Page Two Colors Ready! Aqua Blue Lightening!

Page two is colored. I have this completely irrational love of coloring lightening effects. I should be lettering this bad boy Wednesday or Thursday.

Page Two Inks...Ready! Karate Chop Greetings!

Inks for page two are done. Here's the bottom half of the page. I'll be coloring it later today. And remember to always do a random martial move when you introduce yourself. It just looks cooler that way.

 

It's Inking Time...for Page Two! Deploy the Belt Buckle of Power!

Got page two halfway inked. Instead of inking the lightening I'm going to color it with no lines to try to create a glowing effect (I hope!). I'll be inking the rest today, hopefully before my assignment tonight.

 

Page One Ready! Giant Monsters Making Terrible Puns!

Page one is done! Here's the page with some quick commentary below...

Panel one- This is essentially the opening of the TV episode, complete with episode title. Again I'm able to at least give lip service to the fact that Stickboy's in college. I love all the stuff I've loaded him down with. Note the Chiggy life preserver. I think I'll be sneaking Chiggy into every issue in some form.

Panel two- Our two fleeing pedestrains here are inspired by Bulk and Skull, the comedy duo of Power Rangers. There was no characters in existance that were more fitting to run past Stickboy.

Panel three- "Aw, man" was a line that kept coming up in early seasons of Power Rangers (kind of like "I have a bad feeling about this" for Star Wars) so I had to work it in there somewhere.

Page four- Love Stickboy's dialog here and, yes, brace yourself for more terrible puns, this is a Power Rangers parody afterall. A little inside joke with the principal and the school resource officer from issue one at the beach together here. They do make a lovely couple. 

So my first completely new story page in 13 years is done! Onto page two!

Page One Colored...What Shade of Red Are Gaint Fish Monsters?

Page one is colored! Took a little longer than I thought it would cause I had to fix some screw ups in the pencils and inks. It also took awhile finding just the right shade of red for good old Killamari. Hopefully I'll be lettering this tomorrow.

It's Coloring Time...For Page One!

So I didn't finish coloring page one last night but I got pretty darn close. Won't have time to touch it again before Wednesday, but it shouldn't take long to wrap up the page. Until then enjoy the warmth of my cartoon sun. :)

It's Inking Time! Page One Inks Done!

Page one's digital inks are done! I'll start on the colors later today after I take a chore break. Not sure how much more I got in me today, but we'll find out.

 

 

Comic printing update

I'll begin digitally inking issue three tonight but I just wanted to drop you guys this little update. All the preparations that needed to be done to print issue one are done and it has been sent to a digital printer who will be printing a small run for me to sale starting at a convention at the end of April  Both the regular cover and God Awful Variant Cover edition will be available to buy for $3. I'll be selling these at cons and then, once the digital edition is released, I'll be selling them online as well.

 

I also sent off for 11x17 prints to be made for of the first issue's cover. Other prints will be done later, but that seemed to be the most popular and relevant image I had at the moment. The prints will be $5 at cons and will also be available later online.

 

The reformatting for print required me to create extra space around every page (called a "bleed"). The comic wasn't made with this in mind so it's taken some doing to rework the cover to create that space. Photoshop Elements also can't do CMYK (which is the color scheme for print) so I have to run to the office anytime I needed to makes changes to them. It's been a little nerve racking. I just got back from the office, correcting what I hope is my last oversight ( I forgot to put the price on the cover).

 

I've pretty much got issue two ready to go so sending the regular edition, variant and prints of the covers should be relatively painless when I'm ready to do that, which will probably be before the next convention in July.

 

And for those of you who recall, this is supposed to be a digital comic, and yes, it still is. Comixology is still reviewing it and didn't have any updates or estimates on much longer it will take. I'm hoping they give me a response before the con so I can have fliers, etc. announcing a release date on the comic but at this point it may be summer before I hear back. I'd like to think this means they're giving it serious consideration. It's strange in this day and age a digital comic will be available in print before it goes digital.

 

Anyway, all this has been slowing down the work on issue three so I'm glad to finally have it behind me. Onward to new finished pages!

 

 

 

 

 

Issue 3 Pencils Done...The Crying Cyclops Weeps For You

The last page of pencils is done. It's mainly a verbal gag with so most of it is Stickboy and Psychoboy standing there talking.

And there's this panel awesome panel...

It was a ton of fun to draw. I just drew parodies of the early Power Rangers monsters off the top of my head, all looking as sad as possible. My favorite part...they made the cyclops cry!

So the pencils of the first story I've drawn in 13 years is done! Tomorrow I'll switch gears and begin the digital inking, coloring and lettering for each page!

Page 11 Pencils...Hey, It's The "Out Of Costume Talking Scene" At The End!

Page 11 pencils...ready! So it's the final page of the main story. It's a tradition for Power Rangers (and a lot of other action shows) to have their characters in civilian attire just hanging out and talking in the final scene. It's familiar territory for College Follies, so it was pretty effortless to draw. Below is a cropped sample of the page, since showing you where they are or what they're doing would spoil the ending. 

 

 

So pencils for the 11 page story are done. Now on to page 12! Yeah, that's right, there's a one page gag left to draw, because what parody of an old kids show is complete without a public service announcement at the end?

