Scanned! Now Comes The Clean-Up Then Lettering

Well, all 86 pages of the Year of The Werewolf strip are scanned. Took a couple hours but the problem pages were those at A3 size. 

I purchased by Mustek A3 scanner back in 2004 and I've had to clean and repair it a few times but now it is making a noise like a helicopter!  My sister even came in to ask what the noise was!  So it looks like good old Mustek is going out with the trash.

Sadly, not enough money in sales to buy a new or reconditioned one and even attempting a sponsor deal with Mustek a few years back came to nothing so it is lucky that most of the pages for this issue were on A4 even if that allows for less design freedom.

Now I get to clean the scans and after that...lettering. 

I did get one break. The 100+pp for the book after that?  I did scan them all (A3) and cleaned them up all before the last Covid visit. I completely forgot so that will be straight to lettering. A good few hours of my life won't be wasted on that!

I have to admit I much prefer just drawing and designing pages when I get the energy which is a good thing since there are no artists panting at the bit to do work for the fun and love of it  -it's what I do now since it obviously does not pay.  Which makes me wonder what happened after being called the "new company to keep an eye on" (even though BTCG had been going 30 years by that point)? Or the glowing comments and reviews on blogs -maybe people are literally just looking? Maybe the reviews , etc should have read "The comic company to BUY from!" Just a thought. 😉

Now my eyes need a rest and later I may either start inking some of the Special Globe Guard no. 1 pages or pencil out panels for.... oh, should I even write the title?

Okay, The Chronal War. Title seemed better than "Her We Go With A Lot More Eye Straining"

Special Globe Guard 1 -rough pencilling/story done.

 

Today I finished the last rough pencilled panel for Earth Beat which means as soon as I get the projects that require lettering done I can get to work and finish the story that started in...1987.  

I had a very clear storyline in mind with clear twists and  conclusions. Along the way that changed drastically as a new story came to mind and even though on these rough pencils I knew the way the story was supposed to end...it has not. 

Yep, making the story up as you draw from panel-to-panel can be fun....it can also leave you with FOUR good plot twists that will not be used.  

It all means that I hope to get the two books that need lettering finished well before Christmas (look at me "Mr Planning Man" !!) and I'll work on the Earth Beat over Christmas. Now if only people were as determined to buy the books as I am to finish and publish them!

Panels and How They Make Pages (Only title I could think of)

 In the last post I showed how I draw panels "off page" so to speak.

14 panels for the start of the story make up 4 pages -though I may add an extra panel or two.  The end sequence consists of 10 panels and make 4 pages. Again an extra one or two panels may be added but there was a reason for drawing this end sequence quickly.

The story I had set out in my head to end this Earth Strike story (published in 1987) was a simple out-and-out fight against the villains and their hordes. However, I then realised I had a change to make to add a twist to that. 

Whoa! Not done yet.  You see at about 0400hrs one morning this week I was trying to numb my brain with You Tube when a whole new ending/explanation came into my head (as usual a fully drawn concept in my head). Now there are a couple twists and turns but this new ending added a slightly darker and more complicated slant.

I pencilled the panels roughly and added in the unedited dialogue because if I did not this supposed 20 pager might end up like The Green Skies where there was a mapped out but unwritten story that went into notes that eventually fell aside as I realised that changes to changes were a waste of time as when I started drawing things changed from panel to panel and page to page so that even the end was not one of the original three endings I had mapped out -in fact I did not really want the ending that happened because of what it meant for a character I really grew attached to.

At least with the end sequence of the SGG story roughly laid out I can try to make it the real final ending so it isn't just another super villain versus super hero end.

I ought to add that this is the page count IF I work on A3 sheets. If I work (paste up) on A4 you can double the page count.

Draw, Cut, Paste and Scan

 

If people have seen past posts on how I work they will know that, due to the eye problem, I moved to drawing from A3 paper to A4.  I also like drawing panels and then then cutting and pasting them onto A3 which gives you a lot of opportunity to design a page.  

