An Apple A Day... #75 and 76

Robot
Parts XXXIX and XL

 

Thus, Act Three, and with it, the story of Robot, has come to an end.

Act Three moved into production April 25, 2012 and progressed, steadily, until May 4, 2012. My original plan was to finish writing and roughing the comic by May 21st - a year after I began, but school work got the better of me and it had to put back on hold until July. July 10th, I began to write and draw again, eventually finishing on July 20th. Upon the completion of the rough story pages, I moved back into clean up, finishing that process August 30, 2012.

The conclusion of Robot leaves Apple and Edward in a weird spot.  Previous AAaD comics dealt with the trials and tribulations of romance, however, this is the first time I've played with the concept of mortality in any serious fashion. (Apple died and awful lot in the beginning but those deaths were always handled the same way as Kenny's in South Park - as a punchline.) Now that Edward has basically killed an entire city's worth of people, I'm left with only two options for moving forward. Option One is to just ignore it altogether and move onto another story with the characters having learned nothing from this experience. It would be in keeping with the general flow of AAaD so far, but then, why bother having the dramatic build up throughout the last half of Robot? If I were to ignore the outcome and consequences of the story, why didn't I just wrap this up with a hearty dose of deus ex machina around Part XX? It certainly would have allowed me to move on from this story sooner.

No. Everything about Robot was intentional (it's the major reason why it took so long to complete). It's ending sets up the circumstances for the stories to come. Therefore, I have no choice but to address the consequences and fallout of Edward's actions in the coming comics (aka Option Two). I can say, with certainty, that the next comics to come will be a return to weekly one-off's. They will act as an epilogue to Robot, however, they will not be grouped together as a story.

They will, however, lead us directly into Story #4.

Just a few notes to wrap up Robot:

• The loss of color in Edward's hair represents the fact that he is no longer under the influence of Zordon's psychosis. (However, it is important to note that he retains control of the Dragonzord.)


• Robot is dead. I don't want to cheapen his sacrifice by bringing him back to life.


• The gray shadows that slowly creep into Part XL serve two purposes. First, it helps convey just how dark the woods are at night in the area Robot called home. Second, and most importantly, they gradually shift the visual tone of the page so that it is more in keeping with the emotional tone of the story. Since Robot ends on a fairly somber note, I wanted Part XL to visually reflect that.

An Apple a Day... #73 and 74

Robot
Parts XXXVII and XXXVIII
  Some notes on Parts XXXVII and XXXVIII:

• Part XXXVII went through a few story restructures before it was finalized. Initially, Edward was supposed to get angry at Apple's death and blame the robot for his own actions. This avenue would have added a heftier page/part count to the story, which is something I didn't want to do. 


• I decided that Part XXXVII would be the proper time for Edward to fully snap out of his psychosis. By having the Dragonzord act on its own, it allowed me to subtly allude to the the coming reveal of the true villain of the story - which occurs in the last panel of Part XXXVIII.


• I decided early on in the production of this story that Robot was never going to be the true villain of the tale, instead shifting that role Edward. However, while checking out Power Rangers episodes for content reference, I began to see that Zordon always seemed to be more in control of events than he ever let on. This lead me to pontificate on whether or not he was as benign and helpless as the show's creators would have you believe. (It also was strange that he would entrust the total control of these gigantic, transforming, destructive robots to random teenagers that dont even have driver's licenses. Therefore, it stands to reason that someone as smart as Zordon would have a backdoor access to these machines.)

An Apple a Day... #71 and 72

Robot
Parts XXXV and XXXVI

  Some notes on Parts XXXV and XXXVI:

• When I began writing Robot, I didn't have any intentions of killing Apple. However, as the story progressed, and Edward became more unhinged, I figured it was a good way to try and snap him back to reality.
  


• Part XXXVI is the first time Apple has been mortally harmed since An Apple a Day... #18


• I feel like the blood splatter on Robot's face was an overall improvement to his character design.


• These two Parts in particular really punch up the drama for the story. Initially, I didn't want the tone of the story to get so heavy, but it didn't feel right to arbitrarily wrap things up without any consequence or meaning. Besides, this opens up an avenue for me to explore slightly deeper themes in the forthcoming stories.

