Bored in Space

Just after covid hit in March 2020 I started hitting my stride with drawing digitally. I'd had my iPad for just over 4 months and had been dabbling even before that. Up until this point I hadn't felt comfortable with the drawings I was making digitally. I could create something on paper that was personally satisfying, but I digital drawing felt like I was drawing with a sharpie with my left hand.

I made a couple of digital comics about the pandemic unfolding around us. They received a good response, and I was happy with them. However, the reality of it all was too depressing. That's when I decided to dabble in making a comic with some characters I had been playing around with for a few years. These characters were different than my usual autobiographical comics. Their creation came out of my love of science fiction, especially Star Wars. I wanted to take my love of Star Wars and create what I would affectionally describe as a 'bootleg' version. A weird approximation and near shameless rip off with an odd warping of the original

I've always been fascinated with the idea of well know characters being parodied or copied or told in new ways. I knew it was time to get serious about this idea and drawing them digitally could help them come to life.

To begin I drew a test panel to see if I could create something I was happy with. As an artist you're often dabbling in different areas to see if you can get an internal response. Call your own internal art radar, it's not always reliable or working but you can sense when something has potential. Thats what I felt when I drew the test panel. It wasn't quiet there, but there was something there. I then decided to do a test page 

I was so impressed with this page that I drew another, and then another, and then some more. The comic just started writing itself and I found the characters I had been daydreaming about for a number of years were finally starting to come to life on the page. Two years later and I now have over 60 pages completed!

Another new aspect of this process for me was the addition of full colour. For most of my time making comics I have worked primarily in black and white, and occasionally spot colour. This is because black and white allowed me to print my work into zines and share them. Colour is prohibitively expensive when it comes to print. I tried to put these limitations out of my head, I justified the use of colour, telling myself that this was a) just a test/experiment b) maybe someone might want to publish it and c) I could always just print it online or in ebook format.

It was this project and the thought of publishing an ebook that sparked the idea for Spare Parts Press.

Now two years later I have taken the plunge and put the first issue out into the world as an ebook. The title is available in a few places. 

I am really proud of how this comic came out, the characters and the continuing story. It's a little left of field from my usual work, however I have always loved science fiction and I also wanted to work on something my kids would also enjoy. The story itself is all ages but if I had to categorise it on a book shelf it would most likely land in the 'Teen' section. I hope you can check it out!

Available from 

Ko-Fi Store

Apple Books

Kobo

Overdrive/Libby (for Libraries)