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Rick and Phil gab it up at Sequential Tart

Check out our musing by clicking the link!

SEQUENTIAL TART!

Off on a Trangent

Sifting through the boxes and boxes of LD art we have have over here in the dungeon levels of Labor Days Tower I came across some very ancient character designs. One of which was this quintessential drawing of Bags' ex, Kelly Trangent. In the early drafts of LD, Ms. Trangent had a bigger roll and her rocky relationship with Bags a larger plot scenario. Well that all hit the cutting room floor and she was only used to further the idea of Bags' out of control life. She can be seen more prominently in our Ashcan that leads into the first volume.


And here also are a few choice pages from Chapter 2: Bags In Bedlam

Saddle, I can has back in it?

This blog is in sour need of a new post! Fortunatly Phil and I have been very busy with a number of new projects, including LABOR DAYS VOL. 2, so rest assured we havent been sitting on our rumps. We were at APE last weekend and had a good time of it. I prefered SPX more, but had never been out to San Fran before. So it was a good time. Except for the rainy weather. We met some very verocious fans and ran into our buddy JK Parkin from Newsarama. Plus strong sales on the book. I good weekend for sure.

I haven't scanned in any new art recently, but I have uploaded two pictures of pages from Vol. 2 on my FLICKR. Which I posted below. Check out my full photostream HERE!

Come One, Come All...

Sunday night and I have a few things to report.

1! Labor Days now has a group on that silly ole social networking site, Facebook.

Check it out and join the party.

2! good Sir Lacy and I are both giving this Twitter thing a shot.

We're here:

Lil Rickle. Lil Philbert.

That's it for now!

ASIFA East gets itself to Status: Bags

This Thursday, Oct. 16th at 7pm, Phil and I are going to be at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU to discuss our newest creator owned comic book, the aforementioned Labor Days: Vol. 1: All Things With Wings. Hosted by ASIFA - East.

So come on by, bring a friend and get the dirt on the two Dukes of Labor Days Towers as we bicker back and forth about the industry, our new book and how to make it in the biz. Or, at least how we tricked everyone into letting us join the club.



Thanks go out to Dave Levy for taking the helm on this one!

LD: In stores & Newsarama-rama Interview!

In case all you Bagsolites haven't seen our latest interview with Newsarama's John Parkin, check it out here:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/10/09/blog-qa-philip-gelatt-and-rick-lacy/


And get out to your local comic shoppe or hit the amazon trail to get yur own copy of Labor Days!


p.s. my laptop is currently in surgery, so no art updates for now :(

Someone Grab That Tape!

Rick and I had this crazy idea that we would hand out old VHS tapes as promotional items. This was Rick's mock-up of what they might look like. Unfortunately, it was a bit cost prohibitive and really, who wants an old VHS tape?

But still, a fun idea.

And it does make you wonder...

Just what the hell is on that tape?

SPX-tacular!

It's Phil here, back on the Blog-train.

Labor Days hits your local comic shops this Wednesday. If they don't carry it, feel free to ask them to order it.

And check us out on Myspace comics!

PREMIERING THIS WEEKEND!

Phil and I will be at the Small Press Expo this weekend in Bethesda, MD for the official release of Labor Days Volume 1: Wine, Woman, and Song! The first unbound proof went to Oni Press this week and we're told it looks AWESOME! So if you plan on attending, come by the Oni Press booth for your very own copy of the most exciting thing to hit your shelf! We'll be on hand to chat about our first creator owned book, buy a few drinks, sketch a few drawings and I will be selling some pin-up art (like the one below of LD's leading ladies), a few pages from the book and my own personal art. Hope to see some familiar faces and make some new friends at what's turning out to be the most exciting artistic event of our career thus far!

Original Labor Days FUNttons!

...or at least that's what we're calling them here at Labor Days Towers.

The first LD merch (aside from the book) are some fashionable buttons! These were fun to make and we've got a few more planned for when readers become more familiarized with the specific quirk of Labor days.




This one was designed by blogspots own Sean "keep it sleazy" Ferguson

Forum: Oni

Have you checked out the Oni Press Forum yet? It went live at SDCC and is gaining a sizeable audience. Go check it out for the most up to date coverage on future events and comics by Oni press. Plus you can chat with your favorite creators!

www.onipress.com/forum

oh look! Bags' is on it right now!

Victoria in Ten Pants

As of yesterday Phil and I finished proof reading the lettered pages for Labor Days. After corrections and a bit more fussing over at Oni, they'll upload the book, which should be designed, layed out and ready to go to the printers.

