drawn bad blog

Thanks (pgs 143-147)

2009-11-26T05:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Five pages today, to let you know how thankful I am to have your eyes on my scribbles. It's the reason I'm still doing this strange, strange project.

Also, you'll want to check out the store after this update. There's a new shirt you might find interesting.

This is Just a Tribute (pgs 141-142)

2009-10-29T03:52:00.003-05:00

Hi, everybody. Two pages today. db continues. Oh, and...Happy Halloween.

Mr. Stewart, I presume. (pgs 135-140)

2009-10-15T00:21:00.002-05:00

Hello, drawnbadians. I have returned. And I'll try to stick around for a while this time. I've been doing some serious soul-searching about whether or not to continue this project, about whether it is a burden on my writing career. But I came to the conclusion that I want you guys to witness this messed up story, probably more than you do. So no more three month delays (until the baby or the novel; then we'll just have to see). I'll try to update 3-6 pages every two weeks, with a little Bros thrown in for good measure. Let's move a little further down the line, shall we? Far from Folsom Prison.

Six pages today. Let's jump back in with Alex and see how things are going for him in Part 3. And as always, eyes open.

Boot Camp

2009-08-11T15:45:00.005-05:00

Hey, everybody. I'm back from Uncle Orson's Literary Boot Camp. Sadly, this means more delays for db while I outline my first novel. Please know, I haven't abandoned this story. I just have to focus on my writing career for a little while. I'll get more pages up as soon as I am able.

If you want to make sure I'm not dead, check out the writing blog.

See you soon.

Delays, Delays

2009-07-31T15:22:00.003-05:00

More slowness for db as I try to do some other things. Read all about it here to keep up with my epic struggles.

Pigs Fly (pgs 127-134)

2009-06-19T03:52:00.004-05:00

You're never going to believe this:

New db.

Turbulence (Biting Flies test pgs 1-8)

2009-05-21T18:49:00.004-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

We appear to be experiencing some turbulence. Our journey has been delayed, but rest assured, we will arrive safely at our destination.

In the meantime, please enjoy the in-flight movie.

"Biting Flies: Of Laserdisc, Rocksalt, and Doing Things the Hard Way" is a test story written by yours truly, and masterfully executed by my dear brother, Tim Stewart. Please enjoy, and drop a comment on the blog if you like it. Or if you don't. Just comment.

More db to come, friends. I am truly sorry for the delay. I hope you enjoy "Biting Flies" in the meantime.

Also, if you have any interest in how I write for comics, you can view the script for these pages here as a pdf.

Yo.

2009-05-08T05:15:00.003-05:00

Not dead. Update in the next couple weeks.

The Big Moment (pgs 115-126)

2009-03-12T05:38:00.002-05:00

I just drew for seven hours. Drained. Exhausted. Pleased.

Part 2 is finished, praise be to God. I never thought it would end. I put up a sign on the site saying that I would have it done Monday, but I got rollin' and didn't want to stop. I'm kind of all or nothing, I guess.

Enjoy. This is the revelation. It will be explained a lot more in part IV, of course, when we come back to Malcomb. Part 3 will be all about what Alex has been up to all this time. I hope you're as excited as I am to see what db has in store for us.

Anyway, enjoy the pages. They were labored over with love. :)

This Part Will Ne'er End

2009-01-26T14:34:00.002-06:00

Hey. I just wanted to drop a note to let you guys know I haven't forgotten about db. I've been spending most of my free time working on submitting short stories for publication and I haven't gotten to update yet. And it may be another couple of weeks. I am honestly sorry for how long this final scene of Part 2 has taken me. Hang in there.

And I have to pass this along. If you have XboxLive Arcade, this game is a must have. Seriously.

Murray X-Men (db pgs 112-114)

2009-01-06T19:50:00.002-06:00

Hope everybody had a good holiday. Just one update left in part 2. See you soon.

Trust me. You want to read this.

