The Dubworks: Sonic The Hedgehog - Pencilled Pages & Logbook

Sonic The Hedgehog #144
Love And Loss

Written by Romy Chacon (Rewrite By Jonathan Gray - Uncredited)
Drawn By Jonathan H. Gray
Inked by Mike Higgins
Colored By Josh Ray
Introduction | Artwork | Character Designs

Introduction

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Punk Prophecy?
This issue was an excersize in pain and lots of patience. If I came away learning ANYTHING about comics from this issue its that no matter what - ANYTHING can go wrong and ALWAYS be prepared for the worst. This page is going to work differently from the other ones in my logbook as theres a lot I need and want to go over concerning just what happened to this story.
Until I can get Mike to ship back whats left of the originals, the page to the left is all that remains of what would have been the real ending to Love And Loss. Unfortunately - the actual finished page was destroyed in Hurricane Francis and I was never able to get a proper copy made at Kinko's. -_-
Part of the problem with this story is that you need to understand a few things. Love and Loss had a lot of "issues" and without going into stuff that would probably get me in trouble and isn't kosher for me to put out in the open, I'll just say that many parts of this story needed to be rewritten. I personally requested this story having read the original while drawing RtAI and took it upon myself to ask Mike if I could have a hand at fixing parts of it and to my surprise he was really cool about it and agreed and let me have a shot at it. I wasnt credited for the rewrite in the book, but all things considering I honestly didn't mind. **shrugs**
In retrospect to all the other immediate plans for the book, with Mike trying to give the book a new direction from what Justin had done previously, Love and Loss simply had to be rewritten. When you look at the entire thing, the story actually had a whopping FOUR endings - Romy's original script, my first revision with the original ending and all the letters tweaked, the second revision with an entirely new ending, and the final revision by Mike where the page drawn for the first revision with the original ending had to be adapted to fit the new endings script.
Couple that with the fact that there are also two entirely different Sally splash pages thanks to what would have been a printing problem and you get 3 rewrites plus 2 redraws of two different pages one of which had to be changed so it fit an ending that wasnt written for it. Confusing, ain't it? >_<
Liner Notes, Edits, & Mistakes - Couple of notes before I start:

I had actually taken the time to draw all the hearts you see on the corresponding pages but for some strange reason when I got the actual book all the hearts were taken out of the originals only to be replaced with a repeated clip art heart pattern instead. @_@ Its virtually the same thing mind you, but I'm not really sure how much I like the look of it to be honest. I think the original look was a little less distracting, but its not a big deal. =\

Thanks to a printing issue a lot of the blacks were taken out of the originals (I've discovered that too much black can muddy the paper Archie prints on), so places where you see X's should have denoted a shadow. In some cases they were left in but in a lot of cases they weren't and were replaced with colors instead.

Artwork

Page 1-2 - Intro

Not much was changed here from the original, and outside of Rosie mentioning Hope alongside Rory and Snaggle all the dialogue and artwork was intact.

The blacks were taken out of the intro shot surrounding the hearts but I figured that would happen considering the credits would probably need to be edited and I wasnt exactly sure who was actually doing what.

For some reason what was supposed to have been a cobblestone street in the background ended up being colored in as a pool. @_@ Its probably due to the sign I posted next to the newsstand, so next time I'll have to watch that.

Page 3-4 - Bunnie's Letter

Out of all four letters, Bunnie's was probably the only one that needed less tweaking in the rewrite. Instead of concentrating on how Antione would now get verbally nasty with Bunnie, this was edited in the end thankfully and replaced by myself and Mike with Bunnie mentioning how Antione once loved her for who she was and not what she looked like. Aly's reply was also changed to reflect certain script changes such as remaining strong and how to confront Antione.

Again, all blacks were taken out in specific panels for printing, but left in for key parts such as Bunnie's nervous breakdown on page 4.

Page 5-6 - Mina's Letter

Mina's letter was kind of dicey. The gist of it now is essentially the same in comparison to the original BUT the way it was worded IMO left an opening for another possible love triangle rehash should anyone wish (And if you're familiar with Sonic fans and that aspect, dredging that monster up again is a BIG FAT OMGWTF ARE YOU THINKING NO-NO). ^_^ So I changed the letter to reflect on her internal conflict between Ash and Sonic and provided a way for her to finally make up her mind and give the Love Triangle Saga the proper closure it never really had. Mike agreed and hopefully I helped get that point across.

