12 comments:

Jed Alexander said...

Since no one is likely to have much to say about this, I decided to offer the following ramble:

This, I gather, is the bottom of the 4th page from the last? So the first splash is a page, the 3 tiers that followed is a page, and the previous big panel and single tier is a page?

It's hard to get a sense of scale here when all things are equal on blogger until you embiggen. The page with the giant rainbow, I imagine, is really important because it takes up 2 tiers of space, more than half of a page, deduced by the fact that it would be awkward to cram the current panel shape next to the previous if it were a part of page 3 from the end (counting backwards).

Are you just doing this a panel at a time? In other words: are you worried too much about whether or not these images make compositional sense all together?

Of course there's the one panel at a time, who cares what it looks like altogether school of cartooning, many people see it that way. Aside from using the page as a unit that comprises a scene or significant part of a scene, as in: ending a scene at the bottom of a page, or using the end of a page as a vehicle for suspense. But then, if the past is any indication, you usually seem to be conscious of the whole page gestalt both compositionally and narratively.

I recently got this collection of Goodman Beaver strips where the art is reproduced larger than the originals, and each page is a single panel, each spread a tier. Having read one of the strips in its original format in another Will Elder collection I found the reading experience made much more sense and worked for me on a different level when reading the panels as pages as they were originally designed to be read.

That's all. In closing, I offer you the Obama "take action" figure:

http://www.sweetney.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/09/obama.jpg

YES WE CAN, MUTHAFUCKA!

Speaking of "yes we can", get yours today!

http://jedalexander.com/

Anonymous said...

Ooh, lookie, it's Li'l Mark Martin, that nappy-haired rascal!

Happy Birthday, Li'l Mark!

Anonymous said...

Judging by the way the not-perfectly-horizontal top of 1/15 matches exactly to the not-perfectly-horizontal bottom of 1/18, I'm guessing Mark is drawing these as full pages, and then posting them a tier (or 2 or 3) at a time.

These look great, by the way, Mark (especially assembled as pages in photoshop).

BonzoGal said...

Awww... you draw really great baby gums!

Mark Martin said...

THANKS FOR NOTICING! That mouth was hard to draw!

And yes, I am drawing a 3-tier page at a time, as I go, backwards, and posting a tier at a time. or a splash page or a big double-tier square, whatever is next in order. The delivery system is flawed, blogger posts the thumbnails at different percentages, with distracting "date/comment" links between each post...

What can I say? "Click to embiggen!"

Damn you, Arsenault, didn't I warn you last year about blowing my birthday cover???

Mark Martin said...

Speaking of Billy Joel -

http://bedazzled.onlinestoragesolution.com/hassles.mov

(You may have to cut-n-paste that)

He's the poseur with the cigarette, the moustache, and the striped pants just like the ones The World's Greatest Cook made me throw away!

Just a reminder, in case anyone forgot... I hate "You May Be Right".

Mark Martin said...

That drummer is the worst drumstick-syncher EVER!!!

Jed Alexander said...

Who are these people besides Billy Joel?

That guy's guitar is wearing a gilly suit!

Aww, forgive the guy his poser mustache and cigarette. He's all of about 15.

Do not forgive the grown-up Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".

What ever happened to Billy Joel?

Oh, this is what happened to Billy Joel:

http://trioof5.com/ESW/Images/Billy_Joel.jpg

You'll have to include the details about your peculiar process in the liner notes of Crazy Boss.

I was going to post for you a link to one of the many Obama sandwiches, but there are just too darn many to count! It's hard to pick a favorite. I'm partial to the "Obama Melt".

Anonymous said...

happy b-day! I thought it is today. I hope I am not wrong ..dumb me!>

Anonymous said...

Do I see Sea Kitten-in-a-can there? Our snuggly-wuggly Tara the Tuna? PETA's comin' after ya!

slatts said...

Forget PETA.... Sonia!

Jed Alexander said...

Ok, this one is from the opposition:

http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/7/K/e/1/obama_tickle_me.jpg

The suggestions seems to be that this Obama love is a fad of sorts, something I can't really see (even from the right) but I still kind of dig it. (Who says we can't take a hit?)