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Created by dltallan on Jun 4, 2008
Last updated: 10/29/10 at 08:04 PM
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Just so you know, I’m totally loving all the theories about what the yotz* Carl is not quite saying. It’s hard not giving away all my secrets! That’s mainly why I’ve been so silent lately in the comments, because I know the minute I start typing a response I’ll let slip out what’s really going on. I know some of you have a pretty good idea already, though….
And also, the new book by Lois McMaster Bujold, Cryoburn, is now in the house. I am going to go gleefully shut myself away with a big “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door until I have finished it. ^_^
*We finally started watching the Farscape DVDs we acquired last Xmas.
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-178/
Here’s a behind-the-scenes secret for all you dedicated online readers– the ones who only read the printed version or just skim the archives will never know– it’s at this point that I took the rest of my script for chapter six, tossed it out the figurative window, and rewrote the ending. I actually had a page and a half completely penciled, which I had to then abandon because of the rewrite. This is pretty unusual behaviour for me, especially given my slow drawing rate. Each page represents a significant amount of time, so I do my best not to end up in this situation. But I went and did it anyway! I’d been feeling unhappy for a variety of reasons about the final scene of this chapter, but I think my solution… works out pretty nicely.
Any difficulty figuring out who’s talking on this page?
I hope all you Canadians in the audience had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-177/
Non-spoiler alert: Jeff Nelson has not been turned into a zombie. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else at some point decides to go ahead and zombify him on my behalf. Isn’t there some sort of internet rule…? If it exists, a gruesome brain-eating zombie version will be made? Or maybe that’s just true in comics.
Also, in regards to recent comments, I officially declare that the guys will henceforth be known (at least, in the comments section) as the Rake People. *snicker!*
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-176/
Yay, Friday update!
Thank you all so much for all the birthday wishes! Being mid-week I didn’t get to do much to celebrate, but cake and ice cream were indeed had (alas, no cookies). Both were chocolate.
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-175/
I considered taking out the dialogue in the last panel, with the notion that Scavina’s expression probably says it all. I won’t change the page online, but I may change it for print. Any opinions?
Here’s some news you’ll like– I’m going back to the First Friday of the Month updates! Yay! Please come back on Friday for the next page.
Also, today is my birthday! Cake and ice cream will be served alongside Fusella’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies in the rec room on Deck Two.
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-174/
I love this gag. It’s the kind of thing that only works in comics.
In case you missed last week’s announcement, Galaxion is on the short list for two (two!) Friends of Lulu comic awards, and you can add your vote! Yay! From Valerie D’Orazio’s Occasional Superheroine blog post (where you can find a list of all the nominees): “The Lulu Awards recognizes the people and projects that helped to open eyes and minds to the amazing comic and cartooning work by and/or about women.” This year I’ve been nominated for a Lulu of the Year award, and Fusella is on the ballot for Best Female Character! I know, I know, Fusella will probably be insufferable if she wins, but she still deserves your vote! Go here to make your voice heard. Polls are open until September 27th.
Also, for any fellow artists out there, you may be interested in this week’s blog post about a few of my favourite new comic tools.
http://galaxioncomics.com/1-comic/book-2/chapter-6/title-173/
As you can see from the picture, what made the Baltimore Comic Con an especially awesome event for me was a) my Galaxion co-creator and best-friend-since-forever Wendy Linkous came out to join me (Wendy is on the left, I’m on the right), and b) she debuted the Galaxion uniform! This was a great treat for me as well, since previous to this day I’d only seen parts of the tunic in photos, never the whole thing. I wish I’d taken a full-length photo so you could appreciate the whole head-to-toe ensemble. It was pretty amazing.
Also debuting at this show were the new Galaxion banner (the sort of retractable thing that seems to be standard issue for comic cons these days) and (not in the picture, alas) the embroidered Galaxion tablecloth. I am all set for next con season!
BCC was larger than I expected, but also a large percentage of the floor space seemed to be devoted to creators. The dealers were there, but not nearly as overpoweringly so as other comic shows I’ve been to. I noticed the anime-quotient was way down in comparison to the other shows I’ve done in recent years– I expected to be able to pick up some cute stuffed something-or-others as gifts for Wendy’s kids, but very few dealers even had Mario items. Saturday was busy! I hardly got away from my table all day. Wendy and I, by the way, made a terrific team. She’s only been able to get to one other show with me as an exhibitor way back in the ’90s, but she picked up the whole patter and routine really quick, and made a bunch of sales I probably never would have gotten without her around. I wish I could fly her out to all my conventions!
