Beginning Monday, Oct. 27...

The Process

Posting updates from a writing standpoint is more difficult than posting updates related to art.

I mean, when Josh finishes a page, he can scan it in and post it here, and you get an immediate look at how our project is progressing. But writing is a much less… tangible process, usually. Comics are a visual medium, and posting bits of script isn’t very exciting or informative.

But then I thought I might be able to make a writerly update more interesting by describing the process of writing a Wyatt Earp adventure, using scanned documents from my personal files to illustrate each step.

STEP ONE: CHOOSING A SUBJECT

I’m feeling very Halloweeny with my favorite of holidays just around the corner, so I decided my new script would involve a classic monster in some capacity. But which one?

I find listing the possibilities makes it easier to assess each one’s merits.

There is a clear winner.

STEP TWO: BRAINSTORMING



It’s just a list of facts, but it gets the old creative juices flowing, because I look at the second item and think:



STEP THREE: RESEARCH

An idea is beginning to blossom, so I investigate its feasibility.



It turns out the AJfWS is not a real publication — and no wonder, with a horrible acronym like that. But by this point, I’m too excited about the idea not to begin writing.

STEP FOUR: WRITING THE SCRIPT

This is the stage most people have questions about, on a technical level. Hollywood screenplays have to stick pretty closely to a standardized format, but there isn’t any universal format for writing comic scripts that I’m aware of.

And so, I use the method preferred by the master:

The work begins well, but around page 43 of my script for a four-page comic, doubt begins to creep in. Are my images coherent? Does my dialogue ring true? Am I asking too much of my artistic collaborator when I request a 64-panel page detailing a carefully coreographed fight between our heroes and a pack of space werewolves in Gundam suits that also transform into wolves? Oh God, what am I doing?

STEP FIVE: WHISKEY

Spaeking of wereweolves dogg I heard that Kid rock songg where they sample "werewolves of london and it sucks so hard it almost made me crash my car (i was hella listening to the radio in the car) into a gazeebo. (I have invented a New Kind of Salad Dressing also.)

STEP SIX: SOLUTION AND CORRESPONDENCE

And that's how it's done!

6-Steps

Some might think that cutting your hair is no big deal. But let me tell you something... uhm... it can be? Say you've had long hair for a few years and all the people around you only know you to have long hair. You cut your hair and shave then no one recognizes you. Not your coworkers, not your friends, not even your family. Here are the 6 simple steps I found useful when trimming my luscious locks. Some people might even be creeped out by the new you. They just need some time to adjust to the change. I promise if you follow these steps everyone will be happy.

Support the economy and give us your money

Hello, internet. This is Justin. It's been a while since we've talked.

So one of my wife's friends made this flyer for a graphic design course she's taking, and she digs the book, so I guess that means we've got the makings of a street team. To that end, I've relisted the promotional book Josh had printed out last year (I like to think of it as "the demo") on Etsy, which is a place you can buy all sorts of rad stuff, and it's where my wife sells her jewelry.

You can buy it with your hard-earned PayPal dollars at gigaduck.etsy.com if you are so inclined. The paper stock is majestic.

There's also a CD for sale by the band my brother and I are in, Morrison Bass, and links to our Myspace page where you can actually hear some songs. If you are into that sort of thing.

Now that I have shilled, here's my current Wyatt-related project: Working on an expanded version of "Reunion on a Strange World", our "pilot" story, with the intention of setting up the series a little better (which was one of the notes we got on our book from a few editor-types).

Thrill as you learn...
-Who's the dude in possession of Doc's head? (His name is Ian. He works for the Pelican Corporation.)
-What's the deal with that Steven guy? (He's a clonedroid.)
-How did Wyatt find Doc, anyway? (It'll be a nifty sequence, just you wait)
...and more!

Hopefully, this version will have you scratching your head less, unless scratching your head is what you do when you think something is really cool and well-explained.

-JPZ

Said the Pilgrim to the Duke...

So this is the first new page in... well... a long time. I drew it over a year ago and just never finished inking it. So now that its done being inked I'll do up the rest of the pages and have them all singing in no time... right? yes. that is how it works. Anyways, this is a page from the story "Said the Pilgrim to the Duke" It takes place in a space-vegas atomsphere. At least that's the back drop. we'll post the whole story once its done. Later.

-J

Fallcon 2008

Alright, if you read the last post then you know I mentioned the fallcon. Its just a small con here in the twin cities where I try to sell some books and do some sketches and stuff. Its cool because all the local artists and people who went to MCAD that I only get to see every once in a while show up. They might as well call it the MCADcon.
Needless to say its a great time. The guys that run it do an amazing job. Tables are free and they give you free food and drinks all day and have activities for the creators and everything. Its pretty rad. Needless to say I had a great time. Met some cool people, saw some great art, got yelled at by crazy comic fans for ruining comics (long story.) I even did some sketches and sold some books. I did my first ever sketch on a baseball. It turned out alright but it was weird drawing on a round surface. And I'm not sure that subject matter matched the surface. You'll have to see the photo. I also met the real Spiderman! Not some lame ass Toby Maguire webhead impersonator. But the real deal.

Its been a while right...

So yeah, its been a while. I know I know. Justin and I have day jobs. He's all Robbie Robertson at a newspaper and I well, I illustrate books and do storyboards and stuff. Plus we got married... not to each other. But we both married our ladies and only a week apart if you'd believe that. But we're back to working on Wyatt Earp. I was at a con recently and kept hearing "I keep checking your site and nothing changes." Well we're going to try to change that. We'll put new pages and doodles and stuff up here and once we finish a whole story we'll upload it to webcomic nation and drunk duck.. etc. We're trying to get it picked up though and we have stacks of scripts and all kinds of drawings and covers and interiors and eventually we'll put it out in a big book. I was surprised to see people even remembered the book since its been over a year since we published our first little mini comic or uploaded it on the interweb. So it'll be a slow process unfortunately but there is more to come. I promise.

Justin is Ed Wright?!

I know its been a while since we've posted anything but I swear we're working on the book. In the meantime check this out......

Ed Wright (left) Justin Zyduck (right?)