PANEL ONE. Travis sits at his dining room table, staring at his laptop computer screen. He is wearing a Star Trek tee shirt with holes in the armpits, and sweatpants that are so threadbare the mesh is visible through the knees and ass. He is eating goldfish crackers and drinking tea. He has not showered or shaved in three days.
CAPTION1
I got turned on to Natalie Nourigat’s work via an interview Jamie Rich posted on Facebook.
I got turned on to Natalie Nourigat’s work via an interview Jamie Rich posted on Facebook.
CAPTION 2
I’ve been spending my lunch breaks going back and forth between her autiobio comic “Between Gears” and Warren Ellis’ “Freakangels”.
I’ve been spending my lunch breaks going back and forth between her autiobio comic “Between Gears” and Warren Ellis’ “Freakangels”.
CAPTION 3
These are two great tastes that taste WEIRD together, by the way.
These are two great tastes that taste WEIRD together, by the way.
PANEL TWO. An autiobio comic version of Travis. He is drawn in a semi-realistic/semi-manga influenced style. He is thinner than he is in real life (please). He is walking along a tree-lined sidewalk in the fall. Leaves are swirling about him.
CAPTION 1
I love autobio comics, but they always make me feel introspective.
I love autobio comics, but they always make me feel introspective.
CAPTION 2
And introspective on me tends to become maudlin very quickly.
And introspective on me tends to become maudlin very quickly.
PANEL THREE. A young Travis is sitting at a drawing table. He has a crayon crammed into his chubby fist, and is dragging it around a piece of paper. He is concentrating deeply, and his tongue is sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
CAPTION 1
I wanted to make comics ever since I was a little kid. When I was younger, I thought I could be an artist.
I wanted to make comics ever since I was a little kid. When I was younger, I thought I could be an artist.
CAPTION 2
Then in high school, my art teacher told me I had no talent and should hang it up.
Then in high school, my art teacher told me I had no talent and should hang it up.
CAPTION 3
That’s sort of a fucked up message to give a 15-year-old. Wasn’t she supposed to bullshit me and tell me I could be anything I wanted to be?
That’s sort of a fucked up message to give a 15-year-old. Wasn’t she supposed to bullshit me and tell me I could be anything I wanted to be?
PANEL FOUR. A row of comic book professionals are standing under a banner. The banner reads “2015 Eisner Awards”. All of the professionals are smiling, physically fit, hip, young people. Travis is in the middle of the group, and he has aged poorly. His beard is haggard and grey and patchy. He has lost most of his hair. He is wearing an eyepatch over his left eye. His tattoos are still visible, but the skin they are on is saggy and wrinkled.
CAPTION 1
I worry a lot that I’m getting started too late in life to break into the comic world.
I worry a lot that I’m getting started too late in life to break into the comic world.
CAPTION 2
I tried to write a Spider-Man script today and threw my back out. That’s probably a bad sign.
I tried to write a Spider-Man script today and threw my back out. That’s probably a bad sign.
CAPTION 3
It would have been easier if I could draw, I think. I would have been doing this since I was in my teens.
It would have been easier if I could draw, I think. I would have been doing this since I was in my teens.
PANEL FIVE. A twenty-something Travis sits at a drawing table. He is wearing a Joy Divison shirt. He is weeping profusely. A cheap CD player is visible in the background. Musical notes waft from it.
CAPTION 1
Of course, then all the angst and sexual frustration of my 20s that I channeled into poetry and music would have gone into comics instead.
Of course, then all the angst and sexual frustration of my 20s that I channeled into poetry and music would have gone into comics instead.
RADIO (SFX)
And if a double-decker bus …. crashes into us…. to die by your side…
And if a double-decker bus …. crashes into us…. to die by your side…
TRAVIS (dialogue)
I will prove my sexual worthiness to you by drawing Wolverine!
I will prove my sexual worthiness to you by drawing Wolverine!
PANEL SIX. Travis is sitting at his dining room table again. He has showered. He is wearing jeans and a clean AC/DC tee-shirt. He is feverishly typing away, and is looking very satisfied with the results. His wife, Jenny, is in the background, sitting on the couch, typing on her own laptop.
CAPTION 1
At the end of the day, I don’t have too much to complain about.
At the end of the day, I don’t have too much to complain about.
CAPTION 2
Tonight my wife is going to come home from work. I am going to make dinner. And then we’re going to work on our respective comic scripts until it’s time to watch the Daily Show and go to bed.
Tonight my wife is going to come home from work. I am going to make dinner. And then we’re going to work on our respective comic scripts until it’s time to watch the Daily Show and go to bed.
CAPTION 3
That’s like an “It Gets Better” ad for nerds.
That’s like an “It Gets Better” ad for nerds.
*****
Check out Tally’s work, and her comic, “Between Gears”. She’s pretty awesome. I sometimes think Jamie Rich’s secondary mutation is locating talented, manga-influenced young women and getting them to draw comics he’s written. Maybe it has something to do with living in Portland. Portland is a great town for comics, from what I hear.
I live in New Haven. It’s a great town for starting an ironic bluegrass band.
*****
Jenny and I watched the Rise of the Planet of the Apes remake last weekend. I liked it, and thought it was big dumb fun. But I am also pro-ape, so I probably fit squarely into their target demographic. The “Fright Night” remake will be out this weekend. I am pants-wettingly excited for it.
Hugs and kisses,
(The)Travis
(The)Travis
No comments:
Post a Comment