Hooky Retrospective

It's been a year since I finished "HOOKY!", wayyyy back in January 2022. And it technically started in October of 2018. What a long ride. This is very long and self-indulgent, but I want to celebrate this 32 page comic I managed to complete last year!!!

"HOOKY!" is just a silly lil' student/teacher doujin. It's just about a silly little man who won't stop chasing his professor after a one night stand. But it means a lot to my emotional growth as an ~artiste~, and closure to a small part of my life.

I've never been great about actually finishing projects (motions at my hospital animation from 10 years ago), so having just ONE finished piece under my belt makes me feel quite manly. And having the characters of Ollie and Basile for me!!! FOR ME!! and my WIFE!!! All to ourselves!! Not some larger fandom full of hateful strangers? It's great! I love making up fake gay little stories with my spouse! I love devoting energy to ourselves! Try it sometime, it's great to create things with friends for friends!

My retrospective shall be in the form of page-by-page commentary, for each of the three chapters of the fic. Then I'll talk about the printing process.

LET'S GO!!!!

Content notice:

A LOT of images that may be slow to load. 🔞 18+ art, discussions of unhealthy relationships and substance abuse.

Da cover!

The cover of my comic HOOKY!  Featuring a small pink man kabedon-ing an older blue man against school lockers. The inks of my HOOKY! cover.

The cover was drawn with my usual sketch, inks, and digital coloring pipeline. Is the perspective wonky cuz I didn't use a ruler? YES! And I like it that way! In fact, I'd like to warp my perspective even more in the future... coulda made the door 5000 ft away!

Here's the process for the drawing:

I always knew I wanted a kabedon (pushing against wall) pose, as tribute the doujinshi that inspired this book. It's stereotypically the masculine, dominant one who pushes the girly uke against the wall. So I wanted to let everyone know what's up in this story, where the tiny shitty guy is pushing a much taller and mature dude. Emphasis on PUSHING and pushiness! Halloween accessories decorate the hallway of lockers, cuz it's Halloween in the story though it's not plot-important.

And the main color is blue, for Basile to fade into as befits his character. While the secondary color of red pops out like a lil red baboon butt on Ollie's face, interrupting the melancholy. Ollie is disruptive to Basile's formulated life! It needs to be shown!

The book is now titled "HOOKY!"", and the working title "Extra Credit" was used when I was drawing the first two chapters. "Extra Credit" is now the subtitle, should anyone try to find it on my site but only knows the old name. Why Hooky? Cuz I learned the word from the Spongebob episode where they're getting hooked up the ass, it's school themed for the student/teacher dynamic, and this book is very much like a rated-R cartoon episode.

I have a lot of fun drawing the titles for my comics, rather than using typesets. I like to do special things that're special for each story. Like the "o"'s in HOOKY being little heart eyes with eyelashes :3c or the "Y" being a hook.

There's also that lil' blurb on the back. "After one night of drunken passion, why can't this be love?". I love when doujin have taglines like that! And I love to insert Van Halen lyrics wherever I please. Hopefully it's a succinct enough summary of HOOKY's vibes for strangers!

Chapter 1: aka the BUTTSEX CHAPTER

Chapter 1 - with an illustration of a carved pumpkin surrounded by candy and a red party cup for Halloween

The decision to create chapters for this short comic was based mostly on the fact that I took 4 years to finish it. My art style changes drastically from each chapter, as well as the overall tone and mood. Not to mention that all the sex is in Chapter 1. The rest is just talky talky, which may or may not disappoint some people.

Read more.... Page 1 - View from above of our main characters.  Smaller man smiles and nudges older man.  Older man drinks his booze grumpily.

Ollie n' Basile introduced. He was a sponge, she was a squid, can I make it any more obvious?

I started this comic in 2018, and I was having fun with a scraggly no-pencil style, drawing with a pilot pen directly into a small sketchbook. Because I was drawing directly onto paper with no sketches, there are no thumbnails and composition sketches for this comic.

I'm actually quite happy with the way I draw backgrounds in this style. I don't worry about perspective or accuracy. I just have fun pulling rooms from memory and trying to get the idea across. This room is a real computer room that exists IRL! Anyone who recognizes it has known me for far too long.

