Rage #5 Update - One Page Left!

I’ve been reading a DC book on inking and It’s helped me understand contrast more between background and foreground. Great stuff there. Written by Klaus Janson with a forward from Frank Miller.
It’ll be good to go back to the inkwell since it’s been a few years since using the old crowquill. I’m looking at using the quill, sable brush and ink markers or a combination of all three. The bristol board I bought though might now work with the quills so I’m prepared to use thin black ink markers and brush. The brush will take some practice though but the rest not so much.

The hardest thing will be sticking with the schedule of inking 5 pages a day. It’s a lot and we’re going straight, headlong into the holidays.

An artist must be

stubborn with his time.

Especially, when one works a job on top of it all. The deadline must hold, otherwise time gets away from you and what was supposed to just take a few months can turn into 6 or more! Doing it all myself along with the sound effects, and word balloons does not make it easy.

After that’s concluded I must do the cover, back covers, contact page, inside covers and then adjust the contrast of each page in the computer. It can’t be too black or too light gray.

Then, when all is said and done I have to market and promote the book! No easy task and it costs money.

The marketing is where the rubber meets the road. I finished reading The Last Ronin written by Kevin Eastman and at the end of the book he talks about how he and Peter, backed by a loan and a dream, had a bunch of issues to make of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was their origin story but they went to a comic convention and hit big apparently. The power of an idea.

Doing that today is probably tougher because there’s so much competition in artists alley. There’s so many great artists so how does one stand out? The power of an idea. There’s always better artists. One has to think of how likable one is, how attentive to the customer and the layout on the table, the price of the book, etc…

Also, do you have a pitch for the comic and character before they decide to take a 

chance on your book?

Then ok, you sell some books, maybe do some custom drawings for people, can you sell enough to make up for the price of the convention booth? If you didn’t use Kickstarter or other fundraising means, can you make up for the price of buying all those books from the printer? Probably not BUT it is possible.

You do your yearly comic book conventions for the year and you’re off to draw your next book. Wash, rinse and repeat.

There’s a trick here somewhere, somewhere along the convention circuit (if one can afford to go). Somewhere, you meet people, find something out, make a new friend? All the years that I’ve gone I haven’t made a friend at the conventions unfortunately. People are too distracted by the books, toys, etc.

Where does the luck start and the break begin? It’s nebulous, kind of like searching for the holy grail. I think the thing to do is pour a simple foundation but keep it SIMPLE. Don’t have many moving parts at all. A website, a notebook, a box full of comics, a small box of business cards perhaps, a drawing pad and a smile. Perhaps even that’s too much.

I guess making that, refining it, is what I’ll do. Everything will be an extension of that starting here. So here it is in bullet points. Let me know if it works for ya.

• Box full of comics (product inventory)

• Small box of business cards

• Drawing paper

• Notebook for notes, marketing ideas, contacts, story ideas, etc.

That's about it, I'll keep it in one place but I think keeping it simple helps immensely. Of course supplies like pencils, inks, rulers are part of it for sure but they’re not at the core of the business. Same with the computer. I need it but it’s not the core of it all, not the driving force.

So that’s about it for now. Do you have a creative business that you feel has overwhelmed or gotten away from you? What do you do to keep it simple? Let me know in the comments. Keep it movin’ towards your goals even if it is movin’ slow. 

My next blog will be about the final thoughts on completing the pencils on Rage #5. 

Giving myself a deadline etc..

Oh yeah, one more thing. I have one-page left to draw for this mega-issue! One Page!

Thanks for reading

-Chris

Update on Rage #5

       If you haven’t subscribed to my YouTube channel mustangs7 by now you’re missing out! I’ve uploaded 2 videos in a video series of the origin of Rage leading up to the release of the next comic mega issue Rage # 5 The Task and let me tell you, it IS a task to make. It’s a self-contained story like issue # 4 but way, way longer and with more beef! As you may be aware by now it’s starring King Arthur and Merlin (or Merlyn) as Rage is conjured up by a spell to aid Arthur in a fight for Camelot against his evil half-sister Morgana and her army.

I’m nearing completion on it as I begin drawing page 104 this week! It’ll be released in two issues I think or one single mega digital issue and a Mega issue by mail from Indyplanet.com I have probably 8 or less pages to go and am almost averaging 2 pages a week which is a great improvement over my slow but steady rate of 1 page per week.

Soon, I’ll start the monumental task of inking the comic at 5 pages a week. We shall see if I can accomplish that with the holidays right around the corner.

In the meantime, my YouTube and local marketing methods are in full swing as I attempt to raise awareness of the comic up until its release. It’s unknown whether I’ll raise funds publishing it on Kickstarter or by other means. I ponder.

