Chapter Five Inks, Romantic Movies, and More…

Chapter Five inks are here! As usual, they're spoilery. If you wish to avoid that sort of thing, stay out of the image carousel above. Below, some chatter about a surprising movie pairing, how I changed my mind on wanting a large-format DD book, and then some close-ups from the pages above. The close-ups are still spoilery but less spoilery than the big pics, maybe, somehow.

MOVIE CHAT: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and HELLO DOLLY

The other day I asked Bluesky if folks could recommend their favourite romantic comedies, or romantic movies in general. I needed a change of pace, and if I assembled a bunch of movies to watch, that sort of project would minimize all the annoying decision-making that hobbles my free time.

People came through, and I shunted their recommendations into my local library’s holds system. The first to come through were Wong Kar Wai’s moody Y2K slow-burn, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, and 1969’s broadway musical icon, HELLO DOLLY. I had never seen either. I planned to watch them on subsequent evenings — first the moody slow-burn, then the campy romp — fully expecting the pairing to be so discordant that my teeth would fall out of my head.

Instead, it was great. I’m not sure why this was such a surprise, other than lazy thinking on my part. I fully believe in “contrast” as perhaps the most important universal artistic principle, so I don’t know why I didn’t think that would apply here.

There are similarities between the two movies, and you don’t even have to look hard for them. Obviously, they are both tales of romance. They’re both also period pieces, made roughly half a century after each story is set. They’re both absolutely gorgeous-looking and, in both, music plays a more-than-usually important role (DOLLY is obvious in this regard, but ITMFL’s musical theme is striking, too, and its first appearance totally won me over).

Because of those similarities, the differences are more interesting, I think. DOLLY is hugely kinetic, ITMFL is still. DOLLY wears its heart on its sleeve, ITMFL is veiled. In DOLLY, the central relationship is so unhinged that it feels like it was written by an "AI" (though I assume this is a time/place/culture sort of thing). In ITMFL, the two characters seem fated to fall in love, and deserving of it, yet they never come together (and despite the time/place/culture of that film, it felt relatable).

( Tangent One: I’m prepared to argue that our heroes in ITMFL are not actually romantically attracted to each other, but are drawn together by a feeling of mutual jealousy — “my partner who is cheating on me is happy. Why can’t I have the same?” They also share their interest in writing serial fiction. I think this combo tempts them toward love, but it’s not completely there, even if they think it should be. There’s an essay here, I’ll bet, but someone else can write that; I don’t need an answer. I’m simply satisfied that the movie had enough substance that I can chew on a question like this. )

( Tangent Two: the spectacle of DOLLY is so joyous and fireworks-exuberant that it made me well up. It really did. The values in the story are not, uh, to my taste, but the world it presents is so genuine, and it pours out at you in such an silly, unguarded way, it just… it made me think, "who are the people who made this? What were they channelling? Were their real lives anything like this? They couldn't be! How did they arrive here? Where does all this come from?" There's more than just an essay here, and I would read it. )

I feel happy to have had this movie-going experience, and I wished I knew how to replicate it. I have never made a habit of doing things like “watching notable films in a single genre,” before, though, so maybe this happens all the time. Maybe it’s possible to pick any two movies at random and have this exact same experience. Whatever the case, I absolutely recommend trying this for yourself, somehow, just to see what happens.

JONNA AND THE UNPOSSIBLE MONSTERS

I picked up the deluxe hardcover of this beautiful book. It is printed larger than the usual comic-book size, and is about 300 pages long.

Way way back, when I asked, “what size should a Delilah Dirk book be?” I was surprised to see so much enthusiasm for the smaller First Second size. I assumed everyone would want them big big big, like bande dessinee.

JONNA has convinced me otherwise. It’s big and heavy and the corners are sharp and, as a result, it’s hard to read in bed. Bande-dessinee-size works if your book doesn’t have a massive page count, I have concluded. Plus, the book feels like it wants to be read quickly, which the big size gets in the way of. So: I get it! I get it. I need to find a different path for DD.

In the back of this big deluxe JONNA, Chris Samnee reveals he mostly uses Faber Castell Pitt Pens for his inking. I can hardly believe it. I remember those things feeling so busted, yet he gets really nice results from them. (Though, admittedly he has a chunky style that might suit them.) Meanwhile I'm over here babying my Series 7s, cleaning those things every night like a sucker. Ah well, at least they get me the lines I like. SPEAKING OF WHICH…

CHAPTER FIVE INKS!

When I pencilled this donkey (above), I do not remember whether he was supposed to look that salty. Regardless: very pleasing.

I hope this panel (above) is as funny as I think it should be. I hope no one tires of Indignant Alexandra, because there is a lot of her in here.

This panel (above) was drawn separately as a revision panel, because as originally pencilled, it was boring. Just a side-on shot. This is better, visually, and it emphasizes the cart, which I think will become important later in the story.

When I think about my location design, I wonder, "should I push it further?" Should it be more exaggerated, or more imaginative? Instead, I keep arriving at scenes like this, which are picturesque, perhaps, but relatively grounded. Like, you might reasonably expect to see something like this in the real world. I think that's a strength, with its own specific appeal, though if you follow animation or concept-art social media accounts, you might understand why I'd feel tempted in a different direction. On the other hand, I know myself, and, for example, I greatly prefer the relatively-grounded RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and LAST CRUSADE to the more outlandish fourth and fifth movies. Hopefully an ordinary-feeling world makes it more fun when our characters do extraordinary things.

- - - - - -

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question, “do you want me to talk about the length of this book?” I have not yet had time to write the post that addresses that question.

It’s been a busy week. Our mortgage reached the end of its 5-year term, and we took it to a different bank with a better rate. I had heard stories of problems with this process between the two specific banks in question, so throughout, I have been hounding everyone involved to make sure we do not run into said problems. Nevertheless! In this, the last week of the process, I have been blessed with two… hiccups that could have been calmly and carefully addressed at any point during the last three months. Alas, no. So it’s been heart palpitations and nervous sweats for me this week. Plus, last week my partner had a six-day work week — and she works long days — so everything’s a little hairy right now.

At least I have the inking, which is little peaceful oasis amid it all, at least when I can trick myself into focusing on it.

Happy American Thanksgiving to you Americans who are reading this — I hope you’re all able to have a nice, peaceful one, with or without your families, biological or found. Want to cry? This letter will do it for you. I loved it, because I see the flip side of it every day.

More inks next week!

Until then,
I remain,

hugely kinetic,

TC