Page 2 - The two men walk together on the streets, smiling and laughing among the Halloween pumpkins.  The small man pulls out his keycard and opens the dorm doors.

Since I started this comic around Halloween, I set it during Halloween too. Gives them an excuse to have had a drunken party.

Page 3 - A view of the messy and cramped dorm room.  Smaller man kisses and sucks on older man's neck, revealing the old man's neck scars.  Older man pulls down small man's pants.  Old man asks, 'May I?' as he reaches for the front of small man's pants.

Another room that exists IRL that I pulled from my memories for Ollie's dorm. Dorm sex is awful cuz you only have about 2 square inches of space, and everyone can hear you. Extra embarrassing if you're a dang professor. I love to humiliate the elderly!

I gotta say, drawing sex with traditional art feels NAUGHTY. I do most of my NSFW art digitally cuz it's easy to save and undo and do hentai shot variations. Traditionally? That's on paper and gonna outlive you. Just like when the Astro Boy creator's stash of TF furry art was found. Every line is intentional... every splat of white-out hides your shame.

Page4 - Small man replies 'yeah..' with a bamboozled expression.  He's surprised he made it this far!  He exclaims 'aw jeez' as he recieves amazing felattio from the older man.  The final panel zooms in on the small man's sweating face as he repeats 'ah man' with his eyes closed.

Ah, one of the first spengboob faces from Ollie. A premonition of the art style I'd go on with in the later chapters. I love using elongated yaoi proportions for NSFW art to show off body contortions, but I prefer chibi cartooning for most everything else.

Porn dialogue makes for very interesting choices, and exposes the writer you are. I get nothing out of generic "dirty talk", but I really enjoy opportunities for characterization. So you'll have to bear with me as I make all my tops 50's style Leave It To Beaver awkward virgins who get heart attacks when a hot lady touches their weiner.

Page 5 - Viscous liquid pours down the older man's throat.  He releases himself from suckin' mad dick.  Both men passionately kiss and trade sperm within their mouths and tongues.

Now that's a lot of glue! To the point where someone asked me what exactly was the liquid they were sharing. Hey man, Ollie's diet of junk food and rotisserie chicken enthickens his semen into a paste-like consistency. And he does NOT hesitate to snowball. He's does that quite a bit. With himself. I think that's just called eating your own nut.

Page 6 - Older man licks the sperm off of the younger man's hand.  He sucks his fingers.  He caresses the small man's surprised face, saying something that the smaller man cannot comprehend in his incredulously aroused mood.

More spengbab faces?! I didn't have anything to put in the dialogue bubble so I left it intentionally blank. Figure it out yourself! Ollie doesn't know what he's hearing, he's poggin' out too hard.

This is one of the pages I went back into and digitally edited to have Basile's neck scar. One of those lil' details I always forget to draw, like tattoos. Usually hidden beneath his shirt collar so I don't have to remember to draw it. I think it's a cute lil character thing that makes ya wonder (joker voice) HOW DID YOU GET THOSE SCARSssssss?!! Especially cuz he's such a boring lil' Squidward right now.

Page 7 - The older man splays himself belly-first on the bed, looking back, pulling down his pants.  'Have you done this before?' 'Not really...' The older man assures with a smile, 'It's okay.'

Shane shook me violently when he saw this page and asked, "WHYYYYY IS IT OKAY???". Well... you see.. I love gentle milves. Basile isn't really what Ollie thought his first GF would be. Basile's a lot older and hairier than an appropriate first date. But dang, when Basile's drunk he's up for ANYTHING. Even being used as a penis punching bag by a horrible little man with no degree or job. Don't be shy Ollie! GO FOR IT!

Page 8 - The old man is on his elbows and knees, his buttcheeks being spread by the younger man.  The younger man reaches for the front of the old man's crotch, to find that there's no junk there.  It's all sewn up, and all good.  The older man says something incomprehensible with a sleepy pleased expression.

