Ryan Lee Blu Ray Commentary Writing a gag strip is tough on character development, because space is extremely limited. (more on that later) The economics of the format demand hyper-efficiency, and that works against adding depth. So sometimes I end up in that Bendis/Whedon mode where the characters talk alike and are interchangeable, because they simply have to serve the joke. It’s actually not unusual for me to write in a script:

“Draw whomever you like, because it really doesn’t matter who delivers this line”.

I always feel a little bad about that. The point is that Joey is a guy with a little depth. He’s hen-pecked, and he’s dismissed, and he just keeps chugging no matter what crappy hand life deals him, and continues to be a good (but imperfect) person. This strip could only be about Joey, and I think it’s funny that he might sit in a bar fantasizing about (finally) being recognized as a hero while also getting the cathartic joy of plunging a sharp object into his wife’s heart.

The real story here is what I did to poor Mike’s lettering duties. Panel # 2 has to be a Superpub record for wordiness. Hey Ryan, if you can’t fit the dialogue into a single tweet, you should probably not stuff it into one panel! Sorry, Mike!

Monster Mike Blu Ray Commentary Yup, panel two is jam packed with dialogue. I’m still not great at laying out my panels. I have seen a lot of examples of classic cartoonists who actually pencil in the word balloons on the page before ever drawing a figure. I suppose that’s because story is the driving factor in comics, not art.

Ryan had also recommended The Zip as the straight man in this one but ultimately left it up to me. I hadn’t drawn Polly in a while, so I chose her. I think that last line sounds better coming from her, or maybe that’s just my mind justifying the decision.

I am currently in the set-up stages of a new business. I plan to keep on track with the comic strip but please forgive me if I end up missing a week. I promise to at least post something every week, even if it’s not a completed strip.