The “script” for Pit Stop
I was up ‘til 3am catching up with a couple friends. I don’t even remember what exactly we talked about, but evidently we were having enough fun to stay up past the bedtimes of our respective time zones. After the call ended, I heard the sound of churning dirt right outside my window; lo and behold, there was a car stuck in a ditch. That ditch was not always there. Over the past six months or so, there has been extensive construction in the (once) empty lot next to my apartment. Somehow amid the early morning hammering and afternoon drilling, a giant hole formed in the unpaved alley behind my complex. It posed no threat to the wide tracks of a Cat bulldozer, but any passenger car would be lodged beyond leverage. Unfortunately for the unlucky couple, they were not traveling in a 50-ton piece of bright yellow machinery.
I contemplated whether to help them, but decided not to based on three factors: 1) the two travelers may have felt uncomfortable/unsafe by a stranger suddenly approaching them in the dark, 2) legitimate wariness of being in close contact with others due to Covid, and 3) serious doubt that I could even do anything. I saw that ditch during the day, it was a two-foot depression at the least. But I cannot deny, it was entertaining to watch. Not necessarily out of schadenfreude, but from the simple fact that that was the most eventful thing to have happened in weeks. That’s going to be a running theme for D&A.
Happy ending though (I presume): the car was gone in the morning. And by morning, I mean around 11am (did I mention I stayed up past 3?). I assume they had a tow truck come out and rescue their vehicle. I wasn’t there to see it. Maybe they got abducted by a flying saucer mere minutes after I fell asleep. Who’s to say?
Although this is the first comic published in the groundbreaking, mind-blowing, and all around fantabulous new comic series Day and Age, it’s actually the fourth comic that I’ve completed for it. I didn’t feel like the other three were the best introduction to what I envision D&A to be, so I intentionally made “Pit Stop” to fill that role.
I’ll go into further detail of how I make these comics in future posts, but I will preface it all by firmly declaring that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m really just pulling from my accumulated comics knowledge and my scant experience with fitting doodles into boxes. I’m figuring it out as I go along. There are undoubtedly better ways to draw, scan, edit, and publish these comics that would save me an untold amount of time, energy, and strife, but they are currently a mystery to me. Once I find out, I’m sure I’ll make a comic about it. Stay tuned.
Original scan of Pit Stop
Duplicating the final three panels
Initial contrast adjustment