ART 496

1. A working title for your project.
    Go & Nads are Dead.


2. A one-sentence description of your project.
    Go & Nads are Dead is a continuation of the original comic Go & Nads.


3. A one-paragraph description of your project.
    Go & Nads are Dead is a continuation of the original comic Go & Nads. The first comic was a story about two best friends (Nads & Go) who encounter a crazy night after a long day at work. They die in a gang shoot out and by some miracle end up in heaven, which is where Vol. 2 will pick up. The friends become key players in the Afterlife Crime Syndicate, which runs heaven, hell, and purgatory. 


4. A one-page description of your project.
     Go & Nads are Dead is a continuation of the original comic Go & Nads. The first comic was a story about two best friends (Nads & Go) who encounter a crazy night after a long day at work. They die in a gang shoot out and by some miracle end up in heaven, which is where Vol. 2 will pick up. The friends become key players in the Afterlife Crime Syndicate, which runs heaven, hell, and purgatory. The bosses took a liking to them after they won the annual videogame championship and put them in charge of bootlegging movies, games, music, software, and Naikee shoes. 

    Their cushy position as the bosses' spoiled golden boys comes to an end when a cult of bodybuilding health nuts takes over the syndicate. The population of Heaven gradually becomes a brainwashed into eating vegan. TVs are banned, thus making Go & Nads' jobs unnecessary (and illegal-er than it was). Exercise and going outside become mandatory and the new guys hypnotize the masses using bad workout music that plays 24/7. 


    Heaven becomes hell for our hot dog loving, donut enthusiast protagonists, and they must find a way to overthrow their new tyrannical overlords. Their petty pranks escalate into full blown espionage and revolution to restore Heaven to its former glory. 


5. A description of your products of study—what you're going to actually produce during the course of your project. 
    The first comic book was 18 pages, so I am aiming for at least that for the follow up. Last time I didn't plan any story line, and this one is quite a bit more elaborate, so it may well go beyond that. It will be done by hand, but I will have scans of it up online as well. If I have time, I will colorize it using Illustrator or something.


6. Visual and/or written research for your project—other people’s work.
    Yes! I have a whole notebook that I've been writing in the past few months, which includes notes about real life organized crime (Mafia, Yakuza, Triads, Irish Mob, Camorra, etc.), Dante's Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), as well as a lot of vile jokes and funny-not-so-funny situations that I will work into the plot. There are also a lot of names of restaurants and foods and recipes. 


    Artwork wise, I've been looking at Gustave Dore's work. Edward Gorey's illustrations have been a great help in getting the feel of the pre-cult Heaven setting. I've also been paging through old architecture magazines and have a small pile of photos for inspiration. I'm also reading Walter Moers' The Alchemist's Apprentice, to keep my imagination sharp and Kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird to keep my wit sharp. 


    I've also been watching a lot of movies about organized crime. American Gangster, The Departed, and Kill the Irishman are a few go to favorites so far. I've also started a tumblr that has a bunch of pictures of things I like, which may or may not get worked into the project. 


7. Treatment visuals for your project—your own work.
    None yet. I have my first comic for reference, but I tend to just work panel by panel,  no storyboards or sketches. Everything in ink, done right the first time. 


8. A written description of specific technical and research issues you will need to address during the course of your project.
    I am hoping the printing process goes much smoother this time around, which means keeping the final layout in mind before I start. Research wise, I'll need to learn about the specifics of trafficking, smuggling, gang tattoos, cults, competitive gaming, steroids, PCP, the organizational structures of organized crime groups, pipe bombs, sweatshops, etc. 


9. A timeline of your project. When you will be doing all of this good stuff. You must include specific deadlines (for example: "May 17th", not "some time in May."
    I am aiming for three pages of comic each week. This may be too ambitious, but I have put myself on a strict regimen of piano, working out, reading, and project Monday through Thursday, so It may be doable. By May 25th, I would like to have all of my pages scanned and touched up. The printing process I would like to do one week before finals. 


10. A blog containing all of the above. You must document your progress and process on the blog by updating it weekly.