An Apple a Day... #69 and 70

Robot
Parts XXXIII and XXXIV

  Some notes on Parts XXXIII and XXXIV:

• The growth scene in Part XXXIII was a bit of a challenge for me to portray within a single panel. The growth scenes in the Power Rangers show were elaborate affairs, complete with smoke, earthquakes, and general catastrophe. Apple, on the other hand, is being presented as the "peace negotiator" in this situation, therefore his growth scene shouldn't be destructive (besides, Edward had already proven quite adept at that). Therefore, I approached Apple's growth the same way I would approach it in animation: by keyframing the entire thing out, ending with Apple fully grown and facing off against the Dragonzord.


• Part XXXIV is really supposed to read at a very slow pace, picking up the tension again at the end panel. The fourth panel is supposed to be almost tranquil by juxtaposing the calm discussion/reprimand Apple and Edward are having against the crumbling, smoldering city in the background.

An Apple a Day... #67 and 68

Robot
Parts XXXI and XXXII
   Some notes on Parts XXXI and XXXII:

• By this point, Edward has clearly gone off the deep end, fulfilling his role as the main antagonist of the story.


• I really like the panel of the Dragonzord and Robot looking at each other in Part XXXI. It really helps bring a bit of calm to all the action that was happening over the course of the past few parts.


• By the time I got to Part XXXII, I had the end of the story planned and was at the point where I needed to start wrapping things up. Hence, the use of, my favorite literary tool, deus ex machina.


• Seriously, there is no reason whatsoever for Apple to assume Robot has a growth ray outside of "I just know you do." (Lazy writing sure, but it's not like I'm planning on winning any awards with this stuff.) Apple probably just saw some crummy Sci-Fi movie on tv and assumes all robots have growth rays.


• Lazy writing aside, the growth ray bit was a way for me to avoid introducing Rita Repulsa and further convoluting the character relationships already present up to this point.


• There's some real nice depictions of dead yogurt people here. One of my favorite things to do during the production of these two parts was finding ways to scatter the yogurty remains around the panels. My favorite is the one with his face smashed into the rubble in the foreground of the standoff panels.


• Part XXXII reenforces my belief that ANYONE who knew the Power Rangers in their personal lives (unbeknownst to them, of course) should had been able to figure out the Rangers' identities based on their, surprisingly, unmuffled voices and body language alone. Apple, is clearly a good, attentive friend (unlike everyone in Angel Grove).

An Apple a Day... #65 and 66

Robot
Parts XXIX and XXX

  Some notes on Parts XXIX and XXX:

• Part XXIX solidifies Edward as this story's main antagonist. (Clearly, the robot is not thrilled.)


• Part XXX features some of the last visual killing of yogurt people for the story.


• I really, really liked killing the yogurt people.


• The splash of red orange in Part XXX was thrown in so that the last panel would be easier to read (without it, the line work began to blend together).

An Apple a Day... #63 and 64

Robot
Parts XXVII and XXVIII
  Some notes on Parts XXVII and XXVIII:

• Since these two parts feature Apple's return, it was a logical place to begin Act III, The Consequences. Originally, they were the last two parts of Act II, but I felt that Act II was already running too long.


• Part XXVII is the first comic to not feature any color in quite some time (since AAAD... 18 I believe).


• It was incredibly fun killing the yogurt people in Part XXVIII. I'm not sure how this will play to District's content guidelines, so I hid most of the death in the explosions.


• The news anchor is a different banana from earlier. There's a bit of backstory that links the two bananas as the only news anchors in the area, who also happen to be twins. (I haven't explored that yet, however.)


• Apple's final line in Part XXVIII will most certainly have to be edited for the District release. I think that it sums up exactly what Apple is feeling at that moment, after seeing Edward making a huge mess of things.


• The fact that Apple could guess that the Green Ranger was Edward so quickly is more do to his voice, not his actions. I never understood why NO ONE knew who the Power Rangers were when they spoke to their friends when in costume. It's like, c'mon people, don't you know the sound of your friends' voices?

An Apple a Day... #61 and 62

Robot
Parts XXV and XXVI
  Thus, we've arrived at the end of Act Two, The Solution. I think it's only fitting to have an update to celebrate the supposed Mayan apocalypse since Robot started production on the previous doomsday (Rapture Day, 5/21/2011).

Act Two clearly shifted the focus of the story (and, by extension, the comic series as a whole) from Apple to Edward. It really, sort of, tries to do a lot of things at once, in terms of story progression and character development, while attempting to keep the overall feeling of the story light and humorous. Act Two's production began August 26, 2011 and went until August 31, 2011. This was the quickest turn around in terms of writing and artwork because I was pretty jazzed about the story progression. Around this point, I had begun to formulate my end goal with this story, and eventually knew how it was going to end. However, the school year began and Robot was put on hold, indefinitely. During the hiatus, I kept brainstorming how to move on from Act Two into Act Three, which left me dead stumped for a few months. Around the start of January 2012, I began to clean up Robot so that I felt like I was making some progress. I cleaned all the way to Part XIV and sent it off to District by the end of February, where it began its run in April. Around this time, I had finally figured out how to move the story forward.

