Ninja Baby part 2

After writing a couple of solid plots for Ninja Baby, I decided to have another artist take a go at the concept. I found Ash Jackson through Digital Webbing, and was immediately impressed with his style and attitude.

He produced a bunch of pencilled pages which I've only recently gotten around to inking and formatting. I'm extremely pleased with the results, and the following three pages are going to be part of an ash-can I'm putting together for September:

I really get a kick out of the action and expressiveness of the characters, and the pencils were tremendous fun to ink. I'm hoping that if Ninja Baby ever took off, I'd like to have Ash on the book somehow. In the meantime, these completed pages inspire me to finish my ash-can, and from there, we'll see how far my concepts will go.

Since he's provided pencils for a couple other of my concepts (including another I'll discuss next week), I'll devote more space to Ash in the future.

Concept 3: Ninja baby!

When my daughter Sarah was a small toddler, I was amused and amazed at how she bounded around the room. She seemed to have an almost supernatural speed sometimes; I'd look away for a moment and she'd dashed off to some other part of the house without a sound. Trying to keep up with her, I joked to myself that she was almost Ninja-like, and that sparked the idea for a character.

I thought it'd be alot of fun to have a baby defending her crib (and household) against menaces using her stealth and skills. I decided on having a ghostly spirit guiding her, inspired by Sarah's Grandfather Alan. At first I figured the concept might work as a children's book, but over time, developed it as a potential comic book.

Ninja Baby is a good example of a potentially fun concept that could work for all-ages. Kids would be thrilled to see a young heroine overcoming danger, and parents should chuckle at a pint-sized crime-fighter. I always thought that the art style for the strip chosen would be critical, as it is for any concept.

I hired Grant Perkins (an excellent artist from the UK, more on him in a future blog) to take a stab at it. He produced a few pages which were interesting, but I wasn't sure they fit my vision. I started coloring his work to see if I felt better about it. Here are his first pencilled pages that I worked on and adapted as a potential webcomic.

Although his pages are very fun, I felt that a softer, less stylized approach might be better. Next blog will discuss how I proceeded with this concept.

Slam McCracken... to be continued

The above shows my thumbnailing process for Slam. I tend to scratch out tiny drawings and jot down notes rather than proceed from scripts. I hammer out a general plot, but individual pages or sequences may shift as they're produced, which usually produces interesting results. I personally feel that comics work well when treated as writer/artist collaborations, and am not a fan of artists hand-cuffed by overly-detailed scripts. The Marvel-Method is still the best, in my book!

Here are the next two pages from the story begun last blog; these were printed in a couple issues of Comicopia, but I can't recall if the concept was well embraced there.

After my experience with Platinum Studios, I mulled over what to do next with Slam. At the time, Zuda (a branch of DC comics) was a popular competiton for aspiring webcomic artists to receive exposure. I decided to submit a polished 8 page webcomic introducing Slam, and was absolutely thrilled to be chosen as a competitor.

I came in 6th out of 10 webcomics (if memory serves, Zuda has since collapsed, unfortunately). The competition involved garnering votes for entries, which meant that certain folk could 'stuff the ballot box' to ensure a winning concept. I wouldn't be arrogant enough to proclaim that Slam was the best webcomic competing that month, but I find the overall quality of the strip was certainly top 3 material compared to the rest.

Regardless, the experience inspired me to pursue webcomics. I'd submitted to Zuda a second webcomic called Perry's Trip (which may debut on Drunkdunk in the near future), but was informed that the site was ending. My webcomics dream abruptly went on hold.

I find Slam to be a very strong concept, visually appealling and quite different from run of the mill webcomics. I've shifted my goals somewhat, and have decided to treat the story as a finite graphic novel (with sequels to follow). Once I figure out how many pages it will run, I'll have a better idea of how much time and resources will be required to get it done.

In the meantime, I have other concepts I'm working on, and I'll speak of one of those next week.

Concept #2: Slam McCracken, Hard Boiled P.I.

Slam McCracken started off as a gag.

I've always been a fan of The Far Side, and one day while doodling in my sketchbook, I drew an egg wearing a trenchcoat standing over a puddle and two popsicle sticks. I found amusing the idea of an egg detective solving crimes involving 'living' household or grocery items; the idea lingered in my brain until I decided to expand on it.

A fim course at McGill introduced me to film noir; as my idea developed I could visualize Slam (the name came pretty easily, a nod to Denny's breakfasts and egg commercials I remember fondly from my youth) in a black and white world both literally and figuratively.

Here are some early pages that were printed in an issue of Comicopia. They're pretty rough and incomplete, but give an idea of my thought process while developing the concept:

I've always loved the effect that crosshatching produces, and remain a big fan of Gerhard of Cerebus fame.

In 2008 (if memory serves), I submitted Slam as an entry in Platinum Studio's Comic Book Challenge. I was chosen as a Top 10 finalist, and invited to attend the San Diego Comicon to pitch it to judges. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to afford the flight, and didn't win.

