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I've got an eight-page comic strip, entitled CROSS-FADER, in the brand new
Kramers Ergot #6 anthology published by
Buenaventura Press. The thumbnails above give you get a sneak peek into the early stages of my working process, which consists mostly of me scribbling with ballpoint pens to see if they contain ink. Once I get a bit further along, I gather up all my reference. Here's the critical piece I needed to begin my strip (© 2006 Don "Toots" Zettwoch):
![](//photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7926/884/400/toots_illusion.jpg)
CROSS-FADER takes place inside and adjacent to a haunted house, and features many real-life Zettwoch scare-traptions. Included is the the On-Coming Car, the Vibrating Floor, and most importantly the Illusion Box (shown in the excerpted panel below).
![](//photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7926/884/400/dude_illusion.jpg)
The Illusion Box is a variation on
Pepper's Ghost, a classic magical/optical illusion pioneered in the nineteenth century for Victorian stage-shows. I first experienced it at the far-end of the John J. Audubon Elementary School fall festival, when I saw my principal turn into a werewolf. Thanks Dad!
![](//photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7926/884/320/Peppers.jpg)
Anyway, Kramers Ergot #6 contains work by some of the world's greatest cartoonists past and present - all much better than me - and should be a great book. It debuts next week at the
San Diego Comic-Con (I'll be on-hand to test ballpoint pens in your copy) and will be available in stores in September.