When I purchased The Making of Private Eye (or Inside Look) on panelsyndicate.com a few minutes ago I wasn't sure what to make of a making of? Lets be honest, usually you have to pay a certain amount of money for a regular comic. Here BKV and Marcos Martin ask the readers to pay whatever they want to pay. For a regular issue of the Private Eye I usually like to pay a regular (slightly increasing) price (with each issue).

Long story short I decided to send them $0.85 -- that's 1 cent per page -- and added the comment I would send another 10 cents for each page that would make me smile. As a little side note I'd like to mention this is not about saving money (or spending less, quite the contrary) but spending money and giving it to some of my favorite comic writer and illustrator who truly deserve it. The Private Eye is such a wonderful project in so many ways. It has got to be continued until its story has been told.

Here's when and why I smiled -- plus a few additional comments -- as I read and review this issue page by page:

(Page 0 - Cover)

Page 1 - Foreword beginning with "I hate these behind-the-scenes things". Another extra 10 cents for "I thought Marcos had finally lost his mind". -- Tip counter: 20 cents.

Page 2 - BkvLeaks - Marcos' very first reaction and especially "the completely crazy idea ... that I know you'll hate but that I'd like to share anyway." -- Tc: 30 cents.

At this point I was quite sure I'd find something to giggle about on each and every page... just to find out it would not...

Page 3 - The Pitch - subtitles are real money savers!

Page 4 - Brief Summary of Secret Society (pages 1-2) - Many things made me laugh especially the "Big Brother, we had become" and "the same way we could online way back in 2011" that ends the page. -- Tc: 40 cents.

Page 5 - Brief Summary of Secret Society (pages 3-4) - First of all, guys, even in the pdf version I couldn't select the link (text) so I had to re-type it. Really? WTF! Just for some crazy Japanese's insanely weird idea that made me smile but happens to be someone else's intellectual property hence no extra tip here. Note to self: Must have sushi this week!

The mix of Black and Irish and Spanish reminds me of the good old times I had have in Valencia drinking Black Russians (my favorite drink) at Finnegans on Plaza de la Reina before heading out to have the best tapas (and sangria; my other favorite drink) in the old town center in the middle of the night. -- Tc: 50 cents now.

Page 6 - Brief Summary of Secret Society (pages 5-6) - The Old Man's description very much -- who doesn't attention deficit disorder drugs? -- and of course The Foreigners; there's always something strange about Russians. -- Tc: 60 cents (won't be enough for those new homes in France but you'll get there!).

Page 7 - BkvLeaks - really interesting but didn't really make me laugh; instead I was getting incredibly hungry and needed to save money for food, too.

Page 8 - more leaks - so many good things here:

• "batshit"
• "more detailed than a Marvel plot, but less constrictive [...] than an Alan Moore full script" (ouch!)
• "pretty fucking cool. You'll probably hate it"
• "BRUTAL. Brutally good, that is."
• "This is the shit."

Guys, it really is the shit... this inside look, that is. Tc: 70 cents.

Page 9 - The Script - another sub another saver.

Page 10 - Script (page 1-2) - 10 easy cents for the "Internet is the villain."

A tinyurl!!! Really!?! S*ckas! By the way, not sure if this whole story and inside look is about my dirty little secrets of the past??? I had spent some quality time at the Indiana University in Indiana, PA; it's where Jimmy Stewart was born. There's a statue in front of the townhouse or so. Student parties usually ended with disguising Jimmy, or at least putting a beer can into his hand. (Un)fortunately we hadn't have iPhones back then. -- Tc: 80 cents.

Page 11 - Script (3-4) - 10 cents for "a mess of freckles" and that being LOST again moment. Freckles. Cute. Kate. Numbers. I remember the numbers: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Have to watch LOST again, and play the lottery, obviously. -- Tc: 90 cents.

Page 12 - Script (5-11) - Nothing's here to lol about but kudos to (that's 10 cents for) Marcos for drawing that Dreamcoat like he did on page 9 of the first issue. Note: CV might need a wiki page for the Dreamcoat. -- Tc: $1.

