Behind the Scenes: Pretty John Bishop part 2

Well that was certainly a journey and I thank you all for taking it with me. Now let's get into the BTS action.

Development

I tend not to sketch too much before I start a project of this scale, which I know seems a bit counterintuitive. One would think I'd want all the characters and concepts laid out before I start an epic piece of historical TG fiction, but honestly when it comes to visual designs I work best in an improvisational environment. I basically only sketched two pages of concept before I began. I wanted a general feel for where Harmony (at that time, Melody) would end up. Besides, I had a script to act as my anchor.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WXxz420xwyDXRAiXFd7OSy6PAGbdvyu7?usp=sharing

What you'll see in these sketches is an old version of events. Originally there was going to be a bandit plot that lead into John going to Rosie's. That was a big change from concept to script stage.

Scripting

So I wrote the whole thing down pretty early on. As I said in the last BTS, I changed courses pretty early and realized I had to keep the captain longer than I had intended. I think there may be some unresolved tension with that character and he might be ripe for a follow-up some day. Anyway, I didn't break it down into classic comic script format. That format stresses me out. I don't like knowing exactly what happens in every panel if I'm writing the script. I go by story beat, which may be one page or may be multiple. Here's an excerpt from the script:

• -John goes to Rosie's for help from Scarlet and she offers him a room to stay and security if he will work for her. John accepts. Scarlet asks if he can sing. He says yes.
• -Scarlet's girls work on John, dolling him up in a saloon girl getup. John is embarrassed to no end. They call him Harmony.
• -He sings his first performance since he was at sea and the crowd loves it. (We cut to the drunk at the bar performing a little bit of this ditty).
• -John becomes used to his songstress role, and now happily goes by Harmony. He notices a handsome dandy in the crowd who attends every single one of his performances. The dandy gives Harmony a pair of silk gloves as a token of his affection.

That's four beats, but it actually ended up being 12 pages. I added a few characters in the moment that would come up later and changed the dynamic of Scarlet's assistance. I wanted to make John/Harmony a little more sympathetic and maybe a bit more "pure" than Scarlet had been in Scaredy-Cat Red.

The Past and the Future

I don't really know what the next tale from Rosie's Saloon will be. Maybe I'll follow up on Captain Cotton's fate. Maybe I'll come up with an entirely new character to feminize. Either way, I'm not sure if I want to be bound by the trappings of historical fiction any time soon. I might do some period pieces again, but they would be more of a general tone and aesthetic, not so discreetly placed within a range of years. For PJB, the years had to span from the end of the American Civil War to before the fall of the French nobility, which is about 5-6 years. So I really had to thread the needle on period-appropriate technology and attire. I don't think I'll be getting that specific again. Either way, I'm going to try and make this an annual thing to go back to Rosie's and check in. Whether that's another daily strip like this one, well that remains to be seen.

What Comes Next?

A great big nap, for one. Then after that I have some more projects lined up for the rest of the year. The rest of FeMail, a magic spy thriller, a SFW TMNT fan-comic (more on that in another post), a few commissioned comics that are in the works, Love Space #2, at least one more chapter of AMFSAC!, a possible daily strip about Alex the Life Double (hopefully shorter this time), and some projects I'm not at liberty to discuss just yet. I'm going to be crankin' out comics until the new year! I hope you stay aboard and check out what comes next.

Thanks again for reading my comic and this BTS post, which is now over.