Modern Moonlight (page 3)
Fitz on April 2, 2008
Looks like I'm gonna make Thursdays my regular update day… and 2 am - my bedtime ;) In all seriousness, though, it's up so late mainly because again I only started working on it on Saturday. I wrote down the dialogues before that, but I was too lazy to draw anything after work. So I MIGHT actually switch to mid-week with my updates. I'm just more comfortable when I have a whole day and I can start working on the comic first thing in the morning. I have two whole days to pencil, ink, figure out the layouts etc. - and then, after the weekend, on regular workdays, I'm just coloring.
The big news today is: the comic hit 25 pages! :D There are actually 26, including Loud_G's cameo, but this one's the 25th done by me. No big cameo party today, for which I'm sorry - but you don't really see crowds of people in a library in the middle of the night, do you? ;) I'll think of something cool for the 50th page! Anyways… 25 pages… Who woulda thought? And the story's faaar from over. This is also the longest running project I did in QUITE a while. Before, I managed to churn out a few novels in around 6 months each - and A Bit Cheesy was born almost a year ago, on May 1. And it'll most likely go on for another two. My longest project ever was a book I wrote on and off, rewriting it a dozen of times, over the course of seven years - until one day I felt so sick of it I gave up. The same day, I went on to write something short and fun. In seven weeks' time, I was done with my first finished novel :) Which I then re-wrote a bunch of times, too ;)
Sometime last week was the 10 years' anniversary of the day I started writing that unfinished book. And I feel like writing it from scratch. Now I feel more up for it than I was 3 years ago. And I might just do it. Haven't written anything long in exactly a year. Of course, this doesn't mean any sort of hiatus or less frequent updates of A Bit Cheesy. It'll continue as planned - one page every two weeks. It just means no slacking - and no sleep - for me :)
Nepath at 8:16AM, April 23, 2008
heh...excellent. I like the last line of his note 'if you marry me you won't regret it'
nibbi at 2:02AM, April 10, 2008
Nothing intelligent to say. Nice page.
Abt_Nihil at 3:00AM, April 7, 2008
It's "eightH", right? :-) JustNoPoint had a great bit of advice over in Shades: If you want to replace page graphics, change the name of the file ("jpg" to "jpeg" suffices)! That way the server won't use the old page graphic over and over again...
Fitz at 12:43AM, April 6, 2008
Vickie: It did :) That's a paraphrased - and CONDENSED - version of a "first letter" that Erica got a while ago. I had fun with the keyboad. Took ages to do, but I'm happy with the metaphorical meanings placed in those panels. Anonymous, Ghostrunner: In my experience, letting others act as your voice of reason does help. Being honest about my feelings never did much good. Depends whether you want to get anywhere with the girl or just get those feelings off your chest and go on. Tantz: Aww come on, give Ryan some credit :) He's an asshole - but he knows things :) Abt: My love confessions used to be VERY dramatic. Perhaps not as dramatic as Mick's, but yeah, he basically is me from a couple of years ago. And a lot of confessions ended in complete humiliation. One time I heard "Uhh... that's... nice..." Now, I'd sooner bite my tongue off than confess love like that :) I think I commented on the name America somewhere in the second chapter when the name was first revealed. But it won't hurt to repeat ;) So the thing is, a lot of people think that's what Erica's name is, when she introduces herself as "I'm Erica" :) I'm going to use the pun on a bunch of occasions. Not to mention one day it might turn out her name in fact Erica, not America - further proving just how little Mick knows about her. Loud_G: You have a point there. Poetry seems to accept exaggeration way more than prose does. The catch is to find a girl who likes poetry :) Midge: She actually reads all those letters. So even if it's pointless in the end, it's not THAT pointless, to begin with ;) As for mix-tapes, they supposedly work. But not when I do that. I used to SHOWER this one chick with mixtapes of all her favorite stuff. And what? Aaaand... nothing :) And a ray-tracing, phong shading engine is any rendering program. You must've heard of 3d Studio Max or Maya 3d or anything like that. Trevor: No, no mistake there. "How will she know she is one" as in "she is a babe". But there is a typo Erica noticed - and which I can't correct since DD won't let me switch the page graphic :\ Amy: Not much stronger than the bowling place owner ;) And he's not nearly as muscular, either :) Dawn: The perfect solution: do not approach at all ;) Bocaj: I think there's a bit too much white on this page, not sepia :) But it seems necessary. I'm glad the tension's rising. I'll try not to keep you waiting for too long. LBA: That line is an actual quote from a letter Erica got :) Doesn't get any weirder than that, now does it? ;) JMT: She didn't :) RoyceMarie: Thanks :) I'm always wondering if my comic's funny to others - because I go over the lines a dozen of times, so by the time I'm finished, they're not funny to me any more :) Jeff: They will never really be mice, since they're anthropomorphic :) But I get your point. For me, it's fun figuring out different kinds of body language for each of the two. This one's actually my favorite, I seldom have them both in the same panel - and never had them in physical contact with each other (the "thwap") I should have some episode where you get to see more of them.