Sales being what they are my cranky old Mustek A3 scanner cannot be replaced but that does not mean I cannot draw, cut and paste to A4 instead. Currently drawing panels on A4 copier paper to cut and paste onto A4 (unless I can repair the A3 scanner).  

My intention is to paste the panels on a page with background of some type and these unfinished SGG Earth Strike part 2 panels should work well with that and, no, I do not use a computer for art and so, especially as I do not have Adobe, I do not scan and paste to a page on that.

 I like the feel and look of the ink on paper and how the mind (I still about have one) can design a page "as you go along" and as an Independent publisher you can experiment. It is what I miss about the seat-of-your-pants 1980s where people like Myra Hancock produced lino cut art zines or Ben Dilworth experimenting with different paper types, printing on acetate or even using templates and auto car spray paint to put covers together.  I'm getting old and I have a HUGE box of 1980s zines that can still inspire since the 1980s were the Small Press Golden Age.

What A Way To Go!

 

The Year of the Werewolf Update

 

Okay, well at times I did not think that I would get there but despite all the things messing me about....

I have just finished erasing any pencil work showing on Year o0f the Werewolf  and everything is complete at 87 pages. Yep, I went and  did another big 'un -well, it is a comic album so 48-90+ pages is acceptable. Not one of my infamous 300+ pagers!   

 I'll start scanning on Sunday or Monday and begin lettering once that is done. Then I just have to letter the 130+ pages of Parallel Motions and then I need to finish the second part of the 1986/87 Earth Beat story for the Special Globe Guard first issue (issue 3 is already lettered).

Unfortunately I doubt I will ever get to draw any of the other stories I have in my head as I am only one aging old fart so it's a case of do what you can.  So stay tuned!

Buy Books Wisely

 

I was asked why my books are so expensive on Ebay/ Amazon? Well, I DO NOT sell via Ebay or Amazon. What you have there are people who buy the book from my online store and then re-price (hiking up the price) and sell on those sites.

The Ultimate British Comics Gold Collection is being sold for £37-75.00 or $49.97-101.17 or Euro 42.58 -86.32.   The same thing is happening with other books including The Hooper Interviews which I have seen described as "rare" -it is not as it has never been out of print.

The Gold Collection is 400+pp £25.00 + 4.94 for priority mail so £29.94  so you work out whether it's simpler to buy from my online store or buy from someone who has to order and then send to your address at a much inflated price.

There is another side to this. You order from a third party seller then it is buyer beware. About 4 years ago I had an email out of the blue asking where a book ordered was. I asked what they were talking about and they told me the title, what they paid for it (£15 above cover price) and that after 3 weeks it had not turned up. I checked and no such order but a copy of the book had been purchased by Amazon to resell under their deal with the print on demand company (the Amazon sale got me 5o/50 cents on a £20 book sale).

I to9ld the buyer I needed his order number to sort out what was going on. He then told me that he had purchased 'post free' (no such thing) from a dealer. It seems the dealer bought the book cheap on Amazon to sell it on.  I pointed out to the buyer that he had paid £15 over the cover price and that as he had not purchased from my online store but a third party it was out of my hands and "tough luck" for helping to cheat me out of a semi decent sale.

The book eventually turned up 4 weeks after he had ordered it and he showed me the invoice that was inside as the seller had bought the book on Amazon at a discount of £10 but sold it for £35. Why was he showing me the invoice?  He wanted me to take action to get money back -seriously. I told him that he had been on the online store so saw the cost but had ordered at a higher cost thinking he had free postage without checking and so it had absolutely nothing to do with me.

If you are interested in a book on the online store then you can go through the ordering process and up to the Choose delivery method point which would show you total cost. If you decide against buying leave the page as you are NEVER charged unless you click "Pay Now". As shown below  

This will all show in your local currency as books are printed and delivered by services within your region. NO international mailing. There are guarantees with ordering from an online store such as set prices and help if there is an order problem. What profit there is gets back to me to keep producing books and buy in more cans of baked beans for dinner!

Buy smart!