THE IDEA -> SCRIPT -> ROUGH DRAFT

Obviously, the first part is the idea. I do get a lot of E-mail asking where I get my ideas, the answer is, I don't really know. They just happen. It's a totally unpredictable thing, so I can't really say how it happens. Somehow I get an idea, and it usually comes in a "bite size". By #183, it was established that Chie Sakamachi was living with Madame X, so the idea that Chie would answer the door when Touro comes calling was a pretty logical step. The link I needed was how it would all go wrong for Touro, and I jumped on the idea that Chie would wear a scary mask to protect her face from potential bukkake fans. That was the idea, and with that bite-sized idea, I wrote a script for it.

Since I've done the same first two panels almost a dozen times already, I just wrote the script for the last two panels. Normally I'd write script for all the panels, but I make up swearing friend dialogue on the spot anyways.

When I script it out, I wonder how it looks on the page. To get an idea what the finished strip will look like without actually spending the time FINISHING the strip, I draw a rough in pencil. The sketch usually takes about 5 minutes to do, and gives me a good idea how the layout works, the timing, etc. This is an important stage because I believe if it works in a 5 minute sketch, the joke will work when I sit down and draw and color the thing for real.

The original sketch for #183 is this:

As you can see, I didn't plan on any dialogue for the first two panels, since I didn't think it mattered that much at the planning stage. It is very rough, everyone is just slightly defined stick figures, sometimes with the character's name written to indicate who they were. All dialogue is written on the right. This kind of rough image is something I've done from very early on, and I think it's a good tool, especially for a comic that plays with different camera angles and cuts as opposed to the static two shot of other online comics.