PAGE 12, SCRIPT PAGE
Page 12/13 will be used to explain the creative process for the graphic novel.
STEP 1
This is a print out from the relevant page of Andersen Gabrych’s script. Andersen is an up and coming comic book writer (Batgirl, Batman, the Demon), travel writer for LA Confidential Magazine and actor (“Hit and Runway”, “Another Gay Movie”, Another Gay Movie 2”)
Fog Town ROUGH FIRST ACT.
By Andersen Gabrych 3/16/07
Rough Draft v.1
PAGE ONE
Splash. Late Night. SAN FRANCISCO, July 1953. A stunning, hauntingly iconic BIRD’S EYE panorama of the City as a thick FOG billows through the Bay and spills into the valleys of the city like greedy fingers, absorbing everything but mansion-dotted Hills, the bowed skeletal ribs of Golden Gate, the terrifying isolation of Alcatraz, and the phallic grace of Coit Tower.
CAPTION: July 1953
Frank’s VOICE OVER (from here on out “VO”): Middle of summer and this town’s colder n’ a witch’s tit.
VO: “The Golden Gate.”
VO: People mighta come here for gold, but it ain’t why they stayed. Or keep flooding in from all over.
VO: Sure as shit it’s not for the ballet or them cutesy-pie cable cars, neither. That bullshit’s for wives.
VO: It’s them three “F’s” that make men do just about anything. Faith, Fortune, and F*ing.
VO: And in this town the line between ‘em gets real blurry. Always been a real loose town.
VO: Whatever you want. You can find it here.
VO: Or die looking for it.
PAGE 12/13 ROUGH DESIGN
STEP 2
I adapted the script, roughing out each page on copy paper, rendering my concept of word balloon and blurb/display copy placement. I then copied both the editor and the writer for their suggestions/ mandates.
PAGE 12/13 PENCILS
STEP 3
This is the pencil preliminary to the finished artwork.
I had difficulty adjusting to the 6” x 9” image size of the original art. While I was working on Fogtown, I was also staff storyboard artist on the King of the Hill TV series. Usually, the storyboard panels were 3.25” x 5.25”. The average panel size of Fogtown was 3” x 4”. So I was shocked to be working larger (and putting more care and labor into the drawings) on a TV storyboard than on a comic book. I mention this because it was contrary to my previous work experiences in both industries, where the reverse is usually the case.
PAGE 12/13 INKS
STEP 4
This was the first pass at finished art, done at the original, smaller size.
Initially, I had been trying for a loose, gestural look. For instance, I opted not to use a straightedge while inking backgrounds, emulating cartoonists like Milton Caniff (“Terry and the Pirates”, “Steve Canyon”), Jordi Bernet (“Torpedo 1936”), and Tony Salmons (“Vigilante”, “The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft”). I discovered, working in the smaller format, that my results were more sloppily crude than successfully gestural. My editor, Bob Schreck, was also unhappy. We agreed that the remaining 100 pages would be done at the more traditional 14” x 9” size. This would achieve a tighter, slicker look.
PAGE 12 REVISIONS
STEP 5
Bob had extensive revision notes on the first 70 pages. I elected to do the alterations in the larger 9” x 14” format and composite the fixes using Photoshop. I delivered the finished pages to DC via the Internet, uploading the finished files to DC’s FTP site.
PAGE 12 BG
STEP 5A
I redid the background, placing it in each panel using Photoshop.
PAGE 12, PRINTED GALLEY
STEP 6
7 1/8” x 11.5”
N.F.S.
This is the final step before publication, where any mistakes can be caught and last minute changes call be made. The galley was the first time I saw the gray tones, which were executed by Rivkah. Although she was chosen by the second editor on the book, Brandon Montclair, I was happy with her work. She was surprisingly sympathetic with what I was trying to achieve with lighting and mood, and even imitated my brush strokes, leading to a very seamless look.
