College Follies #3 Creator's Commentary Video is up!

Creator's Commentary for College Follies #3, the Power Ranger parody issue, is now up on YouTube. If you already own the comic, let me know and I'll shoot you a link to the behind-the-scenes commentary video, made exclusively for readers who bought the issue. If you don't already own it, what are you waiting for? It's available both as a digital comic and in print, here.

College Follies #3 is out now on Comixology!

College Follies #3, the Power Ranger parody issue, came out yesterday on ComiXology and you can get it here!

The issue was inspired by the 20th anniversary of  Power Rangers and the big anniversary season wraps up this Saturday with a finale featuring almost a dozen returning actors (including Jason David Frank as Tommy) and all 120+ rangers appearing in one big battle. There is no more perfect week that this issue could be released!!!

College Follies #3 on Comixology tomorrow!!!

I've been so busy with the con and other things I just now have time to post this...College Follies #3, the Power Ranger parody issue, will be out on ComiXology tomorrow! It's only $1.99! Start searching your couch cushions for change now!

ComiXology responds to College Follies #3 and #4!

I just got two emails from ComiXology this morning on College Folllies #3 and #4....they've both been approved!

So others who submitted to ComiXology had experienced a significant acceleration in turnaround time on subsequent issues of their series and apparently that's finally happening for me! It took 6 months to get issue one approved and more than three months to get issue two approved. Issue three was submitted three months, so that's only a slight improvement. But issue four was submitted less than three weeks ago, so it was approved in under a  month!!!

This is great news since issue three, a Power Ranger parody, should come out in November, which is when the final episodes of the current 20th anniversary season of Power Rangers are being shown. And issue four, in which Psychoboy runs for Congress, should be out before year's end on ComiXology!

College Follies Press Release

This is a press release on the series I sent out to local papers last week. The short and long versions of it are below. If you're a comic news site (or any other type of news publication) feel free to take and run either one with any pics you need off my site. If anyone has advice on entertainment or comic sites that cover indi comics that I could send this to, let me know.

Press Release (full version)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2014

Funny Books Get Digital

College Follies is among a growing number of comic books going digital 

College Follies has gone from an unknown comic book series with a single issue printed in 2000 to a digital comic distributed worldwide, thanks to changing technology.

College Follies, touted as an “An epic parody of life itself,” was created by Todd Luck back in the late 1990s while he was a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A lover of the comic book medium, he dreamed of one day breaking into the comic industry. The comedy series was one of many concepts he wrote plots for in his spare time. For a senior art project, he wrote and drew one issue of it. He had 50 copies printed at a local copy shop in 2000. 

“I printed up some copies to send to comic publishers to see if they’d pick it up,” said Luck, “I also tried to sell them at local comic shops and the Heroes Convention in Charlotte. Unfortunately, no one picked it up and few bought it.”

Luck stopped work on the comic while drawing the series’ second story in 2000. He said he had few options. Printing was out of his price range, as was the high tech tools to scan in, letter and prepare the pages for print. Without a comic publisher to pick it up, he had no way to distribute it.

Luck stopped drawing comics for years, but in 2013 he decided to look into the possibility of producing a comic again. He found a lot had changed. 

“There’s been a democratization of publishing with new technology,” he said. “Anyone can create and distribute content online for little or no cost. You can send comics to printers anywhere in the world to get the best price for print comics.”

Luck, who now resides in Winston-Salem, NC, said new technology allowed him to fix everything that was wrong with the first issue in 2000. He said his inking was crude, made more so by the distortions from scanning and compressing the art with the software of the time. The printing was equally crude and expensive. Even printed in black and white on copy paper, it cost $3 per copy to print, not a good thing when $3 was the standard price comics sold for.

Last year, he used the graphics program Photoshop to clean up his inks, color the comic and create the highest quality version of it possible. Using internet sites Amusedom.com and DriveThruComics.com, he was able to transform his work into digital comics anyone in the world could buy. The digital distribution costs nothing up front and  the sites only take a percentage of the sales he makes. Even getting copies printed to sale at conventions cost him a fraction of what it used to, with 25 color copies of the first issue on high quality paper costing him a little over $2 a pop. 

