Bill And Ted Are Doomed #2 Cover Process

The solicitation for Bill and Ted Are Doomed #2 has appeared online, so, here's the process scans I have that led to the final, pictured above (colors and assembly by Sarah Dyer). 

The original rough sketch was done on an index card, my chosen way of working lately in order to keep things simple. I roughed out the first three covers in a few minutes and was happy enough to send them, and they were accepted by Dark Horse and whoever owns the Bill and Ted property these days. 

The second cover was a deliberate choice to go for a clearer, simpler layout as opposed to the others, and the way I usually work (i.e., overcompensating). So, of course, the cover drawing took me several attempts and was assembled from a few different sources after not liking the way I drew one thing or the other. The Grim Reaper figure was inked twice ,separately, I don't have scans of both versions but I ended up choosing to run with the one which was cleaner and had a better robe and expression. Without the scans side-by-side I can't remember exactly which version that was (sorry, great actual process post here, I know). The scythe was kept from the original inked piece, that I think I remember. I liked the original Bill and Ted figures, but when placed on the black background of Death's robe they looked like they were floating rather than jumping. It just didn't work even though the figures had more energy. I did two patch figures of them standing while air-guitaring, they're a bit too stiff, I think, but I needed to get the cover done and I was already going down a rabbit hole of reworking it. SO of course I muffed inking Bill's head and ended up drawing a patch for the patch for Sarah to lay in. Ugh. 

Sarah's coloring originally had a tan background which we changed to the red one seen here. I don't have a version with the logo yet, I don't know if DHC has that set yet, or just didn't send one along.

All the covers are in and done, so I'll have process on the #3 cover in a few weeks. It ended up very close to the rough except for a few small changes. I think the actual new movie hits in about a month, and our comic series begins  in the weeks following. 

Things are still stupid and my health has been less-than-good lately (Fun Fact: I've lost over 20 lbs since last December), but I'm trying to make sure I drop in and post as much as possible while everything's going on. Partially because I feel compelled to, partially because I honestly enjoy doing it, so don't worry yourselves, if I can't post for a while I won't go crazy worrying you're all mad at me.Just some of you (ha ha). Lately I'm either unable to sleep or sleeping the entire day (or two) away, which I know is due to depression, but who isn't out of their heads these days?   

Work-wise I'm late on the script for Bill and Ted #4, and need to get that done before Roger inks and colors #3. It also needs to be approved by the licensor, so there's a few extra days shot dead off the schedule dealing with that. Having trouble wrapping up everything because I kept a few characters in the last issue that were originally gone by issue #3. And I'm trying to give everyone something to do, and end things in a satisfying way, and lead into the third movie, with only 20 pages to go. That's what you get trying to actually write a story. Pro Tip: Trying to actually write a story with all the elements you're told you ought to include -- but most folks conveniently don't -- will bite you in the ass. Oh, well.

I'm late on the new chapters of the web writing thing, My arm's a mess after getting some drawings done and I'm barely able to do some index card drawings while on the phone or waiting for a phone call. Been icing my arm like Tatum O'Neal in the Bad News Bears (although not using a bucket, and I'm going to finally order a new wrist brace, a nicer one, to boot. The one I have used for years has pretty much fallen apart. he biggest pain lately has been dealing with lawyers and contracts on something we thought was taken care of, it's not exactly fun and I'm not exactly up to it and it's not something you make money off of, along with revisions and and rewrites. July was suck for all sorts of reasons, August will probably be worse, because August is the worst month of the year in the best of times. August is 31 hot Sundays in a row. Unbearable. 

See you soon!