Ideas Percolating in My Fevered Brain

And how I deal with making them reality

Before I signed up to participate in Comic Book in a Day I had already decided I wanted to do more actual comic story telling in 2026. While I do quarterly strips on Geocaching for FTF Geocacher and PinPoint magazines I want to do more. This was what my retirement was supposed to be- more drawing, more creating. I had lots of ideas that had been bouncing around for a while but didn’t really have an idea or the time to devote to a project. Especially since many were just kernels of idea. Left over whispy dream stuff. This made them harder to formulate. So of the list of ideas some were easier than others.

“A medium not a genre” is emblazoned on a bag I bought from Amy Chu at Baltimore Comic Con. Comics are just a way of getting ideas and information out to people. Multimodal literacy combining pictures and words. People who look down on comics or even picture books, don’t understand the role the image plays in the telling. The Dursley’s just don’t get it when they only want to read “chapter books.” I listed in my last post some of the ideas I have been considering I can break them down into four categories:

• Instructions

• Adaptation

• Memoir

• Actual Story

The instruction manual concept is pretty easy for me having been a teacher for most of my life. I just take a lesson and turn it into a comic. I did this throughout my career- just explain in simple terms the subject and make it engaging. That’s kind of what I did for 24 hour comic day. I just converted my usual discussion about what geocaching is into a comic book. It wasn’t very good, but it was 24 pages and was done. I put it in a drawer somewhere to go back to and polish up later… that was about a decade ago.

The idea of taking something from the public domain and adapting it into the comic media is another “easier” concept. Especially if it’s something that I really have a passion for. The issue here is the limited space and finding something in the public domain. I used to have my students present poems each week. They would pick a poem, memorize it and then present it in front of the class. To gain confidence started with Jack Prelutsky’s Homework which looked daunting, but after a bit was a lot easier than the kids thought it would be. For those wondering I did this with first graders up to fourth graders. For me I used Jabberwocky and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening as examples. Two of my favorite poems, so these are part of that list, although my idea for Stopping by Woods is a bit off the wall and not appropriate for all ages.

Looking at time constraints a memoir comic is really the only other option. Anything else I doubt I could finish in a manner I would be proud of. So the options there are limited. My Sophomore Critique was life changing - not in the best way, but demonstrated to me how not to encourage someone. It also demonstrated how close minded academic art professors at my university were at that time. I’ve run that event through my brain hundreds of times, wondering if I made a mistake (I didn’t) or if they could have said or done something to change the result (yes, too many options, creating so many parallel worlds to consider).

The other stories, like I said are kernels of ideas. Funny thing is both have been sitting around in my head for almost a year. I even had fiddled with preliminary sketches of some characters and scenery.

When I started My Geek Odyssey it was supposed to be a travelogue about my fellowship through the Lilly Endowment to travel around England in a Mini Cooper. After trying so hard, I realized that even a wonderful trip like that came across as boring. So I felt the need to add Cecil the Evil GeoCaching Monkey to the mix. Which leads me to one thought I didn’t list and may end up as a portion of the comic strip, it involves Comic Shop Gremlins… Basically (to be blunt and honest) some of my co-workers and their habits at work are pretty amazing for a Gen-X “old guy” who can’t understand how some of them stay employed with a work ethic that includes staring at their phone hunched over behind the counter for most of the day. Not my Carnival, not my monkeys.

So now like in DC K.O. or any of the other superhero crossover battle these ideas have been fighting in my brain with me thinking through all the various options. My notes are sparse but I have ideas on everything- character designs, plot points even page layouts. Nothing has been drawn out- that would be what I think of as actual “pre work” and against the rules. These ideas have a little less than a week to decide who wins and how the multiverse will be changed forever (until the next superhero crossover event). I joke about Whimventures® and heading out without a plan. I’m usually terrified when I travel to new places and try to plan out as much as I can. I do leave room for side quests, the random stop, so it goes with these project ideas.

One of the biggest challenges facing me for Comic Book in a Day is the page… I have been working in a world with only four panels for almost 20 years. Build up to a punchline and done. I’ve tried to tell longer format stories but they still end up in a strip format. So for me to make this project work, I have to break out of that concept. Which again is why adapting someone else’s work into comic book form seems like a good option. I only have to worry about the pictures and layout, and not the actual words. I could be wrong, it could actually be harder. Only time will tell.

