Bad Morning in Bali by Shannon Azzato Stephens – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

â€œBad Morning in Bali by Shannon Azzato Stephens We thought it would be charming to stay beside the infamous Ubud Monkey Forest. It did not occur to us that the monkeys would use our garden as a playground at night.â€ â€œSKREE SKREE SKREE SKREEE SKREEE.â€ Monkeys scream outside the house where Shannon and her partner are trying to sleep. â€œI passed the sleepless hours reading one of the few things that reliably calms me down: Marvel Firsts: The 1960s.â€

â€œIâ€™m one of those people who got into Marvel because of the movies. I found the stories weirdly aspirational, especially the older stuff. Itâ€™s not that I wanted to be a caped crusader, just that I found it comforting to look at these lives of singular purpose and great adventure. Because when youâ€™re constantly running up and down the arc of the heroâ€™s journey, thereâ€™s no time to wonder whether youâ€™re making the most of your time on Earth.â€

â€œIâ€™m always wondering that. Itâ€™s what drew me to the digital nomad lifeâ€”this clawing fear that Iâ€™m neither doing nor experiencing enough. But no matter where I am, thereâ€™s always a Zoom call waiting.â€ Shannonâ€™s alarm goes off. She groans, â€œUgh. You sleep, Iâ€™ll go to the coworking space.â€ Her partner replies, â€œAre you sure? Sounds like rain.â€ Shannon gets up and says, â€œIâ€™ll be fine.â€ The monkeys continue screeching, â€œSKREE! SKREEâ€ Shannon walks outside in the rain, putting on a helmet and looking at a motorbike facing her on the street. She thinks, â€œHow the hell am I supposed to turn this thing around?â€

Shannon attempts to move the motorcycle around and ends up breaking a plant pot. She tries pushing it forward, but it falls to her side. Behind her, five small and ominous silhouettes look down at her.

Five monkeys are perched on a gate looking down at Shannon. â€œThese a-holes. I could see the judgment on their little faces. Theyâ€™d kept me up all night, driven me out of bed at the crack of dawn, and now they had the audacity to JUDGE me? Iâ€™d been warned not to make eye contact with them, which they can interpret as a threat. But I hadnâ€™t had my coffee yet.â€ â€¨Shannon engages in a stare-down with a monkey. Both of their expressions turn to scowls.

The monkeys start chucking nuts or seeds at Shannon, who runs back towards her bike. â€œItâ€™s extraordinary how fast you can right a fallen motorbike when youâ€™re under fire.â€â€¨She takes off on the back away from the monkeys, who still stare down at her as she goes. â€œâ€”And how adventure can catch up to you when you stop worrying so much about whether you have enough of it.â€

Published On: June 3, 2024

In a minimalist, contour line, a naked woman leans over slightly, fixing her hair. Her face is scribbled out. Text reads, “Your husband says he’s leaving / you.”

The text "B is Dying floats in the ocean at sunset.

A young-adult angel with golden skin, blank white eyes without pupils or irises, a stark white afro hair-style, and white feather wings sits at a table looking at one of their feathers. They are wearing a blue and white toga-like tunic and gladiator sandals. They have an air of ennui about them.

CJ sits in a swivel chair, arms outstretched, and sings, “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens”

"Whatever Comes to Mind, Friday June 21st @ 7pm EDT, Free flow comic + drawing warmup exercise with Haleigh Buck! A free comics workshop from SAW!"

The words "B is Dying like you" float along with little bubbles and river grass under water. "-Hart 2018"

A man is surrounded by overlapping, uncontained speech bubbles with text like, “Devoid of technical skill lacks subject matter I don’t think your work will find interest here. Derivative. Pedestrian."

“Story of an Autumn Chicken by Jen Grisard Ludwig” A forest covered in autumn leaves, with the silhouette of an anthropomorphic chicken in the background.

"SAW & A.G. Moore Present: Instructions for Becoming! Comics as Spells, Recipes, & Equations, Fri June 14th 7pm Eastern on Zoom"

A cheery bear says, "Office, sweet office!" A pig cheers, "Yay!" They have arrived in front of a house carved out of a tree-topped hill.

“Couplet" A naked woman sits crouched on the ground, leaning forward so she is almost lying down. "We started as one"

"SAW Presents: Making an Empathy Comic with Andrew Kozlowski, Friday June 7th @ 7pm EST"

"B is Dying" written as branches of a tree

A young boy hugs the horns of a cow. He looks distressed.

