So it's day one of my four day catch up scenario, and I'm not doing too badly. Not great, but not bad.
So I did something for the first time that might seem a little strange. (Actually, I had this exact conversation with Vanessa, and she had this reaction) I actually sat down and read Robotoon Issue 1. I'd never read it before! And like Ness said, 'You wrote it!' Yes, I wrote. I edited it. I proof read it. I checked it for spelling, and grammar and whatever else you need to check a book for. But I never actually READ the damn thing. I not once treated it like it was a story, and read it from beginning to end. So the other night - procrastinating as usual - I had the issue in front of me, was flipping through and started reading. The next thing you know, I was engrossed. Now, I know that sounds kinda arrogant - getting really into something you wrote. But I really enjoyed it.
Now hopefully, that's a good sign. To be able to both read and enjoy something you created either means you are so full of your own self worth that you honestly believe you shit sunshine OR that all your hard work paid off and you created something worthwhile that others could conceivably enjoy. Personally, I'm hoping for the later.
One thing I did pick up on was how many little inconsistencies are in the book. When you work on something as long as I was on Toon - for the uninitiated, I worked on one version of the book for about 6 years, didn't like it, restarted and worked on the new version for the next 6 years. 12 years in total - a lot of things can change. My art improved, my sense of design improved and I became unhappy with certain elements. Rumour was the biggest problem. That guy was never the same from one week to the next. Then, a few years back, I had an offer from a CG Animation company in Sydney to possibly turn Robotoon into a cartoon. (That's a whole 'nother story!) Long story short, the characters had changed. I had no desire to go back and redo the pages with the old designs, but I wanted to start using the new designs. So I just started using them! There are pages in the book that have the old, others that have the new, and even some that have a weird hybrid of the two.
This is really not something you should do in a comic. The only way comics work is if the same characters appears the same way on every page. Imagine if you're watching a movie, then all of a sudden the lead actor gets replaced with a different actor. Like Darren from Bewitched. If you don't know what I'm talking about with that last comment, it just proves how old I am.
like a pissed off Fortunately, with this issue, I've got my designs down and am sticking with them. The character all look the same way on every page, as much as my drawing ability allows. The only real problem has been Blitzkrieg. If you read the last issue, Blitzkrieg appeared on the very last page. Blitz had been an absolute nightmare for years. Back when I started writing Toon, I had the idea for him to fight some huge, unstoppable behemoth of a creature. This was not long after the Death of Superman, so I'm sure I was heavily influenced by Doomsday. Anyway, I never had any idea what this thing was going to look like. I had dozens of ideas for how he was going to be. I remember there was a sketch of this thing with rams horns, another that lookedechidna, he was a bull, he was a bear - I even tried a design that looked like the truck from the movie Duel. Nothing worked. When I was finally drawing the page in the book, I just sort of drew him. Nothing coherent in mind, he just became what he became. I got stuck on the head. Everything else I could live with, but I could not design that head.
Finally on day, I got hit by a brilliant little bit of inspiration. Toon was inspired originally by Roger Rabbit - I'll go into his origin later - but his personality was going to be based on Bugs. I'm not sure how well that's working out, but that was the plan. I was running through my head different ideas for a an enemy of Bugs, when it hit me. Bugs' biggest rival was a certain well know Mouse. After that, the rest kinda fell into place.
When I started this book, I was just going to use the design I had used in the last page of last issue. Only problem was, I hated that damn look. So I thought I'd take one last crack. I took a look a few old vehicles and tanks, trying to find something that would inspire me, when I came across an image of an old steam train. A few sketches later, and I finally had my look. He was perfect. A giant, powerhouse, intergalactic rat that looks like he could kick any body's ass from here to Pluto and back. The only down side was, now I had to draw the complicated bastard constantly for the next two issues.
Sadomasochism and comic art. I'm starting to think the two go hand in hand.
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