Side by side 6 - final

The original Bolt page 6.

Woah, panel two is so full of random nineties kitch! This page also has some more of what I would term graphic effects. It's also about 2 or 3 pages squeezed into 1. Here is the only time in the original story that the reporter ( She is given the name Wendy Winters in the new version) is seen, though her prior bad experiences with The Bolt are shared through some hasty exposition. I believe her head piece was originally intended to look like an "Electra" style head wrap but looked more like bandages hence the idea of a back story where the Bolt had fallen on her somehow. I like the newspaper headline as a finishing touch. It was left out of the remake due to page count, deadline, wanting the story finished or all three.

The Electrifying Bolt -page 10

The Electrifying Bolt- page 11

The Bolt leaves Timberr's dignity intact in the remake but his heart shaped boxers still end up on display. The remake also shows the chainsaw actually destroyed by the fall. I guess Bolt just carelessly dropped it. Lots of homages to the original story in these panels including the sound effects panel. The whole thing was an exercise in producing a comic completely digitally for the first time. Some of it I still feel is as cringe worthy as the original but it was definitely a very worthwhile learning curve particularly learning about colouring which as stated in an earlier post, is a whole new ball game for a .

So there you have the Electrifying Bolt fly's again with help from Michael Stoneburner providing a new script. Hopefully there is not a remake of the remake in another 20 years but I'd settle for a animated series or movie. Hollywood? Hello? Anyone?

The Electrifying Bolt gets a recharge.

As I mentioned in the last post the urge to draw a new Bolt comic was not going to go away. Of course the first thing to do was test the character's design. Here is the original in all it's 90's over-rendered-cross-hatched glory:

Here are some redesigns I considered. I was toying with the idea of goggles to emphasize the humorous aspect of the hero. When I showed my brother Dan he said it's too Golden age and that he liked the original design. I agreed and in hindsight the design was a little too much like the original Blue Beetle costume.

                   


And here is how the Bolt appears in the Bolt Comics Presents #1. So it's basically the original costume design sans the pointy shoulder things.

Yes, I guess I am sentimental as the first panel is a homage to the original comic. More on  page by page comparisons in another post.

New Bolt Comic Launch at ComicGong 2016!

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Fun fact: Bolt Comics derives it name from an old character created in the 90's. When I launched the Adventures in 2013 I realised I needed a comic brand logo to put in the top corner so  used the name Bolt never intending to use the character again and Bolt Comics was born!

Fast forward two years later. I had learnt a lot producing The Adventurers and was realising the potential of using more digital technology in my art beyond that of lettering. In fact by the time I was working on The Adventurers issue 4 I was getting frustrated with my traditional process and wanted to explore digital possibilities (including colour). I only held out in order to keep a consistent look to The Adventures first series.

I had the increasing urge to redo a Bolt Comic I had done way back in the 90's. I basically already had the layouts from the old comic and it would be a great way to experiment on an all digital comic making process. How hard could it be?

Micheal Stoneburner could testify that it wasn't that easy. He had read the original bolt story years ago and had even written a redux of the story for he and my brother Dan to collaborate on then. He was so excited about the Bolt I brought him on as a co-writer. We had a blast sitting writing the story and sharing future story ideas.

So after a year or more of showing little bit and pieces of The Bolt in progress on various social media platforms he is ready to fly again! For the past three years Bolt Comics has launched a new comic at ComicGong. This year the tradition continues with BOLT COMICS PRESENTS #1
Our first full colour comic featuring two stories: A Brigand's Tale: I wrote the story and  Dan drew the pictures (We haven't collaborated like that since the 90's either though I dare say this is the best collaboration we have ever done) and The Electrifying Bolt! We are very excited to release this book and hope you all enjoy it!