012 “Fighting Evil By Moonlight I”

A strip done at a wonderful time with some friends I had the honour of sharing space with: Kiza, Omar Doggan, Robert DeJesus, and Bahn. The commentary is good too: read below.

Wow. Anime North 1999. What a crazy weekend that was. The reason why I miss conventions. That weekend I also had an orientation meeting in another place in Toronto for my upcoming job in Japan, but I tried my best to attend as much as possible of both events. Considering how awful the transit system is in Toronto, I think i did a good job of that.

Like #1, the artists pencilled in their panels on top of a layout I provided in blue pencil, and I went over it in ink later. The sole exception being Robert DeJesus who inked his own panel, robbing me of the opportunity to ruin his pencils with my inks, the bastard. Note that Sailor Moon’s uniform is slightly different in every panel. None of us really knew how to draw it, despite being in an anime convention artist alley at the time.

This strip illustrates what made the THIN H LINE so special to me in the first place. It was not only a strip I did, it was like a log, a journal of places I had been and other artists I had met. It was a real honour and a real blast to work with all these people on a single panel. Thinking of working with the artists got my blood racing and ideas flowing, and when I saw the final result, I always bursted with pride that a THIN H LINE had formed with so much talent. It was always a real rush.

I think about the 4 strips done while I was in Malaysia, the strips done the last time I saw AJ, Mal, and Omar. The two strips done with Tang when we met for the first time. There are more. For the first two years, the THIN H LINE really WAS a journal of my life and who I met.

In comparison, the third volume is done entirely by me. Where? Alone in whatever room of my apartment the computer happened to be. With who? Myself. Drawing the strip IS certainly not as much fun as it used to be. I look on the first two years as having a lot of spirit, infused by the contributions of other artists.

It may seem that I’m bashing my current work. The reasons for doing the strip have certainly changed, and the strip has changed as a result. This isn’t a bad thing. I did this strip as a way to meet people and form friendships, and now I do it because I’m driven to do it. Kind of like how the first was necessary to get things in motion, and now I do it because I’m caught in the momentum. Also, doing this alone allows me to explore more. If I was still doing all the jam strips this comic would be watered down, no doubt about that. But I still look at these strips as with a smile. Maybe someday down the road I’ll be doing jam strips again. Who knows.