I was happy to see Darc and Matt from Code Name: Hunter again, and a couple of good friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time were Steve Lieber (happily picked up his new book Underground) and Jimmy Gownley (my kids both love his Amelia Rules! books). Johanna Draper Carlson– another friend I haven’t seen in at least a decade– also stopped by, as well as a couple of long-time fans. It’s always a delight to see the smile on people’s faces when they see that Galaxion sign and realize that a comic they used to enjoy many years ago hasn’t disappeared forever after all!
One feature I want to mention about this show is, the convention hall staff were about the nicest I’ve ever met. The Comic Con staff were also very friendly and helpful (and also handed out snacks on Sunday when we needed them most! Can’t beat that!), but I don’t think I’ve ever been to a con at a major convention centre before where the hall’s own security were any higher on the customer service scale than just blandly doing their job. This was a most welcome change!
The BCC is located just a couple of blocks away from the Baltimore Inner Harbor, which was a nice touristy area with plenty for the kids to do after they’d had enough of the convention hall. Among the sights to see were several ships docked at the harbor for tours, including the WWII-era submarine USS Torsk, and the civil war-era sloop-of-war USS Constellation. I didn’t get to see tour these, but after the convention was over, I got the opportunity to see a much larger ship that had just pulled in to port– the USS Whidbey Island, a Dock Landing ship that is over 600 feet in length. I’ve toured Naval ships before, but this was the first one in active service I’ve ever been on. In fact, as the Lieutenant who was our tour guide led us around the ship– on to the bridge and various decks and so forth– I really worried we were getting in the way of people trying to do their job! It was all fascinating to me, though, to try to grasp what a different world life at sea is all about.
Next on our vacation was Washington DC. I’ve been there a couple times before, but there’s still so much to see– and of course it was all new to our kids. The most memorable part for me was the Smithsonian Natural History Museum’s jaw-dropping collection of rocks, minerals, and gems. I’ve never seen anything like it! I thought I knew some stuff about rocks, but still, I had no idea there was such diversity of shape and colour and texture. I could’ve spent a whole day just in that section. And of course I enjoyed imagining what Aria– the Galaxion’s resident geologist– would think of it all.
And finally, no trip to the Mall would be complete for a science fiction writer without a walk through the Air and Space museum. There’s a lot to marvel at here as well. I remembered seeing the original model of the USS Enterprise from the ’60s Star Trek on display here, and wondered where it went– I eventually found it in the basement section of the gift shop.
One thing I know for certain, I will have to go back– both to Washington DC and to the Baltimore Comic Con.
http://galaxioncomics.com/blog/baltimore-comic-con-report/
Well, this just goes to show… er, something. Probably that writers can be nasty, nasty people.
Heh heh heh.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=357
Here we go again…?
I hope all of you who are celebrating have a great Easter weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday for the shocking conclusion to this scene!! (Well… no, I suspect most of you won’t be shocked at all.)
(Oh, and in case you missed it, Darvin made a guest appearance yesterday. )
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=356
Well, it seems like Vessa agrees with some of your comments on the last two pages! I’ve really been enjoying reading all the thoughts you’ve shared– thank you.
I honestly don’t know how it happened so fast, but somehow we appear to be reaching the end of March already. The good news is, that means this Friday will be another First-Friday-of-the-Month bonus update! Please join us April 2nd to find out what else can possibly go wrong for our heroes.
Happy Passover to any and all who are celebrating!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=354
Holy cow, talk about a great debate! Last week’s page elicited a huge number of comments, and I really didn’t see it coming. If anything, this week’s page is only going to add fuel to that little fire…! Amusingly, I noticed an article had been posted last week on the blog Boing Boing about exploring the ethics of space science.
And now, I want to share my cool news that I mentioned previously– Galaxion has been nominated for a Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Webcomic! I’m still picking my jaw up off the floor. My fellow nominees (among them are Kate Beaton, Karl Kerschl, and Rene Engstrom) are a pretty amazing bunch, and I am honoured to be in their company. Winners will be announced June 5th, in conjunction with the Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event (no website yet) held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, June 5-6th. So it looks like I’m adding another show to my list of appearances this year!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=353
Interplanetary Patrol and Terran Space Administration seem to have slightly different philosophies.
