Formera

Formera Book 2 Finally Arrives!

2009-01-31T18:05:00.000-08:00

Yes! It’s True! My books finally came today! The reason they were taking so long was just a simple error in the address. Yay! It’s here! And the book looks AWESOME!

I don’t know if Alterna is using a new printer or what, but this book just look so much better than the first book. The quality of the printing just feels better, and the fact that I colored the whole book in color and reduced it to b/w gives it a much richer feeling. There is a TINY bit of stretching on some pages due to the size format of the book, but it’s nothing that detracts from the story and only really noticeable to me (cuz I drew it and am picky about tiny things like that lol).

I’m so happy it finally arrived! I’ve re-read it several times today. I wrote the first book in a size that was not all that much smaller than what the actual print size was. As a result, you can notice a lot of mistakes and poorly drawn stuff in the first book (in my opinion). It’s a good rule of thumb to draw at about 120% larger than the actual print size. When the images are reduced, squiggly lines look smooth, detail blends together, and small imperfections disappear. It’s a trick all comic book artists live by.

For book 2 I started using larger paper, knowing that it would be reduced eventually. I also started using different sized pens. A .08 for the gutters, word balloons, and anything up close. A .05 for the main artwork and anything in medium focus. And a .03 for anything in the far background or to add detail. It’s such a simple thing, but it really paid off in the end.

I think this is, without a doubt, the most professional looking book I have ever done. Even the story flows better too. I took time to develop the characters more and to explain some of the plot. This slow down works in great contrast to the urgency of the ending and it makes the book just feel much more solid than the first book which (to me) felt far too rushed.

So I am very happy! Being able to see the book in print gives me insight into how to work on producing Book 3 and any other book I might want to make on my own. I can’t put it down! Gyaah!!!!

One Week Left

2009-01-27T09:35:00.001-08:00

The New York Comic Con is upon us. 3 days of comic bliss! Woo! And I should be getting some copies of book 2 from my publishers this week as well. I can’t wait to see how it came out!!

This convention center is HUGE. Without a doubt, this is going to be the largest comic con I’ve ever been to. Luckily we’re positioned right beside the bathroom, so we just very well may get a LOT of customers (since everyone has to go to the bathroom sooner or later lol). This is certainly going to be an experience for me. I’ve never done a comic con that lasted 3 full days. The longest I’ve done was 2 days and even then it was a fairly medium sized convention.

It took a while, but I’ve finally been able to work out some arrangements for the trip. I’ve got a hotel to stay in, and my parents are coming along so I don’t have to worry about transportation. Dragging 40+ copies of my books, my banner, all my clothes, and whatever else I can bring through the streets of NYC was not a very appealing idea. But now that’s not a problem so... YAY!

I wish we didn’t have to arrange to go to comic conventions years in advance. I’m already starting to make plans for 2010!! Also, I kinda feel like us comic artists should get severe discounts on tables at these comic cons. I mean, I know they need funding, but out of all the people going to the cons, we’re probably the most poor. Especially when they charge outrageous prices for the spots. Unless you’re really really REALLY successful, you don’t go to a comic con to make money. Lol.

Oh yeah, we’re also going to be selling Formera Books 1 and 2 with discounted prices at the con, so if you can make it there, this is a great opportunity to pick up the books a bit cheaper than if you bought it online. I don’t have prices yet, but I think it’s going to be a pretty good deal.

I’ve found out that I have a lot longer to work on Formera Book 3 than I thought. I was aiming for the end of February (which is pretty daunting considering I’ve only penciled 3 chapters). Now I have till around June/July to work on book 3. That makes me feel so much better because I don’t have to rush it, I can take my time, AND I can still make other comics and animations too.

I wonder if I should be attending Anime conventions too? I’m not overly fond of Anime, and especially the Otaku (mostly because they’re the ones who ruined my love of anime while I was running the Anime Nights at my college), but because my art is unfortunately very much Anime/Manga influenced, I might get more attention and recognition at a Anime convention. I dunno... I’ll have to look into it...

Formera Book 2 On Sale!

2009-01-18T11:50:00.000-08:00

Book 2 of Formera is currently available! I was wondering what was up with the release date, cuz it was different on Amazon than it was in other places and I wasn’t sure which was right. But now looking over the links I see that it was some of the old review sites which confused me. They still say the 28th is the release of Book 2. So the date must’ve changed and I just got confused. Sorry everyone!

