Q&A: Anhedonia Blue

Didn't you have another comic that wasn't L.A.W.L.S. or Words of interest?

Yes I do, Anhedonia Blue (or ABlue) is the name of my other comic. Unfortunately it is still on hiatus until further notice. The reason for this is that the story at the time was starting to require me to draw beyond my artistic skill sets… I didn’t want to try to grid thru it and make it look bad since the art and story in that comic specifically is so important to me. As L.A.W.L.S. was gaining in popularity I started to focus on that comic more because, to be completely candid with you, as much as I love doing all comics I need to focus on the project that has the highest potential to pay the bills. That doesn’t mean that I love one project more than the other or that ABlue has been completely forgotten.. When I get opportunities I still write for it and have been working out visual kinks in my head. In the time that ABlue has been on hiatus I’ve grown immensely as an artist and get more and more excited about bringing it back. I appreciate that you are still interested in the project and I promise it will return eventually. Keep following me on Twitter, Facebook, G+, or whatever you use… and I’ll keep you informed on it’s progress.

Q&A: Comic Writing Process

I always write the script first. I have an overall plan for the comic but when it comes to the individual strip I sit and think how I can make this moment/joke fit into the overall arc with out harming it or derailing the story too much… though, at times I will take small detours if they are funny enough that they strengthen the story and have the potential to find their way back to the main plot. What fun would this be if it was JUST a straight lined planned script? Even I need some spice in my comic to keep it alive for me.

After the script is over, I do really really bad chicken scratched drawings (that don’t even vaguely resemble the characters) that work just like a story board for a movie. I can check that the motions are gonna work appropriately for the comic in hand. At this step I also make sure the text will fit with the figured with out too much overlap… I hate spending TOO much time on art then finding it gets covered up by text. It happens all the time, but I try to avoid that. 

I don’t see the scene like a movie, I see more in beats; What poses/characters are needed to compliment the joke at a pace that will hit the punchline accurately.