DEAD DUCK PRODUCTION BLOG: 4/14/08

There's plenty going on at the duck factory (a term I'm borrowing from a long forgotten and short lived 80's sitcom starring a young Jim Carrey as an animator. Man I loved that show…) and I'm anxious to show you a little of what I've got.

Having just completed a six-page story about Dead Duck's history of encounters with The Nova Scotia Cosa Nostra (a very fun story with lots of cool Canadian history and tributes), I've been hard pressed to choose what sort of story to tackle next.

I have a small backlog of scripts I've written, some complete, some sketchy outlines, and some short synopsis that I'm waiting to create into fully formed Dead Duck stories. But after the Scosh' story, I felt like I needed to create a story or two that were less about Dead Duck and Zombie Chick's adventures and more about them personally. Having already done two stories that dealt with different chapters of Dead Duck's origins, I felt I was long overdue for a story focusing on Zombie Chick.

It was a harder task than I imagined. Choosing to do a story where, for example, Dead Duck and Zombie Chick have to save the life of a giant primordial cow is considerably easier than conceiving a story about their personalities. In the case of the cow, it was as simple as my saying, "I want to draw a giant cow. Now I just need to write a story around that." Seriously, it was that easy (and in my opinion, one of my best stories). But when it came to me writing about Zombie Chick, I was truly stumped. "Should I tell her origin?" "Should I do something less funny and more dramatic?" A few days passed before I even had a slight idea. So I did what I always do when creatively constipated.

I took a shower.

And as always, it loosened things up for me mentally. I began to form my story. The title came first: "DAY'S END." I wanted my story to show life outside of the 9 to 5 world of minioning for Death. I wanted to explore Dead Duck and Zombie Chick's relationship outside work. And most of all, I wanted to define the relationship between minion and zombie, and show that class division in the land of the dead. I know, it sounds heady for a book that's supposed to be funny, but I dig depth in my characters.

The real interesting thing with Day's End, for me anyway, is that there's no dialogue. About six or seven years ago I'd drawn a one-page comic with no dialogue about very serious subject matter and it was some of my best comic work ever. I wanted to try and recapture that quality of storytelling with Day's End, and now, being three pages into the story, I'm feeling like I'm getting close.

Here's the penciled first page of Day's End (click on the image for a closer look)…



My biggest conflict with telling this particular story is ignoring the obvious comparisons to previous creations. Tim Burton cornered the market on cool representations of the afterlife, and Pixar established the time clock-punching workday world of monsters. Much as I want to create something wholly original, it's inevitable that there will be similarities between my representation of a creature-filled workday and those guys' concepts. So in the end I have to bite my lip, trudge through and do my best to be individual while accepting unavoidable connections, unintentional though they may be.

I do admit to plagiarizing myself in drawing some of the background characters. The minion behind Zombie Chick in the top panel is based on my Pinhead character from as far back as 1988 when I created my own superhero comic (for fans of my Mother's Goofs comic strip, I also used Pinhead as a model for The Krazybread Man about eight years later). The zombie with an axe in his head (3rd panel) is based on my character Chok'o from a comic book concept I created in high school.

I've also got a couple fan tributes in there, such as the minion with his arm around Dead Duck in the last panel. He's very loosely based on 60's TV dragon H.R. Pufnstuf, who despite being a very shitty puppet had a very cool design. And hopefully horror fans will notice the blatant plug for the godfather of zombie movies, George Romero, in the sign on the wall pointing the way to the zombies' homestead.

In the midst of my struggles to create this story, I found myself debating which movies I should play in the background to inspire me. I went through two or three, great as they were, that didn't produce the needed effect. Finally I dug out this little gem, discovered when I was thirteen and solidifying my standing as a full-fledged fan of animator Ralph Bakshi:


Fritz the Cat was Bakshi's first animated movie, and became notorious for it's rating (the first X given to a cartoon) and its subject matter (drugs, violence, race issues, profanity and all kinds of cartoon erotica). No, this is not cartoon porn, any more than the 1969 Oscar winner "Midnight Cowboy" was porn. It's a very dark and trippy movie, which is Bakshi to a fault. I’d be remiss not to mention that it's based on underground cartoonist R. Crumb's characters and stories, but given that Crumb despised the production, it seems pointless to dwell upon.

Fritz really helped me get into the frame of mind to create a seedy bar district on paper, which is a major stage that the story plays upon. Suddenly I could really envision how dark and haunting a tavern called The Grand Guignol would look, and was able to let my mind wander with some of my design elements, much as it felt that Bakshi did in Fritz. My leering moon at the top of this page is a perfect example of letting my imagination lead me around. And the spare sky behind the complicated building is my attempt to break away from the claustrophobia of the first page, with the dark buildings baring down on everybody.