2008-12-11T03:22:00.016-06:00

I just had the strangest dream and I thought I'd share it with you guys. Tell me if this isn't Malcomb quality.

In the dream, I was a teenage asian girl with short black hair and round glasses. I had been hanging out with some friends, some of whom are real people I actually know; others were just made up. Anyway, in the dream I was tired and went upstairs to my bed (which was next to this really big window with flowing curtains. Even through the curtains, the streetlight outside was so bright I had to turn away and face the wall.)

Once I was asleep, I found myself dreaming (inside the dream). I found myself in an old apartment building with really dark green, almost military green walls. Peeling wallpaper. Maroon carpet. Dark wood doors with tarnished brass knobs. In the dream (within the dream), I had this double-barreled marble gun that would really sling marbles if you laid on the trigger. I walked down the hallway for a while until I found a door standing open.

I stepped inside the open apartment. It was small, decorated in the same claustrophobically dark colors. Outside the windows it was dark, and somehow I knew (from the quiet probably) that everyone was sleeping. There were little gadgets everywhere, on the table, the couch. The floor was covered with bits of old lettuce and carrots and, strangely enough, rabbit droppings. In the living room there was a big screen TV, but the screen was reflective like a mirror. The girl I thought I was in the dream (a girl with more than a little spunk) knew she was dreaming, so she pulled the trigger and shattered the front of the TV in half a dozen places. It broke just like glass, but held together like a windshield.

About that time, a little girl (also asian) walked into the living room from one of the back rooms. She was dressed in incredibly strange clothes. Almost like an eighties exercise outfit complete with a side ponytail, layers of loose neon clothing, leggings, and those rolly-polly socks.

Now this is where it gets weird: The dream (within the dream) seemed to solidify, somehow. The asian girl (me) was beginning to doubt that she was dreaming. Now she became embarrassed and a little afraid standing in front of the busted up TV with a double-barreled marble gun. The little girl (the one in the eighties garb) walked up to "me" and said something cross like, "What did you do to the TV?" It was cute in that grumpy little girl kind of way.

I was trying to explain what I was doing, praying that the dream would just dissolve and I would wake up in my bed (next to the big window with the bright streetlight), when her older sister (also fairly young) walked up beside the little girl. Fantastic, I thought. So I kept trying to explain when their father walked in from the basement. (They had a basement suddenly.)

At this point, I was COMPLETELY certain I was not dreaming. I was just a confused teenage girl who had just trespassed and shot up somebody's mirror/TV. There was not a single part of me that remembered my bed (next to the big window). And there was certainly not as scrap of thought that remembered Steve Stewart lying in bed next to his wife, with a fan blowing in his face.

Anyway, the father (also asian...japanese, I had decided by this point) was staring at me sternly. He looked like an inventor. He had the obligatory "funky goggles" up across his forehead and the standard greasy overalls. We spoke for a little while; I won't pretend to remembered each thing we said, but the jist of it was this:

He was angry about the TV, but understood that I had thought I was dreaming, and that I was not from his "dimension" so he said he would put me to work until I "woke up." I went downstairs and fell asleep in the dream (within a dream.)

When I woke up (in the dream within a dream) I went upstairs to find they were cooking breakfast. The asian inventor and his two girls were eating eggs and bacon at the table, but all around the house were rabbits eating veggies. There were normal rabbits, giant normal rabbits, humans with rabbit heads wearing over-alls and goggles, vaguely humanoid rabbits (like were-rabbits) that were human in size but still very rabbit-like. I have a very clear image of one of these last kind lounging in a chair and watching a small TV set up against the opposite wall (presumably because I broke the big TV).

But seriously, if you can imagine a gradient ranging from normal rabbit to human, every last step on the way was chilling out in this apartment, eating breakfast. I was realizing, with some amazement, that they all worked for the inventor guy. I found myself wondering what the big project was.

AND THEN I FREAKIN' WOKE UP.

