Wednesday, August 6, 2008

preview

Hey! It's been a while. LOTS of stuff has been happening, but don't to ruin it (or bore you) with a long post.

I've been wicked depressed the past month or so. 'give-Sweet-Enemy-the-keys-to-the-gun-case' depressed. Mostly about the world in general. I'm over-informed and it was getting to me. So, I've been cutting back on stupid conservative tricks (that's why I've been avoiding the Dean's site. Sorry).

Anyway. SE and I decided to take a road trip to my folks house on the 24th for a (my side of the)family reunion.

Took the long way down through the still very rural sections of VT. Ahhhh. Hit my folks house and had, as pe my request, Papa Gino's pizza. I hate chains, but for some reason, I really like PG's pizza (they don't have it in VT, so maybe it's the specialness).

The next day was the reunion. Pretty fun. Good food. Went on a really nice three hour ride beforehand (met some guys just starting out. They stopped ten meters into the trail to burn one. After, I could see, but before? as cheesy as it sounds, riding is my drug).

The next day was Sweet Enemy's day. She is doing a series of underwater paintings and is totally fascinated by the sea, so we hit the New England Aquarium. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I was still very down and didnt' want to ruin her day, but we decided I should go. We took the train from near my parent's house and it was a strangely painless trip. Boston is a remarkably walkable city.

The aquarium was pretty cool. I hadn't been since the early 80's, but darn if I didn't have more fun now! One of the best parts was seeing teens and twenty somethings who looked like the should be in a mall really getting into the exibits. What wasn't so nice was one family coming in and the little girl running to see the penguins and the parents calling her back; they had an itinerary. That was bogus. It should have been HER day.

Anyway. The train ride back was really nice. Sweet Enemy made twenty bucks! We thought she was only going to make five, but she made the guy really happy. That's all I'll say. It's her story and she should tell it. Some day. Maybe

Then a night of Chinese food and the next day entertaining (and being entertained by) my nearly-two niece. Cute kid. I can't wait till she comes up to our house in the woods. The drive back was not so nice because I was nursing a dang stye. Stupid eyelid zit!

This past weekend was pretty good. Relaxing. SE and I just hung around making art and stacking wood.

Well. I'm better. I'm not quite in blissful ignorance, but I'm not so anxious that I can't function.

What's this preview you might ask? Well, Obscure Tales 3 is almost done. Because of the nature of the climax, I decided to post the last six pages all at once. All six are inked and three are scanned. Now onto post-production and 'coloring'. I'd like to have them done by the weekend, but we're going to my step-mother-in-law's family cabin on Brandt Lake in Upstate NY. So, to keep placate you, here's the very rough sketch of the cover for Obscure Tales issue 4. It's called 'The Suns of Charybdis' and will be written by AndreZero:



AndreZero's already got a first draft done, but now that I've done posted this cover, he can't back out!

Listening to while posting: Nothing. Wait. Let me hit iTunes. ah. "Aquaman's Lament" by Mark Aaron James.

6 comments:

Don Snabulus said...

I hate those blue valleys. Hate'em. Hate'em. Hate'em. Especially when it seems the majority of the world is taking the Dumb boat to StupidTown.

You were right to get away from it. With the Internets, bad news is as prevalent as opium in Afghanistan and if you aren't careful, you can OD on it.

The bike, the SE, and the aquarium (not in that order) were all better alternatives.

All of us at Snabuland think you RULE the comic multiverse and belatedly send oodles of good cheer.

Glad to hear there are more Obscure Tales around the corner.

Jives said...

Glad you liked the Aquarium. Did you touch the sharks and rays? That ends on September 1.

Then the seal exhibit is going to change a lot. It will get much bigger and the public will be able to see a lot more for free.

Arkonbey said...

Snab: thanks, man! I really appreciate it.

Jive: Thanks for commenting! Didn't get to touch anything as it was a massive Sunday crowd. But, it was still a wicked good time (can't wait until my niece is old enough to get into it). Happy to see Myrtle!

I found myself hoping they'd expand the seal tanks. Those guys and gals looked a bit crowded. Especially those big 'ol fur seals.

ladybug said...

Thanks for letting us know "what's happenin'"...even if it means you were down in the dumps. I always eagerly await all the creative stuff you guys do!

Swinebread said...

Dude I'm glad you are much better. I've had to tune out the negative stuff too and I've got a new baby to keep me occupied!

I'm really happy you've got someone to lean on but if you need anybody else to talk to just let me and the rest of the crew in oregon know, we love to chat. Don't be afraid to ask. We're all blogger buddies after all!

Also, remember you make comics... that's one of the coolest things ever... I don't but I try not to think about it.

That's working cover is so fantastic! I'm on a horror jag and you've been feeding me the good stuff.

Arkonbey said...

LB: I've climbed the dump and am now just hanging on the edge. Much better view from up here.

SB: thanks for the thoughts. It actually helps.
I was going to say that you could make comics too, but you have a new avocation for the next 18 years :)