Reboot Comic

All the art for the pages is done! All that is left is the lettering! Charismatic Chris “the Stud” Studabaker is furiously scribbling away with his long feathery quill and bottle of squid ink penning the letters that fit into the speech balloons that you will soon be feasting your eyes upon in the mighty Zeros 2 Heroes Comic Viewer! Rockin’ Ryan Eves has developed this virtual comic book! It floats like a butterfly, and stings like a bee!

Anyhoo, as I was saying, we are merely waiting upon the letters and then we can put this baby to bed. Until the next one, and believe me New True Believers there is talk. Of more.

But until then, I would like to enchant you with the progress of a page I’m particularly fond of (actually, I’m particularly fond of all the pages, but I’m particular that way). Page 11 illustrates very nicely the development of a page of sequential art from sketch to colours. It also shows the importance of clear communication, and artists who can turn things around with their skill, talent and dedication.

Here is Amazing Ale Aragon’s sketch. He nailed the basic layout first try.

Next Ale uploaded the pencils to the dashboard, our primary means of communication.

Now for some reason, I must have mis-communicated a revision to Luscious Luis Guerrero because for some reason, he completely changed Ale’s drawing of Bob in panel 04.

Now as good as Luis’ interpretation is, I really dug Ale’s drawing. Luis being the super-pro he is changed it right back in the blink of an eye.

Back on track, Fabulous Franco Riesco got those colours in there.

As wonderful as they are, Prof. WhizzyWig had this revision request:

“pre-lettering revisions: 1) change environment lighting to a darker, more dramatic tone. 2) Bob’s hair. ”

He also made this comment:

“Bob’s tongue is fine by me. :)”

To which Smartens replied:

“We’re walking on thin ice with this red tongue issue, lol. I like it this way though.”

If you recall a few weeks back, there was discussion around Bob’s tongue colour. It ranks second in terms of controversy to The Bob and his Belt issue.

These colour revisions were done by Luis who was a great help in keeping the book relatively on-schedule as we humanly could.

So we’re getting there. I believe all will be done by next week. I beklieve… I believe…

Toodles,

Julian

I look at the dashboard and see a lush forest of twenty full colour pages.

Waitaminnit! This comic can’t go to bed until all the pages are done. It has 22, not 20 pages.

What’s this? An email from Fantastic Franco Riesco saying he is leaving town and can’t finish the pages until March 3rd when he gets back! No! Nooooo!!!!

I sit up in bed soaked in sweat… panting… eyes wide… it was only a dream… a nightmare . Or was it?

Phew! Today Franco sent Page 19 and will finish the colours on Page 15 this weekend. Charismatic Chris Studabaker is rendering the letters as I type! Soon… it will be soon!

Here it is, Page 19 as roughed out by Smashing Shaun Martens:

And here it is as fashioned by the amazing ReBoot art team of Awesome Ale Aragon, Lucky Luis Guerrero and the aforementioned Fantastic Franco.

No. That’s a secret.

See you in the funny papers!

Julian

The most important aspect in creating a comic the Zeros2Heroes way is communication. In that spirit, I will share with you some of the conversations I have been having with various members of the art team during the production of ReBoot on the Dashboard.

Julian: Smartens hates belts

Luis: Ok

Jeff: Panel 2: I think there should be some details on the building which the tube is connected to. It just looks like a big empty space.

Julian: Luis made revisions but missed the rectangular building. Should he revise that?

Jeff: yeah, we need that gone. Sorry to be a hard-ass.

Shaun: Oh I see Bob has a belt in frames 3 and 5 but none in frame 4. See how nice he looks without a belt there…in frame 4.

Jeff: The last two panels are great other than for the mysterious addition of six-packs on every visible stomach. I think Ale’s stomach’s are a little more “on-brand”.

Julian: colours up

Jeff: Really nice. Great lighting effects in panel 1 & 2. Love the portal - it’s dead-on! Only two issues: Panel 3: Bob’s hair looks too dark. It should be silver-chrome, not hematite.

Shaun: Really nice, good point on Bob’s hair and the panels.

So, dear readers, we are at a point now in this chapter of the ReBoot Comic saga where only a few pages need colours, which Fabulous Franco Riesco will finish this weekend. And, not only will he finish the colours, but he will go back and shine up poor ol’ Bob’s luster-less locks.

Ah yes, here we are again at ye olde Editor’s Notes and a wee chat with the author of our ReBoot comical book Professor WhizzyWig!

But first, feast your eyes on this wonderful page of ReBoot art created by Ale, Luis and Franco:

1- Professor, please tell the reading audience your full name and family
background.

My full name is Professor Horatio Pei-Ta WhizzyWig. I was born in Calgary, Alberta to two white people.

2- Where do you live (country, state, town. Population? Neighbors? Roommates? Pets?)

I live in Vancouver! Which includes both North America’s most HIV-infected neighbourhood and the most densely populated neighbourhood (not to mention Canada’s richest and poorest area/zip codes!- Ed). Thankfully, they’re not the same neighbourhoods. And thankfully they’re not the neighbourhoods I live in. I live in Fairview! That’s about all the location info I’m willing to give out to you freaks.

I have two cats (Steve and Laika), three Angel fish, four cat fish, a Ghost Knife, and a level 39 dwarven priest named Choram. Come find me in The Venture Co!

3- When did you start writing?

I have been writing for a LONG time. The first story I remember writing was called Black Wings. It was about a magical black cat with bat wings that abducts this nice fellow and takes him on a train ride that teleports him to the beach. I think I was eight when I wrote it.

4- Who are your major influences (comics, or writers in general)?

Uuhh… you know, I generally hate comics. I’ve had a Heavy Metal subscription for years and it really depresses me. Literature-wise, my favourite writer is Frederik Pohl. Go read Gateway if you haven’t yet.

5- Did you attend post-secondary school? If yes where, if not, where did you
get training?

For storytelling, I attended the Vancouver Film School Writing for Film, TV, and New Media program. I highly recommend it. Every opportunity I’ve received since graduating has extended directly from attending VFS. Presuming you’re not a total idiot, that program can get you on the right path.

6- How have you enjoyed the experience of creating comics the Z2H way?
What are the good points/bad points?

I think I should reserve my opinions until after the comic is done. I’m looking at the exercise from a point of view involving the comic’s success. Hard to say how I feel about it until I see the whole strategy play out.

7- You and Shaun Martens (ReBoot Art Director) work well together. How did you two meet?

We met during the contest! We got assigned to each other, so it wasn’t by choice. Matt Toner and Paul Gertz hooked us up, I believe.

8- If you could work on any comic book/project of your choice, what would it be? Why?

My own! Duh! Actually, I’m writing a samurai comic right now and a friend is penciling it. Ideally, I’d like to do a hardcore sci-fi comic.

9- Now that the ReBoot comic is nearing completion, what would you say was the most challenging aspect of the process? Why?

Hold on a second - the first book is nearing completion. We still got 6 books to go!

But really, the most challenging aspect has been dealing with the fear that the series won’t go on after this first book. I think that would be a real letdown to the fanbase and a real disappointment to me. Plus, it makes it hard to justify a full commitment to the project. If we got the go-ahead from Rainmaker to do the entire series, I’d be so far-gone into developing the further episodes that I wouldn’t have time even to answer these questions.

Furthermore, I’d like a full comic story to add to my portfolio and to use it for applying to game companies. My ideal day-job would be writing video games.

There you have it: a gentleman and a scholar!

Julian