On a side note, you might find that Nick and Jen have a slightly darker complexion than other characters. I wanted to point out that I let them be darker so you wouldnt figure out their race. However Jen is Native American, which is important for something a LONG way down the line. Nick is vague, as I dont really have a race picked out for him. I don't believe in getting political with cartoons as there are too many out there already. I make fun of things but not in a mean way. Or I try not to at least. Anyway, you'll probably find these stories less political and more character/story driven which always makes for good writing and reading in books. That's what I hope to doo.
Soo. OOkay then. On to the next comics!!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
By the way
I just found out James Gurney is making a third Dinotopia Book. I am STOKED. Check out this art from the new book.
Japanese Toilets
Okay, so I've been reading a little about Japanese toilets lately from blogs (and 'vlogs') of people who travel a lot. On the one hand, it would be an experience to test out the 'bum wash' feature, but on the other, I'm not sure I want to. Anyways. Here are the next few comics. I'm putting them up here because my current website is not supporting the mass of pictures I want to put on it. So until I get a better website (a la design my own using dreamweaver) the comics will probably go here. Keep in mind I want to end the series with a bang, with a graphic novel explaining everything. So until then, mysteries abound!!
Okay so the above comic continues Nick and Jen's perilous pursuit of the diploma, through the obstacles of weird and wacky (ugh, sounds like the 90s) professors. Sometimes I wonder how some people are allowed to teach.
Here's what the teacher says in the middle and last cells:
Teacher: Hello Class. I would tell you my name but I find names constraining and a product of our shallow and materialistic society. However if you must be a conformist, you may call me MOONPRANCER.
Nick: This is gonna be a long semester.
Okay, so for this one the professor was kind of a Doc Brown meets the Borg. I had this idea a while back and originally the professor was bald, but the einsteinesque hair just kind of happened with the process. Plus I finally figured out that the spot color was fromt the KOOM. That spot color had messed up the file so much that after a few tries I finally figured it out. No more downloading 'free comic expressions' from the internet without spot checking.
OKAY, so I am going to exclude the next comic in the series because it was done so quickly and had a low grade of quality that I actually winced when I saw it in the newspaper. On we go then.
In the comic that was excluded, Nick and Jen run into eachother as they cross a corner.
I had needed a way for them to meet, but hadnt written anything or sketched anything about it. The deadline had
come and I needed something so I came up with that. Oh well.
Okay so this comic continues from the first, showing the intro.
In this one I got a little random. You know, spice things up, keep readers on their toes. It got a little too manga-equse, probably.
Okay, so this and the next comic were probably the most important for the semester, laying the groundwork for future semesters and setting up the mysteries. There's only so much info I can put in each comic, but I tried my best. However post-fact it seems like I need to re-arrange the cells as it doesnt help the story telling. Eh. Well it seemed logical at the time.
So here's what's being said:
Cell2, right below the coffee shop at sunset, looking over the table:
Nick: I found them when I was heading home one day. The weird thing is, they speak spanish, and write it, but their spanish is bad, as in incorrect. Sometimes it's really bad.
Cell3, right of the table cell:
Nick: They don't speak english, but I dont think spanish is their first language either.
Cell4, Jen, next to the cafe at sunset:
Jen: The entire fact that they speak at all is weird. I guess I wasn't freaking when I heard them say something. It that all that's strange about them?
Cell5, right under Jen Speaking:
Nick: Nope. Sometimes they'll be gone for a few days, then just come back. Sometimes they take stuff like my ipod, and other devices. One day they took my toothbrush. For all I know they're making a nest somewhere. I didn't think anything of it until I saw something really weird. Take a look at this:
Cell6, the book picture:
Nick: This is from my history book. This tablet dates back to around 4,000 years ago, in middle america. Apparently the writing is in an unknown language, with no known linguistic roots.
Cell 7, with the fuzz drinking coffee:
Jen: What are they?
