The Wannabe Pirates

[largento]

Hey-yo,

 

 

I've updated my Storenvy store with digital versions of The Wannabe Pirates comics!

 

Issues #1-3 are available in PDF format and you can even get the Curse of Greyhawk Island graphic novel for waaay cheaper than the print version!

 

The print version of issue #3 will be available soon (just sent the files to the printer tonight.)

 

Also, both of the Greyhawk graphic novels will be available soon! They are almost ready to go to the printers. Just some last minute decisions about the back covers and they'll be out of there!

 

We're hoping to bring the digital versions to the Comixology app through their Submit initiative, but that takes time and we're not sure if they'll accept the books yet. If we do get the go ahead, I plan on bringing as many issues of The Wannabe Pirates as I have material to do, that will include the Amulet of the Apes stuff.

 

And of course, you can still order the Stalled Trek DVD at the store!

[largento]

Still continuing on with making individual issues of The Wannabe Pirates. Nobody may ever buy them, but I sure love having them for myself. :-)

 

Working on issue #4:

 

 

This one includes a new splash page and, as always, a puzzle page. So far I've done a maze, a crossword, & a word-search. This time out, I'm working on a connect-the-dots. :-)

 

I think I may have to put in a bug report, though. For some reason v17 can't handle displaying the Sea Anemone in shaded mode. It crashes everytime. I even tried saving out the model again, thinking maybe it was a versioning issue with the model file. However, everything worked fine in v16, which I've had to go back to for the new images.

[Rodney]

Living the dream Mark. Living the dream.

 

What I wouldn't do to have some of my own comic books sitting on the table in front of me.

Some day...

[largento]

Go for it, Rodney!

 

It's a whole lot easier now than it was back in the day. With print-on-demand you can literally order 1 copy. All you gotta' do is get to work on filling up the pages! :-)

[TheSpleen]

very cool

[Dpendleton77]

I think once I get into the swing of things in A:M I am going to try my hand at making a comic.

[Rodney]

Go for it, Rodney!

 

It's a whole lot easier now than it was back in the day. With print-on-demand you can literally order 1 copy. All you gotta' do is get to work on filling up the pages! :-)

 

I hear ya.

It'll sound like procrastination but I've got a bit too many irons in the fire these days.

I've been toying with the idea of printing-on-demand a personal sketchbook of previous doodles just to smell the ink on paper and turn the pages of the document in my hands. Then when I ran into someone with like interests I could hand them out like candy.

 

In the meantime I'll live vicariously through you. If that's okay.

[largento]

I say, go for it!

 

I've been using Ka-Blam, a print-on-demand company specializing in comics. It's run by a trio of independent comics folks who I met when I was doing comics in the 90s.

 

A 24-page floppy, full-color is only $2.67.

[Rodney]

I would dearly love to see the A:M Community spitting out comic books regularly.

And if it was some kind of anthology with a nice variety of different styles and characters... so much the better.

 

Somebody write that down as a future project for the A:M Community to tackle!

[Rodney]

Gah! Wannabe Pirates issues #1, 2 and 3 are sold out on http://paunk.storenvy.com/!!!

 

What's up with that?!?!?

 

I missed issue #3.

[ptiversen]

Hey mark, don't forget I purchased your first 3 comics as a Digital Comic.

 

[largento]

I won't forget that, Tony!

 

Rodney, I'm looking at other options for digital distribution right now. Storenvy isn't designed to do digital downloads. It's more for physical products. As it is, if you were to buy a comic through them, you'd have to wait until I got an email, uploaded the files to my server and emailed you a link. That's not acceptable. You need to be able to download them at the time of purchase.

 

We're still waiting to hear from Comixology. If they pick us up, that may be the way we go. I'm also considering going through Gumroad and selling them as CBZs.

 

Right now my focus is on getting the print issues finished. I want to have at least six issues in hand to sell at the next con I do.

[Rodney]

It's more for physical products.

 

Where it comes to comic books... well, books in general... I prefer the physical product.

I'm a fan of digital but there is something about having that book/magazine in your hand flipping back and forth between pages that is hard to beat.

I regret that old bookstores are pretty much gone from the scene and comic book stores... are pale in comparison to what I wish they could be.

It's a great time to be in the comic biz but interestingly enough its perhaps the worst time as well.

 

I miss those old comic books on cheap newsprint paper that folks were more likely to throw away than keep.

[largento]

People *say* that, but when it comes down to it, they go for what's cheaper.

[Dpendleton77]

So what is the process you use to make comics from A:M?

[largento]

It's a lot like animating a movie without animating. :-)

 

In the case of The Wannabe Pirates, they began life as a comic strip. Usually a 3 or 4 panel gag. Each panel was a choreography set up and rendered. I then took the rendered images and placed them in a template in Illustrator and did the lettering and then exported them out for the web. For the comic book, I reformatted the strips into comic book pages (using a template from the printer), made the files print ready and sent them off to the printer.

 

You can change the dimensions of the camera frame, so I would set up the camera to match the dimensions of the panel and arrange my objects allowing for room for word balloons, etc.

 

I did this strip as part of a series about how it could be done, but this process of placing the word balloons and panels into A:M was something I NEVER did when I was actually making the strips:

 

 

[EDIT] You can start from here to read the "How To" strips I did several years ago.

[Dpendleton77]

It's a lot like animating a movie without animating. :-)

 

In the case of The Wannabe Pirates, they began life as a comic strip. Usually a 3 or 4 panel gag. Each panel was a choreography set up and rendered. I then took the rendered images and placed them in a template in Illustrator and did the lettering and then exported them out for the web. For the comic book, I reformatted the strips into comic book pages (using a template from the printer), made the files print ready and sent them off to the printer.

 

You can change the dimensions of the camera frame, so I would set up the camera to match the dimensions of the panel and arrange my objects allowing for room for word balloons, etc.

 

I did this strip as part of a series about how it could be done, but this process of placing the word balloons and panels into A:M was something I NEVER did when I was actually making the strips:

 

 

[EDIT] You can start from here to read the "How To" strips I did several years ago.

Aye I like this good reference material for the future.

[Dpendleton77]

It's a lot like animating a movie without animating. :-)

 

In the case of The Wannabe Pirates, they began life as a comic strip. Usually a 3 or 4 panel gag. Each panel was a choreography set up and rendered. I then took the rendered images and placed them in a template in Illustrator and did the lettering and then exported them out for the web. For the comic book, I reformatted the strips into comic book pages (using a template from the printer), made the files print ready and sent them off to the printer.

 

You can change the dimensions of the camera frame, so I would set up the camera to match the dimensions of the panel and arrange my objects allowing for room for word balloons, etc.

 

I did this strip as part of a series about how it could be done, but this process of placing the word balloons and panels into A:M was something I NEVER did when I was actually making the strips:

 

 

[EDIT] You can start from here to read the "How To" strips I did several years ago.

I tried to go back and look at these and they seem to be gone.

[largento]

Yes, they are. When I redesigned the website, I had to deactivate the old one.

 

A lot of it was fluff, but here's the short version of how it's done:

 

1) I write a script.

 

2) I create the layout for the strip in Adobe Illustrator, representing the panels using colored squares. I type the dialogue and position it within the squares to determine how the strip will flow.

 

3) I use those squares' dimensions (@300ppi) to determine the camera size, creating a choreography for each panel.

 

4) I position the characters to tell the story and allow for where dialogue balloons will go.

 

5) I bring the renders back into Illustrator to replace the squares and export the page so that it can go up on the web.