Every so often I will go through a phase where I feel like I've had more than enough of my share of alcohol for the rest of my life.

A panel from Best Love #36, April 1950

When I was a younger, arguably angrier Comics Destroyer, it was pretty apparent I was walking a very fine-line of developing a serious drinking problem - a reputation that, whether warranted or not, still seems to cling to me.  But as I'm sure my wife would attest, over the last several years to say that I'm a heavy drinker would be like saying the Easter Bunny has a wabbidy wabbidy foot-fetishy crush on dear old Santa Claus.

Okay, I don't know what the hell that just meant, but the point I'm trying to make is that I'm not a real drinker any more.

 

All comic books

in this section

by the way

are in very good

or better condition.

?

Oh, I'll drink socially at a bar with friends, or pound a few at a party or a family gathering and occasionally knock one back after a stressful day or when I wake up first thing in the morning and need to brush my teeth and comb my hair, but at this point in my adult life I can barely hold my liquor.  I'm basically one and done, especially if I'm being smart.

Now when I get into these phases, sometimes I'll stay liquor-free for a couple of weeks, other times several months.  But when I do inevitably return, to my credit, it's usually well in the realm of moderation... 

But let's be honest here.  These delusional thoughts of living a sober-lifestyle are definitely spurned on by the most obvious of reasons, which is usually the pain and agony endured by suffering through a particularly brutal hangover.  But other times it's by a genuine desire to simply get healthy.  

This is definitely one of those latter moments.

I've been sick as a dog with a nasty cold since Christmas that I just can't seem to be able to shake.  This cold has evolved in so many annoyingly different ways since I got bit, from clogged sinuses to sore throat, to it's current state of rabid cough and severe chest congestion.  It's being sick for this long a period of time that has made me seriously start to evaluate things that I should be able to change and control that may or may not improve my immune system and overall health for the better - alcohol intake being just one of them.

But I don't know.

Laying low and venting about it may just be the thing that I need to get my health back on track.

Or perhaps a fresh bottle of whiskey... whiskey, a decent handgun and a purpose.  

I'll let you know how that one goes.

Otherwise, here's what can possibly happen when you begin to lose control and self-doubt begins to set in:

Simply elegant.

This, along with some of the illustrations that will be posted here in the near future (including pieces already published over the last couple of months), are part of a set that has a "Romance Comics" theme to it... well, at least my twisted version of romance comics.

When I get a wider (and larger) range of these things up, I'll definitely share more thoughts and details, but for now all you really need to know is that these are me simply having a little fun exploring and riffing on the once very popular line of love comics that had their heyday in the late 1940's through late 1970's.

Another panel from Best Love #36, April 1950

Although it wasn't my intention, I ended up drawing that particular piece twice.

Midway through my first attempt, I felt like the washes I was laying down over and over again in the background were getting way out of hand and muddy and impossible to work with.  So before I drove myself berserk trying to save it (which I believe I ultimately did), I went at it again with a much simpler and basic approach, forgoing the brush, color scheme, and using a ballpoint pen to lay down the majority of the inks:

Definitely has quite a bit more immediacy to it.

Now I do find it interesting that the two different renderings of the mouth and lips on the face of the silent "partner", along with the placement of ink splatters, create two completely different moods and reactions to the written dialogue.

In the first version, the woman laying on her back seems very cold, distant, and almost comatose in her silent reaction to what I really intended to be a very silly and comical line, especially when coming from a place born out of nervousness and naivety.  But because she appears to be so oblivious and blank to what is going on to her, it's a much darker and uncomfortable situation than originally intended... one that even now I'm hesitant to share.

But in the second one, with the same woman's mouth drawn slightly open and the ink splatter indicating a deep exhale of both air and ecstasy, she is definitely a thousand times more engaged in this particular moment of intimacy that is being mutually shared.  

Also, on a different level, although it's drawn much looser, sketchier and less refined, it's more successful in giving the viewer a variety of possible ways, depending on what experiences and prejudices are brought to the table, to finish up or extend the joke/storyline within their own imaginations.

For example, with me simply being me, when I look at what's going on in version two I immediately hear the woman's reaction to her lover's silly concern going something along the lines of...

"Are you SERIOUSLY thinking about

your FOLKS right NOW????"

And another, slightly more head in the gutter reaction...

In contrast, I really can't imagine her saying a single word at the end of the first illustration.  It seems to have more of definite conclusion to the story, even though it's obviously heading somewhere else.

In both cases, I feel by not spelling out a defined "punchline", it keeps both pieces open to interpretation.

So that's my temporarily sober-ish opinion until I make it downstairs to the bar.

What's yours?

By the way, my mom has had a change of heart and has decided to go.

Click here if you missed this bit of terrifying news.