Issue 11, page 22

Another set of roughs down. Just the clean-up, lettering, inks, and tones to go. Though maybe some lunch first. It's important, after all.



I like posting these screencaps better than the single panels. They're messy enough that any details can't be seen, but you can still tell that I'm making some progress.

As for the page in the corner, I need a reference nearby for the room and Ash (the dark haired gal). I'm not too familiar with her just yet.

edit: Here's the clean sketch of the group panel at the bottom. Everyone's just standing about. It may be boring visually, but it's probably what everyone would be doing. It's not like there's some magazines in the room for them to read.




"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Issue 11, page 21

Hey all. It's been a rough weekend. I've the sketch of page twenty-one done. Here's a screencap.



I've some clean-up work on the sketch to do quick, and then the lettering. Inking will begin a little later. It'll be nice to get this issue done and off to the printer.


"To find yourself jilted is a blow to your pride. Do your best to forget it and if you don't succeed, at least pretend to."
-- Moliere

Issue 11, page 19

There are only two more panels left on this page, but it's going on eight-and-a-half hours straight now and my back and wrist are getting stiff. So, I'll finish up tomorrow. For now, here's a screencap.



Yes, there are that many layers of toning initially. They get condensed down to one layer when I'm finished. This is to prevent a layer accidentally being shifted while we're getting the pages ready for print.

Okay, my workday is done. Time to relax. Later.


"Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating."
-- Denis Waitley

From Issue 11

We're going to try something new. Once an issue, I'll post a finished page as a little sneak peek. Why? Because occasionally I have pages that I'm fairly proud of and, like the rest of humanity, I like to show off. I have to deal with everyone else showing off so... this is my turn.

Here's the finished page eighteen. Those of you who remember the old The London Compass tabloid site Matt ran for a bit may recall Mr. Callahan. For those who don't... Callahan works for The London Compass, the CN:H version of The Sun / The National Enquirer and he's obsessed with finding out all he can about RCSI. He'll start to show up more over time.



I'm currently working on page nineteen. Which means, five more pages to go until Issue 11 is complete and off to be edited. Good. That means I should have it done by the end of the month and at the printers by mid-October.

My ultimate goal is to have Issue 11, Issue 12, and "The Incident" completed before January 1st, 2011. Baring any catastrophic disasters, I think we're off to a good start.

I have to admit, I've been happier working on CN:H these last few weeks than I have been for a long, long time. Taking the time to relax, lessen the stress, and enjoy your work does that to you. I lost the pleasure I used to have when working on the comic. I'm just now starting to find it again.


"The point is not to intend a great painting but to intend a great experience. Look for pleasure, not results. Get to the pleasure and the amazing thing called art will follow."
-- Jerry Fresia

Inspirational comics

I'd love to take classes on sequential art. Especially if information about marketing and running the business side of things is included. But since that's not feasible, I've been trying to pick things up from the comics I read.

The reason I don't do a strip format is because, aside from Calvin and Hobbes, I'm not a big fan of strips. I never really read them. This has changed since discovering webcomics, but I'm still too in love with the full page format to make the change. Though that doesn't stop me from grumbling whenever I have a page to ink.

The comics I ended up being attracted to even determined the type of story I wanted to tell. I love Batman, but other than him, I'm not into the mainstream superhero stories. I was always drawn to the independent, small-press ones. In fact, it was one of those small-press titles that got me interested in comics in the first place.

The guy I dated when sixteen didn't have a car. I, meanwhile, did. So as you can guess, I ended up being the driver of the relationship. And this guy was a comic book fan. So once a week we ended up in downtown Clinton, Iowa at the local comic shop - him dropping a lot of cash and me bored out of my mind.

The guy who owned the shop, Mr. Judge, and I started talking. When I told him I didn't like comics because they were all superheros, he led me to the small indy rack in the back and handed me a copy of Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore. I flipped through it, read a bit, and put it back on the shelf. The next week I took another look and, since it was only three bucks, decided to give it a try.

The next day, I returned and bought every issue of Strangers in Paradise Mr. Judge had.

So, as I told Terry Moore a few weeks ago at Baltimore Comic Con... this whole thing is his fault.

I had a dry spell for years due to lack of funds and lack of access to a comic shop. But, with Matt and I finding two shops "relatively" nearby - That's Entertainment is about an hour-and-a-half away but well worth the drive - we've started reading comics again. And for good reason. It turns out we both get a charge out of being in a shop and reading comics. They give us inspiration and insight into how those who have come before tell their stories.

