Yet Another Web Comic (YAWC)

There`s a lot to say for this one. First the title, Atlas Shrugged, merely refers to the use of the word “shoulder” in the comic. It in no way refers to the particular piece of claptrap written by one Ayn Rand, though I could make some kind of remote connection as to the selfishness of the truck driver seizing the road from the more deserving “men (and women) of the mind”, or in this metaphor, our main characters who hold up the world that is the strip. Actually, that`s not half bad…

But I (often) digress. I again focused on the cars to improve my drawing, and as usual made extensive use of Google image search. The car is of no particular make or model, it`s just one of a million mass-produced, uninspired four door sedans that litter our roads. I used a different angle in every panel to force myself to pay attention to the different body details that are apparent and to proportion. I think it`s much improved over my previous work.

Also, I expanded my usual nature drawing. I`m trying to get into rocks, bare earth, and that`s real tough. I added the winding mountain road in the last panel as a technical challenge, and since I have several strips worth penciled already, I can tell you that it helped really improve an upcoming strip. I think you`ll really be pleased. Part of the issue is bare earth, and part is again that nasty perspective, and how differently things look as they get further away.

I also have gotten into the details of the “how”s as well. The roadway was, in parts, blown out of the side of the mountain. The curve in the last panel is one of those parts, and if you were to extend the portion below the road upwards it would eventually come to rest near the word bubbles with the edge of the mountain that still exists today. Just goes to show what can be accomplished with the proper use of explosives. Of course, there`s no way anyone would know that from looking at the strip. I decided it halfway through the rough penciling, went back and made some changes, and the strip looked much better for it. Attention to detail is important, which is difficult to convey in a comic strip which is (at least the past thirty years or so) almost simplistic in nature. Though the detail itself isn`t conveyed, it makes an almost palpable difference in the end product, where something can almost be grasped that was once flat and disconnected.

I wrote the dialog first, and thought it was funny, but the illustration insisted that I attempt to make it the star. I hope that doesn`t rob from the joke. Also, I`d like to point out that it wasn`t intended to be an examination of the attitude of entitlement…But what would happen if the main characters went on strike? Perhaps there`s more Rand in here than I give credit.