Labor Days

Lay Bo Daze

2010-10-20T07:28:00.001-07:00

Fan art by Kathryn DeFeo. You wish you were this cool. So do I.

Labor Days : Just Another Damn Contest!

2010-09-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

Who wants hot, burning art? Who wants to look History square in the eye, spit at its feet, lock the hammer back and offer him an ultimatum...

...just to have your girlfriend aerate his body with speeding lead.

Yeah, so do I!

At NYC Comic Con the toiling Dukes of Labor Days tower
(which looks like this)

will be collecting entries for our art contest. To enter, just draw anything (and we mean anything) from the Labor Days world. It has to feature a character from the book caught up in his or her own antics. Color or black and white. Traditional. Digital. Your call. Then email a copy to us here to be in the ultimate contest running.

Email ricklacy @ gmail . com with the subject "Labor Days Contest"

Make sure your submission is in by Oct 7th before the convention weekend starts!

There will also be a day to day contest at NYC Comic Con! All you have to do is find us at the oni press booth, hand off your submission(this can be the same submission for the big prize) to either myself or Supreme Duke in Charge of Horror Phil Gelatt. At the end of each day, we'll pick a winner who will receive a signed copy the Labor Days sketchbook.

Once all entries are in, we'll chose an ultimate winner who will receive an original page from Labor Days Vol. 2, a signed copy of both volumes AND a spot for their pin-up in our next Labor Days project. There will be a 2nd and 3rd place winner who's submissions will also be featured in our next printed work.

Ready!? Goooooooooooooo!

People In Trouble.

2010-07-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Due to specific circumstances, this endeavor is on hold. I will update when gears are spinning and the fires are hot. KEEP YOUR PANTS ON.

This one's for the dreamer who was told he shouldn't dream.

Starting on Monday, July 26th, 2010, I'll be releasing 3 pages a day in chronological order of the entire, READABLE two volumes that compromises Labor Days to date. Three pages a day until the entire saga is told, for everyone to enjoy who hasn't enjoyed it yet. This is your SDCC 2010 announcement. By the end, I'll hope you come by NYC Comic Con (or any con we attend) and say hi to us here at Labor Days Towers. We'll let you dream.

The Enormatons.

"You're not crazy, its the world around you that is."

Chapter 10 Preview

2009-10-19T15:59:00.001-07:00

A plethora of pages from Chapter 10 of Labor Days Volume 2!

Chapter 10 Preview

2009-10-19T15:57:00.000-07:00

Chapter 10 Preview

2009-10-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

LDV.2: Just Another Damn Day IN STORES NOW!

2009-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard... we've released, launched and crammed into the stratosphere the 2nd instalment of Labor Days! Pick up your copy at comic shops, books stores and online today!

Also, check out this great review from the sweethearts at Girls Entertainment Network:
www.girlsentertainmentnetwork.com/graphic-novel-review-labor-days-vol-2

And 15 page preview at Comic Book Resources:
www.comicbookresources.com

Labor days Desktop Action!

2009-09-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Labor Days Volume Two is done! It's at the printers as we speak and we'll have the first run of books available at SPX, the weekend of Spet. 26th! If anyone is going to be there, come by the Oni Press Booth for the latest in the drunkard ramblings and exciting world romping adventures of Benton Bagswell!

Volume two takes a turn for the weird when all the forces of good, evil and blissfully unawares come head to head in a clash of legend making proportions!

I'll be updating next week with art goodies i'll have available at the show as well as more blog updates outlining the book in its entirety! Until then, please avail yourselves to these sick-house computer desktops that Labor Days cohort and fellow ladies man Sean Ferguson whipped up for us!

Click the link to get Bags, Stryker and Victoria themed desktops backgrounds!

labordaysonthehouse.blogspot.com

Also, robot warriors. Fighters of the robot hordes:

SDCC and Vol.2 Ch. 8 Page Preview

2009-07-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

This Weds. I'll be off to San Diego for the monster of all shows; SD Comic Con. I didn't go last year, but am very excited to be attending the 40th anniversary of the convention this year. I'll be at the Oni Press booth most of the time seeing as this is Labor Days's first time in San Diego and I want to be on hand to help feed it to the masses. I'll be signing with my creative partner every day so you can't miss us! I'll have original art for sale and selling sketches for $20, as well as building a commissions list.

Signing at Oni:
Thursday: 11:30 - 12:50
Panelmonium: 3 - 4
Friday: 1 - 2:20
Saturday: 10 - 11:20
Sunday: 1 - 2:20

You can also catch Phil at the Oni Press's "Panelmonium" on Saturday. He'll be on hand to announce a new project of his as well as the release date for Labor Days Volume 2: Just Another Damn Day

I can also be found at the Dark Horse booth on Friday for Star Wars Day! I'll be signing copies of my latest star wars graphic novel, Han Solo and the Hollow Moon of Khorya with writer Jeremy Barlow and colorist Michael Atiyeh.

Signing at Dark Horse:
Friday: 11 - 12

I hope to see a lot of friends and new faces this weekend so if I haven't sought you out, then please stop by one of these scheduled signings so we can shoot the shit and flirt with the girls.

Post-It Panels

2009-07-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Just a mash up of a few panels drawn on post-its for Volume 2. I have tons of these lying around.

LD. Vol.2 Chapter 7 page review

2009-06-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been closing in on finishing up Labor Days Volume 2 with more than half the book in the can at this point. So I'll start posting more and more pages from the new book. Starting with this whollopers from chapter 7! I think this chapter was the most fun to illustrate. I'm also including the only splash page to be seen in the OGN's page history.

I also promise to finally post those character designs I've been dangling out there! Once I get my sketchbook and scanner in the same room.

@ MoCCA

2009-05-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Coming up next month is MoCCA here in NYC. Philthy Phil Phingers and your's truly, Rumble Bumble Rick Lacy will be featuring a slew of new products at our first all inclusive Table : Labor Days! #204.

We'll be selling T-shirts featuring everyone's favorite rambling man, Benton Bagswell, dressed as Zed sitting upon King Conan's throne! We'll also have posters of the Volume 1 cover, more book markers and a slideshow of preview art for Labor Days Volume 2: Just Another Damn Day!

OMG! You must be must asking yourself "What else can you even offer!?"

Well, nothing actually. That's really about it. But I'll be doing sketches and taking commissions and PM Gelatt will write you sonnets and soliloquies.

Check us out on June 6th & 7th at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street! It'll be a hoot!

Labor Days Volume 2: Just Another Damn Day

2009-04-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

Cover colors for Volume 2 by the talented Kathryn DeFeo: http://ironoxide.d8d.org/

Kathryn really blew this cover away and we here at Labor Days Towers couldn't be happier. We initially decided on a day palette but Kathryn came back with this great night time rendering and we never looked back. Be sure to check her art work out and look for this rad cover on shelves this fall!

Wild Mustangs

2009-04-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Wild Mustangs bear down upon the encampment. Their intent was cruel and without prejudice.

Page 63 of Labor Days: Volume 2: Just Another Damn Day

Volume 2 Cover Inks

2009-03-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

The inks for the cover of Labor Days Volume 2 are done. This coming week I'll start to knock out the colors and then off to solicitation heaven to be kissed by the angels! For our second volume we really kick up the adventure level (and the absurdity level) and try to keep the readers guessing as to where we're headed next! I think the cover art really captures that sense of appalling excitement.

Get it on!

2009-03-24T16:28:00.001-07:00

Tonight and every tuesday night at 9pm EST, your favorite creators of Labor Days: A tome-ology of the gods, will be at the oni press forums hosting their chatty and always entertaining live web thread The Rick and Phil Hour! Catch up on our musings and mayhem as we disect pop culture and well...everything else really.

We can be found at www.onipress.com/forum

But tonight we're trying something new, so find us here: www.onipress.com/blog

LD.Vol.2 Chapter 6 Page Preview

2009-03-05T10:01:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pages from the first chapter of Labor Days: Volume 2: Just Another Damn Day. This book promises to take our wild bunch of misanthropes to higher heights and deeper depths and everywhere in between. Here's a small taste of the adventure to come, as our hero-for-hire Benton Bagswell and his shit house crazy girlfreind Victoria Arnhiem follow a cloaked man through the streets of Belgium to their awaiting vessel!

