TDM Page 43 and Barroom Banter
Eric and Jon Killingbear, what a duo. Throw in Black Power and you’ve got a comic!
It honestly just struck me that this scene is all ethnic characters, and I finished drawing the whole thing already (btw, I’m writing these page posts well in advance, so greetings from the past). Odd. I suppose that means I’m not hung up on race. Good for me!
I like these three and the dynamic here, though Eric is a bit too whiny and naive for my taste. He’s the smartest guy we’ve got! I liked Eric and John in the original comic books, and thought it was a shame we never got to see their story fully play out. Maybe we will this time!
I like the revamped Jon, which is really not so different from the original Jon. He looks pretty similar and has basically the same personality. I think we just amplified certain aspects of him, like the “bro” and douchebag parts. Because this comic didn’t have enough sleazy characters in it!
Old Killingbear is truly a douche though. A misogynistic, drunken, surly loudmouth. A bit like Black Snow, though I think Black Snow is more of a jerk then a douche. Eric really has a type when it comes to good friends.
This is a very “Alex” scene, as I don’t think I wrote any of the dialogue. When I read it I really see his style. I’m not really sure how to describe it, but it’s very distinct, to me at least. Well, one Alex trademark is a character talking about a girl and being confused. I think he really enjoys that sort of thing. Thinking about it, I think he always writes the stuff like that on his own. Art imitating life?
Oh, and he LOVES this mixtape idea! It’s come up in other projects as well, and I think he’s made many a tape for a girl over the years. He makes them for himself too. He’s even made some for me! Though they are of course CDs, not the outdated tape format.
Well, that was a weird little tangent. Let’s get out of Alex’s personal life and back to the comic.
So, Black Power, eh? What’s his deal? He was not in the original comic books. He was, in fact, created by me as a comic strip idea for a black culture themed magazine last year. I only did a couple strips before I quit the magazine, but I wouldn’t mind starting them up again. The idea was basically to find the humorous aspects of being a black superhero and focus heavily on the racial aspects of what it would be like.
Alex thought it was really funny, and really wanted him in the Black Snow revamp, and saw him as a bartender. So it happened. Why is he a bartender, and is he also a superhero? Good questions. Wait and see. We have some interesting ideas for him.
Drawing wise, I was able to bust this one out (for the most part, though the Jon close-up had to be redone). I was happy to revisit the bar and to really work on creating that dark, dank, dive atmosphere, trying to make it less cheery than before, to reflect the story getting darker. And after getting ripped in that podcast review from Deconstructing Comics I wanted to do it without using any photos. Instead I went with a more minimalist approach, more along the lines of Mr. Mike Mignola. I wish I could do it that well!
That was more than I intended to write about this page, and I think I’m all out of words!