at last: BABY BOOMER

[Niblet]

Aaah, it's all starting to become clear...er, I think! Baby Boomer, so-called because of his/her delight in bazookas and high explosives. I like it.

This is all good stuff, looking forward to seeing more.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks for your interest, Niblet! BABY BOOMER is a boy, and sure enough, there are loads of explosions and detonations in this strip........there's loads of other stuff going on as well, however.


The fourth and last of the central characters is VERONICA: some much needed glamour who is injected into the mayhem and madness: she is the eyepatched JET BLANC'S sometime girlfriend, but she is no subserviant female, she has a mind of her own, and I make sure she usually 'gets one over' the guy characters in one way or another.

I definately wanted to put a female character in, a] because I enjoy drawing women, and b] it offers loads more variety for strip situations.


Until I put together a proper model-sheet, here's a quick half-sized blueprint for the meantime, whipped up this week:



VERONICA is based on a real person, a lady I know very well......here she is posing with her beloved Scottie dogs. I will link this page to her in Venezuela, I just hope she appreciates the free publicity!:




Lastly for this week, some quicky egg-related gags seeing that Easter is on it's way:








I might put the BAD EGG MOB into a one-off BABY BOOMER strip: these quick sketches are ideal for trying stuff out that I haven't attempted yet.


More info on the strip coming up next week [and hopefully every Friday]: see ya then, readers.

[Peter Gray]

I like the egg tattoo one..

all of your pictures are fun on the eye

[colcool007]

I think the tattoo one could have been funnier if it had been a chicken that was being tattooed on. As it would have been similar to those thousands of "Mum" tattoos many men have had over the years.

[Jonny Whizz]

Excellent artwork and good ideas.

I find it interesting how you've made the female Veronica very anthropomorthic but at the male characters Jet Blanc and Vibes seem much more animal-ish.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks for all your comments, guys, the egg gags are just a few added extras I have chucked in.....Well spotted with the different design of the female character, Jonny: she was also added to try and take the strip away from a lot of DCT stuff, which has definately influenced the look of the characters.



My latest signature/shameless self-promotion pic is a bit small when seen at the end of postings, so here it is a bit larger:



I do listen to all of your comments, and adjust the strip accordingly: I was quite surprized to see the 'MOON' theme was rated OK, so I've decided to expand on the 'moon creature' theme, which suits me fine: there's loads of potential for visual gags there [I have to watch it doesn't get too close to THE MOONSTERS, however.

[Digifiend]

lol, poor Jet stuck in a jar!

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks for your comments, readers......

-----and now, to define the introduction to the strip further still:




What is this strip all about, then?


It's basically about the human condition.......how silly much of human nature is. Themes include: love, jealousy, greed, impatience, snobbery, consumerism, War, the afterlife, one-upmanship, fear, happiness, laziness, leisure......the list goes on, and that's just for starters! If I can't get material out of THAT little lot, there is no hope for me! All of these themes are reflected through the lives of 3 anthromorphosized characters [and one human baby] hopefully to comic effect.....[!]


Why does the strip look so 'old-fashioned'?


Basically because it's meant to look this way..........the look is inspired by vintage animation and also comics I grew up with from the late 60s-early 70s. Two people have mentioned that the strip looks like something out of the 30s or 40s, and that's fine by me........it's supposed to look as if it's already existed for decades. Everything about this strip is done by hand: there are no computers involved at any stage, although colour will possibly be applied to the b/w drawings as the strip evolves further. It's not absolutely essential at the moment, however.

Even the subject-matter avoids 'modern' references: only one strip involving a computer has been done so far, and I'm pleased to say that NO gags involving mobile 'phones have been attempted........it is set in the present day, nevertheless.



Where is the strip set?



In the good old US of A.....in New York, to be exact. This came about through the strips having to be sent to syndication agencies there, but this suits me fine.....although I.ve never set foot in North America, the fact I have to imagine what it must be like living there actually fires my imagination, in a way that over-familar Britain can't.....it also means I can bung in references to the Statue of Liberty and King Kong for endless 'incidental' gags.


However, although most gags are centred in and around the character's top-floor New York apartment, they often diversify into foreign territories, including the South Pole, African Safari or the baking desert...wherever the gag idea dictates. There are even a few strips set in 1880s Wild West times and Medievel days, however this may be stretching credibility a bit.....great for design potential, however, and I hope to keep this in if possible.

There's even some MOON gags in there, and these are amongst my favourites.

What ambitions are there for the strip?

