Hey - I’ve been reading stuff from ex-pats and others in Taiwan for about a year now. I have heard many funny stories and stereotypes and trivia.
I have been trying to come up with something to base a comic strip on and I think this is it. Videogames, and other pop-culture web comics have been done and done again, but I think that a comic aimed at the visitors of Forumosa.com would be really cool. I know I can do the art well enough but the writing has always been the hard part. Once I get my website up and running I think it would be fun to do a weekly strip on the happenings in Taiwan.
Anyway, anybody have any stories that they think would fit a 3 panel comic? If I use anybodys material I will credit them, of course. I’ll try to get something done this week on my own as an example of what I’m going for…
Heres something I drew before - I’d use a similar style:
OK, you can draw (I wish I could), you’ve got a big pool full of forumosan idea balls and now you just need some manatees… this could work.
What do you want to do? Something mildly amusing? Controversial? Educational? Rather realistic or really crazy? Do you have ideas for your main characters already?
[quote=“hypermegaglobal”]OK, you can draw (I wish I could), you’ve got a big pool full of forumosan idea balls and now you just need some manatees… this could work.
What do you want to do? Something mildly amusing? Controversial? Educational? Rather realistic or really crazy? Do you have ideas for your main characters already?[/quote]
Well I’d probably base the main characters on my girlfriend and I, shes Taiwanese and I’m American. This would make it easy for me to realte to them, and set up plenty of typical east/west confrontations. Not every strip would need to use them though, some may call for an older more experienced ex-pat character, some tai-ke and tai-mei too.
I guess playing off stereotypes is a fun way to make jokes really but I’d try to pick on everyone equally.
One idea for my first strip is a conversation my gf and I had a while back. I posted this in another thread allready.
She starts opening the curtains to let the bright sunlight in, and I ask why. She replies that ‘the sunlight is going to kill the bacteria in the house.’ I think for a second and respond ‘so there is no bacteria outside?’ of course she doesn’t know what to say since its one of her odd taiwanese superstition sorts of things… I might need help with the wording but I think the concept is pretty funny.
Yeah, it cleared up your groin infections pretty well.[/quote]
I told you that was a secret, John.[/quote]
Yeah! And it was only that one infection, remember? That one I got off Stu. What do you think I am? Some kind of perv?
Yeah, it cleared up your groin infections pretty well.[/quote]
I told you that was a secret, John.[/quote]
Yeah! And it was only that one infection, remember? That one I got off Stu. What do you think I am? Some kind of perv?[/quote]
Well I got it off John, so I guess we’re all even.
There was one in Japan that was in the Japan Times. It was pretty good. I hope yours ends up in the TT or one of the local papers. It would be cooler to comment on life here in pics rather than writing editorials.
I think I have a few more ideas to work with allready.
I’m going to start drawing it up today, hopefully if my new scanner works
I can ever start coloring.
I think I have a few more ideas to work with allready.
I’m going to start drawing it up today, hopefully if my new scanner works
I can ever start coloring.[/quote]
I think it’s a great idea. Are you going to post them on the forum?
I’ve had an idea that it would be funny to do things like:
Anatomy of a ‘English Teacher’ ‘Tai Ke’ "Taiwanese Cop’ and so on where I label the distinguishing features of the subject.
I’ve had an idea that it would be funny to do things like:
Anatomy of a ‘English Teacher’ ‘Tai Ke’ "Taiwanese Cop’ and so on where I label the distinguishing features of the subject.[/quote]
Some awesome stuff there. What program do you use to make the images?
Wasn’t there a comic years ago in one of the newspapers called (maybe)
“East meets West.”
Recall two strips- one about a drunk FOB no-experience English teacher at a bar explaining how he straightened out the school while in the background his Taiwanese co-teacher explains how a degree, ten years experience, correcting homework, and dealing with irate parents is worth $300 bucks an hour.
The other was about beards- a quick tour of the historyof facial hair in China, and then a hot receptionist saying " I think you’d look real cute without that beard"
Followed by re-appearance of chinless wonder and “Nevermind…”
I use Photoshop mostly. I draw on paper, scan it in, then trace over in photoshop and color.
For my design work I use Illustrator because its better for straight lines and typograhpy…
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