DOTA 2 Comic

I really don't know how I stumbled across this but I'm glad I did. I think I was looking for fairytale type fantasy inspiration for, 'Tooth and Nail', and this very much did the trick.

Above is page 3 of Jim Murray's artwork and what is so great about this comic, (apart from the amazing artwork), is it's absolutely free. PDF is available for download from DOTA 2's official blog. If you like this check out his other comics, you'll have to pay for them but, 'Drowntown',  is worth every penny.

2000AD Comp Winner

    

Tom's winning pages! As you can see black and white no colour and the inking is absolutely fantastic. Great work and I look forward to seeing his paid work in print!

2000AD Portfolio Copetition

As mentioned in a previous post I attended the Thought Bubble 2013 convention. One of the highlights and the main reason for attending the festival was the 2000AD portfolio competition. 2000AD provide a sample script, found here, and all entrants have to create artwork based on the 4 page script. On the first day of the convention the entrants work is assessed and 6 entrants are selected to go before the judges. The following day a review panel is held in front of an audience and the work is critiqued and ripped to pieces or hailed an image of beauty and perfection and declared the winner.

Unfortunately I did not make it past the first stage but got some feedback from portfolio reviewer. This is the first time I've entered this competition and I learnt a lot from it. The following day I attended the judging panel and learnt even more. The panel was quite entertaining as all 4 of the 2000AD team turned up late, due to the convention after party and were all a little hung over. On top of this none of them had read the script which again was quite entertaining. There are some pics below of my entry and when Tom Foster posts images of his winning entry I will add them below for comparison.

Click on the images for a better view:

Firstly the biggest problem with my entry was in taking the wrong approach. They where looking for inked pages in black and white, as you can see these full colour pages with no ink. Secondly the backgrounds are looking very empty. The story is meant to take place in a warehouse but from my work you don't really get a sense of this. Thirdly there are some inconsistencies in the anatomy of certain characters and some of the poses are a bit stiff. However a big plus was that the story telling is good and the characters are clearly acting.

The prize for the competition is paid work on a 2000AD Future shock to be published next year. In the meantime check out Tom's work over at Deviant art.

Thought Bubble 2013

Ahhhh! A sigh of relief, now I can relax again inspired and rejuvenated by another great convention. Last week I had a the pleasure of whole week off. Yes a whole week off from work so what did I do? I spent 6 very very long days getting art finished and my portfolio up to date for Comics Forum. Whoever told you there are 24 hours in a day lied. There are more, though they are hidden tucked away in the early hours. I managed to get everything completed but had to sacrifice a day at Comics Forum in order to complete pages to a level that I was happy with. More about that in another post.

At both Comics Forum and Thought Bubble, I got to catch up with people I had met the previous year. It was also great to help out a little on the Hexjibber stall, which involved some colouring in, larking around and occasionally interacting with the general public. No! Not the man in green in the picture below, that is somebody else.

Unfortunately I had to go to the festival with no money and came back with even less. I did however purchase Black Church by Andy Belanger, which unlike Hexjibber is definitely not suitable for children. It is however a really good read.

 I'm currently obsessed with square comics and with it being very I square felt it needed to sit on my shelf. It follows Vlad as he does what he does best. You can see more of Andy's work  here as it is well worth a peek.

Book Design

Over the past month I've been working on book design. I've been researching a number of different elements. Last week I looked at old children's books dating back 100's of years courtesy of the MMU's special collection. One gem I found in there was Rip Van Winkle illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Rackham has always been one of my favourite illustrators so it was enlightening to see all of the plates rather than the select few images you find in art books.

The design for, Tooth and Nail,' will be more of a tip of the hat to, 'Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide: To the Fantastic World Around You.' This really is a beautifully designed book with great attention to detail and illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi. This is why I keep referring back to it again and again.

 

For more of Tony Diterlizzi's work check out his site.

Square Comics

I've been frantically completing sample pages for,  'Tooth and Nail'. One of the decisions I made quite early on was to go for a square page . This is unusual for comics yet quite common in children's picture books. When it comes to laying out your page it throws up some challenges compared to a conventional  comics page. Some of my layouts weren't working as well as I'd have liked and a lot of solutions used your typical comic don't quite work.

I got some advice from Dan Berry and he suggested using a grid to figure out how to best use and layout the page. This worked wonders and solved the majority of the problems I was having. A couple of weeks back I resolved my media and am pleased with the result.

