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 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 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 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 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 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 12

The Adventurers Comic page 12 Chapter 1: The Dragon

There is a (future) easter egg hidden on the shelf of this page. The cover on the journal is also a part of this easter egg but the only clue to appear in the comic so far is in the "things to come" teaser at the end of issue 4. Fun fact: Grey Ash (the lord of the dragons) was originally going to be named Grey Smoke, but I couldn't have Big Smoke and Grey smoke. Grey Ash's body patterns were influenced by a Starfox video game I was playing at the time.

The Adventurers Comic page 11

The Adventurers Comic page 11 Chapter 1:The Dragon.

I haven't forgotten about this back story. It does get followed up I promise. In fact it is a cornerstone of The Adventurers and I have started the script for it.

The Adventurers Comic page 10

The Adventurers Comic page 10 Chapter 1: The Dragon

Now I'm still not sure what relation Big Smoke is to Ellie. Lots of people assumed he is her father and that is OK. All I know he is a carer for her of some sort. Do dragons even have family structures?

The Adventurers Comic page 9

The Adventurers Comic Chapter 1 page 9: The Dragon

This is the first big splash panel to appear in The Adventurers. Originally, the dragon burrows all had wooden doors, like the one you can see. I redrew all the cave entrances when I realised it would make more sense for only a certain dragon's cave to have a wooden door. Overall I'm very happy with how this page turned out.

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.