Devolution ends! And new Marvel work!

Hi everyone. This is long, long overdue. I wanted to catch everyone up to date on what’s going on with my latest comics work. So, after a long time, the 4-issue Devolution series is finally complete. The entire series can now be viewed at www.ComicCritique.com. And it looks great thanks to penciler Jake Bilbao, inkers Ignacio Calero, Howard Simpson, and Christian N. St. Pierre, and the perfect, precise lettering of Chris Studabaker. I also want to thank the ComicCritique.com owner/managing editor, Louis Vitela, for his efforst to get the series out there. I learned a tremendous amount from writing and editing Devolution, and now my hope is to work on a screenplay and/or novel version of the story. It’s perfect as a low-budget horror movie, so I’ll have to get to work on that.

As for Marvel Comics, work continues on. My second story to be released from Marvel has just hit the shelves. I have a story featuring Israeli superhero Sabra in a title called Astonishing Tales #6, and it hit the shelves on Wednesday, 1 July. I couldn’t be more excited. And now I find myself working on another story, to be announced later. That story has landed artist Jake Bilbao, my Devolution partner, as the penciler, which gives Jake his first Marvel work. I couldn’t be more excited for the exposure he’s about to get. He completely deserves it.

That’s the latest in my comics work. I continue to pitch work to Marvel, and I’m soon to start another independent project, adapting a novel I wrote many years ago titled The Calling. It’s a great science fiction adventure that will have a lot great visuals. For now, the plan is to have it illustrated from my Devolution inker Christian N. St. Pierre. We’re in the early stages of working out the details. More to come on that.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the comics.

Matt

Scripting the Devolution installments

The entire 4-issue Devolution miniseries story is mapped out for each installment.  What is not complete is the script for each installment.  There are several things that go into writing the scripts. 

First, I try to find the right pacing.  Although I know what should happen in the 2 to 4 pages of each installment, I still have to find the right pacing to tell that part of the story.  I want each page to end leaving the reader wanting more, anxious to turn the page.  Sometimes that means splitting the dialogue so that a character’s statement is completed on the next page.  Sometimes it means putting the character in some degree of danger with a  small resolution on the next page.  This element of suspense is what novelists use to propel readers to the next chapter.

I’m also trying to find interesting visuals.  Particularly in a story like Devolution where the bulk of the action is fairly stationary in a house (and mostly in the upstairs bedroom and downstairs closet), I don’t want to get into what’s called the “talking head” syndrome.  Comics are a visual medium, and a comic works best when there are dynamic visuals to go with the story.  That’s not to say every single panel will be a full-page splash, but you do want to make it look as good as possible. 

Another thing I’m trying to do is make it interesting for my artist.  Jake always manages to surprise and impress me, but hopefully I do the same with some of the images I have planned for him to render.  An artist is going to get bored if he’s drawing the same images over and over.  Again, that’s a danger for a story that’s as static as Devolution as far as setting.  

Planning and plotting the installments for Devolution was the easy part.  The more difficult part is definitely making each installment as interesting as it can be panel by panel and page by page.  Hopefully we’ve succeeded more than we’ve failed. 

You can find the Devolution comic installments at www.ComicCritique.com.  Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment at DevolutionComic@gmail.com.

Devolution issue 2

Devolution issue 1 is now complete and can be read in its entirety at www.ComicCritique.com.  It was a great experience, writing a near-weekly installment series with the intention that every 22 pages of cumulative story would complete a total issue.  Right now I have every installment of each issue mapped out, and the series will come to an end with issue 4. 

Issue 2 brings some new life to the series with inker Howard Simpson.  Coming from the US, I found Howard through digitalwebbing.com, where I’ve found all the creative talent on the series.  He brings a whole new take on Jake’s pencils, and I’m sure readers will notice the difference in what Howard has to offer. 

As of this writing, Jake is busily engaged in penciling the early installments of issue 2, and Howard has begun his role in inking Jake’s work.  We hope to have several installments completed before posting the first one.  I hope the wait isn’t too hard for readers of the series, but I do know the wait will truly be worth it.  The artwork looks tremendous so far.

More to come as it develops, and I’ll share more with the making of Devolution in further posts. 

Devolution full format script

I want to dive in a little deeper on how things go from script to penciled pages.  Included below is the script of page 1 from the very first installment of Devolution.  I wanted an establishing shot of the Tennessee house location in the first image, then a close-up of protagonist Kristy Noble just as the security system comes alive.  The intent was she goes from darkness to light.  Here’s what penciler Jake Bilbao received:

 

PAGE ONE.
 

PANEL ONE – View from above Sycamore Drive

 

Big panel showing the dead-end street is surrounded by woods and there are only four houses on it.  One is at the end, the house belonging to Kristy and Rick Noble.  The other, to their left as they’re standing in their front yard, belongs to the owner.  Further down the street, near where it intersects with a country highway, are two houses opposite each other.  Most of the area is dominated by woods.  The country highway goes in either direction with no houses, stores or anything in sight.  It’s a good mile or two to the nearest gas station or sign of civilization.
 

