November 14, 2015

DETECTIVE BOOGALOO: HIP-HOP COP DAILY | IN THE BOOTH TRE SPEAKS TRUTH


DOSSIER NOTES:

(After the jump!)
When I brought this strip back into an age where nearly EVERYONE has the internet, I was a little taken aback by how people received it, especially as it made its way through the 4 million readers of the METRO newspapers. When I first started the webcomic version the world and internet was a VERY different place. People seemed to understand things a little better in 2002. Maybe it's me.

I expected more people who weren't into/versed on Hip Hop to NOT get where I was going with the strip–moreover I was dealing with people who were waiting for Marmaduke to happen--what IS a comic strip supposed to be, anyway? How much tolerance does one have for something as wide-open but easily misunderstood as Hip Hop?

I consider DETECTIVE BOOGALOO a serial strip, a continuing story told a day at a time. "Hip Hop Dick Tracy" is a nice elevator pitch, with a strong but silent main lead, dealing with a world of off the wall villains. Not that much of a stretch, unless you're not interested in seeing that. 

As the strip goes on, we see how we return to places in different points in time, and how people change and grow in those spaces. Ice Tre's producer, SHAWN is one of those people. His character to me, is a person who happens to be employed by a true gangster rapper-cum-super powered villain, and also your boss, which in my mind, sounds like a toxic work environment.

I think about, would you REALLY want to serve on the Empire's Super Star Destroyer ship where Darth Vader walks by you on your way to your post? Hope you didn't forget to get his receipt, because HE'S NOT GOING TO BE HAPPY ABOUT THIS NEWS WHEN YOU BRING HIM HIS BAGEL TOASTED.

Assistant and colorist ninja E really began to get where I was going with my colors in this strip. The machine began to roll in earnest around the end of week 1.


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