For now here's a bit of fun with Victoria's weekly wardrobe.


Monday: Tight Black Stretch Pants. Whenever she puts them on she's compelled to high kick. Partly show off, partly to enjoy the freedom. She calls these ones her "stretchies."

Tuesday: Grey Dress Pants, loose at the bottom (but not flair, because c'mon…). She can't high kick in these one, but after a day of stretch pants she needs to feel a little dressy, and they certainly don't inhibit her ability to punch, grapple, or otherwise detain.

Wednesday: New Jeans. A little tight in the hip, but a perfect thigh fit. These are new for the fall.

Thursday: Old Jeans. The pair she was wearing the first time she went on special assignment. They are covered in faded stains; vomit, chocolate, blood, and coffee. She views the stains with nostalgia.

Thursday Night: Used Leather. Thursday night she walks to the local pub to have a drink and a cigar. Nobody bothers her there and she doesn’t bother anybody. It's just her and the pants.

Friday: Stripey Pajama Pants. Friday she does nothing but watch television with her brother. Her brother changes moods, personalities and sentiments approximately 2.5 times as many times as she changes channels.

Saturday: Black Billowy Skirt with Shorts Under It. Saturday she's out on dangerous business all day long. She wears the skirt her father gave her on her 16th birthday. She wonders if it was her mothers.

Sunday: Full Business Suit. Sunday she makes the round with her father and a number of investors. They review treatments, they gossip about patients and they have a supper of sandwiches. She is bored.

Sunday Night: Black Sweat Pants. Sunday night, after they leave and after her brother is asleep, she curls up in the corner of her room and just listens to the building, trapped somewhere between resignation and a remorse she can't name.

Monday, again: Stretchies. She wakes up with a smile and a high kick, lights up a fine fine cigar and heads off into another week.
written by PMG

Like Magic...

... the very last book art for Labor Days has been finished on Labor Day! This is purely coincidence. And a funny one at that. Initially there wasn't going to be cover art for the first chapter, as I planned the book cover to lead into it after a few pages of credits and what not. After the Oni design guru (Kieth) started working his miracles he thought it better to have a new piece of art starting off the first chapter. So I banged out this fella over the weekend and just put the final touches on it today. This week the lettering is getting finished, Phil and I will do proofs and if all goes according to plan Labor Days: Volume One: Consorts to Chaos will be at the printer by the weeks end.

And then on to SPX for wild releases and launches!

Its all so exciting!

Chapter Covers

For the beginning of every chapter in Labor Days I created new art for interior covers. Chapter 2 I posted a while ago, but with the rest of them complete now I think it fitting to showcase them all together. The cover art for chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Stick A Fork In It....

...Labor Days is done!!!

I just put the final brush stroke on the art for Volume 1! And I've never felt better or more accomplished than right now.

There's still alot more to do to get the book ready for the Small Press Expo in Oct, but essentially all the book art is done. This has been one hell of an undertaking for Phil and I and we can't wait to get this thing on the shelves. Stick around for more art and news as we get closer to SPX.

For now, here's the pencils for the final page of the book. I have several methods of finishing my pencils. The last few pages I've just been drawing over blue pencils with a Peacock Blue Prismacolor marker. My preffered method is to pile on the post-its over rough drawings, making a sort Frakkenstien's monster out of the page. Then enlarging it to ink over to bristol board.



I'm gonna go throw up now.

RRRRHHHRRR CHUNK CHUNK!

SDCC 2008 starts today, and though I shall be missing said event for the purposes of monetary recruitment and work obligations, young PM Jeepers will be wandering the con floor with a steely gaze and a bottom pinching urge. There wont be much in terms of Labor Days news at this con. Phil should be on the Oni Press panel just reiterating the release date like we did last year and again at NYCC a few months ago. Are you guys just as anxious as I am to finally release this damn thing?! Sheesh! Just a few more months. Oni will have some cool new shwag at thier booth this weekend, including The Apocalipstix release by Guy Fawkes and Cameron Stewart and a crap load of new merch. Check'em out!

For now I leave you all with a bite from Labor Days: Chapter 4: Bosoms and Blues.

THIRTY 6 panels

Rough pencils for the second to last page of Labor Days Volume 1: Butterscotch and Ballywogs.



Each script came in with its own numbered pages starting at one. So this is actually page 135 or so.

MAKE-UP!

Costume lineup for ol' Bagswell. This sits right over my desk so I don't forget his lil' bandages or details. Plus its a reminder of how much I love him. There's one more costume for the fifth chapter, but A) It didn't fit on the 11x17 paper and 3) it's a drastic-ish change that maybe its "funner" in secret.

