Episode X
This one has probably my favorite bogus title, which is also the most "obvious" for this story. My favorite sequence begins here. This is where I pay tribute to yet another favorite old TV show, by introducing Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, James Hampton, Joe Brooks, and Bob Steele. YEAH.
The line about the bar mitzvah is another one of my favorites.
Episode XI
Strange but true: When I started this, I was doing the whole thing as "roughs" on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. But I realized I was putting so much work in, I owed it to myself to take it a step further. As a result, THIS episode was actually the first one I did on full-size 11" x 17" bristol board. All the earlier pages were done after the story was finished, which may explain why the last few pages before this one look a lot "tighter" and "slicker". Among the characters this time are Sarah Rush, Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Mickey, Davy, Mike & Peter, Stan & Ollie, Peter Parker... oh yeah, and Dennis Weaver finally shows up! (Who didn't see that coming?)
As we barrel headlong toward the climax, Susannah York makes a cameo-- and Bob Stack finally turns up again, ready for action! As he was also the basis for my long-running character The GUN! (who I wrote no less than 50 episodes of in high school and after), his appearance here makes for a bizarre, unofficial "crossover" between this story and my "main" series.
Although every episode up to here had been 2 pages (the 3-pagers expanded when I redid the art), this was the first time I realized I really needed 4 pages to do a "proper" episode without things being crammed too much. Everything comes together here, including a cameo by The Rook & Mannering.
The last 4 panels never fail to put a smile on my face!
Alternate version of the cover. Some time back, I redrew "Stawback" in a less cartoony style. I just now (January 2013) redid the lettering. Yep. No matter how good I could make it doing it by hand, it STILL looks better done mechanically on the computer! Hey, it's a tool...
Comparing the above image with the original, I'm wondering, how the heck did I scan & process the earlier one? So much detail was lost, I suspect I may not have used Photoshop before. I really have gotten so much better in my use of Photoshop in recent years, the difference is somewhat staggering-- and that's to me!
At last, many years overdue, here's the cover IN COLOR!
Story & Art (C) HENRY KUJAWA
All prominent characters are Trademarks of HENRY KUJAWA
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