Page 13 - Script (12-13) - More kudos for Marcos adding a runner still using an old-fashioned walkman in 2076, some guys playing frisbee, Mr. Fishhead aka Cowl Guy, and of course the pack of (legal) joints. Sweet! That's right, that made me smile. -- Tc: $1.10

Page 14 - Script (14-15) - Nothing's really funny here but I have to admit that I hadn't really noticed the PI thing when I had read the first issue for the first (and second and third) time. Kinda weird. With the PI in mind, I think the suite's room number should have been 42 - the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything according to Deep Thought the HHGTTG. Uh! ... Anyways, 10 cents as fine for not paying attention to detail and not getting the TT/PI reference, or letting P.I. read Something Happened by Joseph Heller. Okay, I shall pay double... -- Tc: $1.30

Page 15 - Script (16-17) - Just 10 cents for all the favors we do because she's hot. -- Tc: $1.40

Page 16 - Script (18-20) - Did Marcos need more information? I don't think so. The panels on these pages are awesome: The Flaming Lips, the close-up of The Maltese Falcon, the book titles, the smirky Dreamcoat, the giant-sized faces. Back to the scritp... "his flirtatious client". -- Tc: $1.50

Page 17 - Script (21-22) - Born in 1976. Really? I don't believe it!!! -- Tc: $1.60

Page 18 - Script (23-24) - Who added the "blah fucking blah"? BKV? Marcos? Too bad it wasn't in the script... money saver here. LOL

Page 19 - Script (25-27) - No comments no smiling no money. Odd.

Page 20 - Script (28-30) - Great visuals here. Kudos to Marcos again for making it happen according to the script and beyond (all expectations). Where did BKV find that guy? -- Tc: $1.70.

Page 21 - BkvLeaks again... and finally (not such a big fans of scripts; this one was really cool though and totally worth reading and paying for it - subtotal is 1 buck for the scritpt only; most of it belongs MM! Just trying to ensure the money gets into the right hands. Good thing MM is the recipient when paying through PP) - This is a message from MM to BKV about the status of the character design especially P.I. and Gramps. Interesting to read though not funny and what the heck is IMF? Abbreviations drive me crazy the ignorant MF I am. I'll be generous here and add another round for MM. -- Tc: $1.80.

Page 22 - Character Design - sub title

Page 23 - Character Design (PI and Dreamcoat)

Nice try but that feels misplaced right there!

Page 24-34 - More Character Designs - Extra cash (10 each of course) for:

Gallery

Honestly, these are from the first five pages. There's even better suits, masks, and costumes on the next five pages but I want people to still get the inside look and not reveal all the magic right here. -- Tc: $2.30.

Page 35 - BkvLeaks - MM to BKV about futuristic, eco-friendly city design. I'm having a Kodak (digicam) and am not that happy with it. Nice letter but no smile whatsoever.

Page 36-38 - City Designs - I'll just add another random 10. -- Tc: $2.40

Page 39-40 - BkvLeaks - About "crappy doodlings", the "wacky new process", and keeping MM's mind fresh and "prevent it from exploding." -- Tc: $2.60

Page 41 - The Layouts - sub

Page 42-52 - The actual Layouts (1st part of #1) - OMG! I do love b/w. OMFG! 10s for page 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, and 11. Note: Working titles so far: Secret Society & Masks. Hopefully, we'll get to know who came up with the actual title later on. -- Tc: $3.20.

Page 52 - BkvLeaks - haha (Flaming Lips!!!), talk about the title, and darn another long link and no tinyurl. -- Tc: $3.30

Page 53-62 - More Layouts (2nd part of #1) - but nothing's too fancy here except for Mr. Fishhead and Taj's XXL-face. -- Tc: $3.50

Page 63-64 - BkvLeaks - Ha! - "Your storytelling is just too f*cking cool not to find a massive international audience" and "killer work" sums it up nicely. Also, thanks for solving the mystery about the title. -- Tc: $3.70

Page 65-74 - More Layouts (3rd part of #1) - Frankly these are all much better in color IMO. Just 10 for that tiger mask. -- Tc: $3.80

Page 75-77 - BkvLeaks - In search of the perfect domain name. I'm glad you guys have decided to use PanelSyndicate.com - it's def the best option besides PanelOne.com. Bkvleaks.com is still available by the way. Should I register for it and then sell it back to BKV? Hmm. Anyway,... SpaceDinosaur.com made me laugh. Yes, it really s*cks so many good domain names are already taken and parked. -- Tc: $3.90

Page 78 - The Teasers - sub

Page 79-81 - The Teasers

I don't LIKE crowds, wouldn't FOLLOW that jump, and have no bullets to SHARE.

Page 82-83 - Final round of BkvLeaks - "that's one hell of an afterword. Really moving shit" is what I thought, too; plus "unimpeachably perfect". -- Tc: $4.00

Page 84 (or 85) - Back cover.

Final Tip Counter

$4.00 hence $4.85 in total and that's still cheap for all that virtual paper.

Conclusion

The Private Eye is one hell of a comic, story and graphical adventure and this Making Of is worth every penny you'd like to pay for it!

Thanks for an interesting and thorough Inside Look! #BKV #MM

Final Word

Now, lets have an inside look to SAGA! #ImageComics #BKV #FionaStaples