Production picked back up on April 25, 2012 with Part XVIII. From there, it continued relatively uninterrupted until Act Two's completion on May 5, 2012.

Some notes on Act Two overall:

• As previously stated, Act Two shifted focus of the comic series away from the titular character in order to focus on Edward's personal development. By the end of Act Two, I was getting seriously concerned about how I would bring the story back to Apple.


• I made the decision to make Edward a Power Ranger, and effectively change the course of the story, when I was watching the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Netflix during the summer of 2011. When the idea was planted in my head, it made me giggle with excitement and I knew that I was on the right track.


• The reason why I hit a road block after Part XVII, was because I wasn't sure about how to go about showing the Green Ranger leaping into battle. In the end, I decided to just use a jump cut sort of transition that was used pretty often in the show.


• There are a few instances of symbolism floating around Act Two. However, they don't become apparent or get explained until the end of Act Three.


• On the whole, I feel like Act Two flows better than Act One.

 

An Apple a Day... #59 and 60

Robot
Parts XXIII and XXIV

Some notes on Parts XXIII and XXIV:

• These are two of my favorite parts from the entire story. 


• I really strived to make these two parts more cinematic in presentation than any of the previous parts.


• Part XXIII's panels are a meticulous recreation of the actual Dragonzord summoning sequence from the Power Rangers television show.


• The "DOOM DOOM DOOM" sound effect used in the last panel of Part XXIV is indicative of what's in store for the remainder of the story. (It's also my poor attempt at subtle foreshadowing.)

An Apple a Day... #57 and 58

Robot
Parts XXI and XXII

Some notes on Parts XXI and XXII:

• Part XXI is one final attempt, on my part, to underscore the ridiculous nature of Edward and Zordon's response to the robot's perceived "menace."


• Part XXII represents the beginning in a shift in tone for the story as Act II begins to wind down.

An Apple a Day... #55 and 56

Robot
Parts XVIX and XX

  Some notes on Parts XVIX and XX:

• These two parts represent my attempt at slowing down the pacing of the story by using less panels per page. It works to a certain extent.


• Part XVIX shows my attempt at playing with panel placement by using an insert panel. I like it but think the panel sort of gets lost in the details of the larger panel. (The rough versions of these two parts were in full color and the panel insert reads much better in color.)


• There is something vaguely dirty about the way Robot is hugging Edward in Part XX. It was not intentional.


• Part XX is the last time I reenforce the fact that Robot only wants a hug and is not, outwardly dangerous.

An Apple a Day... #53 and 54

Robot
Parts XVII and XVIII

  Some notes on Parts XVII and XVIII:

• Right off the bat, the color of these two pages seems a bit weird despite them being the same hues I've been using all along. Or maybe it's just me, I don't know. The amount of time that passed since cleaning up XVI (something like 8 months) could probably be a contributing factor here.


• I had really high hopes for that Zelda joke. Unfortunately, it never really gets properly implemented in later parts of the story (as we'll see soon enough).


• Part XVIII features yet another Robot redesign.


• I was pretty happy I could bring back the VS split from Moustache. It also serves as a nod to the previous story (much like Edward's off hand mention of a bet in Moustache was a reference to The Bet.)


• Boy, those yogurt bastards sure are dramatic aren't they? (Yes, Edward and his ilk are yogurt. Recently I read something which called him a stack of talking rocks with moss. It was kind of refreshing after years of hearing Edward being referred to as poop.)

 

 

An Apple a Day... #51 and 52

Robot
Parts XV and XVI

  Some notes on Parts XV and XVI:

• I had originally intended for the robot to talk. In fact, Part XV was completed with Robot's dialogue intact. It made him sound like a needy creeper, and I felt like it wasn't in keeping with his characterization up to this point. (He went from being a scary, brooding, shadow-cloaked menace to a needy, creepy, hug-demanding pervert. Trust me, it wasn't good.) I felt that keeping the robot a pantomime character would benefit his overall portrayal in the comic (after all, it's very easy to misread someone's action's when they cannot explain themselves (i.e. babies, animals, etc)).


• Part XVI features two of my favorite renderings of Zordon. The first is when he has that smug smile on his face as the lightning bolt drops. The second is in the sixth panel.


