When Tommy approached me to work on the book, he initially had a vision of a more cartooned like art style. And, it was exactly what I was doing at the time. As a matter of fact, I kind of swore by it.
I was stoked to hear Tommy's desire for a more stylized approach to the art because every gig I was getting was geared towards realistic art. I was itching to do something that I could use my cartoon style in. And finally Mr. Flick gave me that opportunity.
Now, as you all well know (assuming you've been following this Blog-hint hint), it took a long time before we kicked this thing off and I got around to actually drawing some pages for the comic. A very long time.
But once I did, to be honest, I found myself unsatisfied with the five pages I drew for the sample. I let Tommy know how I felt and, well, he kind of wanted me to stay the course.
I don't blame him. Tommy is one of the most patient Person's I have had the honor of meeting, and befriending.
I should let you know, though, that he would highly disagree with me on the patience issue.
But he is.
Think about it.
The Guy dreams up this cool idea about a teenager who thinks everything is just normal everyday life. Then he gets banged up by a car that hits him on his way Home from School, only to find out that all this time, he was actually a Robot. And that's not all, when he confronts his "Dad", who is actually part of the team who created him, he finds out that he was originally made to become a merciless killing machine. Yikes!
So here we have Tommy with this amazing idea. He does not want to draw it himself. So he calls on a good and talented Friend of his who agrees to the project, but unfortunately, for personal reasons, has to bail out. Here comes plan B. So he contacts me. I agree. But it takes over a year or two before I actually commit to the project. When I finally decide to do something, he turns out I too have to bail out of the project. Then I come back to it about a year later (I think, my time table is all screwed up here).
Then I come up with these 5 pages in a style similar to what he wanted. But then I turn around and say, that's not working. I'm doing it all over again. In a style you originally did not want. I'm pulling out the guns. I'm going with a stylized realistic style on this sucker.
If I was Tommy, I would have lost it a loooooong time ago. But, on the contrary. He has, like Mr.Obama (sorry, I just had to throw that fact in there), kept his "cool" in the face of pressure.
And like Mr. Obama (again, I apologize), Tommy has, with his cool attitude, inspired me. So in my book, the man is cool. Really cool. And because of that, I have grown to love him as a Brother in Christ. It's hard for me to say that. There is only a handfull of People I feel this way about. But I respect him. And for me, it has been a blast to work with him to try to bring this thing together.
So what is this all about? I wanted to let some things out about my professional relationship with Tommy on this project. And I also wanted to introduce all our faithful readers to the art style I was talking about. I just hope all the changes I have decided to make will pay off in the end.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Timmy, like you've never seen him before.
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