Dang Gum 1
Julia Wertz is backing away from the internet. Erika Moen has officially concluded DAR. And I am going to spend the next three and a half weeks shoveling one of my crappy high school comics at you so that I can devote more time to working on the “Hick” issue of Burn Book. LIFE IS TOUGH.
“Dang Gum” is a silly retelling of the Odyssey. The heroine is Cameo, a character I drew a bunch in high school. I did this for a Design & Illustration class the fall of my senior year. I did not utilize PhotoShop or colors as much as the other students, but boy did I churn out the pages. A full ten of ‘em. And you’re gonna get to see ALL of them.
As a sort of apology for spending this month posting old comics, I intend to give you some pleasant blog entries. The main theme of these will be: nostalgic memories of my past. Because 1) I made this comic in my past and 2) I am thinking a good deal about my past and my homeland as I put together the Hick issue.
OH HEY about that. THERE IS STILL TIME TO SUBMIT TO HICK! PLEASE DO! I have extended the deadline by two weeks, which means you have until Monday, January 18th. As an example to help you along, here is one wonderful story my friend Tam sent me, which will be used in the issue:
Ham Bones:
When I was in a small prison town in Florida, I ate a breakfast sandwich at a restaurant called Ham Bones. The sandwich consisted of two super greased pieces of bread, a fried egg, and melted cheese. The lady working there was really nice, and gave me a dessert which was red and blue jello with whipped cream. I couldn’t tell you how old that whipped cream was, but I put a big smile on my face because I didn’t want to hurt the nice lady’s feelings.
(She sent me eight little stories/moments like this one, and I’m using them all!)
January 4th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Cameo!! I share you sense of nostalgia, Athena.
January 4th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Haha, I’m glad I was able to help!
Oh, and if you’re still accepting stories next week, I’ll be in that same town from Friday to Tuesday. I can also send you a picture of the Ham Bones sign if you’d like.
January 5th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I wish I drew comics that well in high school, con sarnit!
January 12th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Casey: Good, I’m glad I’m not alone. Nostalgia is dangerous, but it seems to pile up rather unavoidably over time.
Tam: I loved those stories! And your more recent ones as well! I’m curious about this Ham Bones sign. I hope your own project is going well.
Danno: Man, thanks. I don’t know…they’re still hard to look at. Now I’m curious about what your high school comics looked like, though!
January 15th, 2010 at 12:50 am
When I was in ninth grade, I purchased what I thought was a WONDERFUL pair of boots from Jacobsen’s Department store. We called the boots “shitkickers” because they were really farm gear. I showed them to my mother. She didn’t bother to mask her disapproval. Later that day, my brother Robert came home and said, “Look, Ma! I got new boots!” They were nearly identical to my own. My mother gushed over them, saying they were absolutely lovely.
January 31st, 2010 at 12:58 am
Mom: I LOVE that story.