Not so long ago, I collaborated with the artist David Frankum on a short three-page comic called “My Friend Pookie”. The story’s all about Jack, a six-year-old kid who has a strange imaginary friend he likes to call Pookie. The tale is told from Jack’s point of view, as though we’re looking at his own drawings scribbled down on paper in felt tip.
It was an interesting challenge for Mr Frankum, who had to try and “forget” his artistic skills and draw like a young boy. He came up with some really creative ideas: for example, Pookie’s look and feel were achieved almost entirely through “bubble paintings” (remember blowing poster paint through straws in primary school?). Also, one of the panels on Page 2 was created by cutting up pieces of coloured felt and arranging them into a picture, just like a kid with a scrapbook might do.
We submitted the finished product to Top Shelf Productions, a very cool comic book company based in the US, who agreed to publish it online as a webcomic. You can read it on the “Top Shelf 2.0” section of their website – or just click here to check it out.
I’ve also decided to publish my script for this comic, which you can read right here: My_Friend_Pookie_Script_R_Norris
It might give you some further insight into the story’s concept. Let me know what you think!
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