When we last left our heroes...

Sam here.

It has been a long month, folks.

We learned a lot in the meantime, not the least of which is the fact that making comics involves more on the back end than the front end. It calls to mind the times where I have criticized a film or book without giving thought to the work that had to have gone into creating it. That being said, actually trying to make one of your own does a lot to draw out the difficulties by making them personal, making them yours.

As it stands, I am currently in the process of rewriting STRAITS from the beginning. I am doing this not because I think that it is hilarious to mess with Kevin's mind, but because I wanted to affect a change in the flow of the establishing issue, as well as incorporate some suggestions and ideas that Kevin had regarding imagery.

The point is, this is all about communication. Sure, I kinda, sorta, really liked what I had written, but it just wasn't quite there yet. Anyone trying to make art knows that feeling, that sense that it isn't quite what you had in the sense of tone or shape, those damned intangibles that are hard to relate. There is a danger here, that one might get caught in a cycle of endless rewrites, questing ever onward, but never actually producing anything tangible. That's part of the reason this update was so slow in arriving; I am loath to talk about a work in progress, mainly because some of the best ideas that come up in conversation never quite make it to the page. I would rather just grind it out, and discuss the work after the fact.

However, I will talk about process, if for no other reason than to let those of you who might be trying something in a similar vein know that this shit is hard, frustrating, and potentially heartbreaking, and that should not stop you. Wanting it really isn't enough, there is some sweat involved, as well as the possibility that you might have to abandon your lovelies in a ditch. Get used to it. The fun parts come later, when you have painted yourself into a corner and have to solve for effect.

As the indomitable Mort Castle, my Graphic Forms teacher and Guru-Who-I-Would-Follow-Into-The-Heart-Of-The-Sun (though he would berate me for suggesting that he would ever do something that silly) recently told me: "This is not a footrace-- it's long distance slogging."

Good advice, and we'd all do well to remember it.

(Images are before and after renderings of NOLA, post-devastation, by Kevin Anderson.)