Apartment 4H

The thousand-yard stare Posted Mon, 1/25/2010 by Dave

“Wait a minute,” you say. “The summer? But this is January!” Yes, we know. This strip has a storied history–thought of, forgotten, and rediscovered. It yearned to be published, and we decided to. The idea first popped up some time before the summer–that is, summer 2009. Joe was staying in Charlottesville for the summer, and his roommate Jason (owner of the deer head, which in real life is slightly less creepy than we make it out to be here) had to head back South with only what he could fit in a sedan. Joe had a small apartment. And so, a comic was born.

It didn’t help that we took the summer off, what with me traveling the country and Joe busy with his architectural projects. So the idea was forgotten, until it was remembered last week.

Joe wanted me to post the art descriptions from the script for this comic, which I am happy to provide. Enjoy this glimpse into our creative process (and marvel at the brilliant execution Joe does!).

Panel 1: Jason, holding a box (labeled something amusing like “knives,” which knowing Jason was probably a real box of stuff he had) is packing to go home from school. Joe, still puttering away on his computer, is sort of distracted but wishes him well regardless. But there’s one little matter left to bring up, a matter Jason now raises to Joe’s attention.

Panel 2: Jason, now having either set down his box or holding it in one hand, passes Joe a deer head. Joe takes it cautiously. The damn thing is bug eyed and terrible. Jason loves it dearly, but Joe does not.

Panel 3: Joe, in bed at night, in his tiny new apartment. The ceiling is very low. The deer head is mounted on the ceiling, but not horizontally–instead, it stares straight down at him, ogling him relentlessly despite his attempts to sleep. Joe will remain wide awake for the entire night, and in the event he does drift off into fervent, fearful dreams, he will be haunted by the deer head. Man. What a mind-job.

True Story Posted Mon, 1/25/2010 by Joe

Ah, the Spretz house, my “very small apartment.” In reality, the room was slightly larger than this, but not by much. Not by much… In addition to the deer head, Jason also left behind the futon I slept on, the mini fridge I kept my food in, the hot pot I used for coffee every morning, some nice whiskey glasses, a microwave, etc etc etc.