"Rats In The Maze" ("Get Smart")
Pencil Marks: That’s right, kids – we tried to pull off sequential art!
Granted at first, all our ideas centered around a spy theme. We thought about Erik having gadgets and fighting evil scientists. But how do you parody something that’s a parody itself? And while the original television show did have the late Don Adams in it, we thought having Erik with a ton of bizarre inventions would make it come out looking more like a homage to Inspector Gadget. Sure we could have still done it and like I said, we’d be paying tribute to two things Adams was involved in, but the idea would have felt like a real cop-out; at least for me.
Yet the one image that kept popping in my head the whole time was the memorable opening of Adams going through all sorts of doors which eventually led to a phone booth. So when I couldn’t delay this picture any longer, I sat down and drew it out. Four simple rectangular panels like a storyboard trying to depict a frustrated Erik walking through hundreds of sections. Tony changed the idea a little, but the basic punch line is still there. All that’s missing, as Tony has informed me, is the classic theme song.
Oh, and for those of you out there who constantly bring up us covering Anne Hathaway films in this gallery, I just want you to realize the fact didn’t escape us this time. - Jake
Ink Smudges: Yet another Summer Blockbuster pic, yet another endless cram session as to what is should look like. Frankly I like Jake's take on one of the staples of the series, the endless doors one has to go through to gain entrance to Control Headquarters.
The hardest part of inking and coloring this beast was keeping Erik looking similar in each progression. I can spot a few differences in appearance, but for the most part I got it all pretty spot on. And unlike the Speed Racer picture, I was able to come up with a fitting script to Jake's pencils. All he had supplied me with was an end line of dialogue, which I also changed. Still I think it all came out pretty good. - Tony