comics
Webcomics and my inspirations
Tue May 25 2010
Still recovering from a fantastic weekend at the first Hugo House Writing Conference, Finding Your Readers in the 21st Century. There was a great Wacom Intuos4 Small Pen Tablet
with Photoshop. I didn’t have the benefit of a teacher or guide when I started, but now there is one that I highly recommend: The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics
.Artistically, my first, best inspiration was the late great Will Eisner. Although I loved his work in The Spirit
but it was his Contract with God Trilogy
that really got to me. Fantastic writer, fantastic artist and he could tell a deep resonate story with some funny squiggles.Many great graphic novels have come after this early genius. BTW, I got asked this a bit afterwards so if you're looking for a comic to give to non-comic people, I've had a lot of success sharing Persepolis
or Craig Thompson's Blankets
. Speaking of Craig Thompson's work, don't miss his gorgeous travelogue, Carnet De Voyage
. For younger readers, check out Girl Genius
.So how does one adapt a gritty crime drama in a webcomic? My inspirations there were none other than the work of Frank Miller’s gritty take on super heroes, especially Batman: Year One
and Daredevil: Born Again
.My other inspiration, Greg Rucka, who started out writing mysteries
but then graduated to mystery comics, like Whiteout
and his homage to the old spy show, Sandbaggers - Queen & Country
. BTW, I highly recommend Greg Rucka's take on Batwoman
.How do I write with a female lead? Well, after reading Terry Moore'sStrangers In Paradise
, I was inspired. So much so that I have an original drawing of Katchoo in my upstairs hallway.I know my artwork leaves something to be desired. If I had 3 wishes, one of them would be able to draw like Andi Watson. I find his stuff to be brilliant pieces of simple beauty. My favorites of his are Geisha
, Dumped
and Princess At Midnight.That’s all for now, but I’ve got a few more inspirations and recommended reading posts somewhere in my head waiting to be typed out.
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Shout outs
Thu Jul 13 2006
Special thank you to the GirlieGeeks. Heidi is proud to be an affiliate of your site. It just so happened that today's scene includes a moment where Heidi has to surf the web, so I took the opportunity for a little shout out. It's a geek thing, baby.
I hope you all enjoyed the double-postings during last chapter's Scavenger Hunt. I was pretty beat doing all twice as much artwork. That said, I'm trying to pick up the pace in getting more updates out sooner. I know as the book hits the third act, the suspense is ratched up (as my teacher taught me to do). With this, I know the demand for more updates will also ratchet up. Sorry, when I wrote the thing, it was intended to be a paper novel... y'know, a page-turner. Now you gotta suffer with the waiting. Sorry.
At some point as we near the end, I'm going to consider putting up the novel version of the story... probably self-published and available at a marginal cost. The book is slightly different than the comic, but 95% the same as the comic. And of course, you can read it faster. If you think this might be of interest, shoot me an email and lemme know. I'm still weighing the possibilities. Here's a sample.
How many people noticed to the new font? I hope it makes things easier to read while still retaining the overall "Heidi" look to her thoughts and words. Font nerds will let you know the old font was Blambot's Chronicles of a Hero, and yeah, I loved the name. The new one is Blambot Pro and it was worth every penny.
Thanks again and keep an eye around you. And remember, Heidi is everywhere.