I know it’s been a long time since the last Red’s Planet post, but so much has happened this year. I am now living in California and, after eight weeks of crazy work, SoCal bureaucracy, lingering maladies, and a wee bit of unpacking (who has the time?), we are finally starting to feel settled into our new life. I’ll admit there have been times of mover’s remorse and bouts of homesickness; but over all, it has been a good experience and I’m sure it can only get better. Besides, there’s no Pie ‘n Burger or Trader Joe’s back in Orlando.

The new job on Phineas and Ferb has been fun and challenging. As I’ve said before, I am working with some of the most talented people I’ve ever known and that alone is very intimidating. Still, they haven’t discovered that I don’t know what I’m doing yet, and, so, I’m good for now.

One of the casualties of the move was my home studio. In Florida I was lucky enough to have an entire bedroom of our townhouse designated for my work. As everyone knows, here in California space is at a premium. Not only did we lose an entire bedroom in the move, but we are also paying 50% more for it.

Originally, I was going to set up my drawing table in the corner of the dining room. But, with a nearly-two-year-old running rampant around the apartment, my wife and I decided that having bottles of ink sitting around wasn’t such a good idea. The only other option I had was the garage (having one is a luxury itself here).

So, amongst the boxes of books and supplies that were once my Florida studio, sits a small drawing table with my Cintiq, a plastic taboret, and a desk for my Scanner. It doesn’t look like much (and it isn’t climate controlled) but I’m thankful to have a place to work. But, some of the best films in the history of animation were made in warehouses. Why shouldn’t I take up residence in a cave?

Now, back to Red’s Planet — I was originally hoping to finish Chapter Three before I began to post, but at this stage, I think everyone has waited long enough.

The new plan is the old plan, and I’ll be posting a page a week starting Monday, April 30. The chapter is roughly 35 pages (though that may expand or shrink as I go along) and should wrap up by the end of the year. There are also a couple of weeks between now and then that the animation studio is scheduled to be closed and that may allow me to get ahead. I have also toyed with the idea of posting in black and white and adding color when I have enough pages for printed volumes. I’m still trying to decide on this; the color seems to be a such a big part of the comic.

As I’ve said before, Red’s Planet is very labor-intensive — finding time to work on it after a long day of storyboarding isn’t always easy, but man, I love doing it!

Chapter Three is a very important chapter and I can’t wait to share it with you — this is the heart of the story! I want to just spill the beans right now, but I’ll contain my enthusiasm and wait. Thanks again for sticking around!