Updates on Nevermore and ATG

Spring again, thank god. No more winter darkness.

I have found a different artist to work on Chapter 2 of ATG, Alyssa; we're working on pencil sketches at the moment. Alyssa's style is radically different from Sienna's, much more comic bookish. I think it'll fit the tone better. She's also doing some awesome little family portraits and titles for the project. I'll share those on the SmackJeeves site as soon as I get them organized.

I've also gotten together with Kristen Ridley, a buddy of mine from college, to start working on a 9-page teaser for Nevermore. For those not playing along at home, here's a summary of Nevermore:

Nevermore is the story of Kim Conrad, a God-fearin', gun-totin' lesbian
badass who never met a woman she didn't want to bang and is quite handy with
blunt instruments. Her best buddy in the whole world is Josh Crosby; they're
raising Josh's son Taylor after the death of Josh's wife. Their semi-quiet life
gets torn apart, though, by the arrival of the mysterious Grey People. Suddenly,
whole buildings are disappearing into thin air, Josh is transformed into a
heroin addict who doesn't recognize Kim, and Taylor's nowhere to be found. And
what's with all the Edgar Allan Poe references?

The lesbian in question is actually based on Kim Ridley, Kristen's wife. They were dating while we were all in college; I actually take a wee bit of credit in getting them together, as I was first in our group of friends to meet Kim, who'd just transferred. Y'see, she and I were both in film school together, so I was riding through that section of campus on my bike when I passed this orange-haired girl dressed all in black. I immediately pulled a U-turn to ask if she'd be at the BarbeQueer that afternoon; that's how obviously lesbian Kim is. :)

Anyway, over the course of the conversation I asked her if she'd met Kristen yet. I think Kristen had neon blue hair at the time, so it seemed like a natural fit. And it was! They started dating shortly thereafter, and when same-sex marriage was legal for that short time in Cali, they got hitched.

The two of them are some of my favorite people in the world, but beyond that I really feel Kim deserves her own comic book superheroine. This one time in the middle of film class, I told her about a dream I'd had the night before in which she, Kristen, and I had tried to stop a kidnapping and almost been killed because we were unarmed. Kim looked at me and responded, "I have three knives on me right now." The 'you silly fool' was entirely silent.

Kristen's already done a little bit of crossover art.

Note to self: "no cheese"

I think this is from Nevermore. I can picture Poe saying it aloud to someone. Real fatalistic guy, that Poe.


"Life is a maze, full of narrow, dark paths and blind turns and dead ends. You wander aimlessly for a while, just long enough to lose the entrance for good. Then you get smart and start drawing on the labyrinthe walls, little Xs over the ways you've already gone. You're sure that there's cheese in here somewhere, or at least a way out, so you go through all the paths one by one. Each leads to a dead end, but you don't get discouraged. Your feet get tired but you don't stop. You eliminate them one by one, carefully following each to its end before moving on to the next.

A long time goes by and your feet ache with walking. There aren't that many paths left to try, and there's this wriggling thing inside your head, growing like larvae. Doubt. Fear. You meet dead end after dead end. You're getting desperate. You start to run, not even bothering to mark the walls anymore. You know the maze well by now, you can see it in your mind. You know. You know the truth now but you're too afraid to admit it to yourself.

Finally you come to the last passage, the last path you've never tried. You turn the corner with tears in your eyes and your feet going out from under you, and you crumple against the blank wall at its end.

And it's only after all that time, all those wasted years and careful plans that came to nothing, that you realize there is no exit to the maze, and there is no cheese either."

It's no fun unless the world is ending.

As of last Saturday I have "A Teenager's Guide" fully outlined. As my projects are wont to do, it turned out a bit bigger (16 chapters) than I'd expected (12 chapters); I tend to go epic with my stories.

So with Chapter 1 written and polished, the outline done, and a rough draft of Chapter 2 written, I find myself wondering what I should work on at the moment. I'm sort of inclined to poke at another comic I've written called "Nevermore." Glancing to my project list, I realize that I haven't even talked about it here, and the completed rough draft of the first issue has been sitting on my hard drive for months.

