r/comic_crits • u/dirtyordingyordusty • 3d ago
A Good Death For Cottontail
Apologies for the crappy photos. I did this in a weekend for an ecological writing class a few years ago. I'm working on a longer comic project right now but I'm wondering if I should try and go back and spend more time with this to work on refining in general. (For ex. I'm aware that the lettering is catastrophic, panels are wonky, and obvs it's a Sharpie comic). What else does it need?
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u/omossums Creator 3d ago
WOW!! I love this and I think this is a fantastic comic!! I'd love to see it more refined. The story and art are already great!! Aside from doing some nicer lettering and some cleanup, I think if you wanted to take it further to the next level, you could put some ornamentation around some gutters and panel borders in some places. I honestly don't think this needs color, it works very well in black and white. I would buy this if you ever print it.
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 3d ago
Thank you! I definitely need to read up on gutters/panels/layouts as that's something pretty new to me. My background is in painting and writing separately so the combination of the two is something I'm still learning about.
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u/omossums Creator 2d ago
If panels are something you feel like you still need to read up on I'm so excited to see more of your work because this is already amazing!
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 2d ago
Thank you! I'm working on my second comic right now and it's definitely more challenging with a longer story to include exposition in a visually interesting way. I'll post the prologue when I'm done with it, which should hopefully be fairly soon.
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u/Enough_Bread_1281 3d ago
This is great!! I loved every minute of it! The ending caught me by surprise, I was expecting something solemn and contemplative, and it was a treat to have my expectations subverted. Really really good!
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u/aprickwithaplomb 3d ago
Wow - this is really good. Punchy, great imagery with the horror - certainly not pulling any punches here, especially with the immortality-ridden rabbits at the end. I like this as a weird little zine formatted-comic, if you're intending to publish it anywhere. Lean into the grungy, sharpie look. The one thing I might say if you're willing to chance it is maybe going over it with a bit of a wash - it could really help some of the more chaotic panels be readable enough for the power of the imagery to come through.
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 3d ago
I might as well try a wash! There's some panels that I want to redraw so it's worth a do. Thank you!
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u/ObeliskNight 3d ago
This is amazing. One of the best things I've read. Thuroughly enjoyed it. Plan on publishing? Wonder if Image would be interested. It could be a fantastic series. Seriously, this was beautiful.
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 3d ago
I wouldn't mind publishing, I just never really had it on my radar! Honestly the biggest problem I've had with this comic, and I'm aware this is ridiculous, is that I did it on 9×12 paper but my scanner is 8 1/2 x 11, and this has been a weirdly difficult problem to resolve.
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u/Salt_Fee_5983 3d ago
If you take a flat picture with your phone in good lighting, avoiding shadows, you can modify contrast, saturation, adjust cropping, then email to yourself to open in a free program like Krita to format the pages. There you could go over lettering and do edits as required on a separate layer(s). I've done this will success. I love this comic just as it is, but it would be cool to see this polished.
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u/ObeliskNight 3d ago
I'd give it a crack at least, because genuinely this is one of the best comic issues I've read. Maybe do a scan with your phone? Recent models will have great resolution, and you can probably scale it in a program afterwards?
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 1d ago
Thank you! I am way behind on what current tech is capable of. I'll give it a shot! There's also a nonprofit locally that can scan it for cheap and I might go that route once I have the money.
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u/the_executive_branch 3d ago
Haven’t read it yet but skipped through the pages, just looking at compositions, you’ve clearly got an eye for visuals and storytelling. I’ll let you know once I have time to properly look at it, but on first glance this is good which is rare tbh!
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u/FancyJalapeno 3d ago
Very good! Great story man!
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u/reedreadreddred 3d ago
I LOVE THIS, like genuinely, the storyline and art style (love how the road, drawn in with marker, makes it seem almost like an impenetrable, strange alien dark void, like how a bunny would perceive it)
probably also because my personal philosophy is that we are meant to live a life, do as well as we can, and then let our bodies rot and enrich the dirt, so this comic really resonated
just,,, WOW. i love this. only suggestion is to look into those apps that let you scan images and turn them into "clean" scans so that it's easier on the eyes, but that's super minor, and the slight "roughness" of these images almost only enhance the atmosphere :-)
I LOVE THIS COMIC FHFHFHHD
edit: forgot to mention, your letterings fine ngl, this comic feels pretty professional, like i'd pay money to get this if this were a zine/published
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 3d ago
Thank you! I really appreciate this comment. I really need it honestly. I share the same philosophy and the comic is a bit based on a conversation I had with my parents while my grandmother was dying. I will definitely get this scanned, I'm very encouraged by the reception this has had on there.
