Confessions of a sunflower

The numbers for DWP 28 came in and...

2006-02-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

... the book didn't even come close to making Diamond's quota. In fact, It might be accurate to say that DWP 28 was the lowest-ordered issue in the book's history. I did my best to promote the book, but there's only so much that I could have done. At one time, it was believed that creator's were inflating the DWP order numbers by buying up all of the issues featuring their work, so it was difficult to tell who was actually buying the book, readers or creators. However, since DWP 28 had the lowest amount of creators in the book, I believe we earned every order. I know for a fact that I fought for every order-- pitching the stuff to anyone who'd listen, but I must admit that I was responsible for a fifth of the final numbers because I hit up every co-worker, friend, and associate I had to buy an 'x' amount of issues as an early birthday present to me. Sadly, all of their orders ended up drops in a bucket.

How much does a dream cost?

2006-02-03T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm still suffering from creative fatigue, but I might just jump right into my next project called THE COURTSHIP OF ABIGAIL FELLOWS, which is the direct sequel to my ABIGAIL & ROX story. It's an ambitious project, a far lengthier tale than its predecessor, so I might just draft up the manuscript in the same fashion with a skeleton-script and plug in scenes as they pop up. The first story took a few weeks to write, so I could very well finish up the sequel around May-- the summer for sure. I'm aiming for a three-part story-- probably consisting of 96-pages in total (the first story was 22-pages).

Doing the math in my head, 96-pages will have around 500 panels in total. Once I convert the skeleton-script into a full-script, the manuscript, itself, will be around 200-pages. And if I want to greenlight the comic's production, I'll have to hire an artist with a modest page-rate and the desire to stay aboard for all three-issues. Let me see... at $50 per-page, that'll cost me $4800 for the artwork. If the artist can't ink or colour his own work, then I will have to hire two other people for the gig as well. Lets say the inker asks for $30 per-page and the colours asks for $40; combined that will cost me an additional $6720. So far, that's a grand total of (drum roll please) $11,520. I'm not even including the price of a letterer, a copy editor, and advertisements promoting the book, which I will also need. Sadly, that sum is slightly under what I make a year. For that price, I can either vacation in Europe, find an apartment, or buy 96-pages of completed art.

Besides the rant, I did receive a couple of coloured pages from Adrian this week for the original Abigail & Rox. Check them out.

Abigail & Rox

2006-01-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last update on the Blogger system. I tend to haunt the pages of Myspace more frequently than here and in time forgot about this service. My apologies for neglecting the task-at-hand: shameless self-promotion! So please allow me to introduce my next big comic book venture: Abigail & Rox. Abigail & Rox is essentially a fantasy story about a little girl (Abby) and her teddy bear (Rox) who venture inside an enchanted book of fairy tales to rescue their grandfather. I created the concept and wrote the story, and Adrian Sibar, former illustrator of Batgirl and Planet of the Apes, has reunited with me once again as the artist and colourist. Our first collaborated effort was on the Passenger, which will be printed in the March issue of Digital Webbing Presents (#28). Lastly, there are 22-pages of sequential artwork, but I would personally like to extend the book to 26-pages to include extra content and surprises. Abigail & Rox will be my first solo book, so I am rather excited, frustrated, and broke all at the same time. There is no set release date, but expect to see the book around 3rd quarter from Digital Webbing Press.

The first thing the readers will notice is that Abigail & Rox has several noticeable similarities to Alice in Wonderland, and they will be right on the money. In fact, the first story IS Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. One of the first ideas I implemented into the story was the enchanted book of fairy tales, which in theory, has a pocket universe where all of these fairy tales co-exist rather uncomfortably. As Abby and Rox venture throughout the kingdom, she will encounter other characters and places found in other wonder tales, such as Sleepy Hollow and Feathertop for example. The concept was an easy plot device that I wanted to use for sometime. But not all of the fairy tales found within the world of Enchantment are faithful to their original sources. For example, the main antagonist of the series is the Queen of Spades-- not the Queen of Hearts. However, elements such as the Jabberwocky, the white rabbit, and the tea party are found within the first story. And wait until you see what I have planned for the second story-arc-- if sales and luck permit me to get that far.

Release for "The Passenger" confirmed

2005-11-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

I love good news.

The publisher of Digital Webbing Press announced that the February issue (#28) of their flagship anthology book will definitely contain the Passenger, which will be my fourth published comic book in print. Divination, Leviathan, and Portrait of A Lady were published in issues 10, 11, and 22 of Digital Webbing Presents, respectfully.

"The Passenger"

2005-10-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Passenger is a 14-page story about an aging husband's descent into madness as his marriage begins to crumble apart around him. Set in New York City, the story explores the darker side of the human psyche: desperation, crippling sadness, hopelessness. It begs the question, "What would you do?" Vicariously, I sought out to answer that very question with the lead character, Luc, a wealthy realtor who married a much younger woman, Paige, who is the personification of sin. Paige is a creeping sickness that infects all that she comes in contact with, and while Luc may be a character of strong convictions, he eventually begins to fall apart as well.

Why is the story called the Passenger? To be honest, the story was once quite different than the story of a broken marriage. Originally, the story centered on a man also named Luc who is kidnapped and imprisoned in the back of a taxi by an organization that thrived on individual terrorism. A briefcase left in the backseat of the taxi informed Luc that he must either murder the taxi driver and be set free, or a small bomb would detonate and kill them both. Naturally, the passion to live far out-weighed any guilt of murder, so Luc shot the driver in the back of the head. It wasn't a bad concept, but it was a weak execution-- no pun intended. The story was too short, and it fell heavily on the edge of melodrama because nobody would have cared for the underdeveloped lead. So, the entire story was axed, but the name carried over to the new concept.

Despite the original concept's short-comings, the new version was strong enough to warrant a spot in the upcoming February issue of Digital Webbing Presents #28. At one time, it was even considered to be the cover story, but alas. The real charm of the story doesn't really fall upon the story, though. The real credit falls in the hands of the story's illustrator, Adrian Sibar, a former artist for Batgirl and Planet of the Apes. When I originally posted an ad to find an artist, I received a lot of submissions. The quality of the art was all over the board. Frustrated, days turned into a week, and historically-- if you don't land an artist within the first few days, don't except a last minute save. However, that wasn't the case with Adrian. His work came through my junk folder, and I almost completely missed it. When I looked over his samples, they didn't necessarily blow my mind, but his style was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Adrian's work was so charming and fresh, he had to the one! It was like art deco meets an explosion of colour. I immediately began to storyboard my script with his style in mind, and I knew it was going to be special. Needless to say, I was right. And the rest is history. Or is it? Adrian and I are currently working on another project called Abigail & Rox, a children's story that I will definitely go into much more detail at another time. But I can promise you the best has yet to come.

Hello and welcome

2005-10-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

This humble writer thanks you for visiting my blog. Like a promotional whore, I am going to use this space to plug and promote all of my upcoming comic book projects in the indepedent market. Throughout the upcoming days, weeks, and months you will find sample scripts, conceptual artwork, sequential page layouts, stories, plots, and hopefully something in-between.

To be continued...