I’M FAMOUS! 51 – The Crazy Leading the Insane
I think this one is really funny. Rosnestein and the Lone Wolf seem to share the same kind of crazy, and everyone else seems to get swept up in their wake of eccentric insanity. Hopefully I did this one justice, as it really made me laugh when I read it. Sometimes I worry that I actually make these strips less funny during the transfer from written word to drawn depiction. Of course sometimes I think I make them funnier by adding little details to them or really nailing the look on someone’s face. For instance, Daniel wasn’t actually mentioned in this one, but I figured he was still there and should be staring longingly at his flask, not having remembered it was already empty.
It’s a weird thing to first read a strip that I had little or no involvement in writing. I get an immediate visual in my head as I read, but often this visual will end up changing several times before I end up laying everything out in pencil. I’m very happy with the way this one turned out visually. I think I did a pretty nice job with the staging, and I’m really digging this new style I’ve been doing. I separate the black inking on its own layer, create a duplicate level which I color in traditional fashion, then go over with a paintbrush to add some splashes of color that don’t necessarily fall in the lines. I also work on any background colors on a separate layer. There’s also several other things I do and more layers, but I don’t want to give away all my secrets!
I’M FAMOUS! volume #1 is being printed up right now! It contains the front and back covers I posted last week, as well as the first 50 strips. So today’s strip will likely be the first one in volume #2 some day. I saw the first test print and it looked absolutely amazing. Unfortunately it is crazy expensive to print in color, and we could only afford to print 3! Rare collectors items indeed. Luckily black and white printing is fairly cheap, so we’ll have plenty of those to sell at the Alternative Press Expo next month. Hopefully they look good!
Speaking of APE, if you live in the SF area or love to travel to comic conventions, then come on down and check out the Black Snow Comics booth Oct. 16th and 17th. It will mark Alex and I’s first public appearance! There will be stuff to buy, free stuff, maybe I’ll draw something for you, or just come talk to us and keep us company.