Cover Girl: Commentary for Chapters 1 and 2.
You should probably read Cover Girl all the way through before coming back to this - there's going to be some spoilers and junk. Sorry!
Chapter One: Hollywood Shuffle
This issue was really tightly plotted by Andrew Cosby - I just sort of dropped words in and went with what he sent over. I guess I should take a moment to thank he and Ross Richie for the faith they placed in me early on. Thanks, guys!
The title comes from a Charles Flowers novel about the Black Panthers and a sample that crops up in the Jam and Spoon mix of "Go" by Moby. It also comes from the goddamn literal truth about that place. Cosby's plotting was much, much looser after I turned in the script for the first issue, but his feedback was invaluable as we shot pieces back and forth.
Chapter One: Hollywood Shuffle
This issue was really tightly plotted by Andrew Cosby - I just sort of dropped words in and went with what he sent over. I guess I should take a moment to thank he and Ross Richie for the faith they placed in me early on. Thanks, guys!
Page 01Chapter 02: It Never Rains In Los Angeles
Man, Alex's car is junky. I didn't specify the hole in the windsheld, but when I saw it, I laughed and laughed.
Page 03
I love when Alex kind of Hulks out in that middle set of panels. Somebody shot me an email after this issue came out, saying that they didn't think he could do that. I responded with this Straight Dope article and pointed out that the vehicle's impact surely could have made his job easier.
Page 04
Blame my love of Giffen and DeMatteis's Justice League and Hero Squared for the dialogue at the bottom of this page. Graeme McMillian astutely pointed out the similarity. (So did another reviewer who was much less kind, but they've had it in for me for a while.)
Page 05
There is no Channel 3 in LA. Several people pointed that out to me. That was intentional, as I didn't want to then hear them complain that their favorite local broadcast "journalist" was replaced.
Page 06
I love Alex's expressions in Panel 2 and 4.
Page 07
You know, for such a slob, Sam's got a hell of a nice office.
Page 08
Sylvia, by the way, was my favorite character to write in the first issue. She's based on a composite of several people in the industry I know - people that are too smart to be the boss, and nobody else seems to figure that out.
Page 09
Yes, that's a Silence of the Lambs reference. There are very few movies that make me laugh like that one. Yes, there's probably something wrong with me.
The hobo line was a shout-out to all my brothers and sisters that ride the rails out there. (And yes, Janice's boobs are probably 40% silicone.)
Page 11
Cosby's plot had a note about Alex being popular because of the rescue, but I made Sam a bit more craven here. Sure, an actor rescued someone and that's worthy of note, but Sam sees the dollar signs when that wouldn't even occur to Alex. (That's why Sam has a nice office and Alex is broke as a joke, I suppose.)
Page 12
"Less Talk, More Nudity" is my first single. There's a remix by DJ Assault.
Page 13
If Cover Girl ever becomes a movie, this is the bit where they'll stick on "Opportunities" by Pet Shop Boys and I'll cringe at the screening.
Page 14
Research required for this: having to watch Extra and Access Hollywood. The only thing that could be more horrifying would be having to research rectal surgery for a David Cronenberg film. Alex wearing the different clothes came from this weird spliced-together interview I saw with that guy from Las Vegas who's putting it in Fergie now.
Yes, that's supposed to be someone whose initials are SLJ in panel 07. I wrote that dialogue with his voice in my head.
Page 15
Alex certainly settled into being famous quickly, didn't he?
Page 16
You mean Hollywood makes movies from books that aren't children's fantasy series? Amazing!
Nyborg's name is a Glengarry, Glen Ross reference.
Page 17
From what I can tell, nobody actually eats at lunch meetings in LA.
Page 18
Panel 6 here? Yeah, it still makes me smile.
I should have done more Alex-and-his-mom bits. I like the idea of a guy in his 30s treating his mom more like a friend. (Mostly because that's how I am with my mom. She's a classy lady.)
Page 19
I suspect the dinosaur in Panel 4 is a Batcave reference. Even if it's not, I'm going to pretend it is.
Page 20
Besides guns, you know what else you shouldn't fuck with? Swords.
Page 21
For some reason, lots of people were hung up on the fact that Rachel (the titular cover girl) doesn't show up until the end of the first issue. That was purely Cosby's call, and I have to say that I stand by him. It's probably his cinematic leanings meeting nicely with my own, but the end of Act 1 introducing a main character and the attendant complications is sort of a trope in adventure fiction.
The title comes from a Charles Flowers novel about the Black Panthers and a sample that crops up in the Jam and Spoon mix of "Go" by Moby. It also comes from the goddamn literal truth about that place. Cosby's plotting was much, much looser after I turned in the script for the first issue, but his feedback was invaluable as we shot pieces back and forth.
Page 01If anyone has any questions about Cover Girl, ask them in comments and I'll answer them in the second half of the third installment.
Please note that they did not just recycle the end of the previous issue. Go ahead, flip back and forth. It's close, but not quite.
You'll also note that I started this issue off with a splash. I like doing that - sort of a nod back to how Stan The Man did it. I'm also fond of big panels at the start of The Rack, much to Birdie's aggravation.
Page 02
Rachel's pretty no-nonsese at the start of this, and despite the fact he's being groomed and used by Sam and the studio, Alex is used to people doing what he says.
Page 03
I've kind of got a rough backstory for Dwight that I'd love to flesh out sometime. He was actually physically based (at least in the description I sent to Mateus) on my pal Clarence. For the record, however, I've never seen Clarence accost someone in such a manner.
Page 05
One page recap! One page recap! I got a few compliments for that.
Shame I stopped doing it in the later issues, huh?
Page 07
Gary Sikes will be missed.
Page 08
I love the dancing couple in front of the DJ for some reason. And yes, that's SS, a famous director.
Page 09-10
This sequence worked much better on the comics page than I thought it would when I scripted it.
Page 11
Alex's stupidity in Panel 1 makes me smirk every time.
My friends in LA loved the joke at Encino's expense. Me, I'd like to apologize to Pauly Shore and Brendan Fraser for slighting the location of their greatest cinematic effort.
Pages 12-14
This chase scene got some good feedback. I wanted to keep it short but exciting enough, and Mateus and R.M. did a great-looking job. Also, somebody told me that if they were still 13 and unable to get their hands on pornography, the last panel on page 12 would help them take care of their business.
That may be more than you needed to know about one of my readers, huh?
Page 15
I wanted to establish that our Bad Guy was both very powerful and ruthless, and I'd like to think this does it nicely. Nice to see the previously-unnamed Janet having a bit of backbone, even with her fairly dire circumstances.
Page 16
When all else fails, make fun of Encino and the Jacksons.
Page 18
Yes, Davita and Christopher are named after who you think they are.
Page 19
The second Mom bit. You should call yours now. Tell her you love her.
Page 20
Wow, there's a lot of talking on this page. Still, I love Alex's expression in the last panel.
Page 21
Every time I play Scrabble, I pray I can drop "QINTAR" on the board. It's one of my favorite words ever.
Page 22-23
Yeah, I felt kind of bad about doing that to Dwight. I heard that it was such a cliché from a few people, but that was sort of the point. There's a metatextual underpinning to this whole series involving the inversion of gender roles and its subsequent interplay with societal and media expectations and I can't keep typing this wank.