You know, in 1993, when I first started drawing those notepads, it was cool futuristic technology. Times sure have changed. And while I’m on the topic of the gadgets… I was, naturally, a big fan of Babylon 5 when it was on the air. Imagine my surprise when, in the third season of the show, Marcus suddenly pulls out a Minbari Fighting Pike (at about 4:29 on the vid). Hey, isn’t that just like…? Well, the Contact Team’s tools are all about science instead of fighting, which makes them instantly more awesome.
I have a new title to add to the list of reader-recommended books, submitted by long-time fan and custom Lego minifig painter extraordinaire, Norbert Black. Thanks, Norbert! For easy reference I’m blowing the dust off my blog and putting the list up there. Feel free to mention any good books you’ve been reading recently that you want to tell us about!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=352
As proud as we are here at galaxioncomics.com to know that all you readers are fans of webcomics, we know that you crave other forms of entertainment as well. You need to curl up with a good novel (or even non-fiction!) now and again! (And then go back to reading the comics. That goes without saying.)
So to help you find something good to read, the Galaxion readership has come together to share their list of books they recommend. This list is constantly growing, so please contribute any good books you’ve read and think your fellow Galaxion fans would enjoy!
The Eye of the World (and subsequent books, including the most recent Gathering Storm) by Robert Jordan
Earth to Hell (part of the Dark Heavens series) by Kylie Chan
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Children of Chaos series by John C. Wright
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary ed. by Carol Serling
Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks (it’s been so long since I read these!)
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
Graceling and its sequel Fire by Kristin Cashore
Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman (begin with City of Masks)
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
Stardance by Spider and Jeanne Robinson
Commonwealth Saga (begin with Pandora’s Star) or Night’s Dawn Trilogy (begin with Reality Dysfunction) by Peter F. Hamilton
Jhereg by Steven Brust
Dresden Files (begin with Storm Front) or Codex Alera (begin with Furies of Calderon) by Jim Butcher
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Momo by Michael Ende
Sursis pour l’orchestre by Fania Fenelon (I think the English translation is titled Playing for Time?)
The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O’Neill
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (and also, his earlier Thursday Next series by Fforde– begin with The Eyre Affair)
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=351
Of course he’s not just dumping all the bits and pieces pell-mell into his knapsack. I’m sure it’s all going into a tidy little pouch or something that is hidden from view.
Now’s as good a time as any to start listing my planned convention schedule (so far)! I’ll be appearing at:
Penguicon in Troy, MI, April 30-May 2nd
TCAF in Toronto, ON, May 8-9th (admission: FREE!)
Kids Read Comics! in Dearborn, MI, June 12-13th (admission: FREE!)
Baltimore Comic Con in Baltimore, MD, Aug 28-29th
I hope to see you there!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=350
Well, it’s good to know that no matter how grim the situation is, you can still laugh about it.
See you back on Tuesday!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=349
Want to catch up fast? Start back at the beginning of the chapter.
What Zan is referring to can be summed up by this scene from Chapter One, though it’s probably safe to say that this is only the latest in a long series of similar complaints.
March began this week, and of course you know what that means– a First Friday of the Month update! Yes, I’m not even wimping out and posting filling art this time, it’ll be another actual page. Yay! So please come back on Friday, March 5th, to see what happens next.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=348
A very long time ago– at least in webcomic terms– we learned that Vessa is pretty good with languages. (That page comes from an early short story that begins here.)
It’s a minor thing, but for the curious: I realized as I was inking this page that although I’ve given last names for all the other bridge crew, this is the first time I’ve called Sera Ferradas by her last name. Her bridge station is the Galaxion’s scanner array, and she can be seen at her post on this page in the third panel. She’s also the same person that Assistant Chief Ewan Okalik (if you don’t remember him don’t worry about it, he hasn’t become important yet) was mentioning to Fusella. She also had a small part in a later scene, and bonus points to anyone who can spot it!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=347
Wondering what’s going on? Hey, I don’t blame you! For a quick fix you can jump to the first page of this chapter, or if you’re feeling adventuresome you can start properly right at the beginning.
First off, many thanks to those who came by on Valentine’s Day to wish Fusella a Happy Birthday! She was in my thoughts, but alas, my available time did not permit any artistic celebrations. Poor Fusella. But in honour of her special day I can link to her Retrospective I posted a couple years ago. Some of you newer readers may not yet have discovered it, since it’s hidden away in the Extras page.
