about the new layout
This weekend I've done what I've wanted to do for a long time -- make the switch from the basic two-by-two strip format to the more traditional four-panel format on Planet Earth (and other tourist traps). Why? I could say it's getting back to the roots of the original strip -- (the story so far...) was published in that horizontal format. Or I could look at it from a merchandising standpoint and say that it's so I can more easily collect the strips into comic book or digest book format. Or I could say that it's because I've recently been looking at Les' recent Johnny Crossbones work and Leonard's Innies and Outties and realized that I really enjoy the horizontal layout.

But those aren't the real reasons.

In the months prior, it felt less and less like I drew a comic strip and more and more like I assembled a comic strip. I wouldn't actually draw Janet and Dex sitting at the counter at the Eternal Order of Coffee, I'd draw three Janet and three Dex torsos. Scan and manipulate in Photoshop; drop in the EOC background and counter images; add the exterior shot for one of the four panels; toss on some Illustrator speech balloons. Hell, all I've drawn where the same three Janet and Dex poses I've drawn three times a week for the past three-odd years. It felt like work.

Another thing: I fear I'm stunting my artistic growth with the strip. I know my figure drawing has evolved past what you see here, but if I radically change the art style, I feel that there'd be a lack of continuity in the work. It would look as if a replacement artist had come on board. Look at the comics that have had extremely long runs, your Dick Tracy, your Garfield, your Annie -- for the most part, the artwork has stayed rather consistent throughout the life span of the comic strip. So, even though I'm continuing in my artistic development, I've decided to keep the style of PE(aott) consistent. Which means I'm reinforcing an art style that I might not particularly like nor favor.

So that leaves me with two choices -- and neither one of them is stop doing the comic strip. Choice one: I switch the strip completely over to a cut and paste comic. Choice two: I cut back on the reliance of cut-and-paste and just draw, dammit. One gets me a comic with a consistent art style that won't interfere with my developing art style as well as maximizing my time. Two gives me a sense of accomplishment when I actually create something.

It's tough, but I'm going with option two for now. Just sitting there and drawing the whole damn thing out feels a lot more honest than relying on the computer to cobble together a strip. It's good, solid cartooning. Going to a "four panels across" format just felt right. Drawing Monday's (and Wednesday's) strips in that format just felt like the magic came back. I didn't assemble a strip, it didn't feel like work. I created something and dammit, it felt good.

Posted at August 23, 2004 11:30 PM