Long John

As has been stated many, many times before, Long John is a story and a character that have been developing for a long time in my brain.  In particular, this opening scene has gone through dozens of iterations––most of which took place only in my head.  However, there were some constants between most or all of the iterations that stuck it out to the end.  The first was the previous page––with the twitching hand and the shot of Long John’s horse in the distance––another was this page, specifically the large shot of Long John looking up at the reader.  It’s always hit me as an iconic moment and I think the body language really defines Long John at the beginning of this story––ornery, slightly bemused, and vengeful.

There are more pages, but to reveal those would be spoilers.  One page that almost made it to print was one that, for a long time, was the to be the opening page.  I even pencilled and inked it only to cut it out because I didn’t like the way it looked and was supplanted by the much more interesting and unique full-page spread with the top of Long John’s head and the bird on top of the tufa.

The original opening to Long John.

In this opening scene––as is evidenced in this page as well as the lost page above––I was really trying to emphasize a slowed-down sense of time where we see Long John awaken with a severe head wound and so things are coming to him in very isolated moments––eyes closed/eyes open; horse lowers head/horse opens mouth/horse bites grass––as his mind readjusts to not only to whatever happened to him but to what will be his brand new life as a brand new Long John as well.