Review'd @ Newsarama

2009-02-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

Newsarama columnist Sarah Jaffe has posted a shining review of Labor Days up on Blog@Newsarama!

Check out her article:

LaborDays@Newsarama

100% Stryker

2009-02-22T14:01:00.001-08:00

Artwork from our upcoming desktop wallpapers! Those puppies should be getting completed within the week and as soon as they are you'll be able to get your very own "Official Labor Days D'tops" at the Oni Press website!

Rick Stryker: American-made Awesome

Victoria by Kathryn DeFeo

2009-02-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Kathryn's Site

So...

2009-02-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

Labor Days @ NYC Comic Con Oh Nine

2009-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

...and all that jazz. This will be the first home town con for Labor Days: Volume 1 and Phil and I will certainly be out there too make sure its a good one. Catch us at the Oni Press Booth every day of the convention for signings and whimsical storytelling. I'll be sketching as much as I can and taking commissions as well as toting around new pages and designs for volume two of the series. Just ask for a sneak peek!

Our Signing Schedule:

Fri.
5:45 – 7:00 Philip Gelatt, Rick Lacy (with Thomas Kirsch, John Layman)

Sat.
1:15 – 2:30 Philip Gelatt, Rick Lacy

Sun.
2:45 – 4:00 Philip Gelatt, Rick Lacy (with Vasilis Lolos)

We're also including this fun lil' keepsake bookmark with every purchase of Volume 1...or if you happen to tickle my fancy ;). It promotes our Second Volume's release date...sort of. The date has yet to be announced but it'll certainly be out this fall. It also invites the readers to join the Two Dukes at our live chat thread at the Oni Press Forum, aptly titled "The Rick and Phil Hour!"

Designed by Sean Ferguson

Seeya this weekend!

LD Gang

2009-01-28T11:19:00.001-08:00

Artwork for a bookmaker we're going to give away at cons with the purchase of the LDv.1 Like at the upcoming NYC Comic Con this Feb. 6th. Catch Phil and I at the Oni booth all weekend!

Tone and color by Sean Ferguson who's doing a stellar job at designing the marker. I'll post that when its finished.

Post-It Panels

2009-01-08T11:32:00.000-08:00

Whenever I'm stuck with a panel I take it to the streets. Right at the corner of Ass-stomping and Post-It Ave! I'll normally build up levels and levels of lil' post-its until I reach the desired outcome. And sometimes I do it in one!**

At any rate here are a few post-it panels from Labor Days Vol.2.

And an unfinished panel from Ch.7 featuring a mysterious cloaked man! OOOOOOO!

**that's what she said!

So this is just awesome

2008-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

100% endorsed by LD.

Cool Guy

2008-12-04T07:13:00.001-08:00

Rick and Phil gab it up at Sequential Tart

2008-11-18T11:15:00.001-08:00

Check out our musing by clicking the link!

SEQUENTIAL TART!

Off on a Trangent

2008-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sifting through the boxes and boxes of LD art we have have over here in the dungeon levels of Labor Days Tower I came across some very ancient character designs. One of which was this quintessential drawing of Bags' ex, Kelly Trangent. In the early drafts of LD, Ms. Trangent had a bigger roll and her rocky relationship with Bags a larger plot scenario. Well that all hit the cutting room floor and she was only used to further the idea of Bags' out of control life. She can be seen more prominently in our Ashcan that leads into the first volume.

And here also are a few choice pages from Chapter 2: Bags In Bedlam

Saddle, I can has back in it?

2008-11-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

This blog is in sour need of a new post! Fortunatly Phil and I have been very busy with a number of new projects, including LABOR DAYS VOL. 2, so rest assured we havent been sitting on our rumps. We were at APE last weekend and had a good time of it. I prefered SPX more, but had never been out to San Fran before. So it was a good time. Except for the rainy weather. We met some very verocious fans and ran into our buddy JK Parkin from Newsarama. Plus strong sales on the book. I good weekend for sure.

I haven't scanned in any new art recently, but I have uploaded two pictures of pages from Vol. 2 on my FLICKR. Which I posted below. Check out my full photostream HERE!

Come One, Come All...

2008-10-19T15:10:00.001-07:00

Sunday night and I have a few things to report.

1! Labor Days now has a group on that silly ole social networking site, Facebook.

Check it out and join the party.

2! good Sir Lacy and I are both giving this Twitter thing a shot.

We're here:

Lil Rickle. Lil Philbert.

That's it for now!

ASIFA East gets itself to Status: Bags

2008-10-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, Oct. 16th at 7pm, Phil and I are going to be at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU to discuss our newest creator owned comic book, the aforementioned Labor Days: Vol. 1: All Things With Wings. Hosted by ASIFA - East.

So come on by, bring a friend and get the dirt on the two Dukes of Labor Days Towers as we bicker back and forth about the industry, our new book and how to make it in the biz. Or, at least how we tricked everyone into letting us join the club.

Thanks go out to Dave Levy for taking the helm on this one!

LD: In stores & Newsarama-rama Interview!

2008-10-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

In case all you Bagsolites haven't seen our latest interview with Newsarama's John Parkin, check it out here:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/10/09/blog-qa-philip-gelatt-and-rick-lacy/

And get out to your local comic shoppe or hit the amazon trail to get yur own copy of Labor Days!

p.s. my laptop is currently in surgery, so no art updates for now :(

Someone Grab That Tape!

2008-10-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rick and I had this crazy idea that we would hand out old VHS tapes as promotional items. This was Rick's mock-up of what they might look like. Unfortunately, it was a bit cost prohibitive and really, who wants an old VHS tape?

But still, a fun idea.

And it does make you wonder...

Just what the hell is on that tape?

SPX-tacular!

2008-10-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

It's Phil here, back on the Blog-train.

Labor Days hits your local comic shops this Wednesday. If they don't carry it, feel free to ask them to order it.

And check us out on Myspace comics!

PREMIERING THIS WEEKEND!

2008-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Phil and I will be at the Small Press Expo this weekend in Bethesda, MD for the official release of Labor Days Volume 1: Wine, Woman, and Song! The first unbound proof went to Oni Press this week and we're told it looks AWESOME! So if you plan on attending, come by the Oni Press booth for your very own copy of the most exciting thing to hit your shelf! We'll be on hand to chat about our first creator owned book, buy a few drinks, sketch a few drawings and I will be selling some pin-up art (like the one below of LD's leading ladies), a few pages from the book and my own personal art. Hope to see some familiar faces and make some new friends at what's turning out to be the most exciting artistic event of our career thus far!

Original Labor Days FUNttons!

2008-09-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

...or at least that's what we're calling them here at Labor Days Towers.

The first LD merch (aside from the book) are some fashionable buttons! These were fun to make and we've got a few more planned for when readers become more familiarized with the specific quirk of Labor days.

This one was designed by blogspots own Sean "keep it sleazy" Ferguson

Forum: Oni

2008-09-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Have you checked out the Oni Press Forum yet? It went live at SDCC and is gaining a sizeable audience. Go check it out for the most up to date coverage on future events and comics by Oni press. Plus you can chat with your favorite creators!

www.onipress.com/forum

oh look! Bags' is on it right now!

Victoria in Ten Pants

2008-09-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday Phil and I finished proof reading the lettered pages for Labor Days. After corrections and a bit more fussing over at Oni, they'll upload the book, which should be designed, layed out and ready to go to the printers.

For now here's a bit of fun with Victoria's weekly wardrobe.

Monday: Tight Black Stretch Pants. Whenever she puts them on she's compelled to high kick. Partly show off, partly to enjoy the freedom. She calls these ones her "stretchies."

Tuesday: Grey Dress Pants, loose at the bottom (but not flair, because c'mon…). She can't high kick in these one, but after a day of stretch pants she needs to feel a little dressy, and they certainly don't inhibit her ability to punch, grapple, or otherwise detain.

