What I did on my summer vacation
click on images for larger view.
The first three pages of my long-in-development graphic novel are done, and the reviews are ecstatic!
“Those look — pretty good — ” — Robbie Busch
“They do look good, and I can definitely tell what’s going on.” — R. Sikoryak
“Great work! I don’t know how you learned to draw so quickly.” — Tony Millionaire
“Those pages look great. Good on you!” — Jackson Publick
“I mean, I don’t know anything about comics, but they look great to me.” — James Urbaniak
With ringing endorsements like this, I am hugely encouraged to continue. Messers Busch and Millionaire both detect a Kirby influence in the “big hand,” which is weird because I’ve never particularly looked at Kirby, and Mr. Busch, in a moment of extreme generosity, compared these pages to the work of Jim Sterenko. I said that these pages look like Sterenko — if Sterenko drew with a meat cleaver instead of a pen.
For the non-comics creators in my readership, please keep in mind that there will eventually be speech balloons taking up all the blank space you see here and sound effects added to make it all more dramatic.
I post these partly to promote my work and partly to comfort Senator Larry Craig, to remind him that a bathroom encounter with a strange man could end a whole lot worse.
‘I post these partly to promote my work and partly to comfort Senator Larry Craig, to remind him that a bathroom encounter with a strange man could end a whole lot worse.’
It’s true. In the airport stall of life, you never know when the Grim reaper is going to tap you invitingly on the foot.
I know less about comics than Urbaniak, but I like them very much. Well framed, stark, economical, evocative noir images. I don’t know what dialog’s coming, but they’re quite effective as-is. Eagerly awaiting more.
silence
“there will eventually be speech balloons taking up all the blank space you see here and sound effects added to make it all more dramatic”
Please, not all the blank space.
Also: “drew with a meat cleaver instead of a pen”
Is this foreshadowing intentional?
–Ed.
Re: silence
Well no, obviously some will be sold for advertising purposes.
I don’t get it — where are the birds?
Quite nice, actually.
On the other hand, a shave could go worse; just ask Scorsese.
In other news, you remain an influential figure.
If I could get Danny Hellman to illustrate my work I’d be a happy man.
Looks great 🙂
And theres the bad thing happening in the bathroom!
Good luck with being the next Alan Moore!
For some reason I think, aged robin turned sadistic rapist?
I detect more of a mignola influence with a touch of hector casanova.
Looks really good to me. Placement of the shadows is very effective. Nothing creepier than having the space behind you be dark.
The only suggestions I have would be:
1. to darken the color of the bathroom walls a bit to pop the guy out some
2. It took me a second to realize the green thing in the attacker’s hand was a glass bottle. Maybe draw on some cracked lines on the bottle?
3. and maybe to redraw the top two panels on the last page. Repeating the shot of the guy looking around seems redundant. Maybe make the second panel the first with the man’s hand not yet on the door, and just have two panels, or make it 1. guy reaching towards door, 2. close up of guy’s hand on door, 3. both hands on the door.
Of course feel free to disregard because what do I know? I’m certainly not Tony Millionaire, tho I wish I was.
Mignola definitely. Mr. Casanova’s work I’m unfamiliar with.
1. Maybe the bathroom walls should be darker. They were once but it seemed too drab. When you see what happens in the next three pages it makes a little more sense.
2. Over the next three pages we get nice, big closeups of the broken bottle — believe me.
3. The redundant closeup of the guy’s face, I’m hoping, will make sense when the dialogue is added.
Gotcha.
Mr. Casanova’s work is here (awesome stuff): http://hectorcasanova.net/home.html
My god, a man who played a comic-tician in a movie complimented your work, i think you’ve got all the encouragement you need.