the many Captains...

Things have kind of been crazy lately, but here is some progress made on another page of Captain Spectre's 'Solo Flight'.  I have changed the layout for this page several times, in an effort to try and get as much story as I can in these pages. So there are some fast scene changes, and some compressed story telling, which is sore point in new comics to me, is the decompression to the fact sometimes in an issue of a new comic.... nothing happens!. Anyway hope you enjoy, since it has been a bit tough. My pain problems have been an issue the last week or so. 

Here is some great progress made on the secret Captain Spectre six inch action figure!....Wow is about the only word I can get out of my mouth as I look at each new picture of the work of Jonathan at PackRat Studios. He is doing some great stuff, and even casting the head. Man this is gonna be cool. Once finished it will have a great display base and in one of those glass domes for display at the con table when I start returning to those. Hopefully next year he and me will be making the rounds. Of course when not at a show, I will be playing with the figure......hey, we here at the Lightning Legion test all our products....that is the fun of it all. 

So get over to Jonathan's site and check out the progress shots of Captain Spectre, and all the other cool stuff he does....amazing. 

Ok, you win, I am officially eating my hat....as I said I would. I actually liked the Captain America movie. Oh sure there were parts I didn't like....but I thought the spirit of the character made it into the movie. The origin was the best parts of the movie. And Chris Evans pulled off the character nicely. It was sure nice to see a hero on the screen that wasn't wallowing in his own self pity. 

During the war I admit Steve Rogers didn't have too many demons he wore on his sleeve. And many people gripe that Rogers is a flat character. I on the other hand don't think he is. He can be written as a good character without having demons hanging on his shoulder all the time, which is what people want it seems. But in the end Cap has one of the largest demons of any hero .....EVER (Superman has the same problems). He wakes up to find his whole world gone....not just his parents, or something. He has lost a world, a way of life and all he ever knew. And Chris Evans nails the last line of the movie showing this. 

Going into the movie I hated the way Bucky and Steve's relationship was changed. But actually in the movie not much of that comes thru. And actually to me the Bucky character wasn't much at all. I just pretended he was a regular friend and member of the team, and it didn't phase me much at all. Even his death was toned down. The Bucky I know and like is the one from the rebirth stories in Tales of Suspense and the early Avengers. Bucky on the buzz bomb yelling to Cap that he sees the fuse and can stop the bomb, as Steve falls down into the water. The bomb blows up as Bucky is trying to save people's lives. Over the years writers have changed this alot. Hell even when they show it on the new Avengers cartoon show they change it too Bucky telling Cap to dive off the buzz bomb as Bucky's foot is stuck on the bomb. Not that he is trying to save people, just that he is stuck and can't get off so decides Steve is more important and needs to leave him behind.   Sometimes Hollywood or modern writers forget what a hero is. 

Then of course is the costume. I still don't like it, but I guess by the end of the movie it was growing on me. Actually it changes so much thru the film and even into the Avengers movie that it is kind of interesting to watch it's evolution. 

Also just like an old comic, we figure Red Skull is in Asgard or one of the nine realms, and of course we didn't see Bucky go splat, so both can come back at a later date. I hope not, but they may. 

Anyway it was an enjoyable movie, sure it had it's problems, like the lack of any story other than the origin. It also had it's good parts, and again the origin is the best part, that is who Steve Rogers is. 

Still chewing on my hat, as I will buy the DVD....kind of wish I had seen Thor now. But will get the DVD's of them all. Actually looking forward to having a Tales of Suspense movie night.....Iron Man, then Captain America viewings in one night. 

Lightning Legion progress on all fronts!

There can be alot said with the title of a comic book story, I think. Sometimes as a kid just seeing a certain cadence of words on a comic cover got me to buy it. Because when we are kids, at least my experience was that I didn't have enough money to buy all the comics I would have wanted. The titles would attract me to certain books....especially in the silver age.....Challengers of the Unknown, Journey into Mystery, Tales of Suspense, The War that Time Forgot and on and on. Books had great titles back then. Then there were the great story titles too.  So up at dawn, actually before dawn, and I started thinking of how many stories I have been working on. They are all in various stages of development and they all needed a title treatment. See if you Loyal Legionnaires can figure out the stories just from the titles. Of course 'Solo Flight' is the first Captain Spectre story.