Wednesday: New Jeans. A little tight in the hip, but a perfect thigh fit. These are new for the fall.

Thursday: Old Jeans. The pair she was wearing the first time she went on special assignment. They are covered in faded stains; vomit, chocolate, blood, and coffee. She views the stains with nostalgia.

Thursday Night: Used Leather. Thursday night she walks to the local pub to have a drink and a cigar. Nobody bothers her there and she doesn’t bother anybody. It's just her and the pants.

Friday: Stripey Pajama Pants. Friday she does nothing but watch television with her brother. Her brother changes moods, personalities and sentiments approximately 2.5 times as many times as she changes channels.

Saturday: Black Billowy Skirt with Shorts Under It. Saturday she's out on dangerous business all day long. She wears the skirt her father gave her on her 16th birthday. She wonders if it was her mothers.

Sunday: Full Business Suit. Sunday she makes the round with her father and a number of investors. They review treatments, they gossip about patients and they have a supper of sandwiches. She is bored.

Sunday Night: Black Sweat Pants. Sunday night, after they leave and after her brother is asleep, she curls up in the corner of her room and just listens to the building, trapped somewhere between resignation and a remorse she can't name.

Monday, again: Stretchies. She wakes up with a smile and a high kick, lights up a fine fine cigar and heads off into another week.
written by PMG

Like Magic...

2008-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

... the very last book art for Labor Days has been finished on Labor Day! This is purely coincidence. And a funny one at that. Initially there wasn't going to be cover art for the first chapter, as I planned the book cover to lead into it after a few pages of credits and what not. After the Oni design guru (Kieth) started working his miracles he thought it better to have a new piece of art starting off the first chapter. So I banged out this fella over the weekend and just put the final touches on it today. This week the lettering is getting finished, Phil and I will do proofs and if all goes according to plan Labor Days: Volume One: Consorts to Chaos will be at the printer by the weeks end.

And then on to SPX for wild releases and launches!

Its all so exciting!

Chapter Covers

2008-08-26T10:13:00.002-07:00

For the beginning of every chapter in Labor Days I created new art for interior covers. Chapter 2 I posted a while ago, but with the rest of them complete now I think it fitting to showcase them all together. The cover art for chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Stick A Fork In It....

2008-08-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

...Labor Days is done!!!

I just put the final brush stroke on the art for Volume 1! And I've never felt better or more accomplished than right now.

There's still alot more to do to get the book ready for the Small Press Expo in Oct, but essentially all the book art is done. This has been one hell of an undertaking for Phil and I and we can't wait to get this thing on the shelves. Stick around for more art and news as we get closer to SPX.

For now, here's the pencils for the final page of the book. I have several methods of finishing my pencils. The last few pages I've just been drawing over blue pencils with a Peacock Blue Prismacolor marker. My preffered method is to pile on the post-its over rough drawings, making a sort Frakkenstien's monster out of the page. Then enlarging it to ink over to bristol board.

I'm gonna go throw up now.

RRRRHHHRRR CHUNK CHUNK!

2008-07-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

SDCC 2008 starts today, and though I shall be missing said event for the purposes of monetary recruitment and work obligations, young PM Jeepers will be wandering the con floor with a steely gaze and a bottom pinching urge. There wont be much in terms of Labor Days news at this con. Phil should be on the Oni Press panel just reiterating the release date like we did last year and again at NYCC a few months ago. Are you guys just as anxious as I am to finally release this damn thing?! Sheesh! Just a few more months. Oni will have some cool new shwag at thier booth this weekend, including The Apocalipstix release by Guy Fawkes and Cameron Stewart and a crap load of new merch. Check'em out!

For now I leave you all with a bite from Labor Days: Chapter 4: Bosoms and Blues.

THIRTY 6 panels

2008-07-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

Rough pencils for the second to last page of Labor Days Volume 1: Butterscotch and Ballywogs.

Each script came in with its own numbered pages starting at one. So this is actually page 135 or so.

MAKE-UP!

2008-07-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Costume lineup for ol' Bagswell. This sits right over my desk so I don't forget his lil' bandages or details. Plus its a reminder of how much I love him. There's one more costume for the fifth chapter, but A) It didn't fit on the 11x17 paper and 3) it's a drastic-ish change that maybe its "funner" in secret.

BRRRRRR-AAAAP! KA-POW!

2008-07-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Whenever I draw gun fire or explosions I start making the sound effects. I guess playing G.I.Joe never goes out of style.

I'm nearly done with art! One more chapter to ink and a few odds and ends and that puppy will be in the can! If all goes according to plan we'll see you Bagsicans at SPX.

Lacy out!

Trumbo-tastic!

2008-06-19T06:58:00.001-07:00

Okay this one isn't directly Labor Days related, but still important...

A documentary about blazing mad and epically great screenwriting legend Dalton Trumbo opens in New York and LA next Friday, the 27th of June. Watch the trailer here.

Trumbo, for you non-film people out there who didn't just watch the trailer, wrote movies like Spartacus, Roman Holiday, Exodus and Papillon. He was also one of the Hollywood 10, blacklisted and forced out of the film industry because he refused to submit to HUAC.

I highly recommend everyone I know in either LA and NYC go see the movie. If it does well this opening weekend, it'll open in more cities, spreading like a wonderful eye-plague across the nation.

I know, I know, "See a documentary? In the theaters? Isn't that what TV is for? Why am I paying for cable if not for the History Channel?"

Well, my unenlightened imaginary reader, I'm here to tell you, that Trumbo is one of the most satisfying documentaries you're likely ever to see. It is well-worth the price of admission. It does the things that every great documentary, and every great film, does: it enlightens, it challenges and it entertains while doing it. It takes you to a place you've probably never thought about before, with a cantankerous and charismatic character as your guide.

And it has stars in it! Bonafide stars, the kind who have papers to prove they are in fact famous. People like Liam Neeson, Paul Giamatti, Michael Douglas, Joan Allen and Nathan Lane. And more than that even.

If you're interested in American history, it's a must see. If you're interested in human drama, in depth and complexity of emotion, it's a must see. If you're interested in the English language, in the act of writing, in the history of film, it's must see. If you're interested in politics, in the epic narrative of the 20th century, in dangerous acts of rebellion, it's a must see. If you love the Constitution, Das Kapital, or even just Spartacus, it's a must see. If you love masturbation, it's a must see. If you love Donald Motherfucking Sutherland (and lord knows this blog does), it's a must see.

Hell, if you love Metallica's video "One," it's a must see. Those infamous clips in the video? Yeah, those are from a Trumbo film. See? This guy's all over the place.

Let me put it in Rick Lacy terms: Dalton Trumbo was the Han Solo of screenwriting. There, now go see the movie.

And if all that weren't enough, it was also produced by close friends of Labor Days, Will Battersby and Tory Tunnell. Indie producers extraordinaire and all around good people.

It opens the 27th of June. LA and New York. Buy tickets, go see it, tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell your neighbors. It's well worth it, I promise.

Taste our progress!

2008-06-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here at Labor Days towers we're busy as bumble bees.

-Rick is honing in on inks for the final two chapters.

-I'm hacking, slashing and photoshopping my way through dialogue changes and balloon placements.

- We're both brainstorming exciting new promotions for the book.

For anyone joining us off the Newsarama link, welcome. Labor Days is a book coming out from Oni. Poke around the blog, look at some stuff and say hi if you feel like it, we love to interact.

If you want to know what the book is about, all I'm gonna say right now is that it's about you (that's right, you!) if something totally awesome happened to you.

For anyone else, if you want to read more of me running my mouth about that Indiana Jones guy, go here.

Rick's gonna jump on here and put some page samples for all you folks to look at.

CRACKOW! Here i am with arts! Just a few consecutive pages (pencils and inks) from chapter two and up top is one of my favorite pages from chapter one.

Behold My Many Words

2008-05-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

So, I wrote an Indiana Jones comic book a few months back. It's coming out sometime soon-ish (when I know the exact date, I'll let everyone know).

