March 23rd, 2001 -- Blast from the past

Original Babbler for 3/23/2001: The artwork above really did come from the first ever strip to feature Alas in it, before the series was even named after her. The original dialogue for this piece was some nonsense musing about the already barely-sensical lyrics to The Damned's "Grimly Fiendish." That strip set the original tone of the project for me-- obscure music references, verbal play, simple artwork. The artwork has slowly gotten better, and hopefully the music is less obscure to folks now (if nothing else, I want Alas to educate some people on the topic). The upcoming story arc won't exactly start the whole thing over from scratch, but it will revist the characters as if meeting them for the first time. They've developed a lot since their amorphous beginnings, when one character could easily say another's lines. Now that everybody's a little more differentiated, a little more set in their ways, and I actually know what those ways are, I think it's worthwile to explain more of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the characters. Like why Alas is in radio, what Nic does at her shop, where Trebor spends his days. I have this thing scripted from here to May Day-- hopefully I can draw fast enough to keep up.

New Babbler: I drew that original strip using my television as a light board, paistakingly retracing the panels by the glow of static. I really had no idea what I was doing. By the time this version came out, though, I should have found an option other than breaking the fourth wall.

2008-04-23

more...