BRRRRRR-AAAAP! KA-POW!

Whenever I draw gun fire or explosions I start making the sound effects. I guess playing G.I.Joe never goes out of style.



I'm nearly done with art! One more chapter to ink and a few odds and ends and that puppy will be in the can! If all goes according to plan we'll see you Bagsicans at SPX.

Lacy out!

Trumbo-tastic!

Okay this one isn't directly Labor Days related, but still important...

A documentary about blazing mad and epically great screenwriting legend Dalton Trumbo opens in New York and LA next Friday, the 27th of June. Watch the trailer here.

Trumbo, for you non-film people out there who didn't just watch the trailer, wrote movies like Spartacus, Roman Holiday, Exodus and Papillon. He was also one of the Hollywood 10, blacklisted and forced out of the film industry because he refused to submit to HUAC.

I highly recommend everyone I know in either LA and NYC go see the movie. If it does well this opening weekend, it'll open in more cities, spreading like a wonderful eye-plague across the nation.

I know, I know, "See a documentary? In the theaters? Isn't that what TV is for? Why am I paying for cable if not for the History Channel?"

Well, my unenlightened imaginary reader, I'm here to tell you, that Trumbo is one of the most satisfying documentaries you're likely ever to see. It is well-worth the price of admission. It does the things that every great documentary, and every great film, does: it enlightens, it challenges and it entertains while doing it. It takes you to a place you've probably never thought about before, with a cantankerous and charismatic character as your guide.

And it has stars in it! Bonafide stars, the kind who have papers to prove they are in fact famous. People like Liam Neeson, Paul Giamatti, Michael Douglas, Joan Allen and Nathan Lane. And more than that even.

If you're interested in American history, it's a must see. If you're interested in human drama, in depth and complexity of emotion, it's a must see. If you're interested in the English language, in the act of writing, in the history of film, it's must see. If you're interested in politics, in the epic narrative of the 20th century, in dangerous acts of rebellion, it's a must see. If you love the Constitution, Das Kapital, or even just Spartacus, it's a must see. If you love masturbation, it's a must see. If you love Donald Motherfucking Sutherland (and lord knows this blog does), it's a must see.

Hell, if you love Metallica's video "One," it's a must see. Those infamous clips in the video? Yeah, those are from a Trumbo film. See? This guy's all over the place.

Let me put it in Rick Lacy terms: Dalton Trumbo was the Han Solo of screenwriting. There, now go see the movie.

And if all that weren't enough, it was also produced by close friends of Labor Days, Will Battersby and Tory Tunnell. Indie producers extraordinaire and all around good people.

It opens the 27th of June. LA and New York. Buy tickets, go see it, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your neighbors. It's well worth it, I promise.

Taste our progress!

Here at Labor Days towers we're busy as bumble bees.

-Rick is honing in on inks for the final two chapters.

-I'm hacking, slashing and photoshopping my way through dialogue changes and balloon placements.

- We're both brainstorming exciting new promotions for the book.

For anyone joining us off the Newsarama link, welcome. Labor Days is a book coming out from Oni. Poke around the blog, look at some stuff and say hi if you feel like it, we love to interact.

If you want to know what the book is about, all I'm gonna say right now is that it's about you (that's right, you!) if something totally awesome happened to you.

For anyone else, if you want to read more of me running my mouth about that Indiana Jones guy, go here.

Rick's gonna jump on here and put some page samples for all you folks to look at.

CRACKOW! Here i am with arts! Just a few consecutive pages (pencils and inks) from chapter two and up top is one of my favorite pages from chapter one.

Behold My Many Words

So, I wrote an Indiana Jones comic book a few months back. It's coming out sometime soon-ish (when I know the exact date, I'll let everyone know).

And I did a fun interview about it with Sequential Tart which can be viewed here.

(Also, yes, that is an actual picture of me at work on my laptop.)

Ink'd

"Good for you."

Rough for the interior cover of Chapter Two of Labor Days Vol.1: Babes, Bullets and Booze.

Balls to the Wall.

In the original drafts of Labor Days, we delved into Stryker's past more than we should've (and it was totally my fault:/ ). This sword swinging vixen fell to the cutting room floor, and unless young Jeepers revives her in Vol 2: The Search for More Money, she'll remain only in the anals of the LD history.



Labor Days isn't about modern gun slingers and sexxxy ninjas. Its about a guy like you, if his life is turned upside down on its head. Everyone Bag's meets, though infinitesimally more interesting than he, is only incidental and reliant more on him then they think.