And I did a fun interview about it with Sequential Tart which can be viewed here.

(Also, yes, that is an actual picture of me at work on my laptop.)

Ink'd

2008-05-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

"Good for you."

2008-05-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Rough for the interior cover of Chapter Two of Labor Days Vol.1: Babes, Bullets and Booze.

Balls to the Wall.

2008-05-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

In the original drafts of Labor Days, we delved into Stryker's past more than we should've (and it was totally my fault:/ ). This sword swinging vixen fell to the cutting room floor, and unless young Jeepers revives her in Vol 2: The Search for More Money, she'll remain only in the anals of the LD history.

Labor Days isn't about modern gun slingers and sexxxy ninjas. Its about a guy like you, if his life is turned upside down on its head. Everyone Bag's meets, though infinitesimally more interesting than he, is only incidental and reliant more on him then they think.

Until Death Do Us Part

2008-05-01T09:23:00.001-07:00

Back from the NYC Comic Con and though Labor Days: Vol. 1, 16 Bit Adventure isn't any richer, it is closer to completion. PM Jeepers was away for most of the weekend at his sisters wedding (congratulations to Neal and Clara!) but we linked up our on board targeting systems for an attack run on the main exhaust port on that Sunday, where we met with Oni press marketing chthulu, Cory Casoni to discuss ways to advertise the best book you haven't read yet! Soooo keep yur eyes peeled by this summer for LD news to be popping up in the Earth-verse!

In the mean time, here are a few more pencils from chapter one. I'm nigh on complete with inking this chapter, so that'll be fun to see! Right?!

RIGHT!?

yeeeeaaaahhhh.

A Message from Ms. Arnheim

2008-04-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

It would appear that I have slacken on my duties to supply supple blog posts concerning process and art of the book here-to-for known as Labor Days: Essays in the Fun-dane. So, Victoria here would like to post some rough penciled art.

Thanks Victoria!

Ok, um. Hi. My name's Victoria. I'm in the book that these guys are making for some guys. Um...anyway, I guess i should fill in the details here.

After Young Jeepers stresses and toils over draft after draft of scripts. Smoking and cursing and Gelabatoning, he hands it over to Rick with a grin and a wink. Then he reads through it at his earliest convenience, marking thumbnail layouts in the margin. Along with, I noticed, girl's names circled by hearts and pictures of himself driving trucks. Silly. When the day is done, he'll plot out every chapter in these nifty lil' 4x6 "sketchbooks."

So, after Rick has the whole chapter mapped out, he'll blow these up to the appropriate page ratio and begin to scribble out happy comic happenings. The first chapter he left rather rough, dontcha think? He claims he was still finding his flow with the comic-crafting and tends to figure things out in ink anyway. Blah blah blah, right? Apparently he doesn't mind leaving poses rough, or BG's just gone! However I noticed by the end of Vol. one he's begun to draw clearer. And crisper. So baby gets a treat. I guess its his urge to do things differently. Or his methods spontaneously changing or the knowledge now that a cleaner page is a happier page. Right? (he gabs about so much artsy bullcrap sometimes). So here are the first four rough pages of LB:V.1:Ch.1
click this to make it BIGGER!

Ta!
-V

Get in zee car, Mister Bagswell!

2008-03-19T17:16:00.001-07:00

Volume 1/Chapter 2/Page 20/Panel 5

Warren.

2008-03-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

Friend, confidant and beer supplier to ol' Benton Bagswell.

As Bags lives above Warrens bar, The Lions Paw, its no wonder these two mugs became fast friends. His roll in all of this, like Warren's own past, is quite remarkable.

And the following is what Phil has to say about him:

Labor Days' Warren takes his name from Warren Zevon and much of his back-story from many of Zevon's songs.

A lot of people were introduced to pop music via The Beatles or Elvis or some shit.

Not me.

For me, it was all about the headless ghost of a Norwegian mercenary, stalking the night with a Thompson gun. Or a certain excitable boy, digging up the body of his prom date and making a cage with her bones. Or a werewolf walking with the queen. For me, it was all about Warren Zevon.

Point being, when I started writing Labor Days, Warren was conceived as an elaborate reference to Zevon; as a kind of tip of the hat to one of my biggest influences. His dialogue was littered with allusions.

Well, it's years now since that first draft. The level of Zevon reference in the character has been diminished and his role in the script has undergone some pretty severe retooling.

And, of course, the actual Warren is dead now. Far before his time, if you ask me.

Labor Days' Warren is Bags' confidant, companion and bartender. He runs the Lion's Paw, the pub directly below Bags' flat. He's a large, jovial fellow.

Put a little booze in him and he'll tell you tales of lawyers, guns and money; stories of gunmen in the Congo hard at jungle work. He knows how to drink and he knows how to fight and he's hiding not just a few secrets.

Now I'm gonna go listen to some Warren Zevon. I'd recommend you do the same. It'll do us all some good.

LD01pg023_ink

2008-03-04T14:08:00.001-08:00

So I'm still doing pencils for the first volume. Staggering the last three chapters together as I get ramped up to start inking(half the book is scanned so far, and as I keep promising, i'm going to post up a bunch of pencils soon). I've begun some inking, nonetheless, ahead of schedule just to get my head ready and try out some different brushes. I have a few done so far and I'm very pleased with the results. Here's page 23. The last page of chapter one of five.

This was all done with a Windsor & Newton number 2 brush. I used a micron 01 for the straight lines and white ink for the touch ups.

Erzebet Bathory

2008-02-25T15:31:00.000-08:00

Real name: Francine Finklestein.

Yes...she knows it ryhmes.

What's her roll in all this!?

Panel to motherflipping Panel

2008-02-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

Hey all, I've finally started scanning pencil art for Labor Days: Volume 1: the Infinite Fiasco. I still have to eff with saturations and compile some loose panels, but there should be some fat posts coming up in the future about our artistic process from begining to end.

For now here's a panel from Chapter 2. Our girl, Victoria has just read some unpleasing news in her little folder there.

Also, if you havent seen it yet, Labor Days can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com. The release date should be for early fall. We've pushed it back a few months for printing reasons and basically to adhere more to my schedule (which is a pleasant way of saying I'm a bit behind.)
Labor Days @ Amazon

Lacy OUT!

2008: Year of the Mad Monk

2008-01-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from the two princes of Labor Days Towers!

LDs Top Videos of '07!

2007-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

For your New Year's Eve enjoyment, I proudly present a collection of the five top videos of '07. These are the bite size video bits that have been highly influential on the young minds of Labor Days Towers.

Indulge please:

1. Boney M's "Rasputin" - It's the perfect mixture of historical fantasy and disco craziness. Watch it at least twice and then find yourself singing it in public by accident. Furthermore, can we please make 2008 the year of the Mad Monk?

2. The Trailer for John Boorman's "Zardoz" - It has been asked of me, more than a few times, what the hell the appeal is in Zardoz. Maybe this trailer will help you all figure it out? Either that or I'd have to type out a lengthy, meandering, poorly planned essay on film sci-fi. How about you just watch the trailer and then maybe the movie and see if you can find any nugglettes of enjoyment in them?

3. "Plate or Shrimp... or Plate of Shrimp" - Let it seep in. Possibly, the most profound moment in film history. Possibly.

4. "Good Serve. Good Serve." - This one's for Rick. Hang in there, Maverick.

5. Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" - Because no list of videos is complete without one appearance by Donald Sutherland (or Alan Rickman or possibly Davide Thewlis or Jeremy Irons... but they're not in this video and Donald is). Also, it has mad science! So let Kate Bush ring in '08 for you.

If you play all of these at once and close your eyes the conditions might just be right to touch infinity. And who doesn't want to do that?

Behind the Scenes Conversations

2007-12-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Much of the work of Labor Days is done over instant messenger. It's what allows me to work without my pants on and what allows Rick to hide the fact that he's constantly drawing Hermione Granger without her pants on.

Below is a little sample of some IM text for you to nibble upon. It pertains to the details of two of our characters, Leon and Antonio, dedicated revolutionists.

