Section from Confirmation: Application of research

Below you will find a snippet of the examples I gave in my Doctorate confirmation presentation of the application of basic panel layout through researched artist's works. The first example is from 'Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos", penciled by Jack Kirby and inks by Dick Ayers.

The irony is that in my example of the panel layout (from 'The Soldier Legacy #2') was not intentional, but I came across the page and realized that through reading piles of 60's reprints I naturally gravitated towards these layouts in my attempts at storytelling. Basically, those larger panels are great for establishing shots.

Same goes for this example from the original 'X-men' series penciled by Jack Kirby and inks from Chic Stone. The larger panel establishes the scene, and the proceeding smaller panels delve into closer aspects within the scene.

Well, that's enough out of me tonight. Very tired from work. I actually had my Doctorate confirmation yesterday, extremely nerve-wracking, but was very grateful of the help my supervisor Andi Spark gave me before and after, and for the support and feedback from my other supervisor Paul Cleveland. External examiner Daren White was a nice surprise, (writer of "The Playwright", illustrated by Eddie Campbell, writer on such works as 'Batman', Legends of the Dark Knight', Jason Paulos's 'EEEK!' and a ton of other books I will be getting my hands on one day.) it was great meeting him and his feedback and support was very uplifting for this battlin' aspiring penciler . Overall, it was very positive and apparently it went over well despite the fact I was basically talking comics the fine artists for nearly an hour. Sorry all ;P

Anyways, it has reinforced in my mind that if I can't crack the industry, I would love to lecture at a university level. Time and fate will tell.

The Incredible Koala in Solider Legacy # 2

Here is the Pin up for my Jack Kirby-inspired Hulk parody "The Incredible Koala" which featured in an ad for Brisbane's Comics etc. (www.comicsetc.com.au) in issue 2 of "The Soldier Legacy". Got a big Kick out of drawing this character again after doing the animated version for the Sydney Opera house's GRAPHIC Animatic Competition last year. Thinking once the first Soldier story arc is over, I would love to do a back up feature with the 'origin' of this little guy in comic form. I've gotten as far as thumb nailed the first few pages, but that was it. One day... *shrug. Keen eyes (or those that care) might notice that the 'Mason' logo featuring on the front of Soldier Legacy #2 has the Koala head ala the MGM lion. Yeah, no point really. That's all :P

Anyways, gotta run. If you want to see all that nonsense from last year, you can go here : http://incrediblekoala.blogspot.com/ and I should get around to uploading the 2 part animation I did for it soon. (and maybe complete part 3).

My issue 2 page tributes to 'Kick-Ass' colours

Page from #2 by me.

I have had the privalege recently of chatting on twitter to one of my all time favourite colourists in comics, Dean White. This man has this great painted colouring style that hasn't got me this excited over a colourist since John Higgins. And even then, as primarily considering myself a Penciler, I have never been one to look outside the pencilers and certain inkers that have inspired me over the years (and still do), be it their visual style or storytelling methods. See, I liked John's work on WATCHMEN, and got a chance to meet him in person and show him my work on the early pages of issue 1 after his lecture at my uni. He made me realise to not be afraid of using a broad range of colours, or be scared of colouring in general, but to understand colours and how they work in the context of the project.

'Fantastic Four" #1 painted cover by Dean White. Drawn by Jack Kirby 1961.

I was first introduced to Dean White's colours through his work on John Romita Jr's/Klaus Janson's work on books such as BLACK PANTHER, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, DARK REIGN: PUNISHER and the recent AVENGERS run, but also as a huge 60's Marvel fan (as you guys already know thru my archived posts), I noticed and really enjoy his extremely faithful/beautiful colouring/painted works of Kirby/Ditko/Buscema's classic covers on the front of MARVEL MASTERWORKS.

'Kick-Ass' Cover by John Romita Jr, Tom Palmer and Dean White.

He also worked on John Romita Jr/Mark Millar's 'Kick-Ass', an awesome and clever satire/superhero book which I discovered AFTER I becgan working on the masked young grandson of 'The Soldier' ...damn. I'm always worried mine comes off as a copy, as I was inspired by the realism with the vigilante street-based heroes in Steve Ditko's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and Wally Wood's DAREDEVIL. After reading 'Kick -Ass' there are many differences (thank god) , such as being set in two different countries, different settings, and the motivations/driving force behind the character's motives. For example: Dave in Kick-Ass is a teen who wants to be a superhero (loves the idea), dresses in the garishly bright costume, doesn't know how to fight or what he's getting into until later and goes through the ringer. Awesome stuff, great drama as I guess you never want your character to cruise through a story safe and confortable Mark Millar always pushes his characters to the brink (don't believe me? Read WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN, THE ULTIMATES series 1 and 2, WOLVERINE: ENEMY OF THE STATE or CIVIL WAR, and tell me they all had a good time ;P).

Page from #2 by Me.

