Lost everything. Site got compromised I guess and I had to reinstall wordpress. Was hoping my files would at least be saved, but yeah it’s all gone. I have the comics backed up and thankfully got those posts I was writing saved too. I’ll eventually get things sorted here… but yeah this sucks.
Stay tuned I guess. Might as well try and make the site better than it was since I gotta start from scratch anyway.
-K
The past week was a bit messy due to some IRL nonsense, so I just focused on drawing the comic. Since I don’t wanna go too long without updating y’all here with something, I figure a preview of what’s to come and a look at what I did prior is in order!
So for the most recent page in Layne’s room there’s a picture above his bed, which is supposed to be him as a kid on a podium where he won a karting race. The last time you saw this was early in the comic and that original drawing asset is pretty low resolution and it looked kinda… shit when I tried reusing it. So I decided to redraw that picture. Considering it was gonna be shrunken down a bunch I didn’t spend too much time on it, but I think it turned out okay!
I also redrew the picture on the wall of Mario Andretti’s Lotus F1 car to better fit the black and white art style I’m using now.
I’m really excited about the comics ahead! They’re coming along nicely. I’m also experimenting with a more flexible style of panels that I can still be dynamic with, but have the ability to cut em up easily for various social media platforms.
Now here’s a little insight into my obsessiveness. Take a look at the suspension details on this page:
I spent an entire day refining this to look ‘right’ to me. At first, it was just a rough take on what it looks like from the incar perspective on iracing. Then I cleaned it up a bit. From there it was just a bit too visually complicated and didn’t mesh well with the rest of the art, particularly with the other perspectives of the formula vee from farther away as those details ended up not making sense in comparison, so I had to sorta ‘simplify’ it while still somehow making it make sense mechanically. So I basically had to break down elements of the suspension into simpler shapes and leave out details that weren’t necessary. I’m glad I spent the time to do this as if I went with the initial version I’d be mildly annoyed every time I looked at this page..
There’s still a ton to do. I am really hoping sim racers appreciate what I’m doing here as I don’t think anybody has truly captured that excitement and fun we experience when sim racing. Either it’s seen as boring or they nonsensically exaggerate stuff and are silly with it… This arc is hopefully relatable to folks in the sim racing scene and I’m just aiming to create something that *I* would enjoy reading. Hopefully y’all will like it too. 🙂
I might have an update for next week, but with the whole election hysteria taking over, who knows? Whatever happens, keep calm and carry on.
-K
Board Track Racing is a fascinating bit of motorsport history that I’d like to talk about a bit. It’s largely a forgotten sport that was only active for a little over a decade during the early turning of the twentieth century. Why? Insanely dangerous and insanely expensive. During a time when World War I veterans with a death wish and a new level of adrenaline to chase along with the obscene amounts of money being tossed around during the Roaring Twenties, such an exciting form of entertainment was perfect for its era.
Now what WAS board track racing? Imagine oval racing… but scarier.
Started on two wheels and expanded to four wheel competition, where my interest lies. It was called “board” track racing because the tracks were constructed with wooden boards, and with a minimal knowledge of the engineering behind it, the sketchiness of these tracks was an understatement. Later on there was some number crunching done by somewhat competent engineers, but what remained the same was the insane costs of construction and maintenance… and the speeds.
Indianapolis 500: 111.73mph
Fulford Speedway: 142.93mph
Same year.
With banking that’d put Talladega to shame, these guys took what amounted to basically lawnmowers with bicycle tires up to speeds that wouldn’t be seen at Indianapolis for decades. Where the 1950’s and 1960’s era of racing saw a tremendous amount of fatalities, what was seen during the era of board track racing was basically a blood sport for the spectator’s entertainment. Few survived long enough to retire.
When the Great Depression came Board Track Racing went. With few survivors from that era, there just wasn’t really anybody clamoring for it to come back when the world economy recovered. And with the increased focus on safety over the years we’ll likely never see anything like it again.
That said, the concept of essentially wacky hot wheels inspired track racing just seems fun. You see it in arcade racing videogames and people love the idea of it… but you won’t see anybody with a pulse race this way again… in reality. Perhaps iRacing could give it a crack? Would be pretty cool to see a realistic take on this largely forgotten style of racing.
If you’re curious like me, here’s a few documentaries I enjoyed that do a deep dive on the world of board track racing:
-K