RICK:
If anyone asks, the Marxists drive around
in a big, black 1971 Cadilac Sedan de Ville
which used to belong to the King of Rock
and Roll.

ME:
Elvis?

RICK:
Hell yeah!

ME:
That makes no damn sense.  But okay.

RICK:
Right?

NARRATOR:
Moments later…

ME:
I can't wait to do panel-by-panel commentary on
this book. I'll say things like "the Marxists
should be driving a tiny east bloc hold over
from Soviet Poland. Like a Trabant or something."
And you'll say things like "Yeah but look at
this savage Fukk Mobile I have them in!"

RICK:
Ha!

ME:
"…it fits their souls, not their politics,"
you'll add.  And then I'll have to agree
with much sadness.



... And yes, our IM-versations do have narrators, thanks for asking.

Mr. Bagswell

2007-12-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

See!? Jordan could totally play the kick-backed kid.

Pushing the pals, part 2: Jordan Smith

2007-12-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

Jordan Smith is the man we want to play Bags in the (probably never to be made) Labor Days feature (or at the very least in some street team events).

He's a talented young actor, a firm believer in the healing powers of fantastical fiction, and he's the man I go to when I want to talk about Cormac McCarthy.

He's also starring in a lovely new webisode series that has just premiered. It's entitled Five to Six.

Watch Jordan now. And then, somewhere down the line, you can say you were there when it started.

Awake o Rama (Stumping for the box office)

2007-11-28T13:44:00.001-08:00

"Awake" written and directed by Joby Harold opens this weekend. I highly recommend everyone see it.

And that's not just because I know and idolize Joby and used to work for the co-producer.

It's because it's a damn fine piece of filmmaking.

And it'll make you think Hayden ain't that bad.

And it'll make you wonder where Lena Olin has been all your life.

And it'll make you never want that heart surgery you were dying to have.

So, if it's playing near you this weekend, go see it. If it's not, get in your car and drive to where it is playing. Or get someone who lives where it is playing, to see it for you and tell you all about it.

Cheers for Awake!

Hip-Hip-Hooray!

P.S. by Rickle Lacypants: "I almost did storyboards for this film! We luvs the Jobi!"

I Did Had Fun Writing It

2007-11-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

Script is done.

Notions and ideas for Volume 2 are swirling.

Knee deep in a new project, soon to be announced.

Not sure when our release date is.

If I could figure out how to do something like the following video in comic book form, it would be really amazing.

Busby Berkely. A revolutionary of a different sort.

My favorite thing about these things is that they always start with a curtain raising. As if those ridiculously complicated geometric synchronized dances (later in the video) would make half as much sense seen live and without the benefit of a high angle camera and a damn clever editor.

I guess what I'm saying is, "Eat it, live theater."

Up the Bags... the blog is back.

WOW! Where have we been?!

2007-11-20T13:11:00.001-08:00

Well I'll tell you. Right here. Working on whats bound to be your new favorite graphic novel, Labor Days: Vol. One; A Tale of Comedic Miss-adventures and Guns. I feel ashamed that i haven't paid enough attention as of late to the ol' LD blog. Ironicly, its because I've been paying so much darn attention to the actual book.

As I type this i realized i haven't scanned hardly any art into my computer and my scanner is at the studio, and my cozy little butt is sitting on the couch at home. So for now I'll leave you with the comic pages we used to pitch Labor Days to Oni press. I think these might be pushing almost three years old. Sheesh!

I also got a haircut today. Not as short as i wanted, but still awesome.

Thoughts from a Tuesday

2007-10-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

It's a pretty lame Tuesday over here. Let me give you a run down of what I've learned today:

- Southland Tales, the follow-up to Donnie Darko, sounds just as full of promise and disappointment as Darko itself. I found the earlier film to be not quite as smart as it was pretending to be, but frustratingly close to being something really special.

- I will never stop loving Gary Numan. I have a funny story about drinking too much and Gary Numan. But I'll save that for another time.

- Michael Chabon did a treatment for the first X-men movie that didn't feature any super villains. It was all character development within the x-team. I think that idea is just as smart as it is pretending to be.

- There is a damn fancy bus service that goes between D.C. and NYC.

- David Cronenberg was interviewed by the Guardian recently. He's so dreamy.

And that's it. The summation of Tuesday.

Rick's out there somewhere. Drawing and looking great doing it.

Across Town

2007-10-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Take a stroll across the internet to visit the blog of loyal LD supporter Tom Bayne.

It's called Modernarthur.

Some things Tom Bayne Does:

- Works on Venture Brothers
- Lives in Greenpoint
- Dates the lead singer of a band called Clean & Nasty
- Enjoys the works of Steven Coogan
- Thinks a lot about his home town of Butler
- Works for Arli$$, but only under duress

I also highly recommend the archives at Modern Arthur. They're found here.

Here's a Labor Days themed post from way back in '05. Look at how strange Bags looks. And dig all those panels that have been lost in the wreckage of the re-writes.

The Next Saturday Night

2007-09-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday night again. And this week I have demanded that the lower levels of Labor Days' Towers remain active all night stitching and mending and designing for me an outfit to rival the young Master Churchill's.

Next week I may start posting about some books I've been reading. Or something interesting like that.

But for now, I have to go downstairs and whip the tailors. I need this sweet suit, as soon as possible.

Saturday Night

2007-09-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

The lights are dim at Labor Days' Towers as AMC is showing the final night of their Hitchcock fest.

I find my mind wandering to two things.

1) Hitchcock was a bastard genius.

And more can be learned about both film and mankind in general from one of his films than from most of the last 20 years of American filmmaking.

2) Saul Bass.

I'm captivated by Saul Bass and his ilk. The type of film professional who is a complete madman; talented and essential. But who is, in a sense, unsung. Walter Murch is another one like him.

Rick owes you folks 2 character bios now. Both are written and sitting in his e-mail.

Crossing the Finish Line

2007-09-18T09:57:00.001-07:00

So I've just finished the script for Volume 1.

It feels a bit weird. Like I've finished a term paper or something and am now waiting for grades.

This is how it ends:

I kind of hate that for a parting line of dialogue. But that's what editing is for.

So that's it. My part is mostly done. Now I just get to play around on the blog till release date.

And post links to some things. Like this. M. John Harrison being a smart bastard.

Stay tuned for more character bios from Rickle.

Up the Bloody Bags!

Victoria Arnheim

2007-09-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Bio Number 1: Victoria in Ten Parts
Written by Phil Gelatt

1- She was born and raised in an experimental home for the mentally unbalanced (read: asylum), daughter of its controversial head doctor. She never knew her mother.

2- She has a younger brother for whom she cares very much.

3- She is a bit unbalanced but he is homicidally insane.

.

4- They both work for their father as he attempts to remake the human psyche. She works in retrieval services, he works in the first phases of patient re-education

5- She believes most buildings would look better if they were on fire. She swears it's an aesthetic thing not a political thing.

6- She has tried to date 4 inmates of the asylum.

-Bill and Tony both died during various stages of illegal surgery. Bill had long black hair and liked to play his cell bars like drums. Tony had a mustache and a cute nose. She liked Bill more than Tony.

-Terence was driven to incoherence by an experimental treatment based on certain techniques used in the 1990 capture of Manuel Noriega.

- John was the cutest, but his supremely paranoid nature prevented him from getting over the idea that Victoria was a KGB plant and only after certain secrets that only he knew.

After their first kiss, he did, in fact, reveal these secrets to her. They included two recipes for pickles (one for sweet and one for dill) and an incoherent explanation of the many branches of the secret government of Easter Island.

Their relationship ended soon after.

7- She is quite lonely.

8- Once she sat on the roof of the asylum and tried to dream about what her life would have been like elsewhere. When she failed, she went back inside and found the moanings, the jabberings and the silences of the inmates comforting. That was a year ago.

9- If asked, she'd say her favorite film genre is romantic-comedy, pause, and then add that she thinks Hugh Grant acts too much with his eyebrows.

