OilCan Drive Pre-Convention

The OilCan Drive Pile

 The sixteen week crazy schedule I gave myself to get all of the things I ever wished I had done for OilCan Drive is finally over! And, I have to say, I did pretty well. Some things had to be cut or pared down simply because I didn't have the time but, for the most part, I think I did really well.

Sixteen weeks ago, around the end of January, I knew I'd have a table at the second Denver Comic Con. At the time I was doing around a page a week of OilCan Drive and I had about twenty pages left to go to get the book done. With sixteen weeks left I knew I'd have to step it up and, for at least a few weeks, I'd have to complete multiple pages. That kind of made me nervous. But, once I accepted it, I went even further. I made a list of all the OilCan Drive things I wish I could bring to a comic book convention. It included not only the comic book but a CD of music, postcards, trading cards, banners, t-shirts, and stickers.

And then I wrote out a schedule to make all of those things possible.

The Pile, From Another Angle

I knew it would be a crazy schedule and might drive me nuts but, in the end, I thought giving up sixteen weeks of my life to complete a lot of the things I've always wished I'd done wasn't too bad at all. And, yes, it did make me crazy, but I got most of it done.

In the last blog post (almost two weeks ago now...sorry) I had finished mixing the OCD music album and had sent it off. I was exhausted but there was so much more to do. Not only did I have to completely finish the comic book in less than a week but I also had to finish some client work as well. I took Tuesday and Wednesday off and went and saw the new Star Trek movie. On Thursday I spent the day inking and scanning the client work and prepped it for color. All that was left now was the OCD book.

The Plastic Spoon Press Stamp

All the art on the book had been done and all the pages were scanned into the computer. More than half the book had been toned and ready for zip-a-tone patterns. I had about eleven pages left to tone which wasn't too bad. The problem was that I had only scripted and lettered the first three pages of the book. I still had twenty five pages with no dialogue and no lettering. And it was Friday night with the book needing to be done and ready for print by Monday morning.

I stayed up late Friday scripting and toning. I woke up Saturday and did more of the same, at least getting the script all written by dinner time and prepped before I went to bed. Both Friday and Saturday night I went to bed when I heard the birds outside waking up.

I Stamped a Ton of Bags.

 

Sunday was my last chance to get it all done and I wasn't going to fail. Not that close to the finish line. I woke up at 11am, ate come breakfast, and sat down to work at around noon. I had more lettering to complete and more than a few pages left to tone. I know I stopped for dinner around 8pm. The clock seemed to be moving so fast and I had no way of slowing it down. When all was said and done I put in an 18 hour work day on Sunday, stopping only to eat once, and finally called the book done and ready for print at 6am Monday morning. The birds and the sun put me to bed.

Five hours later I woke up, went and worked an eight hour shift, and then spent four more hours printing the book and getting it done. I got home around 2am.

But, it was done. The last and most important part of the OilCan Drive project, the actual comic book, was done. And it looked good.

OilCan Drive Comic Book #1

By Tuesday, everything I had hoped to achieve four months ago was finally done. All the postcards, trading cards, business cards, t-shirts, and banners I had ordered over the last month had shown up and looked great. By Thursday the CDs arrived. And the books were already in hand and ready to go. The only thing that didn't show up were the stickers I had ordered over six weeks ago. They were the first things I ordered and the last things to arrive. Even now I am waiting for the stickers to show up but I am hoping they come tomorrow. While they didn't get here in time for the convention I'm still hoping they look great.

"Breaking the Border" CD of Music

On Thursday night my good friend from college, Thom Zahler, showed up at my door and we took a drive down to Denver for a pre-show signing at one of Mile High Comics' large warehouse stores.

The work of getting all the OilCan Drive stuff done was over. But, the real work was only just beginning.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about how the actual convention went, complete with photos. For now, enjoy these photos of all the stuff I created. Sixteen weeks to realize a dream even though it almost drove me crazy? Yeah, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Have a great day!

Trading Cards and Postcards

Chocolate, anyone?

OCD and PSP T-Shits