Also, I have a new book to add to the list of reader-recommended books! I just finished Jasper Fforde’s latest novel, Shades of Grey. I was a big fan of his Thursday Next series (go read The Eyre Affair if you don’t know what I mean!), so I was really looking forward to this one. For me, it felt a lot like reading a good mystery book; but instead of the standard mystery in which you try to puzzle out who committed the murder, you get to collect the clues to figure out what the peculiar Chromatic world Fforde has created is all about. I was hooked from page one. Awesome!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=346
Wondering what’s going on? Hey, I don’t blame you! For a quick fix you can jump to the first page of this chapter, or if you’re feeling completist you can start properly right at the beginning.
Er…yikes? Thank goodness we only have to wait until Tuesday for the next page!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=344
Hey, if you’re new to Galaxion or haven’t dropped in for a little while, why not start at the beginning of the chapter?
This is a pretty tense place to leave our heroes for a whole week, isn’t it? However! This week contains the First Friday of the Month, in which I traditionally post some bonus content, but I decided I don’t want to leave you all hanging. So please come back on Friday, Feb 5th, to see what happens next!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=343
While there are lots of good reasons why Scavina should have stayed up on the ship (as discussed here and here), lack of experience isn’t one of them. Difficult as it may be for certain Survey Contact Team veterans to imagine.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=342
Thanks to everyone’s suggestions last week of recommended books! By request, here is a recap with all the suggestions in one place:
The Eye of the World (and subsequent books, including the most recent Gathering Storm) by Robert Jordan
Earth to Hell (part of the Dark Heavens series) by Kylie Chan
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Children of Chaos series by John C. Wright
The Magicians by Lev Grossman (I’ve been in a holds queue for this book at my library since September!)
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (I read this several years ago and it was great)
Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary ed. by Carol Serling
Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (just finished reading this. I wouldn’t have thought I’d like it, since at the start it seems to be like a horrible version of Survivor and I hate reality TV, but this book was great!)
Sword of Shannara series by Terry Brooks (it’s been so long since I read these!)
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
I’ve got most of the above titles which I’ve never read before now on hold at my library, and I guess I just have to hope they’ll trickle in slowly instead of all arriving in a great lump like what happened last week. Oh, but on that note, allow me to add to the list of recommended books Graceling by Kristin Cashore. It’s a YA fantasy about a warrior girl who is “graced” with an extraordinary ability to fight, and her struggle to understand her power and herself. I’d put it in the “pretty good” category as opposed to the “great!” category, but I include it because it was still an enjoyable page-turner.
If you’ve got more you’d like to contribute, please keep ‘em coming!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=341
New to Galaxion? Want to catch up without having to wade through the whole archive? Start reading at Chapter Four and you’ll know what’s going on!
OK, last week I recommended a couple of books. Now it’s your turn! Have you read anything really good recently?
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=340
Chapter Five! At last! (Although as I look at this page now I realize I failed to actually put the words “Chapter Five” on it… oh well, that’s yet another minor edit that can be corrected in the print version…) I’m excited to be here. We’re not quite breaking new ground yet (for those of you who read the earlier version from, oh my gosh I can’t just say “last decade” anymore, can I???), but we’re getting closer.
The holidays are officially over now, and I’m doing my best to move back into the familiar routine. I got a Kindle for Christmas and I spent a lot of my holiday time delighting in reading books on it. There’s a lot of stuff available for free out there, and I dove right in! So for anyone looking for some books to read, I can offer up for recommendation Resonance by Chris Dolley (out of print? Oh dear. Well, check used book stores, check your local library, or you can read it/download it at the Baen Free Library), a real page-turner of a sci-fi story, and for something completely different, Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson, which is an entertaining and funny YA novel, something along the lines of The Princess Diaries but without the princess part (I hope I didn’t just make it sound completely lame there, but really, it’s a great read!). And now I’m having to adjust back to paper (ha!) as I settle into the book that was actually my husband’s Christmas present, Unseen Academicals! (Don’t worry, I let him read it first. ) There’s little in the book world I look forward to as much as a new Terry Pratchett (except a new Vorkosigan book (Cryoburn! October 2010!)).
Also, if you missed the New Year’s post, be sure to check it out. Speaking of reading.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=339
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s a new year, a new decade, and all kinds of things to look forward to! But I thought I might spend some time looking back, at things that might have been. The Galaxion that never was. Or, I suppose, one of many Galaxions that never were. Somewhere out there in all the parallel worlds, all the different versions of Galaxion I started and dropped over the years actually got picked up and run with. And isn’t that a very appropriate (if somewhat startling to me personally) view of a science fiction story. This particular version that I present today is the first two chapters of a Galaxion novel.