10- She knows that a better world is possible. She learned that much from her father. It might just take some vision and kerosene.

Rick Lacy's 2 damn cents:

Creating Victoria was the easiest of the three main characters. I had a pretty decent idea of what I wanted her to look like. Strong, cocky and bit filled out in all the right places. She's careless, for sure, in at least her attitude so I wanted to reflect that along with her penchant for bucking the system in her attire. In the first drafts she had no glasses or freckles. She was a straight haired brunette. A friend suggested the glasses to add extra quirk and I decided on freckles to push it even further. Her hair then became (dyed)red and a bit wild to make her more a symbol of fire.

Curing Reality.

2007-09-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

(An IMversation between Rick and me. About a year and a half ago. About a project that has yet to come to fruition, denoted by "HU".)

RICK
Dark Horse isn't really going to see much HU.
Most people aren't.

ME
Most people won't... until they get their comp copy.
Until everyone in the U.S. gets their comp copy.
No...
Everyone.
In.
The.
World.
Free HU for everyone!
Rick, listen...
It'll cure heroin addiction.
It'll cure homosexuality and heterosexuality.
It'll cure death.
It'll cure night time
and storms.
It'll cure male pattern baldness
and fat childrenitis
and it'll help kittens stay cute
and it'll help puppies with only three legs
see that everything is okay
and it'll help crack babies find crack.
Because, Rick, they need HU, but they need
crack more.
Because we're going to save the fucking world with this stuff.

RICK:
Uh...

ME:
The whole world.
One household at a time.
And even if you don't have a household,
we'll save you anyway.
Poor little Sudan boys will read it
and their eyes will clear
and their bellies will fill
and they'll know it's time!
Time for a better world.

RICK:
Can I shine a ray of reality here for a moment?

ME:
No, Rick, we're curing reality.
No more reality!
For anyone!
We're free now.

(Photo by Charles Lavoie. Taken three nights ago. See that off-kilter smile? I'm still trying to save you all, whether you like it or not)

(In other news, Rick has yet to post those character bios he promised us)

An Unlikely Trio

2007-09-05T12:34:00.001-07:00

In the coming days Phil and I will be spoiling yon readers with juicy biographies on our main cast of characters. The loosers, the ladies, the liberators and the spys who loved them. We'll tell a bit about they're backstory and juicy bits about their lives as well as show some evolution in design and perhaps even a panel or two from the book.

For now, I introduce the trio of players that the Days of Labor will follow most closely. These are head shot marker sketches I did on post-its with a Pitt artist pen and a nearly dryed out Staedtler Mars Graphic brush pen.

Right now...

2007-09-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

... as I type this, Benton Bagswell, hero of Labor Days, is wishing his life were a little more like this

And I can't say I blame him.

"I am the Lord Of Darkness..."

2007-09-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

So Ridley Scott has proclaimed film sci-fi to be dead.

I think he might be right. I'd yell "Starship Troopers" but that was a decade ago. "The Matrix" passes with a stong B, but that was 8 years ago now. "Serenity" is alright, but it's not pushing any genre territory. Maybe "The Fountain." Maybe. I've heard "Primer" is good, but I've not seen it.

If I were part of a thriving filmmaking community, I think I would want to take this as a call to arms, a challenge, to prove to Sir "Black Rain" Scott, that films can still jet us into speculative fiction territory that is new and fresh.

But I'm not. So instead I'll just sit over here and stew about it.

In other news...

Also, tomorrow is Labor Day, the holiday named after our comic.

What will we do to celebrate, I wonder?

Knee Deep

2007-08-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

I swearz i'm gonna post something soon! Between drawing the comic and becoming a Jedi, blogging falls a distant third. And I appologize.

I should get an intern.

I agree with Kevin.

Anyway, here's Peter Gabriel to tell you a little about LD Volume 1.

Rumble... Winner!

2007-08-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well, the response to Rumble I: The Experiment was... underwhelming.

That's okay though, because we're doing it again soon and next time we're doing it through comments. So all you lazy ones out there can play along.

But there was one reader who took up the challenge. And so I proclaim Kevin Houlihan of Madison, Wisconsin to be Winner and Supreme Champion.

A few of his responses:

Will Farrell is funny, I think you have him confused with Ben Stiller. Ben Stiller is not funny.
Greatest American film of the 80's? Didn't the 80's give us one of the Smokey and the Bandit films?
24 is bad for America. As is any reality tv based on winning celebrity, getting married, or buying a house.

But Kevin is wrong about one thing: "Star Wars is great" he says. "It opened the door for film in creating an alternate world and environment and addressing every detail... it was also the first movie I saw with my dad in our local downtown theater."

See what Kevin's doing here?

a) He's being flat out wrong

b) He's mistaking nostalgia for redeeming quality.

That's okay though, because Kevin's adorable:

Also, congratulations again on getting engaged.

Rumble!

2007-08-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Loyal Readers, Occasional Skimmers, Folks who just Stumbled here by Accident,

Last week, I yapped on and on all week long (till the break of dawn?)

This week, I want to try something else. I'm gonna call it the "Mid August Labor Days Pop Culture Brawl."

Below is a list of a few pop culture opinions that I support. I've tried to choose contentious ones.

Now here's the game. If you don't agree with one or many of those opinions, e-mail me and tell me why and we'll have it out.

I'll post responses and back-and-forths to the blog. Provided, of course, that I get any.

I love an all-out all-in-good-fun pop culture row.

The List:

- Will Ferrell: Not Funny

- Robo-cop: Greatest American Film of the 1980s

- 24: Bad for America

- Interview with the Vampire: Hunkiest Movie of all Time

Subset: Also most homoerotic film made in Hollywood, to date

- Cameron Crowe: Almost Complete Crap

- On Her Majesty's Secret Service: Best Bond Film till Last Year

- Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me: Pretty Damned Good

- Star Wars: Not a Single Redeeming Trait

If you have some other controversial pop culture opinions you'd like to share, e-mail me with them.

I'll probably argue even if I agree.

Basically, this is an attempt for me to see who's out there. There might not be anyone out there. But I aim to find out and I aim to do so by hearing what you think about shit.

People who I know in the real 3D world can feel free to participate as well.

Reach me at pmg0628ATearthlink.net. Replace the AT with the symbol, you know the drill.

The Road to Now, pt. 5

2007-08-19T08:37:00.001-07:00

Everybody Out of the Car: Now!

And so, as my re-writes got under way, Rick and I came to become fans of a certain Oni comic.

Fans to the point where we ended up sending an e-mail to its creator professing our love for the book.

And he passed our information onto the fellows at Oni. Who were intrigued by the concept, and, let's be honest, impressed with Rick's work on Venture Brothers. They said they wanted to do it, and after a lovely dinner/drinks meeting in the sadly now closed Cedar bar, we had a deal.

So the Labor Days publishing contract was born, many long years after the first hand shake that got the endeavor going.

And that brings us today, with Rick hard at work drawing the first book and me hard at work writing the end of the first book.

Next week, I'm in Wisconsin. Anyone want anything?

The Road to Now, pt. 4

2007-08-17T07:14:00.001-07:00

Off To War

Ah re-writes. I hate the idea of them. I hate every moment before I start them. I get all bent out of shape "how dare the first draft not be perfect?!" Or even worse "how dare the [second/third/fourth..tenth] draft not be perfect!?"

But once I start them, I love them.

It's like writing, but less than half the work.

And so it was with Labor Days. A little over a year ago, I cracked the file open, realized there were a ton of things that could be fixed very easily. And so I did.

I got the page count right, went through and put in panel breaks, and added a shit ton more drama.

(That should always be cardinal rule number one for writing. Don't bore your audience. Ever. They will walk away from you and never come back. Unless you're James Joyce. In which case they might come back to you but only out of some guilt about never having read you.

Back when I used to read screenplays for a living it was a startling revelation how few writers new how not to bore an audience. It is my opinion that so much of understanding screenplay structure, and story structure in general, is simply knowing how to hold interest.

Aside over.)

The watch words for the new Labor Days became things like "emotional poignancy" and "beat up Bags at any opportunity."