This page (08.png) and the last one (07.png) had some panels I swapped around from how I drew them in the sketchbook. The first ones on each page of Basile showing his booty. I generally don't like to do too much digital editing cuz I'm lazy, and just like to have the comic ready to scan.

You also get the first shot of Basile's scarring on his crotch. I much prefer when character's "different" genital configurations are treated as a non-issue by other characters in the story. Not a big fan of pointing at their junk and making a huge deal out of it (whether /pos or /neg). So that's how I write my idiot tops. He never seen a dude without a weiner before... but he's just like "awesome" in his head and doesn't say much cuz he's so engrossed in his virgin voyage.

Page 9 - The younger man grits his teeth and says 'Aw jeez, I already --', and the older man reassures him 'It's okay'.  'I'll keep going', he says, as he continues to ride the younger man's pp raw.

Coochie shot!!! I always savor the opportunity to draw a nice full body. While he may seem like a premature ejaculator, Ollie's stamina stat is actually quite high -- Basile's too hot, he already spent himself like 5x before this!! He's a trooper for going at it for the eight time this night!

I'm not even sure that Basile nuts at all when he has sex. That ain't his goal. He's just into being used as a hole, ya know? And sometimes you gotta use your top as a dildo to use him to use YOU!!! Now that's bottoming from the bottom.

Page 10 - We get a closeup cumshot of penis in butt.  Basile says 'mmm', his eyes covered by his hair curls.  The two men kiss.  Ollie says 'Man..I luhv ya..'

Rare hole shot!!! Lotsa kissin' going on, that's pretty GAYYYYY! And doubly gay to say you love someone after KISSING them and having S*X with them. A real man would go out and have a grim cigarette after tossing their lay for the night off the balcony. At least that's what the movies Ollie watches would tell him. Real life ain't like the movies...

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 intertitle!  A drawing of tighty whity underwear, and tube socks.

Tighty whities and tube socks! He's athletic, okay? But he still calls his momma every week to let her know that he's doing okay at college.

Read more.... Page 11 - Blank white panel. 'Hah.. that tickles..'.  We see Basile's eye, closed, he laughs again 'Haha...'.  His eyes snap open, veiny and scared.  Ollie, shirtless, is hugging Basile's head and shoulders with a goofy smile. 'You 'wake now darling?'.

Sponge mode has been fully engaged. We are leaving the yaoi zone and entering the forbidden bikini bottom.

Negative space (and blank panels!) is truly useful for comics, and I need to learn to use that more rather than filling every panel with details. You get pages done faster when you have less to draw, especially if you don't NEED to draw it, DOUBLE ESPECIALLY if it fits the mood. Such as waking up. You ain't seein' SHIT first thing in the morning.

Page 12 - We see Basile angrily pulling up the sheets to cover his chest.  Ollie continues to speak, 'DAMN, y'grow alotta beard in just one night.  I like ya curly morning hair, it looks cute on ya.  It's like 1pm already but we can still go get Ihop --', and Basile interrupts.  'Where are my clothes?'  Basile desperately jumps out of bed, pulls on Ollie's oversized sweatpants, and gels his hair with 'poomade'.  Ollie exclaims ' HEY, those are MY PANTS!  And dat's MY HAIRGEL!'.  Ignoring him, Basile whispers 'Razor, razor... don't you own a razor, BOY?!;

The idea for this chapter came from a drawing I did where Ollie n' Basile had swapped outfits. So I needed a reason for them to swap outfits. Easy. Basile can't find his clothes after a regretful night of sex and steals Ollie's clothes. Thus Ollie is left with nothing (he only has one pair of clothes he wears for the entire week, much like a cartoon character) and manages to dig out Basile's oversized shirt.

The clothing swap is a good opportunity to emphasize their different body types and fashion sense. Short lil' Ollie likes oversized clothes - but even some of that is too small for Basile's big boobies. Yet Ollie has much wider hips and ass than Basile's completely flat booty. I don't think Ollie has worn a suit jacket or button up intentionally before... maybe to church when he was a kid and his mom dressed him.

Also, I feel the need to emphasize that Basile's hair is naturally quite curly, and what you see in his standard suit-n-tie outfit is the result of sticky icky gel. Cartoon characters don't just wake up in their outerwear! Unless you're Bret Michaels and you wear your bandanna to bed while you're in a car crash coma.

