"A Cry For Help" by Gerald DeJesus
August 31st, 2010 by GabeThis is it, the definitive end to Big Pants Mouse. I saved Jerry's masterpiece as the final final final Big Pants. Why? Because it's all there. Like us all, Jerry has always had a soft spot in his heart for this little mouse, but unlike the rest of us, Jerry's heart is quite different.
Jerry is an amazing artist. You have seen his work and you didn't even know it!
My friend Tony introduced Jerry to me at a Carl's Jr. in '99. Tony wanted me to put in a good word for Jerry at Spumco. He was amazing, and we hired him for his flash expertise, but unbeknownst to me, I already "knew" Jerry.
See, some of us guys at Spumco had this contest called the "Ace Card". We would find the nastiest filthiest videos online and share them as our "ace card". Tony always seemed to have a HUGE amount of videos and would usually always win. But those times changed when Jerry started at Spumco. Jerry was Tony's secret supplier of depravity. If I would have known this, I would have told our boss that we needed to hire Jerry on his filth finding abilities alone!
Since then, I think I've worked with Jerry on every flash project I've done, including the Big Pants Mouse pilot at Disney. He is an amazing art director, bg designer, painter, animator, and all around great guy. Thanks for the final word Jerry, you put the final nail in Big Pant's coffin.
Thank you all for all the support over the years. Here's to the end of Big Pants and the start of Life In The Analog Age next week!
First I have to comment, that razorback pig monster has a wonderful design. I keep going back to look at it again and again. Just out of curiosity which one of you designed that thing, because it's freaking brilliant.
Next, I'd like to post an observation. We're all aware of the old graphics trick of drawing something bigger than the published size. Shrinking it hides mistakes, which is why comic book pages are so much bigger than what's printed. Shrinking can make good art look great and great art look better.
It's been observed that one measure of good design is whether or not your characters actually look better when printed at a larger size than a smaller one. Having said that, I would like to remark how impressed I was with today's strip, simply because Diseasoid looks so good. He is shown at a larger size than we usually see him and instead of looking bloated or stretched, I actually find him more appealing this way. Especially in the close ups on panels two and four.
I never thought much of the design in Blonde, until by chance I saw a blow up of of Dagwood one day and it took my breath away. There was a lot more to him than I ever noticed, and having seen these larger versions of Diseasoid, I realize that I've been taking his look for granted as well.
Given, it is a simple design, but there's an inherent kindness to his features, a sort of goofy, good natured quality. Looking back on past strips, I realize that this has always been present, it just hasn't been nearly as pronounced until today.
In fact, from what we've gleaned in Diseasoid week, our bush beast bud came from a background of slavery, had lived to mourn his flies, and now has had mercy on a tiny creature intended for Skadi's palate. I jumped to some real conclusions when reviewing 'Through the Porthole' yesterday (and even admited to in my initial post), but I feel I'm a little more justified in my observation about Diseasoid.
He seems to be a character who has suffered from a bad lot in life and instead of being jaded, is spurred on to help others, perhaps so they won't have to endure the things that he has. This comes across as an instinct rather than an intent, which illustrates that this helpfulness in a genuine feeling for others and not an willful crusade.
It speaks of a great heart and more importantly a great character. I can't wait till next week's strip (not that that's anything new) to see what we'll learn about Diseasoid next.
P.S. Diseasiod's development has been so interesting, is there any chance we might get a more indepth background of Skadi somewhere down the line? Perhaps we could learn where her meat-mania started?
Skadi's always so hilarious...
I want one of those pigs (the ree ree one)
Those are great silhouettes in the last panel, by the way, and another beautiful coloring job.
And every time I eat ham or bacon.
And that Pig Beast looks awesome! Poor Diseasoid. HaHa!