Coyotejeff at 11:21PM, April 3, 2008
Wow I like this one. I really do like your work with odd angles and narration styles but it's been to long since we've just seen the Mice be Mice. Which is to say there interaction and personalties. Buddies acting like buddies. It's a real charm.
roycemarie at 9:55PM, April 3, 2008
Your stuff is just sooooo funny!
jmt at 9:35PM, April 3, 2008
This is a great love letter. I hope America liked it.
Walrus at 3:37PM, April 3, 2008
I dunno...
lba at 2:52PM, April 3, 2008
That last line is probably the weirdest of them in there. I know the feeling of starting something and rewriting it constantly. I have that problem all the time.
Bocaj at 1:50PM, April 3, 2008
Nice page, a lot of sepia (too much?). The sepia shows the time of day really well. Really early 3/4:00. This really seems to be building tension for me... I'm impatient to find out what happens.
dgriff13 at 10:51AM, April 3, 2008
heh, oh that first contact... what do you or not say? come on too strong or too cool?
antcomics at 8:59AM, April 3, 2008
Yeah, Mick. Moderation. Good suggestion there. Coming on a little strong, pal. :)
trevoramueller at 7:44AM, April 3, 2008
Step 1: Noticed a grammar error in the bottom panel. "How will she know she is THE one?" Step 2: Congrats on the 25 pages that you're done yourself. It's a milestone, to be sure! It's also an amazing comic so far, and I look forward to every update that you do for it. The writing is poignant and meaningful, poetic and unique. The artwork is awesome if only because it's so different - it doesn't focus on the characters so much as the subject matter. The visuals. Great stuff!
TheMidge28 at 6:31AM, April 3, 2008
no matter what he types and sends, she may just consider it spam and delete it... if its an email being sent, but then if its printed out and then mailed and there's no return address or the return address is "14th floor ledge" she may think it a prank and toss it. Strange love letters are never the way to go... now making a mix tape...ah yeah! that's where it s at. on another note...what is a "ray-tracing, phong-shading engine"? Is that the new engine Volkswagen is developing for the 2009 Jettas?
Loud_G at 5:42AM, April 3, 2008
Great job Fitz! I love it. He might be laying it on thick. :D In my experience thick is bad in letter form, but works wonders in poetry form. I wrote poems for the girl who later became my wife. :)
Abt_Nihil at 2:54AM, April 3, 2008
Let's... dash! Heheheheh... *chuckle* Um, anyway. Tantz' has a point there... but there HAS to be SOME moderate way about it. My love letters/confessions failed horribly so many times, and probably because they were NOT moderate in any way. But embarrassment is part of the game, I guess. So I can totally relate to this situation here. Not to mention the way you write it is witty, funny and quite insightful. But what's probably most wrong about this situation is that this kind of letter reveals too much about the author... it's an ego-trip of sorts, considering he doesn't know the object of his desire... except from afar. BTW, have you ever commented on the origin of your using the name "America"? I know you mentioned the name Erica several times... with her living in the US, this is another great pun.
Tantz_Aerine at 2:18AM, April 3, 2008
Hm. Why do I have a growing dread that the 'suave' version will be worse? XD
ghostrunner at 1:58AM, April 3, 2008
write straight from the heart. that way later on no one can say you wernt honest
anonymous at 11:22PM, April 2, 2008
No he should write what he had in mind, whenever it comes to love, never listen to others!
usedbooks at 10:15PM, April 2, 2008
I must concur. That is coming on WAAAAY to strong. That would scare away any sane woman. o_o Cool keyboard rendition, btw.