Now let's see......... The sky's the limit! How about a full-length Hollywood feature-film, a 2000-acre BABY BOOMER theme park built in America....all within 6 months. Seriously, though, if I could get interest from a syndicate or publisher prepared to give the strip a go, I would be very happy with this development......one step at a time, and all that. Also to get the strip into full-colour, which hopefully I will be taking up later in the year.

It's great having total control over a project like this, and hopefully it will get noticed...if not, I've enjoyed it/am enjoying it anyway, even if I've made zilch money from it so far....I've learned a helluva lot about doing strips, however, so all is not lost whatever the outcome.

Thank you for your interest....more on the strip every Friday, readers.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

themes [1]:

hard-hitting satire:

This week's image is definately the most non-'cute', thought-provoking, and downright apocalyptic scenario I have turned out so far regarding the strip, readers. This is not a new doom-laden approach/direction for the strip, but just another try-out I fancied putting out at the time.....in retrospect, I doubt if I would submit this drawing to a publisher at first, but it's the sort of no-holds-barred scene I would love to throw in on occassion...

quite a change from last week's 'cutie-pie' offering, I'm sure you'll agree, but cartoonery is about diversity if nothing else..........






Basically this is a satire on modern living, how we are constantly told to 'have a nice day' even after our dole-money gets stopped on Christmas Eve [or whatever], also how so much of us bury our heads in mindless consumerism, without giving a great deal of thought as what to is happening in the real world out there.....I do this myself, it's all quite natural and normal, I'm afraid!



Next weeks' theme is already penciled in, and it's much more sedate and restrained, readers...........[!]

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Last week's try-out theme was a bit on the extreme side [although I see nothing wrong with at least attempting new horizons.] 'The End of the World' idea and occassional sight of an earth-bound nuke will still make their way into the strips, but not as directly as last week's mis-fire.



THEMES [2]: CONSUMERISM.


Something a lot more down-to-Earth this week; something that affects all of our everyday lives. Consumerism , of course, started in the 50s, and even by the time of my kidhood in the 60s, it was deeply ingrained into the Western way of life. By the time I was 20 or so, I finally tumbled that consumerism was not, in fact, a natural state, but that most of us were willing 'victims' in this elaborate fraud, ----many of us don't even realize how deeply we are dragged into this sham, and I am equally guilty: just got me 'BLADE RUNNER' DVD on blu-ray: there was nothing wrong with the standard DVD version.




Anyhow, it has to be said that thinking up gags on ficticious 'consumer products' opens up a stream of never-ending possibilities:

[alanultron5]

It's great!!! Are those Veronica's ears atop her head Rab? Ooh! She is pretty! As someone who can barely cope with drawing a matchstick man I can very much appeciate artwork of this quality! I wish you every sucess with it! Alan.

[Jonny Whizz]

You're much better at drawing women than I am! I find I can draw male characters but I have much more difficulty drawing females; in the four proper Billy Whizz pages I've drawn, Billy's mum appears in one and two others feature women in cameo roles only, while the last one, adapted from an actual strip in the comic, doesn't feature any women.

Women have to be drawn differently to men otherwise you end up with blokes in dresses.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

When I was young, it took me a long time to get around to drawing women, Jonny: they are definately more difficult when you are starting out, and I put off drawing women for a long time: along with horses' legs in motion.........a very difficult subject in my view. I'm not trying to make on it's a great mystery and all that, I just genuinely found it tougher to crack, and it takes perseverence, unless you're a total natural, but I had to work at it.


Glamorous women's features are the most difficult to draw: you have to get the lines absolutely right, and depict them with virtually no nose! I can do them OK now, but it took a while to get to an acceptable level.

Once you start drawing women, you will get the hang of it, and today this is one of my favourite subjects. If you are interested, why not draw a middle-aged woman or a grandmother first, as they are easier, and graduate to 'babes' later?


My Veronica character is a bit like CATWOMAN out of 'BATMAN': she looks odd without a tail, but she looked odder still WITH one! A bit of a paradox of a character to draw, but I'm glad I have the feminine element in the strip: I try and NOT have her chained to the sink, etc, and the dog VIBES is the resident chef/cook in the strips.

[alanultron5]

Your skill in artwork is most appreciated Rab! I certainly cannot draw people at all! I have to do Matchstick peoples-and they come out very Ropey indeed! I wish the project every sucess!

[alanultron5]

I forgot to ask! Have you dropped the little cat fellow Rab!? The one who was painting Jet all black on one of your I. Spy posts!