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Boom Talk

Wow, this is the first time this chapter has been shared independently of the printing of Boom Kid: The Ultimate Beef EP book.

This chapter is the one I am the most proud of to this day. Here’s why:

1. I worked on this chapter during the 2020 pandemic, which gave me more time to make more methodical, creative decisions.

2. With the extra time, I analyzed the weaknesses of the previous chapter and addressed them here. I focused on improving the colors and camera angles.

3. We explore these characters' backstories. You learn about their passions, influences, and tastes. You get a sense of their values. Most importantly, you realize they are children of 9/11.

I want to take a few moments and focus on that last point— I am a child of 9/11.

This panel was the most important one in the book for me. I was sharing my visual memory of that day. I remember it so vividly: watching the television while simultaneously seeing the silhouettes of the towers in chaos.

It was vital for me to share how much that event impacted me and my community.

This year I saw my sister share her exprience about 9/11.

It hit me: I realized how much we’re still affected by it. The impact is crazy, as both of us were in central Brooklyn when it went down.

I can only imagine the experiences of my future professors and mentors from my alma mater, City Tech (located at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Or various New Yorkers, like Casey Neistat, who were right there at Ground Zero as the planes hit. Or the folks whose health is still impacted today.

That day feels like a mental atomic bomb. We continue to feel the pain and suffering many years after.

I apologize for bringing up any past traumas. I am forever unpacking this event. My point is that it’s easy to submerge those thoughts and lock them away, but I can never forget.

It’s more than a slogan for me. It’s a curse.

I had to talk about it in this chapter.

During the pandemic, that feeling of chaos we were all feeling was all too familiar to me. It was the same feeling I felt in 2001.

But I knew the only way to combat it was with the power of love, and I put that love into this chapter.

I committed to using this comic to stand for something and remind people that from chaos come new beginnings—new beginnings for us to make the world a better place.

A percentage of the profits from the sales of The Ultimate Beef EP went to The Innocence Project, an organization that helps those who are wrongfully criminalized by the Justice system.

Many folks were ready to join me in improving the world by buying a copy of my book.

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Boom Talk

This is the chapter where I became more confident in my comic creation skills.

This is the first issue in which my entire comic process was done digitally, aside from the script. At this point, I was using Procreate daily, not just for my work but also for my current day job. In this comic, I started to play with more dynamic storytelling. I asked myself on every page I worked on, “How could I make this more dynamic?”

This pushed me to begin to find the color language for Boom Kid. The version of these pages in this post was actually updated with a new saturated blue in both the background and overlays. When I started Boom Kid, I was playing it safe. I had some fear and it came through my work. But as I continue working on new chapters and feel my confidence growing, I can feel my work getting bolder. Therefore, I want the colors to be as vibrant as the characters in my story.

These were the best pages of comics I believed I had created when this came out. I could see all the growth from my previous trials and errors manifest within the pages of this chapter. I took time to dwell and savor that feeling of content and humble pride. I knew I couldn’t stay in that feeling for long. I developed a craving to better my comic storytelling. To better the areas I knew I was struggling with. Most importantly, I needed to figure out a process that would allow me to be more dynamic quickly.

This meant addressing my coloring process. I struggle with it, and it’s my least favorite part of comic creation.

Today, I think I’ve gotten better. I’ve taken a few classes on color theory and found some amazing reference videos on YouTube. While working on this chapter, I made more conscious decisions about coloring, lighting, and background. It became evident that color theory and strategy must be planned early in your storytelling process. The moment you lock in your idea and outline it, think about your colors as well. It’s crucial.

Here are three questions I ask myself when starting a new project:

1. Will this project be black and white, spot, or full color?

2. Will I be coloring it or outsourcing the process if it is full color?

3. What will be the color language of the story?

I now know that answering these three simple questions will save me tons of time, avoid burnout, and, most importantly, thrive in the areas where my skills are strong.

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Boom Talk

This issue was the last time I drew Boom Kid using traditional tools. From the first to this chapter, so much occurred in my life. I was writing copy for Apple full-time and had access to better tools and programs to speed up my workflow. Yes, I enjoyed sitting down and drawing with pencil, paper, and microns, but they couldn’t compete with the new program I was learning to use: Procreate. I was able to set up my pages to be drawn faster. And the iPad Pros in 2017 were killer products. I slowly moved from a bristol paper and my Macbook Air 11-inch to a Macbook Pro 13-inch and an 11-inch iPad Pro.

One of my goals for Boom Kid is to use it to develop new processes for telling my stories. As I was transitioning from traditional to digital, I noticed the original plan for page six in this issue was not where I needed it to be. I was not in the mood to redraw it traditionally, so I did it all on Procreate. It’s imperfect, but I realized I could do the entire process on the iPad. It was way better than the initial page I had drawn.

I still use a sketchbook to plot, create, build, and plan. I scan what I know is ready and use those scans to build from. Then, everything from inking, coloring, and lettering is done in Procreate. My process is ever-changing. And if you pay attention, you will notice it.

If you’re making comics or any other creative project my advice to you is have fun with it. Don’t get stuck in one way or another; be open to trying new techniques and tools. It will make the journey to the end more fun and rewarding.

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Boom Talk

Not many folks know that Boom Kid was intended to be a black-and-white webcomic.

However, I decided to push myself to create a more extended project to share with publishers and show my skills. I spent the entire summer of 2016 writing, drawing, inking, coloring, and lettering this comic (which would later be lettered by the talented Travis Nichols). Mind you, I did all the digital work on an 11-inch Macbook Air.

At the time, I didn’t think this comic would change the trajectory of my life. I was so poor that all I knew how to do was tell stories and do it through comics. I would go to my part-time job at Salt and Straw and spend the rest of my free hours working on this.

When I launched it, I made about $100 over the weekend for a comic that was initially free. The following month, I submitted these eight pages for a job interview with Apple and got a job with the company. The following year, I was a full-time copywriter for Apple.

These eight pages will always be special to me. They will always remind me of the hustle, grit, and creativity that I have.

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