DragonFUZE #43 or THE END

This is the final post I will be making to the DragonFUZE Comics blog; from today onwards this blog will enter cryogenic stasis from which it may or may not awaken. I have truly enjoyed blogging over the last few years, but the reality is that I have been focsed on blogging about comics, rather than on creating comics. My passion really lies in making something happen with DragonFUZE Comics and getting stories like Tikki's Giant and The Next Scion out into the world. As such an era is ending...

You can keep up to date with DragonFUZE Comics projects at the new website hosted on Wordpress.

DragonFUZE #42

Click the title of this post to visit the new home of DragonFUZE Comics on the internet. This blog may be coming to its end, we'll see.

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.

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.

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!

DragonFUZE #33

I am a very happy geek/ creator/ writer tonight. Andrew Law, the amazing artist who is lending his awesome skills to illustrating my Tikki's Giant story has sent my night into geek heaven by shooting through some preliminary character designs; looking at them is a great way to distract myself as I wait to hear back from my editorial team on the script.

These pics were taken with the camera on Andrew's iPhone, so the quality isn't that great, but you can get the sense of Andrew's high fantasy style designs and smooth lines coming through!

First up, my favourite design so far, the mysterious and mischievous Enshae Phayrie known as Malinki:



I love this design; it symbolizes the character's close link to the natural world and her seductive beauty, which actually is a mask which hides awesome powers. I really love the design of her wings, it echoes Tinkerbell...

The other preview I will show you is a head shot of famed warrior and leader of the noble Knights of Lothos, Citadel:



I love the dignity and strength in his face, and the scars are even more awesome than I ever imagined. You will have to read the story or stories to come to learn about how those came to be.

This is one of the most important posts I have ever made on this blog. DragonFUZE Comics is finally coming into being and I have to thank Andrew for his work in making this happen!

More updates soon...

DragonFUZE #32

The script for Tikki's Giant #1 is in the bag and has been shipped off to my editors. I sent the script off last night, comfortably meeting my self-imposed deadline of completing the script by the end of January. This week, time permitting, I will be straight into the script for #2 and I am confident I will have the whole series scripted by the end of February (which was my goal in the first instance). Feels so good to type that!

Now, I know that a completed script is a long way from a completed comic... So, on to step 2. The artist on the book is Andrew Law. Andrew is working on some concept sketches, which I hope to see by the end of this month or early February and then hopefully we can get into the pencils by the middle of that month. I have a letterer on board, but no inker or colorist so I will tackle that challenge once I get to it.

I want Tikki's Giant to run online and I will also do a short print run of the book, so I really want this series to appear in color. Given that I have virtually zero budget for this little enterprise I may have to forgo that and go with grey tones; we'll see what happens. Another option is for color online and grey tones in print.

The main thing is that, after years of talking, finally the wheels are moving on DragonFUZE Comics! Once Tikki's Giant is in the bag I am not sure where I want to go next. I need to give some time to my work on my novel Enshae: Phayrie Seekers which you can read all about at the DragonFUZE Creative blog, but I am also seriously tempted to write some superhero comics of my own. I have quite a few good ideas that have been percolating in my head for years and I do want to get them out.

Better that I don't take steps that are ahead of the game right now. The focus is still on getting both issues of Tikki's Giant out this year, and then working on the final Tikki stand-alone book. Well, the second part of that is negotiable; I can't decide whether to focus all of my energies on Tikki and Malinki this year, or whether I should broaden my work into the superhero genre.

Lots of thinking to be done... and writing too!

DragonFUZE #31

I'm well past half way through the script for Tikki's Giant #1 so, hopefully, I am on track to have this in the bag by the end of the month. This is a really fun comic to write and I am having a chance to get some of my other characters, besides Tikki and Malinki, to shine. In particular the story will focus on two characters, a mage and a knight, that I created way back... I think it was in 2003.

The story starts with a giant rampage and now I have gotten past the necessary talking heads and set up, added a bit of phayrie action and gotten to the point where Tikki and Malinki are headed off to hunt giants! When I say 'giant' I mean 'GIANT'! These beasts are HUGE so it will be a lot of fun to see Andrew draw them and to see the action unfold as these horrible creatures go head to head with a few knights and some unexpected adversaries.

