I have always liked ‘out to lunch’ shop signs, I am not quite sure why that is. Perhaps it’s the ordinariness of the typography, but also because these three words seems to convey a world of possibilities; a condensed hour or so where one could be doing any number of things. Now I have finally designed one myself, hopefully the first of many. The rather upbeat exclamation mark was inspired by the excellent album cover of Eric Dolphy’s singular ‘Out to Lunch!’ (Blue Note, 1964).
This week’s post was unexpectedly inspired by an old episode of ‘Due South’ I watched by chance on TV last weekend. ‘Due South’, for those old enough to remember, was a Canadian TV crime series from the 1990s about the adventures of Benton Fraser, an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Fraser travels to Chicago in order to investigate the murder of his father. He ends up staying there as a liaison officer in the Canadian embassy, and helps solve many more crimes alongside local detective Ray Vecchio. The TV series was broadcast on Greek (and British) television at the time, although sadly I can’t remember the title’s Greek translation now.
I never watched the series at the time, but last Saturday evening I found myself watching the last half hour of an episode entitled ‘Flashback’ (series 2). In it, a jewellery store is robbed and its owner kidnapped. Fraser loses his memory whilst pursuing the robbers/kidnappers in a getaway car, and Detective Vecchio must help him remember again in time to find the robbers. There is a scene where Fraser is sitting alone in the car waiting for Vecchio when the ghost of his dead father appears in the back seat. They start talking, but inevitably the conversation is interrupted by the returning Vecchio who asks Fraser: ‘Has anything happened?’. Fraser replies: ‘In what sense?’. In an otherwise unremarkable episode, this, I thought, was a nice illustration of what it’s like sometimes to live in your head. That scene stayed with me for a while afterwards. In fact, I liked Fraser’s deadpan reply so much that I decided that I had to get Luci, who often has surreal flights of the imagination in broad daylight, to say it.
So, in conclusion, even the most mundane aspects of popular culture sometimes reveal little nuggets of inspiration one can make use of in some way. If you don’t know or remember what ‘Due South’ is all about, here’s the Wikipedia entry for it.
Another week, another snippet from the currently in-progress Folly Ground #2. Apparent magnitude is an astronomic(al) term, and it measures the brightness of a star or any other celestial object that can be observed from the Earth. It is also the name of a cult science fiction television series in Folly Ground. The main plot is loosely based on the well-known myth of Castor and Pollux (Κάστωρ και Πολυδεύκης for Greek speakers), also known together as the Dioscuri (Διόσκουροι), only this time it is transposed in space. The twin half-brothers (they have different fathers, and one is mortal whilst the other immortal) have been forcibly separated, and they spend the series trying to reunite and get back home to the constellation of Gemini.
‘Apparent Magnitude’ is broadcast on TV615 on Friday evenings at 7 p.m., followed by a repeat at midnight. Although it is not the most popular programme on Folly TV, it has a very loyal, almost fanatical, audience which has allowed the current second series to be filmed and broadcasted. Below is a full-page TV guide advert for the series — naturally in black and white.
Unsurprisingly, Luci and Raf are avid fans of ‘Apparent Magnitude’, never missing an episode. Flo is too, although his priorities are apt to change from time to time if a promising date with an intriguing girl appears on the Friday night horizon. Each one of them finds something to identify with, be it the various dramatic subplots, the technological gadgets, or the degree of attractiveness/coolness of the actors who play the various characters in the series.
Below are a couple of initial sketches of Pollux (left) and Castor (middle) as portrayed by the (fictional) actors Cirrus Reeves and Kirk Cumulus respectively. I should also add that their looks as seen here may or may not change as FG#2 develops. Click on the images if you’d like to see them a bit larger.
Finally, in case you’re wondering, I am only a science fiction fan in so far that I grew up watching ‘Star Trek’ (the original series) and ‘Flash Gordon’ on T.V., and the one film that has really defined my understanding of the genre has been ‘Blade Runner’ (of which I am still in awe of). Otherwise, I am, more or less, a complete ignoramus.
If you are sufficiently intrigued by Castor and Pollux, and would like to brush up on their lives and times, including their rather complex and frankly fantastical origin (twin half-brothers?! really?!), you can pay a visit to their Wikipedia entry.
Below is an advertising page from the currently in-progress Folly Ground #2. I have come up with a new concept for a peculiar fizzy drink called ‘Nebular’ — ostensibly the new craze in fizzy drinks in the world of Folly Ground. As you can see from the advert, it’s not easy to get a can; you have to somehow be ‘in the know’. It has some slightly obscure popular culture and TV science fiction links (all fictional of course) which will, I hope, be apparent as well as entertaining once the issue is complete. And, most importantly, it comes in three unique flavours. Just don’t ask me what they taste like. I really have no idea!
Languid times on the beach continue in this post too. The weather is so warm and humid here in London at the moment, all I can think about is the beach. If you have access to the sea this month, enjoy it!
Below are some (very) rough sketches/ideas I did before finalising the artwork above. You can click on the images if you would like to see them a bit bigger.
The panels in this post are a continuation of my last entry (see ‘Friday night movie’ below). It also relates to ‘Date night’ (also below). Luci, having dropped off Raf at the cinema, is now at a loss for what to do with himself on a Friday night and, consequently, is feeling a bit despondent. He decides to return to work to while away the time with Ed, his boss at the Quicksilver Messenger Service (located, for the most part, at Roxy’s Espresso Bar in order to support Ed’s considerable caffeine habit). Now, Ed is generally fond of his young employee, but will he be understanding in this instance? Or will he compound his misery? Find out below.
If you are new to this blog and have not read (or perused) Folly Ground #1, you can still do so here (it’s free!). I’d like to think it’ll be worth your while, and it will give you a bit of background on the characters featured in these posts. Ed plays a prominent part in it alongside Luci, Raf, Flo, Paul and, of course, Gordon (that’s Luci’s dog). So give it a go, you might enjoy it!
A relatively quick set of sketches about driving to a late night movie on a Friday. I tried to spend as little time as possible cleaning them up (a rather tedious affair), and have left many rough edges and inconsistencies. I dispensed with a lot of the finessing I normally do, and only added borders around the drawings, and typeset speech bubbles – preferable to my own handwriting.