Page 13 - Basile begins to take a hoodie off of the hanger.  Ollie pleads.  'You gonna leave already?' 'YES.  I have a class to teach in the afternoon!'.  Basile squeezes into the too-small hoodie, and pulls the hood tight.  Ollie exclaims, 'BUT!  BUT!  WHADDA BOUT US?! I can make us breakfast!  I gotta rice cooker, sum weenies, sum baby bok choy, sum eggz... Y'like eggs?  Hey... COME BACK!'.  Basile leaves angrily.

And here we see Basile squeezing into one of Ollie's 3XL hoodies. Clothing sizes are messed up. Just 2 inches difference makes it too tight to breathe?!

Rice cooker, weenies, bok choy, and eggs should be a staple of any college kid's diet. Don't matter if you're Asian or not.

Something I like to play with in the fake gay relationships I write, is mixing some of the traditionally "gender role" expectations. Post-coitus, Basile must perform the walk of shame like any lowly sorority girl, clothing her naked body with last night's mistake. Ollie is also clingy over his new-found "girlfriend". The obsessive behavior is associated more with women, but finding feelings for your one-night stand seems to be associated more with men.

None of it matters of course, is the point! People are people, and it's just funny to see what others expect of you because of the junk they think you're packing.

Page 14 - Basile storms into his class with a BAM! 'Sorry I'm late'.  He takes off his hoodie and grunts 'Ugh...let's just watch movies --' as Ollie busts into the room as well, dressed in only a collared shirt and socks.  'MISTAH ESS!' he hollers.  Basile covers his face, cringing from embarassment.  'Mon Dieu...'.  Ollie continues to rant, 'YOU JUST WALTZ OUTTA MY DORM ROOM, LEAVE ALL YA SHIT BEHIND, N' STEAL ALL MY CLOTHES!' while holding up Basile's leftover jacket.

Ollie busts in with his part of the clothing swap! Walking all the way from his dorm to school, with nothing but wet socks on?! Disgusting. No wonder he has no GF! Please note that this is not a class that Ollie is ever in. He usually gets to sleep in since he intentionally scheduled all his classes after noon.

Basile did not bring his jacket to Ollie's dorm. But trust me, Ollie found it. He remembers where Basile left it in the classroom last night.

Page 15 - Ollie begins to tear up and pout.  'Plus, what's a gorlfriend for if ya don't even kiss me goodbye?'.  This enrages Basile, prompting him to squeeze Ollie's neck and make his eyes pop out.  'You're not even in this class!' Ollie continues to cry ' But we had sex and we cuddled--', while Basile interrupts, 'YOU MEAN NOTHING TO ME!  YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!  JUST BECAUSE I MADE THE MISTAKE OF MAKING LOVE TO YOU MEANS NO...thing...'.  Basile realizes he's been airing his dirty laundry publically.

It ain't a comic drawn by me unless I do the ol "grab-n-choke-the-chicken" pose. Ollie, and all other Stupid idiot man-child scouts, are made for physical slapstick. Squidward and Spongebob can do mutually assured destruction! Just remember to balance it a bit heavier on the side of Squidward abuse.

AUTHOR'S NOTE IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTES: Don't hurt anyone IRL! Not their necks and not their feelings! My comics are incredibly realisitic morality tales of course.

Page 16 - We see the shadows of the students' heads staring directly at Basile throttling Ollie.  Basile's pants have fallen down.  'Oliver.  Why don't you go intio that broom closet over there, and I'll meet you after class.'  Basile pushes Ollie out of the room.  Ollie protests.  'BUT-'.  Basile slams the door shut with a scowl.  'Do you kids want to watch Minons or Megamind.'.  Ollie's fingers are stuck in the door and he YIPES.

I have a lot of fun sloppily aping Jim Steranko and Jack Kirby's black and white inking. I like to fill space up, readability be damned! It's fun to just keep slapping your pen on the paper!

