The Adventurers Comic in colour!

Here is a selection of finished The Adventurers Comic pages coming soon to Bolt Comics Presents! What a journey it has been to get to this point and a lot of it has been recorded in this blog but it's time to change things up a bit and let the art do the talking now.

If you want to keep up to date with work in progress, all things Adventurers and Bolt Comics I'll be posting a regular newsletter. You can subscribe here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to join me for the next stage of the journey.- Andrew Tribe

The Comic Crusaders Review The Adventurers Issue 2

"A book to enjoy yourself and enjoy with your kids, do ya’self a favor and check it out!" Comic Crusaders.

Last week I shared The Adventurers Issue 1 review by Shane Tydeman from Comic Crusaders. This week I'm sharing the link to the review of issue 2. You can read the whole thing here:
http://www.comiccrusaders.com/review-the-adventurers-2/

This is the first time issue 2 has ever been reviewed. It is nice to have another positive review. The feedback I get is mainly positive (with the exception of the need for colour, but more on that later) and I hear quite often how kids really enjoy the series. It always makes my day to hear that. Now if I could only get more people to know about the Adventurers...

The Comic Crusaders Review Adventurers Issue 1

"...fans of Bone do ya’self a favor and check this out!"
Oh yeah. I think any comparison to Bone qualifies as "achievement unlocked" :)


Last year when I was tabling at Sydney OzComiccon, Shane Tydeman from Comic Crusaders stopped by the table for a chat. I was happy to learn that he had written a review of The Adventurers issue 1. It's always nerve-wracking when you read a review but it's nice when the reviews are encouraging. In the review he also said "The art is very clean and detailed, looks like it would be a great coloring in book!" Hmmmm I wonder...

You can read the whole review (and a lot of others) here:
https://www.comiccrusaders.com/review-the-adventurers-1/Thanks for the review Shane. Next week: Issue 2 reviewed!

Merry Christmas from the Adventurers 2015

This years Adventurers Christmas pic is an actual comic! The Adventurers have been in colour on the comic covers and in pin-ups but this is the first published colour Adventurers comic page (Also my first published colour comic page). The last panel was actually going to be the pic but the idea developed of Cindy telling the story to Burnie complete with her malapropisms. On a personal note the Adventurers awe of gazing at a newborn was me channelling my awe with the recent birth of my first child. My daughter, Leilani, was also reference for the babe. Merry Christmas!

The Adventurers Comic -in colour!

Thought I'd show some work in progress of The Adventurers Christmas pic for 2015. This year for the first time it's a one page comic and therefore the first time The Adventurers have appeared in colour in an actual comic strip. Also those lil' adorable scamps, the dragon kids are back!

Pencils

Digital inks

Colour flats

Finishes

The Adventurers Comic page 29

The Adventurers comic page 29.

Well that brings us to the last annotated page of The Adventurers issue 1. These little back cover designs were fun (but added to the work load!) to think of a little scene that related to the story each issue. Once again, beautifully coloured by Cara.  We edited in the sleeping slug when my friend Joel suggested doing so in a conversation. I do hope to retain some of the interaction with the animal world in future stories. It makes sense that Ellie could talk to humans and animals, as she sort of walks between the two worlds. It would be nice to see some slugs again. I hope you enjoyed The Adventurers issue 1!

If you'd like to read more, you might like to take advantage of the first ever Bolt Comics Christmas sale here.

The Adventurers page 28The Adventurers page 28

The Adventurers page 28

Looks like the dragon kids are getting the hang of reading, well, almost.  A fun fourth wall pin up by Cara. I'm pretty sure that Burnie would like to learn some recipes for slugs and I know for a fact Cindy is enjoying Adventurers issue 1.

The Adventurers Comic page 27

The Adventurers comic Issue 1 page 27

Almost at the end of Adventurers issue 1. This image was done as a pin up.  I was inspired by Travis Hanson who would do little illustrations of scenes that didn't occur as part of his actual comic. I think it could have served as a good issue 1 cover but I was stubborn and wanted all three of The Adventurers on the first issue cover.

The Adventurers Comic page 26

The Adventurers Comic page 26

Well it looks like Cindy is going to learn to read as she promised Ellie. As of issue 4 Ellie has yet to write to Cindy! In her defence, she has been kind of busy. That's the last comic page of The Adventurers issue 1. It was really fun coming up with the back up stories for the Adventurers. In the next two weeks I'll share the last pin up and the back cover. Hope you enjoyed the first issue.

The Adventurers Comic Page 25

The Adventurers Comic page 25

Well now I guess we know what happened to those grieving slugs two pages ago. Yes those are slug eyes. Notorious for getting stuck between teeth. A slugs life isn't easy. I was really happy with Spyke's shudder pose. It was definitely inspired by Monty Burns from The Simpsons.