During this process, I also experienced proof that inspiration comes when its wants to, not when you want it to. The struggles I've had (and am having) creating this Zombie Chick story have been palpable. Essentially I'm working with no script whatsoever.

And as I drove home from work the other day, my conflicts with creation ran through my head as I listened to my car stereo. A CD I'd burned awhile back played a couple cool songs that brought to mind, for me at least, massive characters throwing cars around and causing all sorts of destruction. Ironically, I think I was listening to Journey. Anyway, by the time I pulled in my parking lot, I had the seed of a story that was already beginning to write itself in my head as I hurried up the stairs. I managed to type out the synopsis and what little dialogue that came to me.

It's going to be a very cool story concerning Zombie Chick, her status as a zombie, and how protective she feels for Dead Duck. It'll begin production as soon as I finish Day's End.

If you've stuck with me this long, as a special treat, I'll show you some long buried artwork from my personal collection (it's all my personal collection, after all. I'm not Charles Schulz, where people have their own collections of his work. I'm just a dork who draws and throws away nothing).


These two pieces are from my sketchbook from early 1991, which would make me 17 at the time. Dead Duck had been bouncing around my sketchbooks for two years at this point, and these drawings mark my first attempt to put him in a comic.

As you can see, he originally wore a turn-of-the-century man's bathing suit (a tribute to an early design for Donald Duck), with an insignia on his body that was obviously borrowed from Marvel's Daredevil. Part of me misses this costume, and it may pop up in some way in a future story, if only to embarrass Dead Duck about his dorky past.

This was also around the time where I drew everything in pen (low-grade gas station-stock water based black felt tip marker, to be exact). I used to think drawing things out in pencil, the way comic pros do it, then inking after was a waste of time. It only took me a year after this to figure out I was wrong, and saw how much more control you have over your art when you sculpt it out in pencil first, then polish it in ink. If you read the whole story you'd also see how I was tailoring Dead Duck to be an undead superhero, which today seems like a huge mistake but back then seemed "totally awesome." He even zaps some bad guy with an inexplicable hand ray at the story's end. Thank god for twenty years of hindsight and continual refining.


In this page we see for the first time Dead Duck's fellow minions. It's interesting to note that while they all wear spiked armor, Dead Duck wears beach attire. Yet according to what I wrote, he was one of Death's rowdiest minions. Weird. The spiked armor thing stuck with the minions up until this year when I decided they'd all wear black hooded cloaks like Dead Duck, as seen in Day's End. What still sticks is how boozing it up in a bar is still crucial to the fabric of Dead Duck. Ironically, I didn't drink when I was 17, I don't really drink now, but I feel very comfortable and knowledgeable in drawing bar scenes.

So that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed this production blog, and hope to see you when the next one comes around. More cool stuff's a' coming, folks!

--Jay

THE FIRST DEAD DUCK PRODUCTION BLOG!!!

If I haven't mentioned it yet, the contract has been signed and I'm now officially slated to produce my first graphic novel, DEAD DUCK, published by Ape Entertainment and released in bookstores in November of 2009! I've been plenty busy producing new stories for the book which is partly why I haven't been heard from in about a month. But now I'm back with a behind the scenes look at the production of my DEAD DUCK graphic novel.

To begin, here's an expansive look at my studio. Not long ago I'd cleaned the space up and took a bunch of pictures with the purpose of showing my studio in all its immaculate glory. That never happened. Instead, I'm choosing to show you the gritty truth of creation. It's messy, it's not always pretty, and it comes with lots of empty pop cups from the gas station across the parking lot. Anyway, this is where the magic happens.

My computer is 1/2 the nerve center of my artistic complex. In the old days, I used to carry around vast notebooks so that whenever an idea struck or I wanted to work out a gag or story idea, I'd have something to record it in. These days I've streamlined the process a tad. Little bits of scrap paper litter my backpack and jeans pockets with tons of notes and ideas that I've jotted down off the cuff. I then take those little crumpled gems and refine them at my trusty Dell PC and turn them into polished Dead Duck stories. In a way my computer has become a kind of crutch, and I'd eventually like to get back to the point where a notebook will be good enough to write complete scripts. But for now, I need my computer like a sugar fiend needs Ho-ho's.

After the script is written, I do research. Each Dead Duck story brings its own set of challenges, so having the internet at hand is a real coup. Take for example the story I'm currently working on. It details Dead Duck's long history of encounters with the Canadian Mafia, or The Nova Scotia Cosa Nostra. Because the story takes place in different eras and different locations throughout Canada, I did a fair amount of research online to make sure I drew accurate Mountie Costumes. This also required some preliminary sketches, which is a lot of fun.

















