It's finished! The comic! Really!

[astridv]

That is, not quite... this is not yet the final, polished version, quite obviously. But since I won't have time to do any polishing for the time, for now I'm posting it to LJ as it is. I'm also re-posting all the previous pages in this entry. Page- and file sizes vary wildly but they should all load reasonably fast.

Later, when I archive it, I will re-do parts of the lettering, fix a few details, and scan all the pages at the same resolution. But for now, here it is in all its six-page glory:

"Smile Time: The Comic" *
*(... until the day I come up with a real title.)
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Smile Time
Summary: "Angel wants to blow off steam. Things don't go quite as expected." Spike&Angel gen, because there can never be enough of that.
x-posted to ats_endofdays



Disclaimer: The artwork is mine, characters and universe aren't, no money is being made off this. Thanks to mousehounde for betaing, and to doyle_sb4 for looking over the script and for coming up with this awesome challenge in the first place. Much thanks to Sabine A. for a most productive brainstorming session.

Comments

[minim_calibre]

So perfect!

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thank you. *beams*
Is this your kid? So cute!

[abbylee]

Sorry for bothering you on your journal. I tried to send you an email via your website, but it didn't work. Here's the text

When you have a final version of your comic up, I'd love to link to it from http://www.whedonesque.com - a large community for Whedon related links. They have a semi-closed membership at the moment, and their policy does not allow members to link to their own work. So, if you don't already have a friend able to do it for you, please send me an email and I'll help spread the word. If you don't mind, I'd prefer a reply either way so that I know you got my email.

Thanks so much for posting this! Your comic absolutely made my day. I miss good Angel/Spike snark, and you've definitely captured the best of their personalities (and the best of their personality flaws). I've already recced it in my journal, but I figured it's best to wait until you feel it's finished before I go any other routes.

You can reply to me at abbylee (at) notanothersite (dot) com. Sorry. But thanks again :D

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Sorry for bothering you on your journal. I tried to send you an email via your website, but it didn't work. Here's the text

Are you kidding? That's never a bother.

I'd be absolutely thrilled to have my comic linked to from Whedonesque! I can let you know soon as the archived version is up. Might be as late as august though, so if you don't want to wait that long, I won't mind if this version is being linked to instead. Whichever suits you better; any pimp is good :)

Thank you for your feedback, and for reccing it over in your journal.

(Huh... btw, I just notice that you mail did get through. My mail provider apparently still likes to do that thing where it sends out error messages without reason...)

[euro-fics.livejournal.com]

OMG! Brilliant! Poor puppet-Angel's nose!
Do you think he'll mind if I call him adorable once more?

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Do you think he'll mind if I call him adorable once more?
How can you not. *cuddles puppet*

[jwaneeta.livejournal.com]

That is simply fantastic work, and once again, your colors slay me. I wish I had half your skill and control. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.

And the fact that you do your own lettering makes me cry. *g* You really are amazingly gifted.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

I wish I had half your skill and control.
Surely you jest?! I turn green with envy whenever I see your stuff. (Well no, actually it inspires me...)

Wow, I'm really glad this is done. One could say that it's insane to spend time on a fan project when there's a deadline looming in the distance, but bah. I needed this.

Lettering... is really, really easy. Takes just mindnumbing hours and hours of practice, but besides that there's not much to it. I rather enjoy it because you don't have to think. It's relaxing.

Unless you're lettering a 40 page Batman comic with too much text for too small balloons and weird translation errors. Then it's not so relaxing. ;)

[zyrya]

Gorgeous! I always wished there could be more Puppet Angel, and you've filled the gap beautifully. I love Angel as a sponge. Thank you :D

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It was a great subject. I was jumping up and down with glee when Doyle assigned this ep to me.

[eve11]

Found my way over here via a rec at the BBF mailing list and OMG, this was fabulous! great artwork and a great story! thanks so much for sharing it :)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

My pleasure :). I had a ball drawing this.

[jebbypal]

HIlarious!! Great job.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thank you kindly :)

[lordshiva.livejournal.com]

That's great! Adorable story. Beautiful art and layout. Man! this is awesome.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thanks. After devouring hundreds of fics over the years... it was pretty cool to finally create one myself.

[shepenwepet.livejournal.com]

Woo hoo! Here it is, in all it's glory!

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Seems like only yesterday I made the first scetches. Now, eight short months later... voilá, comic! Heh. :o)

[rahirah]

This is just wonderful! (hugs it and bears its kittens)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thanks. And I'm quite looking forward to more POM, by the way. (I'm saving all the chapters to read in one go when it's finished.)

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

This was just perfect, I loved it!

[spiralleds.livejournal.com]

I am awed and amazed. The skill, the humor! Your art is fabulous.

[cerisaye.livejournal.com]

Absolutely brilliant, Astrid. Made my evening. The drawings and characterisations are just perfect. A real labour of love. ;)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Hey! Good to see you're still around :)

wow!

[xionin.livejournal.com]

first of all, hello! ::waves::

second, holy hell that was brilliant. you're brilliant!
i'm friending you. :D

[herself_nyc]

This is just excellent!

[makd.livejournal.com]

posted comments over at the ats_endofdayscommunity. Love this, as you know.

Do you have any plans for an Angel sequel?

[astridv.livejournal.com]

plans for a sequel... (eek) not really. Not right now, anyway. But I do know I want to do something else now this is finished. Summer's out though, way too much to do. Then, mm... many possibilies.

incredible work!

[(Anonymous)]

Absolutely incredible work.
How many hours would you estimate you've put into this from start to finish?

Re: incredible work!

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Good question. Hm. Roughly, I calculate three days per page, at 10 hours a day. Plus a few additional hours for lettering and scanning and running to the copyshop, then a few more because everything always takes longer than you think. The script took the least time, three or four hours, all in all.

All in all *blinks* 200, give or take? Sounds realistic. (I have to add that I'm slow at drawing comics, at least when I want a good result.)

Well, back when I started christmas was still ways ahead.

[irfikos.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's amazing!

It's a wee little puppet comic!

Thanks.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Welcome :)

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

alliterator sent me over. That is just the most adorable PuppetAngel ever! It's wonderful. I love the snarkiness of the terrible twosome. Your comic rocks!

[serefina743.livejournal.com]

That was great! I love puppet!Angel, and I love comics, so this just made my evening.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_princess_sarah/]

This is awesome ! Kitten poker made me squee with joy.

[crackers4jenn.livejournal.com]

Heeee! That last frame is just perfect. Good job :D

[http://users.livejournal.com/_sharvie_/]

Found my way over from the Whedonesque site. Loved this so much! The artwork is amazing and the content was hysterical. Even in such a small time frame you were able to capture this story perfectly! And keep the boys in character. Thanks for making this...totally blew me away, so I just had to rec you over at the su_herald.

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the pimp!

Even in such a small time frame you were able to capture this story perfectly!

Originally I wanted to do only two pages, because it takes so darn long. But I gave up on that idea quicky - the story I wanted to tell just woulnd't fit, no matter how much I squeezed. Six pages turned out to be a fairly decent size to tell a short fic.

[highandrandom.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't mind me browsing over. Great work!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Followed a load of recs.

This is wonderful.

[(Anonymous)]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!