I'd love to do mini reviews of these comics, but the last thing we need is yet another review site, certainly not from me. So instead, I'll just offer a list of some of the titles I've found moving, astounding, educational, and just plain enjoyable.

Print Only:
Batman: The Killing Joke - Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
Batman: Year One - Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
Blacksad - Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
Blankets - Craig Thompson
Bone - Jeff Smith
Box Office Poison - Alex Robinson
Chiaroscuro - Troy Little
Complete Paradise, Too! - Terry Moore
A Contract With God Trilogy - Will Eisner
Echo - Terry Moore
Ghostopolis - Doug TenNapel
Gotham Central - Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark
Local - Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly
Locas / Love and Rockets - Jaime Hernandez
Maus - Art Spiegelman
The Sandman - Neil Gaiman
Strangers in Paradise - Terry Moore
Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai
The Waiting Place - Sean Kelley McKeever

In Print and Online:
A Distant Soil - Colleen Doran | website
Galaxion - Tara Tallan | website
The Paul Reveres - Tina Pratt | website
Tall Tails - JD Calderon and Daphne Lage | website

I'm sure I'll find more over time. My wish list is pretty comic friendly. After all, you can never have too many comics!


"I want to point out to adults that there is a world of good material available to you now in comic form - in this medium - and learn to give it your support because the more you support it, the better the material will be as it comes out."
-- Will Eisner

No submissions, please

One of the blogs I read now and then is Indy Comic Book FAIL. Their post earlier this month really clicked with me and, because I want to keep a record of it, I'm posting a link directly to it here.

Why did it click with me? Mainly because of this paragraph...

SOME people, however, think they know how to make a comic better than YOU do, and will give you all sorts of “helpful” advice. That is a problem- just like a large company won’t read unsolicited manuscripts because they don’t want to get involved with the “Hey, you 'stole' my story idea,” issue, you should avoid those things as well. My advice is to not even read a letter giving you story “ideas,” but instead tell a person that you don’t accept submissions and that if they feel strongly about their ideas they should make their own comics with their OWN characters and put those books out themselves. Daniel and I got a series of such letters, where someone told us, “I am young, and so my ideas are fresh…” and went on to give us DAILY suggestions on what would put some “Zing” into Robot 13. I practically had to strap Daniel into one of those Hannibal Lecter gurneys to keep him from thrashing the boy while I sent him several replies explaining that we DON’T take idea submissions… As far as I know, the “young” boy is still out there, looking for other people’s comics to add his “fresh” ideas and his “Zing” to, so please do yourself a favor and don’t encourage him!

Indy Comic Book FAIL, Lesson 25: The Customer is Always Right!

I have been in a similar situation more times than I care to remember. And, while I understand this is the result of enthusiasm for CN:H - an enthusiasm which is very much appreciated - it leaves me feeling a little uneasy. I've said it many times before, Matt and I can not - and will not - accept story ideas and submissions. It's a legal nightmare.

I even had one person tell me they were willing to wave the legal right to the idea, so I should use it.

Sorry, but my answer is still no. And with me, ladies and gentlemen, "no" always means "no." It does not mean "maybe" or "push a little harder." So please, respect that.

I would much rather see people creating their own works instead of trying to convince someone to add these "new, fresh ideas" to an already existing work. You read my comics because, I assume, you like my work. I have my own ideas I want to pursue. I discard so many ideas each day and yet, have many more that I keep than I can ever pursue in a lifetime. That's why I self-publish instead of seeking out a publisher to work for. If I compromise my voice to make you happy, then by all rights I should do the same for the next person, and the next person, and the next person...

I'm not willing to play favorites - someone's feelings always get hurt that way - nor am I willing to give in to everyone. So, I must continue doing what I feel is best for the comic... and my business. So please, no hard feelings?


"Ideas are gifts and if you are listening, and in a state of awareness, you shall find a universe of ideas."
-- Kathleen Arnason

Issue 11, pages 18-19

Got a bit of the rough sketch and layout work done on pages eighteen and nineteen. I wanted a continuous background between the two pages, with the panels on top. Why? Because I can, that's why. It's one of the benefits of doing these big pages instead of strips.

Here's a screencap of things so far. The individual panels haven't been sketched yet. Those will probably have to wait until tomorrow. The wrist isn't getting any looser and I should probably eat something. Food is our friend, after all.



I like the look, but I'm going to hate inking that background. Oh well, it'll be worth it.


