Saturday 31 August 2013

Monster Hit Squad: Part 3.


Well, it’s time for the forth and final page of this comic strip. This short story leans more towards humour than horror, but it’s been fun drawing some of the classic monsters, plus a little… ok, a lot of gunplay thrown in for good measure. It’s also been nice getting some sequential work out there into inter-web land. Something I hope to do a hell of a lot more before the year is out (crosses fingers.) I’m treating these last three weeks as kind of baby-steps.

Watched Death To The Daleks last night for the first time. Wasn’t expecting much from it, but actually enjoyed it a lot. Then I watched this fan-made 12th Doctor intro. It’s pretty epic (I know these days people describe things as 'epic', when they’re clearly not… but this intro really is epic.)

Sunday 25 August 2013

Monster Hit Squad: Part 2.


Time for the third page of this short story. Last week you got zombies, werewolves and gill-men. This week, it’s vampires and mummies. Looking back on this strip now, I kind of wished I had gone with the Nosferatu style vampires, instead of making my own ones up. This strip is a nod to the classics, and wasn’t really the time to get creative. If this story ever sees print, I might be tempted to go back and re-edit that frame. I do have a soft-spot for the second panel, however. Who needs holy water or garlic, when you’ve got a zip-wire attack from above and an uzi?

Tune in next week for the conclusion of this tale (spoiler alert: turns out the ghouls did it.)

Tuesday 20 August 2013

The Torror.


Here’s an example of why you shouldn’t letter when you’re tired and it’s boiling hot outside. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t notice my little blunder for several hours, and wasn’t happy when I did spot it. Hmmm, now, do I turn the T into a H? or the first O into a E?

I’ve spent way too long staring at this prototype of a 12th Doctor Capaldi figure today.

Friday 16 August 2013

Monster Hit Squad: Part 1.



Thought I’d go a different route this week. Need a bit of time to work on a couple of certain ongoing projects that are taking up all my time recently, so I thought I’d post a short story a did a little while back. I’ll post the first two pages this week, then the third and forth over the next couple of weeks. These pages will be fully lettered, and I think this is the first time I’ve ever posted an unedited comic-strip on this blog. Also, I’m a horror comic-book artist, but I tend to stay away from the classic monsters. You get zombies, werewolves and even some creatures from the black lagoon in this strip. Hopefully any horror buffs reading this will get a kick out of that.

I kind of liked the idea of the Monster Hit Squad. They are just a one off gag, but after doing this short story, I thought they could maybe make a fun idea for a comic one day. Like UNIT, but for the horror genre. There’s always a zombie outbreak somewhere in the world these days, right? That said, I’ve got no plans for doing anymore strips about these guys. Maybe if another comic-book artist took over on art duties, and I just wrote them or something. But truthfully, I think this may be their one and only sequential mission. At least they get to be kings of this blog for three weeks.

Hmmm, would society judge me harshly if I got this tattooed on my shoulder muscle? Why is there not a UNIT videogame or comic-book series? So many cool alien invaders to battle. I guess maybe Torchwood stole their thunder in new Who.

Sunday 11 August 2013

Psi-Fighter 2.


Second time lucky, here. Thought I’d have another try at this design. I’ll be honest, I spent wayyyyyyy too long on this sketch. I’m pretty sure this is my first ever full page sketch. I wasn’t planning on going so epic on my second try, but I did wanna really nail out all the tiny details I didn’t in my first sketch. I’m also a lot more happier with the colour scheme this time around. This is much more the design I was going for. More the concept I had in my head. I think she could be a cool character.

I would love to sit down for a few days and do an all-singing, all-dancing, proper pin-up now the weather is less intense. But sadly this secret project and real life are leaving me no real time to get any artwork done, recently. Hopefully I can free up some time at some point this month. I plan to get some much needed thumb-nailing done today, at least.

Saturday 3 August 2013

Everybody Loves Playing Horsey.


It’s not been a great week for getting artwork done, to be honest. My time and efforts have been spent on less exciting computer stuff this last week. I’ve got some big plans for the second half of this year, but these plans involve many soulless hours at my laptop (maybe soulless is a bit strong?) I managed to do a bit of sketching this week, however. Maybe a bit burnt out on the horror stuff right now. Thought I’d go against type and draw something nice this week. Just two great friends hanging and playing horsey. What could be more wholesome? I’d love to hear someone try and twist this and say there’s anything sinister, or unsavoury going on in this sketch. Just a girl and tiny, purple, potbellied, monster BFF having a play-date.

Is it wrong that I’m genuinely a bit nervous about the announcement of the 12th Doctor tomorrow? I just think the last three years have been some of the best Doctor Who of all time. A new golden-age, if you will. Being a horror guy, I like the more serious, darker tone of the last three seasons (even if they still, after seven seasons, haven’t done a decent Cybermen story yet.) Right now, as a Doctor Who fan, I’ve got my fingers crossed for three things. A decent and scary Cybermen story in the near future. An awesome 12th Doctor, and some new 8th Doctor material in the 50th anniversary episode. The 8th Doctor’s in desperate need of more screen-time and canon.

Thursday 1 August 2013

So Long, July.

It may be weird to some, but I think July is my least favourite month of the year. Everybody seems to be at their craziest around this point in the year. Sunny weather’s good in the day-time, but you never have the time to really enjoy it, and it just makes everything a lot hardier to achieve. Plus night-time is just torture. Plus, I always think July is when I do my worst artwork. The human wi-fi between my brain and drawing-hand is constantly on the blink in July. I just try and get through July as best I can. Ironically, I’m a big fan of August. You get some warm weather, but you also get to sleep at night in August, too.

Luckily I don’t have to do much drawing right now. What I’m working on is mainly computer based and it’s a good excuse not to be stuck at the art-board. Not that learning new computer programs on blisteringly hot summer-days isn’t its own kind of pain-in-the-arse. Not to give too much away, but I’ve had my fair share of ‘nerd-rage’ moments this week. Wordpress can be a very unforgiving program if you’re a n00b. I did my homework and knew it was gonna be rough, but jeez.