Page Ten Pencils...Rangers Talk With Their Hands

Finished page 10 pencils last night. Just two more to go in the third issue. Those should be relatively quick. I can't show you much without spoiling the ending so here's a panel of Psychoboy making weird gestures in his zord's cockpit...

 

 

 

 

Page Nine Pencils...Think You Can Take Me Down?

Finished page nine pencils last night. Here we have a classic face off between the monster and our heroes. Didn't have time to shade in the inked areas on Psychobot, but by now you know what's black on him. Psychobot holding Fishbot here just cracks me up...

 

 

And just for fun here's another close up of dear old Killamari... 

 

 

He's looking pretty scared here. I wonder what got into him? Guess you'll have to buy the issue when it comes out to find out.

 

So up next up, our heroes strike a pose in page ten....

 

What prints should I do?

So I've got an creator table for a local comic convention at the end of April. I was wondering which (if any) already existing image I've done might make a good print to sale. They'll probably be 12x18 on UV coated paper that'll sale for $5. So what do you guys think? Which, if any, would you buy?

Page Eight Pencils...Bots Combine!

Alright, since this is an action oriented issue, the storytelling is very visual. So if I keep showing you entire penciled pages, I'll pretty much be giving away some major gags in the last half, so instead I'll be showing you some exerts.

So here's a scene from page eight with a particularly cool shot of Psychobot holding Fishbot, since that's what friends do for each other.

It'll be later in the week when I can do more pages and, with any luck, wrap up the pencils for issue three!

Page Seven...Summon Fishbot!

Alright, page seven pencils! I've actually become pretty comfortable drawing Killamari. I'm starting to like the fellow. Here we have him expressing his appreciation  for being hit by the barrage of missiles from last page. I had to work in sparks when the hero gets hit, since it's become something of a signature of Power Rangers fight scenes.

 

After Killamari gets through giving Psychoboy a good look at his dental work, we finally come to Stickboy's zord. In the long tradition of useless zords I present to you...Fishbot! It was a lot of fun to design him.

 

 

And at the bottom we show the Fishbot's only attack ability and a cool shot of Stickboy in the cockpit. 

 

 

 

So page eight pencils are done as well and I'll post an exert from that tomorrow as the fish-on-fish action continues!

Page Seven Pencils...Fight!

Finished the pencils for page six last night. It starts off with a vital part of any Power Ranger monster battle: the taunting. The monster and ranger(s) must exchange smack talk. It's a rule.

 

 

 

Then we have the classic monster charging at our hero moment...

 

 

 And the first strike from our hero. And, yes, Psychobot's hair turns into missiles. You're welcome.

 

 

Should be able to complete and post page seven by tomorrow, when you finally get to see Stickboy's giant robot!

College Follies: The God Awful Cover Edition!

Didn't have time to draw a page last night and decided to wrap up one last relatively quick image I needed done before checking into print-on-demand. Below is the variant for issue one (the original is pictured to the side). Everything but the word balloons was inked by hand.  I'll see if I can't get the variant covers done in print-on-demand (the price on the cover reflects what the print issue's price will be). If not, they'll be available on Amusedom at the very least. I've been wanting to do this one for awhile....

Are you the type of person who has to who loves to buy variant covers that look like ten minute convention sketches when the regular cover is a spectacular painted master piece? Well, have I got a variant for you that has mastered the art of underachieving! I present to you the College Follies God Awful Cover Variant!

 

Hey look, fictional Super Rangers merchandise!

Between a busy afternoon at work and walking around zombie-like after working til 2:30 a.m., I didn't have time to draw a page last night so I did this little piece below. I'll be using it as a promotional ad and  probably a filler to help issue two get to the 8 page length it needs for print-on-demand.

 

This gag is inspired by a talking plush doll I got for $5 of one of the Power Rangers Samurai. He says phrases from the series when you push his chest. Life just isn't complete until you can have a doll say "Power Rangers Samurai, victory is ours." whenever you want. Anyway, it got me thinking what it would be like if there were dolls like that for issue three's Power Rangers parody.

 

Worth noting is the inclusion of Stickboy's girlfriend Kinkygirl who doesn't appear in the issue but if I ever do a follow-up, would have some gags as the Hot Pink Ranger. The line that popped in my head for her was just too good not to put in...

 

 

 

Page Five Pencils...Behold The Psychobot!

And so on this page we finally get to see a giant robot...and it's a 50 story tall robotic version of Psychoboy. What did you expect would be Psycho's zord? A Mechagodzilla clone? Please, we're in Psycholand now, we go by his rules.

 

We also have the classic "jump and get in the cockpit of your zord" scene from the show, which gets me excited just looking at it.

 

I didn't have time to start page six on Sunday so I won't get to post that until later in the week. Trust me, the giant fish-on-robot action will be worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

Page Four Pencils...Flailing Your Arms Around To Summon Gaint Robots!

Page four and five are penciled. I'll post five tomorrow and hopefully have six done tonight. These pages went a little faster as I designed them on the page rather than sketching out the panel separately and then recreating it on the page. I think they turned out decent. The lack of martial poses makes them a bit easier to draw.

 

Here's my one panel of Psychoboy without his helmet on...

 

 

And here's the bottom where Stickboy is trying to summon his giant robot before being interrupted by Psycho's laughter. You gotta admit those arm gestures do look kinda funny...

 

 

Tomorrow...you get to see a big honking robot!