Things the Eye Has Seen - A Retrospective - Part 1

Hello, folks. I've decided to start posting selections from my very first comic/zine, titled Things the Eye Has Seen (TEHS), and offer some creator commentary on each part for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy the work and will share it with your fellow comic fans. 

This book was the product of many long and late nights hunched over a drawing board which I had propped up on my kitchen table. Work on the book began right after I arrived home from my real job. I'd sit up from around 10pm to 4 or 5am, listening to some of my favourite bands or the classic NBC Radio program X-Minus One or The Nerdist Podcast, and drawing away. Eventually I completed the project, just in time to debut it at the December 3, 2011 Grand Rapids Toy and Comic Expo in Grand Rapids, MI.

First, I've decided to post the cover to the book. I took the time to colour it for this blog posting so that I could spare you the black and white version the buyers of the printed copy were forced to behold. I received many comments from friends, family, and visitors to my expo table directing me to colour it. Well, here it is. Coloured and pretty.

It's a strange scene I wanted to change and explore on each cover following this one, for I had planned to regularly publish new issues of TEHS. My desire changed shortly after that holiday season so TEHS was left at one issue. The doctor delivering the comics from the shocked mother got quite a reaction from the disturbed-looking passers-by who were present at the expo. Some fellow talking to my neighbour at the show about Tijuana Bibles commented on my work before introducing himself to me by stating, "This guy could do dirty!" He was a connoisseur of porn comics, apparently. Strange.

A bit shocking, I suppose

The next couple of pages for this posting are the two from the book's first story titled "Transcriber." I had a recurring dream about a city that was both familiar and wildly different than any city I'd ever encountered. It had pyramids and fantastical buildings with dozens of doors and stoops which led to tiny, magical rooms. I felt that I had to express my fascination with it somehow. The idea of a being living inside a dream which felt like it took place in a shared dream world which might have existed for aeons, representing every type of domicile or structure in our species' history and then some, seemed like a sufficiently deep idea to lead in to what was supposed to be a light, humorous comic. I don't know how this went over with most people, but here is "Transcriber." Try and enjoy? 

I used a straight edge like a fool. Also, my hand-lettering was horrific so I decided to use computer lettering. My apologies.

The speech bubble in the last panel was screwed up by my use of a template and my inability to properly use GIMP (though, since this time I've improved tremendously). Again, my apologies.

This is the first part of the retrospective. Over the coming days or weeks (depending on when I can work on this) I plan to release stories from the book and discuss their inception and creation. Please come back for the next instalment. Thank you for reading this and for your support.