Just a little 7.62mm abdominal surgery. Because we are all about the subtle nuances.
We kinda had fun with this page. Maybe you can tell. I got to use some of my blood and gunfire effects (including the Blood Pumpkins.) Max actually did his own thing with the acting of the querulous hostage and left it to me to come up with dialogue to fit. Always down for a challenge.
Speaking of challenges, he and I have also written a spec one-hour live-action Countdown/Crisis Strike TV pilot script. We deliberately retconned our own work so that we could get fun characters like Letoa and Cricket into Episode One, hint at Max’s backstory motivations, and set up Sophie’s character a bit more. A great exercise, even for our own webcomic purposes. The fact that we’ve written it means nothing at the moment; the script is a spec, and it is currently off with my agent who will (hopefully) submit it to places that can handle a brutally violent subtly nuanced series like this.
VOTEY! (This latest is another of Max’s Life Painting studies, and while tastefully done, it is somewhat NSFW.)
And more below!
Dude, Our Skywhales Are Way More Majestic Than That
Just as a bit of a mindbending transition from the page above, I wanted to share Max’s latest commercial project. It’s for Travel Oregon and looks very Studio Ghibli-esque; though it definitely has Max’s own art style in the human characters. (With the yellow Fiat 500 being a nod to Lupin III.) Max confesses that he was a bit argumentative during the boarding phase – he being a Miyazaki fan from way back (I believe he and his brother played our VHS versions of Valley of the Wind (Nausicaä) and Castle in the Sky (Laputa) about nine million times apiece) he felt they were getting a bit too Ghibli at a few points and he wanted to be a little less obvious. But the clients were insistent that it was a homage, not a ripoff – and they were the clients. So he did it as they wanted, and to judge from the audience reaction they turned out to be right. And he has to admit he was pleased with the result. (Although sad that Isao Takahata just passed away: RIP to a genius.) Check out the commercial below!
Bobservations
Judge, Jury, and Executioner
Annnd speaking of shooting people directly in the forehead, I was on call for Jury Duty this week. Don’t know about where you live, but here in California they’ve made it almost impossible to get out of Jury Duty, and it’s annoying as heck. My daughter-in-law is an medical professional and she cleverly reschedules hers for the periods around Thanksgiving or Christmas. She theorizes that no judge or lawyer will want to start getting a trial underway during the holidays, and since many other people also pull this ploy, this means the jury pool is huge during that time, reducing the risk that she’ll actually be called.
I had no patience for such antics, but I also had no desire to actually go into a courthouse. The last time I was on call they made me physically show up on site and crammed me in a room full of people, at least 80% of whom had some sort of foul disease involving phlegm. It was worse than airline travel. Hell, it was worse than a convention. The fact that I was not actually chosen to be on a jury did not stop me from coming down with a massive cold that lasted weeks.
This time I registered online, and each day after 7PM I had to check to see if they were going to drag me in. I cringed every time I hit the button for Reporting Instructions, and exulted each time it said I did not have to physically attend the next day.
Until Thursday evening rolled around and I clicked the button – I did not have to report on Friday! I was done! I was free! Yay? So what is this strange feeling…?
You got it. I realized I was actually offended. What the hell? Why was I not chosen? What was wrong with me? I WANT TO BE ON A JURY, DAMMIT! I WANT TO PLAY GOD WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES!
Maybe next time.
— Bob out