Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Spotlight on a RANDOM VAMPIRE! Yes!


Ok, so I did this one to try and let you in on how the vampire world works in my comic, as it has been suggested my vamps are not all that scary.

While I concede, yes, they need to be a little scarier - and I'm working on it - they're not really supposed to be. At least at first. In my world, it's been about ten years since they took to hiding. Ever since the world's population started growing like crazy, and 24-hour unregulated trading has become widespread, it has become pretty easy for vampires to hide among society. (Apart from, you know, the killing. But they're sneaky enough about it). The world has become disaffected enough they don't notice the stranger who lives in the basement and keeps irregular hours. Nightclubs, hospitals, warehouses - there are plenty of nightjobs out there now. Perfect for a vampire who wants to stay under the radar.

Christian has henchman though, who live a different life. And they travel in pairs. As, when a vampire is created, they become either a Fighter - super strong, or a Flighter - super speedy. Christian is their leader 'cos he's a genetic freak who has both.

Also, holy water is not exactly holy water.

Celadore is not the only monster hunter out there. The vampires are hiding from ALL of them.

Anyway, it's pretty obvious where this story takes place in the whole timeline, so.. enjoy!

And thanks for keeping me in number one, voters! Three days left, though. Anything could happen. Eek!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Spotlight on Sam, The Boy Next Door


So finally, we round out the good guys with another rough two-pager, this time focusing on Sam, Evelyn's next door neighbour.

He's 11. He loves dinosaurs and ninjas and sci fi and fantasy and trainspotting and comics and he's basically just a big ol' eager beaver.

This particular story takes place three years before the Zuda comic begins and is fairly important to the overall story. The glowing blue berries are Pogobees. What are they? What do they do? What happens if you eat too many of them? We'll find out later, but for now... here's more comics!

Enjoy. And vote! One week to go...


Friday, May 23, 2008

Spotlight on Jams, the Frankenstein



So, Jams is a Frankenstein with a difference. He's a Frankenstein born from two others. An absolute freak of science. He never knew his parents. Celadore raised him. He has a hole in his head (birth defect), is slightly deaf, and is colour blind.

His story is another I'd love to tell one day.

For now, here's a little two-pager focusing on his situation, and also taking place RIGHT before my Zuda comic kicks off.


Thursday, May 22, 2008

A Celadore Comic - Evelyn



So, let's rewind the clock three months, to find out how Evelyn ends up where she does when we first see her in my Zuda comic, Celadore.

I did this one staggered over the last week, and finally had time to colour it today. I need the practice on my colouring. So, hopefully this is getting better? Worse? Either way, I'm still learning and getting faster, and hopefully, eventually the colouring will as come as naturally to me as the pencilling. (And the writing).

Enjoy!



Spotlight on Wax - a Celadore comic



This morning, I whacked out another Celadore supplemental story to fill in the traditional slump weeks in Zuda's competition. (Link in the sidebar -> go and vote! :o) This one focuses on Wax, Celadore's on-again-off-again boyfriend. The reason why Celadore is now a monster hunter.

Wax is very very old. He's an Animagus, which means he can turn into any animal he comes into contact with. He wears patchwork fur-lined underwear for convenience. Lined with hare, wolf and rat, with eagle and hummingbird feathers sewn in with strands of rare unicorn mane, for good measure.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Spotlight on the Tooth Fairy



So, a few people have wondered how my tooth fairy, Jeunesse - or Ness for short, fits into the world of Celadore. Well, I shall attempt to shed a little light on the subject with a little two-page yarn I drew up. I thought I'd leave it at the pencil stage so you can all see some of my processes (I get asked for that quite often and never show it) so here it is in all its graphite glory!

The deal with Ness is that she's Celadore's business partner. No-one pays Celadore to catch demons, it's a private enterprise. And in this world where magic is becoming harder to find, thus more expensive, it pays to have someone on your side who can generate a bit of cash flow. Ness's tooth fairies collect teeth, of course, one of the main ingredients in BeautifulNess Nite Cream. Forget botox, this is the natural way to make your skin look younger. Ten years younger. Seriously. ;o) She's also psychic, and, well... wait for the full story to see what she can do. In the meantime, here's a taste...


Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Middle Ages 4!



It's finally done! The files have been sent to the mega-wind-up-toy that keeps going and going, Dave Cunning, at Local Act Comics. It should be available in early June. In fact, come meet me at Supanova Sydney in June, and I'll even scribble on it! :oD

This issue is a little different for me, as I abandoned the gag-a-day style joke, in favour of a continual story that spans the entire 40 strips of the issue. Here's a sneak peek...




Friday, May 09, 2008

New ad for Celadore!



I also had little banners for people to take but I can't seem to upload them to blogger.

Remember to vote! I put the link in my sidebar --> (which Anthony kindly pointed out I completely forgot to post previously... Oops :o)

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Vote 1 Celadore at zudacomics.com


Howdy folks! So Celadore has been live for a week now and it's been great to see it out there and about there.

A few things have been brought to my attention. One is page 2. HERE is page 2 in its thumbnail form... (click it for a closer view)

You can see how much of a mess it was! The hardest part about Zuda is the screens. 3:4 isn't the easiest thing to get used to after, a) working on mainly four/three panel gags and, b) doing Junk, a traditional sized 22 page comic, and 52 screens is not a lot of screens to tell a story. I wish I could do the whole two panels per page thing, but damn it, I want to entertain you, and I'll cram as much into my screens as I can!

Here's the first pic of Celadore and Eve (who was originally called Abi, I believe, until I stole that name for Shirtheads).

And just some random pics pulled from my sketchbooks. There's a pic of Jams, the Frankenstein, in there. (He has a hole in his head. And he's partially deaf. And colour blind). :o) As well as Wax, Celadore's on-again-off-again boyfriend. He's an animagus. They have a long complicated history, which is another story I'd love to tell one day.


Thanks to everyone for checking out my entry, and favouriting it, and starring it, voting, etc! :oD

More soon.

Squirrels & Pigeons are away!

So, I sent these off in the mail to the big syndicates about a month ago, or more, which by my calculations, means my rejection letters should show up at my Toronto home here 2 months after I get back into Australia. That's efficiency, kids! :oD