Stripping Down #23 - Cabot

Here's a sneak preview of my first proper comic strip in, ooh, ages. Yep, the unexpectedly long gap between my last published comic work - 2000's The Art Of Falling Apart EP - and something new will be imminently plugged by One Day In Bristol #2 (of 2). The first issue premiered at May's Bristol Comics Expo (which I missed) and has since sold out. The script is by Sam Morgan, who's written some good short stories for Dead By Dawn, and pencilled by Lauren Seymour, with inks by moi. It's fair to say that I was initially daunted by the task. Lacking both decent graphics software and the nerve to potentially ruin some nice layouts, I decided to work on photostats of the first few pages. I soon realised that (a) it was extremely difficult to redraw stuff where needed; (b) I needed a heck of a lot of Tippex to tidy things up afterwards; and (c) a single page was taking about four times longer than it needed to! Anyway, as my sense returned and my confidence grew about halfway through the seven-page strip, I took to inking directly over the pencilled pages . The above examples (pages 1 & 3 respectively) contrast Lauren's original pencils with my inked pages. That it's far from the best comics work I've ever done is indisputable. However, it's inspired me to carry on with a four page comic strip that I've been working on for a little while that draws heavily on Patrick McGrath's short story The Angel. Spookily enough, early drafts set the story around Cabot Tower, a local landmark which features prominently in Sam Morgan's story. Well, when I say prominently, I mean that one panel features an enormous phallus adorning one side of the tower, courtesy of infamous graffiti artist Banksy (sadly, not reflected in reality).

Anyway, I haven't seen the fully lettered Cabot - Andy Richmond's taking care of that - but I'll post an update when One Day In Bristol #2 finally hits the shelves...