Then some great news to share. And again let me say what a world it is with the internet. I had been following this blog for awhile;  PackRat Studios. So I shot him, Jonathan, an email since he had posted he was doing commissions......and lo and behold look what has happened!!!! How cool is this Legionnaires!

Also I have been thinking about my childhood alot lately. For better or worse I remember the best times of it and consider my childhood a pretty good one. We didn't have much spare change laying around but things were good. I used to save up my money for comics, paperbacks, and going to the movies.  Summers were filled with coming to Nebraska to stay at my grandparents house, the Rexall Drug store's comic spinner rack, black cherry soda, the town's swimming pool, ballgames and going to the movies. Of course there was that habit of trying to learn to draw, also.
So I guess with all of this I am still trying to talk myself into traveling to see the Captain America movie. As you all know I have a huge fan of the character. For a time I collected anything and everything with Captain America on it. I have Cap gumball machines, soap mits, cards, models, figures, toys, pencil boxes, and of course the comics. So the movie is getting some good reviews. So I am still trying to convince myself to drive over to Beatrice, one of the theaters close to me, and the town I was actually born in..... to feel like a kid again and catch the saturday matinee of Captain America.

I never had it as lucky as this kid......but in spirit I was probably a bigger fan. ha.

Solo Flight progress

Well, Loyal Legionnaires, I have been down and out for some days with my medical problems, and pretty much confined to the house because of the heat wave here. But even being confined to the recliner with my swollen feet and all I have managed to finish some layouts or thumbnails for upcoming pages of 'solo flight'.

As you can see a bit on this page I wanted to keep the good Captain still somewhat mysterious to the police, so I only show him in pieces and bits, or from the back or in long shots. I am also planning on adding the advent of sound effects in this story. I don't know if anyone noticed but in the close to 100 pages or strips on the site there have not been any on screen sound effects. I am not very good at making up good sound effects or even using them. I feel sometimes they are overused in comics or underused. But I do plan to use them in 'solo flight' along with the thought balloon.  Something I feel is missing in comics are the actual interworkings of the character. I find anymore in new comics they try to let the art tell all. Well it just can't do it all. I look at some comics and don't feel a connection to the character shown, or sometimes the art doesn't 'cut it' and I just don't know what is happening, or more precisely just what the hell I am supposed to get out of it. Maybe it is my age, maybe I am trying to get too much out of it, or maybe I am trying to make it too complex, but I just don't get it. I have always been the kind of guy that if I don't like a books art I don't buy it. Especially now a days with the high prices. But the words and connection to the characters have to be there too. I see so many comics now that have pages of six or seven panels that have a character doing something and maybe only one word balloon on it. I see alot of wasted storytelling time. I know some of the major companies have banned the evil thought balloon, but I think something is missing.
Also there is the 'new' reader problem. I want to get my books into hands of people that don't read comics on a normal basis. And I see and hear of so many adults that don't know how to read a comic. The thought blocks are confusing to people, they don't know who is talking, and I want my book clear and too the point and easy for lapsed readers or new readers to get into, just as much as I do regular comic readers. So get ready for sound effects and thought balloons in 'solo flight' when it gets finished.

New Captain Spectre page!

Well Loyal Legionnaires, here is another page from 'Solo Flight' - my first comic novella in the works. This page follows the last one posted as I am working thru the story on a linear basis. I am too narrow focused of a person to try and do it any other way. And once again I hope posting this progress isn't going to affect the millions of sales I plan on having.......hahaha. Just joking you 'all.  But you can see one of the bad guys going for a bit of a ride via Captain Spectre airlines, but oops that poor gal seems to be having a bit of trouble in the back of the truck. Maybe it's just a 1939 version of a bad hair day.
As before it takes me quite a while to plan out a page and get it all down. If you notice the pencils are somewhat less refined on this page. I started figuring since I was going to ink them, I didn't need to spend too much time worrying about totally finished pencils. I like doing tight pencils so I am trying to loosen up some on that area to help speed things up a little.