This one kind of futhered the mystery. I didnt have the time to do the photoshop skills I wanted to, but it might be revisited and now I have the photoshop skills needed to tell it like it should be, pertaining to drawing/designing scrolls and whatnot. Now I did do my research on this. Etruscan paintings and whatnot. Thats probably the one use I had for the humanities class I had to take. I must say that History 101 was better than Humanities 151 any day. It told a lot more history, and there was a lot less preaching. Ugh. Anyway, here's the translation since the text is so small and I am having trouble getting it just big enough to read on the web:
Cell1/Library:
Jen: So you said the tablet was from Middle America, 4000 years ago?
Nick: yeah, apparently the images show up in several of the major ancient civilizations.
Cell2, right beside:
Nick: So far I've found that the Minoan, Incan, Mayan, Egyptian, and even Persian Empires had similar images on their walls. The images of these things aren't divine by nature, but somehow they interacted with all of these civilizations. Well, I take that back, two out of five thoughts they were divine.
Cell3, Jen, right beside:
Jen: Take a look at this. Apparently some images were seen in these cliff formations that resembled Anazasi ruins were in the middle of Mexico. These ruins were in the wrong country, far removed from the Anazasi.
(Michael's note: The Anasazi ruins are in New Mexico and date back to about 4000 years ago, this is significant. No anasazi ruins were found in mexico in real life, the anasazi were directly linked to North America and you had to climb up STEEP stairs to get to the tops of the city ruins that were carved literally into the mountains. Hence, this is significant.)
Cell4, Directly under the library:
Nick: Here are some images from the Incan and Minoan civilizations. The Incan is in an unknown language, and the Minoan is in Linear A, another unknown language. The odd thing is, most of these start 4000 years ago, and lead up to 100 B.C.
(Michael's Note: Yes, that is Linear A on the minoan picture of the girl holding the fuzz, I did my research!)
Cell5, fuzzes looking down:
Nick: and for some reason, the languages seem linked.
Cell6, Egyptian Scrolls:
As if there's a link between these civilizations and the creatures. Odd...
Cell7, Fuzzes:
Fuzz1, Red, Paco: Tenemos una problema. (We have a problem)
Fuzz2, green, Taco: Si. (yes.)
Until next time then!
Okay so the above comic continues Nick and Jen's perilous pursuit of the diploma, through the obstacles of weird and wacky (ugh, sounds like the 90s) professors. Sometimes I wonder how some people are allowed to teach.
Here's what the teacher says in the middle and last cells:
Teacher: Hello Class. I would tell you my name but I find names constraining and a product of our shallow and materialistic society. However if you must be a conformist, you may call me MOONPRANCER.
Nick: This is gonna be a long semester.
Okay, so for this one the professor was kind of a Doc Brown meets the Borg. I had this idea a while back and originally the professor was bald, but the einsteinesque hair just kind of happened with the process. Plus I finally figured out that the spot color was fromt the KOOM. That spot color had messed up the file so much that after a few tries I finally figured it out. No more downloading 'free comic expressions' from the internet without spot checking.
OKAY, so I am going to exclude the next comic in the series because it was done so quickly and had a low grade of quality that I actually winced when I saw it in the newspaper. On we go then.
In the comic that was excluded, Nick and Jen run into eachother as they cross a corner.
I had needed a way for them to meet, but hadnt written anything or sketched anything about it. The deadline had
come and I needed something so I came up with that. Oh well.
Okay so this comic continues from the first, showing the intro.
In this one I got a little random. You know, spice things up, keep readers on their toes. It got a little too manga-equse, probably.
Okay, so this and the next comic were probably the most important for the semester, laying the groundwork for future semesters and setting up the mysteries. There's only so much info I can put in each comic, but I tried my best. However post-fact it seems like I need to re-arrange the cells as it doesnt help the story telling. Eh. Well it seemed logical at the time.
So here's what's being said:
Cell2, right below the coffee shop at sunset, looking over the table:
Nick: I found them when I was heading home one day. The weird thing is, they speak spanish, and write it, but their spanish is bad, as in incorrect. Sometimes it's really bad.
