In the beginning of September 2012, I finished all the art, including both front and back covers, for the fourth and final volume of GIRL: The Second Coming, and it only took me a mere eight years. Volume Three was printed in 2004 and this is the longest that it's ever taken me to finish one book. However, it contains the best work I've ever done. And, as it turned out, it was a difficult project to walk away from because I'd been working on it for so long.
While in New York this past April I met with Terry and Martin at NBM and I decided to take on the task of doing all the lettering. It's not something I'm especially good at, and I really hate doing it, especially on a computer (it really puts a strain on my eyes) but for the sake of getting the book out on time, I agreed to it. As I mentioned above, this was a difficult project to walk away from. And I knew it would kick my ass.
But, after a few pages, I settled into a rhythm and last Saturday, June 8, after less than three weeks, I managed to pull off what I expected to be impossible, and finished the damn lettering. What makes this so strange for me is I actually did all the lettering for the first volume of this series, including the title page GIRL POWER which was hand lettered. I don't mind doing hand lettering, like designing the cover logo, because, to me, that's just drawing letters. For the first volume, I hand drew all the word balloons and caption boxes, but did all the lettering on the computer. After doing the lettering, my eyes were never the same, which is what I was afraid of when doing the lettering for volume four. But, I got through it in record time and my eyes didn't start doing flip-flops halfway through like the first time. I guess I've come full circle with this series, finishing the way I started, making the first and final volumes a one man show. And it came out better than I expected. I just hope you all agree.
In comic book stores August 2013. And I think I'll even buy a copy--just for the fun of it.