But the biggest boon was the shot at ComiXology, the net’s biggest digital comic distributor, with comics that can read be online and on mobile apps. Through ComiXology Submit, Luck submitted the new, color College Follies #1, and after eight months, it was accepted and available through ComiXology.

“That was a great moment when I got that acceptance email,” he said. “I’d been waiting for something like that my whole life.”

While he said the first issue was greatly improved, one thing he didn't touch was the story. College Follies #1 stars a college student named Stickboy who goes home to visit his family and his best friend Psychoboy after a school shooting has gripped the country in fear and paranoia. Based on the reaction to the Columbine shootings of the late 90s, the issue takes readers back to a time before “active shooter” became part of the national vocabulary, when Chris Matthews and Geraldo Rivera were both on CNBC airing a string of guests using the tragedy to tout their own agendas. It was a time when there was calls to pull the new hit movie "The Matrix" as a result of the shooting. 

“It’s a comic book time capsule,” Luck said. “It represents where the country, the culture and myself were at the time.”

The second issue, which was finally completed this year, came out October 8 on Comixology. The slice-of-life short story revolves around rumors caused by Stickboy walking his ex-girlfriend to her car. Luck said it felt good to finally have that second story done and to move on to new material.

Issue three, a Power Ranger parody, and issue four, in which Psychoboy runs for Congress, are both out on Amusedom and DriveThruComics, and should be out on ComiXology in the next several months.

For more information on College Follies, visit www.collegefollies.com.  

###

Press Release (short version)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 24, 2014

New Comic Series Lampoons Life Itself

Fourteen years in the making, College Follies, is a digital comic series exploring everything from media hyped shootings to the consequence of hanging around an ex.

College Follies, touted as an “An epic parody of life itself,” was created by Todd Luck, a Winston-Salem, NC resident, back in the late 1990s when he was a college student. When the series wasn't picked up by comic publishers in 2000, he shelved it. With the advent of digital comics, Luck decided to give it another go beginning last year, completing the first two stories for digital distribution. Both are now on sale on ComiXology, the net’s biggest digital comic distributor, with comics that can be read online and on mobile apps. 

College Follies #1 stars a college student named Stickboy who goes home to visit his family and his best friend Psychoboy after a school shooting has gripped the country in fear and paranoia. Based on the reaction to the Columbine shootings of the late 90s, the issue takes readers back to a time before “active shooter” became part of the national vocabulary, when Chris Matthews and Geraldo Rivera were both on CNBC airing a string of guests using the tragedy to tout their own agendas. It was a time when there was calls to pull the new hit movie "The Matrix" as a result of the shooting. 

“It’s a comic book time capsule,” Luck said. “It represents where the country, the culture and myself were at the time.”

The second issue is a slice-of-life  story that revolves around rumors caused by Stickboy walking his ex-girlfriend to her car. 

Issue three, a Power Ranger parody, and issue four, in which Psychoboy runs for Congress, are both out on digital comic sites Amusedom.com and DriveThruComics.com, and should be out on ComiXology in the next several months.

For more information on College Follies, visit www.collegefollies.com.  

###

Creating Issue Three's Variant Cover...Psychoboy Goes Plastic!

So Lavender Ranger's figure started its life as one of the current Green Ranger figures that's out now. It's a standard 5 inch Power Ranger figure, with the typical bulked-up build they give them in the toys. While they may be inaccurate as hell for the show, it's pretty damn perfect for Psychoboy's build and since Psycho is essentially wearing a recolored Green Ranger outfit, it meant the body just needed a new head and morpher and the rest would be repainting.

So I bought the figure at Walmart and shot it over to Brain Funk of Mad Lab Customs. I saw his stuff at the last Winston-Salem Comic Con and was impressed. His prices were potentially very affordable so I contacted him a couple months ago on Facebook. He said it would be no problem and he thought he could get it to me in the time frame I was hoping for. So I him sent some designs and notes on Lavender Ranger with the unenviable challenge of translating my 2D character into a 3D figure.

