007 in COLOR!

The LOST ON EARTH strips certainly add a challenge when adding color. As I continue to draw more and more little details into the strip, it becomes more and more tedious to actually color them in Photoshop. Not that I mind...I'm just saying.

This particular strip took roughly an hour, and 35-40 minutes of it was the first two panels. And there are a few sections where I think I probably could have added even MORE detail, but opted not to. Those extra little details would have been miniscule as you look at the entire strip, and would have to be magnified multiple times to really see. So...I opted to keep it simple.

Sorry for the length of time between updates. It's been a crazy few weeks, and they don't seem to be getting any less hectic. With the end of the school year rapidly approaching and all the stuff we got going around the house, all the cartooning stuff quickly gets relegated to the back burner. I'll get to "008" around mid-week after giving this strip a few days to settle in.

-dug!

LOE 007

LOST ON EARTH 007 is the first strip in which we see that something may not be entirely right with Dr. Skwidd. Thus far I've written him as the level headed leader of the group. And...I know there's only been six comics up until now, but I think that even in that short amount of time, it's been established that Doc Skwidd has been the brains of the group.

Here we see that he has an idea, a great idea in terms of hiding themselves from Earth society, but the idea ultimately has a flaw. They've hidden themselves on the bottom of the lake, but now can't open the doors without flooding the ship. The brains of the group, who is highly intelligent, has suddenly made a mistake. It's something that I'll be playing with, and you'll see Dr. Skwidd's antics get goofier and goofier, and you'll get the explanation as to why this is happening. It wasn't something I originally planned...but as I began to write and write and rewrite, it's something that just started to take shape, and I love it!

Finally...I will admit that sometimes I write without thinking about little details. I know the grand scheme of my story. I know where "Point A" and "Point C" are...but sometimes I get to "Point B" and I've written myself into a corner that I have to get out of. This comic was "Point B". I knew I wanted the characters to land on Earth. I knew that I wanted them to go after Earth's Twinkies. Without giving too much away, I know the overall story of what happens when they leave their ship. But, how are they supposed to leave their ship if they'll flood the ship by opening the doors. See the problem? I wrote myself into this corner. Don't worry...I figured out how to get out of it, it's just something I wanted to share in regards to the writing process and in particular this comic.

ENJOY!!! I'll post LOE 008 this weekend, and then maybe a few more pages of "Graduation Day" next week as well. Hmmmm....maybe I'll even get around to doing some coloring in Photoshop. Probably not this week...but you never know. :)

-dug!

"IDD: Graduation Day" PAGE 01...FINALLY!

Okay...so I've been promising you a sneak peek at the second I DIG DUG graphic novel that I'm tentatively titling "Graduation Day" for weeks now, right. Well...here it is. FINALLY! This first page is based off of an OLD IDD comic where Dug is working on his paper and the cat unplugs the computer. I kind of expanded the three panel comic into a full first page, and changed the cat (good 'ol Brucie) to a dog (good 'ol Kramer). And you may be saying to yourself..."Self, Waitaminute! If the dog unplugs the laptop, the screen wouldn't go 'blink'. The battery would keep the computer on, so this is just ludicrous!" Well...if you did find yourself saying that, then I'd like to introduce you to a MAC book we have in the house that DOES go 'blink' if it gets unplugged.

So there it is. Page one in all of it's eternal glory. Page two is actually done now as well, and page three is half inked. Between this, keeping up with new LOST ON EARTH strips AND the new cartooning adventure I just 'signed on' for (more info coming) I should be pretty busy for the remainder of the year. I have to tell myself...don't start anything new!

Happy April Fool's Day!!! Probably should have posted an April Fool's comic, huh? Oh well...that can by my April Fool's joke...no April Fool's comic. HAHAHAHA!!!

-dug!