A swingin' single life
More comics from the long-ago sketchbook
Hello and welcome to the drawing book, where I share comics from my old (twenty-five years ago!) sketchbook journal series. It is fun to unearth these old stories. Last week, I posted some pages written in the aftermath of a break-up, while I was coming to terms with being single. Here are the pages that follow, starting with my friends’ wedding! A very happy event, but one that prompted some more reflections about my solo status.
A couple of notes about that last page. First of all, my guitar playing definitely improved a lot that summer, but it would be quite a stretch to say I was (or am) a really good guitar player.
Who was the “mystery person” I was imagining playing that guitar? It wasn’t that mysterious, really - it was just my ex-boyfriend (a fine guitar player), who I really wasn’t over, yet.
And as for the coast of Yor: well, it is not a real place (although it has appeared in a few episodes of the drawing book), but that’s another story and will be told another time! For now, back to real life, and my ongoing attempt to grapple with all the pairing up that was going on around me, just when I was feeling extra single.
I did love that shirt. I wore it for years, and I drew it in many comics.
When I read this now, it’s kind of interesting for me to see these early attempts at a “serialized” comic. I’m pretty sure that these comics actually did get published online (by some Calgary folks who were launching a new website called “itscanadian.com” - or something like that - featuring local content). This was the page that came next:
There are quite a few more pages along these lines, so we’ll keep going… but next week, I think we’ll switch it up again. You see, next weekend is Bob Dylan’s birthday, so maybe it’ll be a good time to share a comic I’ve been saving for a special occasion. It’s a pretty weird story, but it’s one that I love, and it’s full of Bob Dylan references! So, stay tuned and enjoy that bedtime snack, especially if you’re snacking solo!