When I wrote in the grandson story in the modern Brisbane/Australian Suburban setting, (not knowing anything about Kick-Ass), I made the character approach the vigilante idea more practically. A young man, not a soldier himself, but someone who's obviously honour bound somehow (delveloped in his upbringing) to make some sort of difference in the lives of even total strangers (more on this in later issues if I'm smart enough to pull it off :P) His grandfather wore a mask to 'keep lives safe' in WW2. His local neighborhood wasn't that safe anymore. He wanted to honour his Grandfather's legacy, but only engages conflict when absolutely necessary. (Such as attempting to save the unarmed woman in #2) He wears street friendly clothing- dark colours so not to be seen (thanks Batman ;) ) and could easily strip off the mask and zip up the jumper jacket if need be. Also, as later issues will show more in depth (*Spoiler*...well, not really), he is a trained martial artist. Not in the mystical manner, but an Aussie kid who grew up studying and training and continues to do so in his young adult years. But even then, realises he's not exactly Bruce Lee, so relies on surprise-not announcing he's a hero ready to save the day. Sure he does some fantastical stuff like that flying side-piercing kick you see above, but you have to embellish a little in comics, right? But all this isn't to say that this guy won't be put through the ringer too. If you've read the 2nd issue, a simple task of neighbourhood watching becomes a huge problem for him which will begin to snowball rather quickly when #3 comes along.

Page from #2 by me.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. The whole point of this to touch briefly on the visual approach I took, and it was Dean White's colouring that inspired me in scenes for #2, which I have posted here. Not that I got close to his application, but I do hope the influence can be seen.

Yes, that was the point to all that rambling.

At the end of the day, I am researching medothologies of various artists for my course, be it in storytelling visually, story writing methods/structure, penciling, poses, camera selection, composition and colour. I have no illusions: colouring isn't my forte' and it is difficult for a guy that just wants to draw pencils, but I believe a competent understanding of each mode of production is necessary to put out a product in the Aussie climate battling against a small industry structure/existence, small Aussie readership (in comparison to overseas) and superior American products from my favourite juggernauts.

Thanks for listening, check out more of Dean White's wonderful colouring here: http://deanwhite.deviantart.com/ . Take care all, more from me later as I start to put up some of my research for my degree.

(All pages in post copyright their respected copyright holders.)

To UJ With Love #003: Paul Mason

The terrific people of Ultima-Java did a little video of me at the fantastic Supanova convention in Brisbane this year. I apologise in advance for the hoarse throat (talked waaaay too much that weekend) and the rambling (you can tell we really rehearsed this, yeah? ;P)

You can see it on their website here: http://www.ultima-java.com/?p=1134 and while you're there check out the other videos and web comics. They previously did a video with Cameron Davis and the talented Greg Capullo, with my friend Jan Scherpenhuizen next week.

Thanks guys, more updates shortly. Been busy with some illustration work and catching thieves as usual. Soldier Legacy # 3 is just about finished in terms of pencils so previews to come, watch this space :)

Remember the Fallen Heroes 25-4-2011

Me with 'The Soldier Legacy' at Melbourne Supanova 2011

It was great meeting and talking to fans about the series, whether they are a comic reader or Ex/Current service armed forces member. Thank you for supporting a local comic :D Also thank you to those who liked the 'Tides of Hope' page I contributed, the feedback was very nice, and I has happy to sign copies, and talk briefly about it to those that came along to Chris Sequeira's talk on Friday night. Met some great people and I hope you keep looking back for updates. If you're new to the series, scroll down to the 'Newcomer' post or copy and paste the link in the blog heading to get a quick insight into what the series is about and where I'm coming from.

Gotta run, snowed under, talk later :D

Paul

Oh, did I mention Richard Norton liked the comic?! He has both issues and was nice enough to ask me to sign them :D Very cool. From one Aussie Action hero to another (Not me, the Soldier :D)
Me and Captain Boomerang :)

Me and Aussie Comic great Stewart McKenny

Me with Uncanny X-Men writer/Creator Chris Claremont and Spawn/Haunt/Creech artist and great guy Greg Capullo.

Melbourne Supanova 2011 Convention Sketches. Enjoy!

Update for Newcomers: 'The Soldier Legacy' and research

(Above) 'Tides of Hope' page contribution.

You know, I just realized that the past handful of blog posts have been about various convention attendance, sketches and thank yous, which I feel are important. BUT, it's been a while since I've attempted to document my workings through the Solider Legacy comic series, sharing my methodology (more for my research requirements) and discuss my research paper for my Doctorate.

I guess it's because my day job monopolizes most of my time, and then I try not to sit on the internet and waste time that could be spent writing, pencil, colouring or any over the other pile of things I have to get through. But, having said that, since I'm almost sold out of my second run of #1's and the first run of #2's, I figure someone may get bored enough one day to check on this blog just to see where all the concepts for this Aussie hero/action series came from.