The scene with Mina calling Ash was also changed entirely. What was originally less than a panel or two turned into six. I did that because I felt the reader needed to see that Mina was actually making a concentrated effort to call to Ash and the reader should see all the reactions from Ash as he talks to her, ending with a loving smile on his face. I felt this approach was a lot more personable than the standard "Lets date" call the original had and, in a way, let you get a look at how Ash feels about her through gesture.

All of Ash's musculature was taken out of the final product, but thats probably a good thing in the end. XD

Page 7-8 - Amy's Letter

This letter and Sally's letter were the two largest rewrites of the entire story. Besides the last line and the first two lines, everything else in between was totally thrown out. The original letter, while concentrating on Sonic, also had Amy throwing hints at Tails which was just TOTALLY out of left field and OOC IMO.
As a character all her own, Amy has never really been developed in the book, and since this is really the first time we've ever gotten into her head at all I wanted to make it worth something. Naturally her longtime crush on Sonic is paramount but how would she feel considering she's inbetween an acerbic Sally and a lovestruck Mina? So thats the point of the original letter I decided to concentrate on. If that was me, how would I feel. While Amy's reaction to Aly's response was the same as it was originally written I also took some time to tweak Aly's response to show that Amy's gonna always do her own thing regardless. The "Buy a clue" line was all me though. ^__^

Page 9-10 - Sally's Letter

I had to rewrite the lines in this letter a number of times before I was finally happy with it.

Out of all the letters, Sally's was the hardest to do. The wording in the original was cliche and rather than focus on what was one of the most volatile plot points since she was tossed off a building (that being the slap), the original letter was more of a ho hum "I dumped him golly now what do I do" approach. Considering the initial reaction to the slap from fans I didnt think that they would be happy with any kind of approach at all. The real problem was coming up with a way to tackle this issue without splitting Sonic and Sally permanently, making the gap an even wider one, or not doing anything about it at all thus turning this whole section into a space waster. And that was probably the hardest part about this assignment.
Line from the original - "I’ve asked him to be with me and drop his missions but he’s too stubborn to do it until Robotnik’s reign is at an end. I gave him an ultimatum; it was either me or his missions. He couldn’t choose so I chose for him. I walked. I know he’s right, but I’m right, too."
One of the main complaints about 134 was that readers felt that Sally was totally OOC and couldn't see WHY she did what she did. Another complaint was that she has become really mean and uber-nasty in a sense. Lines like the above don't really do much to dispell that theory. =\ So I used her letter and "Aly's" response to it to get inside Sally's head and not focus on this sudden mean streak, but rather WHY she made the decision she did. After all - thats the question people always ask. In my mind it makes sense that if you've got all this drama going on in your life, perhaps you need to find your own way to heal yourself before tackling other larger things. Sally's primary dillema is that she wants to be happy and can very well accept her responsibility as a princess - but when she tries to mix the two suddenly she finds constant conflict. Living her own life isnt as natural to her as leading a rebellion or leading her people because thats all she's ever known since being a small child. So now she's on the road to discovering how to do that. And thats the way of thinking that I took when I wrote her letter/response. I can only hope that in some ways it worked. =\
You probably wouldnt catch this as there's no way to really note this in the story's context, but the scene with her crying I imagine as taking place right after the argument in 134, where she's thinking simultaneously about all the things being discussed in the letter. The page to the left is actually an UNPUBLISHED version of the splash page you'll see in the book (unfortunately I dont have a copy of that - see below). Originally the scene was to be horizontal but due to a publishing issue it had to be made vertical, resulting in the entirely different page now in print. To be honest, I like the 2nd version a LOT more and I'm glad that one saw print over this one. I think its a visually stronger image.