So book 2 of Formera is available and you can order it online, or go to a local comic book store and if they don’t have it, they should be able to order it. There are a number of reliable places you can order it online. The most reliable would be of course to go through my published Alterna Comics directly. But Amazon and Barnesandnobel.com are just as good. I’ll provide the links below just in case:

http://www.alternacomics.com/formera.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Formera-Two-Andrew-Dobson/dp/1934985074
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Formera-Volume-2/Andrew-Dobson/e/9781934985076

If you live in the UK or Europe, ordering online is the best way to get a hold of a copy. Both Formera books are available on the UK version of Amazon.com and I do believe that Alterna ships worldwide. But let me just double check to be sure.

Book 1 is, of course, available on all of the same websites, and also a number of online download site too (such as http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/ ) in case you can’t afford much.

So there you have it.. Book 2 is out... Now I really gotta get cracking on Book 3 so that it can come out soon too. I’ve written 3 chapters so far, so about another 6 more to go... then I gotta ink it, color it, resize it... oof...

And once again, I know where I want to go with the story, but I’m not sure of how much is going to come out in this book and what to end it with or how much to tell. They say that writing is an organic process, and I dunno about that cuz it’s pretty calculated to me...

Interview!

2008-12-31T07:53:00.001-08:00

Last month I was asked to do an interview for a website dedicated to comics. I did so, then completely forgot about it. But I just got an e-mail which informed me that the interview is now public! Woo! Check it out!

http://www.jazmaonline.com/interviews/interviews2008.asp?intID=288

Boston Comic Con

2008-10-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hey every body! I just wanted to update you all on the Boston Comic Con. It’s coming up quickly!

Boston Comic Con
Sunday November 2nd
10am-5pm

Back Bay Events Center
180 Berkeley Street
Boston, MA
corner of Berkeley & Stuart St.

$10 Admission
children under 10 free

http://www.bostoncomiccon.com/

I am going to be attending as a creator (and my name is listed with a link to my art on the Boston Comic Con’s website) and this will be the first time I get to meet in person with my publisher. All this time, from the first initial talks, to the publishing of Formera, to working on Formera book 2, we have been communicating via e-mail (what a wonderful world eh?).

But for the first time now I will get a chance to meet my publisher in person. I hope it goes well. Lol. Anyway, I will be bringing my portfolios of comic art for people to browse through, my giant Formera Banner, I will be selling copies of my book AND doing sketches and art for people who come up and say Hi (prices will be listed on the table.)

I have to fly out the day before, and won’t be getting in until Monday night, so I won’t be online for a while during that time. I can still receive e-mail though. I’ll probably make up another “comic on” page like I did for the last one so you can all see what was going on if you can’t attend.

I hope it’s a lot of fun! And I look forward to seeing y’all there!

The Banner + Fall Con Info

2008-09-20T13:26:00.001-07:00

----The Banner----

So last night we FINALLY got the banner for the Comic Convention. It’s a good thing too because the comic convention is on October 4th and 5th and we’re moving from the 28th to the 2nd, so we were starting to cut it rather close. But we got it and it looks awesome. If you want to see for yourself, check out the following link:

Now as you can see it’s about the size of a door frame, but it rolls up inside a rather small stand. It’s easy to assemble, but a little fragile. When we got it I pulled it out to see the whole image, but for some reason, it wouldn’t go back into it’s case. It’s suppose to zip right inside like a window shade, but instead it just sat there and didn’t want to roll up.

Inside the aluminum casing, the roll itself was dislodged from it’s usual place (probably during shipping). It took some work, but I was able to unscrew the case, put the roll back in it’s place, and then screw it back up again. It’s not perfectly done, but at least I can get inside if I need to and it rolls up without any difficulty now.

It’s going to take at least 2 people to work this thing, though. There’s a tiny little hole where you are suppose to be able to insert a pin to stop it from rolling back up on itself. To hook the top half you have to stretch it a good foot beyond it’s viewing height, insert the pin, then let it relax itself. Since the damn thing is just beyond 6 feet tall, and I’m only 5 foot 6, that makes for quite a stretch on my part, while someone else puts the pin in.

But despite all the strenuous efforts and problems this thing has given us so far, in the end I think it’s going to be well worth it because this banner looks absolutely wonderful. We’ve got another aluminum stand on it’s way, so if ever I need to have a second one or I get another banner printed up, I’ll have a backup ready and waiting.

----COMIC CON INFORMATION----

So I said that I would let you all know about the comic con information the closer we got to the actual event. Well it’s less than 2 weeks away now, so I thought this would be as good as any time for the info...