A Native American woman figures largely into the story, so I made sure to accurately reference her tribe (The Micmac, native to Nova Scotia) and to get a fairly accurate look for the character rather than drawing her with the stereotypical feather in the back of her headband.

















































For another part of the story, the action takes place in an old 1950's TV studio, so I wanted to make sure I accurately drew old 1950's TV cameras, which turned out to be a lot of fun.
For another story I wrote (the first one to appear in the graphic novel, actually) I needed to create three roughneck characters, and could think of no better models than me and my two best friends, Pat and Justin. Though the caricatures are highly exaggerated, it's still a loving tribute, and it's always fun to draw your friends into your art.














After research and preliminary sketches, I like to surround myself with inspirational material; works that inspire me to do what I love to do. In the realm of comics, especially Dead Duck, that falls under three categories...


Hellboy, Scrooge McDuck...









And Cheech Wizard.

Mike Mignola's Hellboy is a huge influence on Dead Duck thematically. I've always been a fan of folklore, gods, fairies and monsters, so Hellboy was a perfect fit for me. I've even attempted Mignola's usage of huge block shadowing in several instances, though nobody can be Mignola but Mignola, so the end result is still decidedly my own style. I've always been a closet fan of Carl Bark's Scrooge, but recently got my hands on the work of Bark's successor, Don Rosa, and saw parallels between my work and what he was doing. The art is great and the stories are very rich and intriguing. And lastly, the late great Vaughn Bode's immortal Cheech Wizard is my biggest influence, in theme, in dirty humor, and certainly in art. His cartooning is untouchable, and makes me want to be a better cartoonist every time I read it.

My influences do not end on the printed page, however. While at the drawing board, I like to pop in a DVD while drawing. It helps me concentrate, all the more so when it's a film from my childhood that really inspires me. And these two top the list of most watched....

Ralph Bakshi's animated film Wizards has been one of my favorites since I was thirteen. It's a dark post apocalyptic fairy tale with incredible visuals and a haunting story.

And the other most watched film...



Rock & Rule, another post apocalyptic fairy tale, this time a rock and roll fable produced by the once great Canadian animation studio Nelvana. This movie has been stuck in my psyche since I was ten. I absolutely adore it. And whether it's this film, Wizards or another inspirational flick, there's always something playing in the background within my view to help keep my creative furnace stoked.

Dipping into my well stocked art supply cubby, I begin the process of illustrating the written story. Using a t-square and ruler, I measure out the borders of the page, break the story down into panels (or boxes), carefully letter the word balloons and then sketch out the action. When that's done, I use a myriad of different pens to ink the penciled drawings.

I used to go through a ton of markers, but these days I've become a bit more economical. Any big black areas will be left empty until the next stage when I scan the artwork into the computer and color it all in Photoshop. This saves me money on markers (which are more expensive than you would imagine) and makes for a very glossy finished product when completed.



And basically, that's how I do it. I hope this has given you some insight into my creative process, for what it's worth. Next time I'll show you some potential marketing ideas we're considering, plus take you deeper into the well from which I draw out my story and character ideas (if your psyche ain't already scarred, you're in for a rude awakening)! So until them, take care, thanks for sticking with me, and be her in November 2009 for the release of DEAD DUCK!!!

WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN? JAY DOES!!!

I'm breaking the cardinal rule in my blog for what I'm pretty sure is only the second time in it's three (or four?) year history by using my soapbox to discuss something other than my career. There is a comic book that came out in 1985, a mini series actually, that in the last twenty three years has come to be considered possibly the greatest collected graphic novel of all time, in my view, the "To Kill A Mockingbird" of comics. Yes, folks. It's that important a piece of literature.

I'm talking "Watchmen" here, people. Written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons, and first placed in my anxious mitts at the first Motor City Comic Con in 1989 when I scored a British import copy. Without too much hoo-hah, I'll confess that the book rocked my world and shattered my fragile fourteen-year-old psyche with images so lurid and lavish that I couldn't help but be inspired. One of the comic's key characters, Dr. Manhattan, was the original inspiration for my character Dead Duck, back when I was conceiving a funny animal parody of Watchmen. So it all goes without saying that, after approximately twenty years of switching hands with different directors, writers and movie studios, Hollywood has finally bit the bullet and brought Watchmen to the big screen, and I am record-levels of excited. I'm talking circa 1989 Tim Burton's Batman-level excited, when I couldn't wait to see Michael Keaton swimming inside an oversized rubber suit, and Jack Nicholson portray a pudgy balding Joker. It's too appropriate that my excitement is linked to the same year in which I first discovered Watchmen.