Page 11 - The Ending

Point blank, I'm amazed that this wasn't a fiasco. Mike deserves a LOT of credit for making this work because the ending to this thing was an annoying creature all its own. XD Harkening back to the introduction I need to reiterate that this story had 4 endings:
Ending #1 - In the original ending, Sally broke the fourth wall and began talking to the reader. DIRECTLY from the script: (P1) "Oh hello, were you expecting someone else, perhaps?" (P2) Oh, the letter from me? To throw anyone else who may think Allie is Sally. (P3) After all, my secrets are made public for all the world to see. Well, maybe not all my secrets. (p4)Why do I do this in my free time? A girl’s got to have a hobby, you know." END. And yes - thats the original ending to Love and Loss WORD FOR WORD.
Yeah. To be honest, when Mike asked me what I thought about it I was so indifferent to this ending that I just didn't care. This led to
Ending #2 - After getting permission to rewrite the story along with drawing it, I wasnt sure how much leeway I had in regard to changing things entirely. Still indifferent to the fourth wall ending I kept it in anyway BUT I threw out everything you read above and changed it to reflect what was going in the context of the story. I even went so far as to draw the page for it, turn everything in business as usual, and call it a day. This led to
Ending #3 - Several weeks later I get a call from Mike saying that Page 10 needed be redrawn because of a publishing issue. While talking I make mention of how that last page and its fourth wall ending is now starting to bother me. Mike and I share the same reservations about it so he suggests rewriting and redrawing it to make it better. We both agree thats probably for the best so I get started writing a new ending for the story. This is a more expanded version of the final text that was actually printed in the book and was the way I had truly intended Love and Loss to end. Click this link to read what WOULD have been Page 11, and read it in conjunction with the surviving rough draft shown above. Naturally, changes to the art were made in the final (I dont like that uber happy last panel), but you get the idea. But something else prevented THIS ending from happening entirely and that was
Ending #4 - Hurricane Francis. Since I was at my cousins house for the weekend, I mailed off both page 11 and the newly drawn page 10 the day after Francis had hit Atlanta and thought nothing of it. But in what is probably the most bonehead thing I've ever seen, Mike called me up to inform me that when he got the package Page 11 was ruined in the rain. I asked him how and it seems that the package had arrived just before a holiday. Whoever delivered the mail to Archie left the package out in front of the building on the stoop. Thats simple enough, right? Well - by that time Hurricane Francis had dwindled down into a major thunder/rainstorm and hit New York/New Jersey THE DAY MY PACKAGE ARRIVED. Since no one was available at Archie to pick it up due to the national holiday, for three days Pages 10 and 11 were rained on. And the only reason that Page 10 survived was because Page 11 was sitting on top of it in the package. Both pages had to air out in his office for several days before Mike Higgins could even touch them. And I didnt make a spare PSD of the page when I mailed it so the page couldnt be reproduced. :(
With a ruined page and deadline for print fast approaching, Mike did the only thing he could do and amalgamated the second ending with the page designed to fit the original fourth wall ending. Thats why if you look at the page now, Sally's eyes are wide open whereas in the book they are closed and why Panel 4 doesnt seem to match with the words being said. All in all though - considering everything else, Mike Pellerito is a miracle worker because I would have probably spontaneosuly combusted on the spot after dealing with everything else.
COMIC BOOKS ARE FUN!!!! XD All things considered I wouldnt have taken this assignment back for anything. It was great experience and I really liked writing. Anything to improve my skills plus I learned a lot from it. Mike is a cool guy for letting me get that far. Lastly - special thanks to Kulock, Greliz, Luckett, & Rlan for your help. I appreciate it. ;)

Character Designs

Rosie, Rory, Snaggle, & Sasha
Mike asked me to redesign Rosie and the orphans and try making them just a little older. I decided to tweak Rosie's hair a bit and age the kids somewhat. Just so you know - the final letter in Love And Loss was Rosie's and the gentleman she was talking about was none other than Uncle Chuck. ;)

Professional Work | Old Fan Art | Return To Portfolio | Return To CNW/TT | Messageboard

Chip And Walter, Time Trouble and all related charcters are copyright and trademarked property of Jonathan H. Gray. (Take my characters and you shall die a white hot fiery death). CNW and TT are hosted on Toonzone. This site is best optimized for the 800 x 600 pixel setting and IE - though I think it'll work in other browsers.

