The People’s Publisher

Working in a coal mine, going down down… And what’s going down here at the mighty Zeros2Heroes is a whole lotta comics. Editors are working at a frenzied pitch getting all the art together for our deadline, which is fast approaching.

Kuba has all but completed the paintings for Blake Undying. Jason Cook is over the moon with the pages. And now that Ed Brisson has uploaded the letters we gots us a regular old comical book worthy of, dare I say it, an Eisner. Check it:

Christian Major is freakin’ out with what the Deutschmaschine art team of Santiago, Devon and Luis are creating. Gabriele is a force to be reckoned with, and San’s sweet pencils give this tough gal a tender yet foxy look. The book is chugging along with pages turning around every day. For your consideration: A dialogue between Gabriele and Zahra:

Kuba is also working on Slaughter Incorporated, taking over where Steve Goad left off. Tom Irony is wowed by the spectacular page our man in Poland is producing. Working backwards, Kuba has made his way to the start of the book and has even re-imagined Steve’s take on the Page 01 splash. Compare:

Steve’s Page 01

Kuba’s Page 01. Granted, this is the first step in creating the page, but let me know how you feel they compare.

See You in the Funny Papers!

Julian

We here at the mighty Zeros 2 Heroes are zooming along with book production. So much sweet art, so many talented hands… I’m getting all dizzy!

Kuba Kujawa has done an outstanding job on Jason Cook’s Blake Undying. It is, for all intents and purposes, done. Ed Brisson is almost done lettering, and viola!

Here is an excellent shot following the climax of Page X :

Speaking of Kuba, the talented titan is now barreling head first into Tom Irony’s Slaughter Incorporated. Picking up where Steve Goad left, Kuba has already penciled the rest of the pages in his own inimitable style and will keep going until the last dab of paint is virtually applied. Cheggidood:

Christian Major’s Deutschmaschine is, like the other books, steadily moving forward. Santiago Bou is a formidable talent who’s pencils evoke a classic yet contemporary style. He certainly knows how to convey a story with pictures. Devon Jopling’s inks are solid and Luis Guerero’s colours make everyone (charcters and artists) look amazing. Have a gander at Page 01:

See You in the Funny Papers!

Julian

A grand old exclamation is that: Cor Blimey! One that I would hear exclaimed by me ol’ grandad (may he rest in peace) on numerous occasions. The origin of this seemingly innocuous yet highly profane curse was explained to me thusly:

“Cor” is an olde englishe slang for god (or God as Christians would have it). “Blimey” is more slang, an amalgam of the two words blind and me. Cor Blimey = God blind me.

And speaking of blinded, I am being blinded by the glare of brilliance emanating off of Santiago’s pencils for Christian Major’s Deutschmaschine. Page after page is nailed and shipped to Devon for inks. Devon works her magic with analog inks by printing San’s pencils out and applying inks over mylar. I work that way myself sometimes. Luis is rendering sublime colours (natch!).

Jason Cook’s Blake Undying is fast approaching the finish line. Crucial in that Kuba will be completing Tom Irony’s Slaughter Inc. once his Blake chores are complete. In fact, Kuba has already begun work on Slaughter by working on Page 22 and completing it backwards until he meets up with the last chronologically completed page. Which was 7, before we were so rudely interrupted.

See You in the Funny Papers!

Julian

Hello everybody out there in Internetland. We’re slapping ourselves on the back with the news of Rainmaker and Zeros 2 Heroes being nominated for a Pop Vox award in the Best Digital Campaign category for Reboot (go to www.popvoxawards.com and make your voice popular by voting). The Reboot relaunch campaign from last summer led to the creation of the ReBoot Comic. As editor of the ReBoot comic I can say that what makes this a natural winner was the great response the campaign got from the fans, and the subsequent input they had in the production of the book. Online debates a to whether Bob’s tongue was pink, blue, green or purple were hilarious and made the cration of the comic a labour of love and laughter (amongst other things). The ReBoot book will be launched on the Zeros 2 Heroes Comic Viewer in a few short weeks. Stay tuned. Same ‘Boot time. Same ‘Boot channel.

Krazy Kuba Kujawa has been at it again whipping up some pretty sweet concepts Jason Cook’s Blake Undying. He sent a couple of cover ideas that are very nice.

Christian Major’s Deutschmaschine is barreling along at a steady clip thanks to the steady art team of Super Santiago Bou on pencils, Delightful Devon Jopling on inks and Loveable Luis Guerrero doing the colours. I’ll give y’all a sneak peak at San’s pencils for Page 01 next week.

Speaking of Kuba, he will indeed be taking over art chores on Tom Irony’s Slaughter Incorporated starting on Monday. Yay!

See You in the Funny Papers!

Julian

Greetings readers, and welcome to an update on Blake Undying, Deutschmaschine and Slaughter Incorporated.

Kuba Kujawa has been painting a storm over in Poland. I would have to say that Jason Cook’s Blake Undying will be completed in less than two weeks. Some pages come together a little faster than others. Take, for example, page 17. This has taken several revisions and the latest version which I just received hot off the internet is a complete re-imagining.

Here is version 1:

Here is version 2:

Here is version 3:

And 4:

5:

Soon.

Deutschmaschine is coming along quite nicely. Santiago Bou has completed the pencils on the pinup, and Devon Jopling will be inking them. Page X is thiiiiiis close to being done. Christian Major, creator of Deutschmaschine (AKA Fetternity AKA inker of Rip Current) has a very strong vision for his Deutschmachine. And here she is, off to inks!