The movie, directed by Zack "300" Snyder, has just completed filming and is now doing all post-production work, prepping for a March 6, 2009 release. And man oh man, Zack has just released the first photos of the bulk of the cast (with Dr. Manhattan yet to be shown). For the few of you who haven't seen these elsewhere, I present them to you now, alongside their comic book predecessors:














Jeffery Dean Morgan as The Comedian…He looks PERFECT. If he can act the role even a little, I'm sold…














Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl…Yes, he looks a tad Batman-ish, but they got the goggles right. And in fairness, this IS the essential design of the body suit, which all Batman films have cribbed from since the beginning. And the "horns" of his cowl will look more familiar to fans when seen from the sides.













Matthew Goode as Ozymandias…This is faithful to the original design while the Julius Caesar wreath on his head brings a great touch that the golden headband he had in the comics lacked in spades. I dig it.

















Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach…Jesus, there will NEVER be a more accurate interp of a comic book character on screen than THIS. I sold my 5th grade teacher to the Mafia to get Haley to fill this role, and it looks like my sacrifice has paid off. He's gonna be the best.














And Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre…I love that they cast virtual unknowns in these roles (with the exception of Billy Crudup in the as yet unseen Dr. Manhattan, and most people had forgotten who Earley was for the past twenty five years), and even without the wig, Akerman looks PERFECT as the Silk Spectre. She has Laurie's square jaw line and slight facial features upon that broad palette of a face, and just looks incredible. The wig, albeit slightly longer than in the book, still looks so great, and the costume is reflective of the comic while streamlining it and making it look better, which wasn't hard to do.

Now, comic book purists (and with Watchmen, I count myself among that group) will immediately note the decided differences in the movie costumes and the comic book costumes, with the exception of Comedian and Rorschach. But for my part, I have to say, I have totally no problem with it. This doesn't make me less of a fan, and it doesn't mean I have a lousy eye for detail (which purists would believe, y'see). I just accept that this is an INTERPRETATION. You cannot re-create a comic book verbatim on the movie screen, no matter how close Sin City came, especially with Watchmen. There is so much crammed into that graphic novel that it'd take one movie with the scope of all three Lord of The Rings films plus three more to pull off even remotely accurately. As such, this is one director's take on a great comic. And Snyder's a fan, so this is probably as close as Hollywood could come to doing it right. Obviously the proof is in the viewing, but I'm just looking forward to seeing the movie I've been promised for twenty years now. Good, bad, misguided, or totally perfect, I'm geeked to view this flick, and will be there with my graphic novel in hand like the loyal little dork fanboy that I am, cheering on the efforts of Snyder and his awesome cast.

Now, when Synder and the powers that be finally sit down with the estate of Jay Ward and begin negotiations for the Saturday morning cartoon show spin-off featuring the cast of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon, I hope they save a place for me at the bargaining table…












I'll be saving you guys a seat on March 6th, 2009! Just keep your damn hands outta my popcorn….

DUCK HUNTER FLYING HIGH and other news...

I'd like to begin this blog by apologizing to a handful of near and dear people who I fear may feel neglected.
*First, my old buddy Premo, who I hope hasn't given up on me and is patiently awaiting
my run in "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel" to wrap up so we can finally grab lunch together.

*Next up, my not quite as old but certainly as good buddy Hedgcock (notice how all my friends go by last names? It just sounds cooler), who's wanted to hang out for a long time now, and seems to possess steel belted patience.

*Last but by no means least is my soon to be publisher, Ape Entertainment, who await the return of my contract, which my lawyer Slick Nick Pro-Buonodono is currently making sweet legal love to. Once he gets his judicious man stank all over it, I'll drop my John Hancock on it and we'll bring Dead Duck to the masses.

So to all you I've mentioned, your patience has not gone unnoticed, and rest assured that in two weeks when "Duck Hunter" flies off into the horizon, I'll be here to attend to all your friendship and business needs. And speaking of "Duck Hunter…"

Rehearsals have, in my estimation, been going great. I finally feel I have my lines down (which is always my biggest obstacle), and I'm totally in love with the cast. It's a small and motley crew, a couple of whom I've worked with before, a couple I knew by reputation, and a couple more who I've just met but totally dig already. And having Laura in the cast with me is so great for so many reasons, but mostly because theater is her medium like cartooning is mine, and getting to share in that world with her is just such a thrill and a joy.

