A Letter from the Illustrator-in-Chief

This is a terrific illustration, if I do say so myself. It's one of my favorites from the past year. I got the idea while out harvesting San Pedro cactus in the Bolivian country side (true story) and it didn't gestate for long before I got it down on the page.  It felt like a success when I finished it and it still does. 

It has some really great structural elements, like the meandering eye line of the first page and all of the visual clutter. I wanted to evoke in the reader the experience of being distracted, preoccupied, and disorganized. I did that on purpose, and when I saw that it worked- I was stoked.

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I also feel like I succeeded on the second page of expressing the holy moment of creation which occurs when you unpack a great idea for the first time. The thought-bubble cut aways from the first page reveal the second page (in a gimmick that made me happy as a fan of hokey 90's variant covers) and baits the reader with a promise that a more colorful and euphoric image awaits. In that way, the physical act of flipping the page engages the reader in a relationship which pays off, and that recreates an emotional experience for the reader which the character is having. 

That is why this piece is a very good illustration; the illustrated medium is both well crafted and crucial to the story.

However, as you're looking at this piece now, it is not a traditional, physical, static comic, but a transmedia comic-- or more accurately: an illustrated element in a transmedia piece. The flip is replaced with a click (or some other fancy intuitive maneuver) and the reveal is made even more satisfying by the visual dissolve effect. We found a similar device in the climbing scene from the first installment of the Adventures of Igor Sprinkles. Look for more of these elements in this months featured content. 

Speaking of which- Welcome to CheckThisOutBabe issue 2: The Great Zebronkey Caper. We were thrilled with the launch and reception of issue 1, and now we're producing more content and eager to share it. Today (Friday, February 27th) we're surging out 4 awesome new pieces to jump start the issue, then new content will continue to arrive throughout March in the featured content carousel. This month, you'll be seeing follow up pieces on Igor Sprinkles and the Push Hard Inn, as well as new serialized content.

In CTOB2:TGZC, we are still exploring the transmedia format and trying to create content that compels the reader to participate in the story. Moreover, we are trying to create content in which the transmedia format is in someway crucial to the story and the viewership experience. 

We're also turning more of our attention to storytelling, as this is a core passion for both Maria and me. My Aquaman piece is a  transmedia comic, as it utilizes the relationship between words and pictures as well as the digital viewership experience to reveal the story. It's also rad. You can look forward to more big, jazzy pieces like this in the Featured Content Carousel, all of which will utilize a combination of words, pictures, video, and emerging media to tell stories. 

You'll also find smaller pieces in the Blog Feed below the Carousel. This is where we are playing with transmedia in micro-blogging, and also where we go to talk about and share all sorts of cool stuff we stumble upon.

So enjoy all of the new content as it surges into the featured content carousel at the top of the page, and keep watching the blog feed below it for daily transmedia micro-blogging. I hope you love it.

Bo McGee,

Illustrator-in-Chief.

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We've launched the CTOB store through RedBubble.com. Most of the illustrations you see on the site are available for purchase as prints, tee-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and even leggings. 

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