Posts Tagged ‘Book’

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Evasive Maneuvers Complete!

by Major Tom on October 23, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Posted In: Blog

Whew! The 11-page story of John and Asimov’s origin, Evasive Maneuvers is complete! I’m pretty happy with how it came out. I’ll have to give it a once over to check for errors and such, but it’s basically done. That’s a big task out of the way for the book. Next week I’ll toss a couple preview pages at you.

Most of the guest work has come in, and the mission log is also more than half done. As you can see by the book progress widget, things are getting closer to completion. The book is starting to take shape, and I feel like it’s going to be a good one.

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Book Preview: Eddie Pittman!

by Major Tom on October 22, 2010 at 9:30 am
Posted In: Blog

This week Eddie blew my socks off. When I got his submission, I darn nearly cried tears of joy, and I’m not kidding! Some of you know I love Peanuts. Sure, all cartoonists love Charles Schulz and Peanuts, right? But for me it’s something special. I read the books like crazy as a kid. Christmastime is my favorite time of year, and the viewing of A Charlie Brown Christmas is my favorite evening – both now and when I was a kid. I collect the books and still read them all the time.

So when this came, like I said, blown away. And Eddie’s “Sunday Comics” title inspired me to title the whole comic guest art section by that name, with his strip leading it off. As amazing as this two panel preview is, you’ve just got to see the whole page! Not only did Eddie nail the art (wow) but the writing is spot-on for both Peanuts and Marooned.

This is going up framed in my house. It will always be one of my favorite pieces. So here you go – click the image to get the full size preview – you need to see it in all its’ glory!

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Mars Wars: Book Update

by Major Tom on October 19, 2010 at 9:25 am
Posted In: Blog

Mars Wars is starting to really take shape now, so here’s an update on what’s going on with my progress and the book content. As you may have already seen, I’ve got a rough of the cover. All the regular strips (127 of them!) have been placed in the book and I’ve gotten a bit more than halfway through the Mission Log (creator commentary) on them.

Good progress is being made with the guest Marooned comics. I’ve got about half of them delivered, and everyone else is making good progress. I have 2 new additions to the list. Denver Brubaker from Tales of a Checkered Man! (a comic I’ve talked about before and love) has come on board with a really fun 2-page story (I just approved the script yesterday). And Scott King’s team that does the comic “Holiday Wars” has also jumped in with a interesting Lian script. So the guest spots are all filled. See the list below for the whole shebang.

I have to fill in the episode title pages that I haven’t done yet. I got a start on that yesterday. Yesterday I also finished penciling and inking page 9 of Evasive Maneuvers, as well as coloring page 8. It’s coming along nicely and should be finished soon. I think you’re going to like the story and seeing John and Asimov’s first encounter.

This weekend I plan on digging through sketchbooks and artwork to put stuff together for the vault material (development art). Once I have most, if not all, of the guest comics in, I’ll make one long blog post with a preview from ALL of them :)

And yes, just like last year, there will be a FREE preview of the book in PDF form.

Looks like there will be over 40+ pages of bonus content this year!

Quick Note: there are bids on the two pieces of original artwork. You have about a day or so to get in on the action if you are interested.

Mars Wars Updated Book Content

  • Comic strips #101 – #228, which includes Episodes 5 (The Listener) through 8 (Brains From Another Planet), as well as the short story (Shapes of Things) – the one about the Gooble.
  • “Evasive Maneuvers” by me. This is the story of how John and Asimov met and ended up working together. 11 full color pages.
  • “The Tallest Robot”, the 9-page short story which I published for the SPACE show earlier this year.
  • A 2-page Marooned short by Steve Ogden (of Moon Town fame of course) titled “Thanks for Nothing.”
  • A 2-page Marooned short by Christopher Baldwin of Spacetrawler (as well as Little Dee, Bruno and MAD magazine!)
  • A 1-page Marooned short by Mike Maihack of Cleopatra in Space!
  • (NEW!)A 2-page Marooned short by Denver Brubaker of Tales of a Checkered Man!
  • (NEW!)A 2-page (I think) Marooned short by Scott King’s team from “Holiday Wars”
  • Something unique and special from the amazing Eddie Pittman of Red’s Planet – although I don’t know what it is yet! (But if Eddie says it’s special and different, you can bet it will be!)
  • A Marooned short from Michael Regina, most recently of Kevin and the Light of Destiny.
  • Either a Marooned short or pinup art from Josh Ulrich, most recently of Jackie Rose
  • Some great illustration work from Bob Rissetto (an artist friend of mine at work, he did the Lian pinups in book 1) and Ramón Pérez of Kukuburi, and probably something from my daughter Amanda again (and she is getting darn good!)
  • The 1-page John & Asimov comic I did awhile ago “click click” (which was briefly posted, but not now online).
  • The Mission Log, my creator commentary on all the strips on each page, just like book 1.
  • Various pieces of development art and illustration that I’ve done over the past year. Still sorting through exactly what that will be.
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2 Things: Help with Reader Mail, Schedule News