I got the figure Friday afternoon. I had already done all the text and logo work on the cover and found an appropriate background that looked like an alien environment (extraterrestrial environments were usually the settings for the old Power Rangers toy commercials). I just needed to put the figure in.

So I opened it and tested the figure's abilities and limitations quickly. Then I did a variety of shots trying to find the right one. He came with a custom painted Chainsaw of Justice (which he's shown  using in one panel of the comic's "show opening"). It looked really damn cool when he held it. But I figured that the chainsaw on the cover might confuse readers (since it's not a very Power Ranger sort of weapon) and give them the impression he uses it in the story itself.


So I narrowed it down to more traditional action figure poses and picked the one I liked best. I cut out the background, put it in and made a bee line to the office to send it off to the printer in time for this Saturday's convention. From receiving the package to completing the cover, it was about an hour and a half.

I'm happy with the results. The cover is like a Power Ranger figure meets Robot Chicken. It's available as a digital comic on Amusedom and in print at conventions. The figure will be in my display at conventions, starting with this Saturday's Winston-Salem Comic Con. Come by and say "hi" to little Lavender Ranger!

Issue Three Variant Cover...Lavender Ranger, The Figure!

So at long last the variant for issue three's Power Ranger parody story is done!

It features a figure of Lavender Ranger aka Psychoboy. No, Bandai isn't adding him to their line up of Legendary Power Ranger figures, this is a one-of-a-kind custom figure I had created by Mad Lab Customs.  I'll show more shots of the figure and go into the creation of the cover tomorrow.

Issue three is currently available on DriveThruComics and will be out at some point on Comixology, but the only place to get the variant edition as a digital comic is Amusedom.com. The variant edition will also be available in print at conventions and should be at my next one on Sept. 13 at the Winston-Salem Comic Con. Little Lavender Ranger will be keeping me company at conventions so you can check him out in person. And, yes, kids,  that is a custom Chainsaw of Justice in his right hand. Life is good.

College Follies #3 Is Out!!!

College Follies #3, the Power Ranger parody issue, is out! Flip on your TV and adjust your rabbit ears, as Stickboy and Psychoboy transform and kick butt! Chatty monsters, oddly shaped giant robots, colorful costumes, inexplicable scenery changes...this one has it all! It's out as a digital comic on Amusedom and a downloadable PDF on DriveThruComics. It's 13 pages of comedic action, plus an exclusive essay featuring my thought on the Power Ranger franchise, which just turned 21 a few days ago. All that for only $1.99!  

It's been submitted to Comixology but I'm still waiting for them to approve issue two, so it may be a little bit before they get issue three up. It will be available in print at conventions for $3, the next one being Winston-Salem Comic Con on Sept. 13. I'll variant cover done by the weekend and up on Amusedom and hopefully printed in time for the convention.

So anyway, stop reading and click on the links below to get the issue already!

     

                   

Letter page ready! Issue 3 is done! And next up is....

So I created the letter column last night with an editorial with my thoughts on Power Rangers and why it was chosen as the subject of issue three. It was a bit long, but with some cutting I was able squeeze it in. You'll have to get the issue to read my morphin manifesto.

 

But what I will show you is the customary "next issue teaser" at the bottom. With this, I finally draw to an end work on issue three. All I've got to do is read over the issue a couple more times and then I'll send it off to Comixology on Wednesday. I thank Ron Wasserman and all the other musicians who did music for Power Rangers for getting me through the issue, chances are I'll be still be enlisting there services when I need some I energy beats to create to.

 

But for issue four we'll be going into some very different but equally awesome territory. I'll go into detail a little later but for right now, this teaser says it all... 

 

 

It's Talking Time! Here's a Video On Issue Three!

Been trying to get this video out for a couple weeks. I decided to not put random movements on the panels to make them easier to look at and read. Let me know what you guys think.



I'm currently wrapping up issue three. I'm still proofing, making corrections and working on the letter column. Normally this is a fast process but I have a) unfinished stuff to promote issue one I need to do b) I have to get issue two ready for early release c) I have a con on Saturday and d) I've got to get ready to work on issue four. I'm doing all this at the same time. It's kinda crazy but I should knock all of it out in the next week or so.

