I love basketball! I never grew up watching much or playing at all. I started playing just four years ago and since have become obsessed. I play in a couple of leagues and before my daughter was born, I played every chance I could get. My favorite team is the Detroit Pistons (I'm originally from Detroit) but having lived in South Florida since 2004, the Miami Heat are a great team for me to follow because I can watch every game. It also helped that shortly after I got into the sport, Lebron James and Chris Bosh came down here, which has made them even more exciting to watch. I am a big Heat fan. I know everyone on the team, and watch EVERY game. So when it came time to do another short, I thought a story about basketball seemed appropriate.
Originally this story was written as two pages in an attempt to get a certain artist I like a lot, to do it. But they were unavailable so I was on the hunt for another artist and while sending the script along to some writer friends of mine, the consensus was that the story was a little too rushed in just two pages, so I expanded it out to four.
Out of the blue I got an email from Michael Odom who had read a conversation between Rob Guillory and I on Rob's twitter page talking about me looking for an artist for a short. That particular short found an artist but I really liked Michael's work so I threw this basketball idea at him and he was interested. Michael does a really cool web comic for Third World Studios called "Holiday Wars". Check it out online HERE.
Michael was a pleasure to work with. We had a lot of back and forth and sharing ideas, which is why I love comics. Collaborating is easily my favorite part of the process. Michael only had one request and that was to make sure I got a KICK ASS colorist for this. Well, after having worked with Paulina on "Surprise, Surprise", it was a no-brainer that I would ask her to do this one as well. She killed the colors on this and continues to blow me away when I see her work.
Of course, one of my shorts wouldn't be complete without the amazing Thomas Mauer on letters, so yes, he's back again. Finding great people can be tough sometimes, so when I find good people, I like to hold on to them and use them as much as I can. Thomas and Paulina are great people and are my go to's when I make comics.
Thanks for taking the time to check this out and we hope you dig our little tribute to the game of basketball!
Enjoy!
Art: Michael Odom
Colors: Paulina Ganucheau
Letters: Thomas Mauer
(for a smaller, zoomed out look at the pages, clicking on each one will open them in a lightbox.)