Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Frequently Asked Question

So are there plans to collect Jet-Pack Jenny in print format?

Yes, yes there is. The delay in doing so and in starting a new comic are that when I started Factor of 01 a few years ago, I drew it two strips to a page of Bristol, because, when that's how it would print anyway. Then I stepped away for a little while. In that span of time I discovered the Bristol board pre-cut to comic strip dimensions, and so I started using that. The only problem is that I could no longer draw the strips at the same height I'd been using which made the proportions completely different.

I dismissed it as something I'd fix later, and promptly forgot about it. Now I started assembling the strips I was very pleased with for the inevitable print version and was horribly reminded about the change in dimensions. That means that the first half of Factor of 01 needs to be re-drawn. That's OK, I tell myself, because I was never really happy with the fight scene, and I still have to get rid of  Tom's glasses.

This also gives me room to play around with format. Whenever strips are assembled in comic form, usually they are either stacked vertically (meaning for really small formatting of each strip, or sideways, which unless you change the way the book is printed and stapled, means awkward flipping of pages. Well, I find it awkward.

Because I'm thinking about printing these myself, and I have a stash of 11" x 17" paper laying around, I have a novel solution. If I trim the paper to be 8.5" x 11", it'll fit through any of my printers, especially my color one. folded over, the book would be 8.5" x 8.5" and be able to fit three strips per page, giving me a very manageable 24 pages, if I remember my math correctly. After a trim, it would come across quite nicely, and not seem like an awkward read.

However, the redrawing is on hold while I work on a contribution for the Sketch Charlotte anthology. It's a story that goes back to some ideas I had when I was doing the Mall, and recently that story kept coming back into my head. I'm holding off of doing a full version of it, because I've promised myself that I'd work on Hanamori's Circus next.

Of course, my time is about to be really taken up. I gotta get this print version of Factor of 01 done.