CAPTION:  Today

 

CAPTION:  Tennessee

 

BANNER (KRISTY – with a distinctive border to indicate it’s Kristy’s thoughts):  What are we doing here?

 

BANNER (KRISTY):  A house at the end of a dead end street in a dead end town.

 

PANEL TWO – Close-up on Kristy’s face.  Although she’s pretty, shoulder-length brown hair, looking a bit like Rachel McAdams in the movie Red Eye, she appears tired here.  Her face lies in shadow. 

 

VOICE (REPAIRMAN – In small letters to indicate he’s far away):  I think that’s about got it. 

 

PANEL THREE – The same close-up but now her face is in light.  It’s the illumination of a row of video monitors from the security system in their walk-in closet (although we don’t see the monitors yet). 

 

VOICE (REPAIRMAN):  Yep, that should take care of at least that.

————–

 

Rather than leave Jake wondering about the exact layout of the street, I did a small God’s-eye view sketch of the street.  Once he had the script and the street layout, he did his own layout sketch, which I approved.  Sometimes Jake makes some changes from the details in the script; Jake has a great knack for making the action flow, so I trust his instincts on action scenes.  And sometimes I ask for a few changes after seeing his layouts; after all, I have a better picture of what’s coming down the road. 

 

This script page is an example of full script format, detailing each panel on each page.  When having the right artist (like Jake), the writer can allow some flexibility.  If the artist is new to you, you may want them to follow the script precisely to get the shot exactly the way you want it.  Then as you learn their strengths and weaknesses, you can open things up. 

 

Next week I’ll discuss more about the art process.  After all, it doesn’t end with pencils. 

 

You can find the Devolution comic installments at www.ComicCritique.com.  Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment at DevolutionComic@gmail.com.

Devolution script process

            I hope you learn a little about the process of the making of Devolution as these columns continue.  The first step is the story.  I decided to make Devolution a 4-issue miniseries, and since it’s released in weekly installments, I had to map out the story issue by issue, installment by installment.  Each 22-page issue contains 6 to 7 installments, and each installment runs 2 to 4 pages in length. 

            Once I have the each installment’s breakdown notes, I then write a few sentences on what happens on each page of that installment.  Finally, I either type up the script from that page’s notes or I do thumbnail sketches to indicate the layout of the page, then type the script. 

            The installments are written in full script format; full script describes each panel and all the dialogue.  The first few installments, unfortunately, were written using Microsoft Word, but that definitely does not lend itself to quick script writing.  Word is a great word processor but a lousy scriptwriting program.  Taking some cues from others, I bought Final Draft, a screenwriting software that’s made it a piece of cake to write scripts.  Now I can focus on writing and not on formatting. 

            When the script is finished, I print, review, make changes, and email it to Jake.  He has some idea where things are headed in the story down the road, but not the finer details.  Sometimes I give Jake a lot of description, knowing that I need to stage something in a room for later use by one of the characters.  Sometimes I’ll be more open with my description, even asking Jake to increase or decrease the number of panels as needed to make the action flow better.  I trust him enough to know that he’ll give me something great.  And I can always go back and shift the dialogue to match his pencils. 

            Next week I’ll talk about how Jake breaks down the pages and the back and forth exchanges we have. 

You can find the Devolution comic installments at www.ComicCritique.com.  Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment at DevolutionComic@gmail.com.

Devolution – Finding the Talent

One of the things important to me when I first started Devolution was to find professional-level talent that would make the book look as good as possible.  If I wanted the story to shine, it needed to look amazing.

Thanks to www.digitalwebbing.com, I found that talent.  I discovered my penciler, Jake Bilbao, in somewhat a roundabout way than the standard method on digitalwebbing.com.  On the homepage, I went to the Forums sections and then went to the Sequential Art Showcase.  The Artist Showcase is a great way to view artists, but I wanted to see if someone could tell a story through their art, not just draw a pin-up.  After finding some incredible sequentials from Jake, I emailed and asked if he’d be interested in working on Devolution.  We worked out an agreement, and things have been incredible in every way working with Jake.  I have no doubt that Jake Bilbao will end up on the Wizard Top Ten artists page someday – he’s that good.  His work ethic is second to none, and he brings a realism and level of detail to his work you’d only see from Bryan Hitch.  You can check out more of Jake’s work in my links section on the right side of MattYocumComics.com.

Next stop was to find an inker.  Jake’s thoroughly detailed pencils needed someone extremely skilled as an inker.  I followed the conventional route for digitalwebbing.com, posting an ad, and I found several talented inkers.  The trick was to find just the right one for Jake’s pencils.  After reviewing their work, I couldn’t escape that Ignacio Calero was the perfect inker for this.  Ignacio adds a lot of grit and reality to the work, and the world of Devolution becomes darker thanks to him.  He gives it weight. 

