Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Whoah, We're Half Way There...
Just under a month into its development, and we're now ten pages into Jack in the Box book 3. That's half way there.Not quite half way as far as the whole thing goes though...I'll have to finish book 3 for that to be the case. Then just 3 more books to go, and we can release it as a 120 page graphic novel.
But first things first: the single issue of book 3 should be out by the beginning of December, with any luck. And I'm pretty excited about this, as I feel it's the best thing Martin and I have collaborated on so far. :)
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11:45 AM
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Sunday, October 12, 2008
Jack in the Box Book 3 Started
This time last week we were sitting at BICS 2008 on our second day, both nursing hangovers, but doing pretty brisk business. Martin was busily scripting JITB bk 5, and I was wishing I had my Intuous there, so I could start drawing book 3!Well, I'll begin page 3 of the 3rd book today (probably this evening) and hope to be up to page 5 by the end of next week. That's 25% of book 3 done in less than a fortnight. :) While not as fast as my rate on LOTCH 2, I'm building up to it. By the time I've hit double figures during a project I'm usually in a bit of a groove, and my page rate shoots up accordingly.
Other news: We've sent our box of 18 comics (3 first issues) to the Ormskirk Comics Shop, and they received them yesterday. They proceeded to sell 6 comics straight away (2 of each title) and may require us to send more pretty damn soon. Then the same with the second issues, I guess. So our plan is to carry on compiling enough JITB for our first graphic novel, while sending out single issues to retail outlets across the country, and getting the C2D4 brand well known.
Exciting times :)
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11:00 AM
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Birmingham International Comics Show 2008 Report
So that was Birmingham!A lot has happened since the last mail, we've made a big decision on where we want to be by the time we set up shop at Bristol 2009, which we'll come to later. And some exciting news about C2D4 being stocked in another fine retail outlet.
But first...well C2D4 has now got its first Birmingham International Comic Show under its belt, and in addition to Bristol earlier in the year, we now feel we are becoming part of "The Scene".
The show had a very different feel to Bristol, which to me always seems to be split almost equally between trade and publishers, BICS did seem to have a more publisher-orientated skew to it.
Tony got back into doing some non-Intuos sketching, and was asked to do sketches, and I managed to get the scripts for Jack in the Box four and five written, with issue six planned summarised and ready to go.
So, all in all, even without selling anything we had a pretty productive weekend creatively.
We got to meet several new people, put a few faces to names and catch up with some people we already knew. We even got a visit and some words of wisdom and support from Tony's old tutor and comic art legend David Lloyd.
While not having the mad sporadic periods of frenzied activity that was Bristol, Birmingham instead featured a steady stream of visitors to the table.
At first we were convinced we'd had a slower event than May's, and had peaked before we knew it, but when we added everything up at the end of the day, we had several surprises.
The first being that we had done just as well without realising it. Unlike Bristol we didn't keep track of exactly each issue sold, but when we worked it out, we were pleasantly pleased.
The other big surprise was that Jack in the Box, which sold relatively few copies in May, seemed to walk off the table into people's hands. It was by far the best seller of the weekend, outselling Chickenheads and Crowman by around two to one.
A result we were very pleased with it, as we have both felt for a long time that Jack was a bit unappreciated, our unloved masterpiece, but the one that we both felt the most passionately about and have the most fun creating.
The thing is the story has always been meant to be read as a whole self contained story, it will have six issues and then end, no Infinite, Ultimate or even Zombie Jack in the Box.
As a result, we took an executive decision to put everything else on the back burner and to get the Jack in the Box saga finished as soon as we can so that people can appreciate what it is we are trying to say.
While this may take a year, we feel this is the right thing to do, both for Jack and C2D4.
And finally...
On our return from the show we were also delighted to hear that we had been approached by The Comic Shop Ormskirk, asking if we could send them some copies to stock. Six copies of each issue one!!!
We're still in the process of sorting this deal out, but hopefully we'll have some more to say soon.
So until the next time.
Best wishes
C2D4
(Many thanks to David Goodman for the picture!)
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6:14 PM
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
See You All At BICS 2008!
Martin, Crowman, Frank, Gusano, and I all look forward to the pleasure of your company, October 4th and 5th, at the Birmingham Think Tank!
