Beavers, squirrels and platypuses, OH MY!

So because of a combination of this horrible class during the summer plus wanting to expand my abilities a little, I created these incredibly useless super heros over the summer. THE SWAMP SQUAD.

This consists of:
Squirrelman!
Powers: Throws giant acorns
Beaverlad, warrior of the wetlands!
Powers: wood-chewing
and Platypus patti!
Powers: swamp water control.

When I mentioned Platy patti to my mom, she was less than pleased. (As it's very close to her name.) it wasnt intentional. It was either that or Platy Polly, which seemed like it had been used before.

Anyway, i got to do a little super-hero work which was really fun to try and make these useless characters useful. I considered it a challenge and thought it was fun. (Think about it, other than the Tick, how do you make useless heros useful without delving into their egotistical inner psyche?)

Anyway, the class I was taking was so bad that I ended up not finishing the arc i started. The superheros were actually Nick's (the main character in Random Fuzz) creations and it was a comic he created for a newspaper. Anyway, it was a fun little jaunt into an alternate universe for a while.

Also, at this point it's really more about a continuing story, instead of just one-liners like the first semester. Unfortunately the problem with continuing stories in the Verm is that there aren't a lot of people who read the verm on a regular basis, but the website will fix all of that, so stay tuned!!

Here's an excerpt:





it's hard to see but there's a lot of detail in there. It's beginning to look more and more like a comic, which is good. It's looking a little less akward too.

PS, here's a screenshot of the upcoming website:

New Techniques=better viewing

So it's been a steep learning curve for comics, and the problem i'd been having with the solely-illustrator drawn versions was that the images looked akward and it wasnt drawn by hand, as in other than clicking and making shapes. This new technique saved time and just looked better. That means I could do more with a smaller amount of time and make them look like actual comics. I probably wouldnt return to the old way because it took way too long.



I was then able to mix illustrator and photoshop techniques to futher streamline and get a more desired effect. The style just happened to be anime-derived. I'm not trying to make a 'manga' or stay close to any real anime rules. I chose an anime-derived style because it's easier and more recongizable than, say, abstract expressionsim. Or cubism, for that matter.

I could have been true-to-form with the human characters, but it just doesnt work. The fuzzes were anime-like and it was better to keep the rest of the comic like that. Needless to say there have been challenges with the humor because the character dont look nearly as sunday-morning-comicish as they did. But hey, it's all a learning curve. Plus, considering I hadnt touched illustrator for more than a few months before I started doing this, I think I'm learning quickly. I prefer hand-drawing to computer drawing anyway. I'm probably a purist like that in a sense. That's why this new technique helped me stay closer to a hand-drawn style that I prefer.

and now, another random image!

This was a random concept sketch i drew. It was a fan-boy moment. if you can guess what series it's close to, you get brownie points. I'm still a college student so I dont have any money to give. Sorry.

Things and whatev

Aight, so apprently this is just a blog now. Not specifically about Random Fuzz.

Anyway, so the new website is in development and should be up in a few weeks, schedule allowing. Everything will be up and the GRAPHIC NOVEL that finishes the series will be done (part one at least) by DECEMBER hopefully.

Sigh, life without graphic design classes is interesting. On one hand no deadlines and crazy professors or inter-student drama. On the other hand, no cool people to hang out with or share quality time at Kinko's while we get angry over some minute problem with our file or a malfunction in the printer.

good times.

Anyway, this is the last semester for the comic (because I'm GRADUATING, FINALLY.) This semester will basically wrap up the series and set the stage for the graphic novel. The novel will explain EVERYTHING... kind of. What it doesn't explain will be explained later, in another series perhaps?

The reason the website hasnt been posted in the newspaper is because it's technically work-for-hire, and the fuzzes are technically University property. But that hasnt stopped me! Besides, if enough changes are made to the characters while keeping the premise the same, the novel can be legal. Meh. Well, it's going up nonetheless.

Meanwhile, feast on these random images i made during my spare time: