The Many Faces of Francis

The biggest problem that I have with wanting to write a comic about popes is that if I'm going to feature more than one pope they need to have more than the big hat to distinguish them. Not having grown up as much of an artist, and despite trying in a very haphazard way for many years, I just can't actually draw, even in my own childish cartoony way, well enough to properly tell a story. I'm pretty fond of little cartoony style, but I'm very aware of my own limitations. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present Exhibit A.

This was what my attempt to produce a serviceable Pope Francis tonight turned into. Even some of the old favourites and standbys were failing me tonight. I can't even get Benedict XV right, for heaven's sake! Some nights I just can't draw even up to my own relatively low standards, and from the moment that I first pick up a pen I can tell if it's going to be one of those nights.

Tonight was one of those nights. Nothing salvageable, start again tomorrow. It's frustrating, because despite my artistic limitations, I always have intended to get around to actually drawing the thing and having it be halfway, you know, readable. It's tempting to say "screw the drawing, let's just write the bugger", but I know that I don't really have some incredibly story waiting to happen that I'm in some huge rush to share, I just have a little plot line that attempts to justify an on-going gag-a-day/week/month comic.

Still, I worry that I'll never get around to it. That in ten years time people will still be looking at me and saying "Yeah, that's Thom, he's got this weird fetish for popes". And it annoys me to never get anywhere. So, I'm going to do a page right now, one attempt at the drawings, and if I'm not happy, I'm going to put it up anyway, just because there's an internet right here and I might as well.

Gonna put it in a different post, though.