SO! After working none stop for a couple of months I gave myself a couple of days off. I popped down to my local comics shop and browsing for some inspiration found not one but two square comics sat happily staring at me from the shelf.

Both were a great read and I will be hunting down the rest as I came in a little late to both series. As far as the panel layouts go, I will be stealing from both of them. It's great trying something new and a real comfort when you find others are exploring similar territory. Here's to the square comic!

If your interested Davis Petersen creator of, 'Mouse Guard' has and interesting post here about the square comics format. I wish I'd seen that 3 months ago. Aieee!

Make It Then Tell Everybody

I spent last week working away to pod-casts at http://makeitthentelleverybody.com/ . They are excellent! Most of it is informative discussion about the process of making comics. The rest of it is just plain hilarious.
All interviews are by Dan Berry who has an informal approach and is very good at teasing information out of his interviewees. I've run out now because they are that good. I had a good old binge on pod-cast but now I have nothing left to listen too. Noooooo!!!

Something About Pirates

Quetsion: When is comic book not a comic book?
Answer:   When it's a picture book that is at heart a comic book? Hmmm!

I've been temping at a book shop over Christmas. I thought it would be a great opportunity to see how books are sold, who buys them and whether kids are there and influence the purchase. I've spent most of my time at the till so I've not seen much of the selection process, just the result, (Boo! Hoo!). The Pirate-Cruncher and The Pirates Next Door, passed me by during the day and I immediately recognised the artwork. Later I caught sight of the authors name and it was none other than author/artist Jonny Duddle. This set bells ringing and after work I put my generous staff discount to good use and bought both of his books.

Both of Jonny Duddle's picture books are exceptional and they are a great introduction to comic book language for children aged 4 -7 (and older). It is a blend of traditional picture book and comic book using panels and speech bubbles to assist in delivery of an exciting narrative. I thought it was a great blend of the two media and I'll be doing some of this in Tooth and Nail.

I was first introduced to Jonny's tips, tricks and skills as an illustrator in ImagineFX . I really like his style which is why I had to purchase both books and why I am eagerly awaiting The King of Space.  I'll be following it's progress very closely. Oh and his latest book The Pirates Next Door, has been winning all sorts of awards and prizes.

Korgi

Over the past few weeks I've been looking at the complexity of panel layout within children's comics and graphics novels. I found a real gem in Korgi Book 1 by Christian Slade. Its an all ages graphic novel told exclusively through image. I confess I would never have picked it up if it were not for research purposes, wink, wink,  but thankfully I did.

Christian's line work and composition are fantastic. What he excels at is his use of parallel lines to describe form and movement. This adds a real energy to every page. Nothing feels dead or static. More uniquely and more importantly to comics is his use of this technique to guide your eyes in reading the panels and moving your eye to the focal point within a frame or page. I have not seen this done before in comics in this way and found it quite exciting and fun. The pacing of the book is great as well. There's a full review here.

As mentioned previously I've been looking at some DFC strips compiled for graphic novels. I've also been reading Marvel's, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.What they all have in common is very simple panel layout. This is quite different to graphic novels aimed at a more mature comic reading audience. It's less playful and inventive but when it comes to communicating a story directly and with absolute clarity, quiet panel layout really cannot be beaten.

Connecting the Dots

I was re-reading  Frontier on the train during my twice weekly visit to Wales and something in the introduction caught my eye, The DFC. They have popped up at a number of things I have attended, read or looked at  recently. A couple of lines further and the pieces started to fall into place.

Frontier and Mezolith, both featured in The DFC, that up until Friday 27 March 2009 was producing a subscription only weekly comic for kids. When I say 'for kids,' Mezolith is definitely not just for kids, it's a great piece of sequential art. It is visually epic and cinematic in a way that I have not previously seen in a comic. It would translate perfectly to screen and would be ideal in that Sunday early evening slot that used to be filled by The Story Teller. You know that programme in the 80's by Henson with John Hurt and a big fluffy dog. Only in Mezolith the storytelling and stories are even better.

It follows the escapades of Poika, his tribe, their stories traditions and their way of life. There is something quite primal about the narrative and they feel like they're being passed onto you rather than being read. I really can't overstate the quality of the storytelling in which Ben Haggarty and Adam Brockbank truly excel.

Anyway DFC Library picked up where it's preprocessor left off reprinting Mezolith  in graphic novel format. Which is why I get to enjoy reading and re-reading it. I'm really looking forward to book 2.

Come on guys when's book 2 out?

