Old Comics: "Sidewalks"

A few comics I did long ago for a local paper.

In Columbus, Ohio, we used to have a free weekly paper called Columbus Alive! And in it they had a feature called “Sketch in the City” where a local cartoonist got a five day run to do whatever they wanted as long as it featured something local. This is way back before I moved most of my production over to digital, so everything was done on Bristol Board with brush and pen. The dialogue was added in later in Photoshop. I may have actually used an Ames Lettering Guide to lay out the balloons.

For my run in “Sketch in the City” I knew that I wanted to create an entirely new concept than anything I had done before. I decided to write about a dad who wants his daughter to be hip because he thinks he himself is cool (and of course he isn’t, really.)

At the time my kids were young, and I knew parents of young kids who are exactly like this. They make their kids listen to the Decemberists or Arcade Fire or other hip bands without a trace of irony, more, I suspect, to make themselves look cool even though their kids likely don’t care about such matters. I’m not sure why these parents do this. Regardless, I found the idea ripe for satire and thought it would be fun to lampoon these parents.

Since the strip has to involve Columbus in some way, and the now long gone sushi restaurant Haiku seemed like a great location. Therefore, the beginning of the strip starts on High Street in the Short North, which is an upscale area north of downtown Columbus that has plenty of cool shops and restaurants (and very little parking.)

I happened to be on jury duty the week that I drew this strip so I had plenty of time to do reconnaissance to get reference material for my sketch. At the time I took a few shots and traced them using a lightboard to get the perspective right. (I’m much more confident in my perspective now). Since the Short North is so iconic, I had to get it exactly right or I thought someone would notice.

Another thing I geeked out about was the length of the conversation and the walk. The very brief conversation couldn’t start three blocks away from the restaurant; it had to occur a reasonable distance away. Where they are at the beginning of the Short North is roughly a block away from the restaurant, which seemed like the perfect distance. I also had to ensure that they were walking on the correct side of the street, and the right direction on the street, or I felt sure someone would notice that too. (Sometimes there’s a fine line between have a fine attention to detail and being paranoid that you got something wrong and you’ll be called out on it.)

This strip is so old I don’t really have any record of when it first appeared. I tend not to like my earlier work, but I’m really happy with how the strip turned out. Usually, there’s something about a strip that I don’t like, but this one I don’t have huge problems with. I felt like I established the characters’ personalities well and came up with a good joke. And for the record there would have been an opportunity to choose Arcade Fire and the Blue Jackets in the playoffs at Nationwide Arena; both happened around the same time.

Sidewalks #1.

Also, I’m trying something new that I learned from Jason Chatfield, who puts a dog at the end of his posts and people seem to like it. So here’s a recent photo of my dog Bennet, who has the best side eye:

ELA Teachers!

Did you know I create comics to use in your classroom? They are really funny. And kids like them. I have a bunch of printable comics on topics like Shakespeare, grammar, and poetry. Please check out my store and see what you like. I’m always open to suggestions, too-are there any topics you’d like me to create a comic about? Let me know.

Also, I’ll be at NCTE this year in Denver! I’ll be presenting about using graphic non-fiction in the classroom to teach research and I’ll be signing books immediately afterward.

Book Lovers!

Please check out my middle grade novels Pizza, Pickles, and Apple Pie and Checkups, Shots, and Robots! You can also get a signed copy if you are going to be at NCTE if you are going to be there as well.

What I’m working on…(completely out of context)