The Pitch
Here is my pitch and background and character sketches and a sample comic for the series I might do. I have a ton of strips written, they have been kind of writing themselves so far. Drawing them has been more problematic. I have one strip pencilled out, not sure if I’m happy with it, I wanted to have it up with this post but it is SO HARD for me to draw fictional characters with lots of variation between them. Doing this has made me realize how much I’ve really drawn everyone the same all this time, just given them different hair and clothes and maybe a different nose or something. I’m having a hard time drawing these guys consistently, ’cause they have a lot going on! So this morning or at the latest early this evening (after the internship) I’m going to ink the strip I have and add it to the top of the post. I’m not really satisfied with it so I can’t bring myself to ink it now, but tomorrow I’ll be removed enough from it to go with what I have.
So, basically, I’m posting this stuff to see what you would think. What I have here isn’t a ton to go off of (especially since I haven’t quite finished that strip yet), but what do you think of what’s here? Does this seem like it has the potential to be a series that you (and others!) would enjoy reading? What do you think of the look of the characters? Any suggestions? Do any names jump out at you for any of these dudes, I do not have any names yet. I hope to get some actual comics using these guys up soon so you can get a better idea. Scope that shit out, think about it, let me know what you think, and check back later for more stuff.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:49 am
cant wait to read it. this is a huge step forward! great job ben!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Ben this looks really awesome. You’ve been reading “making comics,” yeah?
I’m super impressed with all the work that you’ve done to plan this out. My first reaction is that I hope there’ll still be the Ben-type funniness that I know and love, and not go to a wholly story based thing where eventually it turns out that they’re involved with ancient myths and have to save the world or something (Wapsi Square, I’m lookin at you). But I know that you are a funny guy, and I’m sure these comics will be funny. You just can’t help it! I think this will really push your art forward even more, another quantum leap from where it was in the beginning (don’t correct my use of the word quantum). Are there going to be ladies in your comic? That would be good, especially for when you get a whole ton of readers and they start complaining about it being just guys. I know you addressed some of these things in the post, I’m just too lazy to go back and read it again. I think your character designs strike a good balance between cartoony and realistic, with enough realism to be … realistic and enough cartoony to be exciting. Does that make sense?
Anyway, this is awesome and I’m proud of you. I’m looking forward to it!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Oh the other thing I was going to say is that I associate the low brow of the last character with being stupid, but it seems like you’re going to play against type there so it should work. Woo!
November 11th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Emma- Thank you a bunch! Comic up soon, and hopefully a lot more after that.
Ali- Thanks also! And yeah, I have been reading making comics. Don’t worry about it getting all serious and such, because A) I might pitch this to newspaper syndicates to see if they’ll bite before I make it a webcomic, and B) that is one of the most frustrating trends in webcomics to me! So no Roomise, CRFH, or god forbid Wapsi Square type stuff will be going on here. And yeah, there’ll be girls! The dudes will just be the main…dudes. Already have some gals planned out. And yeah, that’s what I’m hoping for with the character designs. And playing against type, especially with the big blonde guy.
November 11th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
excited about this!
November 11th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Thanks Tyler!