Roaches: A Graphic Novel: Roaches

Showing posts with label Roaches. Show all posts

King Crudd vs. The Tribunal Terrible

A War Criminal vs. A Terrifying Trio Of Judges
Strange Insect Kingdom Justice Is Decided By Deadly Combat

The Tribunal Terrible: Justice Reegen, then Chief Justice Kane and Jr. Justice Sprinkles. Prosecutor Dorenda is at the far right.

The previous comic's look as a vectory, cartoon style was a good basis for the style I am working on for this new book. That first style was directly derived from 60's cartoons from Hanna Barbera. That meant basic designs with a limited art style. This time I am focusing on more attention to the details.

I generally like using cartoony styled characters because it's practical. My art, writing and publishing team is one person. A very stressed out person. With a short temper.

This time out of the gate, I want to be more faithful to the type of action oriented books that I've been reading for 15+ years. These types of books include Kentaro Miura's Berserk, Arakawa's Full Metal Alchemist, the Drifters series, K&K's Lone Wolf and Cub and Stan Sakai's Yosagi Yojimbo.

These books I love for their style and the depth of character. These tales are multifaceted! Now, I am humbly working to make something 1/10th as awe inspiring and emotionally moving as these master artists and writers. Especially Miura and Arakawa who are the biggest influences on what I am up to today.

Above there are four sketches of a small female judge. Right at the top of the concept art piece is Justice Reegen. She is a ball of crazy energy and a hyperactive creature with a background in archery. In dark green robes, at the bottom right is the vicious and self-righteous creature Chief Prosecutor Dorenda.

How will this next leg of this webcomic series go down? Stay tuned, True Believers.

Kingdoms

New Surreal Fantasy Webcomic
Warring factions in the insect kingdoms fight for a valuable prize.

Kingdoms is an adventure webcomic with cartoony charters. The wars and battles contain insect blood, gore and violence. Kingdoms takes the lead character from the first book, The Grand Roach, and sets up a story with him as King and the leader of a belligerent roach army. I am planning on releasing the first two chapters. Then, I'll release the third chapter pages weekly.

The new idea for this story got itself together on a giant drafting table in my first studio space that I set up here when I got back into Indiana.

The first chapters feature medieval warfare with arrows, bows, spears... I've currently finishing the webcomic pages in Photoshop using an extended version. It has better brushes to digitally ink and color than Illustrator could do in a timely manner.

Let me know if you like the bug guts or if the action scenes are too much, or perfect, or what.

Kingdom In Crisis Art

Satire Gets An Upgrade In New Volume
Webcomic Veers Into Fantasy Direction

The Exuvian villagers have a very different culture from the roaches we've seen before.

The story for the next book is a new direction for a series that began as a humble black-and-white webcomic. Instead of the gag/page-a-week format I've moved into a fantasy approach for the art and a more traditional approach to story. This arc turns the Roach kingdom upside down. It reveals intrigues and introduces fascinating new characters.

This book has been penciled. I'm in the process of cleaning it up and digitally inking now. Colors for the book seem to need more attention. The flat and slightly shaded style used in book one is now a thing of the past. The early results for book two look very good.

New production art from the new book promises more edgy adventures in the Insect Kingdom.

New types of roaches and insects are coming up in the next book. I really wish I could say more! Subscribe to this site for upcoming announcements.

Wrasslin'

21st Century Opera Is Sung With Bodyslams
"Whatcha gonna you do when Roachamania comes for you, brother?!?"

In the squared circle, an insect is tested by all forces. Strength and determination are the only weapons he can wield. He stands alone in a darkened world of foes inside of a faceless arena that howls for his blood. Will this brave bug stand or will he fall?

Killed By Death

Webcomic Headed Into Second Edition
Full-color pages, handwriting fonts added to build on the style of first book.

This new page concerns dead roaches and why they always end up belly up. Why is that? Does gravity effect cockroaches differently than it does people?

Please continue to subscribe to this comic with Blogger and Feedburner for more pages and looks ahead at the cartoon. As long as you kind folks are viewing and subscribing - I will be keep updating this blog with preview pages for the next edition of the Roaches title and more.


