I absolutely hate when this happens. I’m a person who values his sleep, so there are few things more annoying than when it’s not as satisfying as it should be.

I’m not going to post any creation notes with this one… for a couple reasons. First of all, I’m tired, and I did a lot more drawing on this one than I originally planned. Secondly, this is actually a joke I recycled from the archives of a previous concept, although with updated artwork, and some wording changes…. So I figured rather than go into a bunch of detail now, I’d first see what people think of it, and then I’d just post both this cartoon and the original over at the panel mammal site tomorrow, along with creation notes and so on.

“…like the back of my hand.”

Yeah right, how often do you really study the features of the back of your hand? I mean seriously… I’ve glanced at my hands numerous times just while typing this because they’re on the keyboard in front of me, but am I really that familiar with them? Actually, I suppose that’s sort of unfair to ask a cartoonist, because odds are, any cartoonist who draws people on a regular basis is probably very familiar with his hands, just because he’d have to use them as models so often. (Seriously, try drawing an anatomically correct “thumbs up” from anything other than a side view without looking at it.)

On to the “Behind the Scenes” Notes:

I’m producing these smaller comics faster than the larger format comics, but not by much. This is my own fault. They’d actually be faster if I’d do them two or three at time, because right now, doing them the night before, I end up wasting like an hour a comic just getting my drawing hand warmed up. How annoying is that? Once I get caught up with my day job work, I’ve got to get ahead on these suckers. Obviously I don’t need the massive time that syndicated types need, because there is no print time or anything, but still, I figure if I could at least work three weeks ahead, that would give me a nice buffer zone, so I think that’s my next goal. (I don’ t think I need to mention I’ll be doing tomorrows comic tonight though eh? I meant I’ll get ahead in the future.)

As far as the set-up of this strip goes, I think this one hits all the elements I’d usually like to get into a standard format strip. I lead with the establishing shot and I squeeze in some dialog and character interaction but keep some background elements from ambiance. That sort of setup is hard to do all the time, due to space constraints and the needs of various jokes, but it’s definitely something I’m aiming for as often as possible. I wonder though, if I should bother trying to make each strip as stand-alone as possible or if I should tie more of them together? I personally sort of like non-consecutive story lines, but I know they’re not for everyone.

Alright, first of the smaller strips. This one is a continuation of Adam and Fred as Grandpa’s henchmen. Hopefully that’ll mean two more strips this week. We’ll see.

How about that new site layout huh?

That darn monkey.  You cannot trust nature, or engineering.  Or the combination of nature and engineering.  At least Johnny Sanderson is out the telling people how it is.  For those new to the site who’d like to see how it all began, here you go. (Please don’t worry about the interruption in the middle.)

That being said, it’s time for Director Commentary. (If you don’t want to hear behind the scenes stuff, turn back now.)

When I first wrote this comic, I wasn’t going to add the narration at the begining.  After the fact, I changed my mind. I felt that since I do only post twice a week, it wouldn’t hurt to remind fans what’s happening here.  I can’t expect everyone’s life to revolve around Jetpacks and Time Machines.  Was I right or wrong in this? (uh, needing the narration reminder, not about lives revolving around JTM.)

This comic could be my trickiest visual narrative yet.   I wrestled around with drawing this one for quite a while.  That being said, inking actually went pretty fast.  In panel six, you are witnessing the begining of my new inking technique… I inked without drawing it out first.  I’ve been toying with doing that for a while, because I’ve heard from a lot of other artists that it’s the best way to add spontaneity and life to your work, which is what I want, and what I feel is very crucial for a comic.  I think I’ll be exploring that more in the future.  (Of course, it helps when you have the added flexibility of digital media.)

Hm, what else can I say… That’s about it I guess.  As always, let me know if there are any clarity or narrative issues.  (or if something is spelled wrong.  It happens.)

In this comic, Adam and Serial finish building some sort of push-kart, and Fred (being the logical and forward thinking member of the group) steps in to offer commentary and generally be an intellectual wet blanket.

Creation Notes (if you don’t want to know what went into this comic, turn back now.)

I learned a few things while trying to create this comic:

1. Drawing mechanical things that you’re going to have to redraw isn’t a very good idea, because it’s tremendously boring.

2. Just because you can visualize exactly how you want your comic to look, doesn’t mean it’s not going to take that long to draw (seven hours on this one, for reasons I’ll go into.)

