Sunday, March 22, 2009

Dismal & Abysmal



Dismal and Abysmal, two soon-to-be-classic characters whose adventures and angst-filled friendship will be documented in the forthcoming mini-comic Mystery Ghost Comix (check your local newsstands in April!), in their very first comic strip. This is the initial rough layout of the first strip, and it pretty much summarizes their entire relationship. Innocent, trusting Dismal is tricked and maimed by Abysmal. No matter how poorly Abysmal treats him, Dismal always considers Abysmal his best friend. And, I think underneath all of the malice, Abysmal feels the same about Dismal. But you certainly wouldn't know it by his actions and the things he says.

So, this mess of a page that you see above is the first thing that happens after the idea for the strip comes. It's not intended to look pretty; the character's are crudely drawn and the point is to get the dialogue and some of the character's actions down while determining the use of time from panel to panel. I'm the furthest thing from an expert, but this is how I've been doing it. Once everything is fine-tuned, it can be committed to a final, inked version on bristol board. But, so far, I haven't gotten that far...

There are many more roughs of Dismal & Abysmal strips in my book, but I don't see the point in posting them here since the photos leave them mostly illegible.

1 comment:

Mark H said...

I think you need to put the book(s) on a stand/easel, direct light onto the page from a lamp and then use your digital camera to snap a picture without flash. I think they may even turn out better than if you sacnned them. The trick is lighting them properly.

Good luck!