I leaned over and I had just gotten a text from my brother Paul, telling me that I had 40 new members to the db facebook group. That was good, at least. I tried to wake up Lynna to tell her my dream, but she was, as they say, OUT. I want to make it clear that I have not fabricated or "photoshopped" this dream in anyway. It is as complete and untampered-with as I can make it.

So there you go. If there is one thing I want you to take from this, it is this:

No. Not that I'm crazy. It is this:

Don't eat McDonald's cookies before bed. (Peace. More db to come.)

*edit*

I got up to get some food after writing this and I saw a roll of toilet paper sitting on my printer, and I remembered the thing that had been really freaky about the whole thing. When I woke up, I already had that feeling like I was out of place in the world, like the dream had been more real than I felt comfortable with. So what happened next made me feel that much more strange, even scared.

You know how in movies when somebody does something extraordinary, the movie-makers always try to show the viewers what a strain it was on that person by giving them a headache/making them pass out/giving them a bloody nose/etc?

So I wake up from the dream, try explaining it to Lynna, walk into the bathroom to pee and I realize I'm all congested. I pull some toilet paper off the roll and blow BLOOD all over the toilet paper. That has a way of putting a little mortar between the bricks of the dream, you know what I mean?

In reality, I realize I'm just in love with stories and, as a result, I see them everywhere. But it was fun, for that moment, to sort of BELIEVE that I was wrapped up in something extraordinary. Reminds me of a poem I read when I was a kid:

Sandra's seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins' gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known,
I've had to make myself.

Sad, but true. Have a fine day, friends.

The Usual (db pgs 109-111)

2008-12-09T22:40:00.001-06:00

There ya go, everybody.

Green Leaves! (db pages 106-108)

2008-11-21T16:29:00.000-06:00

Yatta! I am update!

Did I say a week? (bros pgs 11-12)

2008-11-18T05:10:00.002-06:00

I think I'm going to retitle this blog, "DRAWN BAD...excuses for late updates." Might make a good album name too, all you music people. Anyway, the new update is being drawn, it's just taking me a small freaking eternity because...well, I'm busy and lazy is what it boils down to, and that's a poopy combination for creative projects like ol' db. But I'm working on it. That's something.

Here's some silliness until the update is ready.

Heh heh. nervous glance

2008-11-07T23:31:00.002-06:00

I'm about to drop kick myself in the sack for not getting updates done quicker. It's like the more excited I am about the story, the slower I update. Sorry guys. I've been doing other things and let myself get distracted. I'll have an update for you within the week.

Declaration of Continuance (db pgs 103-105)

2008-10-22T13:36:00.000-05:00

Okay, friends. Steve needs to talk to ya. Gather round. Grab some cookies and punch. No hitting, come on.

I'm really excited about the story, but I'm having a mid-project crisis. In august, I had been doing drawn bad for a year. Now it's almost November. A year and quarter. That's a long time to keep your (or at least my) brain focused on one thing. If the comic was more difficult to do, I might have stopped a long time ago. I've stopped better projects than this because they were hard.

Commitment is weird. I didn't mean to commit to tell Malcomb's story, and I certainly didn't expect it to be this LONG. But here I am. If you or anyone are ever going to understand Malcomb Keyes and his "issues," then I have to put lead to paper. Them's the facts.

Well, it is hard. My life is busy and full. I've got a little girl and a wife and a job and a college degree that needs earning. But I am willing, reader. It is hard, but I will press on! (trumpets)

I think I needed to make some kind of declaration, to renew my commitment. Well, I think I just did. Weekly updates? We'll have to see. But more frequent updates? Planning on it.

Eyes open, stranger.

About the Author

2008-09-27T10:51:00.002-05:00

A little aside here. Wanted to share this post I made with you guys. It covers a lot of my past history with comics. You can read it here. Enjoy, and feel free to post if you feel like it. :)

100 Pages (db pgs 100-102 / bros pg 10)

2008-09-25T21:32:00.000-05:00

100 pages, everybody. I honestly never thought I'd keep this going for so long. I'm glad a few people have managed to dig into the story and enjoy it. I do this for you guys. And for pure masochistic joy of the thing.