I told you last week that I would tell you this week who will be the new artist on Tom Irony’s Slaughter Incorporated, but it turns out that this aforementioned artist has exams at the end of this month at the art school he is attending in Poland (hint hint). Therefore it would appear he might not be able to complete the project within the designated time frame for Comic Creation Nation Phase One to be complete. I’ll let you know more next week.

See You in the Funny Papers

Julian

I like these final stretch periods. You can see the finish line way ahead in the distance… getting closer… then that extra get-up-and-go kicks in and drives you ever closer to that trophy: a completed comical funny book.

As Kuba mentioned in an earlier blog interview, he is attending one of Europe’s most prestigious and long-standing fine art academies: the Academy of Fine Arts, apprenticing in classical oil-painting techniques under the tutelage of a master painter. No wonder the art in Jason Cook’s Blake Undying looks so brilliant: it has links to a great history and tradition of fine-crafted entertainment, be it triptychs, murals, prints, sculpture or comix.

Check. It. Out!!!

See you in the funny papers!

Julian

Welly welly well… ye olde editore was as sick as thee proverbial doggie this last week. I barely had the energy to breathe let alone blog. But I’m (koff koff) back… uh– 90% of me that is.

Blake Undying is close to finished. Kuba has been balancing studies and work for the last two and a half months, and if his schoolwork is half as good as the Blake art, then he must be pulling straight A’s! The following images from Page 20 show that in just three iterations Kuba captures magnificently what creator Jason Cook sees in his mind’s eye:

Here are the notes Jason sent via the dashboard, which I transmitted back to Kuba:

Jason: Another orientation problem. Looking at the map I sent of the liquor store. The counter should be on the other side of the door and display. Though I like the idea of him passing the body on his way out. Flip this scene horizontally, and put Punk#1 outside the other window by the clerk. Ditto on the blood note here. His shirt should be soaked with blood, and some smears still on his face.

Julian: Revisions up.

Jason: The window on the right side of the panel should not be broken. If we fix the right window, this is finished. Oops, except that he should be carrying the beer!

Julian: Revisions up.

Jason: This is goddamn beautiful.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it is done under ideal circumstances: a creator with a clear vision and an artist oozing with talent.

See You in the Funny Papers!

Julian

What you see above you is the basic composition for page 03 of Jason Cook’s Blake Undying. Kuba Kujawa is masterfully painting away, but had a tiny accident: He spilled tea on his laptop! Yikes! All previous work was backed-up however so nothing was lost. I’ll keep you updated on the status of the laptop.

Now before the disaster of the Tea-Tanic, Kuba had been tweaking, revising and fine-tuning a very tricky sequence on page 03. Blake is on the phone and decides to choke himself by inhaling the cap of his dry-erase marker.

Close, but panel 4 doesn’t quite convey the cap being inhaled by Blake. Back to the drawing board…

The lighting has been more sculpted, but panel 4 is still not working.

Better! Some speed lines are needed to indicate the cap is actually plopping into his mouth.

The speed lines need to be more obvious.

Every step of the way, Kuba brought Jason’s concept to life. Page 03 is done.

TTFN,

Julian

Jason Cook, writer and creator of Blake Undying, has a crystal clear vision for the look of this book. Painter Kuba Kujawa, being the stalwart professional his master has taught him to be, complies with every revision and improves each and every page each and every step of the way. What follows are the dashboard communications between myself, Jason and Kuba.

March 14, 2008:

Jason: Does Kuba have the map/framing document for this scene? It seems that we’re still horizontally flipped.

Julian: I’m sure I sent him everything you sent me, but resend please to ensure correctness.

Jason: 7.1 Framed like in the “Blake Undying - Wallick Scene Notes” document. 7.2 Blake’s chair faces EAST, The Doctor’s WEST, but both men have turned slightly in their chairs to face each other. The desk should not come between them, as Blake is effectively sitting beside it. This way, on page 10-11 when he tries to ’save’ Blake, he doesn’t have a desk in the way of moving around.7.5 Wallick’s expression should be visible. He has known Blake for many years, so this statement should shock him. It snaps him out of his easy routine, making him go stiff. Since there is no dialog in this scene, Kuba can tighten in on him, like he did with Blake in 7.4. However, his position should be more or less the same as in 7.2. At his desk, turned slightly towards Blake. The difference being that he’s looked up at Blake for the first time, and involuntarily leaned back slightly from the shocking news. However, his position should be more or less the same as in 7.2. At his desk, turned slightly towards Blake. The difference being that he’s looked up at Blake for the first time, and involuntarily leaned back slightly from the shocking news.

March 17, 2008:

Jason: To assist Kuba with the layout I have in mind, I have a set of rough sketches for pages 7 and 9-12. I will email them to you later today.

Julian: Thanks. Happy St. Pat’s!

Jason: Heh. That was on the 15th, thanks to “holy week”, but its not going to stop me from drinking.

March 18, 2008:

Kuba: Thanks for the roughs. I’ve sent a new version of pencils.

Julian: Great!

Jason Nice. Approved! Thank Kuba for his understanding of my mental illness. I like what he did with the roughs.

Julian: Kuba, please upload the next version as Inks. Thanks !

And there you have it Ladies and Germs: Page 07 of Blake Undying. Kuba will just give it a little of the ol’ spit and polish (he does live in Poland hyuk! hyuk!) and it’ll be done.