I again used the digitalwebbing site and posted an ad for a letterer.  Schedules didn’t work out with my original letterer Brant Fowler, whose tremendous work you can see at http://www.brantfowler.com.  Following this I spoke to Chris Studabaker, and I cannot be happier.  Chris, whose work is seen at http://www.chrisstudabaker.com, brings to life the words.  When I get the completed work back from Chris and the pages are complete, I feel the story becoming real to me.  He adds such an incredible dynamic.  For those who are doing or thinking of doing an independent comic, let me say that having a professional letterer really goes a long way to making the work a quality comic.  I’ve seen so many indy comics out there that look horrible and could have been fixed simply by having a professional letterer. 

I chose not to have it colored mostly for schedule reasons.  It would have been a nice dynamic, but my day job (learn more at www.MattYocum.com) can be quite busy, so I wanted to minimize the creative team and keep this comic moving.  My biggest hope, realized so far, has been to make each 22-page cumulative issue’s installments weekly with a month to month and a half between issues. 

I hope you’re enjoying the story so far.  You have Jake, Ignacio, and Chris to thank for the quality look of Devolution.  My hats off to them.  I’m always excited to see what they send next. 

The second installment of Devolution can now be found at www.ComicCritique.com. 

Devolution rising

Devolution is almost here.  It’s been a lot of work, but I think that within the next week or two (hopefully by Wednesday, 4 April, the same day new comics are released) we’ll see the birth of my first independent comic.  The creative team – Jake Bilbao on pencils, Ignacio Calero on inks, and Chris Studabaker on letters – has been fantastic.  The highly professional quality of the art will definitely come through.  In the next several weeks, I’ll take you through the formation of the creative team, how I found them, and how we’ve gone through the process of creating this series. 

 More to come.  Get ready for a fun ride. 

Devolution promo

Devolution now has a promo that can be seen at www.ComicCritique.com.  The owner and managing editor of ComicCritique.com, Louis Vitela, has given it some prime real estate on the site, the upper right hand corner.  Clicking on the Devolution link takes you to an image showing the title and a great character sketch by Jake Bilbao.  If you click on that, you dive further into the promo and see a great blurb on the story with another incredible image drawn by Jake Bilbao with an awesome gray scale inking effect done by Ignacio Calero.

 The entire team on this project offers quite the international effort.  Jake lives in the Philippines, Ignacio resides in Uruguay, the letterer, Brant Fowler, lives in the US, and you have me penning the story from Israel. 

 Jake and Ignacio truly blow me away.  They are both busy penciling away on some Marvel concepts I hope to present to the Marvel editor I worked with, John Barber.  They are turning in some truly fantastic pencils, and I hope Devolution gives them the exposure they both deserve.  I want them to get noticed, but I’m also sad to think that I could lose them on Devolution. 

But that’s what Devolution is about: getting our talents out there, growing ourselves artistically, and telling a great story as well as we are able.  I think it will end up doing just that.  Time will tell. 

 Matt

Devolution coming closer

It’s becoming a reality.  Devolution.  This is my ComicCritique.com project, and it’s getting ever closer to reality.  I now have a penciler, Jake Bilbao (you can see his pencils on his blog, http://jakebilbao.blogspot.com/), and an inker, Ignacio Calero.  Rounding out the team is letterer Brant Fowler, and that means the creative team is complete.  Step one is getting the character sketches and settings down, then on to the first installment.  Once that’s ready, we’ll begin posting. 

 Things are moving well, and I’m excited at the art each time it comes in.  I just have to make sure the writing holds up to the art these guys are producing.  It’s a good challenge to face. 

 More on the genesis of Devolution later.

ComicCritique.com comic

I’ve been working for some time on a comic book project that will ultimately be posted on the website www.ComicCritique.com.  Starting as an idea for a movie, migrating to the possibility as a novel, the story moved into the realm of comics when a couple online comics posted on ComicCritique.com finished their runs.  This left prime real estate on a site that’s now receiving well over 300,000 hits a month.  With the small step into Marvel Comics and my own established writing with ComicCritique.com, I thought this would be a prime opportunity to produce some of my own work, to hopefully build an audience, and to work on a project I’ve wanted to do for some time.

 The trick now is finding a creative team.  To minimize the complexity and to keep things on time, I want this project to be black and white (plus I think it suits the themes much better), thus eliminating the need for a colorist.  I’m also hoping to have the artist both pencil and ink their work, although it’s not a hard and fast requirement.  And I’ll handle the writing and editing chores, doing my best to keep it on schedule so readers can be assured they can rely on us. 

 The process so far has been both a learning experience and a lot of fun.  I’m using www.digitalwebbing.com as my main source of finding talent, which leads me to artist’s personal and blog sites where I can further explore their work and backgrounds.  And I posted an ad for a letterer, securing someone who works for a studio. 

The project is gaining momentum, and I can’t wait to begin getting into actual produced pages and posting them to the site.  More will come here on the process and the journey of creating “Devolution,” my first comic for ComicCritique.com