	Sonic The Hedgehog #144 Love And Loss Written by Romy Chacon (Rewrite By Jonathan Gray - Uncredited) Drawn By Jonathan H. Gray Inked by Mike Higgins Colored By Josh Ray Introduction \| Artwork \| Character Designs
Introduction
Professional Work \| Old Fan Art \| Return To Portfolio \| Return To CNW/TT \| Messageboard
This issue was an excersize in pain and lots of patience. If I came away learning ANYTHING about comics from this issue its that no matter what - ANYTHING can go wrong and ALWAYS be prepared for the worst. This page is going to work differently from the other ones in my logbook as theres a lot I need and want to go over concerning just what happened to this story. Until I can get Mike to ship back whats left of the originals, the page to the left is all that remains of what would have been the real ending to Love And Loss. Unfortunately - the actual finished page was destroyed in Hurricane Francis and I was never able to get a proper copy made at Kinko's. -_- Part of the problem with this story is that you need to understand a few things. Love and Loss had a lot of "issues" and without going into stuff that would probably get me in trouble and isn't kosher for me to put out in the open, I'll just say that many parts of this story needed to be rewritten. I personally requested this story having read the original while drawing RtAI and took it upon myself to ask Mike if I could have a hand at fixing parts of it and to my surprise he was really cool about it and agreed and let me have a shot at it. I wasnt credited for the rewrite in the book, but all things considering I honestly didn't mind. shrugs In retrospect to all the other immediate plans for the book, with Mike trying to give the book a new direction from what Justin had done previously, Love and Loss simply had to be rewritten. When you look at the entire thing, the story actually had a whopping FOUR endings - Romy's original script, my first revision with the original ending and all the letters tweaked, the second revision with an entirely new ending, and the final revision by Mike where the page drawn for the first revision with the original ending had to be adapted to fit the new endings script. Couple that with the fact that there are also two entirely different Sally splash pages thanks to what would have been a printing problem and you get 3 rewrites plus 2 redraws of two different pages one of which had to be changed so it fit an ending that wasnt written for it. Confusing, ain't it? >_< Liner Notes, Edits, & Mistakes - Couple of notes before I start: I had actually taken the time to draw all the hearts you see on the corresponding pages but for some strange reason when I got the actual book all the hearts were taken out of the originals only to be replaced with a repeated clip art heart pattern instead. @_@ Its virtually the same thing mind you, but I'm not really sure how much I like the look of it to be honest. I think the original look was a little less distracting, but its not a big deal. =\ Thanks to a printing issue a lot of the blacks were taken out of the originals (I've discovered that too much black can muddy the paper Archie prints on), so places where you see X's should have denoted a shadow. In some cases they were left in but in a lot of cases they weren't and were replaced with colors instead.
Artwork
		Page 1-2 - Intro Not much was changed here from the original, and outside of Rosie mentioning Hope alongside Rory and Snaggle all the dialogue and artwork was intact. The blacks were taken out of the intro shot surrounding the hearts but I figured that would happen considering the credits would probably need to be edited and I wasnt exactly sure who was actually doing what. For some reason what was supposed to have been a cobblestone street in the background ended up being colored in as a pool. @_@ Its probably due to the sign I posted next to the newsstand, so next time I'll have to watch that.
Page 3-4 - Bunnie's Letter Out of all four letters, Bunnie's was probably the only one that needed less tweaking in the rewrite. Instead of concentrating on how Antione would now get verbally nasty with Bunnie, this was edited in the end thankfully and replaced by myself and Mike with Bunnie mentioning how Antione once loved her for who she was and not what she looked like. Aly's reply was also changed to reflect certain script changes such as remaining strong and how to confront Antione. Again, all blacks were taken out in specific panels for printing, but left in for key parts such as Bunnie's nervous breakdown on page 4.