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Grand Roach

A new motion test made in Flash for the Grand Roach.

Do you want to know something? I need a new computer. The one I have renders Quicktime files from the Jurassic Era. How do I know this? Because the compressors are so badly out-dated that no matter how well I animate something (which is debatable) the compressors end up destroying the timing.

To clue you in on the "vintage" nature of my Apple G4 I bought it at the end of the 20th century. Since then it has been a print work-horse but is not cut out for more complex things like, say, rendering an 8-second clip in After Effects or Flash.

More good news. The one reliable guy I trusted to buy computers and parts from has either changed his business number or has gone out of business entirely. Un-flipping believable.

So a new Apple, an iMac I think, is in the cards for 2013. Which actually is probably the real good news here. Stick around...


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Snail Riders

An early motion test made in After Effects for the snail riders.

Roaches don't have an auto industry but they are ingenious improvisers. There have been many good suggestions that I more fully explore the world of these bugs themselves without humanizing them so thoroughly in regular type human cities. And that is a really good suggestion.

The problem with me not taking it up sooner is because of many, many perfectly valid delays and also lame excuses. There are also some more factions within the Roach culture that I have discovered. Secretive orders and clans that keep the pontificating boob that we know and love, The Grand Roach, in power, are starting to get more fleshed out.

Stay tuned for more tests including some of the main dialogue for the first Roaches short.


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Roaches Storyboards

An early look at the first Roaches animation with the voice-over and some sound effects work added in.

The first few parts of the animation production are nearly completed. The 20-30 storyboard panels are synced up within an "animatic". This rough animation shows the story and the general timing for this animated short.

And I mean short. It's four minutes total but that is still pretty ambitious for a small production company.

The performance by the voice actor Julian Mulock, who plays the Grand Roach, is really excellent! His acting skills go a very, very long way selling these "cutesy" bugs and absurd nature of the short itself. I mean, how many bugs go to war anyway? Not a lot I imagine.

In few more weeks I'll have the next steps done. Next, I'm replacing enough art to post another animatic. Please, "like" and "thumbs up" this clip here on Blogger and at Youtube. It helps!


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The Great War

A character sheet for retro-roach soldiers from the up-coming Roaches short.

The New Year is here and with it the anniversary of Roaches. It was just over two years ago this winter when I started this title. Way back in the winter of 2010. In the beginning it was just a few gags scratched out in a sketchbook. I remember being on a wicked caffeine high in this little coffee shop in Ohio and taking a break from fighting a mean infestation of real-life roaches that were in my apt. building.

I showed the bits to a few people who, much to my surprise, really enjoyed it. So, I took up my first webcomic right there and then.

Since then, the zany Roaches found an audience on-line, a book has gotten published, it's toured a few cons and now a short is in production. This little title has gotten all grown up!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more mischief.


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Animation Art

Updated art for the Roaches with a clearly formatted "gold and bronze" style for the titles.

There have been some developments for an animated short based on my book. I've been talking to local animators, voice talent and recording studios about getting some work put in for an animated short based on the Roaches characters. I'm happy to report that this is going really well.

The short's art direction is called "Temple of Doom" due to the pose of the king of the roaches. He looks like an evil priest. This inspired the gold and bronze look for the rest of the title elements.

Once the next set of motion tests are put together I will post them in order to decide on a direction for the rest of the short. Stay tuned for more on animation news for Roaches.

A look at the updated art for the pompous leader of the roaches, Mr. The Grand Roach.

Above is a "turn-around" showing all sides of the character. In this case, The Grand Roach - the pompous leader of the roaches. I have a few more of these character sheets to finish and then I will be able to move on and get some motion tests together.

In the meantime, I'm getting several more character sheets together with a wide variety from the insect world of roaches including Ampluex Wasps - the roaches natural predator in the wild, Pill bugs which work as messengers in the insect kingdom, and a few new roaches species including Blaberus Giganteus and Aptera Fusca. Also there is a good chance of that infamous rock 'n roller Johnny Rocko will have also a sheet produced in the near future.