Page 12 Ready! The Third Story is Done!!!

The third story is done! The last page is a post-episode "commercial" with the Rangers that combines Public Service Announcements with charitable commercials that were common back in the 1990s. Most of it is Stickboy and Psychoboy looking at the and reader talking like this...

Since their bodies repeat in every panel, I inked and colored the first panel and duplicated it to the rest of the panels, changing the expressions and adding some hand  gestures in various panels. It worked well and sped up things. I can't show you the rest of the panels of them talking without giving away the gag, but I can show the panel that turned it from a quick sprint into a long run to get this sucker finished...

Yeah, I couldn't resist. I just kept putting monsters in there. It's homages to some of the more prominant or memorable monsters-of-the-day in the first couple seasons of Power Rangers. None are meant to be exact duplicates of the show, just monsters that have the same feel as Pudgy Pig, Eye Guy, etc.

The page honestly could've been left out, but the gag was simply too good not to do. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get the comic.

So that's it for the story. So now all that's left is doing an editorial and a teaser for issue four on the letter column and proofing the story before I send it off to Comixology and upload it on other sites.

I'm about to pull out Ultra Mode and finish this bad boy off!

Coloring Page 12...Can Someone Get Eye Guy Some Visine?

I'm almost done with inking and coloring the last page of issue three. Other than the panel below it's basically Stickboy and Psychoboy looking at the reader while talking, so I'm doing this weird combination thing where I color and ink at the same time so I can duplicate colored bodies between panels. Just a few hands and facial expressions left on the page before I letter it. Anyway, I'll be wrapping it up by week's end...

 

 

Inking Page 12...I Know Why The Crying Cyclops Weeps

Currently working on page twelve, the final page for issue three! The following panel took a looong time to ink. I know why Crying Cyclops weeps now.

 

Page Eleven Ready!!! It's Talking Time!

Page eleven is done. It's the post-battle talking scene at the end of the episode!

 

 

Our heroes discuss the traumatic psychological and emotional effects of killing a monster every day to protect humanity. It's Power Ranger PTSD!

 

Just kidding. But the page is a really good gag and that's about all I can show you without giving it away.

 

It's a page of Stickboy and Psychoboy talking in their usual civilian outfits, which is familiar territory for the series and an especially appropriate way to end the story as that's where we're going next issue.

 

So all that's left for the issue is a one page gag to wrap up the story and the letter column. I expect to have both done next week. Get the fireworks ready and que up the Van Halen music, I'm almost done!

 

Coloring Page 11...Talking In Color!

I've got page 11 mostly colored. I'll be wrapping it up later in the week before I move on to the final page of issue three!

 

Page 10 Ready! That's a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Win!

Page ten is done! And this is literally all I can show without spoiling the ending of issue three...

 

 

Hey, it's not a spoiler that the good guys win, it's getting there that's the fun. Only two more pages left in the issue!

Coloring Page 10...Lavender With a Vengence!

I've been coloring page 10 this week. Work is making it difficult to get a lot done but I'm hoping to still get it wrapped up tonight.

Page Nine...Ready! Killamari cannot be harmed by the weapons of man!

Page nine is done! Only three pages to go in issue three!

 

I can't show you much without spoiling the ending but here's one panel that I think won't give away too much...

 

Hm. Yeah, it always turns out well for the monster after they say something like that...

Tonight, I'll be submitting issue one for early release  on DriveThruComics and Amusedom within  the week and then... on to page ten!

Coloring Page Nine...Kilimari in Red

Page nine is inked and I'm coloring it tonight. It's been a busy weekend with work and some shopping at a toy fair, but I should be able to finish up the page later in the week right on schedule.

Page Eight...Ready! Robot Fish Beatdown!

So page eight is done. So as not to spoil the ending of the comic before it's released, I'll only be posting exerts from the last five pages. Here's a couple of cool panels that shouldn't give the whole thing away...

 

Next up, page nine, as the action continues!