Archive for March 2010

Beholder Series #6: Blueprint Magazine, “Roots Issue”, March 2010

March 30, 2010 Beholder Series, Comic Stuff

Blueprint Magazine has released the march issue with the theme of “Roots”. You can read the magazine for free on their website.

The idea for a strip revolving around “roots” was taken a bit more literally on the concept stage. At first I considered doing something based around the dwarves of Hellmouth and their “Birthstones”. The Birthstones for the dwarves are considered to be part of the Roots of Yggdrasil, the World-Tree. After pondering how to do a half-page strip story revolving around a concept that connected a stone to a tree… I figured I’d start over with something more within the universal subconscious.

That took me to taking a look at the myth of the dryad on Hellmouth and how they treat and deal with death. The subtext of the strip was the actual intended concept I wanted to get across. Not so much a “hippie thing” as something that suggests we all live on an Earth that gives us sustenance even as we take it away to progress as a species. A balance is something worth considering, instead of being ignorant to. If the Earth goes… we go.

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Raven Nevermore Gets Re-Structured and Lessons are Learned

March 27, 2010 Comic Stuff, Raven Nevermore

Over the last three or four weeks I’ve been faced with a personal journey that has taught me a lot about writing, a lot about editing, and a lot about letting stuff go and being okay with changing stuff completely. This post is more personal but the lessons I learned are worth putting out there. Many, as you shall see, are point that you must have heard other authors and creators talk about.

In summary I am writing and producing my own original graphic novel entitled “Raven Nevermore”. The complications came about after completing issue #2. The Editor/Letterer I have on board, Thomas Moore of the Pop Gun anthologies and much much more, made a comment about the abrupt and unfullfilling… ness… of how it resolves the tale thus far. This comment aligned with my personal thoughts about some plot points I planned on bringing up later via flashbacks and such. I also wanted something left a mystery in case I could put a second collection together later on.

What Thomas accomplished then was something greater than just suggesting I expand issue #2 by 6 pages to fill out the ending. I was faced with coming to terms with some much more profound change to the entire production. The bonus to the difficult journey is that I get a new kick ass fight scene focusing on Dante, Corvan’s son–seeing the pages always makes the hardship worth it!

Here is a summary of the lessons learned:

Adding More  Pages

I needed to go back to issue #1 and add pages to set up earlier plot points that would be resolved through the 6-part series instead of left hanging for a possible second collected trade. The fact that I had to go back to material written a year ago became more daunting than I would have imagined. Writing NEW pages, which I thought would be fun and easy, turned out to be much harder to do because it involved thinking about all 6 issues in a complete, closed, fashion. Issue #1 and #2 will now be 28-pages long instead of 22-pages. Issues #3 to #6 will likely go to 28-pages as well now that they will just be collected into one book. Issue #4 has been expanded into issue #5 and the entire origin plot will be fully resolved in issue #6 which deals with the “big bad” that was going to carry through maybe 24 issues.

Change Plot Flow

I needed to change plot flow because I’m removing some flashbacks and executing these scenes in the present timeline which required me to deliver seeds differently, more cautiously, but still drop the seeds required for future payoff later. I had to decide what needed to get introduced faster and ensure I could deliver a payoff. I had about 24-issue summaries planned out. Parts and pieces of those 24 issue summaries are now within the SIX issues. Instead of each issue buffering main plot points between other side-stories with the main/major payoff at issue #24, plot points were all condensed, simplified, and delivered as the final complete trade  payoff.

Production Length and Cost

On the production level, I had to come to terms with the additional 30% financial investment. I committed to expanding the series to 6 issues instead of 4 issues, and make each issue a 28-page standard instead of 22-page, which causes me to re-structure the financial framework and ensure the project remains within my financial means! Seeing as I am choosing to be jobless to see much of my projects through to the end this year, this additional cash flow arrangement demanded I really look at me commitment to the project, my willingness to believe in the final product, and my determination to persevere against the odds.

Close the Series

Finally, and most importantly, I decided to tell a CLOSED story that ends at issue #6 and complete the collected trade book as a stand alone origin story… because, well, I could never know if this series WOULD continue and that wouldn’t be fair to those who supported it, nor to me for all the work done thus far. Many creators have trouble letting things go, or changing things; this too proved to be a hard lesson in self-editing.

Ultimately, the BIG PICTURE needs to be kept in mind: The final goal of the big picture needs to be greater than individual elements.

Beholder Series #5: Blueprint Magazine, “Patriotism Issue”, February 2010

March 23, 2010 Beholder Series, Comic Stuff

Another Blueprint Magazine has hit the street–I’m a little late with this update as it came out last week, but alas, here it is! This magazine’s theme was “patriotism”. It’s a little more special to me this time around since it features a front and back cover designed by yours truly.You can read this issue online on the Blueprint Magazine site (along with back issues)–so go go go!

The fifth installment of the “Beholder Series” made it into the tail end of this issue even though I thought for sure I’d have to skip it this month. Now that I’m taking on writing comics more or less full time, you’d think I’d have more time to get around to everything. The reality is that with so much time to devote to thinking about creative endeavors, it’s remarkable how much time just flies by.

Thanks to Emmanuel and his unintentionally effective subtle encouragements (or maybe a “nudge” of this form from him simply means I get to see his awesome art bring a new short piece to life–and that’s all it took to commit to it over one night with a few days to deadline).

The idea for this strip didn’t come quickly, but it also didn’t really have much other competition when it finally sprouted to life in my mind. At first I was going to do something more obvious, like showing an interaction between a fiendish tyrant and his devoted followers who sacrifice themselves in exchange for the security and economic growth he provides his nation. I decided it might be a little too much for this venue and shelved that character. He will likely be brought to life for a much more dense and long form story in the future though–maybe even in future issues of Raven Nevermore if it becomes an ongoing gig.

The next thought pattern became: “What’s beyond national patriotism?”… Like, why not “global patriotism?”… or lets scale beyond that, why not “universal patriotism?”

You get the point. This scenario became obvious after that. I’ve always wanted to find a way to introduce this alien race to the “World of Hellmouth” but figured I’d take much longer to bringing them up. This strip acts as the official premiere for these stranded intergalactic travelers. Details about them, of course, will still be withheld for future stories!

Read other Beholder strips!

 

Beholder Series #4: Blueprint Magazine, “Love Issue”, January 2010

March 16, 2010 Beholder Series, Comic Stuff

The latest issue of Blueprint Magazine is on stands in the Waterloo Region and online as always as well! The theme of this January issue is “Love”. The Beholder strip for this issue at first seemed difficult to come to–but then I remembered all the mermaid motifs I focused on as an artist during university. My use of the mermaid as a fantastical creature was the opposite of that created in popular media. My mermaid was a seductress, she was evil, purely a creature motivated by her lust to procreate with human men… violently. That resolved the direction and this was the first strip done with much breathing room before the deadline!

I also got to feature a bit of the Iberian culture from the World of Hellmouth. They are a culture of fisherman, explorers, simple folk really. The culture also represents a strong pirate nation that makes a fortune with the slave trade. I imagined a lone young man who dreamed of a more simple life where he could find a dream at sea to take him away from the pressures of his society. Poor bastard.

Read other Beholder strips!