And speaking of speeding things up, I have actually agreed to do a project for a fresh starting company to be published thru Dark Horse Comics....and will have more news as it is released by the company. But I will throw out a tease for now......

finished pencils for page 6 of Solo Flight

That panel from last week was just the top of this page. Here are the finished pencils for the whole page. On this page we see some of the fates of two criminals in our story. 'Solo Flight' is kind of a story about what happens to different breeds of criminals. Again I don't like giving away too much of a spoiler, but again I will say this book is pretty much all I am working on lately - other than the day job stuff, and that isn't any fun. 

I wanted to make sure I got this post up and running, even if it is a bit early on the weekend. I have a few outside chores to tackle and with a chance of rain tomorrow I figured I better finish this up this morning and post it. Then after chores hopefully I will have time for some more pencils. 

This is kind of an in and out page....Captain Spectre rockets into the page in the first panel and flies out in the last panel, of course with an added payload. And I am sure all you Loyal Legionnaires can tell what is going to happen to the passenger in the last panel. He is going for a bit of a high altitude sight-seeing tour. 

Enjoy all you Loyal Legionnaires!

A tough one....

As the title says, a tough one...this panel gave me a ton of trouble as far as the layout is concerned and also it proved my arthritis is getting to me more than I thought. This is the top panel of a page. And I just tried and tried but couldn't get the layout started right. So other than wearing out a piece of board, or comic paper, I drew the pieces one at a time, then lightboxed them together onto a new page. I discovered I don't have any control over my hand movements, well limited control when my arm is extended to the top of a page. In other words the more I reach the less control I have. This is making things tougher to work. But there are work arounds like the lightbox and other things. Getting old is not fun kids. Ha. 

Also I hope viewers of any of the Commando Cody/Rocketman films don't think I am just ripping off one of the cool scenes in the movies. As most of you know I am heavily influenced by those great Republic cliffhangers. This scene is a tip of the hat to the first serial with Tris Coffin as Rocketman. But after alot of thought, there truly isn't alot of ways to land on a moving truck with your jetpack. So it actually helped using the lightbox. I drew the truck and all, then drew Captain Spectre at this angle, then lightboxed the truck and then placed Captain Spectre and lightboxed him. (The lightbox is a small box with frosted plexiglass as a drawing surface with a light source underneath. That way you can place a drawing on it and transfer, or trace the drawing onto a clean piece of paper.) 

Isn't the internet a wonder. A place of unlimited reference for artists. I can't count how many times I use it to look up what something looks like. Especially like drawing the Captain Spectre strip. If I need a 1936 police cruiser, then I just type it in and wham there it is. Amazing to this day. And it sure saves alot of time in research and reference. It also yields great gems, like this photo of Kong on the mountain. Being a poor man's collector, I don't have many film books or things like that. I mostly buy comic collection books and things like artist collections, so I had never seen this photo before. And being a King Kong film fan, as I still consider it the greatest adventure movie made, when I saw this photo I just had to reach for the DVD and view it again. I can honestly say that I don't know how many times I have viewed this film. Hundreds for sure. It never fails to make me feel like a kid again. 

Then of course the big news, and this is what I think one of the better cartoons of the event. Most had political sides taken but this one was more American so I liked it better. Of course it is copyright by the artist, I am just reposting because I liked it. As some of you know I have a personal stake. One of my sons served in the War on Terror in Iraq for almost two years, and made it back home from the frontlines.

Also some things stay the same as in enemies can only hide so long, either from Seal Team Six or Captain Spectre. As shown in one of the first Captain Spectre shirt designs I did when the strip started.

I wanted to get this update posted as I will be spending some time with the northern branch of the Floyd family today. They are coming out to the secret HQ for a cookout. So happy Mothers day to all the mothers out there. And to my mom, long gone, Thanks Mom.

Throttles at full....!

Well as before, I don't know how much I want to show of the Captain Spectre novella, but since that is the main thing I am working on in all my spare time it is all I have to show. So Loyal Legionnaires, here is another full page of pencils, page 5, showing a bit of the set up and Captain Spectre ready to go into high flying action! At least the words aren't included, so that will be the surprize when you read the full issue. This thing is going to clock in about 48+ pages so that is why I am calling it a 'novella'. It is a complete story also, no continued stuff here. Enjoy...

