Get in, loser

We're sharing a cold-open storyboard.

Back in 2023, a year so far in the unrecoverable past it hardly feels like a real number anymore, I said I was going to take some time off from this little blog to work on a bigger project. And that was true.

It’s a comic book, and I would like to show you some of it.

As I’ve mentioned before (repeatedly and at tedious length), I tend to avoid showing work before it’s done, unless it’s in a formalized workshop type of setting where other people are also sharing unfinished work, because it’s scary and I have impostor syndrome. I’m sorry to put you through this self-guided therapy tantrum every time you get an email from me. I hope at this point you’re either like “Jef’s middle-aged artistic insecurity is riveting” or you’ve unsubscribed.

There’s also, I think, the underlying assumption that the purpose of art is to produce saleable goods, and you don’t sell an unfinished product.

Tif bought this t-shirt and I am a big fan of it.

Actually, my favorite part of the whole process is showing people the work before it’s done. It’s just that I don’t feel like I’m allowed to. And that’s why I’m gonna do it. Because I’m a rule-breaker, baby.

So here’s the early jacket copy: A third-tier healthcare consultancy in the middle of a massive round of layoffs hosts a conference in St. Louis just in time for a massive ice storm to trap everyone in the hotel. It’s the week before Christmas, and everybody’s head is on the metaphorical chopping block - but when attendees start turning up dead under suspicious circumstances, the stakes get literal.

Would you like a see a storyboard of the cold open? Then stop reading right now because I’m gonna show it to you.

I’ve never made a comic book before so I don’t know if I’m even doing it right. Maybe you have. Maybe you read a lot of comics and you have some pointers. Maybe you want to tell me some. Apparently in the world of comics, the way you sell a manuscript is that you submit a fully illustrated first chapter and an outline of the rest, so I’m planning on doing that and taking you fine people along for the ride.

And if it doesn’t sell? I don’t know. Maybe money does play some role here, because I’m not totally convinced I would finish a fully illustrated book without some promise of compensation. Illustration is time consuming! I might rather learn jazz piano or take a pottery class. Then again, I wouldn’t rule it out, either. If I was still pretty into it, maybe I would finish it just for fun and just throw it on Amazon or something.

What do you think? How are your projects going? How does cold hard cash factor into your process? Do you show unfinished stuff? Would you? Note to Kate: I will definitely continue to eat your experimental cookies.