How I deal with violence in the script, and how it appears on the finished art page, is of concern to me as I want this book to be all ages in the same vein as the original story, Tiki's Phayrie, so that is creating some interesting challenges. But, things can be scary and characters can be tested without blood being spilled. After all, I want our son to be able to read these sooner rather than later and at the moment he is 15 months old.

I have had this story in my head for close to a year now, so it is nice to see it finally finding some form on the page. More updates, and hopefully some art/ character designs, soon.

DragonFUZE #30

Happy New Year. I just got back from a short vacation today. Over the last few days, I have had some time to get back to writing and have knocked out 6 pages of script for Tikki's Giant, which is the most comic scripting I have gotten done in about 7 months. I feel great typing that line; I hope I can keep it up. So far the story has been mostly set up, but there has been a bit of a giant rampage already, so you got to love that! My current goal is to have the script for #1 in the bag by the end of this month; wish me luck, I'm going to need it. Then it's straight on in to #2.

No definite goals here, but I would love to have the whole thing scripted by the end of February. That gives me five months to have the first book out by mid year. As I said, wish me luck.

DragonFUZE #29

My DragonFUZE Comics blog turns one year old today! Usually this would call for a celebration and a reflection back on achievements over the last year, only I don't feel that I made much progress at all on the creative front in 2008. I am not going to list the projects that were rejected on submission, fell by the wayside, or got derailed by other priorities, but there were some in all of those categories and I feel disappointed about that...

I largely view this year as one of creatively treading water when I had hoped 2008 would be the breakout year for my writing, creations and DragonFUZE Comics as an entity/ brand. This has been a very busy year at home and at work and all of the reasons as to why DragonFUZE Comics hasn't yet taken off are good ones.

As is often the case with me, I tend to bite off more than I can chew and 2008 was no exception. At one stage, I was working on HellGrunt, I Hate You, Scratch and Tikki's Giant while helping out others with some of their projects too. As I have written in past online columns and past blog posts; IT'S TOO MUCH! I may have written those words, but I clearly haven't learned those lessons; until now.

I will be away over the new year holiday period, so now is as good a time as any to dish out the Annual DragonFUZE Comics Thank G-d For You And All You Did To Support My Mad Schemes This Year Awards! And the winners are:

Brant Fowler
I don't really know how I could even contemplate my creative and life journey without this guy in the picture. Sounds sappy and all Hallmark-Card-like, but it's the truth. Brant has been a real support to me over the years that I have known him and I greatly appreciate that. He inspires me in many ways, but mostly through keeping his head up no matter what life throws at him and through his dedication to his work in comics. I suggest you check out my favourite comic of the year, Wannabez at the book's official website. Together, Brant, Scott D.M. Simmons and Ross Hughes have created a fun, light hearted and wholly original comic that is my favourite superhero tale of 2008.

Chuck Kennedy
Chuck is the most inspiring father I know; he had an 'instant' family of triplets some time ago and since then he has been faced with what I have faced over the last year, only multiplied by a factor of three! On top of that, Chuck finds the time to be creative, to offer me advice on life and my own creative path and to generally be a great friend! Chuck is also one of the most honest and straight forward people that I know, and that is a trait I really admire. I value his input which makes my stories better than they should be. Thanks also for the small ways in which you have contributed to helping me be a better Papa.

Cary Kelley
While I am always the man with the plan, Cary is the guy who puts the plan into action! He is the Action Man of our group and is now a self-publishing comic book creator. Fallen Justice is a unique super hero book, but only one aspect of Cary's creativity. Mate, you are also the adventurer I never had the chance to be. I know life has thrown you plenty of curve balls, I admire the way you take it all in your stride, allowing very little to knock you off course. I really value Cary's insights into creativity and story telling which have made me a better writer.

Andrew Law
Of everyone I am naming specifically in this post, Andrew is the guy I have known the least amount of time, but he is also the key to making things happen for me in 2009; we have agreed to work together on a Tikki comic that I will be writing over the new year break. Andrew is also a dedicated family guy, while being an insanely talented artist. I am really looking forward to working with you in 2009 and I am very honored that you would lend your skills to my creations. To get a sense of what some of our work might look like, here is a pin up that Andrew drew last year featuring my characters Tikki and Malinki:



That about wraps it for a look back at DragonFUZE Comics Year One. I hope to bring you more exciting news and definite progress with my projects in 2009. Over the next year I will be working on two Tikki comic book stories: Tikki's Giant and Tikki's Mirror, as well as planning out my new novel Enshae: Phayrie Seekers, which you can read all about here: DragonFUZE Creative.