You can download and read the pdf file. (It’s not very long, it clocks in at only 20 pages.)
Some of you may recall that I made an earlier version of Galaxion throughout the ’90s, and then stopped making comics altogether for six years before finally relaunching it as a webcomic. Well, there was a period of time around 2003 when I fiddled around with remaking Galaxion as a novel. For me, this was returning to my roots– my original plan, back when I was a young teen, was to become a novelist. Somewhere along the way I got diverted into comics and have never looked back… that is, except for this one time. In 2003 I was at loose ends, with my son old enough for me to feel like I could finally get back to normal. I was starting to itch to get back to being creative again, but I didn’t quite know what to do. At the time, going back to making comics (I hadn’t yet learned much about webcomics, I was still thinking in “floppy” terms) seemed like a bigger effort than I was ready to handle. But I figured I could grab enough time in a day to sit down and write, so I started forming in my brain the framework for a novel.
What’s particularly interesting about this era of Galaxion is, this is when the webcomic relaunch really began. I spent a lot of time thinking about my old comic and all the things I wanted to change or improve, and worked it in. Aria’s background as a colonist began to evolve, and from there sprang a whole host of new ideas.
I got sidetracked from all this again at the end of 2003 when my daughter was born, and by the time I was ready to get back to work I realized that although the novel had been fun, it was the comic experience that I really missed. I used all my notes from the work I’d done on the novel, tweaked it a final time, and began producing the webcomic in 2006.
I still wonder what might have happened if I kept on with the novel instead on going back to the comic. There’s stuff in it I like, and stuff I don’t. The first chapter certainly resembles the webcomic version of Fusella’s storming the Galaxion in Chapter One that it would later become, but the second chapter– enjoyable though it was to write– never made the cut for the webcomic.
I have many Roads Not Traveled in my years of doing Galaxion, ideas not used and character concepts put aside in favour of others. This is one of them. Enjoy! And we’ll see you again on Tuesday, Jan 5th, as we continue down the Road Chosen, and launch into Chapter Five!
(The illustration, by the way, has no particular association with the novel. It’s just another version of the “characters by the big round window” that I like doing so much.)
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=338
We have reached the end of Chapter Four! Hooray! I’m pleased that we get to start the new year with a new chapter. The action is about to pick up!
Remember I mentioned that I would be a guest on The Webcomic Beacon? Well, that episode is now up and ready for listening or downloading. We end up talking a lot about Star Trek, especially the original series. Y’know, there was a time when I had every episode memorized, but it’s been so long since I’ve watched any of them, even in reruns. I may have to look into purchasing the remastered editions….
And please come back January 1st for a special New Year’s (and First-Friday-of-the-Month) bonus!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=337
Wow, ten panels on one page! That’s rare for me– I usually average around 5 or 6, I guess? But to be honest (this being the time of year when we are all more prone to honesty and other positive traits), the main reason this page is so compressed is I almost blew it– I’d already drawn about half of it before I remembered that I’d made some changes to a later part of the script that weren’t reflected on the part of the script I was working from. I had to dash out some quick-and-dirty editing to make it all fit right. I think– I hope– it works. (See, now, if you were just reading the graphic novel you probably wouldn’t even have noticed a thing. That’s the kind of behind-the-scenes information you’re only going to get in the webcomic! So there’s one reason to put up with this page-a-week stuff. )
For those who might be wondering, I don’t think I’m going to get anything special posted on Christmas Day, as I have in past years, but instead I’ll get something ready for New Year’s Day, which will of course be the First Friday of the Month in addition to being the First Day of the Year. Next Tuesday will have a regular update as usual. In any case, I hope everyone who is celebrating at this time of year has a great holiday!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=336
Yay! Sunlight! No more goggles! *dances around chair in celebration*
I’ve gotten so used to doing grey tones, though, I could probably continue on doing them for small areas of contrast and shadow (like the way I’ve done on this page, in the areas outside the airlock). What do you think? Do you prefer the stark black and white, or are the greys worth keeping?
Also, in case you missed it, I posted a sample script, with commentary, last Friday. It’s kind of an interesting look at one part of my creative process!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=334
Welcome to our special First-Friday-of-the-Month feature! (If you’re looking for the webcomic, please check out the most recent update. The next regular page will go up as per the usual schedule, on Tuesday.)
