Well, what a week it’s been. About a month ago, when I was looking at the schedule of events at the Comics Art Festival in Kendal later this year, I discovered they were running a competition alongside Titan Comics for a 4-6 page comic with the theme of Lost in Space. Now, the deadline was yesterday and 4-weeks-ago-me thought the challenge to write the script and draw, colour and letter the comic in a month would be a marvellous idea! And, well, I finished it on time so clearly 4-weeks-ago-me had faith in current-me, though it was definitely a challenge and a half.
This is the first time I’ve properly written a script for a comic and I felt immensly out of my comfort zone. I made a story for a children’s picture book at University last year, but I didn’t really need to think about the scripting as much as it was a simple story for a very young audience. In terms of writing, we all know I like the go on, and on, and on in my blog, so what’s the difference? I tell you what, I have a new found respect for those who write and draw their own work successfully. Personally, as someone who likes pretty pictures, it was tricky to have to concentrate on words as well as images. But, it’s what I eventually want to do, so all the practise I can get will be beneficial in the future. My difficulty initially was that 6 pages is such a small amount. My section in HOAX: Psychosis Blues was 6 pages, and it took me 6 months, and I didn’t even have to write anything! For a a visual narrative of this length, I knew that unless I drew everything at a tiny size my comic wasn’t going to tell much of a story. With this in mind, and after much confusion, I researched previous short stories in graphic-form and found that more often than not they were a snippet from a story; A brief look into someone elses life, no backstory, no explanations. The story had to be PG-rated, so I decided to utilise this to make a comic that hopefully both kids and adults could enjoy, and after much deliberation I came up with the mutant platybunny idea and started sketching away. The days when I love my chosen path are the days I get to look at cute bunnies on the internet and draw them. Best. Job. Ever. Without any more delay, I present.. Lost and Found! Below is a couple of the pages, and the link to the PDF:
Link to the PDF comic, woo! Read it all here!
I’m not entirely sure if I’m content with the outcome. In the end I had to rush, but that was always going to be the case unfortunately as I came across the competition so late. Anywho, it’s complete and submitted, I doubt it’s a winning entry but it was a pretty good challenge! Plus, now I know how to work for the next competition to make sure I utilise my time in the best possible way. I mainly just want to make people smile with this one, and I hope I’ve been successful. For now that’s all folks! I have the next project to look forward to, and I’ll be back with another update next week. Over and out! x
