A few notes from the management: I’ve learned that copies of Sunnyville Stories Volume 1 and Volume 2 are getting checked out by patrons in the Alameda County Library. I’m very pleased with that development. At least the Sunnyville paperbacks are not sitting around gathering dust. If anyone representing the Alameda County Library is reading this, thank you very much for adding the Sunnyville saga to your collections.
As a reminder, if you’d like your local library to carry my work or you represent a library interested in expanding your graphic novel selection, please get in touch with Brodart Company, Baker & Taylor or Ingram. Sunnyville Stories Volume 1 is listed under ISBN 9780615653921 and Volume 2 is ISBN 9780989069601.
Anyway, moving on to the comics, I have more pencilled pages to share with you today.
I frequently check my past stories for reference. That’s how I check to remember how the Sunnyville general store is drawn.
I want to drive home that Sunnyville is a real place (at least in my mind) so I have to make sure I show the infrastructure of the town. Here, we have Matthew Talbot, the owner of the store, checking on their stock. Yes, people do buy things at the general store so Matthew has to make sure they have merchandise to sell.
If this page looks a little funny, it’s because I had to scan the panels in separately and splice it together in Photoshop. Anyway, I’m very proud of this page. Notice the polyptych at the top. It smoothly flows into the bottom panel thanks to having Matthew climbing the ladder down.
This was a technique I copied from Dave Sim’s Cerebus. The new storytelling techniques are a way of challenging myself to get better; hence, I honestly feel that Sunnyville is growing the beard here.
That’s all the time we have for today. Sunnyville Stories Vol. 1 (ISBN 9780615653921) is still for sale on Amazon. Copies of Sunnyville Stories Volume 2 and Von Herling, Vampire Hunter are for sale right now at Great Stories.
Last but not least, I welcome your fan letters and commentary. You can email me at maxwestart(at)gmail.com or you can write to:
Different Mousetrap Press LLC
PO Box 1321
Greensboro, NC 27402
