TITLE WHAT IF COMICS WERE MORE LIKE THE TECH INDUSTRY? an icon-based special
PANEL 1 (MTN. DEWD opens a can of Mtn. Dew as a hand reaches in from off-panel.) MTN. DEWD: Ah, Mtn. Dew... Sweet elixir of life! SFX: SSSS LAWYER: I'll take that!
PANEL 2 (MTN. DEWD looks in surprise as a LAWYER in a suit and sunglasses stands before him holding the "SSSS" sound effect from the previous panel.) MTN. DEWD: Hey, what gives! LAWYER: Sorry, sir, but the use of sound effects in comics has been patented by Marvel Enterprises, so you'll just have to do without!
PANEL 3 (MTN. DEWD raises his fists in appeal as the LAWYER points his index finger to make a point.) MTN. DEWD: That's crazy! What about prior art!? LAWYER: Don't look at ME! None of those people filed for a patent, did they?!
PANEL 4 (MTN. DEWD speaks angrily as the LAWYER grabs onto his word balloon.) MTN. DEWD: Why you little-! You'll never get away with this! LAWYER: I'l take that word balloon too!
PANEL 5 (Close up on the LAWYER.) LAWYER: Look, times are rough. Companies have to find alternate sources of income to survive! Until you feel like paying to license these comics technologies, you'll have to find some other form of communication!
PANEL 6 (MTN. DEWD attempts a well-known offensive gesture, only to find his hand covered by a black caption reading "PATENT PENDING".)
Commentary
This strip was originally published in the G3K blog back in 2002.From that original post:
The art was drawn completely digitally using a Wacom tablet, rather than scanned and cleaned up digitally as I had always done before. Every once in a while, I experiment with fully digital art, but I usually fall back on pencil and paper because it's just more fun for me.