I just finished the final part of REBELLION that I'm involved with last night. I'm really excited to see the future installments and see where the guys take it. It was a late finish at 5am (as usual) but I like to cram as much into it as possible. The basic formula is:EFFORT X TIME = TIRED JAS
Overall, I think the artwork is the best I've done. I think it's a step above this installment. On the downside, I don't think the colouring is quite as detailed as I would have liked. But as I'm reading in Stephen King's seventh and final book of THE DARK TOWER, "Wish in one hand, sh!t in the other and see which one fills up first."
But let's come back and wrap up LEFT BEHIND up before the next installment goes live tomorrow morning.
It became more and apparent as I drew everyone that I really wanted to draw some superheroes. These characters were no longer portraits of my friends but superheroic effigies of them. Many people noticed and commented on the visual similarities of this story to mainstream superhero comics. Some people love it, some people didn't, some people were indifferent. Some people wished the show was this big, some people found that it didn't fit with the show. The show is a "big" show, but I guess it's no Michael Bay extravaganza (speaking of which, I want to find an IMAX so big that I have to launch myself into geosynchronous orbit to fully capture the hugeness that's gonna be Transformers 2.)
The tight costumes and the team as well as the widescreen feel made it all feel larger than the show. What's funny is looking at the comments how aware people are of the limitations of television as a media. That primary limitation is budget. I see a great amount of wish fulfillment dreaming of a budget to be able to have a show of this visual extravagance on the air. The awareness of the audience stunned me. Do we sit down to watch television expecting a lower budget than we do of a movie? I know that when I sit down to watch Battlestar Galactica I don't have that expectation at all. And before you start with the BSG comments I *STILL* haven't watched the final season. I'm starting again and working my way through it again to give it full context. So just hold your god damn horses for me, ok? Some of us have been busy trying to entertain you. Cut me some slack. I'm still churning through TORCHWOOD season 2 and LOST season 5.It's funny I bumped into some fans saying that the episode COLD SNAP was their favourite because they loved how Tracy froze everything. It just goes to show that any part of a show can be exceptional enough to capture people's imagination: direction, acting, writing, costumes, production, paintings or a cg sequence.
A lot of people loved West's "Mario" comment that the Princess is in another castle. I played a bit of Mario Brothers when I was a kid and did my time with sidescrolling platform games (yes, I know it's evolved a bit since then) so I don't know if it's a direct quote. Me? I thought it was more a thinly veiled code for any sort of fairy tale sequence. I guess we tap into what resonates with us. I guess someone who doesn't have a penchance for online rpgs is going to have to tell me if it's a direct quote. Or... I could just ask Ollie. But I think he's more of a LEFT 4 DEAD dude than a MARIO dude. And if you think his fiance Abby is collecting gold coins and riding cute green dinosaurs you're totally wrong. She's dual wielding M1911 pistols and carving holes the size of dinner plates into the craniums of the undead right next to him.
<- left you can see more of Paul Caggegi's awesome 3d modeling work on my layouts. I just slapped them in and drew over them so Ollie could see what I was doing.TOMORROW: I was supposed to post on Friday, but drawing my ass off and getting free tix for Heather and I to go see the totally ghetto LA Erotica convention distracted me. Without any desire to purchase hardcore porn, a penile enhancement or a vibrator I found myself vaguely unentertained. It was like someone had built a convention out of my spam inbox and populated it with a bunch of guys who still live in their mother's basements. Ker-eepy.
But anyway, I will post the final page of LEFT BEHIND tomorrow, as the next part goes live tomorrow also. I wanna start covering the new stuff on Wednesday. God, I actually have time to blog now that I'm outside of the crushing (but incredibly fun) weight of HEROES.
4 comments:
Hi Jason,
Two things:
Firstly, BSG 4. I'm sure you've heard it all before, but it's worth getting into. I rate it above Lost series 5 (which I've just finished), but for me, Lost is a one trick pony now. Every episode is predicated on creating a Chris Claremont X-Menesque dangling plotline to hook you in to watch the next episode. Yes, it's well done, but I feel no need whatsoever to watch it again. BSG, however, I can definitely enjoy over and over. Season 4 has some strong (and weak) areas, but it's well worth a look. Although, it is hard to top that Season 3 cliffhanger. BSG is the one series where I've eagerly awaited the soundtracks as much as the DVD releases.
Second, I like your comments about the limitations of TV. (In a wider context, your insights into the drawing and collaborative process are great) Have you read Scott McCloud's books? I've been getting into them in a big way in the last 6 months (I've had a couple of them for years) and his take on the potential of the comic medium, online in particular, really set me thinking. As did reading his Zot collection, which I did recently. His website also has a couple of nifty comic stories that demonstrate a couple of different modes of story telling.
Anyway, keep up the good work. I've really been enjoying your Heroes work both on and off the blog.
Simon Adams
I always love reading your blog posts, and this one is particularly awesome because it mentions Left 4 Dead, BSG, and Torchwood.
Seriously amazing job on Rebellion. I am so impressed and awed. It's great to see the fruits of your (and Ollie's) labor and always awesome to see someone doing what they love...and blogging about it so that we get the inside scoop. Go Jason!
Great work, images and words!! It's worth it that you keep yourself busy entertaining us :) I also dig the insights as you know, and the recommendations (Powers, WE3) you did recently were incredible!
Now, I was reading the old 'SYLAR page 6' post where you said that 'the (HEROES) comics are being considered "just comics", and that's a huge shame. They can be so much more than that.'
To me, and I'm sure to several others, they did become much more and keep growing. With your work you took the Heroes comics to a whole different level, and turned them into that 'essential reading' you were hoping for.
The buzz and fan comments generated by this story arc comes to prove that. And to me, it did top the show! I think that, among other things, the acting on the show is incredible well done, but:
Costumes+POWERS+Widescreen action+unlimited budget = unstoppable awesomeness :)
"The Princess is in another castle." Is a direct Mario Quote.
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