The college kids are indeed college kids. Basile is at that age where he can no longer envision age demographics. Are Minions appropriate for 4 yr olds or 24 yr olds? Who knows. Everyone under the age of 30 is a tiny baby man. Including the one 45 year old taking this college course.

And this is where I took a little break to figure out how this was gonna end. We got the sex scene out of the way, we got a lil' slapstick... but now what?! Ollie gonna blab and Basile gonna lose his job? This is something I spend a lot of time think emoji-ing about with the student/teacher dynamic. Most of the time, this ain't gonna end up good ya know? Can't keep the story and characters in this state of suspense for a long period of time, the conceit is inherently ephemeral!! It's all fake and gay, but I need to keep my own suspension of disbelief in check just a lil' in order to keep writing it. Six months later....

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 intertitle!  An illustration of chopsticks, a fortune cookie, and an unwrapped peppermint candy.

Chapter 3! We all know what fortune cookies and a mint means in a Chinese restaurant... end of dinner, pay the bill and GET OUT!! That means you, Ollie!

Read more.... Page 17 - After Class... Basile sneaks out of his class room, looking every which way, and runs to the broom closet that he pushed Ollie into.  Fumes come out of the door cracks.  The door is opened, to reveal Ollie mixing cleaning fluids and creating dangerous chemicals to drink with the janitor's tools.  Basile covers his face.  'God.  You're still here?' 'Hey.  What up, Mr. S?  Ya want summa dis drink I mixed?'.

'Xit' door? I musta inked over something and not noticed.

Comics are not animation, but I cannot help but draw a couple of key-frames to denote character movement. I've always been a lot happier drawing poses than doing subtle ease-in-ease-out animation. This is why I draw comics instead of animating, even if drawing multiple figures in the same panel confuses some folks as to why there are ninja jutsu clones. Plus, I don't gotta find voice acting ;)

One of my solutions to that "suspension of disbelief" problem I mentioned at the end of Chapter 2, is to keep ramping up the stupid shit and try to just have fun! Who cares if the tonal shift is jarring! The characters used to be drawn as 10 heads tall yaoi figures, and now they're flying through the air in chibi form? Good. This isn't a realistic world, it's HEIGHTENED REALISM. Something like that. And heightened realism means Ollie surviving the ingestion of cleaning products. Thank you Shane for your janitorial knowledge, for helping me fill in the environment of these scenes.

Page 18 - Basile sits down next to Ollie and closes his eyes sadly.  'No.  What do you want,'.  Ollie stares at his phone.  'I dunno man, you're the one who told me to stay here.'  Basile squints angrily at Ollie.  'You barge into my workplace, BLATHERING evrything to EVERYONE.  What?  You want to hold my job hostage?  My entire life?'.  Drooling, Ollie replies, 'I jus' wanted t'know if ya still wanted sumn' t'eat together,'.  He springs up, grins stupidly, and drags a tired Basile out of the broom closet.  'OOH!  C'mon mistah S!  We still have time t'change and catch dinner!'.

How do we keep the setting consistent since I'm filling it in with mostly black? We keep the fumes going through these panels to connect them to the previous panels! They're in the same place that Ollie's been drankin' Fabuloso (the forbidden Jarrito).

Basile plays the part in my brain that's questioning "what's the POINT of this story". And Ollie plays the good cop that's like "LET'S JUST HAVE FUN DRAWING UWU". As always, my dankest yaoi is ADHD fucking depression up the butt. Yaoi is just a great way to practice self-therapy.

This is me thinking out loud about how the OTHER student/teacher AU with the blackmail wouldn't work out longterm. Can Ollie make it werk?!!

Page 19 - Back in the dorm, Basile changes back into his own clothes.  Ollie searches for his clothes.  'C'mon, c'mon where's the hunka gold I been saving when I finally get a date... OOH! HERE!'.  We get a full shot of Ollie's outfit, a mash of his hoodie, a baseball cap with the word CUM embroidered on the front, a fur-lined military coat, a collared shirt, a fanny pack, shorts, and minion sneakers.  'YO!  MISTAH S!  Do ya think I'm SEXY?'.  Basile grits his teeth and cringes.  'You look.. you look very..'.  No need to reply, as Ollie happily leads them out.  'HELL YEAH.  I'm know I'm sexy.  And everyone's gonna be so jealous you're eatin' with me.  Where'd ya park your car?  If ya floor it we can make it for da dinner special.

