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Long John

Losing Every Thing Changes Everything

Chapter 5 Cover & Title REVEAL

May13
by DBethel on 13 May 2022

With that, we are one step closer to the release of Chapter 5 with the reveal of the upcoming book’s cover and the name for the chapter: Parting Gift.

In the video, I explain a bit about the creation process for the cover, but I don’t really talk about how the title came to be (click here if you’re wondering what news I alluded to). With the obvious caveat that some explanation would result in spoilers for the chapter, how the title was created is actually how a lot of the specific scenes and progression of the chapter came to me as well: hiking.

My wife is an avid hiker and, by proxy over the twenty-one years we’ve been together, I’ve become one as well. One of the things I love about the activity is that it gives you time alone in your head without much distraction. Physically, the only thing you need to do is make sure you’re continuing to move forward, but once you’ve rested into a suitable rhythm, you can just use the rest of the time to think. For the longest time, my wife thought I was upset because I was so quiet, but in truth I was actually just working.

Full stories don’t pop into mind during this exercise––the work is a bit too strenuous for that (for me, at least)––but I often start with a scene in mind. Perhaps it was a scene I had been stuck on or, perhaps, it’s a scene that wasn’t really fleshed out. With the repetitive crunching of dirt underfoot and the hum of my steady breathing keeping out the noise, I whittle away at the details in small strokes until, after awhile, the scene is crystalline.

At that point, I usually have to stop and take notes in my phone.

Such was the case with the title of this new chapter––”Parting Gift.” I had worked out a pivotal [REDACTED] scene and the nature of it called the phrase to mind. When I started again on the trail, the phrase hovered in my view and I actually saw that it really worked as a catch-all idea––earnestly in some cases, ironically in others––for the entire chapter.

But I balked after awhile––it didn’t seem cool enough and it seemed awkward. It didn’t feel like a “light bulb” moment the way “Dead Words” was when it naturally emerged while scripting the second Dogtown scene for Chapter 4. So, I pushed against it for a long time before just accepting it and now, seeing it written out and on the cover for Chapter 5, I love it.

The finished cover for Long John, Volume 5, “Parting Gift.” Click for larger version.

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Chapter 5 Cover & Title Reveal: Friday, 5/13

May11
by DBethel on 11 May 2022

This Friday comes a quick but important update for Chapter 5––the reveal of the cover and the title of the chapter!

Updates have been sparse and I’m sure it seems like progress has been slow. However, progress has been steady and true even if it hasn’t gone as quickly as anyone wanted it to go. I have made a short video that explains where we’re at with Chapter 5 and, at the end, reveals the cover and title for all to see. The video will premiere at 10am PST on YouTube and will, of course, be posted here and on the official Long John Facebook page.

See you on Friday!

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NEWS: Long John Animated Show in Development

Apr27
Featured Post
by DBethel on 27 April 2022
Captured from Deadline.

There’s news and then there’s news.

At the beginning of this month, it was announced in the entertainment industry trade publication, Deadline, that Long John was a show in development by Barry Linen, a production company started by actor Chris Pine and producer Ian Gotler.

This has been in the works a very long time––this whole thing started back just before Volume 2 was released in 2016––and it has been tough to not really be able to talk about it. What I can say is that it all sparked with a single post––me answering a question posted by reader on the internet:

This all started because a reader said that Long John looked like actor, Robert Baker.

A year after that post, Robert Baker reached out and we started talking. The road from there to here has been wild, but I’m incredibly happy with where it ended up and the talent attached to it so far (the people you see named in the article; I don’t have any extra information). All that being said, you can imagine the relief of this news finally being out there in the world and able to share with everybody.

There’s not much I can say about it, mostly because it’s in the hands of the production company and the animation studio at this point and I’m here focusing on making my comics.

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