Scott Koblish

SK8! Page Twenty-Six!

As our long national nightmare comes to a close, so too must the web presentation of SK8. Hatched during the Clinton Administration, the drawings began two full years before Clinton left office. Finished before the September 11th attacks, it saw publishing in 2003, as troops were establishing the occupying government in Iraq, around the time of the conception of my daughter Violet, who, in mere days will turn 5. Now it's been uploaded on the web in the last 180 hours of the Bush administration. I'm sure there are better ways of doing this. I'm not sure what my web traffic is, if it's where I think it is, in the low double digits, then as many of you have seen it as read the published work.

My favorite story of selling the book came at an in-store appearance in Santa Monica. I had written on the table that I would do a free sketch if a customer bought the book. A few people were nice enough to buy a copy, and at one point a little boy came up and looked like he'd want one. He picked it up, went to the cash register with his dad, who was buying a few other things. A warm moment, until the cash register clings and the kid goes "What? I thought it was free!"
The dad replies - "You wanted it, you gotta buy it - it's gonna cost you ten of your merit points."
The kid: "Noooo- No! I don't want it then, i thought it was free!"
The father "You're going to buy it - it's going to cost you!"
The kid "No! No! No!"
The father "LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU!"

So, the story part of it is over, and with less pain and agony associated with it for you than that poor kid. I'm knee deep in Wolverine: First Class madness and it's really become very enjoyable for me. As I finish each page, I look forward to the next one. All the layouts are done, so it's just full speed ahead on the last batch of pages. When I first started SK8, it took me a long long time to get each page done, as Matt will attest, but I was always doing the work on the book between the raindrops, now the work of drawing a monthly book is the raindrops and I find that it's ok.

There will be more to post over the next few days - the covers to issue 2 and 3, the original ending, some layouts, some character sketches of SK8 in a different style. Plenty more to go.

Matt sez:
"This project teaches a valuable lesson for creators; writers, artists, musicians, or just anyone who dreams of making something from nothing. Look at the time Scott and I spent on SK8; think about the countless hours of thought, research, and sweat; consider the passion, commitment, and hope we eagerly put into every page; now come to this one, inescapable, maudlin, conclusion—it’s just as hard to make a flop as it is to make a hit. The guy who finished dead last at the Olympics trained just as hard as the gold medalist. In the end, your Muse may lead you to orgasmic triumph or the bitch may just fuck you over. As for me, I’m not sad at all. Skate is my child. Like all of my children he makes me smile. I hope after seeing him you did, too."

posted by Scott Koblish @ 9:35 PM