Cell3, right of the table cell:
Nick: They don't speak english, but I dont think spanish is their first language either.
Cell4, Jen, next to the cafe at sunset:
Jen: The entire fact that they speak at all is weird. I guess I wasn't freaking when I heard them say something. It that all that's strange about them?
Cell5, right under Jen Speaking:
Nick: Nope. Sometimes they'll be gone for a few days, then just come back. Sometimes they take stuff like my ipod, and other devices. One day they took my toothbrush. For all I know they're making a nest somewhere. I didn't think anything of it until I saw something really weird. Take a look at this:
Cell6, the book picture:
Nick: This is from my history book. This tablet dates back to around 4,000 years ago, in middle america. Apparently the writing is in an unknown language, with no known linguistic roots.
Cell 7, with the fuzz drinking coffee:
Jen: What are they?
This one kind of futhered the mystery. I didnt have the time to do the photoshop skills I wanted to, but it might be revisited and now I have the photoshop skills needed to tell it like it should be, pertaining to drawing/designing scrolls and whatnot. Now I did do my research on this. Etruscan paintings and whatnot. Thats probably the one use I had for the humanities class I had to take. I must say that History 101 was better than Humanities 151 any day. It told a lot more history, and there was a lot less preaching. Ugh. Anyway, here's the translation since the text is so small and I am having trouble getting it just big enough to read on the web:
Cell1/Library:
Jen: So you said the tablet was from Middle America, 4000 years ago?
Nick: yeah, apparently the images show up in several of the major ancient civilizations.
Cell2, right beside:
Nick: So far I've found that the Minoan, Incan, Mayan, Egyptian, and even Persian Empires had similar images on their walls. The images of these things aren't divine by nature, but somehow they interacted with all of these civilizations. Well, I take that back, two out of five thoughts they were divine.
Cell3, Jen, right beside:
Jen: Take a look at this. Apparently some images were seen in these cliff formations that resembled Anazasi ruins were in the middle of Mexico. These ruins were in the wrong country, far removed from the Anazasi.
(Michael's note: The Anasazi ruins are in New Mexico and date back to about 4000 years ago, this is significant. No anasazi ruins were found in mexico in real life, the anasazi were directly linked to North America and you had to climb up STEEP stairs to get to the tops of the city ruins that were carved literally into the mountains. Hence, this is significant.)
Cell4, Directly under the library:
Nick: Here are some images from the Incan and Minoan civilizations. The Incan is in an unknown language, and the Minoan is in Linear A, another unknown language. The odd thing is, most of these start 4000 years ago, and lead up to 100 B.C.
(Michael's Note: Yes, that is Linear A on the minoan picture of the girl holding the fuzz, I did my research!)
Cell5, fuzzes looking down:
Nick: and for some reason, the languages seem linked.
Cell6, Egyptian Scrolls:
As if there's a link between these civilizations and the creatures. Odd...
Cell7, Fuzzes:
Fuzz1, Red, Paco: Tenemos una problema. (We have a problem)
Fuzz2, green, Taco: Si. (yes.)
Until next time then!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
More and More
Okay, so here are some more comics furthering the story.
Okay, so for the one above (it was rushed, as this was in the middle of the semester I believe) I had to basically get Jen and Nick to meet other than "Oh they just knew each other". That doesnt always go for good serial comics unless they're married or whatnot, and it was something I didnt want to do. I wanted to have the serial see them meet. Of course, the fuzzes needed to be more for Nick than Jen, so all of this will play up. Please forgive the next few after this. These were rushed as well, and I was still trying to find my feet with Illustrator and their own style. (Yes anime, but I needed to have their own style as a comic. Something that was relatively easy to look at and understand.)
As for this one, you can see I got a little more anime with it. Woot.
Ha. Now for this one I modeled it after a few professors I had had, and it was also supposed to be kind of representative of all the weird and wacky professors that everyone has probably had when they were in college or even in high school. No joke, I had some professors like this.