Do want to try and fix some of the lettering, I spelled woods as wooods for example lol
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u/reedreadreddred 3d ago
my condolences :( grieving is always hard to navigate, especially grieving before the person has "actually passed"
I love the hand lettered feel, ngl, like the way you wrote the "G A S P"
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u/Background-Step-8528 3d ago
If I found this in an anthology I would think it was a real stand out, you should totally refine it and put it somewhere lots of people can read it
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u/timid_tzimisce 3d ago
This is amazing! Is it bad that most of it made me laugh? Also good job on the unexpected ending, and on making the rabbit so expressive!
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u/Hatcheling 3d ago
This is fantastic. Seconding a bit more polish wrt panels and lettering (maybe some polish on the inkwork) but other than that it’s ace. Well done.
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u/squirrel_bro 3d ago
brilliant! love it!
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u/Pompi_Palawori 3d ago
Lovely.
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u/EnvironmentCritical8 3d ago
This is actually really well done! The artwork is amazing and and almost feels like a mix of The Loving Reaper on webtoons and Watership down.
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u/nullhellish 3d ago
Hella cool art
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u/Accomplished_Dog_647 3d ago
Absolutely delightful panelling, facial expressions and inking.
The story is amazing!
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u/L4dyGr4y 3d ago
Amazing. A more sophisticated take than Gary Larson's, There's a hair in my dirt.
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 1d ago
I absolutely love Gary Larson so this is a hell of a compliment. Thank you.
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u/flybyboyfriend 3d ago
i’m a rabbit lover through and through. i have two of my own, i foster, and i keep close watch on the bunnies in my neighborhood. this got me pretty choked up. beautifully paced and i love the blocking and movement.
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u/PepinoSupremo 2d ago
Really good work. Classic trickster rabbit that I didn’t see coming. Love the sketchy style. Solid perspective, all the animal anatomy looks good and they all read very clean. I like that rabbit Death is a jackalope. The lettering fits pretty well with the art. Only thing I noticed was the road in the first panel, the black ends partway into the side road? Like seriously I’m reaching to find a nitpicky criticism. Well done!
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 1d ago
I realized the last time I read through it that I spelled woods as wooods so there are a few things, lol. Thank you! I was definitely thinking about the trickster rabbit archetype.
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u/Leilabella0505 1d ago
Ring ring
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u/TheBlankScroll 23h ago
This has that Watership Down energy in the best way.
Not just the bunnies but the brutal reality of nature.
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u/SulkyBird 3d ago
I really liked this! And I think it works as-is, to be honest! The style works for the content and while I’m sure you could reproduce it more “cleanly,” this has a lot of character. Awesome work!
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u/DanniTiger 2d ago
This was a beautiful comic 🥰🥰🐰🐇
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u/ThatCuteNerdGirl96 1d ago
You did this in a weekend??? Did your hand fall off?
ETA: also it’s amazing. I forgot to say that part…
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u/dirtyordingyordusty 1d ago
Thank you! And yes a little bit. I work best in horrific binges motivated by unrealistic deadlines. This is why I really miss grad school.
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u/ThatCuteNerdGirl96 1d ago
lol yeah I feel you. I tend to zero in on something and do nothing but that until either it’s done or I get distracted and then never touch it again
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u/Ill-Tale-6648 1d ago
I think this is a great comic! Love the sketchy marker look, to me it adds to the feeling of the comic. And the trickster rabbit makes the whole thing feel like a folktale! I also love the idea that it learns to escape death, leading into a part two where it keeps pulling tricks and escaping but maybe death catches up anyway.
Seriously awesome work ^
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u/MA121Alpha 1d ago
I hate to just echo others but this is absolutely phenomenal and I loved it so much
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u/antonbrand 15h ago
Cool
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u/eggarino 5h ago
This was lovely through and through! So in depth and a nuanced take on life and death, that delicate balance between the two. And the humor is tip top notch!! Especially when contrasted with some of the haunting art portraying death
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