Black Snow Comics

I'M FAMOUS! 54 - The Movie

HA!  Good stuff here.  I know I’ve been a bit critical, perhaps overly critical, of the strips lately and I couldn’t tell you exactly why.  Taking it all bit too seriously maybe.  In retrospect those last few are funnier than I first thought, and I don’t dislike them as much anymore.  I like this one.  It’s a return to form for this silly, stupid little insane comic.  It captures the manic insanity that I think makes this strip really funny, and it even makes the Lone Wolf the straight man!  Who would’ve thunk?

I really love the look of the comic these days.  I think it’s quite beautiful and feel very satisfied.  Perhaps I’ve finally locked down a style I can stick with for awhile. Those little dabs of color really add something to the overall look.  I really like the way I posed this one and gave it some energy.  All that was written was the dialogue, without any kind of description of the actual scene.  What you see here came purely from my imagination.  I think I’m getting better at staging the characters and coming up with more interesting composition, which can be a challenge when it’s usually just people standing around talking.

The Alternative Press Expo, or APE as it is commonly referred to, is coming to San Francisco on Oct. 16th and 17th and we”ll be there!  Yes, Black Snow Comics will be making our first highly anticipated public appearance, and you can be a part of it.  To learn more about APE, like who else will be there, check out the official site at http://www.comic-con.org/ape/

To keep in touch with Black Snow Comics related APE news sign up for the event on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119071688135013&index=1

The news thus far? We will be stationed at half table 715A.  It is located along the right wall from the main entrance.  Both Alex and I will be there with comics and related paraphernalia for sale, for the very first time.  Everything there will be first run, so it could be worth some bank one day if we ever get big!  Or it could remain worthless…but priceless in entertainment value!  Feel free to come by and chat with us, as we may well need the company.  We’ll be happy to take pictures or sign autographs, if you actually want that.  If you’re lucky and ask real nice I may even draw something for you right there!  So come on by!  BYOB.  All alcohol gifts will be accepted.

I'M FAMOUS! 53

I found this to be a rather silly/stupid one, but it’s still pretty funny.  I really like the way it came out, especially with posing the people.  It also marks the debut of Lone Wolf’s back!  Yet another reference the him having some sort of Nazi affiliations in his past.

So why so silly?  Mostly because of Eric.  He is supposed to be our most intelligent and grounded character, both in I’M FAMOUS! and Black Snow, yet is fairly prone to saying stupid things in odd ways.  He has a strange, somewhat inconsistent tone to him that has never quite reconciled with who the character is supposed to be.  He is especially odd and buffoonish here.  Why would he feel the need to tell Nicole that? And why would she just accept what he has to say?  I don’t know.

Of course I’m being hypercritical of this, and I doubt many fans out there pay as close attention as I do to the dialogue in our webcomic and its consistency to the overall tone of the characters and plot.  That’s the way it should be though.  Aren’t we always our own toughest critics?  I suppose I should try to not take these so seriously and not hold them up to the scrutiny of reality.  I don’t normally judge the really funny ones by those standards, so maybe we just need to be funnier!

I'M FAMOUS! 52 - Daniel is a Prick

I’m back from my vacation.  I wish I wasn’t.  It was awesome, aside from missing my son and getting a bad sunburn.  Everything else was great, and I didn’t really miss much from my normal life.  Not even drawing.  I didn’t even want to draw when I got back.  Being away and doing fun things really gives you a chance to enjoy life, and see all that you’re missing.  Drawing is a very isolating and time consuming activity. Even when you collaborate or draw around other people.  It requires singular focus and removes you from your environment.  You have to be a bit of a loser in a way.  Not the outgoing party type.  Not if you’re going to draw a lot, like a regular comic strip anyway.

But I forced myself to start drawing on Sunday morning, in some attempt to keep my vow.  But then I went to a party.  I had half intentions of finishing it afterward.  Then a bee stung my drawing hand.  It hurt…a lot.  I didn’t get home til late, and I didn’t really care anymore.  So I broke my vow.  It’s done.  It happened.  I broke my word.  You want to fight about it? Yes I, a man of his word who strives on dedication, failed to live up to my goal.  Given that 5 days of the week I was on vacation I think it can be forgiven.  Oh, not your forgiveness.  Like I care what any of you think!  My own personal forgiveness.

