short stories we dance to
a fairy tale from the twins
One of the constant struggles of the comic book author is the balance between the desire to talk about what is being created WHILE it’s being created, and the understanding that they have to wait and that this energy should only be shared and spent when the story is ready to go out. A lot of the authors I know have experienced this kind of frustration at some point: they’re so excited about this new idea they had or this new page they’ve drawn, but they have to wait until the story is ready and published so people can see it and understand the excitement, so for what can seem (or, in some cases, really be) a really long time, the artists have something exciting to share that they can’t. During this gap, a lot of artists abandon what they were doing and turn their attention to other exciting ideas and endeavors, which enlarges the frustration, both for the artist or for the people who might have heard of this thing the artist was doing, but that will now never come out and see the light of day.
Short stories are good because they can exist in between the big projects, and they can be done faster and become real before the feeling of frustration starts to take over you.
Back in the middle of September, I wrote on my newsletter about a friend of mine doing an anthology of short stories and inviting me to do one.
I even drew a little strip about my reactions at the time. I’m reposting it below for those who, like myself, feel like September in this pandemic year seem like AGES ago.
Well, the friend in question was Skottie Young, and we did a short story in the I Hate Fairyland universe. This story went online for everyone to see on Skottie’s own newsletter, so click on the box below and enjoy.
After Skottie posted the story, he also shared a little bit of our process: the first time I drew a little Gert, when I sent him a birthday sketch (the image on the top of this letter); character sketches both Bá and I did before drawing the story; one page in its digital pencil stage, and a bunch of pictures I took with my phone and sent Skottie while I was inking the pages. He even included our balloon placement guides. Click on the box below to check all that out.
THE WORLD WE’RE IN
As I follow (or stalk, depending on how you look at social media habits) my friends who also work on the US market, I’m bombarded with comic book conventions images, because most conventions that happened spread out across the year all changed their 2021 dates towards November and December. After NYCC and then Thought Bubble, more than one convention happened in the Los Angeles area, Emerald City, C2E2, and more. I know artists who went to the convention and set up their tables, and I know other artists who skipped this year’s convention and decided only to plan on attending conventions next year. Here in Brazil, comic book conventions and book festivals were still online, but the book fair in Rio, which happened last week, was open to the public. A friend of mine opened a new bookstore/bar with an open porch, and I have been to a few book releases since it opened in November. I’m still a little nervous standing next to people, even if I’m wearing a mask, and taking the mask off mean I have to turn this internal safety button off, and it’s like I’m having an out of body experience, and while my body is there among people who are talking to me, I’m living this alternate timeline inside my head where infinite variations of “this is where I die” play out.
Sexy criminals
Matt sent me a script. Sometimes I have to sketch out the scene he’s describing to understand the poses of the characters, and to choose the best variation. The sketch below is a recent example.
Matt writes differently than me. I caught myself thinking this week what would a script co-written by Matt and I would turn out to be, considering the similar references and tastes we have. I have only co-written stuff with Bá, because we have more than 40 years of shared experiences, and we know one another so well we can literally finish each other’s sentences. When I think about other future collaborations, the first one I’m asked about is if there’s any other writer I want to work with. The second most common question is about collaborating with other artists, because clearly I’m not as fast as I used to be, and writing for other artists would increase my output of stories.
For me, collaborating is like dancing, and if you want to dance with me, you have to be willing to get close. We have to warm up to one another. Maybe work on a short story together. See on the ballroom floor who takes the lead, if the other can follow, and if the roles reverse eventually as the music changes.
I really miss dancing.
Be safe. Be kind. Be curious
Pa-ZOW!
Fábio Moon
Moon Base, São Paulo
December 13th, 2021