Archive for ‘Intro to Johnny’
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IS ARCHIVE
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.)
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IS ARCHIVE
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.
IS ARCHIVE
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
Jetpack Jabber