...Everyone Would Do It

I've previously mentioned on this blog that I am in the process of creating an original graphic novel with the intent to sell said graphic novel sometime this year. And, while the whole process has not been...easy...or...fun...by any stretch of the imagination, the past few days have proved to be especially...enlightening.

So, long story short, it looks like I may have lost my artist. And, since comics tend to have quite a bit of art in them, this falls under the category of Not A Good Thing. Now, the book's originally planned release date is early summer of this year, but with what's going on...well, honestly I have no idea when the book will be completed.

Which is pretty lousy, let me tell you.

Without going into too much detail about the project, I will say this. It has been a labor of love. Countless hours researching and writing the thing--and believe me, that was the fun part. I mean, researching is fine, especially when it's a topic in which I have some interest. And, for me at least, writing is just plain fun. But, countless hours were spent just getting the thing to where it is currently.

And that's completely glazing over the (many) times I had to grit my teeth and deal with publisher comments and editorial "suggestions," and there were certainly days (read: "weeks") where I just wished the whole thing would go away.

But, after quite some time (and after quite a few--ahem--arguments with editorial) the script was written, and the search for an artist began. Which was, as I soon learned, the very beginning of The Hard Part.

But, I found an incredibly talented artist, and when pages started coming in, I really just can't put into words how happy I was. And then, when pages...stopped...coming in, well I just didn't want to face the reality that the artist was going to have...issues...with deadlines.

As bad situations tend to do, this one got worse and worse until, finally, I needed to do something. So a call was made, then an email was sent, and a long Sunday afternoon discussion was had.

And, for this very moment at least, pretty much everything relating to this project is up in the air. Will we find someone else to draw the book? Will we meet some kind of satisfactory conclusion and the artist will come back on the project?

Who knows? Certainly not me.

But what I do know and what I realize now more than ever is that making comics is hard work. I mean, I knew that going in, and to be completely honest, I have pretty much called each and every bump in the road before they happened. And I dealt with each issue as they came, and for the most part, I think I won.

Well, at least, I was winning.

So stay tuned if you'd like, and maybe some things will become clear. I'll try to drop a few updates on the blog, and who knows? I might even place an ad for artists right here on the site.

But for now, the only thing bouncing around constantly in my head is a Tom Hanks quote from A League of Their Own, when he says of baseball, "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great."

So at least I've got that going for me.