• Part XVI also has the distinction of being a page that I feel looked better as a rough drawing. Some of the energy of the panels gets lost in translation from rough to cleanup but, for what ever reason, it's much more noticeable in this Part.


• I still don't know what the hell is going on with Edward's hair.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #49 and 50

Robot
Parts XIII and XIV

  Some notes on parts XIII and XIV:

• By the time part XIII was finished, I had realized that Zordon had become pretty repetitive in his description of "the power." It was something I noticed about the way Zordon would explain concepts to the Power Rangers in the tv show. He would constantly over-explain simple concepts (typical in a kid's show but, I mean, come on, man, get to the point!) So, I decided to have Edward call him out on it in part XIV.


• The last panel of part XIII is, in my opinion, the best drawing of the command center I had done. It's success won't be replicated and, speaking with the blessing of foreknowledge, represents the point where many of my background drawings start to look like poo. (Not ALL of them, mind you. There are still some cracker jacks coming, just you wait.)


• The purple text box bit in panel four of part XIV is a direct and shameless reference to the Legend of Zelda.


• I'm not sure what's going on with Edward's hair in some of these panels. It's really all over the place. Also, the green coloring isn't very consistant from page to page (I think I eventually standardized it, but, who knows.)

 

 

An Apple a Day... #47 and 48

Robot
Parts XI and XII

  Some notes on Parts XI and XII:

• Part XI marks the beginning of Robot's second, The Solution.


• The backgrounds in this act were some of my favorites to draw (despite there really only being, like, 6, different ones total).


• The colorization of Edward's hair and eyes is symbolic for two reasons. The first is the obvious call out to his ranger color (much like how the Power Rangers would wear clothes that denote their ranger color when they were at school). The second reason will be revealed after the conclusion of Act Three.


• Zordon is really fun to draw. He's basically a blob with a face.


• I chose green to be Edward's ranger color because the Green Ranger was my favorite ranger as a kid.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #45 and 46

Robot
Parts IX and X

  As stated before in the story/concept writeup, Robot is a tale of woe, told in three acts: The Problem, The Solution, and The Consequences.

The three acts, while being a chapter structure to the story, also represent the blocks of time I spent working on Robot. For example, from May 21, 2011 (the supposed "Rapture Day") until August 24, 2011, I worked on Robot for (what seemed like) a good stretch of time. I was taking a contemporary art class at the time and my notes got mixed in with the actual planning and rough drafts of the pages for Robot (all the rough and pre-visual work for Robot was done in a sketchbook, versus the digital methods I used for Moustache). This was kind of cool because it was almost like Robot took on an alternate form: A story between the actual story where Apple, Edward, and other characters would comment on my notes and continually complain about the lack of actual progress I was making on Robot at the time. (I called these little interludes "commercial breaks" but, by the time I got to Part X, I was over their charm and, promptly, put an end to them.) The actual lapse between the completion of Act One and start of Act Two was only about  two days.
Some notes about Act One, overall:

• The design of Robot changed between part one and part eight. This is because when I began roughing out Robot, I hadn't settled on a final design for the robot character. Therefore, when it came time to show his silhouette in the final panel of part one, I made it of a generic tin can robot. I continued to use this generic sort of robot design all the way through (Rough) Part XV. When it came time to actually reveal the robot in the cleaned up version of part 8, I used the initial tin can robot shape, but made it lankier. (Embarrassingly, Robot's design continues to fluctuate throughout the remainder of the comic. However, this can attributed to a slight stylistic change in Act Three.)


• The District runs Robot's installments as "Pages", while I run them as "Parts." Essentially, it's two different names for the same thing. However, I would argue that calling them pages implies that the story is meant to flow seamlessly throughout its run. This is not the case with Robot. In fact, if you were to read Robot straight through, page to page like you would a normal comic book, you would find it to be a hastily written story with enormous plot holes and missing character development. This is because Robot was conceived as a weekly comic, wherein I took into account the amount of time that progresses in the real world when writing each part. This little fact is especially important to keep in mind of Act One when it's read through, again, all at once. The inclusion of the weekly delay in Robot's posting is essentialto the pacing of Act One overall, as well as its jokes.
  
  
  
  • One example is between Part IV and V. At the end of Part IV, Edward is about to be accosted again and, at the start of Part V, he bursts in on Apple using the toilet. This scenario is humorous, sure, but becomes funnier if you imagine Edward being held captive by the Robot for an entire week versus, what, like an hour? At the start of Act Two we begin observing the events in, basically, real time.
  