Until Death Do Us Part

Back from the NYC Comic Con and though Labor Days: Vol. 1, 16 Bit Adventure isn't any richer, it is closer to completion. PM Jeepers was away for most of the weekend at his sisters wedding (congratulations to Neal and Clara!) but we linked up our on board targeting systems for an attack run on the main exhaust port on that Sunday, where we met with Oni press marketing chthulu, Cory Casoni to discuss ways to advertise the best book you haven't read yet! Soooo keep yur eyes peeled by this summer for LD news to be popping up in the Earth-verse!

In the mean time, here are a few more pencils from chapter one. I'm nigh on complete with inking this chapter, so that'll be fun to see! Right?!

RIGHT!?


yeeeeaaaahhhh.

A Message from Ms. Arnheim

It would appear that I have slacken on my duties to supply supple blog posts concerning process and art of the book here-to-for known as Labor Days: Essays in the Fun-dane. So, Victoria here would like to post some rough penciled art.

Thanks Victoria!


Ok, um. Hi. My name's Victoria. I'm in the book that these guys are making for some guys. Um...anyway, I guess i should fill in the details here.

After Young Jeepers stresses and toils over draft after draft of scripts. Smoking and cursing and Gelabatoning, he hands it over to Rick with a grin and a wink. Then he reads through it at his earliest convenience, marking thumbnail layouts in the margin. Along with, I noticed, girl's names circled by hearts and pictures of himself driving trucks. Silly. When the day is done, he'll plot out every chapter in these nifty lil' 4x6 "sketchbooks."

So, after Rick has the whole chapter mapped out, he'll blow these up to the appropriate page ratio and begin to scribble out happy comic happenings. The first chapter he left rather rough, dontcha think? He claims he was still finding his flow with the comic-crafting and tends to figure things out in ink anyway. Blah blah blah, right? Apparently he doesn't mind leaving poses rough, or BG's just gone! However I noticed by the end of Vol. one he's begun to draw clearer. And crisper. So baby gets a treat. I guess its his urge to do things differently. Or his methods spontaneously changing or the knowledge now that a cleaner page is a happier page. Right? (he gabs about so much artsy bullcrap sometimes). So here are the first four rough pages of LB:V.1:Ch.1
click this to make it BIGGER!

Ta!
-V

Get in zee car, Mister Bagswell!

Volume 1/Chapter 2/Page 20/Panel 5

Warren.

Friend, confidant and beer supplier to ol' Benton Bagswell.



As Bags lives above Warrens bar, The Lions Paw, its no wonder these two mugs became fast friends. His roll in all of this, like Warren's own past, is quite remarkable.



And the following is what Phil has to say about him:


Labor Days' Warren takes his name from Warren Zevon and much of his back-story from many of Zevon's songs.

A lot of people were introduced to pop music via The Beatles or Elvis or some shit.

Not me.

For me, it was all about the headless ghost of a Norwegian mercenary, stalking the night with a Thompson gun. Or a certain excitable boy, digging up the body of his prom date and making a cage with her bones. Or a werewolf walking with the queen. For me, it was all about Warren Zevon.

Point being, when I started writing Labor Days, Warren was conceived as an elaborate reference to Zevon; as a kind of tip of the hat to one of my biggest influences. His dialogue was littered with allusions.

Well, it's years now since that first draft. The level of Zevon reference in the character has been diminished and his role in the script has undergone some pretty severe retooling.

And, of course, the actual Warren is dead now. Far before his time, if you ask me.

Labor Days' Warren is Bags' confidant, companion and bartender. He runs the Lion's Paw, the pub directly below Bags' flat. He's a large, jovial fellow.

Put a little booze in him and he'll tell you tales of lawyers, guns and money; stories of gunmen in the Congo hard at jungle work. He knows how to drink and he knows how to fight and he's hiding not just a few secrets.

Now I'm gonna go listen to some Warren Zevon. I'd recommend you do the same. It'll do us all some good.

LD01pg023_ink

So I'm still doing pencils for the first volume. Staggering the last three chapters together as I get ramped up to start inking(half the book is scanned so far, and as I keep promising, i'm going to post up a bunch of pencils soon). I've begun some inking, nonetheless, ahead of schedule just to get my head ready and try out some different brushes. I have a few done so far and I'm very pleased with the results. Here's page 23. The last page of chapter one of five.



This was all done with a Windsor & Newton number 2 brush. I used a micron 01 for the straight lines and white ink for the touch ups.