"A billion hours ago, human life appeared on earth. A billion minutes ago, Christianity emerged. A billion Coca Colas ago was yesterday morning."
-- Unknown

Victorian woman (sketch)

While inking yesterday, my fingers kept going numb. But, since I wanted to get the page done, I ignored it and kept inking. Turns out, I should have listened. My wrist is still locked and sore this morning. I tried sketching the lady below, hoping it would help loosen things up, and couldn't even finish her. Not good.




"After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The Nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs."
-- Emily Dickinson

Issue 11, page 17

Page seventeen is finally sketched. As usual, here's a panel.



I'm thinking it might be better to change the Sketchbook site to a Gallery setup instead of Clickthulu. I have many drawings that are too big for the Clickthulu layout and no way to re-size them. Gallery will re-size automatically. It's something to think about. I'd like to get that site fixed and running again.

I'm also wondering if I should join everyone else on Facebook. I'm not sure if I'd like it, but it seems useful to many other comic creators. Again, something to think about.


"You moon the wrong person at an office party and suddenly you're not 'professional' any more."
-- Jeff Foxworthy

We break for kittens

Well, this has been an interesting last few days. Unfortunately, no work has been done on the comic yet this week. Which means, I'm not going to meet my desired goal of pages 17-20. Hopefully you'll all forgive me once I tell you what happened. So, what happened? This did...



One of the neighborhood feral cats had kittens under our front bushes a few weeks ago. We've been keeping an eye on them with the plan of asking our local no-kill cat shelter, NOAH, to come out when the kittens were weened. Why not earlier? NOAH said they couldn't care for unweened kittens at the moment and it would be a lot less stressful for them if we waited. So, we waited.

Then, Sunday evening, the mother pulled a fast one on us and moved the nest! Matt went out Monday morning and saw only one kitten left behind. When he got into work, he mentioned this on Twitter and said if it was still there when he got home, he wanted to bring it inside. This was at around 10am or so. Matt leaves for work at around 7. Since it was cool outside, I asked if I should bring the kitten in now if it was still out there. Matt agreed and I went out to look. And there she was, still under the bush all alone, shivering.

So, after a bit of work, I picked her up and brought her inside. There was a lot of hissing at first, but she soon calmed down and slept. Matt came home early with some kitten formula, a bottle, and the news that one of his coworkers is interested in adopting her. The rest of that day and most of Tuesday was spent monitoring, feeding, and socializing the kitten. She's now with her new mom, which is sad, but for the best. I was getting attached to the little fuzzball. But Holly, our corgi, did not like a new critter taking her place as the 'baby'. Tiny, meanwhile, didn't seem to care either way.

We think she was around three-and-a-half weeks old. Not quite weened yet, but just about. She was so cute! There was no tail, just a little nub. She had the sweetest blue-gray eyes.

Here's some more pictures...



Hi kitten!



Please excuse my chubby hand. Holly barked and she tried to scoot away.



Holly, our jealous corgi. She doesn't like hearing the word 'baby' unless it's applied to her.



And Tiny, our big kitty-man. You wouldn't know by looking at this picture, but he's around 25 pounds. He's taller at the shoulders than the dog is.

So yeah, that's been the last few days. I'll be getting back to comics here in a bit. I've an appointment this afternoon which I can't forget, but I should be able to get some work done before then. Later.


"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."
-- Leonardo DaVinci

Issue 11, page 16

Page sixteen is sketched, lettered, and ready for inking. I could probably get most of it inked this evening. But, I want to do some sprucing up about the house first. The loose book population is getting out of control. As usual, here's a panel.



No, his shoes aren't that big. It's foreshortening. I'm still figuring that out.


"Discipline is not a nasty word."
-- Pat Riley

Issue 12, cover (sketch)

I finished page fifteen of Issue 11 yesterday afternoon - sketch, letter, ink, and tone in one day. Yay! Course, there wasn't much to ink there, but still... I'm happy.

Instead of moving on to page sixteen, I decided to spend the day working on a design for the cover to Issue 12. I had a hard time with this one for some reason. I went through two different designs before settling on this. I think it'll turn out okay.



Yep, Gavin will be returning in Issue 12. It's shaping up to be an interesting storyline. At least I think so. Hopefully y'all will find it interesting as well.

The only problem is, I want to work on finishing up this cover now instead of working on page sixteen. Oh well, nine more pages to go in Issue 11 and then I can finish this up. Onward and upward.


"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
-- Mark Twain

Issue 11, page 15

Cruising along. Here's a panel from page fifteen of Issue 11. This is the last page in Pennyworth's office. There's also not much to ink on this one, which is nice now and then.



I forgot to do my workout this morning. Oh well, I'll just have to do it later tonight. It's a little too muggy in here right now.


