I did not make a note of the date that I drew this image, however the other “first” Agent Anger image I made (Page 00a – Cover – Drafts) was done on 4/18/09. I don’t remember which I did first, although this one seems like a good candidate.
That said, however, a more likely bet is that this is the third image I ever drew of Ian Anger, with the second being a brainstorm sketch that I shared on The Global Agency of Protection – Drafts! ($7 Patrons). The reason I surmise this order is that in that sketch, Anger has a white bowtie, unbuttoned shirt revealing a cumberbun, and spats on his shoes. This below images’ more streamlined, less busy, blacker-and-whiter composition is the model for how he appears in the rest of the series. So regardless of order, this is the first “useable” full-body model for the character, and it wound up as the unequivocable first full-body publishable image.
I specifically remember having a really huge – maybe 3×4′ – heavy, wood-framed mirror, and putting it up precariously balanced and high – like leaned up crazily on top of my file cabinets – putting myself in potential physical danger under it, so that I could look at myself from more of a bird’s eye view to draw this. That might be a mis-remembered memory – it may have been a flimsy much smaller and lighter mirror. But it’s more full of suspense and spy-type excitement if it were the way I remember it.
I often draw Agent Anger while looking at myself in the mirror, in an attempt to get my anotomy a little better proportioned.
That said, I felt this image was still slightly mis-proportioned, and not dynamic enough. It’s subtle, but if you look at the published version, I made my left hand smaller, and spread the legs and arms a little wider, and put him at a slight angle with his body curved back compared to this one. It was all done in Photoshop, and not too much work since his suit is all black.
NOTE You may notice that my original Page 017 – Published composition includesVan Gogh self-portrait images, which were not drawn above as part of my original page composition. This idea to include them came later. The Van Gogh images were actually panels on page 19 – Published, drawn on 7/15/-8/5/09 (about three months later, as I worked my way through the story, up through to that page). I came back later to this splash image, and added them backward to this previous page – a literal flash-forward to the upcoming action, a teaser that the Van Gogh menace could be expected to appear later in this “novel.”. I felt this fit with the idea of this comic book being in the style of an action-packed, semi-retro novel of intrigue. )
In 2015, my best friend, Gerry Chow, began digitally coloring the comic for me. Here’s what he did for this page:
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