All of my friends have kinda dug comics, but I've always only had one friend who has had almost the same level of passion for comics that I have. Allow me to introduce you to Scott Bayler.
I met the man that men would call Boolah in the 3rd Grade. Me and Scott had pretty much everything in common. We were smart, nerdy outsiders who loved comics, video games (Scott had the best collection of Atari games EVER), and Pro Wrestling. We didn't just love comics, we loved making them too. My art style was inspired by the classic "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way", so my style was all a series of circles loosely bound together (still is, when you get down to it), while Scott (yes, Boolah, it is hard to type your real name) had a rough, more instinctive style of drawing (still does, I swear he would fit right in with the current wave of Underground, Gary Panter-inspired cartoonists). My writing style wasn't much different than it is now: All plot, all smash and grab, all madness. Scott's writing style was smarter and more cleverer. His stories were full of good characterization, solid plots, and cleverly crafted plot twists that would catch you off guard. When we were high school I created a "Sin City" rip-off story called "Orange Pulp" that featured me and my friends as a group of bloodthirsty gangsters violently fighting rival gangs (the enemy gangsters were inspired by other kids at our school, and yes it was somewhat fun to eradicate comic book versions of the kids who bullied and ostracized me in school). Scott created his own take on the subject, crafting a more down to Earth, psychological thriller style story that ended with an ugly gut punch of an ending, quite the opposite of my bare knuckle brawl of a story.
Oh, in high school, Scott got his nickname during a high school basketball game when his coach, in a flustered state, grabbed Scott and bellowed "Get in their Boolah!" From then on, he was always Boolah to us.
Comics were the only path for me, but my friends took different paths. Boolah wanted a good, dependable job and a family, so that was the path he pursued. For him, comics were just a hobby, to be read and enjoyed. Over time, he got what he wanted out of life. In the meantime, I actually got Boolah to write a story for me at one point. In my...second (?) year of making comics, I was doing a series called "Watchdogs" which was a full on superhero team book featuring Cactus Joe the Clown and a team of heroes based on my friends. I wrote the first issue, and I got my friend Shafe to write the second. Boolah wrote the third, which actually saw publication a bit later in "Truth or Consequences Monthly" #2 (the plan was to have Bro write the 4th issue, but that never came together, plus Bro wasn't really into it, being a music man and all). Boolah's issue of TORCM was a wild, epic, ambitious tale that had a definitive Grant Morrison edge with an attitude all its own. It was a good story, better than anything I had written up to that point.
But, like I said, Boolah had stuff to do.
And then things started to come together for my friend, and I started to like the idea of us working together again. So, I started dropping some feelers into the water, to see if he might be interested. We started making plans for a new series, him writing, me drawing. But things never quite came together, which was my fault. Still, the idea stuck with me. So, I thought, what if, instead of doing a 5th or 6th book I don't have time for, what if I just brought Boolah in to be my full time writing partner on the main TORC Press books I'm working on. Not because I need the help or a partner or anything, but because at the end of the day, I just wanted to make some comics with my old friend.
So I asked if he wanted in, and he said yes.
So, for the last few months we've been constructing "Bad Rapture". I've been sitting on the Plot for a couple of years now, and he's been helping me flesh out the Script. It's been pretty fun. We wrote some of it over Gyros once. That was cool.
Anyway, SDF 8/Bad Rapture Prelude starts on Monday. It's a much quieter, calmer story than TORC Press normally does, which was what I wanted. I wanted one last issue with the Community Watch Group and company before everything goes to crap. See you tomorrow.