"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."
-- Chinese Proverb

The secret to a successful comic

It's not hard to find people who believe they have the keys to making a successful comic. Seriously, just throw a question out there and they'll start zooming around your head, feeding you their opinion-laced facts...

"You have to do it every day!"
"You must do it in color!"
"Each strip/page must end on a punchline/climax!"
"No pay areas! They're doomed to failure!"

...and a swill of other precious little tidbits. These people just love to tell you how to succeed. In fact, they seem to live for it. They go off on little pedantic rants about a specific word usage or the idea of doing comics as a hobby versus as a profession. (I still haven't figured out their beef behind this one.) But, if you look at what they're doing, you'll find - for the most part - that they themselves are not succeeding.

This isn't meant to be a cut down, it's the truth. The reason why lies in the proven secret to success. You want to know what that secret is? You really want to know? Here, come a little closer. No, closer. You ready? Here it is...

STOP WORRYING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE DOING!

There, that is how you get ahead. Success isn't dependent on your update schedule or full color or what font you use... all of that is a crutch. They're superficial things people use as excuses for not paying attention to what they really should, the simple act of doing their own work.

Listen, all this time spent running around "correcting" others is time you could be spending on your own comic. So Billy is doing something you think is completely wrong. Let him. It's his comic. If he falls on his ass, then he falls on his ass. Let him learn and figure out what works best for him. You need to be focusing on your own comic, not his.

If someone asks you a question then you answer it, politely and succinctly. You do not puff out your chest, sit yourself on a pedestal, and start using your answer to prove your superiority. Answer the question. Don't be a pedant.

I've seen this often, people spending so much time telling others what to do that they fail to do anything themselves. If you truly have the key to success then use it. Make your comic something worthwhile. Yes, it takes hard work. But if you stop trying to micromanage others, I think you'll find you have more than enough time to put forth that effort.


"An ounce of practice is worth a pound of preaching."
-- Proverb

Issue 11, page 14

Another sketch down, this time for page fourteen of Issue 11. Here's a panel from the page - Max looking less than thrilled about something. Poor Max. Don't worry, you can handle it. I have faith in you.




"The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else."
-- Umberto Eco

More Jackie head shots (sketch)

Just more Jackie head doodles done late last night. She's fun to draw. I'm looking forward to working with her in the future. Still, I probably won't start her comic until sometime in November. I want to get Issue 11 and most of Issue 12 of CN:H done first. That will give me time to do my research and practice more.





But for now, I need to get some more CN:H sketching done. Been tired and head-achy all day so far. But, I got some reading done which was nice. Well, off to sketch.


"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."
-- Carl Jung

Jackie head shots (sketch)

Head shots for a new one-issue comic idea. I'm trying to decide if I want to do this with humans or animals. Animals are more my comfort zone, I feel more confident doing facial turn-arounds with the animals. But, I'd like to have something non-animal to offer, as well as gain more practice with drawing the human face. It may work. I just need to work on that nose/chin region.

Please pardon the discoloration on the left-hand side. My sketchbook wouldn't lay completely flat in the scanner.



I'm not going to discuss the plot aside from the fact that I need to brush up on Victorian fashion and Jack the Ripper. Seriously, I'm a forensics nut and I know very little about Jack the Ripper. What's wrong with me?

And to any furry fans reading this... please don't try to tell me I needn't try to do non-animal characters. A part of art is doing things outside of your comfort zone. And, I've been neglecting my humans for way too long. It's high time I started stretching that part of the brain again.

I must admit, I am a little worried that if I do this with humans and not animals, it won't interest most CN:H readers. But, then again, it is just one issue and print only. It should be okay, right?

I'm going to go back to sketching some more.


"Your ability to learn depends partly on your ability to relinquish what you've held."
-- Milton Hall

Issue 11, page 13

Another page sketched. Yep, page thirteen of Issue 11 is ready for inking. As I said last week, I won't be posting the full page sketches anymore due to my trying to get far ahead. But, I do want to at least post a panel. So, here's one now. It's the new Mrs. Pennyworth.



Inking will begin later this evening/early tomorrow.


"Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy."
-- Walt Disney

Mrs. Pennyworth (sketch)

Trying a quick redesign of Mrs. Pennyworth. In the 2003-2004 version of the comic, she was a thin, old bird. But, birds are no longer morphed in this version. Also, I've been meaning to try different body types for a while. So now, she's a somewhat chubby, younger ferret.



Just the roughs. I didn't want to spend too long on the sketch. I want to get the sketch of page thirteen done this afternoon.


"Never eat more than you can lift."
-- Miss Piggy