Nevermore is the story of Kim Conrad, a God-fearin', gun-totin' lesbian badass who never met a woman she didn't want to bang and is quite handy with blunt instruments. Her best buddy in the whole world is Josh Crosby; they're raising Josh's son Taylor after the death of Josh's wife. Their semi-quiet life gets torn apart, though, by the arrival of the mysterious Grey People. Suddenly, whole buildings are disappearing into thin air, Josh is transformed into a heroin addict who doesn't recognize Kim, and Taylor's nowhere to be found. And what's with all the Edgar Allan Poe references?

The series is a scifi mystery-comedy, as Kim and Josh search for Taylor and struggle to figure out what the hell is going on. Here, have a snippet from the first issue:


Panel 1
Establishing panel inside Josh’s small kitchen. It’s definitely the apartment of a single dad, with space rockets on the curtains and a bunch of appliances to make cooking easier. Still, it’s homey. The fridge is covered with Taylor’s starred homework. Josh is at the stove poking pancakes with a spatula. Conrad sits at the table reading a newspaper.

JOSH:
I like how you offered but I’m the one behind the stove.
CONRAD:
If the Good Lord had intended me to cook, he wouldn’t have created other women.
JOSH:
You’re the most chauvinistic person I know.
CONRAD:
The irony was too beautiful to pass up.

Panel 2
Josh carries a plate of pancakes over to the table. He looks down at the pancakes instead of at her. Conrad looks up at him with concern. In the background the pan smokes.

JOSH:
Listen, I was wanting to ask you…Taylor’s class is going on this trip in Eastern Oregon next month.
JOSH:
It costs three hundred…
CONRAD:
You need me to pitch in? Dude, of course.

Panel 3
High angle, looking over Josh’s shoulder down at Conrad. He rubs the back of his neck, his expression unhappy. She’s having none of it.

JOSH:
Thanks. I’ll pay you –
CONRAD:
The hell you will.
JOSH:
I don’t want to just –
CONRAD:
If you don’t take it I’ll spend it on hookers. And then I’ll get Chlamydia.
CONRAD:
Do you want me to get Chlamydia, Josh? Do you?

Panel 4
We see Taylor from the back as he wanders into the kitchen dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Josh and Conrad shoot him uncomfortable looks.

TAYLOR:
What’s Clymidia?
JOSH AND CONRAD (in unison, sharing the bubble):
Uhhh…tell you when you’re older.
CONRAD:
So, uh, how’s school?

Panel 5
Josh heads back to the stove. Conrad pushes the pancakes over to Taylor, who settles in the other chair and reaches for the syrup.

TAYLOR:
Today we have to give a speech ‘bout what we wanna be when we grow up.
CONRAD:
Oh yeah? What’re you gonna say?
TAYLOR:
A clown.

Panel 1
Medium panel of the kitchen. Conrad makes a horrified face at Josh, who silently points the spatula – dripping pancake batter – at her. Taylor doesn’t see.

CONRAD:
A clown? Really? That’s awesome!
TAYLOR:
Or a ‘struction worker, like Daddy –
JOSH:
Construction, Tay
TAYLOR:
-- or a lesbian.

Panel 2
Small panel. Conradn looks at Taylor sharply. Behind her, Josh stares, too.

CONRAD:
What now?

Panel 3
Small panel. Taylor smiles innocently up at them, a pancake skewered on his fork.

TAYLOR:
A lesbian, like you.

Panel 4
Conrad puts both of her arms up in surrender. Josh looks like he might hit her with the spatula. Outside, brakes squeal and Taylor jumps up.

CONRAD:
I didn’t do it. It’s the most awesome thing ever, but I didn’t do it.
JOSH:
You…you…
SFX (OP):
Screeeeeeech
TAYLOR:
That’s my bus!

And then later she fights dinosaurs with a chainsaw. >:)