"Friday Night Comics presents Georgia Webber: A Rant about Rectangles Friday May 31st 7pm on Zoom" Four Georgias are seen talking passionately or thinking deeply about rectangles

"Free online workshop: Icons Patterns and Textures with Fionn McCabe, Sequential Artists Workshop, Friday May 24 7pm EST"

"After Camp" A traced drawing of Adam as a boy standing with his Grandpa, whose hand rests on Adam's shoulder. Adam says, "Hi again, Grandpa."

"SAW Presents: Exploring Your Comfort Zone Using Comics with Dana Jeri Maier, Friday May 17 7pm ET 4pm PT" A map of a land mass divided in two by a dotted line and surrounded by water and sea monsters.

A hilly landscape with a black sky. Someone from off panel says, "Nelly?"

"SAW presents a virtual comics workshop: Your Celebrity Crush Is In Love With You, with Heather Loase, free and open to all, Friday May 10th, 7pm EST" The title of the workshop is in white block letters over a large red heart, surrounded by small red hearts decorating the graphic. Below the heart, one person is chasing another. The chasee says, "No Barry Keoghan, I will NOT be your date to the Oscars!" Barry Keoghan, holding a bouquet of roses, replies, "I beg ye' to reconsider darlin'"

Two people enter a house that is partially flooded and in disarray. They look shocked.

"Disabled activists fought for an elevator down to light rail but it was shuttered due to misuse. Foot traffic brings the challenges of humanity. For building owners, isolation saves money."

“The Way Above by Adrean Clark My librarian aunt has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid, I climbed the loft high above my hearing family. A row of National Geographic’s formed a tunnel behind her bookshelves. My mind traveled the world without worrying about my Deafness." 3 panels who altogether depict a cityscape view of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Rachel looks at themself in the mirror. They have thick eyebrows, bangs, and wavy hair past their shoulders, rendered in soft blues. They are touching their cheeks with their hands as tears and makeup stream down their face. They look pained, brows furrowed, eyes wide, frowning.

Promo graphic reading “Drawing Sense Memory with Solomon Brager @jbbrager Free Virtual Workshop Friday 5/3 @7pm ET / 4pm PT” A human nose highlighted in pink is sniffing a yellow daffodil; they are composed of half-tone textures.

“When I was in the 5th grade my best friend and I used to name the pigeons in the schoolyard.” A brightly colored screenshot of a Google Maps street view image of a city street, with a cartoon pigeon imposed on it to be part of the scene.

"SAW Presents: Sketchbook Church with Walker Mettling Fri April 26 7pm EDT Sketchbook Games | Beginners Welcome Free Friday Night Comics Workshop"

A human figure is crouched down on the ground, back against a tree trunk. They are backed away from a pond, from which a huge splash of water rises with a “PLIIP!” The figure is frowning, looking a bit taken aback.

$Christa places her hands over her chest in mourning and cries quietly, tears streaming down her face, eyes closed and head tilted slightly. Two other versions of this image are refracted in the background along with a slight iridescent effect.$

An extreme close up of a human eye. The pupil and iris are completely reflecting a scene of frogs in the mud.

4 thoughts on “Bad Morning in Bali by Shannon Azzato Stephens”

mlsavarese
06/05/2024, 11:38 pm
- Reply
Very nice and very well done… thanks for the happy ending!
Maureen Azzato
06/06/2024, 6:35 pm
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Well done, Shannon. Love the story and the art! You did such a great job showing character action and loved the texture of the surroundings and background (plants, monkeys, stone walls, etc! !!! 👏👏👏👏 Can’t wait to see the next one! 😃
Jason Gael
06/08/2024, 3:25 pm
- Reply
Those little batards are totally aggressive and don’t GAF! The monkey temple is port incredible in its stonework and bridges and the persons providing info are very kind. Sunglasses or banana on your person while visiting not a good idea. I have a ton of pictures and video of those little aholes and I did but $100/lb bag of civowet selected and shit out coffee beans. After 2 cups of unimpressive tasting coffee I have the bag away. And I surfed Kuta with a friend from Australia who had surfed there since he was a kid and knew the spots and breaks, but while at that beach I withessed several different people throwing plastic
Bags of garbage over their shoulder right on the beach right in the middle of the beach full of people and just didn’t give it any further thought or attention . Love your comic on this!
Michael Aschner
07/10/2024, 11:43 am
- Reply
This is great!

4 thoughts on “Bad Morning in Bali by Shannon Azzato Stephens”

mlsavarese

Maureen Azzato

Jason Gael

Michael Aschner

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