So I’ve been working on “And the Horse You Rode In ON” (i.e. CattlePunk Volume 3) for several years now. It’s an “Editor’s Cut” of the story arc in which Brian stepped behind the screen again – only this time to run CattlePunk. Much the same way, I did the Bag Wars Saga all the strips are being re-storyboarded with new art and greatly expanded. (I’ve lost count, but I’m guessing there are at least 60 new pages of material in this one. The project has been pushed to the back burner a few times now over the years, (once due to some health issues I was having, and the second time after the death of our partner Steve). This time, I’ve resolved to have the book ready for publication by late summer. And so far, (knock wood), it’s looking promising.
Anyway, today I reached a part in the story arc on the re-storyboarding the caused me to pause. It’s a single strip called, “Simon Says”. And it appeared in KODT 107 back in 2005. This strip is notable. It’s the very first KODT strip that I laid out in color in the comic book. The only such strip appearing in the issue (or the 106 issues that came before it. Since the strips first appeared in Shadis, back in 1990, I’ve always worked in black and white art with grey tones. But in 2005, when digital comics were more and more becoming all the rage, I began thinking maybe I should start laying the strips out in color. True, the print comic book was black and white, but there was no reason their digital counterparts had to be. The problem was not knowing what the full-color panels would look like in grayscale. So Simon Says was my first dip of the toe into color. I laid out that single strip in color as an experiment.
When the issue came back from press, it more or less looked fine to my eye. So with each subsequent issue, I gradually made the transition to working completely in color. Coming across those panels again today, I was reminded of the journey. I thought it might be interesting the present one of the original panels from that strip here, compared to its replacement in the new trade.
Incidentally, this location is known as the “Alley behind Furkman’s” in the comic. For a long time, it’s been where clandestine meetings between characters have taken place. It was here, where Brian once met, Earl Slackmozer for example, to procure a copy of the secret, Jackson Document. 😉
Until next time, Jolly