3. Drawing hands is really hard, and I’d save myself a lot of hassle if I would just get a mirror by my computer for reference.

This comic seemed to take me forever. Part of the reason, was that I could not figure out the last panel, and I couldn’t draw the monkey’s hand. I’m not even kidding on that last part… For some reason, I just couldn’t do it. I kept trying to draw it from a different angle that was completely unnatural, and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I finally just made a grabbing motion with my own hand and straightened it out.

I really like this layout. My only concern is that it might be a bit confusing. Let me know if anyone has problems following this comic. Also, this is part two of what is tentatively titled “The Johnny Sanderson Introduction.” There is one more part on the way, and it’ll be here on Thursday.

One more little side note… This may be the first ‘jetpacks’ comic in which I’ve drawn clouds.

Ok, by popular demand, I’m posting the creative notes and writing out the summary for this strip, so if you’re not into that, turn back now.

This strip features a bit of an unusual framing device, and a musical score! (That’s what that was supposed to be, does it come across ok?) The first four frames are “camera view” and the first two frames are are the establishing shot of the TV show, followed up by a dramatic close up! Then we’re introduced to: THE NEW CHARACTER! Johnny Sanderson! (he views nature from a whole different angle. I don’t know if you guys were aware of that.) The final two shots involve Johnny filming his show “Nature: The Creeping Menace” and the kids, or at least Fred, viewing from afar. Meanwhile, Adam and Serial are building something.

Now, a few thoughts on Johnny. Johnny started because I used to watch too much TV. I watched Jeff Corwin a lot. I thought it would be hilarious if Jeff Corwin secretly hated animals. I was going to create Johnny as a Jeff Corwin, but then I realized that joke has limited potential. Then it got me thinking… In the future, TV will only get weirder. With that in mind, how would a nature host separate himself from the pack? At first I just planned on making him a little person who hated nature… But then I was drawing him, and I decided I was sick of drawing legs on characters. Now he’s got a wheel. A nature hating nature show host with a wheel… That has comedic potential.

Drawing-wise: The second panel sucks. It just looks bad. Other than that, I’m ok with this one. As ok as I am with any of them. Must push art and writing… NEED MORE HOURS IN DAY!

And Finally: HERE IS THE EXPLANATION OF WHAT I WAS ATTEMPTING TO DO WITH THE JOKE, IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ IT, DON’T.

As far as where I think the humor comes from, I think it has three points:

A: A nature show where the host hates nature is funny. (not sure if it comes across that it’s a nature show or not. That’s why he’s wearing the hat!)

B: The fact that serial may or may not be somehow waging a war against civilization is funny.

C: Johnny Sanderson is poking poop with a stick. I didn’t say everything here had to be intellectual

The boys go to school. What da ya think?

My thoughts on this joke, what I was attempting, and technical details here.

In this comic, Adam and Fred play a little “what if”. What if the apocalypse came and went and they didn’t notice? It could happen I suppose, at least I think so… and I’m willing to wager there aren’t any apocalyptic experts who could refute this possibility with any real scientific evidence. Adam takes this a step too far and decides to stockpile post-apocalyptic currency “just in case”.

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do to get ready for a P. A. world. Apocalysm

The Announcer has been talking to Adam again, so Adam needs some clarification on his place in the cosmic scheme.

Where does a slightly off cyborg boy stand in the grand scheme of things? Why have I done two vaguely religious based comics this week?

I don’t know.

In JP&TM related news, I’ve added a ’share this’ button at the bottom of the posts now, so if you like Jetpacks and Time Machines, and you take part in any of that social bookmarking/networking type of stuff, why not help spread the word?

Adam and Fred sure do a lot of walking around. I guess it’s better than having them stand around in a room though (unless the joke calls for it.) Walking around is good though. It makes things more visually interesting, and as a side effect, it’s also good for you. I would go so far as to say that Jetpacks and Timemachines (the best slightly sci-fi comic on the web) encourages healthy lifestyles. Isn’t that nice?

In this comic, I introduce a new character… The local neighborhood crackpot. Adam and Fred do their best too avoid him, but it crackpots can sense that sort of thing. They’re in for a diatribe, but luckily, Fred manages to dole out some wit to make an escape. Adam tries some wit too…

Also, I love the term ’snark’.

I’m curious, how does everyone feel about ‘the announcer’? I’m going to develop the character more down the road, and I’m really going to try to add more depth than the standard “sign waving doomsayer” I think.