I won’t ponder too long since the holidays will be upon all of us and the family birthdays that they bring. This things threaten to distract me from the goal of completing 5 inked pages a week. I’m almost tempted to lock myself up in my room for 3 or 4 months or so. It’s tough but when you’re an independent artist up against a big project, it’s only on you. Nobody else cares so you have to be your own best cheerleader.

I’ll put out weekly videos on my main YouTube channel @Mustangs7 and @10secondcartooning. This will give me more than enough content for both channels as I show the boards and talk about the struggle to draw each page and or panel. It’ll be interesting for sure but I hope I can make it interesting for the viewer.

Here’s the first part of my Rage documentary (click on this link) Rage Documentary Part 1. I plan to make more videos in 10 minute increments.

The big thing in the oncoming months will be inking and showing my progress inking a monumental 5 pages a day. I’ve never inked that many pages in my life until now it’s usually been about two pages a week or so for up to 26 - 30 pages. The reason I’m pushing myself is because this comic is over 100 pages and I don’t want it to take 6 months or longer. I’m kinda repeating myself here but it’s because it’s so important. This is unlike anything I’ve ever down art wise. It’s good in a way because it will push me way past my comfort zone in production but it can seriously damage my social life. So please join me when I post this blog and YouTube videos. Movin' slow as always but join me on this challenging journey.

Inspiration for X-Men: Days of Future Past

             I’ve been reading X-Men: Days of Future Past for some comic book inspiration and it’s been pretty awesome. Two of the greats, Chris Claremont and John Byrne wrote the graphic novel with the story. I’m still reading it but in the graphic novel collection. I say collection because it’s a bunch of regular comic stories leading up to Days of Future Past which I believe is only two issues. The stories leading up to is so far are pretty awesome though. It goes into Wolverine, with the help of Nightcrawler, kind of or sort of patching things up with Alpha Flight in helping them track down the Wendigo. 

Also there’s a story where the X-men team up with Doctor Strange and go to a facsimile of Dante’s Hell. That was pretty neat. So anyway, I like how John Byrne can pack so much into a panel set in the danger room. This collection reminds me why classic X-men is so good!

The YouTube video expands on how potent a story can be in a minimum of two issues. He touches on Stan Lee’s The Coming of Galactus storyline in the Fantastic Four. Also, it touches on the inspiration for the story coming from a Dr. Who episode The Day of The Dalek’s. You never know where inspiration will strike. It also shows how much sci-fi and fantasy can inspire each other to make great stories. I also like how Claremont made the future outcome in question as opposed to a clear win. It’s fascinating. I hope by reading more great comics like this, novels and short stories, etc…I can learn to write good stories for my own characters and only time and work will tell. I'll continue to do the work against all real-world obstacles getting in the way.

Here's the link to Matt Draper's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJdwFFpxKKM&list=PL-BkrJCWGrhwHJlwgazszUGxeVcwaC-T8&si=nC8SE_TTJFJK3eEJ

Movin' Slow but Movin'

 So things have been moving along at a pace. Not saying it’s a fast pace but it’s a pace.

I’ve finished about 12-15 pages of Rage #5 within 6 months if I had to estimate. You can check out one of the panel’s below…

It’s movin slow but I really wish it wasn’t. As you can see it’s a bit of a time-travel story, well kind of, back into our fictionesque type-time or is it? I’ll let you be the judge of that after you read it.

As par for the course there will be a couple of flashbacks in there, though I’ll try to keep them to  a minimum. Really trying to go for a self-contained story. Although I’m keeping the backgrounds to a minimum, I’m still struggling with drawing more than a page a week. On lucky weeks I can knock out 2 with the web-sized blue-lined paper.

I still need to perfect a system for drawing much faster without sacrificing the quality.

This is why drawing comic books is a real, job but when you don’t get paid for doing the job it’s a problem. I believe in what I’m doing and that I have a story to tell with the character but will more people read it and like it? That is why I’m putting together a super-sized issue such as Rage #5 and I’ll put together a compilation of the first 5 comics. All without really testing the market. As Jason Bateman said in Dodgeball “it’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it works out for them.”

All of this emphasizes an important point, ya gotta draw comics because you love to draw them, not because you think it will bring you millions.

Also, there’s an update, while this blog will stay Movin’ Slow I’m thinking of switching the name of the company from Movin’ Slow to Raging Comics due to my new website being called that. Some of you might be reading these blogs from my website ragingcomics.com.

I might change the logo to a Rage head or something like that or Rage & Sgt. Gray 

heads as a throwback to the old Marvel days or maybe I’ll make a RC logo like DC.