Same same. Ever had a supposedly easy class that threw a ginormous truckload full of tests and papers at you? Ha. Yes.
Okay, so for the one above (it was rushed, as this was in the middle of the semester I believe) I had to basically get Jen and Nick to meet other than "Oh they just knew each other". That doesnt always go for good serial comics unless they're married or whatnot, and it was something I didnt want to do. I wanted to have the serial see them meet. Of course, the fuzzes needed to be more for Nick than Jen, so all of this will play up. Please forgive the next few after this. These were rushed as well, and I was still trying to find my feet with Illustrator and their own style. (Yes anime, but I needed to have their own style as a comic. Something that was relatively easy to look at and understand.)
As for this one, you can see I got a little more anime with it. Woot.
Ha. Now for this one I modeled it after a few professors I had had, and it was also supposed to be kind of representative of all the weird and wacky professors that everyone has probably had when they were in college or even in high school. No joke, I had some professors like this.
Same same. Ever had a supposedly easy class that threw a ginormous truckload full of tests and papers at you? Ha. Yes.
More Comics
Okay, so here are the next three comics in the series.
These basically introduced the other protagonist, Jen. Together Nick and Jen were going to find out what exactly these little guys were.
These basically introduced the other protagonist, Jen. Together Nick and Jen were going to find out what exactly these little guys were.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Comic 2
Okay, so for the next comic I wanted to start setting up the mystery that was going to be through out the series. That was the main question: What are they?
There will be a few hints, but no answer until the end of the comic.
The other mystery I wanted to set up was why they kept "spelling" or saying guacomole wrong. That is also part of the mystery. The questions themselves were basically questions everyone kept asking me when they saw the fuzzes. Were they chicken nuggets, furbies, etc? Sooooo I decided to put that in. So here you go:
There will be a few hints, but no answer until the end of the comic.
The other mystery I wanted to set up was why they kept "spelling" or saying guacomole wrong. That is also part of the mystery. The questions themselves were basically questions everyone kept asking me when they saw the fuzzes. Were they chicken nuggets, furbies, etc? Sooooo I decided to put that in. So here you go:
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Genesis of the Fuzz
Okay, so its been a little while, but it's back.
The first comic I did (after creating the story line, in entirety, I pitched toe comic to the then editor of the Vermillion, Jennifer. She liked it and I started with my first comic. Now, to those who don't do comics for syndication or publishing, you usually have limitations to work with in a newspaper or magazine. My limitations were 10x4, roughly. However, limitations can be good tools for learning to think creatively.
Anyway, I began basically by introducing the protagonist Nick (Nicholas, as called by his mother, which you'll see later), who is having a bad day. I wanted to set this guy up as having more than just a comic appearance. I hoped to add a little depth by telling you about his life by the first sentance. I also wanted to show that he's just a regular guy. (this was actually the second comic, the first basically had the two fuzzes with their random spanish). Woot!
The thing about tripping came from UL, because every student there has tripped at least ONCE. It's a requirement. Falling is preferred, but doesnt usually happen. (I did see a girl whipe out on a bicycle before.)
Anyway, it was just a way to start the story.
The first comic I did (after creating the story line, in entirety, I pitched toe comic to the then editor of the Vermillion, Jennifer. She liked it and I started with my first comic. Now, to those who don't do comics for syndication or publishing, you usually have limitations to work with in a newspaper or magazine. My limitations were 10x4, roughly. However, limitations can be good tools for learning to think creatively.
Anyway, I began basically by introducing the protagonist Nick (Nicholas, as called by his mother, which you'll see later), who is having a bad day. I wanted to set this guy up as having more than just a comic appearance. I hoped to add a little depth by telling you about his life by the first sentance. I also wanted to show that he's just a regular guy. (this was actually the second comic, the first basically had the two fuzzes with their random spanish). Woot!
The thing about tripping came from UL, because every student there has tripped at least ONCE. It's a requirement. Falling is preferred, but doesnt usually happen. (I did see a girl whipe out on a bicycle before.)
Anyway, it was just a way to start the story.
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