The College Follies "Get Them To Like Me On Facebook" Challenge

So I've been working on the comic for a little over three months now and I'm pretty much done with the first issue (and getting ready to submit it). During that time, I've been on social media interacting with potential readers, trying to get followers.

I've had a good response on Google+, which I'm enjoying a lot. I've met some really great people through the communities there.

On Twitter, I'm doing okay. I'm still figuring out Twitter out as I go.

But Facebook, it's a problem. I'm getting very few likes no matter what I try.

Which is a little discouraging.

But I've got an idea.

I'm going to let you guys figure it out for me in my first contest:

The College Follies "Get Them To Like Me On Facebook" Challenge

Whoever comes up with the best way to get people to like the College Follies Facebook page wins.

The prize will be a printed copy of the first and only College Follies issue printed in 2000. This is the comic I'm currently touching up, coloring and turning into a digital comic. Only 50 copies were printed and the orginal files for it have been lost, so if this story ever goes to press again, it'll be using the touched up files I'm working on now. So this is a rare chance to get the issue as originally done, unedited, warts and all.

The rules are simple:

1. Like the College Follies Facebook page at facebook.com/collegefollies

2. Do something to get people to like the page.

This can be anything you want.

In my Facebook and Google+ posts for this contest, I'm going to include some art from the comic you can add text to and turn into promotional images, but there's plenty of  other art on both pages and this blog you can use to create images to plug the Facebook page.

You can also create your own images or you don't even have to use images at all. It could be some text you post, a verbal plug, a video you make, a yard sign, sky writing...anything that gets people to like the page.

3) Document what you do and share it to the College Follies Facebook page.

For images, text or video you post online somewhere, sharing a link or post should be easy. If it's something in the "real world" just document it in some fashion to prove you did it and share it to the Facebook page.

The contest will run until the College Follies Facebook page gets one hundred likes. That may take a week. That may take a year. However long that takes is how long the contest lasts.

Since it'll be hard to tell how many likes I get from a specific entry, I'll be judging them subjectively based on what I think is best, in other words what I think is the most creative, appealing and effective entry.

The winner will be announced via this blog and all the other College Follies social media pages, including Facebook, so be sure to check my updates for the winner.

And that's it. I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with. Good luck to everyone.

Back Cover Done! Issue One Finished!!!

It ain't over the til the fat lady sings or the skinny boy begs you to follow him on social media!

The original stand from 2000

The filler ad for the back cover is done! For the image of Stickboy, I took the original inks I used for a tiny promotional stand I did back in 2000. Little Stickboy (shown on the right) actually did sell a few copies of the comic at Heroes Con in Charlotte back in the day. 

Here I've repurposed the image for an ad begging for followers on my social media sites. The "Begging Stickboy" image was done quickly and sloppily back in the day so he required some clean up before he got blown up.

Filler ads, especially on back covers, are pretty common in comics as advertisers have gone elsewhere to promote their products (and, heck, Comixology doesn't even allow paid ads in their comics). This one I plan to reuse for the back cover or inside back cover of future issues (it's one less page I have to make for future comics).

So at long last the entire comic is done, cover to cover! Issue one is finished! I've still got to look it over and submit it, which I'll be doing in the next few days...

Inside Back Cover Finished!

The inside back cover is done!

This is the inside back cover as it existed in 2000, just colored with inking touchups. This is inspired by the back cover (or sometimes inside covers) of books or trade paperbacks. I used artwork I had laying around and wrote a couple paragraphs. It was a quick way to fill space but, man, I love this page! The top has a disclaimer in it that's a great gag, but I won't show it here since it would spoil the ending of the story.

The big image is the initial Dark Knight Returns homage image I did back in the day. It was nice to get it in there. Of course, I have a much better version up on my personal Facebook page, which I've already detailed in a prior post.

For the author shot, I think that's a reworked self portrait I made for my student website. That bio is of course, circa 2000. I'm no longer a college student and, sadly, I also no longer have a nifty girlfriend. I do, however, still have a cool comic collection. 

Just got to do the back cover and I'm done! 

Letter Page Done!

The letter page is done! 

The letter page is a time honored tradition of comics, publishing readers' comments, fan art, etc. And part of that tradition is, since a series won't have letters before it's published, filling the first letter column with an editorial of some sort, whether it's just talking about the creators, the direction of the book, how the series came to be or just about anything else to fill the space.

So it's an absolute thrill to have my letter page become a part of the digital release. It features my editorial on Columbine that ran in the print comic in 2000 with a new section at the end talking about the digital College Follies series.

An additional change was that the original "MAIL TO" went to my actual home with my (now defunct) student website and email at the bottom. This needed to be changed since I no longer live there anymore (I was living with my then-inlaws, who probably don't need to receive any more mail about this comic). Because email has become so prominent now I've included my email instead of a physical address. I will say I miss seeing a full mailing address at the top of the letters column, but such are the times we live in.

