The Gaping Maw of Horror: Paranormal Detectives
May 27th, 2009 | by LouMParanormal detectives, all Cthulhu-esque!
If you’re not familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, you are not acquainted with the father of 20th-century horror. I suggest you read up, as most if not all of his works are freely available. True, he does take some cheap outs, such as describing the Dread Cthulhu as “indescribable,” but frankly, how DOES one describe the sum of terror? I don’t have the answer, so instead our paranormal detectives Mary and Joelle will battle lesser star-born abominations in the twilight of the Edwardian era.
Hopefully, it will build their characters and allow me a bit of artistic leg-stretching. As always, feedback is welcome: Hit me with your best shot.
The Gaping Maw of Horror: Someone…
May 20th, 2009 | by LouMI really enjoyed the idea for this strip, but had to rush it today to remain on time. It’s frustrating when you have an idea you like but you can’t really exercise it fully.
The Gaping Maw of Horror: Mr. Fuzzybuns
May 17th, 2009 | by LouMThe terrible green couch is a product of their destitute living conditions and the wealth of hand-me-downs in a college town. It’s not all caviar and champagne as a grad student.
The Gaping Maw of Horror: Shock and Awe
May 13th, 2009 | by LouMTo stir things up a bit, I decided to focus on Mary and Joelle, roommates who are fighting their way through graduate school. The addition of the kitten will bring out their interactions (i.e. give them something to fight over).
I told myself I wouldn’t do any comics about the economic downturn; That everyone is already bummed enough, and I did not need to bring it up. However, once I came across this gem of a statement, I couldn’t resist. To all of you big-wigs out there, here’s some free advice: If you want to comfort your employees, let them know you have cash and revenue sources to cover their salaries for two years.
For the month of May, I will be posting twice-weekly: Once on Sunday night and once on Wednesday night. This change of schedule is necessary because I have lots of other projects I need to get finished. The strip, nothing more than a hobby, must be sacrificed. I don’t foresee a problem with getting two strips a week up, but things may happen and the schedule may need to extend in to June.
I really enjoyed this strip, though that’s probably due to the preponderance of pernicious puns.
The second panel takes some of my techniques and really throws them for a loop. I shaded everything in the foreground by my usual 15% opacity black shade layer, then erased the edges. I desaturated the background and then used a light filter (not a lens flare) to give the impression of a projector. To give a hint of…womanness…I added another 15% opacity shade layer to add an extra level of shading to Joelle.
Sorry for the late strip. In exchange, I have updated the process page from the archived site. It’s also available on the nav bar at the top of the page! Yay!