DragonFUZE #28

I know there is still a whole month to go until the end of the year, but I have been giving a lot of thought to my creative goals for 2009, especially since 2008 has been such a wash out where I haven't progressed or met any of the creative goals I set for myself at the start of this year.

In 2009 I expect to move on to a more challenging job, our kid will be approaching the age of two and entering childcare and I hope we will have another baby on the way. Depending on how the economy travels, we may also move to a new house. So, forgive the mention of the real world, but next year is looking to be a big one.

Somewhere in all of that I need/ want to hit my stride creatively. Over the last few years I have taken steps towards my goal of being a published comic book writer, but I am a writer/ creator with ADHD; I come up with an idea, get really excited about it, leap into it without much thought, talk it up to other creators/ friends and then... PFFFT! So, in 2009 I am hauling back on the ideas and honing all of my creative work to focus on one thing only; phayries.

So, here is the plan. I have one artist lined up to do a Tikki/ Malinki comic; the story will be no more than 2 issues and will chronicle my two mischievous heroes coming face to face with a tribe of giants! My plan is to make this book happen in the first 6 months of 2009. If all goes well, then I have one more Tikki/ Malinki comic story up my sleeve and hopefully I can make that happen too.

Besides that, I want to have finished planning/ plotting my novel Enshae: Phayrie Dawn and to have at least started on the manuscript.

There you go, my creative plan for 2009; completely and utterly focused on my own creations. That's the way it should be.

You can keep track of my progress on my comic book project right here. To keep up to date with happenings in the world of Enshae: Phayrie Dawn, visit my DragonFUZE Creative blog.

DragonFUZE #27

Today, I did something rather rash... Before I go into that, I just want to explain that at home we have two computers that operate on a shared network. However, on our shared network, we only have one Microsoft Office license, which means that when my wife uses Excel or Powerpoint or Word, well I can't use them! I am on a week holiday from work and keen to get some writing done.

So, I decided to check out a system called Google Docs that my new boss showed me a few weeks back. By saving all of my scripts and story notes to Google Docs, I can work on these stories while my wife uses Microsoft Office because I access and save the documents onto Google's database. This also means that I can work on the documents no matter which computer I use without needing portable hard drives or USB sticks or anything like that.

I transfered all of my active comic book/ prose story files over to Google Docs and then I was about to start writing some notes for Scratch when I came up with an idea to write a story for our little boy all about the origin of phayries.

So, I have spent the better part of my first day of holidays looking through the work of Brian Froud (if you don't know who he is, shame on you!), reading about creation myths and writing some of my own. This story is about the birth of the universe, the creation of phayries and other mythical beings (some naughty and not so nice!). My intention is for the story to be suitable for all ages, but it will have some scarier elements; I want to go for the feel of something like The Dark Crystal, which is essentially an all-ages fantasy, although there are some very terrifying aspects to that world.

Well, this project is only a few hours old. But, this blog is the first thing that I have written today that is outside of this story and I have to tell you, I am not enjoying typing this post! I'd rather be off with the phayries!

DragonFUZE #26

Two months gone and no creative updates... The reason why is because there really isn't anything to say... Work and life keep me from pursuing much writing these days.

When I last checked in I was still waiting to hear back on my I Hate You pitch. Well, that pitch got knocked back, so all that will ever be is a script and a few rough layout pages.

Other work that I was doing that seems to be on perpetual hold are the horror stories Scratch and HellGrunt and the fantasy story Tikki's Giant. Of them all Scratch, the story of a nightmare gone horribly wrong, is the only one with a likelihood of being published in the near future. I have a possibly interested artist and a possibly interested publisher. What I don't have is a script! I am still haunted by the experience of writing my massacre/ suicide story I Hate You, so I am wary of delving into darkness again for Scratch.

The thing is though, if I never write it I will never know if I could conquer the fear that is holding me back. So, I have to surmount that block. Plus, I think it is a cool and unconventional horror tale, the potential publisher thinks so too. It's time for me to get fingers to keyboard on that one.