		Page 5-6 - Mina's Letter Mina's letter was kind of dicey. The gist of it now is essentially the same in comparison to the original BUT the way it was worded IMO left an opening for another possible love triangle rehash should anyone wish (And if you're familiar with Sonic fans and that aspect, dredging that monster up again is a BIG FAT OMGWTF ARE YOU THINKING NO-NO). ^_^ So I changed the letter to reflect on her internal conflict between Ash and Sonic and provided a way for her to finally make up her mind and give the Love Triangle Saga the proper closure it never really had. Mike agreed and hopefully I helped get that point across. The scene with Mina calling Ash was also changed entirely. What was originally less than a panel or two turned into six. I did that because I felt the reader needed to see that Mina was actually making a concentrated effort to call to Ash and the reader should see all the reactions from Ash as he talks to her, ending with a loving smile on his face. I felt this approach was a lot more personable than the standard "Lets date" call the original had and, in a way, let you get a look at how Ash feels about her through gesture. All of Ash's musculature was taken out of the final product, but thats probably a good thing in the end. XD
Page 7-8 - Amy's Letter This letter and Sally's letter were the two largest rewrites of the entire story. Besides the last line and the first two lines, everything else in between was totally thrown out. The original letter, while concentrating on Sonic, also had Amy throwing hints at Tails which was just TOTALLY out of left field and OOC IMO. As a character all her own, Amy has never really been developed in the book, and since this is really the first time we've ever gotten into her head at all I wanted to make it worth something. Naturally her longtime crush on Sonic is paramount but how would she feel considering she's inbetween an acerbic Sally and a lovestruck Mina? So thats the point of the original letter I decided to concentrate on. If that was me, how would I feel. While Amy's reaction to Aly's response was the same as it was originally written I also took some time to tweak Aly's response to show that Amy's gonna always do her own thing regardless. The "Buy a clue" line was all me though. ^__^
	Page 9-10 - Sally's Letter I had to rewrite the lines in this letter a number of times before I was finally happy with it. Out of all the letters, Sally's was the hardest to do. The wording in the original was cliche and rather than focus on what was one of the most volatile plot points since she was tossed off a building (that being the slap), the original letter was more of a ho hum "I dumped him golly now what do I do" approach. Considering the initial reaction to the slap from fans I didnt think that they would be happy with any kind of approach at all. The real problem was coming up with a way to tackle this issue without splitting Sonic and Sally permanently, making the gap an even wider one, or not doing anything about it at all thus turning this whole section into a space waster. And that was probably the hardest part about this assignment. Line from the original - "I’ve asked him to be with me and drop his missions but he’s too stubborn to do it until Robotnik’s reign is at an end. I gave him an ultimatum; it was either me or his missions. He couldn’t choose so I chose for him. I walked. I know he’s right, but I’m right, too." One of the main complaints about 134 was that readers felt that Sally was totally OOC and couldn't see WHY she did what she did. Another complaint was that she has become really mean and uber-nasty in a sense. Lines like the above don't really do much to dispell that theory. =\ So I used her letter and "Aly's" response to it to get inside Sally's head and not focus on this sudden mean streak, but rather WHY she made the decision she did. After all - thats the question people always ask. In my mind it makes sense that if you've got all this drama going on in your life, perhaps you need to find your own way to heal yourself before tackling other larger things. Sally's primary dillema is that she wants to be happy and can very well accept her responsibility as a princess - but when she tries to mix the two suddenly she finds constant conflict. Living her own life isnt as natural to her as leading a rebellion or leading her people because thats all she's ever known since being a small child. So now she's on the road to discovering how to do that. And thats the way of thinking that I took when I wrote her letter/response. I can only hope that in some ways it worked. =\ You probably wouldnt catch this as there's no way to really note this in the story's context, but the scene with her crying I imagine as taking place right after the argument in 134, where she's thinking simultaneously about all the things being discussed in the letter. The page to the left is actually an UNPUBLISHED version of the splash page you'll see in the book (unfortunately I dont have a copy of that - see below). Originally the scene was to be horizontal but due to a publishing issue it had to be made vertical, resulting in the entirely different page now in print. To be honest, I like the 2nd version a LOT more and I'm glad that one saw print over this one. I think its a visually stronger image.
