As I’ve mentioned before, I used to write pulp sci-fi detective stories about a character called Nutmeg Rodriguez (inspired by the mighty M-Rod), and I thought it might be fun to post a short comic strip I wrote for her back in 2005, which was drawn up by the very talented Jim Collins. It was originally published as a sort of “epilogue” to a batch of stories, so there’s a few background details you may need to know to fully appreciate the “jokes”: Nutmeg is a down-on-her-luck private detective, working in a futuristic city where the authorities claim to have eradicated crime completely… and the cops get mighty peeved at her for suggesting otherwise, hence the fact that her office is always getting trashed. Sadly, she never seems to make any money from the cases she solves, but in a previous story one grateful client gifted her with a fancy “ghost suit” (basically a “cloak of invisibility”, by any other name), and… um… I think that’s everything. Enjoy!
Valet of the Idols 
Nice! And Jim really did your story up right.
I know, right? And that was before I knew how detailed comic book writers are supposed to be about pages and frames, so he gets full credit for the layout and composition. Figuring that stuff out is a serious pain!
As a writer I spend a lot of time trying to picture things in my head, and figure out if they work or not, so it’s really satisfying to see all that manifested in a concrete form… I particularly love seeing her office with the holes either side of the door, just as I’d always imagined it!
I’ve got to thank Dee for putting this up. It really looks incredible the way he’s presented it on this page and I feel proud to have been able to illustrate it. Nutmeg is a visually exciting character and she was a pleasure to draw and, of course, Dee was a pleasure to work with as well.
Jim
I’m glad to see that the pages are still up for people to look at. I’ve shared this page on my FB site – http://www.facebook.com/jimcollinsart. If anyone is interested they can check out my new webcomic at
http://www.oddlyaroused.com. Thanks to Dee Crosier for allowing me to illustrate his character and for sharing it here.
Hiya, Jim! Thanks for the plug on your site… it’s looking good! Glad to see you’re getting your work out there. :)
Haven’t looked at these pages for a while, and once again I’m struck by how great your lay-outs are. I’ve written (and rewritten) quite a few comic book scripts since then, but still have a hard time actually visualising how the frames will sit together on a page… I love all the different angles and arrangements you used here. Just goes to show how much an artist can improve on a writer’s vision…