On a lighter note, I want to have more Tikki work published in 2009, so it's time to get off my butt on that too. I have two more Tikki stories that I want to do: Tikki's Giant and Tikki's Mirror. I want to get these stories done for two people; myself and my one year old boy, so that should be a good motivator!

Hopefully later this year, or early next year, I will have more updates for you. I really want these and other DragonFUZE Comics stories out there!

DragonFUZE #25

Well, about one month has passed since my last creative update. Thing is that I just don't know if I can be bothered any more. With a baby boy, a health scare for my wife and me looking for new work, well there isn't much time for writing. Even if there were, is there really a point anymore? I have so many projects that I have started: DragonFUZE, HellGrunt, Scratch and Tikki's Giant to name most of them, but the chances of them being finished and published remain slight at best.

Having said that, opportunities continue to come my way. Just the other day the editor of MangaQuake (which is where Tiki's Phayrie was published) contacted me looking for new stories of mine to publish in their magazine. I pitched I Hate You and I am still waiting to hear back about that. I hope I get the green light for that one because of all my work, I am really keen to see that story published. I think IHY is the strongest thing I have written, it's highly original and has a great twist. The story is also very moving/ disturbing and I strive to have a strong emotional under current in all of my work. So, I hope something will come of IHY and MangaQuake; more news on that when I have it.

As for Tikki's Phayrie the same publisher (Future Quake Press) is interested in doing more Tikki stories, and I have another offer from a small publisher to do a Tikki comic, so it looks like I will definitely have a home for Tikki's Giant if I ever get it written, drawn, etc.

That leaves HellGrunt and Scratch. I really don't know if I am invested in either of these stories. I have put a lot of work into HellGrunt already and have even comissioned a logo design. I have a committed publisher... So, what's the problem? After more than a year of working on this idea, I still can't find a unique voice for the book and I think that is a major problem. This story is a cliche, a blending of Hellboy, Underworld and other bits and pieces of genre culture. Sometimes that isn't a bad thing, as long as you can come up with a unique angle, but the point is that I can't. I haven't got anything in this idea that is different or unique and that I think is the problem.

As for Scratch I have an interested publisher and a committed artist, but the concept remains so vague in its formulation that I don't really know if I can get 10 pages out of it. I mean, I am sure that I can, but again, what is really unique about this story? The truly unique part of it is how dark and twisted the story will be. This tale is even darker than IHY and also involves a suicide, but it is much more graphic and disturbing than even the previously mentioned story. Writing IHY was more confronting, debilitating and painful that anything else I have committed to paper/ screen. I don't know if I can go through an experience like that again, but I will have to go to some very dark places to write Scratch. My hesitancy to do so is a large part of why this work remains incomplete. At only 10 pages, this should be a breeze to write, but I need to confront a lot of darkness to get this story out of me and I just don't know if I can carry that at this time.

DragonFUZE and Tikki spring from the same creative well and I intend to explore these characters for the rest of my life. I am working on a new comic story Tikki's Giant (which I hope to pitch to MangaQuake in the future) and there is always the larger tale that the two fit in to. Of all my work, these are the stories that I really want to tell, but the emotional investment in them is so great that it is almost like I fear writing the words in case I do these wonderful characters and concepts a diservice.

I am not giving or asking for answers in this post. I am just wondering aloud as to where my creative path will take me, and if I really want to travel that road at all...

DragonFUZE #24

I did some plotting work on the weekend on my new fantasy tale Tikki's Giant - I didn't get a whole lot done, but it's a start and I am happy with that. I am enjoying the begining of a new adventure with two of my favourite creations. I also caught up with Kimban The MechaMage and his daughter Eryn in the pages of a much larger tale I am telling, that also stars Tikki and Malinki; all is good in my fantasy world!

So Tikki's Giant is off and away. This will be a full size comic, 22 pages long, so that will be cool. Actually, when I say 'full size comic', this will likely appear online first. Hopefully I can do a full color version for the web and then print a black and white omnibus edition boasting a Tikki's Phayrie/ Tikki's Giant flip book!

I'm playing the story mostly for fun. Just like their first adventure, in which Tikki and Malinki escaped an enraged mage from the Crystal Spire, this time around there will be danger at every turn as the two thrill seekers head off into the Troll Haunt Mountains in search of giants!