Friday, May 17, 2013

Tom and Bob Don't Like William Shatner







***

I'm constantly horrified yet endlessly fascinated by stories of the J'ba Fofi, or giant spiders.  The giant spider in Texas turned out to be a hoax...or so we hope!  

 The most rewarding thing about doing something like a comic is watching it come alive. In some ways, I feel less like a writer and more like an observer, just chronicling my characters' adventures. The first comic, like most serial writing projects, establishes the characters, who they are and how they act, to some degree. But as you do more, you begin to get a feel for how these characters think and act and react to situations. 


While I had a basic idea down for Tom and Bob, I didn't have any real clue as to how their individual personalities would play out. They both started kind of on the same level, same motivations, same outlook. But it was here, even as early as the second episode, that I began to get a true feel for how Tom and Bob are as individuals; how they interact with one another, their offbeat friendship, their hobbies, and their predilections. It was an exciting moment for me, because I recognized this transformation as I wrote it...nay, observed it! 


Tom and Bob turned the corner from a somewhat amusing concept to a fully realized characterization; from amusing gag to quirky observational humor. Even their names were chosen specifically, because I thought it would be funny that such outlandish characters had very mundane names. I've carried on that tradition with all the characters in this comic; all their names are mundane and unassuming, which makes it even funnier to me that they're spiders! Spiders talking about decidedly non-spidery things like making movies with William Shatner.

Enjoy. And as always, sweet dreams.

Carlos Diaz
May 17th, 2013


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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Pilot




***

Welcome to the world of Tom and Bob, a world of drunk spiders making bad decisions!  This world was created about a year ago.  Where I work, my friends and I utilize company email to discuss important things like pop culture, shopping, gardening and the like.  One of my coworkers emailed how she just loved the idea of having a lush, English cottage garden in her back yard.  I was pretty sure that spidery denizens have the above conversation in every garden, especially when I'm around.  

Because spiders are alcoholic jerks.

I don't like spiders.  There, I said it.  I've pretty much had crippling arachnophobia since I was like five years old.  Spiders are creepy looking, prickly and a few are very dangerous.  But I was determined to see the comedic aspect of this through!  I spent way too much time in Google Image search looking at hundreds of pictures of spiders, trying to find two pictures of very different looking spiders that looked sufficiently "spidery" without being completely repulsive.  

It was not an easy task.

Despite the nightmares, shakes, and flop sweat from looking at hundreds of photos of spiders, I found the perfect pictures, and set forth to prove to everyone that even in idyllic gardens, spiders plot and plan our downfall.  And thus, Tom and Bob were born.

This is the first Tom and Bob comic I ever created and emailed to all my friends at work.  From there, Tom and Bob made weekly or so appearances, sometimes more, to sound off on current events, aggravating work issues, or just to make people laugh.  And in the fullness of time, I noticed something had changed in me.  I was not as arachnophobic as I once was!  Oh, I still am, just not as much.  I am now able to see spiders, well, little ones, and not have my heart stop!  

This is the nerdy part of the description where I put the minds of my more font-minded friends at ease.  I just want to put it on the record that the font used in Tom and Bob is not Comic Sans!!  I used a font called Segoe, which is an organic, flowing font that looks more natural and conversational...you know, for when drunk spiders want to say stuff to each other.

But most importantly, I found a way to comment on society, poke light fun at my friends, rage against "the man", and generally be creative and happy.  This is their world; welcome to it!  Don't forget the drinks...and a can of bug spray...there's something skittering in garden...

Sweet dreams.

Carlos A. Diaz
May 14th, 2013



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