Featherbottom - 132

Featherbottom Rebooted - 10

Reworked multi-pane version of the the first Featherbottom story arc. This particular episode may seem familiar: I have reused the core gag of one of the earlier cartoons. But if you compare it to the original, I have actually reworked it quite a bit. It's a lot funnier now.  In case you don't like these reworks and would prefer to see all-new strips: Relax. I'm planning to stop the reboot after the 'Shark' episodes. About four more to go. I have no intention of redoing the 'Heaven' and 'Angel' episodes.

Marseilles - The Island of the Count of Monte Christo

Last week, Blandine and I hopped over to Marseilles for a three day trip. It's just down the road for us from Lyon, but for some reason, we never got around to it in the three years that I've been here. Funnily, even Blandine has never visited Marseilles, except once, as a baby, with her parents. I'll be doing a series of posts on Marseilles, but first up: Île d'If (If island, if being the French word for yew. Better known as the island where Alexander Dumas set THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO, and where reputedly the real, historical Man in the Iron Mask was also interned for a while. This island fortress was used as a jail for inconvenient political prisoners from the 16th to 19th centuries. Alexander Dumas used a real location for his novel. In his time, the exact location of this fortress prison was unknown, and it was surrounded with a great deal of dread and mystery. Naturally, having read the book as a child, this was my Number One destination in Marseilles, although the city has many attractions. To get there, you go down to the old port early morning, taking a look at the ancient fish market that still functions early mornings on the quay, and buy a ticket on the ferry boat that takes you to the island and a couple of other destinations.
Here are the pics of the fish market, old port, the ferry trip, and the island itself:

Featherbottom - 131

Featherbottom - 130

Featherbottom Rebooted - 9

A reworking of the first Featherbottom story arc in the new multi-pane format. I am particularly satisfied with this reworking. I've managed to reuse two artworks of which I was particularly proud (you may recognize two of the panes from before), and it's a lot funnier like this. I guess most of the old Featherbottom episodes were multi-pane strips force-fit into single-pane cartoons.

Featherbottom - 129

Featherbottom - 128

Featherbottom Rebooted - 8

As you know, I am re-working the first Featherbottom story arc on my Linked In company page, once a week. Today, I'll spare you that extra click. For a change, I am posting the re-booted strip directly on my blog, instead of posting just the link.

Featherbottom - 127