‎iSSUE 2 UPDATE

hey guys! some quick unrelated update stuff:
-the mailing system is broken at the moment, so i’m workin’ on fixing that! :^{
-still tryin’ to fix the fanart feature stuff
-making more encyclopedia pages
-workin’ on iSSUE 3 as we speak

O: This ISSUE was fun to write, even if many changes were made throughout the process.

L: i think i struggled most with the coloring for this iSSUE. like, a LOT. i kept trying to find a way to tie the colors of the first and last pages to the colors of the cover page, but since there was a scene transition it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to keep the colors consistent. if so, everything would’ve appeared the same underground-green tone and made the last page difficult to follow. sorry if my colors aren’t the best, i’m trying my hardest! :^{

(everyone in this iSSUE might as well have jaundice lol-)

the original cover for iSSUE 2 was actually gonna be this still-life. i really enjoy this piece, i don’t normally draw still-life, let alone paint. i also liked the items featured, as i feel they help represent some of the core ideas(?) that are going to be important to the plot later (bones, frogs, …bottle? alcoholism? idk, last one isn’t really a Poison Jam thing lol.)

all the items in the painting are things i own; the skull is a californian coyote skull from the ditch near my house (yes, i found it and de-skinned it myself). the frog is a balsa wood frog carving from indonesia i got as a gift a long time ago, i’ve always loved frogs and south/southeast/east asian art (and the pacific islands, ofc). the bottle also surprisingly has a story too, i found it near an old abandoned WWII base on the westcoast (can’t remember the name), it was at the foot of a tree detoured off the path.

while i love this piece, i eventually decided against using it. it’s nice, yeah, but it’s also boring, especially as the cover page for the SECOND iSSUE. i think if i ever use it in the future, i’d wait until a good handful of iSSUES come out. the final design is a lot more fitting, given the iSSUE is focused on character interactions. also, having a character on the front of a comic is a lot more inviting than something more abstract like a still-life (and a little foreboding). i want to do more “realistic” covers in the future, but again, only after a couple more iSSUES come out lol :^P/

O: One of the last-minute changes was the substitution of Combo and Clutch discussing a DVD rental with the conversation and interview of Pax. I felt as though it made more sense narrativly to include this scene, as it will help set up a character interaction for later. The replaced scene was a similar back-and-forth where Combo and Clutch discussed different movies to watch to pass time..

The film referenced is a real dvd, it’s a compilation of fights, gore, and lowrider footage overlayed with (mostly?) west-coast rap. It’s actually quite fun, it stands as a pretty cool relic of the pre-widespread internet era. While the sacrifice of this scene does end up taking away some (although a small amount) of Combo’s characterization from ISSUE 2, I believe the change will help the narrative flow better. I hope to give Combo a better, more focused introduction to his characteristics in a future ISSUE. The original scene that was replaced didn’t make it far into production, so I might bring it back in the future..

i’m mostly happy with iSSUE 2, although there are errors in consistency with the character’s designs, i’m overall content with the final product. and hey, i’m excited for iSSUE 3! i think that it’s best if i’m excited, it means i think i’ve got a strong comic coming up that hopefully y’all will enjoy as much as i do making them.

once again, thank you all for your support and continued interest, it means a hell of a lot to us! <3