Timeline-

For Comic Book in a Day I’ve got to consider how long I actually have. Looking at the time and planning ahead I’m breaking it down like this-

8:30ish sign-in - I’ll arrive early, I know I will. “If you are on time- you’re late”

9:00 official start with announcements, rules, and stuff I don’t know how long this will take. I’m guessing with everything at least 30 minutes.

9:30 - 10:00 actually start drawing

12:00 lunch - Working lunch? They state in the rules that we should be taking breaks throughout the day… saying this to a guy who rarely takes “breaks”

4:00 end turn in completed pages

4:15 presentations of work Show everyone what you’ve finished

So around six hours including lunch and breaks.

Tasks-

• Script - written form of what will happen <30-45 minutes

• Layout pages - thumbnails 4-6 pages <30 minutes

• Design characters - what makes each one stand out? <30

• Draw comic (pencils) - 2+ hours

• Lettering - ugh. 1+ hour

• Ink (finish) - 2 hours You’d think tracing your own drawings should n’t be that hard… it can be especially since it can really change the way a drawing feels to the reader

So over six hours needed not including lunch and breaks if I guessed right. Which I know I didn’t.

These are all guesstimates I just know I want to start working on actual pages before lunch. So the “pre work” might end up being rushed a bit or might get mixed together - especially if I choose something that I don’t have to script as much. Character designs might end up being done on the fly, or trying to work out the images in my head (“the rest is scribbling”).

I’m looking at this to be a black and white comic so I don’t need to worry about color. When I’m done and get the pages back I’ll consider adding color or spot color to just certain things.

Materials-

Are supposed to be provided, but… most of this sits in my pencil bag or box anyway.

• Non-photo blue pencils

• Micron ink pens 03, 05, 08

• Ruler clear plastic

• Sketchbook

• Photocopy paper

• Eraser

• Pencil sharpener

• Regular pencils HB or #2

• Phone for photo reference/research

• Pad of paper - Strathmore Bristol for Sequential Artists. It funny (sad) how many of these pads I have in my studio that I’m too scared to touch.

As you can see I’m very, very old school. Non-photo blue pencils, drawing on paper, nothing digital. I only use the computer to letter and color my comic. This time I won’t even be able to do that. I was once told that lettering was an “art” and I really didn’t have the skillset. This being told to someone who taught first graders how to print and third graders how to write. 🙄 I took it to heart and have digitally lettered ever since.

When I first started making My Geek Odyssey I discovered that the characters actually drove the story more than my plan. I’d put them into a problem and see how they got out of it. Sometimes it went as planned, other times it was fun to see what happened next. We shall see what happens when I have a time limit.

Searching for Perfection

What’s stopped me from doing this earlier? Fear. The same fear that most people have when comparing what they do to what professionals can do. I want it to be perfect… and instead it looks like something from Nailed It! I tell people to just start, but it’s easier said than done. Obligations to others and general life gets in the way, unless you don’t let it.

Even at 60 I’m still developing a style I like. I remember being a kid and watching a 60 Minutes episode with Charles Schulz and being amazed at how fast he could draw the Peanuts characters. I wanted to be able to do that! I learned that it comes down to simplifying the design and only drawing it a bazillion times. I have done that with Cecil and the version of myself, but then I look at the stuff I like to read and the detail in each panel and groan. Then again there are times when I just draw something and don’t care how it ends up… sometimes those are some of my favorite drawings- capturing lightning in a bottle.

I recall an artist being asked about embarrassing moments and they replied when someone showed them a tattoo of their artwork. All they could think (but not say) was “I can draw that do much better now! This poor guy has one of my bad drawings on him for the rest of his life!” The guy with the tattoo was proud, the artist was mortified. I think about that as I compare my early drawings of Cecil to what I do now and think about what I may do in the future. I know the future drawings won’t happen unless I draw more now.

Whatever I create for Comic Book in a Day will be better than what I would have created without it. I think I would have spent Saturday thinking about things to do, maybe doing laundry, or helping out the with Learn to Curl League at the Circle City Curling Club. Nothing to actually do with drawing- except for maybe a strip for PinPoint or FTF if I get a reminder email. So I push myself out of my comfort zone in hopes that I stay there for a while before I have to return to adulting… ugh, I hate adulting.

I’ll probably put a post together with photos of the process on Sunday (before or after Curling). Gee, making another obligation, so I’ll have to do it! Then again, if you are in the area, stop by and say “Hi!” I’m sure I’ll have a moment or two to chat.