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Sam Grant's graphic novel about a chemistry experiment gone wrong languished for years in a drawer, forgotten and unseen while Sam developed a career as a graphic artist. Now he's putting his story about the class geek who becomes the most popular girl in school on the web. A new page posted every day.
Comments
The Opposite Sex
I tried the http://www.samgrant.com/osnovel/index.htm link and received a page not available error.
The Perils of Free Hosting
I had used the link just before moving the entry to the front page so it did work this morning. Apparently, the site is hosted at Doteasy and may have exceeded bandwidth limits for the day. Accordingly, I will move it back to the weblinks list since advancing it as I did may have contributed to it not being available now. Rats.
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
The Opposite Sex
Erin, just tried the link from above and went right to the site. Might have been a temp overload.
Overload
Nope, it wasn't temporary. After getting listed on FM and here, he ran up 80% of his monthly BW in just two days. :) So he upgraded to a paid account and may be putting a tipjar on his site to help with the bill. I did email him and offer to host the comic for him. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
My Bad
I should have read the home page instead of just trying the link cuz it was all right there. Next time I think I know the answer I'll check a little harder.
Sorry for the trouble
Man! That May 2nd server transfer timing was pretty bad. I guess I had to move the site sometime, so there was no getting around the downtime. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the comic. What do you think of it? At first I didn't think it was good enough to post online, but most of the feedback I've gotten has been positive. If you're still following it, I promise the next week of pages will be really good. Thanks again!
Excellent comic
I think it's great. :) Love the giggly exuberance the Mom shows for teaching Michelle how to be feminine. LOL.
Is the sketchiness in places of the art style due to this not originally being planned for publication? If so, it still works, giving a dreamy quality to the story. And your expressions are so much fun. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Thanks, Erin
Thanks, Erin
Good guess. I wasn't going to publish it. I only planned this to be a workout, for speed and accuracy. I wasn't even sure if I was going to let anybody read it when it was done! It was just practice, and at the time, I thought the story wasn't that good.
Back then, most of my clients needed TV storyboards drawn overnight and in detail. I had a reputation for a drawning with a cinematographer's eye. Those kind of storyboards rarely get revised before shooting begins. The sketchiness is so obvious because I was trying to see how fast and accurate I could draw with a pen. In all honesty, though, I did about a million sketches(all in ink) before starting on the book itself. I wanted to get the widest range of expressions possible for each character. Only 10 or 12 panels are actually inked from pencil.
I didn't plan the layouts either. I simply drew as I wrote. So, when I made a mistake, there was no turning back! I wouldn't do that again, nor would I recommend anyone try that for a comic. I guess most of the time I just got lucky.
:^)
-Sam
24 hr comic
Once or twice a year Scott McCloud (of Zot! and Understanding Comics) sponsors a 24 hour comic day at comics stores around the world. The challenge is to do a complete 24 page comic in just 24 hours. :) You oughtta try it. LOL.
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
just missed it!
Yeah, I've heard about that. I've read Scott's first book "Understanding Comics" a few years ago. I've even seen some of the artist's results on their personal websites. But it looks like I just missed the official event. It was scheduled for April 23rd. I went to the official site and the rules say I can submit a comic any time, as long as I create it in 24 hours. They said the "day" is merely a chance to work in a group setting rather than at home.
Hmm... tempting. Maybe I'll take this challenge in the near future. Thanks!
-Sam
I say a joly good show
As the chinses would say that one picture in worth 10,000 words, and this cartoon prove it. For myself I like it. Its light, funcky and funny. As far as the art gose, I seen this style back in the 70's (now when was that ?) in fact on of the dust jackets for vinyl record ( I know what was that ) by the mane of "Motocycle Mama by sailcat" has this style of art on it so please keep on posting the art work, mybe we can get some other to do more of the same.
Ride Safe
C-Monster
What a coincidence!
I tracked down the artwork of the Motorcycle Mama LP (vinyl). The artist you're linking me to is Jack Davis. Jack used to draw for MAD magazine back in the 70's. He's also done a lot of magazine covers for TIME and several movie posters. Yep, I used to draw just like him. He's one of my earliest mentors. You've got a good eye, C-Monster.
If anybody else is curious about Jack Davis and want to see some of his album cover art, click here.
-sam
Art and artists
Jack Davis also did a lot of the old western comics for Marvel, back in the 50s and 60s: Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid and Two Gun Kid. :) He was quick and very stylistic with a firm grasp of storytelling, yes; Sam, you do have some of his qualities. :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
planning sketches
Some of my readers asked me to post some sketches of Michele from the pre-book stages. I found a few variations of upcoming scenes too. I've posted them in my forum posted here under the title The OS Zone/OS chatter/OS Sketchbook. I'll be posting more in the near future. Hope you're enjoying the story.
Great fun.
I'm enjoying this graphic novel very much. I know next to nothing about comic art or drawing generally, but I like the "sketchy" style. It certainly concentrates the reader's attention on the story and characters, and there's a strong sense of movement in some of the panels.
I do have a couple of cross-cultural (I'm Australian) questions though.
Do high-school students, hairdressers etc. really talk in that annoying "honey child" idiom?
If it's going to be important to the story, maybe someone could explain softball? I gather it's a form of baseball?
Best wishes, Andrea.
Best wishes, Andrea.
Softball.
OK, I did what I should have done before posting my previous comment, and looked up Softball on Wikipedia... So I've got the basics, but I'm sure I'll miss the finer points...
Best wishes, Andrea
Best wishes, Andrea.
Yes, Softball is Baseball
There are numerous forms of baseball and baseball-derived games in the USA; some of them even resemble some of the old games baseball is derived from. :) Don't worry too much about details, it's a sport and sport is about effort and contest; that will be the impoertant part of the story.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
How Teens Used to Talk
Hi Andrea. I'll try to answer your first question. The type of speech I used may not lend itself to a worldwide audience. I got a few emails similar to yours from France and Denmark.
The language used in this book is very dated. I don't think any american teens talk like these kids anymore. This is simply the language I picked up in the mid 80's, right before hip-hop came on the scene. If I would have started on this book 2 years later, the entire look, feel, and language of the product would have been completely different. Culturally, things here changed rapidly during that decade.
Thanks for your compliments! I'm humbled that so many people around the world are following it. I'm glad you're enjoying it as well.