by Major Tom on October 13, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Posted In: Blog

A couple quick things for you Martians out there. First, I wanted to include a Reader Mail page in the next book. So I’ve placed a big button with an envelope in the right sidebar (below the subscription buttons) that links to the contact page. If you’ve got a question about Marooned (or me) you want answered, send it over and it may end up in the book. If I get too many questions, I’ll answer anything I don’t use in the book in the blog.

Secondly, it’s highly unlikely there will be a comic tomorrow. I’m bummed about it, but – I’m not quite ready to draw Lian yet. For the last week or so I have been working on refining and tightening up her look. The big problem right now is consistency. I draw her better, but I need to nail down certain details. I’d just rather not rush to put something out there that will be less than acceptable to me.

It *might* come on Friday, but probably not. Expect to see Lian on Monday, and if she comes sooner, it will be a surprise for us all.

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Book Preview: Steve Ogden Sneak Peek!

by Major Tom on October 13, 2010 at 9:00 am
Posted In: Blog

Hey, another day, another sneak preview! Today’s lusciously delicious comic goodness comes from buddy Steve Ogden. Steve is providing another 2-page story. His is titled “Thanks for Nothing” and involves a little scene on the surface with John and Asimov. You will recall Steve’s work on Asimov got rolled into his updated design, and you can see that here. The preview here is kind of small, you’ll just have to get the book to see it in all its glory!

Don’t forget to visit Steve’s Moon Town, which is once again updating, recently hit 100 strips and is better than ever.

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Book Preview: Christopher Baldwin Sneak Peek

by Major Tom on October 12, 2010 at 10:29 am
Posted In: Blog

It’s time to start showing some previews of the work that will appear in Mars Wars. Today we have the first 3 panels of the guest comic by Christopher Baldwin, he of Spacetrawler. He really banged this out of the park! The story is funny and well done. Plus he gives us a stunning last panel as a little extra. You won’t want to miss it. Here’s the preview. Enjoy!

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Friday Odds n’ Ends

by Major Tom on October 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Posted In: Blog

Just a couple things to share with you today. First, awhile back I ran the “Solar Felony” contest where you had to guess the artifacts buried in the rock. Reader Frank was the winner, and he sent me some photos with his prize package. Check it out below.

Love his enthusiasm! The contest was fun. Maybe I should run another one… hmm. I’m pretty much out of books to give away other than Tale of Two and Rag, but I could give away more art. Well, we’ll see.

Also, I mentioned previously I was learning Blender (the 3d modeling/animation app) for work. As a piece for learning, I’m modeling John and Asimov’s rocket as a drawing reference. Drawing the rocket has been tough, it’s been inconsistent because I really don’t have a solid design. The idea is to have this to pose and then draw over it. It’s starting to come along. I’m still struggling with the software, though, so it’s a process. Here’s where it’s at right now.

There was practically no hue and cry about Asimov’s upgraded design (other than from my daughters!) So that’s good news, you guys took it well :) For myself, I’m happy with it.

Work on the book progresses well, and I’ve updated the book progress widget. Soon I’ll start posting some sneak previews of bonus content.

Have a great weekend!

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Marooned Volume 2: Mars Wars – What’s Inside?

by Major Tom on October 6, 2010 at 10:11 am
Posted In: Blog

I’ve got a pretty good idea now how volume 2 is shaping up, so it’s time I gave you the rundown. This is still subject to change in that there could be more, but there certainly will not be anything less than what I list here.

