Triple Threat Inc.

These workshops were definitely beneficial to get a sense of what everyone is doing and how others are going about their planning phases. I think everyone in the class really wants to support each other, so being able to discuss and trade advice was useful to me as a creator. 

My concept for the final project is a Guide to Starbucks. I’ve worked at Starbucks for four years now, and there are some common problems, confusions, and general nonsense that would translate well to this kind of medium. 

My vision for this project is to introduce some of the more basic aspects: explanations of sizes, the difference between X and Y drinks, and some helpful hints, and then go in to some (lighthearted) customer training. That section will, likely, take on an old school Goofus and Gallant feel, with comparisons of how to act, and how not to act. I’m thinking, name wise, “Basic Brenda/Brad” and “Savy Sandra/Sam” and am brainstorming character looks for all these characters. I have heard it all over the years, and I think there are things that customers just do not think about. 

"I wouldn't say I'm superstitious. But I am a little stitious."

There’s a cemetery on the way to my boyfriend’s house, and I am just superstitious enough to hold my breath when I drive past a graveyard. So, when you were listing possible options for this assignment and mentioned graveyards I decided why the hell not? 

I’m actually very happy with how this turned out. I went to the cemetery and took a ton of photos. It was almost sundown, and it was peaceful, and I wanted to capture that in my comic. I used colors a lot to show my changing relationship with the place. The first two panels are very drab, the grass in the opening panel is almost yellow and the sky is gray. In contrast, the final panel has flowers on tombstones and the sunset colors are warm. I wanted to capture the kind of specific love that a graveyard can possess. The one tombstone that is featured was one of the first I came upon and there is nothing about it that is not heartbreaking. I would want a reader to process the panel, and understand exactly what is happening. I have several more photos of individual headstones, and I could definitely see myself expanding on this project. 

I decided to use aspect to aspect transitions because I want my audience to feel like they are walking through this place themselves. The scale of things actually felt fairly successful, as I was working from photo reference. Below is the reference for the fourth panel. 

I really loved Adrian Tomine’s “Translated, from the Japanese” in Best American Comics. It was stylistically beautiful and engaged with a lot of techniques I want to further in my own work.

I’m not great at drawing people - but what Tomine’s comic clarifies, particularly this page (57) is that an impactful story does not require human visuals, but rather a tone of humanity. Tomine’s decent in to a washed out palette here speaks volumes to what is being conveyed. The sky in these panels is almost completely grey, while just two pages ago (55) is was a bright and beautiful blue surrounding the airplane. Here, color is being used to unsettle the reader, and to make us aware that being on the ground in this country is less free to the narrator.

The placement of the text is interesting as well, as there are no true boxes. Unlike the preceding page (56) the text on this page is free floating, yet manages to seem extremely rigid and allows the reader to imagine boxes surrounding it. This is, again, indicative of the narrator’s feelings of being trapped. This page develops boundaries and barriers being experienced, without the narrator explicitly stating their feelings.

My process for this “high stakes” assignment was certainly more involved than with the Discovery Tasks. However, since I’ve now actually gone through the process of planning fully and panel sketching and “story boarding” to an extent, I find that it is a very useful step. For Discovery Task 10 I will be employing it, and have already planned and sketched my final product. Throughout the Adaptation Project I really wanted to find the right arcs and devote the appropriate amount of time to each item on the pages concerning panel size and transitions. This planning made it much more relaxed when it came time to actually draw the final product, as I had a reference of what I wanted to be doing. 

A purpose-driven comic certainly had more satisfying elements of creation, as a true narrative was in place, while some of the Discovery Tasks have been more expansive and generalized. I did not necessarily feel constrained by the project, just given guidelines and allowed to fill in the mandated space. 

1. I’ve shifted which source I’m using for my Adaptation Project. Instead of pineapples, I’ll be adapting Iliza Shlesinger’s stand-up comedy routine and my general vision is to break it down the story to its basic arcs and devote one page to each. I utilized the transcription feature on YouTube to get the full text of the video, which was super convenient and a great tool for accessibility. 

2. I want to adapt most of the text, because the narrative is important for the comedy. I have the transcript broken up into color coded sections here 

Page 1 will consist of the set-up of Iliza’s rule for flying, the “meet-cute”, Brian’s revelation about his mother’s health, and the beginning of their relationship. Two important panels on this page will be my depiction of Brian and Iliza. I plan to use the techniques from Mapping to convey the base character traits provided to them both in the source  Brian: about my age, clean cut.” “and he seemed normal” “my name is Brian. I work at a hedge fund and I went to Yale." four with money I will likely have a panel devoted to a drawing of Brian, holding a Yale pennant, with these words surrounding him. Iliza’s “Nerd Alert” will feature as well. 

Iliza: My name's Iliza, I'm a standup comedian, and I struggle with being attractive, yet accessible. seven without makeup I want to include Iliza’s full text about herself, because this is her narrative. 

I will shift the number ranking into these panels, as it makes the most sense to develop the narrative without taking up a bunch of extra space. 

"We can't hang out today. My mother has been diagnosed with cancer."  - This statement will be in its own black-out panel, similar to the one I utilized in Discovery Task 6. It is a moment the entire story hinges on, and is the point of tonal shift. 

And then things got weird.  - this line will be in a text box in the bottom right corner of the last panel leading in to page to, or potentially, the top left of the first panel on Page 2. I haven’t decided yet. 

Page 2 

This page will see more mapping, as I want to incorporate that technique into Iliza’s description of where Brian is living, versus where he has led her to believe he lives. We also hear from Iliza’s mother, and I’m not sure what I’m doing with that yet. There’s a distinct look she’ll need to have, but I haven’t latched on to it yet. 

