Distressed Damsels: The SCHOOL OF SHASTI story, part 1 (Patreon)

Short version: Folks, check out the first part of an incomplete commissioned “Dirty Pair as damsels in distress” story I drew for a generous friend (and pre-Patreon patron, of a sort), cranked out in a pencil-based, proto-Empowered format only a few years before I realized this could be a viable way to produce “real” comics.

Obviously never intended to see print, these DiD pages dial up the cheesecake level a few degrees higher than I ever did on actual DP material, as you might notice; this would be similar to the exaggerated “Every Shot Must Be Hot” approach of the early Empowered stories. I suppose you might consider these to be my equivalent of Japanese doujinshi “fan-comic” work, more or less, so I felt free to work in a little titillating content than usual.(Don’t expect any explicit content, though; however cheesecakey, these episodes and story fragments are even more decorous than Empowered.) 

In theory, this episode would’ve taken place around the era of the flashbacks in Dirty Pair: Dangerous Acquaintances, my second DP series, though these aren’t quite in continuity as I see it; for some thing, as in all these DiD showcases, Kei and Yuri are way, way too easily distressed. (A Patron, howeva, has pointed out a highly amusing, No-Prize-ish caveat that could explain this phenomenon, which I’ll have to scan and post here on some future Wednesday.)

Long version: Thing is, by the point I cranked out most of these stories, I had become bitterly dissatisfied with my conventional process for drawing comics. My workflow as of the last Dirty Pair series in 1999-2000 had become so slow, laborious, and mindnumbingly tedious that I never drew another conventionally formatted, multiple-issue comic again. (Yeahp, I've been effectively retired from drawing comics in that conventional manner for almost 20 years, now.)

My over-elaborate work stages for comics back then went as follows: I’d initially scrawl out page roughs, then expand those into some very tight and detailed layout pages (in the same proto-Empowered format seen here); then I’d enlarge those layouts and transfer ’em to Bristol board, where I’d redraw the same imagery even tighter; then I’d go on to ink the pages, so I effectively wound up drawing the same comic page three g-d times. Then, ’twas time to spend at lest a few days working up detailed guides for the lettering and coloring, just in case I wasn’t already thoroughly sick of the repeatedly revisited pages.

The only part of that process I even vaguely enjoyed was drawing the early “supertight layout pages,” which I was often—and frustratingly!—told were more fun to read than my finished comics. So, when I had the chance to knock out a bunch of throwaway stories like this in pencil-rendered, layout-page form, I had no problem drawing these in my increasingly copious free time while I tried—and, largely, failed—to scrape up mainstream comics work as a writer. (More on that failure later.) 

These goofy, continuity-free DiD scenes weren’t, after all, real comics, which would’ve required all the miserably slow and repetitive art stages that I had grown to despise; and since they weren’t going to see print, I could churn ’em out heedlessly and rapidly, without agonizing over storytelling perfection, repro quality, or larger audience reaction.

This two-parter and future posts to come are commissioned stories, yes, but more in the sense that several generous folks—patrons before the Patreon concept, in effect—paid for ’em, rather than specifying specific scenarios as such. Almost all of these pages have never been seen online because the generous and understanding commissioners were cool with not posting these pages anywhere, as I was none too eager for this work to get out while I was still scrambling to get mainstream comics gigs.

Anyhoo, I’ll blither more about these episodes in future posts, as some of ’em do bring up larger issues about my future creative process and storytelling approaches. No, really!

And now, some quick commentary:

This was the first time I'd drawn the classic Yoshikazu Yasuhiko outfits since way back in the second DP miniseries in '89; this time around, I had a much greater appreciation for the costumes' low-riding hiphugger shorts. Can't recall for certain, but I think the Yaz outfits might've been the one patron-requested parameter for the story.

Yeahp, Ninjette's shorts from Empowered are descended directly from this take on the DP's old oufits. (Kozue's notably flat chest, howeva, is clearly not descended from this rather, ah, bouncier version of the Lovely Angels.)

For a story in which I was getting paid for fetching damselry and not backgrounds, I'm still vaguely impressed that I added a loosely scrawled hexagonal floor pattern under the hapless pair.

And with the page above, we clearly see engineered multiple-personality Shasti popping back and forth between different aspects. (Gotta admit, I do sometimes miss writing this character.) Note that she's sporting a top derived from the "young Kei and Yuri" 2000-era con sketch below:

And, in closing:

So, in the page above, Shasti is switching between her bubbingly social, coldly analytical, and raspy-voiced warrior modes, as helpfully indicated by the shapes of her word balloons. Frankly, though, I don't think this "sink or swim" approach to escape artistry is a very effective teaching style.

Anyhoo! Next Wednesday, tune in for the exciting conclusion of the DiD story fragment "School of Shasti," which wheezed to a halt once I hit the point that my pre-Patreon patron didn't feel like paying for any more pages. (Some of the other hitherto unseen stories in this format run a lot longer, I should note.)

POSTSCRIPT: Patrons from the $10 and $20 tiers, stand by for a bonus Wednesday post featuring a few pieces based on your DiD art requests, including one that ties (ha ha!) back to this story, however loosely.