Making of "The Mephistopheles Saga"

Sorry for my horrible trick on Monday! I love a good April Fools prank, but it's getting harder and harder to think up something new every year! I was actually getting worried I wouldn't be able to, but then on my walk with Captain it hit me! Post the middle of a comic without the beginning or the end! It would be like walking into a movie halfway in and having absolutely no clue what's going on!

I wanted something dramatic and series altering to be happening. My first thought was that one of the family had died, but I didn't want to upset anyone, so I msged my friends. We had a fun time bouncing ideas around; apocalypse, divorce, human invasion! Eventually Zach (Last Place Comics) said "they could be getting chased by massive realistic animal version of themselves, but like wearing the same clothes"! And I had it! Death, apocalypse, giant cats and humans!

Cramming all that craziness into a single page was the next challenge. It couldn't be longer because it needed that immediate "what did I just walk in on?!" punch. My initial script was:

Continuing from yesterday's exciting episode!

F holding C

F: He's dead! How can he be dead?! 

J running holding V’s hand

J: We have to keep moving or we'll be next

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Big cats attack

MAOWWW!!!

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Duck into alley

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Giant human foot

Join us tomorrow for the conclusion!

J suggested making it more infuriating -so all the dialogue is just connective tissue while saying absolutely nothing of substance, like a sketch Fred Amerson used to do on SNL. As it didn't need to make sense, I carried on with my script as a placeholder with a view to have J write something later.

For the first panel I got to keep my first "someone died" idea, but made sure to have the whole family present so it was just confusing rather than sad! For the 2nd I couldn't find the exact reference pic of a cat, so I combined the body and head from these and used them as a guide:

I decided to give the panel at the end a blue glow because:

• It made the tiny door easier to make out in the previous panel

• It made the comic look more interesting at a glace

• It made the last room look more mystical/confusing

• If it was just a regular building the human wouldn't fit

• I didn't have to draw the inside of a dilapidated building!

...so many wins haha!

Once I was done I sent it to J to write a script. For the last panel it was supposed to be Fran talking, but I thought it would be funnier to make the speech bubble come from Giant Me instead!

So there you have it! Utter nonsense! I know people have asked me to continue the saga, but heck if I know what's going on!! 🤣