MCBA FALLCON COMIC BOOK CELEBRATION
October 4th and 5th from 10AM to 5PM each day.
Located at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, in the Grandstand. Don’t ask me where that is, cuz I don’t know, but I’m sure Map Quest or a GPS will be able to find it without a hitch.

Admission is $11.00 per adult while children 9 and under are free. You can get $1 off your admission with a canned food donation, which is kinda cool. Tickets are available at the door and go on sale at 9:30.

And this is cool too. Remember a while ago I made up those Pirate Comic Cards and sent them in? Well they’ve been posted online, along with everyone else’s too. So if you’re curious, you can see what everyone else is doing for this event. I gotta say there is quite a diverse range of talents at this show. Some of the cards are rather simple, and others (like my own) are much more elaborate and detailed. Check them out if you’ve got a chance:

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=32061

“Our plan for the cards is simple. One complete set (one card from each contributing artist) will be collected and auctioned off to benefit the MCBA charities (www.lupusmn.org & www.cbldf.org). All of the other cards will be given away to attendees, who will be able to randomly choose a card if they are one of the first arrivals at FallCon on Saturday & Sunday! First come, first served and when they're gone, they're gone! We'll provide more info when the total original art card count is finalized. The cards are still rolling in!”

So the earlier you get there, the more likely you’ll get some of these cool-ass cards for free!

I know that was a lot of information all at once, but don’t worry. I’ll probably reiterate the comic con info before long in it’s own separate journal.

Formera Book 2... DONE!

2008-08-24T22:27:00.001-07:00

I finished... I just finished today. For the past 10 hours I have been glued to this computer coloring in the final chapter to my second book. I did 15 pages today. The 2nd book’s comic portion is now... I am relieved to say... DONE!

Of course there’s still plenty left to do. I have 9 “insert” pages which go between the chapters to color yet. Without these inserts, there would just be blank pages, which honestly wouldn’t look very good. But they are small single images. Not comics. And they require no special shading. So I should be able to breeze through those in an hour or two tops.

Then of course I have the front and back covers to color. But again, that shouldn’t take me more than a few hours. And now that I’ve finished the bulk of the comic, I have all week to worry about them!

Oh yeah, and then there are a few small grammatical errors I need to correct. Nothing serious, and mostly at the beginning when I was working without an editor.

I am so very tired. I know I haven’t been out exercising or doing anything “strenuous”, but working on 15 pages today has really worn me out. I am going to celebrate by eating some Wendy’s take-out and then sleeping in tomorrow!

Progressing & Fall Con

2008-08-20T10:02:00.001-07:00

I’ve almost got Chapter 8 colored and finished. I have about 20 pages left to color by Sept 1st. If I average about 2-3 pages a day, I should finish well in advance of the deadline. However there’s two growing problems I have to face now.

I’m going to be attending the Minneapolis/St. Paul Fall Con in October. It’s a free event for artists, so all I have to worry about is the trip out and where to stay (which is also easily remedied). To help me stand out a bit at this large event, I want to have a Retractable Banner for my Formera book. My parents are going to help me pay for it, since I’m so destitute right now BUT... I don’t have an image to use. It takes them close to a month to print the thing up and ship it to you, so I gotta get an image in FAST!

Which means on top of coloring the comic and making the covers, I have to come up with a kick-ass banner for the event. I really don’t know how I am going to get all of this done in time. I’m getting so stressed out that I’m just irritable to be around. I can’t wait till this month is over because I’m gonna take a nice long break before I get back into something serious again.

I’ll have more details about the Fall Con event as it draws nearer.

A bit of good news...

2008-08-15T21:53:00.001-07:00

Today I finished Writing and Inking Formera Book 2. I sat on how to end the book for the longest time because quite honestly I didn’t know when would be a good stopping point as in my mind the story just keeps on going and going. But I gotta cap the book off at some point and I had some misgivings about how to do it.

The first book was writing with the Web in mind. While it’s true I began the story to be a printed comic book (hence why I colored it), it didn’t really take off until I started posting the comic online at SmackJeeves.com. There, I found a following of people and by the time I got to around 160 pages, I was ready to propose it to prospective comic companies. The first book contains pretty much everything I originally had up online... but this second book is entirely done from scratch.

As such, I began writing the second book in much greater depth than the first. I have a clearer view now of where I want the series to go, and so I began setting up key events that will eventually all come together in the end. The problem with how to end Book 2 came when I felt that I needed closure on some of those events, and as I rapidly ran out of room in the book and time to finish it.

