DragonFUZE #41

I hate to say it, but I don't see myself making the end of the month deadline for finishing the Tikki's Giant #2 script. I am not very happy about missing this deadline, but quite a few things have gotten in the way of me writing anything this week, and that's just the way life goes. Still, it shouldn't be too much longer until the script is wrapped and then the fate of the comic rests in other hands (no pressure Andrew!!).

I have not heard back from a different artist who was looking to work with me, so I guess that opportunity has walked on by; it's a shame because he is such a talented artist, but we couldn't agree on the type of story we wanted to work on together and that's the way life goes.

Given that hiccup, I am definitely going to work on The Next Scion once the Tikki scripts are wrapped. I feel like I can't really claim to be a comic book writer until I have bashed out a superhero script! LOL. So, I am looking forward to exploring that story soon.

Other than that, there is not much else to report. There are a lot of great and not so great things happening outside of the DragonFUZE universe, in that place called the 'real world', but this blog was never supposed to be about that anyway...

DragonFUZE #40

I got a little more work done on my Tikki's Giant script today, but only finished 2 pages before our son woke up from his morning nap and then the rest of the day was a creative write-off, which is all OK. I'm still hopeful I can finish this script in February; I have 7 pages to do in 7 days. I know that it is an arbitrary time line, but this really is the first time I have worked to a self-imposed date on my own work, so if I get there then that is a good thing indeed.

I am still uncertain about things post finishing the script for Tikki's Giant. I know that I don't want to write another Tikki story straight away, but I am not sure what I will write next. Once I decide, you will read about it right here!

By the way, I have recently begun to use a tracking/ statistics service for this blog and it seems that my readership is low, but building. I have often wondered how many people read my blog, and now I am getting a better idea. I do get more hits when I am talking about pop culture (my highest number of hits/ readers seems to coincide with me writing about Rhona Mirta) as compared to my own creative work. That's interesting, but not surprising. Hey, even I would prefer to read about Rhona Mirta than about myself (looks like the hits will go up again, I mentioned her twice in this very post!).

DragonFUZE #39

Curse my creative head! LOL. Over the last few days, I have been swapping emails and PMs with an artist that I met on Rob Liefeld's message boards; the artist contacted me to see if I was interested in working with him on a project. So, we have thrown a few ideas around and still haven't found something that we are both comfortable with.

Earlier today, I came up with what I thought was a really cool idea, but I still haven't heard from the artist. Depending on how he feels about the story, this project may leap ahead of The Next Scion in my writing schedule. While TNS is the project I really want to work on next, I don't want to miss this chance to work with such a strong artist.

We have to find a story that suits us both.

DragonFUZE #38

Have a look at this! Andrew just sent me this character design for our story's heroine, her name is Tikki, and I am just thrilled! Andrew really captured Tikki's mischevious character. Seeing Andrew's concept sketches has to be one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of working on this project. Now you can see why I am so lucky to be working with him!

DragonFUZE #37

It's update time here at DragonFUZE comics! Andrew and I touched base tonight on his work for Tikki's Giant. This week or next week we should be going through final character designs for the book. I have already shown off some of Andrew's character sketches, so I am excited to see what else he comes up with for some of the other major characters, and also to see if he has any final tweaks to those designs that I have already seen.

Next week, Andrew should get into the page layouts and then, once we hit March, which isn't that far away, he should be getting into the pages. WOO HOO! That will be so awesome to see pages rolling in.

I haven't had the chance to discuss this with Andrew, but I really love comics that are colored straight from pencils; that might be an approach we take on this project.

PopFUZE #56

Caught up tonight with Darren Close, creator of Aussie comic Killeroo (which you can read more about if you click the title of this post). The meeting was a chance to catch up and talk comics and some of the intricacies of self-publishing. Darren has offered to help me out with some of the mechanics involved if/ when I get to the stage of printing any of my stuff. Hopefully, we can catch up again before that.

Before I go, here is a peek at Darren's character Killeroo:

DragonFUZE #36

I did some plotting work on The Next Scion tonight. I should be working on finishing the script for #2 of Tikki's Giant, but I need a break from that story. I am still on track to have the script done by the end of this month; I am already 13 pages in, so getting the other nine complete in the next 2 1/2 weeks should be no problem.

PopFUZE #55

Click the title of the post to read the news; Rob Liefeld's Youngblood is finally headed to the silver screen! WOO HOO! Brett Ratner (X3) is the director. I am so excited, as a fan, and for Rob who has been working the Hollywood system for a long time, trying to get his projects made into movies. Rob getting Youngblood, and some of his other properties, onto the big screen is the culmination of the revolution Rob launched with the unleashing of Image Comics in 1992.

I can't wait to be in the cinema and to see the words "Based on the comic book created by Rob Liefeld" appear in the credits.

The 'blood is back, this time on the silver screen!

PopFUZE #54

Check this amazing and intriguing movie trailer. I stumbled across this on a message board. The trailer is utterly compelling...

Here is the link to the original 9 short movie.

DragonFUZE #35

I am three pages in to the script for Tikki's Giant #2, just working on a little warm up act before the main game kicks off with knights vs giants, with two wizards and a phayrie thrown into the mix for a bit of fun! I am having fun on this story, even though getting started on a new script feels daunting, I am hoping I can rush through quite a bit of the script this week, seeing as how I have this week off work.

Another inspiration for getting this book done is the two other projects that are waiting patiently for me to ease tapping the keys on a story about phayries and giants; the first is my novel Enshae: Phayrie Seekers, which I aim to have planned out by the end of the year and the second is an idea for a comic book series that came to me just the other day; I am itching to write this one!

But, this year the strategy is slow and steady wins the race and I am taking things one project at a time, having learned my lesson from previous years when I juggled multiple projects at a time and got nowhere fast on any of them. I am so excited about my superhero idea that it is giving me an extra incentive to put Tikki's Giant in the bag.

DragonFUZE #34

Last Tuesday night, I caught up with Andrew (the artist on Tikki's Giant). After watching Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans, we chatted for about 2 hours about a whole lot of stuff, but mainly about the Tikki book and the universe the story takes place in. I also had a chance to catch some of Andrew's most recent art in his portfolio, including some finished pages for other projects, and I became really excited about what this Tikki tale will look like when all is said and done! Now, I just have to finish the script for #2.

As I came to the end of last week, I stumbled across an idea for the next comic book project I would like to tackle once writing chores on Tikki are done. I'm thinking this book will be 4 - 6 issues, so it is a big commitment/ step up from the Tikki stories. I really want to write a superhero comic, which is something I have never done. I have written horror, fantasy and real world stories, but not one superhero script in the many years I have been working towards writing comics.

I actually do have a lot of notes/ code names/ powers/ back stories, etc laid out for hundreds of superheroes, but the problem is that most of them suck! LOL. I came up with most of these ideas in the late 90s - early 00s, which was around the time I discovered Image comics and the cool books that launched Image in the early 90s... So, many of these ideas were heavily influenced by that period, not that there is anything wrong with that, but early-Image wasn't noted for its originality in the first place, so ripping off early Image is kind of like riffing on a rip off!

So, late last week, an idea came to me... Now, I am planning on getting this Tikki story done, and then it's straight into my superhero book!