STRANGE INCIDENTON LEVEL 44

1

EPISODE ONE:

2

3

4

5

6

7

10

11

END EPISODE ONE12

13

EPISODE TWO::

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24END EPISODE TWO

25

EPISODE THREE:

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

ENDEPISODE THREE

STEP 1: A WRITER DOODLES.Mel Cool: Mall Cop episodes begin as sketches on typing paper by Walt, who paces action and places dialogue in a self-imposed 5-panel grid. (“Ooo,” he says. “Cinematic!”) Walt hands these sketches to Don, who is too kind to roll his eyes.

STEP 2: AN ARTIST DRAWS.Don designs the entire cast of characters, refining details, right down to Mel’s comfy “Security Shorts.” He then pencils and inks like a man possessed, working comic art size, 10” x 15”, on special Craft-Tint™ illustration board. We’ll see why in Step 3.

38

The making of Mel

Cool: Mall Cop®

STEP 3: THE SECRET SAUCE.That Craft-Tint board, when painted by Don with magical chemicals, provides two levels of cross-hatched grey tones for a retro, EC Comics-like vibe. Upon finishing the art, Don returns to his web-comic, The Terranauts. (Plugola!)

STEP 4: MAKING BALLOONS POP.Using Quark (then) and InDesign (now,) Walt letters the pages and imports them into his book design. Then Don and Walt go to Panera Bread for lunch and dreamof the Mel Cool: Mall Cop animated car-toon series. They dream big!

39

Need more Mel?

40

At MallCop.com, read more about the Sentinel of Stress-Free Shopping and his friends; get free webcomics; and even buy some of this exclusive Mall Cop gear in the online store. (These items are not sold in any mall. Ironic.) Visit MallCop.com, sanctioned by Mel Cool himself.