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Doris Danger (vol. 1, Chpt. 2), page 007 – Commentary

WRITING “THE MARVEL WAY”

On December 2002, I wrote out the script for “Terror Lurks in Africa.” One five-page story in, and I’d already stopped trying to write “The Marvel Way” (Which I wrote about in detail on page 003 – Script.  I wrote out a full script straightaway for this one, which I will post on the following pages under “script”.

TABLOIA ISSUE NUMBERS

You’ll notice that the Africa splash says the story was originally from Tabloia #149, whereas the first issue Spluhh story is from Tabloia #136. I randomly picked these issue numbers and dates to insure they weren’t in sequence, weren’t chronological, and in fact the dates can’t match a calendar. I purposely made this story’s number LATER than the “first” story. And, along similar lines, you’ll see once the story begins that we have no idea how our characters got out of the previous cliffhanger or into this issue’s current dilemma.

JACK KIRBY’S EASTER ISLAND MONSTERS

The monster here is based on one of MANY Easter Island stories Kirby did. When I made this story, I had read THREE different Kirby Easter Island stories.  It turns out he’s done at least FIVE!


House of Mystery (DC, Apr 1959)


Tales to Astonish 5 (Atlas, 1959)


Tales to Astonish 16 (Atlas, 1961)

       
Tales of Suspense 28 (Apr 1962) / Super Powers v. 3 – 3 (Nov 1985)

And then let’s not forget that the aliens Thor fought in his first appearance (Journey into Mystery 83, Marvel 1962, below), looked like perhaps the sculptors on Easter Island had been visited by them for inspiration!

NOT ONE HEAD, BUT FIVE HEADS (OR THREE)

But I decided to make MY Easter Island monster a five-headed monster. Of course you only see a three-headed monster with five names. I was trying to suggest heads are on the side of him we can’t see as well. This was another excuse to include as many names as I could per story.

MIKE ALLRED SAID

Trying to get a pin-up of a giant monster from Mike Allred, which I could publish in my comics, I sent him copies of my first three Doris Danger stories, this one included. He wrote back that he liked the Easter Island monster.

Here is a photo of me with Mike, at San Diego Comic-Con 2009.

MY EASTER ISLAND MONSTER… IN AFRICA

Many people comment that this is an Easter Island monster. I tried to disguise that a “Kirby Easter Island Monster” was my inspiration, by giving it all those additional heads – and who knows what those Easter Island Head’s bodies look like underground, right? But even though those Easter Island monsters all only have one head each, people always still know my monster is “Easter Island.” Perhaps because of that, I like that for some reason this thing is in Africa. I commented on this in an upcoming letters page, where a disgruntled fan writes in how stupid we are, because Easter Island monsters are from Easter Island, not Africa.  I like the idea that Tabloia Weekly Magazine would just copy pictures of Easter Island statues and say, “These are an African Monster!” and even though everyone recognizes it’s not from Africa, kind of shrugging their shoulders at getting caught using source material they weren’t smart enough to get geographically right.

SAM KIETH AND KIRBY’S EASTER ISLAND MONSTERS

Sam Kieth and I had a phone conversation some time back, and we got talking about Kirby’s Easter Island monsters. Sam said he read one of those comics when he was a kid, and the story blew his mind, because the Easter Island head was sitting there, and then it popped up and revealed it was actually a whole body buried underground, and it crawled out, and there was a whole creature, shoulders, arms, body, legs, and all! Sam said, that had never occurred to him that the Easter Island heads could have bodies buried underneath them there, and that’s why he was so shocked by this ol’ Kirby story.

Here’s a photo of Sam and I taken in 2004, when we carpooled down to San Francisco’s APE Con with our friends Tim Foster and Mark Miller.  I was just getting ready to self-publish my first issue, and brought copies to show editors.  While there, Sam introduced me to Gary Groth at Fantagraphics.

THE ACTUAL EASTER ISLAND STATUES

In his book, “Easter Island: Mystery Solved” (1989) by explorer Thor Heyerdahl, Heyerdahl posted this picture of his excavations around 1955:

This thereby proves, in my opinion, that Kirby got it right!  These WEREN’T just statues of heads sitting on the hills!  They’re full statues with bodies, that had been buried over time by erosion!  (Thanks, Al Gordon and Glenn B. Fleming for tipping me off about this!)

SIGNED “WISNIA + AYERS”

I originally signed this issue between the monster’s legs, with the tribesman pointing in fear at the signature. I wrote “Wisnia +”. I sent the pages to Dick Ayers to ink, and when he returned them, he’d actually erased my signature (which I’d signed in ink!) from this place, and re-signed “Wisnia + Ayers” at the bottom left of the page, in the tribesman’s skirt! But I felt an important part of the composition was for that signature to be between the monster’s legs, with the tribesman pointing in fear at it! So when you look at this page here, you’re seeing an edit of an edit of the signature – all remarkably moved in … Photoshop!


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Website and Patreon additions

Hey, everybody,

I know I just wrote a blurb of hello a few days ago, but since I was a week behind posting my “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist,” I wanted to let you know I’m all caught up!