And so a leaner, meaner, funnier, fighting weight Labor Days was born.

All told, and working sporadically, the revisions took me about a month to do. Inevitably, the necessitated Rick re-drawing everything. I don't think he minded, as the merits of this new LD were pretty apparent.

Meanwhile, the opportunity to pitch to Oni had come about through rather odd means.

The Road to Now, pt. 3

2007-08-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

Teen Times

I have in front of me a copy of the original Labor Days script. Draft is dated March 2003. Yikes.

As written it is 26 pages. That ended up ballooning to over 36 pages after Rick expanded the comic's fight scene into an 11+ page epic of back alley scrapping.

Let's see here.

I haven't broken the pages down into panels in the script.

I haven't paid a lick of attention to pacing or structure.

Dialogue scenes are bloated, rambling, and at times baldly self-indulgent.

The third act is laughably convoluted (we actually fought over this third act quite a bit, with me constantly using this as an argument "just trust me, it makes sense.")

As a very first draft, I guess it functions. It did give Team Labor Days something to spar with in the interest of developing our skills and functionality as a team.

We worked from this pimply, awkward monster, as well as it slow-witted brother (the original chapter 2 script), for about 2 1/2 years. In that time, Rick drew most of the first issue, including all of that epic fight scene he laid out. What a humdinger that thing is.

Meanwhile, in our lives away from Labor Days, I started honing my writing and thinking seriously about the "how" of writing. Rick was off getting other professional comic book gigs along side his animation work.

In other words, we were figuring some shit it out.

So when the decisions to gut the script and build it better came along, it seemed the obvious thing to do. I think we both knew that we loved the material and we loved the characters, but that this version wasn't working.

In particular, I knew I could do it better. Or maybe I knew I had to do it better if we ever wanted to find a publisher who'd want to work with us.

So in the interest of a leaner, bolder, stronger Bags, I started ripping the thing apart.

Rick, would you mind giving these people some of the old pages to look at? Or at least the old designs? They've been suffering through a shit load of reading this week.

And now here, just to prove it's still out there, the first page of "Storms a'Brewin," the original LD script:

The Road to Now, pt. 2

2007-08-15T05:43:00.001-07:00

Early Childhood

The original typed Labor Days document was a pitch I threw together in the days after our initial brain storm session, without Rick's knowledge. I was genuinely intrigued by this idea of a mysterious tape and I started to pull together a number of sources of inspiration in the hopes of stumbling on a story that would be fun to do.

It gave an initial form to Benton Bagswell ( though his original name was Bertrand). It gave him a job ("Chores for Hire"). It gave the story a structure (12 labors). It gave Bags a personality (skeptical-sarcastic-loser).

It also added a number of new characters to the mix. Among these were the marxists, Bags's ex-girlfriend, and Rick Stryker (much more on him soon).

The one thing it didn't add was a title. It would be at least 6 or 7 months before the words "Labor Days" became associated with the work at all.

I don't know quite what Rick thought about the pitch upon first receiving it.

But I do know the first thing he said to me was "It's good but we need to change Bertrand's name... how about his name is Benton Bagswell and his friends call him 'Bags'?"

And after a brief discussion, it was agreed that I would write a script and we'd go from there.

Oh and then we got gun-swords, rented hyper-armor, fled the space castle and stormed the fiery ramparts of Mega-Fortress Void.

Next installment? the horrors of a first script.

The Road to Now, Pt. 1

2007-08-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Birth Site

Labor Days as a concept was born in old apartment of mine sometime in 2002.

Rick and I had known each other for a year or so. I had just graduated from college and Rick had just moved back to New York from a dalliance in Florida. We'd talked about doing a comic book together but only in the vaguest sense.

And, one night, we ended up sitting around in what turned out to be an impromptu brain storming session. Although, at the time, neither of us quite realized that's what it was.

Rick started talking about a character who was obsessed with a mysterious videotape and we started blabbing about a chase across a city.

And then there was the single moment in which I believe Labor Days was truly born: Rick grabbed his forehead and pretended to be this as of yet unnamed character. "But what is on that tape?" he said, in an overblown dramatic stage whisper.

The character, who would end up being Bags, had no more definition than that. The tape was pure mystery. The locale was simply a city.

But, as it turns out, it was enough.

Stay tuned for part two. When we get swords.

It's Saturday Morning and Your Just in Time...

2007-08-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

... to fuck the average reader.

Once again, a post unrelated to Labor Days.

But seriously folks, The Wire is the best show on television. You'll hear it from loads of people and now you're hearing it from me. I dare you not to agree.

Chunks o' Hunks

2007-08-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

Team Labor Days as seen on the Oni Panel. Photos, as always, by Charles Lavoie.

Look at Rick, all confused and yet somehow still sexy.

Look at my ever growing bald spot, visible from across the room and yet somehow still sexy.

Been an exhausting week over in my wing of Labor Days' Towers. Next week is gonna be a big blog week.

I promise.

PS: If your weekend is slow go get some social education from Bill Moyers or Greg Palast.

First step into a larger world..

2007-08-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Labor Daydites! Labor Daysians? Er....anyway, Phil is gonna kill me for quoting Obi Wan Kenobi. But thats how it felt at this years Comic-Con.

The convention was awesome for Phil and I, especially since we got to announce our book and release some of the first art. The ashcan i've already posted so here is the cover of the book which was seen as a poster at the Oni booth. I composed the drawing and my friend Liz Artinian, who is an amazing artist was kind enough to do up this spectacular painting. The logo was designed by another friend of mine, Dong Lee, who's graphic design skillz are just awesome.

Newsarama has posted a little blurb about our upcoming book on their blog too. Which we appreciate immensely. I believe my reaction was "buh, wah!?"

http://blog.newsarama.com/2007/08/03/gelatt-and-lacys-labor-days/

Thanks Newsarama!

So the convention was a good trip for the LD boyz and stick around for further developments, as listed below in Phil's previous post.

Rick, out! SWOOOOOOSH!

Comic-Con: Post-Op

2007-08-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

The convention ended three days ago and I moved yesterday into an apartment that is not yet finished. So we have no kitchen and no room to unpack.

There's a lot to do in August for Labor Days so hopefully this apartment construction will finish itself and then I can get on with my portion of the comic construction.

Coming soon to the LD blog:

comic-con photos
character back stories
script selections
more talk of this thing called Zardoz
more Rick sketches
more Rick personality, splattered across the page

If you're joining us for the first time having seen our ash can in San Diego, welcome.

I'm off to unpack a box or two.

Up the Bags!

Comic-Con Post 2: Panelling

2007-07-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

No pictures from the con yet. But Team Labor Days did get to sit on the Oni panel along with many of the company's creators.

Rick gave a little spiel and I laid out the "it's repo man meets james bond meets hercules" line. I give the performance a B. We should have mentioned the blog. Oops.

And Rick had a great line prepared that he didn't use. (Point to the crowd and declare: "It's about all of you if something awesome happened to you.")

Next time, we'll be ready.

Our poster looked fantastic as does the ash-can. And it's been great seeing the Oni boys.

In other news, I've seen many more klingons and starfleet uniforms. It's coming, brace yourself.

Comic-Con Post One: Arm the Showless

2007-07-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Bags loves sci-fi (more on that and his favorite film later). And so do I.

I am, however, done with calling Star Wars sci-fi. It's sci-fa(ntasy). I've heard it argued in "clever" intellectual circles that a close study of Star Wars would show it had more in common with the western than anything else. I don't buy that.

It is fantasy, both scientifically and morally. And I am sick to death of it.

(noted: "Rick Lacy is certainly not sick to death of Star Wars >:P" - Rick Lacy

And so I eagerly await the day when Star Trek and its legions of slumbering fans (I know you're out there, I've seen the documentaries), march back upon Comic-Con and the nation at large to retake a portion of what is theirs.

Never a Star Trek fan myself, I am eagerly awaiting J.J. Abrams film. I want the trekkies to arm themselves and storm the gates of Nerd and get rid of some of these damn lightsabers and white helmets.

