11/22/09: Thanksgiving

My next challenge is to write holiday themed strips. Do you realize how hard it is to write a NEW Thanksgiving joke?

This is why it is important to have a character based comic strip. The jokes have to come from their personalities.

11/14/09: Sunday Strip #2

This second strip was pretty fun to draw. I get a kick out of drawing big bugs and creepy crawly things. I think the coloring might be a little better, as I added some shadows to add depth to some of the panels.

Also, I’m experimenting with a coloring style that is loose and messy. You can really see it in the very first panel where Moe is walking past a bush. I think it gives the art a more dynamic and spontaneous feel, and a more childlike quality. It doesn’t quite work without some detailed background drawings though.

I also toyed around with the title panel. I used a part of the strip, deleted the black outlines and did some photoshopping to the color. Again, just experimenting.

I will probably recolor the strip and the title panel when I send it to the syndicates. I will perfect the title style and color technique over time.

Here it is, your Moe comic:

11/11/09: Sneak Peak

Here’s a sneak peak at the second Moe sunday strip.Notice there is nothin in the top row of panels. That’s because the throw away joke was good enough for a daily strip. So I still have to think of a throw away joke.

“What’s a throw away joke?” I’m glad you ask.

Newspapers reserve the right to dispose of the top row of panels of a sunday strip. This allows them to save space for more comics. That means the bottom two rows have to be able to work as a stand alone gag. That’s why so many sunday strips have a large title panel and a light prelude type of joke in the first panels.

You just learned something. Here’s the preview of the next Moe.

We have a winner. Two winners actually.

Cassie Bishop found the first mistake and one of my favorite students found a second error. Leave to a yearbook editor to find the problems. Atta’ girl, Beca.

Mistake #1 was the mound of mushed banana in front of Moira in the last panel. I forgot to draw it in, so I just photoshopped it.

And the second mistake was the lack of mouth on Moe in the second panel. I guess I’ll have to print two copies.

11/08/09: First Sunday strip in the can

And by can, I also mean toilet. I have a lot to learn about coloring. But I can count this completion as a success due to its completion.

A signed copy of my first strip to the first person who find the difference between the rough version and the finalized color version. And the color part doesn’t count. It’s a continuity mistake in one of the panels.

I realized while coloring that I left out an important detail in my pencils. So I had to photoshop a little something into the final FINAL version.