Author Archives: Lars Martinson

SpringCon 2010 Appearance!

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Attention Twin Cities Comics Fans!

This weekend I’ll be making my very first convention appearance as a “guest cartoonist” at SpringCon 2010! Here are just a few of the exciting things you can expect to find at my little table:

  • Me!
  • Signed 1st Edition Copies of Tonoharu: Part One, and the not-available-in-stores Young Men of a Certain Mind for your purchasing pleasure!
  • A couple pieces of original art from Tonoharu!
  • A never-before-seen 16-page preview of the forthcoming Tonoharu: Part Two! Yowza!

I’ll *probably* be around on both days for most of the day. Feel free to contact me if you want to make sure I’ll be there when you’re there. Stop on by if you can!

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SpringCon 2010 Details
Place: The Grandstand at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds
Date/Time: Saturday May 15 & Sunday May 16 from 10AM to 5PM
Admission: $11 per adult (good for both days)

More information can be found at: http://midwestcomicbook.com/

(Note: This entry is in lieu of the entry I usually put up on Friday.)

“Tonoharu: Part Two” Artwork Preview–Party Scenes

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As promised last week, here are some more artwork samples from my new graphic novel Tonoharu: Part Two. This time around I thought I’d show some panels from a year-end teacher party scene in the book.

Japanese year-end parties are called bonenkai, which literally translates as “forget the year party”. Most Japanese companies/organizations have them, and attendance is expected. Back when I was in the JET Program, I remember a lot of my fellow assistant English teachers hated them, but I always found them enjoyable. After the first few rounds of drinks people start to let their hair down, and I got to see a whole other side of my co-workers.


Typical reverie.

Regarding the leftmost panel above: this illustration is based on an actual experience I had at a bonenkai. As a part of a “wacky” game, one person was dressed up in disco gear, and the other was wearing a santa suit and a mask in the likeness of Bob Sapp, a popular K-1 fighter in Japan. I doubt any racist sentiment was intended.

After the main party lets out, people still up for it will often attend after-parties (and sometimes after-after-parties). These often take place at bars or food stalls, at in private karaoke booths, as shown above.

Tonoharu: Part Two should be out later this year.  I’ll post further details as I know them, so check back!

Previous Tonoharu: Part Two Artwork Previews:
Action Scenes
City Scenes

Tonoharu: Part Two–Progress Report #5

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Progress Bar Key
Story/Artwork: The Story, Drawing, Inking, and Computer Work
Final Edits: Post-Production Edits
Incidentals: Designing the Cover, Preparing for Press, etc.

(More information about Tonoharu can be found here.)

Hurray! The artwork for Tonoharu: Part Two is finally done! The whole book now exists in a complete, readable state! All that’s left now are some final edits and the cover, and then it will be totally done.

For Tonoharu: Part One, the final edits were a real ordeal, and took months of dedicated work. Almost all the panels in the first book underwent significant cosmetic edits (as described here). Thankfully I’ve developed into a more consistent artist since then, so  Part Two won’t require nearly as much of these sorts of changes.

So when will Tonoharu: Part Two be out? I’m thinking fall or winter of this year. Maybe late summer, but probably not. We’ll see how quickly the final edits progress once I really get started on them. Updates on my progress will be posted here in the coming months, so stay tuned.

Next week I’ll post a few new sample panels from the book.

Reverse Culture Shock

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I recently returned from a two-year stay in Japan. It’s the longest I’ve ever been outside of the U.S., so I was expecting the reverse culture shock to be pretty severe. But as it turned out, it wasn’t that bad. I’ve lived abroad on four separate occasions now, so I guess I’ve gotten used to the novelty of returning home.

That said, there were a couple small things that surprised me:

1) The large drinks in the U.S. are HUGE. A Japanese “large” soda is about the size of a US small or medium, only with no free refills. Japanese people just don’t drink that much; I usually would’ve finished my drink by the time my Japanese friends had taken a sip. I always thought the Japanese drink portions were too small, but I got used to them over the past two years. So when I ordered my first large soda at O’Hare Airport, I couldn’t believe how big it was. I couldn’t even finish it.

2) The roads in the U.S. seem obscenely wide after two years in Japan. A typical American suburban street is as wide as a four-lane highway. And two of those four lanes are just for parking. Again, this isn’t downtown, this is in the suburbs, where there’s virtually no traffic and everyone has a driveway. I guess I’m not arguing for narrower roads or anything, I’m just saying it sort of surprised me…

Japanese Snack Review: Horrible Caramel Flavors

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Product Names: Genghis Khan, Sapporo Beer, and Magic Spice Soup Curry Caramels

One of my favorite stores in Japan is Village Vanguard, which is sort of like a cross between a raunchy mall gift store and an alternative book store. For months I’ve seen these horrible looking caramels on sale there, so for my final Japanese snack review I decided to bite the bullet and try them.


Genghis Khan (Mongolian BBQ) Flavor
These were probably the worst of the bunch. They tasted like a combination of slightly off meat, garlic, and caramel. I couldn’t even finish one piece.


Sapporo Draft Beer Flavor
According to the label, these actually contain alcohol; about 0.1%. They smell like a drunk’s breath, and tasted like really terrible beer with the sweetness of caramel thrown in. You could probably simulate the flavor by taking a Bud Lite and adding a few scoops of sugar to it. Again, I spit it out after a couple of chews.


Magic Spice Soup Curry Flavor
This one tasted the most like what it was supposed to, and I think curry lends itself to the combination of sweetness that the caramel brings. Still pretty terrible though.

Conclusion
I can’t understand how these got made. I mean, it’s not like some crazy guy mixing beer and caramels together in a blender in his basement; a major company developed, manufactured, and distributed these. They don’t sound at all appetizing, and they taste even worse. The only market I can think of for this product is snarky foreign bloggers such as myself.

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Well, that will be the last Japanese snack review for a while, what with me no longer being in Japan. Next week: something different!!