  
  
  


• The comic is called Robot, yet the titular character doesn't show up until Part VIII. This was done intentionally, as I wanted the story to develop slower than in the previous two stories.


• I use the term "accosted" to pretty much serve as a euphemism for molestation. It becomes fairly obvious in Part VII when the farmer claims the robot "touched" him. (C'mon, what did you think that meant, really?) I did this to skirt around District's fairly strict language and content guidelines.


• While molestation, itself, isn't very funny, the townies' use of the term really only denotes an unsolicited hug. This is important when setting up the robot as a character that is perceived as worse than he actually is.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #43 and 44

Robot
Parts VII and VIII

  Some notes on Parts VII and VIII:

• I had, at one point, seriously considered doing a short little side comic about Klaus' experiences with the robot. It would have been reminiscent of that scene in Frankenstein where the monster meets the little girl. It would've ended with Klaus and Robot holding hands and walking into the sunset.


• I don't like Will and Grace, which is, apparently, something I've passed on to Apple and Edward. I'm still not entirely sure why I singled that show out in Part VII.


• Generally, I'm not pleased with the layout of Part VIII. I don't think it's very intuitive when it comes to actually reading it. However, I also don't feel like reworking it for the time being.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #41 and 42

Robot
Parts V and VI

  Some notes on Parts V and VI:

• I find that there is something, inherently, humorous about an apple using the toilet.


• It is implied that Apple continues to poop for a while after Edward bursts in on him.


• The news broadcast was a convenient way for me to quickly validate Edward's experiences for Apple.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #39 and 40

Robot
Parts III and IV

  A little bit of commentary for these two parts:

• Apparently, Apple wears his polka dot thong on the weekends. He also seems incapable of tying his robe closed when he has company over.


• Yes, I did only color Edward's hair for that gag. No, I'm not ashamed to admit that.

 

 

An Apple a Day... #37 and 38

So, I've decided to go ahead and repost Robot here anyway. However, I think it'll be done in double posts. This serves two purposes: First, it allows me to quickly catch up with the District run of Robot and, Second, this layout will be more reminiscent of what Robot would look like if it were physically published. Below the comics, I've added a short write up about the story of Robot and and the general concept behind it that I wrote when I began retrofitting these comics to storyboards for an animatic. (Hey, if I'm going to redo past blog postings, I may as well add a little extra content.)

Robot: The Animation is dead in the water at this point, but the story and concept write up still apply to the comic. Well, enough of my blabbering. Onward, to the comic:

Robot
Parts I and II

  
Story 
The sudden arrival of a robot in the woods shakes a community to its roots. Told in three acts, the story follows the exploits of a Edward, a well-meaning, albeit annoying, yogurt tuft, as he tries to convince his friend, Apple, an apple, that he has been accosted by a robot. When the two hapless heroes go investigate Edward’s claims, the robot is nowhere to be seen, lending justification to Apple’s belief that Edward was simply messing around. The truth is revealed in a news broadcast vindicating Edward’s claims, forcing Apple to eat his words. Whilst Edward gloats, the Robot continues his reign of terror, with seemingly no end in sight. By the end of the first part, it is clear that something must be done about this menace and the universe has chosen Edward to be its savior.

Okay, I’m finished kidding around.  Honestly, the above synopsis is way more serious than this story demands. In short, this is a stupid story about two friends, a robot, and the misunderstandings that come with being different in a town full of 1950’s McCarthy-era views on society and how different and exotic beings are probably evil and therefore, threaten the established norm.

Concept

This story arc is a direct continuation of a comic series I started roughly two years ago called, An Apple a Day…  As its name suggests, it follows the exploits of an Apple and his friends as they live their lives to the best of their ability. Originally conceived to be a daily comic strip, my laziness got the best of me and the comics have become more weekly based. Recently, I’ve crafted multi comic story arcs, beginning with a story called, The Bet. I won’t go into detail but, suffice it to say, I then crafted a sequel to the story called, Moustache, that, if one could believe it, was even dumber than the previous tale. Robot, is the third story in this arc (despite the fact that I have been working on a robot-themed story since the genesis of the comic two years ago).  

The three stories play together as a loose trilogy of events. The Bet is a tale of Love, Moustache is a tale of Envy, and Robot is a tale of Woe. The Woe part applies to the robot, who, despite his “menacing” appearance and societal perception, only wants to be accepted and loved. Unfortunately, society is not ready for him.