Back in da dorm again, I cannae help but draw the obvious squid. And I have to prove that this story is connected to chapter 1 by re-drawing Ollie in that older style.

Ollie's outfit is awful chaos and 90% of it's formed from my own wardrobe. Especially the fannypack. Can't steal my money if you have to touch my ASS and be GAY by touching my ASS to get it. Wish I had those Minion shoes though.

Page 20 - Ollie sings 'Make dat pussy fart...' as he relaxes in Basile's car, stretching his shoes over the dashboard.  Basile drives nervously and smoking.  In the restaraunt, Ollie eats happily and shoves food in Basile's zonked mouth.  'Dis shit's GREAT!  TRY IT!'  'Why did you bring me here...' 'Choo choo!'.  A forkfull of chicken squeezes into Baslie's mouth with a SPLORT.  Ollie finally answers.  'I wanted to clear it up. Y'know.  If you wanna be my goilfriend.'  Basile answers with a stern expression.  'NO.'

Even for the time period of this comic in 2010-ish, Ollie's music taste is a little outdated... but I'm sure he'll influence Basile to love the CLASSICS of the Ying Yang Twins.

This restaurant is based on a real place in San Francisco, famous to tourists and children for their candied chicken. My memory has latched onto that place for a long time, because it relates to the Metalocalypse quote about "Chickens that tastes like candy". Now that's ADHD brain! I do not remember if it actually looks like that inside. I draw vibes-based backgrounds, not accurate ones!!!

The way different people interpret Ollie's actions and character is interesting! Some people think that he's intentionally torturing Basile, and manipulating him to get what he wants. Like free car rides. Very evil Ollie. Some people think Ollie's too stupid to do anything and doesn't get anything he wants intentionally other than by pure chance. Whaddya think?

Page 21 - Ollie presses his fingers together nervously.  'Aight.  How about JUST FRIENDS?'.  Basile yells 'NO!  I want nothing to do with you, you bonobo-dicked COCKALOREM!'.  Ollie wells up with tears.  'Heeeeeeeeeeey... Dat was fuckin' RUDE!  Y'oughtta 'pologize.'  Ollie angrily stuffs more chicken in Basile's face.  'BAH!' he responds.  Ollie is visibly, increasingly upset. Basile continues to scold Ollie.  'You're the one who FUCKED me then CORNERED ME!  And now I'm being interrogated.  BAH!  Just tell me what you really want from me!  Or kill me NOW.'  Ollie says 'I TOLD YA! I'm for real!  Just wanna know 'bout US!  An' da FUTURE...'.  Basile's expression shifts to contemplation.  'Us?  the FUTURE?...

"Cockalorem" was a word that I asked Shane to find for this dialogue. "Bonobo-dicked" came from me becoming obsessed with apes after the Ancestors video game came out. Those bonobos do be kinda crazy, but their idea of solving conflict through penis fencing is pretty sound.

I think Ollie's genuine in that he's okay with just being friends. It's just too bad the whole "had sex with my professor" thing sours the relationship with Basile a LOT. People gonna talk, weird tension. Wish you coulda started over, huh?

Page 22 - Basile looks away and waves his cigarette in the air.  'You think we could be friends?!  With my workplace and your school being one and the same?'.  Ollie snottily says 'Yeah!'.  Basile SLAMS the table angrily. 'I'd much rather have my genitals sawn off and sewn up again than be friends with YOU!  even if you weren't an undergraduate.'  The restauraunt is silent.  Once more we get a view of the other anonymous people in the room staring at Basile's outburst.  'Damn, y'got the whole joint lookin' at ya.' says Ollie as he adjusts his hat.  An unseen person says off camera, 'SIR!  Take your meal and your wife with you and GET A ROOM!  And no smoking!!!'.  Ollie pats down some money on the table, and gets up.  'Aight man, let's jsut pay n' leave n' get home.  Sorry bout my pal, he's had too much to drink!'

