Page was fun to draw but coloring was a bit of challenge. Hope you enjoy!
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Hey Lightning Fans!
As you may have noticed, there have been a severe lack of updates to the site as of late. The reason is two fold.
First reason is time. I recently got a day job to help pay for bills and the like and it’s eating a lot of time. I’m going to try to just focus on the comic on the days I have off, so we’ll see what happens.
Second reason is I’m preparing our first ever printed book featuring Lightning Man. It’s vastly different than what you see on the site. Same cast of characters, but new spins put on them. Also a slightly more realistic style to the characters. We’re really excited about this project and look forward to getting the first issue out by this August.
I apologize again for the delays and will try to get back to a more regular update schedule.
David Amorando
Founder/CEO
Back Page Comics
You ever hear the phrase “Everything must go”? How about “Act Now!”? Good phrases. They emphasize a sense of urgency. People hear these phrases and some take action, others ignore. What happens to your furniture when you have to relocate to a MUCH smaller space? Well..everyting goes…
Tonight’s blog is more of the behind the scenes of a move. I think at some point we’ve all experienced it. The hesitation, the fear, the panic and the faint hint of profitability from selling your wears. Not sure as to the selling of such things as used dishes or old VHS tapes? You’ve got a friend in your favorite donation area of your building. If you’re moving from a house, you can have a tag sale. However, mid winter is not the kindest to your needs as amateur retail associates. If you live in an apartment complex you might try your hand with craigslist or ebay (Though all I seem to have gotten are scam offers through craigslist and ebay’s listing prices are ridiculous).
The items that didn’t sell (nearly all of them) were put up as free for anyone to take. Still don’t think leaving a bag of fireworks on the table with a building full of kids was a good idea…..(it’s a joke people….relax). Someone took an entire encyclopedia set I had since 1993. Think it still refers to Michael Jordan as an up an comer in this game called “Hoops”.
This next part gets me all choked up. I h…I ha…I had to GIVE AWAY a regulation pool table. Huge. 9ft. Little wear on the bumpers from play. It was the highlight of my first years living in the Artspace Apartments in Downtown Bridgeport. It was staple. It went to a good home. It sucked but it had to be done. Learned that anything “free” will always move.
But I still had a ton of furniture. What I didn’t already take or was already claimed, my brother chopped to bits. Chopping into chairs with an ax, cutting apart a pullout sofa with the precision of a surgeon. There was nothing in that apartment that could ever hope to remain whole. If it didn’t have a home to go to, then next stop was the hellish afterlife for all trash known as the dumpster. Occasionally I’d catch glimpses of my brother welding the ax with the fury of a mad man. It was a sight to behold.
When the dust settled, we were left with a much emptier apartment than previous. It’s one of those things that make you look back. Say things like, “I remember when” or think of moments by yourself in a place you’ve called home for nearly six years. Things you’ll miss. But as they say–
Everything must go.
David Amorando is the creator of the hit webcomic Lightning Man. The Relocation adventure concludes next week!
It’s no secert I love my home town of Bridgeport. It’s part of what inspired the locations in Lightning Man’s home town of Mineport. It’s been a city that both makes me both proud and ashamed to be it’s resident. I was born here. I’ve lived my whole life here. I thought I would die here. (came close a few times. More on that later…)
It’s a train ride to The Big Apple, a place where the Greatest Show on Earth got it’s start, and even a punchline for Stewie Griffin. With all these great accolades, why does one eventually leave Bridgeport? Well, if I can be honest, Bridgeport can get very, VERY stale after a while. Like a comfortable pair of shoes, eventually you have to leave them behind.
When people ask “Why Cincinnati? What’s so great about Cincinnati?” I never seem to give them the answer I want. Usually it’s “Oh my family is out there.” or “Needed a change of pace.” What I’d like to say is “Have been there? Who wouldn’t want to live out there?”