Besides performing in "Duck Hunter", I've also been assigned the task of creating a lobby display for people to view during the run of the show. Given that "Duck Hunter" largely concerns the seedy world of tabloid journalism, I created mock newspaper pages from "The Weekly World And Globe" ("Duck Hunter's" prominent rag) and wrote up bogus news stories around some of my celebrity caricatures. These pieces grace the Player's lobby walls, and will be available for sale to any interested parties. For those intending to come to the show, I won't ruin the surprise of the display, but I will give a sneak peek to those who can't make it:



In other art news, I'm still working diligently on Dead Duck by creating more stories for the graphic novel. I really feel like this is the signature project that I've been destined to launch my career with since I was a kid, and I'm overjoyed that it's finally going to happen.

My caricaturing career has hit the skids in recent months, with a few starts and stops. I can only assume its our desert climate economy that's dried my business up lately, but just as much, I blame clients who can't commit. I've had more people approach me, all gung ho for me to create something special for them, only to have them bail on me, either by balking at the price or just avoiding sending me a courtesy e-mail saying they've changed their minds about hiring me. On the matter of price, I contest that though I quote a standard price, I always stress that I'm open to discussion and that nothing is set in stone. That's a hint, people. If you don't dig my price tag, don't just give up on me. Talk to me! You shouldn't deny yourself a unique keepsake and me a much needed paycheck for fear of haggling. I'm a nice guy and will make it work for both of us. As for those who ask of me then run and hide, please stop wasting my time. I played this game in the schoolyard when I was ten, and the routine hasn't aged well. Make sure you really want to hire me before you approach me, and even if you change your mind, man up (even if you're a woman) and have the decency to tell me it ain't happening. My good humor is in short supply these days over cowardly and ill-communicated business practices.

So that's it for now. I'd like to send a shoutout to a couple of my comic making comrades: Adam "Zapple" Talley, who's preparing to wrap up his long running comic book epic "Pleasant Hymns" very soon. Best of luck and enjoy the ride to the finish, muh man. And to Evan "Almighty" Shaner, the most under appreciated cartoonist to grace CMLife since, well, me, just know that there are those of us out there who know how hard you work and appreciate your content and efforts more than a pack of unqualified underage news editors could ever hope to understand. You're too good for that rag, and too talented for those who oversee it. To the rest of you, my love and good spirits are being sent out to you always. Laura inspires me to love, my art inspires me to create, and you inspire me to share my imagination. Thank you for being my audience and friends.

Jay

THE CONTRACT COMETH, play news and a memoriam…

Even I was losing faith, just a teeny little bit, but lo and behold, I got an e-mail from Ape Comics telling me my contract was in the mail, and that same day, my mailbox proved Ape to not be a liar. Along with the contract, the good folks at Ape were kind enough to send me some of their comics and graphic novels as reference towards what Dead Duck will look like in printed form. And let me tell you, Ape does NOT put out a shoddy product. These were some of the glossiest, tightest books I'd ever held in my hands. So you can imagine how cool my Dead Duck graphic novel will be. All I'm waiting for now is my layer, Nick "Pro Bono" Duono (or Boner Donut, which is by far more hilarious) to call or e-mail me with a time that he can view the contract and make sure it's all good to sign. On my end, Dead Duck is still rolling along with my latest story being produced as we speak. I'm not hitting it quite as hard as I would normally, due to my involvement in the play I'd mentioned last time, but in under a month, the show will have wrapped, and it'll be full steam ahead on my comic.



And speaking of the play, here's the info you guys will need if you want to come see it. It's called "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel," written by Mitch Albom and starring, among others, myself as one of the two duck hunters, and my wife Laura, as the lost love of one of the other characters. Showtimes are:

March 7th&8th--8:00 pm
March 9th--3:00 pm
March 13th, 14th, 15th--8:00 pm
March 16th--3:00 pm
The box office opens March 3rd, and you can order tickets by calling The Bay City Players at (989) 893-5555 between 12-2pm and 7-9pm.

So mark it down, people. Much as I want to see as many of my pals in the audience, I don't want to have to commit this info to memory and repeat it ad nauseam a bazillion times. So no excuses, folks. All you need to know is here!

Lastly, a very influential personality in the world of comic books has left us, and I wanted to make mention of it here. Steve Gerber, probably the one guy most responsible for my ever having created Dead Duck, succumbed to a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis last week. He was the creator and writer of (among countless other popular comics for various publishers), the comic book "Howard The Duck" for Marvel in the 1970's, which was one of my most favorite books as a kid. It put me on a path of cartoon duck worship, and, as I've mentioned, led me to create my own cartoon duck. So in tribute, I created this cartoon. It's not much, but it's the best little candle I could light in his memory.



So that's it for now. More news as it comes.

Jay