Yesterday

Okay, so yesterday I didn't post. Pretty good reason for that.

I was pissed. And, I got only a little comic work done.

And I'll show you a sketch of my character, Loxley.

But first, why I was pissed:

Like I said before, we're moving. However, it seems like we can't do it without some drama being attached to it.

I'll go over the drama for the move her to Tucson at another time. This is a story of two houses. The first house, we'll just call "here". The new house, we'll call "there." Simple. Okay.

So, we're here. Like I said before, I've called the landlord a couple of times, and gotten no answer, as well as having gotten a call from the property management company- the property manager happens to be the landlord's brother. The landlord owns the house, but is letting his brother manage it. Okay.

We've been here since November. It's now June. That makes it eight months. Everyone on the same page? Great! Let's switch gears.

We're moving to another house, also under a property management company. I don't think it's the same one, but who knows. Stranger things have happened. We've been talking about moving for about a month or two before deciding to look for a place, and when we decided, this house just landed in our laps. Like I said before: four bedrooms, two baths, decent sized back yard, in a housing development on a cul-de-sac, with only one house to our left. It's going to be rent to own, so it's going to be ours within a year. We're REALLY looking forward to that.

Well, the house was currently being rented, but the people in it were supposed to be out by June 1. Notice the "supposed to be out" part. They were supposed to be gone, the management company was going to clean the property, and we'd be able to move in by June 5.

Wrong! The people didn't get all of their stuff out, and the management company couldn't find them. So, they sent a three day abandonment notice, and if they don't get their stuff, then their stuff will be boxed up and put into storage, the house will be cleaned, and then we'll be able to take possession. Right. So, today's Sun, and we probably won't be able to take it until Tues or Wed. But that's small stuff that's happening over there.

That doesn't hold a candle to what's happening over here.

Lenora goes to check the mail a couple of days ago, and comes back with a letter from a law firm. The letter is addressed to Parties In Possession of my address.

Are you hearing the ominous music?

The letter states that the house is going up for public auction on Aug 28th.

Wait. Let me say that again.

The letter states that the house (here) is going up for public auction on Aug 28th.

That's right. He lost the damned house! And we would have been screwed if we hadn't already started looking for a new place! But that's not all!


Like I said, we moved here in November, and it's now June. He hadn't made a house payment since JULY!!!!! We were supposed to have a one year lease (which he never got to us), but he hadn't made a payment for FOUR MONTHS BEFORE WE EVER MOVED IN!!!! He KNEW he was losing the house BEFORE WE STEPPED FOOT INSIDE!

We scrambled to pay first and last month's rent, plus paid rent for seven months. His brother even had the temerity to call here asking for the rent! Granted, this was before we got the letter, but I had already called the landlord and told him we were moving. Then his brother calls, looking for the rent. I told him we were moving, and to apply the deposit for this month's rent, an all he said was "Oh, okay." Literally, that was it. That was the length of his answer.

And then we get the letter, and found out that we would have been screwed royally if we didn't already have something lined up.

But he hasn't paid the mortgage since July. What did he do with my money?! That's a question.

Yeah, pissed.

Anyway, my artist for Loxley is sending in pages soon, but I thought I'd share some character sketches.

First up is Mr. Punchy.

Yeah, he's a bad guy with a stupid name, but it's staying. There is a method to my madness.

Next, there's Loxley. Here's the first image of her.


I wasn't too thrilled with it, you know? I thought it lacked something. So I asked Bruno to add a hood and cape. Something simple, yet elegant.

This is what he came up with.

Slight change, sure, but one that I'm quite happy with.

Once we get the move done and get accepted somewhere, I'll get some promo pieces from him.

And Ross Hughes, the colorist for Fallen Justice, has agreed to color Loxley, so I'm happy there. Larime's still working on the logo, but has some ideas in mind. I just need to get it all done and sent in to Image.

Image first, other companies later.

And this evening, I start writing up the script for the second issue. I'm looking forward to it, because I get to do it while at work. I LOVE that fact about my job- I can write on my laptop, and still get paid for doing my job. It's WONDERFUL, and I don't think I'll ever be leaving it. Not unless something significant changes, like I sell a few comic ideas for a million bucks apiece. Then we'll talk about changes in my job.

But that's it. Enjoy.

-Steven