Part of me wishes that I had the patience and proper computer hardware to color the whole comic in before sharing it with you guys. The truth of the matter, however, is that for said digital coloring not to take me several weeks and cause me to tear out most of my hair in frustration, I would need to buy a new computer first. And while I'm making a long term plan about how to do that (and what to get), I really enjoy this little comic I made, I enjoy the artwork, I think being in (mostly) black and white gives the comic its own quality that is just as enjoyable to look at it would be if all the panels were in full color. Plus it prevents me from making lots of rookie color choices and errors which would probably distract from the actual drawings. (A complication I have already started to see during my struggles and experiments with coloring individual panels.)
This took me freakin' forever. I learned a crap ton. I redid the first 3 pages (panels 1-12) after I finished the 6th page because by then I had learned so much and solidified some artistic choices which I'd used the first few pages to experiment with (the experimentation was helpful and necessary but it meant none of the first pages were consistent). There is so much I feel I learned between every page, even between the 6th and last one. (Every 4 panels = a page for this comic.)
Although you can tell at the end that I do have a clear idea for Issue #2, I don't know if I'll launch into it right away or how long it'll take me to finish it once I start. Issue #1 definitely had the benefit of being my newest, most interesting and challenging art project which helped keep me focused on it, and I knew the storyline pretty clearly from the get-go and could tell how many pages/panels I needed, etc etc. I bet Issue #2 goes slower. (Not to forget that I'll also be working on coloring Issue #1 at the same time most likely.)
This is absolutely the most involved and laborious art project I have worked on/completed since probably (my giant collage)[
]. While that took me 6ish months, it honestly feels like this comic took more labor...I probably wouldn't feel that way if I'd made it over a more extended span of time than 1 month though.Man, when you have an idea you're really into and want to share with the world, it really does help one hustle along, doesn't it? I kind of can't believe I did this all in a month. I definitely slowed down at the end.
Anyway, click through to see the whole album of 30 images in order on imgur. I kinda felt embedded all of them in my post would be excessive, so I'm just sticking in the cover and first 4 panels/(first full page) in here as a teaser/trailer/hopefully enough of a preview to pique everybody's interest enough for you guys to actually click through.
No it's not perfect and yes as I color it and so on I'll also be digitally editing and improving stuff where it's needed...
...but my story's complete, it's told, gosh darn it, and I think it's cute and amusing and I really want this creation to go further than scans in my laptop and a folder full of overside B&W ink comic pages.
:) Thanks for looking.