THUD
OBJECTIVE
To fulfill a childhood dream of mine of getting a comic book published. 12 year old me would think I was so cool right now and wouldn't believe this is happening to us. This initially started as a personal project but then grew into something bigger. As the story progressed, I was able to find a publisher that was interested in putting the comic out. This was super helpful because I don't think I would've been ready to handle the shipping and logistics involved with this because I wanted to focus on the story.
WORK DONE
Published by: Scout Comics
Role: Art, Writing, Lettering, Logo Design. (Additional production work by Nate Johnson and editorial work by Andrea Molinari.)
This project is a dream come true. My first published comic series, Thud. I like to describe it as having an Eastman and Laird's TMNT feel, with more some humor and nods to hip hop. The awesome folks at Scout Comics were the ones that believed in it enough to agree to publish the series. The first arc of this comic series is 8 issues with anywhere from 30-40 pages each. I did the writing, drawing, and lettering in each book with editorial work done by Andrea Molinari.
Check out the Previews World link!
PROCESS
This entire process was new to me and while I have decades worth of references at my fingertips, it seems hard to find the "right" process for writing and drawing a comic book on your own. It seems there is no "right" process and everyone's path is their own, so I went through a lot of trial and error. I had a general idea of the overall arc but writing all the dialogue and separating the issues was going to be the challenge. So I started with the fun part...drawing! Here are some early sketches of Thud.
With my character starting to form, I learned my own personal writing process in all of this. I knew the plot for each issue, so I would write the dialogue and do rough storyboards as I went along. I would then go to the beginning and refine the imagery, story, and dialogue to where I felt it was at a good spot then start with the final pass. As I drew, I made changes to dialogue and imagery wherever I saw fit. The further I got in the issues, the faster I got both drawing and editing. The pressure started to lessen as I realized a lot of these choices were mine to make.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I HAVE A PUBLISHED COMIC OUT IN THE WORLD! This was one of the most difficult and enjoyable creative endeavors of my creative life so far. I hope that folks like it enough and I keep getting to share Thud's story.
