A Peek at the Vic Boone Anthology

I haven’t really spoken about this yet, but since my pal and creator of the remarkably awesome Vic Boone, Shawn Aldridge, showed this off early on the ol’ Facebook, I guess it’s fair game. Shawn is putting together a sweet anthology with contributions from a bunch of indie creators, all of us giving our own spin to Vic Boone and his world. If you don’t know Vic Boone here’s the quick pitch — an ex-motorcycle daredevil turned private eye in a world that’s made up of Hollywood B-movie sci-fi. I’m working with artist Joe Badon and it’s been an absolute blast. I’ve been a fan of the Boone ever since his debut as a Zuda Comic, so it’s a real treat to be able to tell a story with him.

Anyway, here’s an early look at the first page of our tale, with some wonderfully bizarre creatures by Joe (a personal favorite is the rabbit ears comb-over guy) and a rather badass Vic. You’ll be hearing more about this from all involved very soon!

And if you’ve never read Vic Boone, snag it here. It’s awesome.

The Pawn Shop Script Book

I’m ecstatic to report that we’re nearly 100% funded in our Pawn Shop Kickstarter campaign — at the time of this writing just over $400 to go — and so we’re making the final push to make sure that happens this week, so we can start shelling out some awesome stretch goals! As incentive to get everyone to continue sharing our project, pledging, and perhaps even upping their pledges, we’re offering a free digital download of the Pawn Shop Script Book to all backers $10+ — but only if we’re fully funded by Friday, August 10.

The Script Book will include my handwritten notes and rough drafts along with the final typed draft to compare it to, in addition to some of Sean’s sketches and layouts. The idea is to paint a full picture of the creative process and the evolution of the Pawn Shop story. Like so:

Check out the post on Kickstarter for more examples of what you’ll be seeing in the book. Thanks to everyone for their support so far, and we hope you’ll keep up the awesome support!

Footprints Script/Final Art Comparison – Part 3

There seems to be a running trend of my intentions to be regular with this process column and then falling behind. But hey, life. I’m also writing this while couch-ridden and doped up after my back acted up, so please forgive any typos. My plan was to do nothing this weekend and rest, but I feel funny not doing something. So here we are. If you haven’t a clue what it is I’m doing here, check out the other installments:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Again, keep in mind that due to WordPress formatting limitations, the script format here isn’t exactly how my actual scripts look, but there’s no hard-and-fast comics format anyway, so as long as you get your ideas across competently and clearly in a way that works for the artist, I think you’ll be okay. Here we go, Page 3:

Continue reading “Footprints Script/Final Art Comparison – Part 3”

Kind Words About Our Grim Leaper Back-Up

Great news, everyone! Grim Leaper #1, home to the Jack Kirby/Joe Simon homage short story that I did with Jeff McComsey, has sold out and is heading back to press for a second printing. Huge congrats to Kurtis and Aluisio, and an even bigger thanks for letting us be a part of it. The second printing will be on sale June 27, the same date as GL #2, which has a back-up from Ryan K. Lindsay. Here’s the second printing’s cover:

We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about the short, which I was surprised by, so thanks to everyone that picked it up and talked it up. It’s also available on Comixology, so check it out if you haven’t!

Here are some of the nice reviews we got mentioned in:

Continue reading “Kind Words About Our Grim Leaper Back-Up”

Footprints Script/Final Art Comparison – Part 2

It’s taken me a bit longer to get to the second part of this process blog up than I initially intended, but here we are! Check out Part 1 if you’re not sure what this is all about, but otherwise, read on! Please again note that this isn’t an exact representation of my script formatting, as WordPress opted to be a jerk about it.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

PAGE TWO – (5 Panels)

PANEL 2.1

REVEAL of Bigfoot, still wet in his trench coat and fedora, with a look of complete shock upon his big hairy mug. He’s still holding his mail.

What we can see of his apartment is absolutely pristine. Fine vases neatly scattered about with original art hanging from the walls. No hint of dust, clutter, or grime. He’s either the cleanest Bigfoot on the planet or he’s got one hell of a cleaning lady.

FOOT (CAP):

GETTIN’ A LETTER FROM MY BROTHER THOUGH…

FOOT (CAP):

…WELL, I AIN’T ASHAMED TO SAY THAT I DAMN NEAR SHIT MYSELF.

As I mentioned in Part 1, the script I’m using for these blogs is essentially a shooting script, so there’s not a whole lot of differences between the script and what’s established on the pages, at least on my part. However, it’s notable here that in my description I say “the cleanest Bigfoot on the planet,” implying that there are, in fact, more than one of him. As you know from reading the book, this isn’t the case. As I went on and developed the characters in this issue, I realized the story works much better if these characters are THE characters we know as urban legends. Maybe there were more at one time or another (as Motheresa implies in issue #4, I think it is, where she refers to herself as “a mothperson”), but with these characters having survived “hundreds of years,” they have become the last of their species. So, the description I mentioned above is essentially a remnant of an earlier idea that was eventually scrapped.

As for the pristine/fine art aspect of his apartment (which Jonathan nailed), I just think it’s hilarious that this creature we typically associate with living in the wild as a savage is actually the complete opposite. He appreciates the human world and the things that come with it. And, judging from his taste, perhaps he’s a bit TOO indulgent (a sentiment reflected in issue #3).

This panel also holds Foot’s full reveal, in which he looks…. well, human! Just, you know, hairier. It’s not the most descriptive show of him — and I think Jonathan evolved his look to be even more definitive as the issues went on — but it establishes his look quickly and efficiently. Combined with the background details, I think this panel sums the character up rather quickly.

Continue reading “Footprints Script/Final Art Comparison – Part 2”