No love for Bear & Octopus

click to enlarge

This was my recent submission for the City Paper's Comics Issue here in Philadelphia, but sadly, it didn't make the cut for the issue. I have some serious questions about their selection process, but in reality, I'm just another obscure dude making comics, so I doubt the editors are losing sleep about my opinions.

There's a political tone to this comic, though I think it's more about political rhetoric than it is about party/partisan politics. I think one success was the dynamic between Bear and Octopus. In their previous adventure, they had the same personality essentially, and acted in unison when needed. Here, Octopus is developing more of a surly attitude, which clashes with Bear's naive, blindly optimistic attitude.

I have one more comic in mind for these two, but after that I may shelve these two for a bit. Their fun to work with, but I don't think they're ready for public consumption.

Sherlock

A simple character sketch of the new Sherlock Holmes, from the BBC's recent Sherlock series.

Before the Holiday Storm

Cluttered Desk, Cluttered Mind

Evidence Control

Penny for your Records?

A Bear and Octopus Rejection

So, it's Election Day, and I'm kind of in a crappy mood, so it's probably not the best time to post and write about a rejected comic. I submitted the above comic for the next issue of Secret Prison.

In all honesty, though, I don't think the rejection was a bad thing. I was never really into this comic, and I think it kind of shows. It features characters that I've never worked with before, and I have no f@*king idea what to do with them. And really, the last thing I need right now is another set of characters to occupy my time.

I was going to use Bear and Octopus in a comic submission for the City Paper here in Philly, but the more I work on that comic, the more I hate it and the complete premise of the two characters. If I don't feel it in my gut, there's probably a reason why.

The deadline is November 15, and I have no other ideas for it, so I'm probably just going to skip it. Yeah, sure, it would probably be good to 'network' and get 'exposure.' But I highly doubt a crappy, ill-conceived comic in an alternative newsweekly is going to blow the lid off of what little career I have.

Man, I'm in a mood.