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

It is The Adventurers Comic Blog after all...

The follower: Art by Andrew Tribe

*We take a break from The Electrifying Bolt process posts to show some Adventurers art.*

This week I thought I would share a new Adventurers print that I'll be selling at next weeks Sydney SupaNova. The eagle eyed among you will recall it's the black and white pin up image from The Adventures issue 1. I've always thought that this image would also be a good issue 1 cover image. I never used it originally because I was stubborn and wanted all The Adventurers on the cover (even though we don't see them all until issue 2) and it wasn't until issue 1 was printed that I realised this could be a cover.

I'll also be selling the new ALL colour Bolt Comics Presents issue 1 (have I mentioned it contains The Electrifying Bolt?) and drawing sketches along with my brother Dan. We'll be sharing table 71 with our good friend John Hanna from Midnight Runners. If you are going to Supanova be sure to come and say hi. It's sure to be fun!

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!

The Adventurers page 24

The Adventurers comic page 24

So I was busy drawing this back ground again and again and again. Cara did say to me "Why don't you just draw it once and copy it in photoshop?" Do you think I listened? The good news is by issue 4 I was leaving a lot of page back grounds blank as I had finally come to see the benefit of drawing a back ground only once!

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 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 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.

The Adventurers Comic page 13

The Adventurers Comic page 13 Chapter 1: The Dragon.

I like this page. I like the sequence of the top two panels. I also like Greyash's speech. This was the page where I had to learn to cut a lot of unnecessary dialogue. The strange thing is it actually turns out for the best.

Adventurers Comic page 8

The Adventurers Comic page 8 Chapter 1:The Dragon.

Not sure how why I finally decided to go with talking slugs, but I'm glad I did.  I know Burnie is. Everyone else? Not so much... including the slugs.

Adventurers comic page 5

The Adventurers Chapter 1 page 5: The Dragon.

Don't worry, the whole comic is not all going to be about how reading is so great. It's just meant to show that Ellie is an avid reader. I think it may come across a little bit preachy but that could be due to the fact that I'm a teacher. I was privileged enough that the school I work at got excited about the launch of The Adventurers and I was allowed to talk to the school about making The Adventurers comics and to sell a few ( I have no problem preaching about the fact that they are great vehicles for promoting reading :) ) Talk about worlds colliding! Seeing kids reading The Adventurers on the playground at recess and lunch was a very surreal experience, not to mention being asked for signatures. Lots of the students commented that the "Grandma" joke was their favourite.

The Adventurers: Back to the Beginning.

To celebrate The Adventurers issue 4 being released at Comic Gong and the fact that the very first story arc of The adventures is complete, I will be posting a page a week from The Adventurers issue 1. Enjoy!


I'll also write short annotations down here :) Even though all the characters are not in the comic together until issue 3,  I really wanted all three on the cover to issue 1, hence the characters being in heavy shadow and not completely revealed. I have been told by some people it is their favourite Adventurers cover as it is "mysterious". The eye popping colours are by Cara Kennett-Tribe. We had a time getting this cover up to the standard we wanted and Cara was very patient as I asked for the glow effects to be just right. You can see part of our learning curve (though I was very proud of it at the time) on the very first blog post.

The Adventurers at Comic Gong 2015

Well, a few edits to do and issue 4 is complete! I'll be sending it off to the printers in time to have copies to sell at Comic Gong. I had a great time last year and really look forward to tabling at artists alley again. It's great to have the first arc complete and new adventures on the horizon!

The Adventurers in The missing Adventure.

Today I thought I'd share something a bit different with you all. Here is the one and only panel from a short story I had in mind to introduce The Bolt to the Bolt Comics Universe. It was planned to be a "breaking the fourth wall" story, that is, the characters would be aware they were Bolt Comic characters. As I planned the pages, I realised it wasn't the short introduction I originally intended. I also felt that as it would be the first ever Bolt Comics crossover with all the lead characters including Brigand from A Brigand's Tale, that a fourth wall gag strip wouldn't do the event justice.

The Adventurers on the adventure that never happened.

The panel itself is inspired by Indiana Jones, with the flaming torch and stone passageway. Who knows? It could prompt an Adventurers story idea in the future. 

As for a Bolt Comics inter title crossover, it's bound to happen... one day. We've already got a lot of ideas for how it occurs and lots of jokes from the gag strip will be able to be used on that occasion.

The Adventurers Comic- Issue 4 progress

Issue 4 will be ready by mid year and the first Story arc for the Adventurers will be complete! So I thought I'd share some progress shots I shared on Twitter and Instagram on the holidays. Issue 4 has been a bit strange to work on. As I have shared before, I've grown used to working in digital mode, but to such an extent I think I now prefer it and actually get frustrated with the limitations of my traditional process. 

However to keep the first arc of The Adventurers consistent I'm trying to use the same process I did with issues 1-3. That is working in pencil and pens then lettering digitally and some post production finishes to the art. Issue 4 will have even more digital post production since I'm more familiar with what I can do digitally to save time. Keep in mind these inks are still a work in progress and will not be complete until I have tweaked them digitally.

Hmmm looking at this, I'm reminded a few more missiles are needed. Back to the drawing board!

Possibly went overboard on the missiles.

One or Two robots will probably be removed also.

Adventurers Christmas

It wouldn't be Christmas without an Adventurers Christmas picture. Merry Christmas from the Adventurers. Have a safe and happy holiday. Looking forward to another Adventurous year next year!

Digital Adventures

It's been quite a while since my last post. There are two reasons; one is that it is hard to put up many images from The Adventurers issue 4 as I don't want to run the risk of spoiling any surprises. The other is I admit I have been a little distracted by what was originally meant to be a side project.

Over the last year I have slowly developed more skill with digital drawing. In order to improve and hopefully speed up my process as a result, I decided to revive an old character and redraw an old story I did while in my late teens. The idea is to see if I can complete a comic completely digitally.

The character is known as The Electrifying Bolt and here is the first completed, colour picture of The Bolt in many years (or possibly ever). He is a really fun character to draw. I know Mike Stoneburner finds him fun to write as well. He helped me tweak some gags from the original story and Mike and I have shared many laughs just throwing around ideas for origin/future adventures of The Bolt over the phone. Hopefully you'll be laughing out loud at his (mis)adventures soon as well.

The Electrifying Bolt flies again and yes... that background character is wearing a suit made entirely of wood.

Adventurers Sketch cards: The last few.

Here is the last batch of sketch cards I've drawn in advance for Sydney Oz Comic Con 2014 as I won't be able to attend this year. You need to get to table 65 by 12.00 if you want yours! Worried you may miss out? Never fear Amazing Adventurers cover colourist and very talented artist in her own right Cara will be there drawing sketches. You won't be disappointed if you get one drawn by her! 

Hope everyone has a great time at Oz Comic Con especially the Bolt Comics Crew!

Even more Adventurers Comic Sketch Cards

With these sketch cards, every character that has appeared in The Adventurers Comic Issue 1 -3 has now been sketched.

The bad.

The good.
                                                            

The ugly.

                                                                             

                   

The Spiky.

                     

           

                                           The furry.                      

         

                                         

The hungry.