IRON CITY BOOK 2, IN PROGRESS

Cover, Book 2

I am still chipping away at book 2 of Iron City. The book is on schedule to be printed and available for Spring 2014...mark your calendars!
I thought I would share some finished inks of book 2.  They are in random order as to not give away too much of the story. You can go back through earlier posts to see the penciled versions of these pages.  
Thanks for taking a look.  

Roughs to Pencils

The Pencils of Iron City book 2 are nearly complete!  34 pages of excitement and the explosive conclusion to first chapter in The Harlin The Hammer Trilogy. There is still much to do, but why not pause for a moment to exhibit a few pages.  

These are finished pencils below next to the rough sketches that were used as the blue print for the story.  Some have changed considerably and others stuck very close to the original rough.  hopefully they have changed for the better.  

Thanks for looking.  

-Joe

Roughing Out Comic Book Story

I started roughing out the next installment of Z West and it was so much fun putting the story on paper that I roughed out the last two books.(60 pages of excitement.) It is really gratifying to see the script and the images come together as whole
story...even in a rudimentary state.

I do the roughs as two-page spreads so I can see a larger view of the story.  I concentrate on the gesture and expression of the characters to more information into the images, with the hope of telling the story visually.
Problems in story, art, clarity and design are so distinct at this stage.In the past I  have jumped the gun and rushed to the final drawing before I had a blue print for the story. Rushing only makes it more difficult to tell the story and you find yourself going back and replacing frames adding pages, etc. With the roughs, I can always come back and try new page designs and swap out panels and sharpen the images.  It is important to take time at each stage to ensure a tight and complete final product. At least that is the theory hopefully I can see it through.


At Mocca Fest in April I recently heard Jillian Tamaki discuss how she used Manga Studio pro to rough out her upcoming book.  It sounds like it may be easier to do in MSP, but I did my roughs in photoshop.



I would curious to hear how other artists plan there stories.  There isn't much out there on this stage of cartooning.

Thanks for looking,

-Joe

Book 3 cover idea

Iron Cit, Part 2

Z West, Book 2 Preview

The Saga Continues.  The second book of Zombie West The Devil Deals A Crooked Hand is now available for purchase.   As you might imagine from the cover, everything is in the title. The Z is for Zombies and West refers to the Wild West. Z West is a multi-book series about four primary characters in the Texas territory. Due to the barbarism of an army regiment an ancient curse is visited on a small border town. If that isn't exciting enough for you check out the 5 page sample below. 

Take a gander at some of the work. If you like it you can order a copy at the link below.

Order Book One Here

Iron City, book 1,"Scarlet Fever part 1"

Iron City: Scarlet Fever, Part One is now available for purchase. Check out a five-page preview below. Inspired by film noir, B-movies and the comics of the 1950's. Iron city is the beginning of a trilogy centered around the great pugilist hero of Iron City known as Harlin Collins, or better known by his fighting moniker Harlin The Hammer.  

It is the year 2050. Iron city has replaced what used to be New York City and most of what is left of the  Eastern Seaboard. Advances in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence have created an ideal society, for those who can afford it.  

Robotic Maids do the cooking, cleaning and shopping. All those boring chores are over leaving you time for more life affirming pursuits.  Shuttles to the moon leave hourly and a vast network of hyper trains connect the city. But with great step forward there have been steps backward.  The monetary pursuits of a minority have displaced and weakened the majority of people on the planet--Iron City is a glaring example of the distinctions.  The world has become so polluted that electromagnetic domes cover much of the city and huge amounts of money and effort go into air purification. Vast stretches of land in and around the city have been abandoned and ruled unsafe for life.

The underclass live on the Bog Side, the border between the abandon lands and Iron City. It is just outside of the thriving Metropolis that grift, crime and murder abound.  Street gangs and organized crime stratify the neighborhoods while they fight for the scraps like rats in a dumpster.  

Z West Book 1, Available In Print

Just in Time for Valentines Day...My first completed comic book has hit the shelves. As you might imagine from the cover, everything is in the title. The Z is for Zombies and West refers to the Wild West. Z West is a multi-book series about four primary characters in the Texas territory. Due to the barbarism of an army regiment an ancient curse is visited on a small border town. If that isn't exciting enough for you check out the 5 page sample below. 

Take a gander at some of the work. If you like it you can order a copy at the link below.

Book 2 is currently in progress. Check back by spring and it should be available for order. And I will try and post samples as I proceed.

Order Book One Here