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Reddick's Roach

David Reddick's take on Roaches is the perfect combination of hilarious and scummy.

Nationally published editorial cartoonist David Reddick (Legend Of Bill, Red Shirts RPG) spotted my book in a local comic shop and thought that the concept of roach with an inferiority complex was pretty funny.

So funny in fact that Reddick generously sent me a sketch of the Grand Roach character in the outrageous and irreverent "Reddick" style. It's the perfect combination of hilarious and scummy. I love it. Many thanks to David Reddick.


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ASH Con August



All photos by Paul Schmitt of Gargantuan Media 2012.

ASH Con August was another very well-attended event with nearly 700 attendees coming in during Sunday morning and early afternoon.

There were over a half a dozen indie title creators that I spoke with. All of them were even kind enough to let me get a quick photo and their web site information. Among the were Sterling Clark, who has worked with Sal Buscema, from Studio S in Kokomo, IN., Rodney Fyke from Hazzum in Cincinnati, OH., Marc Fishman and Matt Wright from Unshaven Comics in Chicago, IL., and Production Director at Panetheon Willie Peppers from Louisville, KY.

The guys from The Black Rose, Aaron Minier and Chris Anrnt were there as well as Mike Graves from BRIDGE Collective in Indianapolis, IN.

The show was a lot of fun. I managed to sign a few books and speak with a lot of comic people. There was even an extraordinary amount of cute chicks at this show. Probably the best show I've done all year.


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Ampulex/Disco

Ampulex Wasps (aka the Emerald Cockroach Wasp or Ampulex Compressa) are one of many natural predators of Roachkind and the police of the insect kingdom. We brave bugs must take great care to avoid this one especially.

Ampulex feed on us! What's worse, once we are captured - the evil Ampulex turn the still-living Roach body into a cocoon for their own hawngry younglings. How repulsive!

The dreaded Ampulex return in the second edition of the Roaches book! See them at the post here.

Punk legend Mr. Johnny Rock-O takes on the battle between Rock and Disco in a climactic fight for all the musical marbles - ever! Examine closely the pages above to find the ultimate winner between the two formidable champions of their respective genres, man-apes.


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Vinnie Van Roach/Music

Did you spot what Vinnie van Roach did wrong in the page above, human...? That's right! Vinnie didn't brutally murder his critics! Oh, Vinnie when will you ever learn? Roachicide solves everything! Wake up already, meathead.

Music.

Music. The splendid, soulful muse! More on this particular topic is available later in this web comic.

Also, the human "band", Electrocute, referenced above released the frickin' excellent yet also bizarre record A Tribute To Your Taste in 2002 that sounds nothing like a bug singin' about beans.


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Denial/Return of Doom Belt

Denial is one of the strongest bargaining stratagems that our proud, noble and not at all untrustworthy species possesses. Witness for yourself, worthless human, our mighty weapon at work:

Denial, A River In Spain.

A-Ha!! As you can see, we are quite unstoppable.

Now, worthless human, witness the bold spectacle of battle between two formidable forces!

True Doomsters do it with ragin' existential angst!

True Doomsters do it with ragin' existential angst!


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Roach Rogers

In a far flung and alien future, Cap'N Roach Rodgers (RAF) fails to successfully interpret the writing on the wall - much to his chagrin. In a strange place where high-tech shirt collars, random humping and/or fighting, gender implosions and metallic hi-jinks abound: who can survive to tell the tale?

In any case, best of luck navigating this bizarre cultural landscape, Cap'N!


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Humoring Others/Paranoia

White Elephants are what all solid relationships are made outta.

Sometimes the best way to solve one problem is by creating many, many, many more problems. White elephants exist to shift your enemy's attention allowing you to move quite freely underneath the refridgerator.

Paranoia - Life's way of telling you need to be extra quiet from now on.

Paranoia - Life's way of telling you need to be extra quiet from now on.

What ho!?! A FOE!

See, paranoia is Mother Nature's subtle and delicate way of telling you how special and smart you are. If you don't believe me than you must be jealous and dangerous!


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