CIEPEK AND SMOKEY

Ciapek the Flying Pooch and Smokey the Para Dog are a pair of children’s comics made for Wojciech Filaber, based on his books that are in turn based on real life dogs that served with the Polish airforce during World War 2.

Initially, I was hired to adapt Ciapek, and Wojciech was impressed enough to hire me for a second book immediately afterwards.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

The client was very insistent that the comic stay true to the real-life aircraft used, leading me to research the history of the Fairey Battle used for the majority of the book. As such the markings and detail of the craft are accurate, as are the fuel tank issues the mechanics discuss.
While made for a young audience, I still felt it was necessary to stay true to the client’s vision and keep the depiction authentic.

The action scene at the climax of Ciapek was fabricated, based on an air raid that did not happen, but the technical aspects were the focus of my research to bring the most authentic non-existent air battle I could.

The right colour for the job

When I was brought on to a second book, I didn’t want to give the client the same thing again.
As such I tailored the colour of both stories to match the tone.
Ciapek is exciting with a lot of blues and greens to envoke happy emotions, while the later battle scene was coloured orange for exciting tension.
Smokey on the other hand was more reds and greys as the protagonist struggles with his fear issues, which open into more bright colours when he emerges triumphant.

I believe strongly in the power of emotion through colour and strive to ensure that the colour matches the tone of the story and scene.

Writer and artist

When bringing the existing story to a comic format, I was tasked with adapting the script to a different medium.
As such I was free to give characterisation that was previously absent; the character Jack’s frustrations are based on real-life prejudice Polish pilots faced by their British hosts after the invasion of their homeland forced them to leave.
A little personality goes a long way, and I intended to make sure I wasn’t going to deliver an inferior script.

Of course, this was run by the client to make sure it fit his vision, leading to some language changes to soften the depiction of British pilots.
Wojciech also wanted to bring the story into his native Polish tongue and translated my manuscript for a second language.