Well, the Archive section (2009) is the best place to see the idea grow from a few notes for the final step when #1 was completed. It was first exposed to the public as a small print run comic book at the one day Sydney Armageddon show at Town Hall, followed by it's much larger launch at Brisbane Supanova 2010 where I virtually almost sold the lot. Various projects and freelance work initially slowed the production of the 2nd issue (plus full time work beginning slowly after Brisbane '10), until I completed it at the end of 2010 and printed up in January. It was around this time that # 1 hit COMICS ETC. in Brisbane, where they sold surprisingly well alongside Spawn, Spider-man and Superman on the monthly comic wall. (#2 is currently in store of those who missed getting a copy over the weekend, I believe there are a couple left.)

So I'm just going to take a moment to free flow type a bit of what I was mentioning to various people over the Brisbane Supanova weekend in order to give a little insight in what I'm doing.

Basically, the whole series is a work-in-progress, or more so a studio output based on the research found from my Doctorate work, which is exploring various American superhero comic book writers/artists methodologies and how these books tell a story visually and the representation of the 'hero' in their books. I believe that despite the limited Australian comic market and it's size and form compared to the American comic market, a local comic book can sell provided that the production of the book, and the visual and story content is engaging/entertaining for the viewer and speaks in the familiar 'language' that the comic book/reading audience is familiar with i.e.: the 3-act structure of film and current script/drama writing (I say 'current', but we all know the path of the traditional 'hero's journey' has followed this formula for hundreds of years).

So I figure, study the successful graphic novels, look at what the prominent and praised writers and artists are doing, and try to take that concept across to the concept of what an AUSTRALIAN HERO would be. Let's face it, in Pop culture or folk history, we have few heroes- but look at NED KELLY and MAD MAX- Outlaws, strong iconograpy (the helmet, the outfits). Hell, Max's 'origin' is almost a Frank Castle revamp (the 2004 Punisher film even stole the family death scene from Mad Max 1 shot for shot- the director even admitted it!). In our culture, the ANZACs and DIGGERS are a powerful metaphor for the Aussie spirit that never gives up, who is the underdog, who digs in and fights hard, but above all looks after his mates. As Superheroes strongly reflex American socio-economic and political history, and grew out of the Great Depression/WW2 era, it was only natural that I gravitated towards this period for an Aussie Digger as the protagonist of the series. Plus, as a Huuuuge Jack Kirby fan, his first success being 'Captain America' (with Joe Simon in 1940) and Stan Lee's first scripting gig on the early books (#5 comic script, short story issue #3), AND the both of them reviving Cap in the 1960's, and their awesome action/war series 'SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS', I wanted to emulate the feeling of these books and not get too preachy in the content of the books (I'm just not that good of a writer and feel like I'd insult the intelligence of current serving armed forces members who have had the experience over me.)

The young hero (grandson of the Solider) comes from my love of Steve Ditko's early AMAZING SPIDER-MAN stories where the hero is this vulnerable young guy trying to make sense of his new role as a vigilante. That and the early Bill Everett/Joe Orlando/Wally Wood DAREDEVIL's had that vigilante/street appeal to me, and along with a nod to Lee Falk's THE PHANTOM, I wanted a linage of the Soldier's deeds to the current story (hence the 'LEGACY'). The Brisbane Suburban setting seemed like a gimme to me as it was different from the usual 'hero in city', and I live in one and know from reading the local papers just how crazy it can be in certain parts at night.

Plus, I figure at the end of the day, if a young kid reading the comic decides to Google '9th Division A.I.F', Sattleberg, New Guinea 1942/43, Owen gun, Kokoda even...they may learn something about their own history they didn't realise.

Or Google 'Jack Kirby' for his astounding contribution to all the characters they watch in the morning before school (and realize it wasn't just Stan Lee solo :) ).

I hope this little free-form post answers the basics of where I'm coming from with this comic series. I will slowly begin putting up some pencil pages from the current #3 work-in-progress, and notes for my confirmation research if anyone is still awake after reading all this and is vaguely interested.

See you later internet :D

Paul.

Brisbane Supanova recap 2: Marvel Cosplay!

Now I'm not one to dress up, but I love seeing what others have achieved in cosplay. Case in point: Fans of my artwork and 'Soldier Legacy' comic series (and now friends) decked themselves out ala one of my all-time favourites: Spider-man! Oh, and Dave (My very first and No.1 fan, and an all-round top bloke) decked out as an awesome Ghost Rider. Shame he wouldn't let me set his head on fire. Even a little bit... Plus some friends drop by, and some other coll outfits. Enjoy :)

BTW: This is going on the top of my future wedding cake ;P

Yes, I know Rorsharch, Posion Ivy and that creepy guy with the Machete AREN'T Marvel...they're either friends, fans or they look cool. Or I'm kicking them. No letters please :P