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4:33 PM
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Art of 'The Hack'
Contrary to what the lack of updates here might suggest, I haven't been completely indolent since finishing Chickenheads Book 2. Nope, as mentioned before, my next story, 'The Hack' has been taking up alot of spare time, as I've been steadily compiling a body of art which will play a vital role in the main events of the story.
The end result is a dozen or so seemingly unconnected finished pieces, and while it's mostly taken me away from sequential artwork for a month or two (although there's actually a couple of strips among the collection) the benefits of sketching have been apparent as each new piece has become freer than the last. It's been rather like keeping a regular sketch book all over again, something I haven't done for a long time now, as churning out C2D4 strips has taken over. My life-class teacher, Jimmy Johns, has often suggested that I spend a few hours here and there, just to sketch, without all the pressure of getting it right, while being able to experiment more than I normally would. Well, this is a combination of both approaches I suppose, because the finished results are just that...polished, finished projects in their own right.
So, why have I been doing this, instead of just cracking on with the script/ art for the graphic novel? Ah, now that would be telling, wouldn't it? :) In the meantime here's a taster of the art of 'The Hack'. I'll be putting up a proper gallery soon, with bigger images, so -- please check back soon!
And finally, a flyer design I drew for my friend's 40th birthday:
The end result is a dozen or so seemingly unconnected finished pieces, and while it's mostly taken me away from sequential artwork for a month or two (although there's actually a couple of strips among the collection) the benefits of sketching have been apparent as each new piece has become freer than the last. It's been rather like keeping a regular sketch book all over again, something I haven't done for a long time now, as churning out C2D4 strips has taken over. My life-class teacher, Jimmy Johns, has often suggested that I spend a few hours here and there, just to sketch, without all the pressure of getting it right, while being able to experiment more than I normally would. Well, this is a combination of both approaches I suppose, because the finished results are just that...polished, finished projects in their own right.
So, why have I been doing this, instead of just cracking on with the script/ art for the graphic novel? Ah, now that would be telling, wouldn't it? :) In the meantime here's a taster of the art of 'The Hack'. I'll be putting up a proper gallery soon, with bigger images, so -- please check back soon!
And finally, a flyer design I drew for my friend's 40th birthday:
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3:28 PM
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Monday, September 8, 2008
Gosh! BICS 2008, and The Hack...
With only a few weeks to go until Martin and I hit Birmingham International Comics Show 2008, I've been working on some promo stuff for our table. The above KFH art is the end result, minus the final text.We've had a bit of a result, as Gosh!, the London comics store, have offered to take all our titles. So you can now walk into the UK's best comics store and buy C2D4 comics. Please make sure you do! :) We'll be approaching many more stores off the back of this, and hopefully we'll be in the position to be selling our titles between comic conventions, and to a nationwide audience.
Finally:
'The Hack' is in pre-production. While that might sound a little pretentious, as if it were some stupendously high budget movie or something (which one day I hope it is...LOL!) this project is a little different to any I've done before. There's a lot going on, and preparation of certain source material is key, before final scripting can even commence. I can't go into it too much without accidentally giving the plot away...sorry!Right, better get back to pre-producing 'The Hack'. :)
posted by Tony at
10:13 AM
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Thursday, August 7, 2008
Last of the Chickenheads Book 2 Part 1 Finished!
Finally, and with the summer holidays well and truly in the way, LOTCH 2 Book 2 (Part 1) is finished!I started drawing to Martin's script back in June...the 24th to be precise. 45 days later we're done. At one stage I was averaging 4 pages a week. That's a good rate for me. But after the kids broke up from school obviously my output took a bit of a hit, seeing as I work from home. Still, I've managed to squeeze out the last few by getting up at the crack of dawn, and by abandoning our evening movies and my nocturnal Playstation time. What a hero.
Wow...it feels good to have it ready for the printers at long last!
UPDATE: Both 'Last of the Chickenheads' 2 and 'Jack in the Box' 2 are now available to buy from C2D4 HERE.
Just a few bits of promo art to finish, and then Martin and I will be ready for BICS 2008. In the meantime I think I'll do a bit of sketching, perhaps some scripting of my own...and oh yeah, finally play some Metal Gear Solid 4. :)
posted by Tony at
9:28 AM
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