-

So there’s a lot of progress happening but not enough to quit the day job and go full-time into my comic to get it down to at least a consistent quarterly comic. What to do? My brain is scanning for ways to get paid doing the work, I could do a Kickstarter, but I would only do that after the book is completed, maybe there’s a way to do it where I’m getting funded by a sponsor kinda like Nascar, maybe find an angel investor? Maybe find another job that will pay more to allow more freedom to work on my comic. Just throwing out ideas out there.

The problem is that there’s no guarantee the book will sell when it comes out or that I can keep a fan base when it’s so long between issues. That’s a real struggle.

Meanwhile, a whole bunch of life events can happen during and in-between comics that can challenge my work goals. That’s why it’s ideal to move faster or more consistently on my book. 

If anybody comes up with any ideas be sure to let me know. 

Working as an Indie Comic Artist

Hopefully as you know Rage #4 is out now at indyplanet.com you can order the issue by mail and or download it for only 99 cents!

Already progress is being made on Rage 4.5. It's an intro story for Rage #5 (which will be my biggest issue to date, possibly a two-parter!) 

Check out a short vid of it on my home YouTube page here:

I’m setting a new standard of drawing rate which is a minimum of 1 panel a day which with my schedule turns out to 1 page a day. That’s about 4 pages a month, a good steady start, but looking at increasing that to 2 pages a week ideally which I’ll probably be at for a while. I’m someone with a thirty hour week job so it’s possible.

It’s the inking that will be the trick. How can I accelerate the inking process if it takes me one week to ink a page? That IS the question. I could hand off the pages to someone else to ink but I would have to pay them a decent fee. Will the comic sell enough to make up for that cost? Hmm…

Even though inking is a bit easier then drawing it’s still time consuming. I could shoot for inking 2-3 panels a day. It’s tough when comics aren’t your main job. A lot is asked of independent creators and this is all without color! 

How to make it our main PAYING job so we can do it more efficiently? That is something that I’m trying really hard to figure out. In the words of the great Dennis Miller, I don’t want to go on a rant here but I could go on about how artists are screwed from getting paid efficiently like other professions unless you’re in the top 3%. This is something that I must change because I was meant to do it. Born to draw, make art and comics so I should be able to make a living at it and so should a lot of struggling artists!

It’s time to be the change and go all in.

Here's the link to Rage #4 out now! Order it for mail or download!

https://www.indyplanet.com/rage-4

Rage #4 and Local Comic Conventions

Progress has been made with Rage #4 and I am ordering some comics for the local conventions.

Excited to get back onto the Indy comic book route since ‘The 19’ overtook the world conciousness unfortunately. Prayers to the victims of the terrible virus and prayers to the lives ruined in wake of it. The time to strike back is now. Now that the dust has cleared it’s time to kick the tires and light the fires and get some issues among the general public! I hope to sell off my remaining back issues and perhaps order new ones.

 

Also, in the works is a 10-Second Cartooning workbook for beginners. It will get the fires lit on drawing basics and get you practicing and sketching week by week building a the grand skill of drawing and cartooning. I’m in the process of putting the book together and getting them ready for the convention circuit as well. It’ll be great to get out among the people and talk again, maybe do some more drawings.

Also, drawing Rage 4.5 was slightly frustrating at first with the first page but the more I pushed through the more it formed into shape. It’s detailed oriented and I integrated the title into the background.i

You can check out some of it here: https://youtube.com/shorts/49TO1FXGP9I?feature=share

So yeah, I did 4 thumbnails as usual per page but I had to finally pull the trigger in one of them. The second page is proving to be trickier with the layout but that’s for the next blog entry.

Rage #4 Release!

Great, great news! Finally, after about two years. I’m very pleased to inform you that it’s here the next new issue of Rage!…Rage #4 is now on sale at Indyplanet! It took some time to get this one out because all of the back and forths Ka-Blam with the black contrast.

All of it looked good and dark on my screen but after submitting them they came off too light-gray in test printings. After some more money, some Ka-blam help and mistakes I was finally able to get the blacks to 100%.

It is a late release, but better late than never!

So the lesson to learn here is when you’re doing indie comics especially black and white, don’t trust your computer screen at all when if comes to the black percentages, just because everything looks dark enough doesn’t mean the book is going to print out that way.

Also, there’s more. I plan to release an additional ‘special’ silent version as well later in the year.

Soon you will hear my customized advertising on it in my podcast soon so listen to The Ham Palace podcast on Itunes and Podbean at hambo.podbean.com. Thank you all so much for staying interested enough to read these occasional blogs and being along the journey.

Go check it out the issue at Indyplanet.com!

Here’s the link: www.indyplanet.com/rage-4

It’s taken me longer then I’d care to admit but it is done and available to order or download along with Rage issues 1-3!