Storywise, this scene I'm in the middle of is long and I'm going to have to chop it up, otherwise I won't be able to update until like November. It will come a piece at a time, and I'll be as considerate as possible with what I put up and when.

A quick thank you to everybody who's been so awesome, giving me feedback, encouraging me. My brother Paul is db fan #1 and without his continuous NAGGING I would never have seen this through the tough times. My wife Lynna, for actually believing that sitting down to do this is important, and for supporting her 24 year-old boy of a husband in his creative stuff. To Jacob, who helped me originally put up the db website. It's still standing, man. Who'da thunk it! And (this is for real) to EVERYBODY who believes that you don't need CMYK and a rockin' tablet to tell a good story, everybody who believes that paper and pencil can be a world of its own.

(You'd think I just won an Oscar or some crap.)

Take it easy, ya'll. Congratulations and cake are welcome.

New bros. More bros and db to come soon. 'Til then.

"Doc, help me get badder." (db pgs 93-99 / bros pg 9)

2008-09-11T09:05:00.002-05:00

SWEET CRAP. Here's an update. JUDAS PRIEST.

It's seven pages, not eight. Miscounted. (It's early, and for some reason I just thought of something incredibly stupid. "Miscount Dracula." You can assemble that character in your head however you want to. Me? I'm too tired to do anything else with it.)

I could give you a dozen excuses why the update is late. If you want them so badly, email me. I'll whine to your heart's content. However, if you'd rather just read the update and forgive and forget, that's cool too.

Also, those of you who remember the guest art I posted during that whole "having a baby" thing, you may remember this. Props to Stef (aka Ace Plughead). You called it.

A little Bros love too. More of that to come.

'Til then, Stranger.

Excuses, excuses.

2008-08-29T05:10:00.001-05:00

I'm workin' on it, ya'll. db will be back after these brief (but frequent) hiccups in my life's rhythm... with an 8-page update! YAY!

More Bros to come too.

'Til then.

The Unveiling (bros pgs 1-4)

2008-08-07T20:04:00.005-05:00

It's difficult to be depressing all the time, even for me. So I've added a little something extra to the db site to keep you entertained. It's called bros, a humorous, four panel webcomic about two guys locked in a perpetual state of celebration. Give it a look, and we'll be seeing you around.

More db and bros to come.

Hiating Every Minute (pgs 89-92)

2008-08-06T20:15:00.004-05:00

I'm back. Move went nicely. How have you been?

Oh, if you want to read some stuff I wrote about the process of creating db, you can check it out here.

Movin' On Up

2008-07-07T03:03:00.002-05:00

db will be on hiatus until sometime in August. I am in the midst of a move. It's a big transition in a lot of ways, and I'll have to put my little story on hold for a bit. I hope to see you back in August. Have a good July.

In Between-Type Stuff (pgs 86-88)

2008-06-22T03:08:00.002-05:00

Updates are becoming infrequent. We're preparing to move, the story is getting to the point that I'm starting to get anal about it, and another reason too. In addition. Make something up for me.

This update isn't long on pizazz, but it's one of those important moments that just has to be in there. It sets up the big car chase to follow! Ha, ha! I can't even count the number of pencils I ate through drawing all those bloody explosions and clouds of black smoke!

*ahem*

Seriously, though. We're kinda in the in-between stuff. Things'll go bat-shite soon. Me promises.

I'll try to keep slinging pages at you when I can make time. Until we get settled in our new place, things won't be real stable, but I'll do my best. I'm going to a wedding in Cali (I'm too cool to say the whole thing) next weekend, so that should be sweet. I'm singing Ben Folds' "The Luckiest." I haven't practiced yet. We'll see what happens.

Oh, and sometime in the near future, some wonderous how, I'm going to get some new shirt designs up. So we'll all look forward to that.