After story notes...

Geejay on Sept. 27, 2006

This comic has only eight pages. Please read it from the beginning (Page 1).

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This 8-page short comic story is my submission to a soon-to-be-published issue of an Australian literary magazine called Going Down Swinging. The deadline for this is October 2 (as of this writing, this coming Monday) and I only started to actually draw the pages last Friday. Thankfully, I already had some idea on how the comic would progress by the time I started.

Although I knew about the deadline a little while back, I never got started earlier because I couldn't think of a cool story to draw. Thankfully, my dear wife, Raquel, was able to help me out with a possible story. I changed it though so it wasn't exactly the same as her original idea, to her disappointment (sorry, honey).

I then spent most of the time researching on what the girl, the old man and the park would look like. I spent a few days in the park taking reference photos of the place and drawing quick sketches of passers-by. I was able to use the photos and sketches to help me draw the pages faster in the end.

I had to draw the pages at night after I get home from work. And this was while I watched my favourite TV series. I so envy those full-time comicbook artists. They have all the time in the world to crank up comic pages. I'm actually surprised I have a lot of energy leftover. I'm now just looking forward to the weekend.

And so, last night, I slept at around 2.30 AM because I really had to finish everything. I have to send the TIFF files on a burnt CD and send it via Post. Since the deadline is this coming Monday, today is my last chance to send it through the Post if I send it via overnight postage.

The reason why I was adamant in submitting something for the magazine was to get some more Australian exposure, primarily. Another reason was that an accepted submission will get paid AU$100. Sure, it isn't that much compared to my day-job salary but it's better than drawing the comic for free.

This afternoon, I'll be going to the Post Office to send the CD. I hope it doesn't get lost in the mail and I hope the editors like it enough to include it in their magazine. Wish me luck.