of a mask, given how cartoony his hands and face proportions are, took some work. I even played fast and loose with the shadows. Technically, Mark's eyes should be in shadow too, but they're not, since I wanted the contrast between his hands and eyes to make things clearer to read.

I knocked it out quickly for the cover, but I do really like Abby's superhero outfit. I feels like a retro-Lois Lane-gets super powers outfit, which works well for this storyline.

Paper Dolls

This is one of my favorite segements of the new issue. Abby has to design and select a costume after what could best be described as a "wardrobe malfunction". Not much more I can say about it until you read it, but many oxes will be gored.

And with that accomplished, it's time to put up my tree!

These Are Not the Hammer

So, the Dr. Horrible peeps are having a contest for the artistically-inclined to design a gift tag for people whose Dr. Horrible Sing-Along-Blog hasn't arrived in time for Christmas. I've decided to enter the contest, so here's my tag design…

Yeah, I know I'm reusing art from that Captain Hammer and Penny illo I did back in Texas, but gosh darn, it came out so well. Besides, it's Christmas and I'm busy with all of that, as well as actually doing work and a little thing called Love and Capes, so I think I'm entitled to a little repurposing.

Besides, I had to write the song parody lyrics myself. That's original, right (except, of course, by definition).

The contest ends today. I'll let you know if I get any love from the judges.

The One Where I Almost Show Too Much

Because 'tis the Season, I'm giving you two whole panels of page seven. Of course, they stretch together into one. Here, Abby starts to see the upside of her powers.

This sequence has been fun to write. It's also the first time I've bumped my head against the "kid-friendly" FCBD edict. Now, Love and Capes is, was, and always will be kid friendly, but since this issue has to be okayed by Diamond after some questionable content got into one of the 2007 books, I'm playing it a little safer.

It's the payoff to a joke, though, so I can't show you. Not until it comes out. It's just the kind of thing I might have drawn slightly differently had this been part of the regular run of the book. Don't worry, though, it's still funny.

Page Six, and not the New York one.

Yesterday, I did my signing and then did the bulk of my remaining Christmas shopping, and then had dinner with some friends. By the time I got home, I was pretty beat. I was thinking about wrapping Christmas presents as I watched the obligatory Sunday night Cowboys game, or maybe just collapsing on the couch.

Instead, I found myself drawn into the studio to finish the sixth page of Love and Capes #10. The storyline's taking off (HAH-hah… oh, wait, that's only funny if you've actually read the whole page, which you haven't), and the jokes are coming easily. Things really seem to be clicking on all cylinders, which I always appreciate.

Obviously, Abby gets super powers in this issue, and this panel is one of my favorites. I always like a panel that has a joke in it and yet isn't the last panel in the sequence.

I know the next page pretty well, but I can't start it until I get some clienty work done. After that, though, who knows?