This past Tuesday I asked you all which sort of behind the scenes work you’d like to see, and after carefully counting both votes I realized we had a tie between a script and pencil drafts! (Okay, I’m kidding, there were actually three votes, but I will save the Christmas-y stuff, if I find any, until closer to the holiday.) I broke the tie by deciding to pick for today the one that was voted for first– the script– and post some pencil drafts next time.
So! I am pleased to present my script from Chapter One. This script goes on for eleven pages in total. If you’re the sort of person who enjoys the minutiae of webcomic process, you’ll find a lot of it here– you’ll see all my scribbles in the margins (there’s a lot more on later pages), crossed out bits, and various notes to myself. You may even find a small spoiler or two in the text.
It would have been nicer if I’d thought to put a title (”Chapter ONE!”) at the top of the page, but I guess I didn’t think it was necessary, since I’m only writing these scripts for me. As you can see, I don’t bother with any sort of formal script structure. That’s the advantage of being the artist as well as the author– I don’t have to spend time making it look presentable!
Because this is a multi-page update, we’ve had to loop things around a little in the archive. Please click here to get to the next page!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=323
Here I see I ended up pitching the last little bit of script and attempted to substitute something slightly less drippy. But only slightly.
Hey, good for you, you made it all the way to the end! I hope you’ve enjoyed this little presentation and explanation of how I write Galaxion. Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=333
Sad to say, I’ve managed to misplace my original scribbled-on copies of the last two pages of script, so what I’ve substituted are fresh printouts from the file. Not quite as satisfying, but probably better than leaving you hanging in the middle of the chapter.
Ah, I see I switched back to writing out full names again.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=332
There’s nothing I enjoy writing more than the friendly banter between old friends, especially when those friends are Darvin and Fusella. It’s like a guilty pleasure. I really need to find an excuse to include more of it.
In another case of the art taking over from the writing, page 19 up at the top there featured a panel that was one of those off-the-cuff, deviate-from-the-script moments. The alternate version can still be seen at my old forum. You’ll have to buy the book to see which version ended up in print.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=330
The thing about story “beats” is, they come in varying lengths. Sometimes I have to really tighten up the dialogue to make it all fit on a page. Other times I want to expand the moment to fill the page, as was the case on page 17.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=329
I think I started out with the plan of working out all my little thumbnails on separate pieces of paper, but eventually I got lazy and just started scribbling them into the margins. Mainly what I’m doing here is deciding on the general layout of the page, how many panels for the amount of dialogue and where to place them. For instance, the set of empty boxes on the bottom right became this page. Hm, I see I ignored that little note to myself to have Darvin indicate someone to be left in charge. Sometimes you just run out of room.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=327
Oh, did I say before there would be no more flashbacks? I was wrong. This is the last. And now we arrive back ’round where we came in, way back at the start of the chapter.
Hey, how did it get to be December already? That makes this Friday the old First Friday of the Month update. Man, guys, I’m gonna have to give my apologies and duck out of that one. Again. I’m really trying to build back up a proper buffer, but a week of dealing with stomach flu sailing through the family has set me back. Again. Sigh. I’ll be sure to post something interesting, though, so please do stop by. Hmmm… something from the archives (the portfolio one, not the webcomic one), I suppose? Scripts, early Galaxion drawings, pencil drafts for pages… any requests?
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=322
This page reminds me that it’s been an awfully long time since we’ve seen Fusella, Darvin, and everyone else still patiently waiting aboard the Galaxion. At the moment my plans don’t include any scenes aboard ship for quite awhile, but Fusella– delightfully tenacious person that she is– may yet find a way to sneak herself back into the storyline (as more than just a crackly disembodied voice, at any rate).
Here in Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving last month, but since I know a lot of you reading this are living in the States, I will take the opportunity to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=321
Hey everybody, last week I was a guest on the TGT Webcomics podcast! It’s a long one, clocking in at somewhere over two hours, but if you’re the sort of person that likes audio entertainment while you work, more is better, right? One of the traditions of the show is the host, Kurt, asking their webcomic guest of the week for a spoiler. So be warned, there is a small spoiler near the end!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=320
This is one of those weeks when I don’t have enough brain power left over to write something important (and I’m sure there are at least two things I should announce but I keep forgetting about). In fact, the only thing I can say with certainty is I will throw a big celebration when these guys finally get out of the dark and I can leave off doing all these grey tones and why on Earth did I ever think it was a good idea to make them wear those stupid infrared goggles. (Confession time: the only reason I have Zan using a little flashlight here is because I couldn’t stand it any longer not being able to draw their eyes!)