  • Comic strips #101 – #228, which includes Episodes 5 (The Listener) through 8 (Brains From Another Planet), as well as the short story (Shapes of Things) – the one about the Gooble.
  • “Evasive Maneuvers” by me. This is the story of how John and Asimov met and ended up working together. 11-12 full color pages.
  • “The Tallest Robot”, the 9-page short story which I published for the SPACE show earlier this year.
  • A 2-page Marooned short by Steve Ogden (of Moon Town fame of course) titled “Thanks for Nothing.”
  • A 2-page Marooned short by Christopher Baldwin of Spacetrawler (as well as Little Dee, Bruno and MAD magazine!)
  • A 1-page Marooned short by Mike Maihack of Cleopatra in Space!
  • Something unique and special from the amazing Eddie Pittman of Red’s Planet – although I don’t know what it is yet! (But if Eddie says it’s special and different, you can bet it will be!)
  • A Marooned short from Michael Regina, most recently of Kevin and the Light of Destiny.
  • A Marooned short from Josh Ulrich, most recently of Jackie Rose
  • Some great illustration work from Bob Rissetto (an artist friend of mine at work, he did the Lian pinups in book 1) and Ramón Pérez of Kukuburi.
  • The 1-page John & Asimov comic I did awhile ago “click click” (which was briefly posted, but not now online).
  • The Mission Log, my creator commentary on all the strips on each page, just like book 1.
  • Various pieces of development art and illustration that I’ve done over the past year. Still sorting through exactly what that will be.

Whew! The page count is definitely going to be well over 150 pages. So bigger than last year. No idea on price yet. As it get’s closer to publishing time, I’ll be posting some more sneak peek previews, covers, and all that good stuff.

Feeling good about how it’s coming together. I think it will be just as good if not better than last year’s book.

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Book Report

by Major Tom on October 1, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Posted In: Blog

Just a little report on how things are going with book 2. First, if you didn’t already notice, there’s book progress widget in the right sidebar which I am updating. A quick glance at that will let you know how things are going.

Pretty soon I will have a more refined idea of who is and isn’t providing content for the book, then I will give you a full rundown of the artists and what they are submitting. But as for my end, I can report that in the last week I got all the strips exported and placed into the book document. We’re sitting at 135 or so pages already, and that’s *before* all the bonus content! This book is going to be much bigger than the 110 pages of Out of Orbit.

I’ve tentatively titled the book “Mars Wars.” In addition to the roughly 130 strips, there is of course the origin story of Asimov and John – “Evasive Maneuvers.” This week I finished penciling and inking up to page 6, and colored to page 4. That is putting me close to half finished. I definitely need to get the lead out to finish it on time. But it is shaping out to be really fun. I think the final story will be 12-14 pages.

Of course buddy Steve Ogden is providing something for the book, in the form of a 2-page Marooned story titled “Thanks for Nothing.” I’ve seen the inks, it’s great stuff as usual! I have talked to Steve quite a bit about character design and he shared a couple color studies he did with Asimov. This also gives you a little sneak peek at his story! Personally, I like the blue one on the left. You may see a color change on him soon, I may not wait and just recolor him to the beginning of this episode.

By the way, Steve just hit 100 strips with Moon Town – in awesome fashion of course. Make sure you go catch up if you haven’t already.

I still have to create missing episode covers, create the front and back cover, write all the commentary and dig through stuff to post vault material. More to come on that next week, with probably a full list of what will be in the book.

I’m targeting it being ready right after Thanksgiving – a bit earlier this year. We’ll see how it goes. Have a great weekend!

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Evasive Maneuvers Page 4 Inks

by Major Tom on September 6, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Posted In: Blog

No comic today, but I do have a little sneak peek at page 4 of Evasive Maneuvers for you. Over the long weekend I penciled and inked it. This is what one of my inked panels looks like before any correction or coloring. This story is turning out to be longer than I thought. I’m guessing it’s going to come in around 12 or so pages. Yikes!

I like how they are coming out though. I’m doing the most detailed backgrounds I’ve done so far. Partly because I want the story to look good, and partly since I can put a little more time into these, I can actually get them in there. It’s good because I need the practice.

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