Rise of the Phoenix

the PHOENIX is an amazing weekly comic for Kids. The core readership is 8 - 11 but can be enjoyed by younger children and also by adults. Whilst at Thought Bubble I got to chat to Neil Cameron and drool all over his portfolio, apologies if it's now dripping with saliva. Neil is one of the artists that works on my favourite strip in the weekly, The Pirates of Pangaea.

I also got chatting to Ross Fraser their marketing manager whilst purchasing a taster subscription as a Christmas present for my niece. He told me that the Phoenix is available in Waitrose and they are looking at more retail outlets for retail distribution. So it is very likely that if your in the UK they will soon be in a store near you. If your looking for a Christmas present for a child in that age bracket it is well worth a look.

Frontier: Dealing With Demons

Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman have done a great job on this. It seems that the 2010's is going to produce a wealth of comics for Kids and shift away from the emphasis on gritty realism. Obviously there's a place for dark gritty comics, but your kids can't read over your shoulder whilst your flicking through the latest Spiderman featuring Aunt May getting raped by DR Octopus.

Frontier is a Western similar to Hellboy in that anything can happen. The artwork is beautiful clean and the palette makes the whole thing very easy on the eye. It's a collection of the strip that featured in The DFC, before they shut up shop.

Strip Magazine has a full review here. Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more from this duo.

Porcelain

I got given a free promo comic at Thought Bubble. Normally when anyone tries to hand me free shit I ignore it because it is normally exactly that, Free Shit! Thank god I did not do this for 'Porcelain - A Gothic Fairy Tale'. This is something a bit special. It is probably the best thing in comics I have read for a long time and I can't wait to get my hands on more. It is beautifully rendered and beautifully written. There is a wit and playfulness with the main character that is rare and the text and image marry perfectly. This is definitely a Gothic fairytale to keep an eye on and I will be buying it when it is available. The promo is on-line at Improper Books, so head over there and enjoy.

Definitely the best free thing I've ever been handed.

Disconnected Vol. 2

Whilst at thought bubble I had a lovely chat with Lizzie Boyle. Lizzie handles editorial responsibilities over at Disconnected Press as well as writing. They pride themselves on showcasing emerging talent in the UK comics world. I picked up Disconnected Vol. 2 and read it on the way back from my twice weekly trip to Wrexham. For me the stand-out story was 'Pests' writer, Mathew Craig and artist, Neil McCclements. The reason I bought the book was, 'The Remarkebly Normal Man' the artwork is absolutely stunning. Sarah Jones has done a great job of bringing Jon Lock's story to life. There is something in this compilation for everyone so if you get a chance buy it. I will now be feverishly hunting down Vol. 1.

You can also see some of Sarah's work here.

Thought Bubble

The Thought Bubble convention was a blast. I got to hang out with my mate Andy Sykes of http://www.hexjibber.com/ while he wrestled with the responsibilities of super stardom. I also got to check the sketching spotlight JOCK AKA Mark Simpson as well as PIA GUERRA who were both on top form. Dr Simpo gave a talk on Dandy: The Rise an Fall of a National Institution which was fun and informative with lively discussion at the end. 

Most importantly I got to chat with a number of artists, editors and Marketing Managers. I would recommend this festival to anyone in, wanting to break in or avidly reading content created by, the comics industry.  

Tidy Up

I got back from Thought Bubble comic conference on Sunday feeling truly inspired. As a result I have been racing round, (sat on my arse), the internet sorting out my various profiles and getting my work in order. So hopefully I will be in a position to post some work and show progress on my own projects pretty soon.

My links to comic book stuff are set up over at Delicious for all to check out. There're links to Thought Bubble so you can check out everything that you missed if you did not attend. Also of note was the Comics Fourm they put on a fantastic event with some great speakers. Thanks to all that talked to, spoke at and chatted with me.

The Comics Forum ran on the 15th and 16th November before the convention, papers were delivered by a number of academics.  I particularly enjoyed papers by Mel Gibson, Umar Ditta, Cameron Fletcher, John G. Swogger, Andy Mason, William H. Foster III, Keina Yoshida and Asta Vrecko. A special thanks is deserved for Mel and William who were particularly informative and entertaining.

In addition Charlie Adlard was a keynote speaker. I didn't realise who he was previous to the forum which is ridiculous as I've read all of 'The Walking Dead' to date. I can only out put this oversight down to my eagerness to delve into the story. It was great hearing him talk and introduce some of his other works of which I will now hunt down and read.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of JacobiahsJ! Hope you enjoy looking around, thanks for visiting.