So no more vow.  I’ll do the best I can to draw as much as I can, or feel like.  Until someone starts paying me to do it.  You want more?…then you pay me!

Maybe I’ll share some more about my trip with you later, but now to the comic at hand, I’M FAMOUS! 52. I don’t particularly like this one.  I do think it looks good.  I know why it’s supposed to be funny, but mostly I just find it offensive.  It bothers me on a few levels.  The Lone Wolf calling Rufus a dog, for one.  HE’S A MAN!  I don’t like derogatory slurs like that.  And for some reason I really don’t like hearing it from the Lone Wolf.  It destroys some of his innocence.  At least that’s the way I took it.  Alex didn’t seem to intend it that way.

I also really don’t like Daniel.  He  is a true asshole.  When we started this comic I thought he was a good guy being driven down by the insanity of the Lone Wolf.  I liked that.  But apparently he was already a huge prick who would sleep with someone else’s wife.  And look at how callously he treats Rufus here.  He is unphased and uncaring.  I won’t spoil anything, but he doesn’t get any better in the foreseeable future.  Funny, many of the same qualities that currently disgust me about him now are what I liked about him in the past, and what I like about Black Snow.  The biggest difference I suppose is that before I thought Daniel was  a good person deep done in inside, just like I think Black Snow is.  Now I don’t think that.  I just think he’s a bad person, and I guess that disappoints me.

Oh, and we haven’t gotten to know Rufus enough yet to judge his behavior here, so I don’t know if he is being a jerk or if I should feel sorry for him.

Basically I think this is the most unlikeable comic we’ve done yet.

Aloha!  Tomorrow morning I will be leaving for a week long vacation at beautiful Oahu.

Waikiki, Ohau, Hawaii

I’ll be staying in the heart of Waikiki with my wife, sans our son.  It should be a dream trip. I plan on doing absolutely no work the entire time, including anything connected to comics.  This will hopefully be a very relaxing time that allows me to recharge some of those creative juices.  You may not realize it, but drawing/working on other aspects of the comics can become all consuming.  When I dedicate myself to something I do so fully, which means it bleeds into all other aspects of my life and I spend a lot of time thinking about ways to improve it.  At least for one week I hope to switch that off and just soak in my surroundings.

I’ve always loved the Hawaiian culture and style, thus the nick name Hawaiian Mike.

Hawaiian Mike

I’ve always had a penchant for Hawaiian shirts, though that has shifted towards bowling/rockabilly shirts in recent years, and I like pork pie hats, though I normally don a baseball cap (pork pies seem a bit audacious for a lot occasions, and not quite as versatile as the true blue cap).  I have quite a few carved tiki gods and related paraphernalia (masks, mugs, etc.) as well as books on the mythology.  Lately I’ve geared up by watching shows and movies set in or about Hawaii.  Hawaii for me, as it is for many, represents the ideal escapist paradise.  I have felt that way since early childhood.  Here’s the funny thing about it.  I’ve only been there once, to Kawaii, in my early teens on a massive extended family vacation.  So this should be really fun.

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

One of the things I’ll be doing is snorkeling in world famous Hamana Bay.  I’m really looking forward to that, as I’ve always enjoyed tropical fish.  I’ve kept countless tanks over the years and spent several years working at pet stores selling fish.  It’s really cool to see the things you’ve sold actually out living in the wild.  Another planned activity is all be going on a ghost tour.

Hawaiian Night Marchers

A lot of people don’t seem to realize this, but the Hawaiian islands  are steeped in legends of the supernatural nature, and are well known for being quite haunted.  One of the most famous phenomenon are the Night Marchers of Oahu.  The Pali Highway itself has several tales of ghost.  You probably know I’m quite interested in the occult, and have recently taken a walking ghost tour of Old Town San Diego and spent the night at the haunted Brookdale Lodge (not to mention my childhood hauntings, trips to local cemeteries, and sneaking into some old abandoned areas), so hopefully this will be a nice addition to my previous supernatural vacation adventures.

So what does this vacation mean to my work rate vow? Hopefully nothing.  My vow of one comic strip per week (Sunday through Sunday) this year has been achieved so far, usually surpassed by doing 2 or 3 strips!  I’ve already done 2 this week, and I’ll be coming back the following Friday night.  I should have time to do one that weekend, thus keeping the streak alive.  You won’t be getting anymore until then!  So sad.