A quick update, and long overdue.

Here is a quick update to prove I am working on 'Solo Flight', the first Captain Spectre novella length comic. This is just a rough unfinished piece of a panel. Remember I wasn't going to show alot from now on in it's full form, since I don't want to spoil anything about the plot or lack of plots. As I have said many a time, I am not a writer ... I just pretend to be one on the web. Ha.

Anyway to keep all you Loyal Legionnaires up to date with things, I seem to be dealing with this new drug they are giving me for the nerve problems I am having in my arms and hands. They are working on the nerve part but have seemed to let the arthritis part slip thru their fingers. So am still dealing with that too, with these people it seems to be one problem at a time, and that isn't helping with my production at all. This nerve med is making me sleep, which is something I don't really normally do a lot of. Also it is making me be really lax in my production. Making it very hard to do what I feel I need to do. It is an odd thing and I do need to have another talk with these people. I appreciate them wanting to cure it all long term, but when I don't do my work, sometimes I don't know if the cure or the pain is worse.

So stay tuned Legionnaires to the slow updates, I will try to produce more and update more, and the adventures of the sick artist that is trying to just hold a pencil and push it around.....!

thanks....

Another sneak preview page.

I planned on posting this the other night, just didn't get to it, and actually just noticed I need to change one thing. In that bottom split panel young Chris is holding a biplane toy. Ha, I need to erase that and either replace it or just will probably leave his hand empty. As with Chris being born at the turn of the century I don't think at this age there would be bi-plane models or toys yet. I guess I was just trying too hard to get the symbol of flying or him wishing to fly over too much. Oh well.

Anyway I am posting this as a full page preview, it is the end of the 'intro' piece at the front of the comic. Remember I had mentioned this intro to get people who know nothing of the character or time or place into the comic. To make the story more accessible to a wider audience if you will.

So in other words the sneaks from now on will be panels or sketches, so as to not spoil anything for you. Also as a bit of torture too. ha. Not really. Well there may be parts I could post as things move along. We will see.

Anyway this proves I am still working at it. Again just a very slow process.

A quick update

Legionnaires....sorry once again for a long pause between updates. I will explain as things develop on that, with good news hopefully.

But until then here is the pencils for page 2 of the 'who are they' part of the intro to 'Solo Flight' -the first full length Captain Spectre comic!

I finished these off last night, after having a couple of bad nights with my arm and hands. So I guess you could say, 'equipment failure' was the reason for the long pause between page 1 pencils and this page 2.

thanks for understanding Loyal Legionnaires.....I do appreciate it alot.

Research, sketching, daydreaming, writing...

Things are coming together for all you Loyal Legionnaires. This past week I have been pounding the pavement, or rather the great research tool - the internet, getting together images for reference, costumes, vehicles, buildings and all things needed for the first issue of Captain Spectre.

As prep work, as you all know, I need to get comfortable with all the characters in the book. No matter how little they have to do with the story. Mainly because visually I want this book to be the best thing I have ever done. So I went back to the 'Mary' the waitress character to do a bit better design work than before. Also found a better truck that I needed. This two and half ton ford cab-over from 1939 is a better fit for what I wanted. So as I mentioned the process begins. How do I draw these vehicles, what kind of inking do I want on them. What style or degree of contrast in the inking. So I did a rough with a new pen brush I bought. Served two purposes, tested the brush, and gave me some vehicle inking practice for the book.

It seems more and more I try to make things, drawings, sketches, and the like to do double duty - as time is always a factor.

So my plans for New Years are to continue with this process, as this morning the ice is coming down already. The sidewalk is slick.....the dog was even sliding around as he went out for his morning bathroom adventure, I have food in the icebox, the power hasn't gone off, and I have no plans.....other than working on the book today. It is going to be a very good day I think.

So Happy New Year to all you Loyal Legionnaires! Stay safe, don't drink and drive, try not to drink too much......and get rid of this year and let's make this new year a much better one!!

And again thanks for tuning in...... oh and also, I finally have my main villain for issue one. I am trying to figure out if I should post it, or keep it a deep dark science secret.