P.S. – Don’s been working on and posting a lot of work on Tumblr. Check out his new stuff.
[a message from Don Ahé, the artist of Yontengu]
Hi Readers,
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read Yontengu. I appreciate that Christopher let me stretch my drawing arm on his platform, and letting me grow as an artist in his arena.
I met Christopher as a fan of Little Dee, shortly after I started Road Apples Almanac. Dee ‘s art and humour placed it as an all time favorite of mine right along side Cul-De-Sac, Calven and Hobbes, and Krazy Kat.
The best way to grow as an artist is to keep drawing and pushing yourself, I needed to get out of my anthropomorphic cartoon bubble, this project was tackled for that reason and so I could say I finished a book. Which I now have, thanks to Christopher, who offered to write a story and give me a chance to show his audience!
Working with Christopher was great, he handed over a basic script with few suggestions and let me do what I wanted, if I had story concerns or suggestions he would listen and most of the time make the changes I thought would help, (there weren’t many). He let me expand a 104 pg script to 123 pgs, to pace it the way I liked. In turn Christopher rarely made any art suggestions unless I asked, or it was crucial to the story. At the beginning when I was have some personal problems he roughly thumbnailed the 5 page Earthling, Annaarden chapter for me. Thanks again Christopher!
I wish you all a Happy new year, thanks for reading!
Sincerely, Don Ahe.
P.S. I hope you enjoyed reading Christopher’s story as I did bringing it to life
[a message from Christopher Baldwin, the author of Yontengu]
Hi Readers,
I’m writing this because Don did, and I like the idea! Thank you all for following us with Yontengu.
When I first read Road Apples Almanac, I was delighted. I loved the nostalgic feeling, both innocent and sophisticated, reminding me of Krazy Kat and Nausicaa other comics. I was happy to finally meet Don during one of the years I tabled at TCAF in Toronto, and without hesitation mentioned that if he ever wanted to collaborate, it would be my pleasure.
And what a pleasure it was when he asked! He had asked for an oldie classic sci-fi feel about a young woman who can fly, and I took to it with enthusiasm.
but the exciting thing for me is to see him take that idea and bring it to life. it’s odd being a cartoonist and have someone else (who you admire) adapt your work. They make many choices you would not make, but if you admire them, they become fascinating wonderful choices. I am thrilled with how Don brought out the material.
And there will be a printed collection to be sold through TopatoCo, but we won’t have it all pre-pressed and printed until probably February or March.
best, Christopher