Important lines: Looking for context clues. Looking for some things of his, Yale context clues, right? Plaid, mallards, pennants, minorities chained to a window, something. And none of that was in there.  - this is so visual, it needs to be included. I’ll probably to a panel split, with a diagonal line with half the room in Yale decoration, and the other half how is was in reality, or my estimation of the reality. 

"Fine, double dog dare me not to be crazy. I'll take that bet. Fine."   This is the closing line of this page, and I want it in a text box in the last panel. That last panel will likely be Brian offering Iliza the address and phone number.  

Page 3

This is the crash-and-burn page, and the emotion Iliza is feeling is really going to need to come through. Maybe they misspelled Brian over there at Yale. "Maybe they wrote Brain. Maybe they made a mistake and he did go there. This line in particular is incredibly important to the narrative, because it shows how much Iliza wants to convince herself that this man is trustworthy and not a ridiculous monster.  Two panels on this page will mirror the intro panels of Brian and Iliza from the first page. So...

Brian: he wasn't black Irish."I can't do this anymore. "Um... "I didn't go to Yale. "And I never bought a house.” Also... My mother doesn't have cancer." I want these new details like arrows, accusing him of these things. 

Ilisa: standup comedian who has access to a national television show. Go fuck yourself, Brian [bleep]. My concept for this panel is Iliza reclaiming herself. Maybe middle fingers up. 

3. I really like the art style of Relish, as I think it succeeds in that fine mash up of simplistic human shapes but recognizable. The panel of the mother with the arrow text boxes is almost exactly what I’m picturing for the Page 1/3 Panels of Brian and Iliza, so it’s a really solid reference. I’m also including a full body reference which shows the eye style I’d like to use. I always have a hard time drawing full eyes, and I think Knisley’s style will be useful to me. Also these panels detail the difference in the way men and women are drawn in this comic. Since the difference between Brian and Iliza and important, this subtle technique will be beneficial to the tone of my adaptation. 

4. 

This is my rough sketch of Page 1. 

This is a rough sketch of how I’ll be utilizing Knisley’s art style. This is Iliza, holding the cupcake pan she used to make cupcakes for Brian. 

Since this is our last Discovery Task, I wanted to explore my love of comics. As I’ve said in class, I’ve always loved comics and thinking about it, that starts with my Dad. Growing up we had collected volumes of Calvin and Hobbes, Far Side, and Opus. My Dad would read me Calvin and Hobbes every night, along with fairy tales and Dopey Loses the Diamonds. I wanted to map how I’m influenced by what I was read still today. My current love of Archie, and my Dad’s financial support of my Double Digest habits as a kid. Everything is cyclical, and a lot of who I am today is because of my Dad. Also, I’m going to show him this comic and he will probably cry. #goals 

So, we talked about Comics Activism a little bit this week, and that’s what my piece is trying to speak out to. The confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh hits hard, and the fear and pain I’ve seen from women around me these past few weeks is enough to break a heart. My sequential aspect of this piece is the maintaining of a central figure, the girl to woman character, as she navigates these stories, these movements, and the comments from people in her life. 

I utilized a lot of interesting techniques within this. The images of the woman were drawn separately and transferred on to my final page with consideration of the arrangement of all the pieces. The piece in the final right hand corner actually has burned edges, because fire is what is needed right now. This piece is angry, no doubt, but there is hope at the end. A thank-you to Dr. Ford, a reminder to vote, and the quote in the final corner is from Emma Gonzalez, one of the Parkland High School survivors. 

I decided to do a comic about living with depression as a step-by-step guide. I’m extremely open about my depression and anxiety, because I think the stigma surrounding those conditions contributes to them. I wasn’t necessarily surprised by my ability to complete this task, but I am surprised that I was able to, I think, communicate how depression feels within certain panels, particularly seven. 

I really liked the nine-panel grid, but I’m glad that I turned the template on its side because the narrow vertical wasn’t working for me. I wouldn’t say I necessarily maximized its potential, but I certainly made it work for what I wanted to accomplish. Defined gutters have been missing from my hand-drawn comics, and I think they definitely add something to this comic. Beats in between each step, maybe? 

Panel Seven is my favorite by far. I wanted to invert the colors and use negative space to show how topsy-turvy things can get. I don’t think any images fell flat, but panel six could be stronger to show human connection as a need for progress. 

Finals??? Already???

NO. Just ideas, weary traveler. 

- An adaptation comic of Kate Chopin’s The Story of An Hour 

        I’ve always loved this story, and visualize it clearly every time I read it. I think there is a lot of fantastic imagery that could be developed through the narrative lens of the comic. 

- A guide to being a Starbucks barista

- A guide to ordering at Starbucks (there’s the potential for a lot of humor here) 

"Things I've Learned/ Things to Steal"

As a writer, I think this is the most challenging journal post. All writers steal, as T.S. Eliot famously said “Good writers borrow, great writers steal.” But the acknowledgement of that can be challenging. With comics as a medium, many things are borrowed, and the influence of art can be a little clearly viewed rather than the prose of someone who just really likes Hemingway. 

The thing I’ve admired most from the readings so far is the limited use of text, and how meaningful it can make a story. I think my go-to is to over-text something, as I am used to traditional prose. But the selection from Chris Ware’s Building Stories in The Best American Comics 2014 uses no text. The panel I’m including here encapsulates the entire tone of the story, with no words! I want to utilize those small details and careful images to convey my meaning within my own comics. In Mom’s Cancer we see this again in the multi-page spread following the revelation that only 5% of people survive. Limited text, but one of the most gut-wrenching sequences in the entire book. Letting my art speak for itself, and being confident in clear in my use of images to reveal what I want my reader to understand will be my biggest challenge, but will also have the most reward I think.