I started to think that I needed just ONE MORE chapter at the end of the book to get closure on the events I laid out earlier, to wrap up the story arc a bit cleaner, and to set up what the goal of the next book was going to be. But in the end, I just couldn’t figure out how to do that in 15 pages. There’s so much to do and no place to put it. I can’t write 2 extra chapters for that would take away from the climax of the story.

After a lot of careful consideration, I finally arrived at what I think is the best solution. There really is one main goal prevailing throughout the book, and at the end it climaxes that story arc. While there are other events set up to play important roles later on, they do not HAVE to be resolved now and I can devote more time to them in a future book. I had to do a bit of rewriting for the end, but very little altering of the artwork. Not to mention I kinda like ending these books rather suddenly. People who have read the first Formera will know what I’m talking about.

So that’s that. I have finished inking Book 2 and now all that remains are to color it and make a cover. With any luck, the book will come out for December as promised.

I still have a lot of work to do on this book, but it is an enormous relief to have the tedious inking process over with. My favorite part of writing the books comes from the actual WRITING of them, in which I sketch out on paper the story panel by panel in pencil. Having to Ink, Scan, Color, Letter, etc... that’s the mundane work I don’t like doing as it sometimes feels like I’m just reiterating myself.

Half-Way There

2008-08-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

Lately I’ve been a little slack with working on my comic book. I’ve been spending too much time working on short stories about my life and pirate comics. But this week I’ve been kicking up the workload again and I’m proud to say I’m catching up.

In fact, today I have just completed coloring chapter 5. I am now officially half-way done with Formera Book 2!!! HOORAY!

I’m going to finish inking chapter 6 tonight and start to work on coloring it tomorrow. I have exactly 1 month left to go before my deadline and I think I can make it. It’s gonna be tight, but I’m gonna get it done as soon as I can.

And then there’s more good news. Wowio.com is finally back up again. For those who don’t know, they allow you to read comic, graphic novels, and books for free online (costs money to download a PDF). Formera Volume 1 is available via Wowio.com so if you’ve wanted to read it but couldn’t afford to buy it off of Amazon.com or something, you should definitely check out via this website.

http://www.wowio.com/

So it’s good to have some good news. I still got a lot to work on, and I’m gonna have to neglect doing other comics for a while, but this is really important. Once it’s done, however, I imagine that I’m going to be making a TON of new comics cuz I won’t have this deadline looming over my head. Heh.

I think I can...

2008-07-23T11:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I finished Inking chapter 6 of Formera. I did about 6 pages in 8 hours (and that’s with interruptions from my work). I only have 4 more chapters to ink and then I’ll be done!!!

I think my trick of spending a day inking boarders was a good idea, because honestly that is what made this so fast for me... cuz I could focus on the artwork and not have to worry about the boarders and Sound FX which are rather time consuming to do. Having them already drawn was an enormous time-saver and I’m gonna try to get the next few chapter boarders Inked tonight. With any luck I might be able to finish Inking the remaining 4 chapters by the end of this week, which would give me all of next MONTH to finish coloring!

I’m starting to get a little antsy about getting this done. I miss doing Pirate comics or other short-story comics and having this book looming over my mind is starting to get to me. I want to do OTHER things too, but this book is what’s gonna help me get my name out there, so it’s hard to ignore.

I don’t have any doubt that I’ll be able to finish it by the end of August. But it is definitely going to be close. I’m not even really very sure about what’s going to happen in book 3. I mean, I’ve got IDEAS for what I want, but there is no concrete story arc to follow yet like there was with this book. This book was actually relatively easy to write because I already had parts from the first book I was redoing and that was all leading to this one moment that I already had planned long ago. But book 3 doesn’t have that luxury, and it’s a little weird to be thinking about having to do a 3rd and possibly 4th book eventually.

My schedule is going to get a little messed up in the next two weeks, so who knows, maybe I’ll be able to get more done? I dunno...

I just kinda miss being able to do Pirate comics/art and other stuff. There’s a whole slew of comics of mine which I haven’t even really addressed. There’s Patty (which is a down to earth lesbian love story), then there’s Percy Phillips (which is a hard-boiled crime-fighting detective series), and then there’s Avra (which is a sci-fi adventure). There plenty others, but these are ones which I haven’t yet gotten around to improving upon.

Oh and before I forget, I’ll be in St. Paul, Minnesota for the Comic Con in October. It’s a free event (as far as I know) so if you’re in the area come on it. You might even get those Pirate cards that I made up (and which are in my gallery) cuz that’s where they’re going to be given away. I’ll post more details as the date comes up, but just letting people know that it’s going on.

Formera

2008-07-20T12:39:00.001-07:00

This is where I will be talking about my new book Formera and anything related to it.