As I type this, the fifth episode of Sunnyville Stories is nearing completion. Today, I have a treat for all of you. I’ll share a few pages of Sunnyville Stories Episode 5, entitled “Dance Hall Days”.
I have somewhat of a problem here. Normally, I use Pilot brand V-Razor Point extra fine pens for my lettering. Someone gave me a tip to switch over to a Pigma Micron. Unfortunately, it ended up fading to gray as I erased the page’s pencil lines.
It’s a good thing I caught this mistake before I started sending the pages over to the printer. I’ll have to go back to the V-Razor Points and redo the lettering.
Anyway, the gag you see above is a favorite of mine. I happen to be a big fan of the Three Stooges, the famous comedy team made renowned by their short films from Columbia Pictures. While known for their physical humor (slapping and hitting each other), they were quite adepts with jokes and puns. The joke that Rusty makes was taken from the 1941 Stooges short In the Sweet Pie and Pie.
Anyway, just to bring you up to speed, the plot to Sunnyville Stories episode 5 is this – there’s a dance going on but Rusty is scared to go because he can’t dance. This scene is from inside the general store and it just so happens that local rich girl, Rose Von Straussen, overhears Rusty. This is a tense moment for Rusty because he’s feeling vulnerable and Rose is seizing upon that.
The suspense heightens for Rusty. Not only is he being embarrassed in front of his friend Sam, but also in front of both of the Talbot girls, Magnolia and Bethany (on the right side of the top panel).
This is the first episode I might add that refers back to a previous one. That’s to entice the readers to check out the other stories. For those of you who have forgotten, Rusty is referring back to the second episode where he took on Rose in a pinball game and won. That comic is still available for purchase from Indy Planet.
That’ll be it for the free previews. If you want to see more, you’ll have to wait until the fifth episode becomes available. Oh yes, the cover is nearly ready. As I reported, Steven Martin of Santa Ana, CA will be doing the cover. In fact, I have a sneak preview of the cover right here!
The cover that Steven did really ended up exceeding my expectations. I can’t wait to see the final version. The above image is copyright of Max West and Steve Martin.
That’s it for this week. Stop by the store to get the other comics as well as cool Sunnyville prints. If you want to sample this series, remember that the whole first episode is free.
Stay tuned, loyal fans – coming by late September/early October will be Sunnyville Stories Episode 5!
Good to see how this episode is progressing, it seems to be coming along nicely!
I see what you mean about the problem you had with the lettering. I’ve never used a V-Razor Point or a Pigma Micron pen before, but I’ve had a similar problem when outlining my own drawings with a Pilot Drawing Pen. Usually, when I erase the original pencil lines, the pen lines end up fading in places as well. However, I think the Pilot Drawing Pens give smoother, less messier lines than the Stabilo pointVisco pens that I used to use for inking.
That’s happened to you too? Wow. That seems to be a problem with some markers (that’s the term we use for disposable pens in comics). I usually don’t see this though with my india ink used with dip pens and brushes. My advice to you is to try out different pens and see how it reacts to being erased. You may have to go over the lines again or use a different pen.