Monday, May 2, 2011


Whooops! It's been a while!

Working on making White Shells, NC into a longer book narrative! I'm pretty effin' excited, so far it includes: a bull terrier named Cricket, softball, the summer before college, overalls cut into shortalls, girls with boy's names (The final girl's name is Winifred, but her friends call her Fred), parents buying beach houses to combat empty nest syndrome, salsa, pot, soda, vodka, gin, girls giving blow jobs to ex-boyfriends for a jealous reaction, daydreams, daydreams in showers, wild horses getting into trash, cleaning montages, pottery class, making out on porches and collect calls. And that's just in the first half, before anyone is killed (not counting the 1956 massacre at White Shells High flashback)!

It is going to be really graphic and totally NC-17, it's sort of tough deciding what is scary and what is just goofy though. Thinking about basic slasher set-ups, I don't want the cast to be too big, so I've narrowed it down to three main girls and one guy (there are maybe two auxiliary girls and one guy, but their deaths are the catalyst for the panic.). I do want it to be completely super natural though, so the killer is going to be a ghost. Duh.

Another thing I'm struggling with is making the comic totally cinematic. I feel like that's an easy way to tackle it. Some artists, like Katsuhiro Otomo (especially in Domu) know how to make simple images completely haunting and cinematic, without relying solely on wide, sweeping shots.

I've been watching any slasher/thriller movies I can get my hands on, My Bloody Valentine, Rosemary's Baby and The House of the Devil are some of my instant favorites. Carol Clover's Men, Women and Chain Saws is halfway done, it's a really good read. I never watched scary movies growing up, so I feel like I have to make up for lost time and really wrap my head around all of this! GUYS, I'M REALLY PUMPED ABOUT THIS COMIC. I think it'll be a good learning experience.

4 comments:

  1. Coleman! This looks so Coleman-throw-backy! In the best way!
    P.S. They have a few Otomo short stories that rule on Manga Trader.com. There's one about a man murdering a friend and chopping him up! And another about buds investigating the abandoned subway tracks beneath Tokyo.

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  2. This sounds really fantastic! Hopefully when you include pottery class you think of fantastic ceramics at good ol' Robinson :)

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  3. this sounds great. the way you have the beginning set up will have more of an impact once people start dying. can't wait!

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  4. This is awesome, man. Very exciting stuff. Hope I see you at Norris for Editor's Day.

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