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=319
Apologies for posting this a few hours late, but better late than never!
No costumes this time, but we got your ghosts and rats…. The original plan had been for something more along the lines of a pin-up, and then I started thinking about the possibilities of a gag strip, and then this evolved. Needless to say, by the time I had settled on doing a full page, I realized I’d never have enough time to ink it properly. So please enjoy my rough and skritchy penciling! Maybe I’ll have it inked in time for next Halloween.
(By the way, if you came looking for the most recent page in the ongoing story, you can find it here. See you Tuesday for the next one!)
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=317
This will be the last flashback of the chapter, I promise! Also, if you drop by the site on Saturday, Oct 31st, there might just be a little something here to celebrate Halloween… nothing fancy, mind, but I can’t just let the occasion slip away without doing something fun!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=316
In case you missed it: I am one of the guests on the most recent Girlamatic podcast! A whole bunch of my favourite Girlamatic artists and writers came to participate, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to chat with them.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=315
Quick notes for the page-a-week-impaired (and I certainly sympathize with you): if you go back and read this page, Aria’s exasperated comment will make more sense.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=314
If you would like, you can read this flashback from the beginning of the sequence. Or, if you’re really lost, you might like to start at the beginning of the chapter (a 24-page commitment).
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=313
Hey everyone, it’s First Friday of the Month, and while I don’t have a bonus page for you, I do have some bonus art! It occurred to me that I haven’t yet shown what the Survey Contact Team uniforms look like in colour– contrary to popular belief, they are not actually black! So here is Aria with her extendable probe and Notepad, both useful tools on surveys.
If you’re looking for the most recent comic page, you can find it here.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=312
The General’s daughter. If you missed it, this flashback begins one page back.
Word on the Street turned out to be– despite the gloomy weather forecasts– a really great day! It was super busy and I met a lot of wonderful people, including my co-panelists Jim Munroe and Shannon Gerard, who are collaborating on the graphic novel Sword of My Mouth. We chatted in front of an audience about the challenges of doing comics and raising kids, and it’s so very comforting to be reminded that there are other people going through the same challenges you are! When you spend all of your free time drawing comics in your basement, it can be easy to forget that….
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=311
…Aaaand we’re into another flashback. If you like, you can read the last three pages in a row (starting here), and it will flow more smoothly. As you may recall from that handy Galaxion Timeline, Scavina’s memories which we’re seeing here (and also here and here) happened about eleven years previously.
Reminder: if you’re in the Toronto area, please come to visit me at Word on the Street, this Sunday, September 27th! It’s a great big free festival celebrating books of all sorts, for all ages. Find me here! Did I mention that it’s free?
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=310
Hey everybody! Quick announcement– my last scheduled show of 2009 will be Word on the Street, in Toronto, Sunday, Sept. 27th. I’ll be at table FB3, which you can find with the aid of this handy map. WOTS is a book/literary festival, but comics are definitely part of the program, with a Comics & Graphic Novels Tent featuring a series of discussion panels. I’ll be speaking at the panel from 12:00-1:00pm, “Creating Comics and Raising a Family: Finding Balance.” I’ve sure got a lot I can say on that topic!
Also, if you would like a bit of a reminder of who “J. Nelson” is, allow me to direct you to an earlier flashback.
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=309
Yay! Welcome back to everyone who has been patiently waiting for new Galaxion pages! I hope you enjoyed our summer feature, Real Magic.
Some quick notes: For those who need to catch up on recent story events, I’d suggest to start reading at the beginning of Chapter Four. The time that Zan is talking about– when the Galaxion was in drydock– was touched on waaaay back in Chapter One, wherein Zan demonstrates he’s really rather bad at leaving well enough alone. Particularly when you consider that he’s not even an engineer, professionally speaking.
Also, please join us in wishing Galaxion a Happy 3rd Birthday! It was 4th September 2006 when the Galaxion webcomic launched on Girlamatic. Thank you to all who have come by to read it over the years. Lack of spare time and a crummy internet connection have prevented me from having ready the extra stuff I wanted to post in celebration, but I do have a brand-new and clickable Galaxion Timeline which you can check out. *throws confetti* Hooray!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=306
Hey, everybody! New pages begin next week, but in the meantime I thought you might enjoy seeing this one-pager I did for Comic Festival!, a comic that was handed out for Free Comic Book Day this past May. This page has the distinction of being the only full Galaxion comic page I’ve ever coloured! It was actually the second draft of my entry for that comic– the first one, which I rejected as not meeting the criteria of being “appealing to kids”, ended up as bonus material in the Galaxion graphic novel.