However, the experience did tell me I was on to something with my hard boiled detective.

Next week: what happened next, and what's on the horizon with Slam

The first Pike Armstrong pages

I dug up some early Pike Armstrong artwork. The following is a teaser image I produced which was published in an issue of Comicopia, I do believe. I wanted to keep certain details 'in the dark', as you'll notice:

I can't recall the exact date the following 4 page story was drawn. It was definitely during a break in between animation productions, and is the first 'official' Pike tale. I was still trying to get a feel for the character and his world, and like the energy of the pages. The panel arrangement and pacing needs work, but all in all, a fun little introduction to Pike and one of his rogues, Sweet Tooth.

Drawing Pike always makes me question if my style fits the character; I tend to draw in a clean, 'Silver Age' style with a slight animation vibe. I figure that a concept like Pike requires a bold, exaggerated style, with bombast and dynamic poses (hey, I'm a big fan of Jack Kirby, who almost single-handedly created Silver Age Marvel comics). I decided to have a fresh perspective tackle my character, and I'll display the results in a future blog.

Concept 1: The Adventures of Pike Armstrong (The general idea)

As mentioned briefly in a previous blog, Pike started out as the sidekick of another character. For some reason, he became elevated to star status in my mind; I guess the visual design potential was too interesting to ignore. I've tinkered with his look over the years, and still find myself tweaking his super suit. In the beginning, I considered a fish swimming within the armour; over time, I settled on an electric eel, and have currently decided on a leatherback turtle!

As you can see, I've redesigned Pike quite a bit, and have even considered different drawing styles that would best represent him. Trying to find the right look was a definite challenge, since I wanted Pike to look heroic, and yet different from typical super-heroes.

The overall concept is this: a child is sent back in time from an ecologically doomed future to save the planet. With the companionship of a computer sidekick, Pike grows up to become a super-hero protecting his world from a variety of outrageous menaces. Here's a teaser video I produced a few years back (for an independent contest called Small Press Idol) that sums up the idea (please click on the link to view).

Pike is basically my love-letter to the super-hero comics I enjoyed as a youngster. I wanted a clearly heroic character battling creative villains, with energy and fun exploding from the pages. I think the concept as is can appeal to younger readers. With a different perspective, it can appeal to older readers as well.

For example, I've considered Pike returning to civilization after being missing for many years; his outdated, black and white views of justice and morality would contrast with a hip, jaded world that considers him square and old-fashioned. The simple, good vs evil tales (originally directed at younger readers) would then become his 'history', an homage to the Golden and Silver Ages of comics books. I would still veer far away from the gritty and 'realistic' approach prevellant in today's mainstream comics; I think comic books should provide light escapism, providing exciting entertainment with appealling characters.

That's Pike in a nutshell (or space-suit, so to speak). In future blogs, I'll present some pencilled pages that show the concept in development, as well as finished material that will eventually be printed.

So I wanna publish comics books. Really.

I was first inspired to consider the option of self-publishing when I read Dave Sim's thoughtful notes prefacing issues of Cerebus during the late 80s. I respected (and still do) his drive to do Cerebus his way, and stick with it for 300 issues, despite the up and downs of the comic book marketplace.

Comics used to have better distribution, and were readily available almost everywhere. Once the direct market was born (with brick and mortar stores selling only comic books and related product), they became alot harder to find. Over time, readership has dwindled (and continues to drop alarmingly), and most folk buying comics nowadays are adults with fond memories (and plenty of disposable income) of collecting comics in their youth.

There was a period in the 90s where speculators flocked into the hobby, and artificially drove sales to amazing levels; once they abruptly left, the resulting crash demonstrated how low the percentage of faithful readers actually was. The truth of the matter: a big percentage of the audience for comics had grown up and walked away from colorful super-heroes. Publishers relied on lame gimmicks to keep old readers, without any concern for attracting new ones (a mindset that continues today).

Self-publishing was a cool option in the 80s, when certain properties achived great success (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for example); small press comics are still kicking today, but remain extremely difficult to track down for any casual reader. Lisencing seems to be a popular option; why create something new when a comic based on some property can be churned out to a built-in fanbase?

I decided years ago that I'd prefer to do my comics my way. Self-publishing is borderline insane, but my goal is to produce quality material, try to get as much exposure for my concepts as possible, and release product at regular intervals without fail in order to build a loyal group of readers. A simple recipe to launching a successful comic series, right?

The few readers of mainstream books hanging around demand 'sophisticated' product; most of these 'adult' books are simply violent for the sake of being hip, and crap on the work of creators who built the comic book universes. I believe strongly that the future of comic books rests with the young, and young at heart. My concepts are taylored for all-ages, and I aim to attract younger readers, not only collectors of comic books.

I have faith in my concepts, and a strong desire to finally have them see the light of day. Selling them in a dying market may be an uphill battle, but I think that smart decisions, hard work, and creativity will help win the day!