Who's the sir and who's the wife? I think they're both each other's wives!

Something that I very vaguely touch upon with my depictions of Basile is some form of addiction and dependency. Whether it's literal substance dependency, like lil nudges at Basile being dependent on alcohol (harder drugs too in other stories!) for small respites of numbness, or emotional dependency. That's one reason he lets Ollie hang around, no matter how much distaste he has. Dude has no friends now! Stoic men turn into mush when you hit them in their fee fees.

Hey, dig that splatter texture though! I wasn't getting the texture I wanted with IRL ink spatter and toothbrush, because of the small 5.5x8.5 size of the pages. Digital is fine too.

Page 23 - Ollie helps a drunken Basile down the street.  Slightly angry, Ollie says 'Man you're such an asshole.  I'on even now why I thought you was hot...'.  Ollie looks at Basile's depressed face, wrinkly with mouth slightly agape.  Ollie says ' Y'can't drive like dis.  How far's your house from here?'.

Basile's like a wine mom who can't hold her alcohol... drinking away her lonely nights watching soap operas over boxed red wine. I've said that so many times! I always repeat myself! But yeah, Ollie's having some second thoughts about his choice in attraction... I mean, Ollie may be a real stinky catch but Basile is not emotionally well LOL. No one is a great guy, y'know? Ya get to know someone for REAL and you get to figure out if you LIKE-LIKE them.

Page 24 - A view of their shoes walking down the pavement together.  'Why should I tell you...' 'I'm tryna help ya, man!'.  We get a shot of their backs, Ollie holding a hunched Basile up.  'You'll haunt me forever.'.  'C'MON, just tell me if we're anywhere close...'

I like to mirror pages from the beginning of the book :3c Something that caught my imagination when I was reading the Tiger chapter of Watchmen as a kid. More scraggly backgrounds drawn from memory and VIBES... more reason to warp that perspective! Nothing is real!!!

Page 25 - A key opens a door.  Shots of their shoes - one pair of pointed chelsea boots, and one pair of minion sneakers.  We see Basile's messy room, with mattress on te floor and fabric strewn around everywhere.  'Damn bitch, you live like this?' says Ollie.

Door design from memory. Basile's room is based on Lana's empty ass depressing square living box in the "High on The Beach" video. Barely any furniture to speak of. Shit on the floor. Mattress on the floor. This was not meant to be a permanent living situation. But he's stuck here.

Page 26 - Basile sits on the bed, and Ollie takes his jacket off.  'C'mon, let's get this off...uh, where do I put this?'.  Basile says 'Anywhere.'.  Basile lays down on his back.  'My car's going to be towed.  Ollie asks, 'You gonna just knock out like dat?'  He adjusts Basile so his head is on a pillow.  'Getcher noggin onna pillow 'least!'

The end of the book is a GREAT time to figure out how to use negative, undetailed space better as abstract shapes! Dig that empty white hole that's Basile's head, y'know? And all those angular fabric folds that have no basis in reality? Yowza! This is why you can't just wait until you're Ready to draw a comic. It'll be inconsistent cuz you'll be learning while drawing. Cool!

Page 27 - Ollie makes an O-shape with his mouth in surprise while reaching in his coat pocket.  'OH YEAH.  n' Don't forget!'.  A fortune cookie is pulled out, fresh in its wrapper!  'YER FORTUNE COOKIE!'.  Ollie places it gently on Basile's blanketed body.  'I'll leave it riiiight... hyeah.  lemme know what ya get!'  Ollie kisses an unimpressed Basile on the nose while hearts and sparkles spring from Ollie's wet drooling lip.

Now that fortune cookie is the MONEY SHOT of this whole comic. So succulent! So round! Encased in an air bubble, never to be touched....

Shane asked me what my favorite panel from this comic is, and I'll say the fortune cookie and the ~chu~ kiss. I'm fond of noses smushing into each other during yaoi kisses. The untold perils of having vastly different nose shapes. Those curls on Basile's head look pretty swell and cinnamon-roll-like too! His gel is loosening up, he's becoming a natural woman. It's symbolic or somethin', ya know?