HERE is the most recent video  ($7 Patrons) from “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist”:  Normal People Work Eight Hours (approx. 3:35).   It’s a clip of me driving my kids to pre-school while describing my daily parenting and work schedule.  It will become public in a couple months.

I’ve also completed all the way up through the first Doris Danger adventure, (Spluhh, the Thing Who Burst From An Exploding Volcano) in my semi-interactive DORIS DANGER web-comic!  SO FAR, I’ve uploaded 52 pages of the comic and other bonus content – NOT including the master content lists and “about” links.  There’s even a Doris Danger cartoon trailer hidden in all these pages!  Each Patreon level has access to a little more, with Patrons at the $7 level having access to EVERYTHING THERE.  But even if you’re not a Patreon supporter at all, there’s a TON of material for you to enjoy.  I’d love for you to check it out and let me know whatcha think!

Thanks as always, for your kind, kind support!

Chris

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Getting closer, everybody!

[Originally posted 9/26/18 at Patreon.com/ChrisWisniaArts – but I realized it should be posted here as well!]

I wasn’t planning on doing a THIRD WEEK of apologies, everyone!  But here we are!  I have been neglectful of my duties to post ANYTHING this week, due to a few unforeseen circumstances.  As you know, I’ve been transferring everything from Patreon here, over to my website, Tabloia.com.  To complicate matters, a new company just bought my previous web host up and became my new web host and somehow in the transfer, I lost three months of all my hard work putting everything up at my website.  The issue was resolved in three days, which meant three days that I was unable to update or post everything, on the week I was officially set to stop posting at Patreon!  I’m still getting my email ironed out, but the website at least is back!

And in addition to all that, one of my best friends has given me an “in,” and I’m using it to submit some story pitches to a SECRET upcoming tv show that I’d LOVE to get involved in.  I’ll keep you posted on this as well.

So with all that said, I thought I would prove I HAVE been working really hard for you.  Here is a list of things I’ve been working frantically on the last few weeks (some of which I’ve announced in previous bulletins), through this Patreon, that you can now check out over at my website:

1. I just posted a brand new “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist” documentary video, interviewing Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, and later this week, I’ll be posting a video of my sons when they were around two and five years old. (They’re now 8 and 11.)

2. The new “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist” documentary MASTER LIST with links to ALL VIDEOS POSTED, including which ones are free for the public to view, and which is updated weekly to include each new weekly post as it releases, is HERE. (This list will be replacing the one I’ve been posting here at Patreon.)

3. A list of ALL features I’ve been making available at my website, with links to each one, is HERE.  (Again, everything is moving from here to THERE.)

4. I’ve posted a ton of Spider Twins entries, including some audio commentary on the creation of the project, MOST of my Dr. DeBunko comics, and MOST of The Lump comic series.

5. Most significantly, but also the most difficult and daunting to produce, is my current attempt at a semi-interactive Doris Danger comic, which I hope you’ll see is going to get more and more darn exciting, the more content I’m able to get thrown up there.  Unfortunately, this could be a slow process.  BUT EVEN SO, I hope you’ll give it a peek this week, to see where it’s headed.  I have maybe 39 posts of content right now, where you can see the published comics pages, the pre-edits,  pencils, scripts and brainstorms that led to them, and then I also talk in excruciatingly tedious detail about my process, making all this junk!  AND THEN I film myself in exotic locations, talking even MORE about making all this junk!

ALL the above content is available based on different Patreon levels that all of YOU KIND, KIND supporters have joined to encourage my hard work, and some of it is even free to everybody!  So your kindness is forwarded to all those non-Patreon people out in the world as well!  I hope regardless of your level of support, you will find plenty to enjoy at my website, and that it will help you want to keep supporting my artistic endeavors!  Thank you, THANK YOU, truly.

Sincerely,
Chris

Getting closer, everybody! Read More »

Sorry for some “posting delays”

[Originally posted 9/20/18 at Patreon.com/ChrisWisniaArts – but I realized it should be posted here as well!]

I’ve been spending a lot of time changing up my www.TABLOIA.com site, which will shortly be hosting the majority of all this Patreon stuff, including all my comics and videos.

For now, HERE are links to a bunch of the features I’ve been working on over there, much of which I haven’t yet posted here at Patreon, so hopefully some new, fun stuff for you to explore!

Thanks for your patience through this transition period, everybody, and for all your kind, kind support of my efforts.

Sincerely,
Chris

Sorry for some “posting delays” Read More »

Moving more Patreon stuff over to my website

[Originally posted 9/12/18 at Patreon.com/ChrisWisnia – but I realized it should be posted here as well!]

Thanks for your patience, everyone, as I continue moving things over to my website, TABLOIA.COM/BLOG.

I’m continuing to post a new “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist” documentary clip every week, here AND over there (for now), and THIS week, why don’t all you kind $1 supporters enjoy eight of Dr. DeBunko’s eleven published stories!  HERE’S the menu and links of all those stories! (A few of ’em are publicly posted!)

There’s plenty of other stuff up or in the works over there, if you care to just poke around at the website and check things out so far.  Feel free to let me know whatcha think about how it’s shaping up.  Thanks again, and I hope to officially announce some of those new features over there shortly.

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