Granted, my family being out there is a HUGE factor. Yes. I’m a momma’s boy. No shame in that.
But my first real experience with the Queen City as it’s called was back WAY BACK in 2002. I had visited my cousin after she had moved down there. It was a completely different experience than Bridgeport. It was intoxicating. I wanted to but had no resources to do so. Then a in 2008 I got a job at the bookstore in my building. At this point the jobs I’ve had were all paid a wage that was for lack of a better term , Crap. When I got the bookstore job, the pay wasn’t that great but it did help me get out of a little debt here and there. More importantly, I could get to Cincinnati.
When I was there, we went everywhere. The downtown area with it’s skyscrapers and history, a massive library with tons of art on display, we even went to the zoo. I know “Zoo” doesn’t scream plus, but when you live in a city where the tag line for the zoo is “HEY WE HAVE TIGERS!” you’d put The Cincinnati Zoo in the “For” column.
The same year I was retooling Lightning Man, writing script after script, page after page. It was good, but missing something. On the drive back to my parents house on my trip down there, we past downtown in all it’s brightly lit wonder. It was there that it clicked. Cincinnati would now be Mineport. The following months I finished the screenplay to the Lightning Man movie with this beautiful city in mind. Then I started work on comic pages for the site you see now, and the rest is history.
To say the decision to move out to a land that I had little experience with was easy would be a lie. I knew more about my beloved Bridgeport. Walked her streets, got to know where the best spots to eat were, which libraries had the best DVDs and books to borrow. Which streets never to go down under any circumstances. Where the best shopping was. Plus I still had family in Bridgeport. My brother and his wife, and my sister. It’s tough leaving behind people, especially people you care about.
Opprotunity had knocked really hard on my door. The timing was right. All the pieces were in place. I just couldn’t resist. I’ll always love Bridgeport, and miss the people both in and around who helped me become the man I am to day. I will miss each one of you. But, it’s time to move on. To kick those beat up shoes to the curb.
I can’t wait for Sunday!
David Amorando is the creator of the hit webcomic Lightning Man. Stick with us for part three the Relocation adventure!
That’s right, the home offices of BPC are relocating to Cincinnati, OH! Looking forward to the move but we have hit a few snags. The first being our mascot Sparky.
Sparky is an 11-year-old pitbull mix (mixed with what I have no idea…) who has been a member of the family way back in the early days of the BPC. He’s been a loyal friend and protector for many happy years. Lately, he’s been starting to sleep more, like old dogs do. It’s been freaking me out.
So last night imagine my horror to see my aged dog limping about for no real reason. I did what any pet owner in the information age did; I hopped onto Google. The internet’s most comprehensive search engine did what it always does. Try to guess what I want to type getting everything very wrong. Dejected, feeling the net, the most reliable source of information (read: HA!) had let me down, I went to bed.
I awoke the next day, with the unease and panic I would assume my father had when one of our clan had a bum knee or a bruise we couldn’t explain. Unlike my formative years, we now have a wealth of information at our fingertips. I began my search anew after observing Sparky’s walking patterns during our morning walk. His limping was only occasional and he even put some weight on it during some of the more…pressing matters…diagnosis? Sprained ankle.
I began my search anew, finding some good information on eHow.com (Finally! Maybe there’s something to this whole internet thing…) and a quick call to my local vet had confirmed that Sparky had somehow sprained his ankle. Instead of medication, the vet recommended plenty of rest and an icepack on the afflicted ankle. Sparky, named more after the high amount of energy he still has, is in total opposition of that plan. That and he absolutely hates cold feet (you should see the way reacts to the snow after walking for a while) so the ice pack is an unwelcome part of the plan.
Oh and this is four days before the move.
To be continued…
David Amorando is the creator of the hit webcomic Lightning Man. Stick with us for part two of the Relocation adventure!
Just a quick update reguarding today’s update. Had a pretty busy day. Will do my best to get the page out to you by Sunday Night.
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