Page 11 - The Ending Point blank, I'm amazed that this wasn't a fiasco. Mike deserves a LOT of credit for making this work because the ending to this thing was an annoying creature all its own. XD Harkening back to the introduction I need to reiterate that this story had 4 endings: Ending #1 - In the original ending, Sally broke the fourth wall and began talking to the reader. DIRECTLY from the script: (P1) "Oh hello, were you expecting someone else, perhaps?" (P2) Oh, the letter from me? To throw anyone else who may think Allie is Sally. (P3) After all, my secrets are made public for all the world to see. Well, maybe not all my secrets. (p4)Why do I do this in my free time? A girl’s got to have a hobby, you know." END. And yes - thats the original ending to Love and Loss WORD FOR WORD. Yeah. To be honest, when Mike asked me what I thought about it I was so indifferent to this ending that I just didn't care. This led to Ending #2 - After getting permission to rewrite the story along with drawing it, I wasnt sure how much leeway I had in regard to changing things entirely. Still indifferent to the fourth wall ending I kept it in anyway BUT I threw out everything you read above and changed it to reflect what was going in the context of the story. I even went so far as to draw the page for it, turn everything in business as usual, and call it a day. This led to Ending #3 - Several weeks later I get a call from Mike saying that Page 10 needed be redrawn because of a publishing issue. While talking I make mention of how that last page and its fourth wall ending is now starting to bother me. Mike and I share the same reservations about it so he suggests rewriting and redrawing it to make it better. We both agree thats probably for the best so I get started writing a new ending for the story. This is a more expanded version of the final text that was actually printed in the book and was the way I had truly intended Love and Loss to end. Click this link to read what WOULD have been Page 11, and read it in conjunction with the surviving rough draft shown above. Naturally, changes to the art were made in the final (I dont like that uber happy last panel), but you get the idea. But something else prevented THIS ending from happening entirely and that was Ending #4 - Hurricane Francis. Since I was at my cousins house for the weekend, I mailed off both page 11 and the newly drawn page 10 the day after Francis had hit Atlanta and thought nothing of it. But in what is probably the most bonehead thing I've ever seen, Mike called me up to inform me that when he got the package Page 11 was ruined in the rain. I asked him how and it seems that the package had arrived just before a holiday. Whoever delivered the mail to Archie left the package out in front of the building on the stoop. Thats simple enough, right? Well - by that time Hurricane Francis had dwindled down into a major thunder/rainstorm and hit New York/New Jersey THE DAY MY PACKAGE ARRIVED. Since no one was available at Archie to pick it up due to the national holiday, for three days Pages 10 and 11 were rained on. And the only reason that Page 10 survived was because Page 11 was sitting on top of it in the package. Both pages had to air out in his office for several days before Mike Higgins could even touch them. And I didnt make a spare PSD of the page when I mailed it so the page couldnt be reproduced. :( With a ruined page and deadline for print fast approaching, Mike did the only thing he could do and amalgamated the second ending with the page designed to fit the original fourth wall ending. Thats why if you look at the page now, Sally's eyes are wide open whereas in the book they are closed and why Panel 4 doesnt seem to match with the words being said. All in all though - considering everything else, Mike Pellerito is a miracle worker because I would have probably spontaneosuly combusted on the spot after dealing with everything else. COMIC BOOKS ARE FUN!!!! XD All things considered I wouldnt have taken this assignment back for anything. It was great experience and I really liked writing. Anything to improve my skills plus I learned a lot from it. Mike is a cool guy for letting me get that far. Lastly - special thanks to Kulock, Greliz, Luckett, & Rlan for your help. I appreciate it. ;)
Character Designs
	Rosie, Rory, Snaggle, & Sasha Mike asked me to redesign Rosie and the orphans and try making them just a little older. I decided to tweak Rosie's hair a bit and age the kids somewhat. Just so you know - the final letter in Love And Loss was Rosie's and the gentleman she was talking about was none other than Uncle Chuck. ;)
Professional Work \| Old Fan Art \| Return To Portfolio \| Return To CNW/TT \| Messageboard
Chip And Walter, Time Trouble and all related charcters are copyright and trademarked property of Jonathan H. Gray. (Take my characters and you shall die a white hot fiery death). CNW and TT are hosted on Toonzone. This site is best optimized for the 800 x 600 pixel setting and IE - though I think it'll work in other browsers.