Chapter 3 Cover Reveal

Jan10
by on 10 January 2018

So, here it is, promising a new chapter of Long John with its release, the cover to Chapter 3: Making Smoke.

The cover to Long John, Chapter 3: “Making Smoke.”

The most immediate and noticeable difference is this cover’s step away from the graphic, simple, design-focused images of the previous two books. The main reason is that inspiration struck me unlike, I think, any cover I’ve done in the past. Though I do make visual art, I am a little boring because I don’t often dabble in the realm of either interpretive art nor graphic design. At my core, I’m a storyteller with the stuff I draw and what I like to draw is the stuff that shows what’s happening. Sometimes I get a little wild, but not often enough to really say that I like bringing in abstract ideas into my visual storytelling, which is at the heart of most covers (well, of the covers I like, at least).

All D. Bethel-designed covers so far. It’s clear it took some time to figure out proper sizing. Click to enlarge.

But this idea came out of nowhere one day (I think while I was watching my students do peer workshops, actually), and I quickly doodled down the idea of a daguerreotype (more specifically, a carte de visite, a popular early paper photograph) of The John posse but with the middle torn out so the “before” Long John remains unseen and, in his place, is the current Long John of the comic. It works thematically for the chapter and provided an interesting visual element. The daguerreotype portion was inspired by images that popped up during my research of the period, where a surprising number of outlaws––as a means to thumb their noses at the law and “civilized” society––would openly flaunt their status and go get professional portraits taken. The most famous of these is the portrait of Butch Cassidy with his Wild Bunch, which he would (and this may be apocryphal) send to law enforcement once he escaped their chase.

Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch gang sitting for a portrait, inspiring Chapter 3’s cover in the process. Source: Wikipedia.

Overall, I’m pretty proud of the final cover. The hardest part was getting the colors right, but when those fell into place, the rest was easy. Unlike the comic––where I make sure that the entirety of the art is on the physical page––I’ve always been digital-forward with the covers. While all the elements on this cover are hand-drawn, they were drawn as two separate pieces. First, I drew out the flashback portrait of The Johns in its entirety, including Long John in his original clothes (which he has yet to be seen wearing in the comic and never will be). On a different, loose sheet of paper was the angry “modern” Long John. I created the tear in Photoshop and pieced the two together. It was probably a longer, more frustrating process than drawing the entirety on a single piece of paper, but something about drawing the original Long John––the “before” Long John––felt important to me. It was almost as if I felt like that Long John deserved a cover, too, if in the end he still remains unseen.

Mock up comp (left), first pass at colors (right).

Now, all that needs to be done is finish up Chapter 3. As the video at the top says, I’m aiming for its debut Free Comic Book Day in May, but––who knows––something could always pop up and delay the process, though I don’t see what would do that.

With all of that said, I hope you enjoy the cover and I can’t wait to show you more of “Making Smoke.”

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The Week

Jan05
by on 5 January 2018

The first week of 2018 is locked down and production of Long John, chapter 3 is well underway. To keep focused and motivated, the following have been used as aids. It was a wild week, personally, as the social media for my favorite band, Twisted Sister, posted the drawings I did of the band for previous Sketch Fridays. It was a humbling experience, to actually interact (as much as it was) with the fan base of that band––an activity I generally stayed away from, mostly because my love of the band was so personal and private and, most importantly, started after the band had broken up (the first time). The response was completely positive and it warmed my heart knowing I had made something that “true” TS fans liked. It was so popular, it got me to join Instagram.

LISTENING

Source: Stitcher

I’m an admitted True Crime fanatic. Luckily for me, the world of podcasting has also been bit by the True Crime bug since, at least, NPR’s first season of Serial. My True Crime romance extends far back before the podcasting Renaissance, however, as it is actually a nostalgic venture. When I stepped back to realize how much of this stuff I was listening to and watching (through podcasts, documentaries, etc.), I fretfully wondered, “Why do I like this stuff?” The answer was something personal––it reminds me of growing up.

My mother is a retired correctional counselor from a medium security prison, meaning many of her cases ran the gamut from those who committed fraud to many who committed murder. Listening to podcasts about crimes and cults and murder takes me back to my youth, when my mom would tell me about her day, and it warms the heart a little because that language––speculation, compassion, and analysis––is the first contextual language I learned to speak.

Stitcher’s Heaven’s Gate podcast is fascinating for the same reason that American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson fascinated me: it was a look back at a big story that I remembered happening. What makes the podcast fascinating is that the host, Glynn Washington, was raised in a cult himself; so, the podcast is as much about taking a rational, historical look at the Heaven’s Gate cult as it is Washington rationalizing his own childhood. For those whom such a conceit worries, don’t; the podcast focuses more on the subject than the host. I’m riveted, either way.

READING

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m excited to receive this and literally can’t wait to dive into this text; so, this week it’s a more of a “Want to Be Reading” rather than a “Currently Reading” subtext.

source: Kodansha Comics, art by Yukito Kishiro

  • Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro (Deluxe Edition, Kodansha Comics, 2017)

The anime of Battle Angel was a foundational text for me. It was actually a collection of two thirty-minute episodes, a straight-to-video adaptation of Kishiro’s manga (Japanese comic, for those who don’t know), and it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Ostensibly owing to the aesthetics of something like Blade Runner, Battle Angel was different in that it (for one) took place during the daytime and it was dirtier and more fully fleshed-out. The world of Alita (the protagonist, called Gally in the original Japanese) was thoroughly developed even though it was told through insinuation and context clues. It was a story of class and identity, of growing up, of love. As a whole, the stories were a seamless blend between Sisyphean struggle and earnest hope that––especially in the ’90s––was a different take on a dystopian future than I was used to seeing (usually, it was all grimdark action).

