whilst various DFC strips are reportedly being made into books, plays, tv shows, hollywood movies (i may have made up that last one), *b&b* seems to be the unwanted runt of the pack.
i suppose it didn't really have a very long run before the comic folded, perhaps not enough to really get a good foothold.
however, having re-read what i've done so far, my enthusiasm for the project has been reinvigorated, and i'm determined not to leave it unfinished, dangling for eternity. so i have resumed work, on the script, to begin with -- i've decided to write the whole of the rest of the story before i do any more drawing, rather than continuing to make it up as i go along (which the DFC schedule rather demanded)
when finished, it will see print -- if random house (who at this point in time still share the copyright with me) do not wish to add it to their forthcoming *DFC library*, then after a given time the full copyright will revert to me and i will self-publish and/or seek another publisher for it.
our heroes can't be left dangling forever! (a detail from one of the last pages i drew before the demise of the DFC)
Great news! Can't wait to read more B+tB, in twhatever form it ends up being.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine Random House would pass up a brilliant strip like B&tB. The only trouble is, since book publishing follows Ent-like schedules, it might not appear until Christmas 2011! Still, we might not have to wait 2+ years because some DFC Library strips will also appear on iPhone.
ReplyDeleteI admire your discipline btw, Will, in writing the whole story through to the end. After the DFC folded, Leo and I decided to plug on with our strip anyway and I suppose I should have done it that way. But I'd got used to the week-by-week approach so we continued to block it out in 5-page episodes through to the end. (The experience left me with even more respect for Dickens, who often locked down a 120,000 novel 3 chapters at a time with only a page of scribbled notes to guide him!)
thanks a lot, chaps, you're most kind.
ReplyDeletexmas 2011? hmm, might have finished it by then...
dave, in many ways i like the making-it-up-as-you-go-along approach, and i think there's a lot to be said for it. it's somewhat akin to improvisation in the theatre. but you have to have a lot of faith that it's all going to turn out well in the end -- in a way my deciding to do the script first is probably more an act of cowardice than anything else.
The main thing I discovered was that I'm not Dickens. I thought that, having run role-playing sessions off the top of my head every week for decades, I might be pretty good at improv storytelling. But we were just coming up to the last 30 pages and I suddenly had a major brainstorm, chucked out everything I'd done and rewrote from scratch. And then I had a good few sleepless nights worrying that it might've been better the first time :-) Hence my favourite quote from Graham Greene: "A writer is one who knows the long despair of doing nothing well."
ReplyDeletehee hee -- i look forward to the dfc library edition of mirabilis!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear you're working on more Bodkin & Bear, Will. Look forward to seeing it wherever it appears in the future. Don't worry, you're not the only cadpig!
ReplyDeletethanks faz
ReplyDeletecadpig -- nice reference -- had to look him up though!
I always liked Bodkin and the Bear. It's not the only strip that Random House seemingly have no plans for, so don't feel too left out on that score!
ReplyDeleteI loved B&tB... would be very happy to see more.
ReplyDeleteaw thanks, guys -- it's always nice to hear that people were enjoying the strip.
ReplyDeleteas for r.h., well at the moment it's frankly unpublishable, because it's only half a story.
the ball's in my court, really, to finish it.
B&B is a tv show if ever I saw one :-) Start pitching it
ReplyDeleted'you think so, andrew?
ReplyDeleteheh -- pitching it? -- wouldn't have a clue where to start!
I agree with Andrew. First step is to team up with a production co (or start one, but you probably don't want to do that). Why not try sending a few pages over to King Rollo Films, for instance, and see what they say. Good luck!
ReplyDeletethanks for the input, dave. so it's as simple as that, just send a few pages over to a production company? that's handy to know.
ReplyDeletei'm not sure where things stand re the copyright, though, at the moment -- i might wait a while, carry on making the book, and see what random house do next.
but it's certainly something to bear in mind for the future.
Hi Will, great guns you're popular!! :)
ReplyDelete