Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice, Issue 2, Page 5

March 18, 2016 | bflaig

Open disclosure: This is totally a cheat page. The bottom half is reused from the first page (with minor tweaks) for comedic effect. So, this page was half completed before I even started yesterday.

…but if you look at it another way…I finished the top half of this page in 2 days, which has to be some kind of personal record! Here’s a big THANK YOU to Brent throwing me a softball this week. I owe you a beer.

I think we should play some sort of game where readers pick out all of the changes I make to a page after it’s posted. For instance, Justice’s cape in page 5 now has 100% more texture from when I posted the same image in page 1 some weeks ago. I hope to post all of the updated pages 1-5 as a preview in the next week or so, then everyone can write in and point out my tinkering. Maybe win a prize. hmmmm…

We’re about three weeks away from S.P.A.C.E.! Our names have been added to the Exhibitor list! Every sentence has an exclamation point! More info soon!

Thanks for reading!

BF
BD

Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice, Issue 2, Page 4

March 10, 2016 | bflaig

Welcome back! This week, we’re featuring Page 4 of our flagship title Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice! This one’s a real plot-mover…every now and then we need to give ol’ Vic a break from all of the face-punching and alien-shooting so he can indulge in a bit of pleasant conversation. No worries though! Talking just makes Vic thirsty for Justice! And alcohol. Vic is always thirsty for alcohol.

Just look at all the clues we’re dropping for Vic Waters’ origin story! Not to mention some good explainin’ vis-à-vis Mr. Century’s unique skills and his role in Vic’s life.

In other news, we’ve taken the plunge and purchased an exhibitor table at this year’s S.P.A.C.E. (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) in Columbus, OH on April 9 & 10, 2016. Our first convention! Well, at least the first behind the table 🙂 Lots more to come…stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

BF
BD

Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice, Issue 2, Page 3

February 5, 2016 | bflaig

Here’s a pro tip, free of charge:

If you’re inking your comic digitally, it helps to have a computer with a fully functioning hard drive.

The good news is that I didn’t lose any data. The bad news is that my Apple Paperweight Pro™ cost me quite a bit of time. The better news is that I’m working hard to catch up…

Page 3 introduces a new, important character to Vic Waters’ world: Mr. Century. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing quite a bit more of him beyond this story…

That’s all for now. Back to plugging away!

And remember kids: back up your data. Like, all of the time. Trust me.

Thanks for reading!

BF
BD

Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice, Issue 2, Page 2

January 7, 2016January 7, 2016 | bflaig

Hello 2016!

…and goodbye to 2015! You were great and all…well, except for the crummy month of December where I was sicker than dog. You can have that part back

But it’s a new year and I’m back to making comics!

Speaking of: check out page 2 from the second issue of TToTFJ!

Vic’s got a new case, but he’s having a hard time finding his motivation. Maybe he needs to look in the bottom of that bottle…

What a sucker. Doesn’t he know that Kids are the Worst?

Thanks for reading! Here’s hoping for a great 2016!

Thanks,

BF
BD

Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice, Issue 2, Page 1

November 20, 2015 | bflaig

Finally started rolling on Issue 2 🙂

Not much for me to say here, because Justice says it so much better…

I’ve learned a few new tricks since the first issue, so hopefully the pages will flow a little faster this time around. I need to catch up with Brent…I’m pretty sure he’s already two full scripts ahead of me :-O

Thanks for reading!

BF
BD

Airlock Finished-ish!

October 8, 2015 | bflaig

Airlock is finished-ish! Finally, right? At least I’m through with the illustration, coloring and lettering stages. I just have a bit of massaging and prepress stuff to complete before sending it off to the printers. Here’s what the first few panels look like…

Airlock is my love note of sorts to all of the sci-fi media I loved growing up, including the movies Blade Runner, Aliens, and Tremors; a few choice Justice League comics; and the Metroid video game series, among other things. There’s quite a bit of world-building here that I’m hoping to continue on in another story. But that will have to wait…I have the second issue of Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice just calling my name! I’m excited to have something new to work on for a change 😉 And Brent has a good jump on the third and fourth issues, so I better get my butt in gear!

Thanks for reading!

Airlock – Work in Progress 3

September 3, 2015 | bflaig

Hello, my name is Brandon and I am bad at blogging and social media.

Seriously though, it has been far too long between posts, and I aim to rectify this situation. Let’s get started with another update on Airlock!

Here’s a closeup of the mystery spaceman…

…and here’s a doodad showing what he looks like under the helmet. This part is an ID card of sorts that needs some more lettering…

…and here’s the whole can of worms. Pay no attention to the left side.

Picture this: a panoramic comic that is folded to reveal only certain elements as you go. That’s what the goal is here. Imagine that the left half (the one full of Space Unicorns) is folded behind the right half, which is then folded in half with the top behind the bottom, which is then folded in half like a wee book. Believe it or not, Mr. Spaceman will appear on the front of the “book” and will act as a sort of self-cover. Boom. Easy, right? 😉

There’s still lots to complete here, and a few other things that I’m intentionally hiding so as not to spoil the story, but it’s coming along nicely and should be done in the foreseeable future. If anything, this comic has taught me one important lesson: NEVER. EVER. EVER. COLOR MY OWN COMIC. AGAIN. EVER. :-O

In other news, Brent delivered an awesome script to me for the second issue of Twisted Tales of Two-Fisted Justice. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve received it and I am a giant slacker. On the plus side, I’ve started sketching out the pages and Brent has given me some truly epic scenes to illustrate.

Super excited!

That’s all for now…thanks for reading!

BF
BD

Airlock – Work in Progress 2

June 18, 2015 | bflaig

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but that just means we’re staying extra busy making comics 😉 I’ll try to do as little talking here and hopefully the images will speak for themselves. Here’s a bunch of layers I’ve created for Airlock, and at the end you can start to see them come together…

And here’s an image I’ve started for the other side of the poster. Nothing but stars here, but if I show you much more I’ll give it all away…

FUN FACT: I was really dreading drawing a bazillion stars, so I did some Googling and found that NASA has royalty free imagery you can use for artistic purposes.

So, I used this guy, found here…

And also this guy, found here…

…because NASA can do stars way better than I can 😉

That’s all for now…thanks for stopping by!

Airlock – Work in Progress

May 21, 2015 | bflaig

So…I finally finished inking the background of “Airlock” (unofficially the official name of the comic) and started adding flat colors. The funny thing is, I have a ton of imagery to draw over the background, probably covering it by about 50% or so, but these elements will be scattered randomly, so it was just easier to illustrate the whole background now and then draw the new elements on a layer above.

And before you ask…yes, these images are intended to be upside down. Because…something something something story. You’ll get it when you read it 😉

This comic is intended to be a folded 11″ x 17″ that you read as you unfold it. Nifty. When I get a little further, I should be able to show you how that works…

And I’m either a genius or an idiot, I’m not sure which, but I’m trying something new and inking this piece at 200% size (34″ x 22″). Most comics are created at about 166% finished size and then reduced to smooth out the inked lines. I’m hoping that the extra bit of size will help hide the fact that my current digital inking setup doesn’t allow me to use a ruler, so there’s not a true straight line in the whole thing.

Yep, I’ve decided…I’m an idiot. But this idiot is happy with how this is turning out 🙂

Thanks for reading!