With the announcement of the live-action film adaptation coming this year, I decided to look around and see what the availability of the original manga was. I had the first two original US printed volumes of the comic (the ones the anime was based on) and I saw that the wonderful publisher, Kodansha, had released “deluxe” versions of the Battle Angel Alita comic in 2017; so, without hesitation, I picked up the first volume of the hardcover edition and am eager to crack open its pages and dive back into that world again.

LONG JOHN UPDATE

I accidentally lied a little last week; it’s next week that you should expect a cover reveal for chapter three. I will, however, reveal the title for chapter three, if anything because I’m sick of typing “chapter three” all the time. Chapter three is a bit more of a straight-forward chapter than the previous two––less heady and ponderous, more action-packed and violent––and the title follows that trend from the more obtuse chapter titles used before. So, in the steps of Chapter one’s “Sunza” and Chapter two’s “Bird’s Eye”, we now have:

That’s not the cover, but it is an important moment from the upcoming chapter. I’m nearing the end of drawing “Making Smoke”, so I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and we can keep moving forward. Come back soon for more info and, until then, that was The Week.

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The Week

Dec29
by on 29 December 2017

It’s the end of 2017 and, for a lot of people, it’s a time for reflection and promises going forward. This last week I was on the road for the holidays, but managed to fit in a few things worth talking about.

LISTENING

Nothing new this week, but rather a rediscovery of a playlist I made earlier this year while on a road trip through the southwest, a combination of two wonderful albums.

Source: Universal/Mercury (Wigmore), RCA (King)

  • Gravel & Wine by Gin Wigmore, Love Stuff by Elle King

I’m sure––because their singing voices can be considered similar––that these two musicians are sick to death of being either compared to each other or, at the least, paired, but these two albums work so well together that it’s hard to listen to them on their own anymore. Both have their own approach to dark, drunken roots-rock that complement the other while being wonderful collections of songs independently. However, Wigmore’s songs are more unhinged, more dangerous and raw, which can make listening to her album a bit of a draining, depressing experience (not really, but it could, technically). King’s album has a nice smattering of really good songs that are a bit safer than Wigmore’s, but the swagger is stronger and the diversity of music is a bit more engaging, but also in the mix are a few songs that are a bit too saccharine to the point where they feel a bit out of place. Picking out the best songs from each album and mixing them together in a playlist has been a gift that keeps on giving this year, and rediscovering it this weekend has invigorated me more than I expected. Below are a favorite song from each album.

WATCHING

  • The Last Alaskans

The Animal Planet/Discovery Channel series has been a recent discovery for my homestead. Its discovery came directly from my wife, Nicole, who found the series through an organic unfolding stemming back from a book she read called The Final Frontiersman, a book about the family of Heimo and Edna Korth, who live in the northernmost region of Alaska. Apparently––according to the introductory credits of the television show––it’s a region of the country where only a handful of families are, now, allowed to live. After 1980, Alaska ceased giving out cabin permits to new applicants, and the grandfathered families will have their permits expire after the death of their children.

The Korth family is one of only a few families allowed to live out there, and Nicole became consumed by these stories, which led us to The Last Alaskans. The show follows four of these families as they struggle to survive in the wildest of American wildernesses during the winter, which makes for a compelling watch. It’s a show painted with both compassion and criticism, but without ever falling to either cynicism nor romanticism, which makes it more compelling. If anything, it is a show about optimism airing beneath an umbrella of omnipresent despair, which perfectly paints the human condition, all presented with beautiful photography.

  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I finally got out to see the new Star Wars movie. I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan, but I find the movies entertaining enough. For all the controversy and divisive opinions surrounding the film, I quite enjoyed myself, though I can understand why it did not appeal to all crowds. It’s a ponderous movie, which is what I liked about it. It focused more on interaction than action, which I find boring anyway. I really enjoyed the tension portrayed between the two focus characters––Rey and Kylo Ren––and I really liked the arc of Luke Skywalker. I’m a character-focused guy––both in consumption of media and as a creator––so whatever flaws lay in the plot didn’t bother me because the attention they gave to these characters (at least, the characters I cared about) was overwhelmingly satisfying.

This week, on my podcast, A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes, my podcast partner, Andrew, and I bring in an original-generation Star Wars fan, in the form of Jason Tudor, to talk about the new Star Wars and it’s a conversation that goes places.

LONG JOHN UPDATE

As said earlier, with all the travel this week, I haven’t been able to properly work on Long John this week, though I’m eager (and ready) to get to drawing. With that in mind, here is another sneak peek into the upcoming chapter. Next week, I’ll reveal the cover and title of Chapter 3, just to get things going.

The above image is a bit of a cheat, because I’ve used it as title images in a recent series of videos, but it’s definitely a panel from an upcoming page of Long John, Chapter 3. I can’t say it’s endemic of the entirety of Chapter 3, but I’ve been leaning more into what’s called spot blacks (meaning, all-black shadows) recently, if anything to make drawing more interesting and challenging.

Until next week, that was The Week.

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