stixite

So here’s the deal. Traditionally, in comics, the word guy (Dale) does his thing and then hands it to the art guy (Courtney) and things flow along with a little “Is this what you were looking for in terms of the look of that page?” followed by “That’s inspired, I need to tweak the script now to make sure that idea fits properly.”

Of course, that’s the normal, traditional, easy way of working.

Stixites are done the complete opposite way around. Courtney takes his inspiration from anything and everything around him. It might be something he read… or a TV show… or something seen while taking a walk…. basically anything he sees and sketches out there is fair game.

That illustration is sent to Dale who a) has no advanced warning or idea what will be coming; and b) will work them ALL no matter what.

There is absolutely NO pre-planning. NO pre-scripting. NO safety net. Courtney tries to stump Dale. Dale tries to not be stumped.

Writer vs. Artist using only their wits and the tools of their trade. Slugging it out. Last ego standing wins.

You’ve heard of the Thriller in Manilla…?

The Rumble in the Jungle…?

Now sit back and watch the Fairly Tense Creative Girly Slap-fight on the Interwebs!

And did we mention that some of the strips have a cunningly hidden Easter Egg bonus variant?

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COURTNEY

Courtney Huddleston was raised by wild Bush Babies in the Jungles of the Sorbon and avoided contact with civilized man until the age of 23, when he was discovered by the noted explorer and anthropologist, Dame Harriett Pilchard-Folkstone. By a curious quirk of fate, Harriett actually knew Courtney as she had been been a friend of his family before “the incident.”

“The Incident” is a darkly held secret, spoken of in whispered tones and always accompanied by furtive glances and occasional lusty leers. While we could give specifics, it’s best to just leave it as a noted dark time that resulted in a young boy being left in the care of Bush Babies. Cutting a long story short, it turned out that Courtney was actually the 74th Earl of Biegestokes and heir to a considerable fortune.

His return to civilization was not a smooth one, and before it was done, his fortune had been double and then lost entirely due to his tendency to speculate in Pushpin Futures and an insatiable appetite for caviar and rootbeer floats.

Destitute and away from the safety of his Bush Baby family, Courtney picked up a pencil, deciding to use it to make his fortune.

Three weeks later someone pointed out that using the pencil for drawing rather than piano tuning might be a more fruitful endeavor and the rest is history.

Since then he’s worked as a professional artist for many years (no one is more surprised that us to learn that you CAN be a professional artist) and has even worked on projects you might have heard of. You can find more information about him on his own website www.courtneyhuddleston.com (but it won’t be anywhere near as interesting as the stuff Dale made up here).

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DALE

What is there to say about Dale that hasn’t already be said?  Billionaire playboy? Secret philanthropist. Big Game Hunter. Presidential candidate. Indeed, NONE of those things have been said about him.

Dale writes stuff, sometimes for money. When he’s not doing that, he is making Courtney’s life as hellish as possible…. because that’s where his true calling leads him.

You can find more about him, including a completely fictional blog of the awesomeness that is the life of a writer, on www.dalemettam.com.