Sketchbook With A Mind of Its Own

Sketchbook entries and a room full of strangers

There’s nothing like drawing ideas in a sketchbook. Sketchbooks are my safety blankets. I use them for everything – random sketches, mini-comics, experimentation with new media, character design for comic development, layouts… the list goes on.

Watercolor and screen-tone experimentation

Even though most of the drawings are for my eyes only, it still feels great when I pack a sketchbook full of content. When I look back at it, it’s almost like I can tell what my mindset was on each page.

It’s nice letting loose in these pages and not worrying about the outcome. Sometimes, while doing the most random of drawings, a kernel of an exciting idea comes out. These moments are the best.

I finished up a sketchbook a couple weeks ago. I have another one on deck. Time to break it open…

A Room Full of Strangers

At a convention last year, my buddy Nando introduced me to the art of cartoonist Scott Morse after I saw some wonderful drawings in his commission sketchbook. Ever since then, I’ve been on the hunt for Scott’s comics. It seems that most of his early work is now out of print, so the hunt resides in rifling through back issues or resorting to the good ol’ Amazon market place. Just this week I received in Batman: Room Full of Strangers.

Scott wrote and did the art on this DC one-shot that was published in 2004. The story revolves around recently retired Commissioner Gordon and his vacation stay at a small town inn, which eventually turns into a murder case. The art in this book is such a joy, and I mean that in the most joyfully energetic way possible. Every panel just dances off the page, even when two characters are simply standing in a room and talking.

This cheerful, painterly style then switches in dramatic fashion when Morse ramps up the composition. I love some of the shots he gets in this book. The book becomes a cartoony and experimental take on a classic noir film, especially when Gordon needs to pull out the revolver and chase the murder suspect.

My favorite page in the book comes just after a character is killed and we see the immediate aftermath.

Morse shows a hat fluttering in the wind then drops the camera on the money panel to show the dramatic death. The cool blue color choice sets the feeling of the entire scene. It’s such a good page.

In my opinion, the story tells us how even when a lead at Gotham PD retires, they are never truly retired. It’s almost as if the crime-ridden Gotham follows Gordon wherever he goes. Murder shadows him even at the quaintest vacation resort. If Batman can’t live without the Joker, then Commissioner Gordon can’t live without Gotham. Room Full of Strangers is such a nicely capped story. Looking at my life, if I were to ever “retire” from doing art and comics, I think that I would end up just like Gordon in this story. I’d be at some small inn, minding my own business, then a hint of inspiration would enter my soul. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from breaking out a pencil and scratching that itch. Purpose is purpose. Passion is Passion.

For any comic fan who wants a wonderfully unique looking comic about a well-known character, I suggest you track down Batman: Room Full of Strangers. And if you want beautiful art, just hunt down anything that says Scott Morse on it. Scott is working on an amazing black, white, and gray toned anthology called The Ink Runs Cold, and you can keep up with his progress on it through his Instagram @ crazymorse. It is shaping up to be an awesome book.

Now, time to seek out more Scott Morse comics!

The Fury

I finally got to check out Furiosa over the holiday weekend, and man was it good. I think I’ll say that I liked it just as much as Mad Max: Fury Road. There’s a little bit of a caveat in that I saw Fury Road in theaters, so obviously that experience was just epic, but in terms of sheer, drumbeat-like tension, absolutely wild action pieces, and crazy unique world building, both films were on par. Anya Taylor-Joy was as much of a badass as a badass could be, and Furiosa’s origin story was expertly crafted. Nothing felt forced in Furiosa just to make sure everything lined up with what came before it in Fury Road, right up until the end of the movie. George Miller is a master filmmaker, and he once again proves that he is at the tippy-top of the action movie mountain. Not only is the action insanely epic, but the uniqueness he brings to his franchise is engrossing. Kudos to Furiosa. I hope George Miller continues to tell this saga for many years to come.

I’m close to wrapping up a big scene in The World Is a Funny Page, then I’ll switch to lettering. The rest of this month is going to be crazy busy, so I hope that I can still manage to get valuable work done while balancing two out of state trips.

The grind continues… have a great week!

Thanks for your time,

Nico