(Fast forward five years for a version of this post begging Star Trek to go away)

(China Mieville argues, as do others, that science-fiction and fantasy are actually the same genre wearing different masks, if you will. I pretty much buy that. So maybe I'm just going to call Star Wars shi-fa. Insert the "t" and the "ntasy" as you see fit.)

(I could rant about Star Wars and science-fiction all day, so be glad this ended here)

(If you want to know where my major tv/film sci-fi allegiances lie, look to a little space station called Babylon 5 or a ship called Serenity or a data-dog named Ein)

(More on comic-con as it develops)

What's He on About?

2007-07-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Go. Rent. It.

Prelude To A Bad Day

2007-07-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

That was the original title for a prequel story phil and I created to lead into the Labor Days adventures. I hope we get to revisit that story one day, but for now we have this little bad boy. Its a basic ashcan comic that will be released at San Diego Comic Con to serve as the first promotional material for the comic. Printed and lettered by the good people at Oni Press. So if you're in the neighborhood of the Oni booth stop by and pick up a copy. And say hi to me and phil. I'll be the one with the throngs of slave Leias and Phil will be the disgusted antithesis to so much of my Han Solo.

Chapter 4, Page 29, Panel 5

2007-07-16T22:26:00.001-07:00

As of 1:26 am, this is the most recent panel of Labor Days to be written.

It comes at the very end of the fourth chapter.

Page 29 Panel 5

A wide shot of the entire tableau. Le Mans knocked out, the women, Victoria among them, hold their guns on Stryker, Bathory gazes behind her at the smoldering building. Smoke from the embattled structure leaks up into the Nordic sky. In the middle of it all, Stryker shrugs as an uncertain smile crosses his lips.

STRYKER
So, now what do we do?

9 Days till Comic-Conapolis

2007-07-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Team Labor Days will be in San Diego this year!

Stop by the Oni booth to see our poster and check out our 5 page preview ashcan.

Accost Rick on the con floor and ask him about his newest haircut.

Accost me on the con floor and ask if I've completed my San Diego to do list:

Beat the jet lag
Drink enough to regret it but not enough to wish I was dead
Tolerate the overly personable San Diego wait staff with a smile
Purchase no more then 2 and no less 1 comic book character busts with intent to display prominently in new apartment and mortify girlfriend
Have at least one professional meeting
Do not sweat through shirt at aforementioned meeting
Stalk the Whedon, clutching desperately in my grubby hands a Spike toy
Convince Rick to join the 501st
Tease him, relentlessly, after he does so

In other news, I move to Brooklyn approximately 48 hours after returning from San Diego. It's going to be an exhausting week.

Stay tuned as I melt down on both sides of the country!

Rick, get on here and show them how we do a punch and an explosion.

2007-07-10T15:40:00.001-07:00

We do it like this!

WA-BAM!

* Phil says "That's technically a punch-splosion. But you all get the idea: We do it damn well."

The Gist

2007-07-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to distill a thing to its quintessential nature. Especially a story. Hard and frustrating work trying to sort out those words that'll make it all together.

But I've been down in the basement lab all night trying (that's me on the right), because I want you all to get it.

So here it is again, the question:

What is Labor Days?

It is the story of Benton Bagswell. He's in his 20s. He lives in London. And he's a loser. He does chores for a living.

One day, into Bags' life comes a mysterious videotape. You remember those, the old VHS kind. And with the tape comes a cast of bizarre characters, revolutionaries, spies, arsonists, mad psychiatrists, and etc. All of them gunning for possession of the tape.

And so Bags travels down the rabbit hole of misadventure, his life somehow adhering to a mythological logic (a mytho-logic?) that he might never understand. All of this leading to him making some serious decisions about the world and his place in it.

.... huh.

Still doesn't quite capture it how I want.

Did I mention there will be explosions? And lots of punching?

Rick, get on here and show them how we do a punch and an explosion. While we wait for the him, I guess I'll head back to the lab to try something different:

(that's me on the table)

Happy Fourth!

2007-07-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

We here at Labor Days Towers choose to celebrate the founding of this country by drinking a frosty toast to utopian ideals. And who better to share the brew of freedom with than Leon Trotsky and Antonio Gramsci, our resident Marxists.

They're the type that wanna get up in your country, corrupt your capitalist assumptions, pervert your bourgeois morality and dance a lusty jig all over your cultural hegemony. Then jet off on super scooters towards a golden tomorrow.

But they're both dead. So that's all a bit tough.

Lucky then that versions of them live on between the pages of Labor Days, sharing a flat in London, plotting for the day when they can return to prominence, smash the state, remake the world, and get it done right. But to do all that, they'll need to get their hands on a certain mysterious object. And therein lies the crux of their involvement in our little tale.

So Happy Fourth of July from the ghosts of revolutions past and the spirit of revolutions yet to come! Go watch some fireworks, and think about those moments when the world changes.

Beep Beep!

2007-06-29T05:28:00.001-07:00

Rick Lacy's arrived, folks!

A few words about my illustrious partner:

1) He wears leather, a lot of it. But only on his extremities.
2) He knows Form 7. That's the deadliest lightsaber dueling stance.
3) Any time he gets bored in conversation (and often just for the hell of it), he rolls up in his Conversational Clown Car, pulls everybody in, and floors it, dragging the talk into a virtual Toon Land.
4) He once tried to date a Disney Princess at Disney World
5) He loves to try to date bartenders and actresses
6) He's still single
7) He calls himself "Schmoopie" and also "Baby" (I wouldn't mention this, but he does it in public).
8) After seeing any action movie, Rick will walk out of the theater and imitate its main character (again, does it in public). I have witnessed Rick as the following characters:

The Hulk
Jack Sparrow
Wolverine
Nathan Algren (the last samurai)
Rick Lacy as an Angel (that night the clown car took us to a land where there was one male Charlie's Angel)
V (as in for Vendetta)
Captain Malcolm Reynolds

Welcome him!

And now that I've embarrassed him, the praise: every script I've ever written has gotten between 80 and 100 percent better after he's drawn it.

It's humbling and kinda amazing.

cheeky!

2007-06-28T23:37:00.001-07:00

I can't fix the below image hosting problem until i get my sweet ass back to work. So until then, lets rant a bit.

Whenever I'm drawing the cast of Labor Days outside the confines of the comic pages, for some unusual reason i conjur up the idea that they're play acting and now they're off set. So most of my drawings is them hanging about, or sitting in a car, or in this case taking a load off at a pub. Something the three of them prolly wont tend to do at all in the comic. Maybe Bags and Victoria might, but Stryker would prolly burst through the door and yell "everyone, quick, get in the car!"

and Bags would say "why the bloody hell for..?"

"Does lightning ask thunder why its so loud!? NO! Lightning flashes about... and gets in the damn car!" Stryker would retort.

and Bags says " Wow. You've got a bloody chee...OW MY HAIR!" cause stryker just grabbed him by the locks.

Maybe thats what would happen.

Rick Lacy reporting in! SWOOSH!

2007-06-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Thought it high time to get a post up in (as Phil puts it) this funkatronic mix. Been fussing over creating a specific LD layout for the blog and shirking my duties as co-mod, and we cant have that. We need a cooperative post matrix. A nexus of creative tendrils linking our space-minds!

So I'm gonna drop in a sketch of our anti-hero. The no-where-man, Benton Bagswell.

Creating ol' Benters here was an arduous process, that i shant bore you all with this day. Since there's lots more to come. One of my specific influences when creating Bags was Shinichiro Watanabe's Spike Spiegle character from Cowboy Bebop. Anyone familiar with said show will know that Spike is an ex-mob hitman and accomplished martial artist.

BAGS IS NOT.

But as far as his demeanor, the way Spike carries himself and interacts with others, as well as his penchant for smoking were all labels i loved about the archetype.

Well i'm getting longwinded here. My jobs ta make good with the drawings!

So stay tuned! the Labor Day masterworks are gonna get rolling and soon you wont be able to stop it!

Or the signal for the matter.