The Adventurers page 23

This page serves as a story break and also links into the back up story. Yes they are mourning the loss of Irving, however, I do not think Burnie would have left much of him to bury! At one stage I was considering having this as a one page comic but it would be too confusing to separate it from the other back up story.

The Adventurers Comic Page 22

The Adventurers Comic page 22 Chapter 1: The Dragon.

Well there it is. The cliff hanger for issue one. Funny story*: the first editions have a typo on this page. Instead of saying "you're" Rocbadger said "your", It was a great example for me to use in class on editing and checking your work properly. I'm pretty sure that year 5 class learnt the difference between "your and "you're" better than any class I had previously. Also, on a side note, the first time you have to draw your characters getting hurt is not easy!


*Funny not guaranteed.

The Adventurers Comic page 21

The Adventurers Comic page 21 Chapter 1: The Dragon.

I wish I could say I planned the recurring theme of life and stories being at odds but as I mentioned before the original script was different from the final copy. New dialogue just seemed to drop into Cara (my sister who lettered the comic) and my consciousness as we discussed lettering the pages. I'm really happy with the exchange between Ellie and Rob and Hood. Although Ellie starts her journey a bit timid she still has the courage to voice her opinion.

The Adventurers Comic Page 20

The Adventurers Comic page 20 Chapter 1:The Dragon

The first villains Ellie encounters aren't true villains. This is probably because I felt far too sympathetic towards them. Like many other throw away characters in The Adventurers they developed their own back story and I plan on meeting them again!

The Adventurers Comic Page 19

The Adventurers Comic pg 19 Chapter 1: The Dragon.

Rob was always Rob. Hood was originally going to be named Rose or Thorn, something lame like that. Also I originally envisioned them with a horse, either a lazy one or a wooden one! A lot of this dialogue wasn't finalised until right up until the lettering phase. Professional, I know.

Just a reminder I'll be at OZComiCon this weekend the 26th and 27th September at table 116! Hope to see you there.

A few days later I'll be at Comic Conversation at Liverpool Library on the Wednesday 30th September for the Comic lab 10.00 - 1.00.  I'll be drawing my latest comic and talking to anyone who is interested!

 I'll be speaking at my first panel with other comic creators on Thursday night 1st Oct at Liverpool library at 6.00 -7.30. Should be interesting.

On Friday the 2nd I'll have comics and prints for sale at the Artist Alley. I'll also be heading to Ashfield Library on Saturday 3rd  Oct to participate in their Artist Alley too! So it should be an exciting week :D

The Adventurers Comic page 18

The Adventurers Comic page 18, Chapter 1:The Dragon.

This page, along with the two previous pages, were the first I shared on line. Primarily because they were wordless pages and didn't need to be lettered.

The Adventurers Comic page 17

The Adventurers Comic page 17 Chapter 1: The Dragon

The first appearance of the next character. However it isn't the last panel. A lot of people miss his very first appearance on this page. I may have went over board on the clouds, even sequencing their movement a little :/

The Adventurers Comic page 16

The Adventurers Comic page 16 Chapter 1: The Dragon.

As I mentioned before the environment that is depicted in The Adventurers is Australian. If dragons were to seek a continent to hide in, why not one of the warmest and driest in the world? In fact the Havens for the dragons was originally going to be the outback. Not sure why I didn't stick too that idea in the end. Anyway some of the plants are based on Australian native plants but I still wanted a generic feel so not to alienate any overseas readers.

The Adventurers Comic page 15

The Adventurers Comic pg 15 Chapter 1: The Dragon

In hindsight this probably should have been two pages. For some reason I must have been reluctant to to do true splash pages (a panel that is a whole page) as the first true splash page doesn't occur until issue 4! Perhaps when if it is ever re-released in colour I can work some digital magic and make this into two separate pages. As it is, I do like this page composition and the little panels seem like memories of Ellie's morning before she sets out into the world.

Fun facts:
Anyone who has seen it, would know that the view is basically a generic version of The Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains. Cara, who lettered issue 1, all while I was anxiously looking over her shoulder had a lesson in comic lettering effects. The font didn't include symbols for noises such as the ones around "sniff" so we made our own, You can hardly tell right? :P "We'll miss you" was also the worst placed bubble in the comic as "you" was almost cut out of the first edition print! 

The Adventurers Comic page 14

The Adventurers comic pg 14: The Dragon.

I have to admit, I really do like GreyAsh's assessment of the human race. Originally Ellie was going to suggest going into self imposed exile in order to protect the dragon's secret.