I plan to have a regular letter column, regardless of if I get letters, as a way to communicate with the reader and let them know what's going on with the series (something I feel is sorely missing in many modern comics). But I do hope I get letters once it's released. And if I get any attached with crayon pictures of my characters drawn by little kids, my life will absolutely be complete.

Page 15 Done! First Story Finished!

 

Darn straight Stickboy!

 

So page 15, the final page of the first story, is done! That one panel is the only finished image I can show without giving the ending away, but lets just say it's really good and was always my favorite part of the story.  And, no, Stick and Psycho don't drive over a cliff Thelma and Louise style.

 

But a finished story is not a finished comic. As anyone who's ever laid out a publication knows, there's no such thing as a comic with 15 interior pages. Pages are printed on the front and back of each sheet so there has to be an even number of pages (16 in this case). And since I had a cover and inside cover (title page) I had to have a back cover and inside back cover. This is true of the comic when it was printed in 2000 and remains true even now as I turn it into a digital edition.

 

Thus, I've got the following pages to do:

 

1) Letters page (taken up by an editorial)

2) The inside back (with an old author bio and a humorous disclaimer)

3) The back cover

 

The first two will be scanned, in but should require little work to color/update for this new release of the issue. For the last one I'll be creating a brand new house ad  plugging College Follies on social media, which should be relatively easy too.

 

I've also got to make some very minor corrections on some of the pages and proof the comic. Though the comic was thoroughly proofed back in the day and I've been looking over and reading over it during the entire process, mistakes could happen at any point in the process. I want to get this right. 

 

I plan on getting a lot done next week. All this may be knocked out within the week and I'll be submitting it by the weekend  or I may be submitting it the middle of next week.

 

Either way I'm super glad to be in the home stretch on this incredible creative journey and look forward to the next one, as I finally finish the second College Follies story after 13 years!

Coloring Page 15

I started coloring page 15 yesterday. Hopefully I'll finish the whole page later today.

 

Page 15 Touched Up Inks

Inks are touched up on page 15. I'm starting to color it today...

Touching up inks on page 15

Work has begun on the final page of the first story!

Page 14 Done!

So page 14 is done! Only one page left in the first story! 

 

To avoid spoiling the ending, I can only show you a fraction of a panel and none of the dialog, but trust me when I say it feels really good to see the story's final scene in color after all these years. I printed this comic 13 years ago and thought I was done with it, but after I touch up the inks and color each page, I feel like they're complete in a way they've never been before, like this is the way they should've always looked and I just never knew it.

 

I'm happy with the way the comic is turning out. After the final story page I'll have a few other pages I'll need to scan in or create for the back of the issue (an editorial to fill the letter column page, etc.). So it'll still be two or three weeks before it's all done and then I'll be submitting it to digital comic sites like Comixology. I can't wait!

Page 14 Colored

Just finished coloring page 14. I'll be lettering it tonight...

Page 14 Touched Up Inks

I know it's way late but I messed up saving the file for page 14 yesterday and had to start over. That combined with work means I just got done touching up the inks. I'll be coloring it tomorrow. 

Touching up inks on page 14

Got a jump start on touching up the inks on page 14. I can only show you part of one panel to avoid spoilers. I'll do the rest tomorrow after I get a bit of sleep.

Page 13 Complete!

Page 13 is done.

This begins the final scene of the first story as Stickboy arrives at the local school prom to meet Psychoboy...

 

As you can see they've tightened up the security a little. And Stick's looking pretty good in a tux.

 

And then we meet Psychoboy's girlfriend for the issue, Lisa aka the excuse to have our heroes visit a high school in this story. This is probably her only appearance as Psycho changes girlfriends (and everything else) every time you see him. She's inspired by a girl I went to college with, who was one of the few people I've met who I thought "Yeah, she looks like a character in College Follies."

 

 

 

Not too many more panels I can show without spoiling things, but I'll throw this one in here since it's the one of the few panels without dialog in the entire issue...

 

 

I'd also like to note this is the first scene that takes place at night, so I had figure out what color the night is. In this case it turned out to be dark blue. All the background colors are a little darker than normal, but I didn't want to get in the trap a lot of modern comics get into where everything is colored so dark you can't see the line work. It's important finding that balance to letting the reading know it's a low lit scene and making it too dark to read.

 

So I'll leave you with one last panel to ponder and that's all you're getting out of me on this page. Only two more to go! 

 

 

\

 

Page 13 Colored

Page 13 is colored. I'll be lettering it early tomorrow afternoon hopefully. Again, part of the last panel is omitted so protect my readers from the horrors of spoilage... 

Page 13 Touched Up Inks

I've touched up the inks on page 13 and I'm now coloring it. I've omitted part of the last panel on the page to avoid spoilers...

Touching up inks on page 13

I've begun touching up the inks on page 13.