Page 28 - Ollie leaves, extending his goodbye awkwardly.  'Aight.  Seeya tomorrow, Mistah S.  I'm headin' out.  Bye!'.  When Ollie is gone, Basile cracks open the fortune cookie.  He stares at the paper fortune slip for a while.  Then admits, 'I can't read chinese'.

Don't worry Basile, I can't read Chinese above a pre-school level either. That's why I didn't write the fortune. Basile and YOU, the reader, will have to tell me what sorta good luck he got!

Outside of Basile's place, Ollie locks the door.  He def stole the key.  He pulls out his phone, and lovingly presses the 'add friend' button on Basile's facebook profile.

Dirty ass house pieced from memory! Sidewalk cracks and weeds growing through the streets. No one takes care of this place!

Hopefully Ollie's phone helps the viewer place the date in their head. Unless they're too young to have ever seen Facebook's old layout. This is an account Basile had to make for work, that he never logs into. Shoot your shot into those unread DMs, Ollie!

Page 30 - Ollie is in bliss.  He stares at his phone for a bit longer, then stares at the area he's in.  His expression changes to worry.  'Hmmm.  How da heck do I get home from here?'.  He is surrounded by raccoons and darkness.  DA!  END!

THA! END! Zigzagoons ate my flesh! Actually walking the distance from the restaurant to Basile's home may have taken an hour.. now how's Ollie gonna get back across the Oakland bridge?! He can walk too right? Maybe sleep on Basile's doorstep? In any case, this concludes this particular timeline for Ollie. I don't really do sequels? All that I wanted to say is right here. They'll have more adventures in other settings :D

Looking over these is always a mix of cringe and warmth. I can do better! I can draw better! I can think better! But damn that do kinda look good though? Good job me. Having finally made n' printed this comic in 2022 cemented that these characters are MINE!!! There's just something different about having an open and closed story about 'em, compared to the vague concept of having OCs floating around in tumblr tags not doing anything in particular. I have boomer brain, I love having physical media to remind me what's real. I hope you enjoyed this comic and my old man rambles!

Printing

photo of my HOOKY! printed comics

photo of my HOOKY! printed interiors.

I printed and cut zine copies when I was done, and they came with lil' bookmarks (with Ollie n' Basile's fake California ID cards on them).

The character page of hooky, displaying Ollie and Basile's California ID cards.  Ollie is 23, and an exercise Physiology student.  He's 5 feet 5 inches, hair and eyes are brown, and weight is 110 lbs.  His mom told him she worked hard to immigrate to the USA, so he better work hard to get his degree.  Mr. S is 58.  He's an anthropology lecturer.  His hair is Black, his eyes are blue, and his height is 5 foot 10 inches.  His weight?  A lady never tells.  He immigrated from france to the USA, and all he got was lung cancer and a divorce.

For the cover stock, I experimented a bit -- "presentation paper" is a bit too thick for my liking, so I went with thinner coated printer paper that a neighbor gave us from her stash from the 90's. Works like a charm! Easy to fold and read.

The interiors are cream copy paper as usual. For both digital and physical reading, off-white is easier on my eyes than plain white or "dark mode".

My current printer is a Canon IP8720. I had a Pixma Pro 100 a couple years back, which I miss dearly for its ability to print colors that match the digital RGB (not just CMYK!!) files pretty dang well, but I think I wore that one out from printing so many zines. So right now it's more economic to use a cheaper printer that just works, rather than worry about the color quality. After all, my main work is in B/W and that's fairly easy to print.

The physical comics will always be available as long as I have the ability to print at home!

That's all folks!

Thanks for reading, from the bottom of my shrunken grinch heart.

I'm always genuinely amazed whenever someone says they've actually READ my stuff and know my characters' names?! Like, I always say that my main goal in art is to entertain me n' my wife. So anyone else that happens to stumble upon my fake gay cartoons is like... some sort of god-like explorer. How'd you find me?! How'd you get here?!! I feel nude!!! But thank you FOR REALS for everyone whose ever left a nice comment and knows that SPONGESQUID RULES!!! :,)