Aria, by the way, has several brothers and sisters, but it was just the one that she particularly wanted to get away from.
(Also, new blog post today! Scroll down a bit to read it…)
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=304
I went to Fan Expo here in Toronto and had a great time! Thank you so much to everyone who bought a book (or a comic, or a button, or a post-it pad), or who just picked up a flyer and checked out the comic online. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time chatting with some wonderful people. I can’t begin to tell you what was a lovely change it was from my day-to-day life here in the burbs to be able to have conversations about super geeky things like Doctor Who and Star Blazers and the comic creative process, and not be looked at like I’m some sort of weirdo! Well, yes, I am a weirdo, but when you’re in good company with other weirdoes it’s suddenly a marvelous thing to be.
It’s been awhile since I’ve attended any of the major mainstream comic conventions. I did come to Fan Expo in 2007, but my webcomic was barely a year old and I didn’t have the new book to sell. Also, I had been set up in Artist’s Alley, which in Fan Expo terms means a half-table space somewhere along the back wall. I grant you, this is also where some of the famous names in comicdom also sit, but I didn’t feel as though it was a very nice location, if your goal is to sell stuff and meet new fans. So this year I forked over the money for a full table in the Small Press area, which had seemed to me to get better through-traffic.
Now, the strange thing about the Small Press area is, the actual comics there are far outnumbered by the fan-art prints, cosplay accessories, and other handmade items. This is a stark change from what I used to see ten years ago, when the Small Press area was full of self-publishers like myself. Perhaps this is because Fan Expo is trying to be an All-Things-To-All-People kind of show, with areas for horror, gaming, and anime in addition to the comics, and the Small Press area is the catch-all section for all the artists of all the different mediums. But as I said, I haven’t been to any of the other big comic shows lately, so I don’t know if this trend is just a Toronto thing or if it’s an industry-wide thing. I know the number of independent comic creators out there hasn’t gone down—the amount of amazing independent artists who came to TCAF was a pretty good indication of that. Not to mention all the great webcomics being made (I’ve listed a of a few of my favourites on my links page)! Of course there are plenty of webcomics that have frustratingly erratic schedules or come to a sudden stop within a few months, but that was how it was with minicomics and self-published comics in the ‘90s, so no change there. Maybe there is a larger proportion of webcomickers who either aren’t interested in print at all, or else believe they can better serve their fans by selling their merchandise entirely through online stores, and skipping the expense of buying tables at conventions. And I suppose another barrier is the move towards making graphic novels (or book-sized collections, for strip comics) rather than the old “floppy” comic. A 100-200 page book represents a year-or-two’s worth of effort, rather than the month-or-two’s worth needed for a 24-page issue. So I guess in print terms we’re losing a lot of those start-ups that never make it to their first year.
For myself, I wondered if I belonged in a big media show like Fan Expo, where so much of the focus is on the movie stars like Leonard Nimoy and Bruce Campbell, and when comics are mentioned at all it’s only in terms of the Hollywood-supported superheroes. But you know what? Despite the fact that probably less than 1 percent of the attendees were willing to give my table a second glance, that was enough to make the weekend worthwhile. Same was true for my pal Jay Marcy —he does an autobiographical comic, very different from mine and not at all genre-ish, but he told me he had record sales this weekend (Go Jay!). So do we self-publishers still belong at these big shows? Yeah, I think so. I wonder if, as the desire to “monetize” webcomics grows, we’ll start seeing more of us in the Small Press areas of Fan Expo again?
I’m pleased to report that I sold a lot of books this weekend, and between this show and the upcoming Word on the Street, I expect to need to make a second print run before next year. The next edition will likely feature different cover art, and while we’re about it we’ll fix some of the small interior things that are bugging us, so if you have a burning desire to own the original edition of Galaxion Book 1: The Jump, you should probably order it soon!
Finally, though I didn’t manage to take any photos this weekend, plenty of other people did. Here is a video interview in which we talk about my Star Blazers influences, and in this photo gallery on the CBC website (it’s the 24th one in the set), you can see me hard at work on the next page!
http://galaxioncomics.com/?p=305
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