Another Blueprint Magazine has hit the street–I’m a little late with this update as it came out last week, but alas, here it is! This magazine’s theme was “patriotism”. It’s a little more special to me this time around since it features a front and back cover designed by yours truly.You can read this issue online on the Blueprint Magazine site (along with back issues)–so go go go!

The fifth installment of the “Beholder Series” made it into the tail end of this issue even though I thought for sure I’d have to skip it this month. Now that I’m taking on writing comics more or less full time, you’d think I’d have more time to get around to everything. The reality is that with so much time to devote to thinking about creative endeavors, it’s remarkable how much time just flies by.

Thanks to Emmanuel and his unintentionally effective subtle encouragements (or maybe a “nudge” of this form from him simply means I get to see his awesome art bring a new short piece to life–and that’s all it took to commit to it over one night with a few days to deadline).

The idea for this strip didn’t come quickly, but it also didn’t really have much other competition when it finally sprouted to life in my mind. At first I was going to do something more obvious, like showing an interaction between a fiendish tyrant and his devoted followers who sacrifice themselves in exchange for the security and economic growth he provides his nation. I decided it might be a little too much for this venue and shelved that character. He will likely be brought to life for a much more dense and long form story in the future though–maybe even in future issues of Raven Nevermore if it becomes an ongoing gig.

The next thought pattern became: “What’s beyond national patriotism?”… Like, why not “global patriotism?”… or lets scale beyond that, why not “universal patriotism?”

You get the point. This scenario became obvious after that. I’ve always wanted to find a way to introduce this alien race to the “World of Hellmouth” but figured I’d take much longer to bringing them up. This strip acts as the official premiere for these stranded intergalactic travelers. Details about them, of course, will still be withheld for future stories!

The latest issue of Blueprint Magazine is on stands in the Waterloo Region and online as always as well! The theme of this January issue is “Love”. The Beholder strip for this issue at first seemed difficult to come to–but then I remembered all the mermaid motifs I focused on as an artist during university. My use of the mermaid as a fantastical creature was the opposite of that created in popular media. My mermaid was a seductress, she was evil, purely a creature motivated by her lust to procreate with human men… violently. That resolved the direction and this was the first strip done with much breathing room before the deadline!

I also got to feature a bit of the Iberian culture from the World of Hellmouth. They are a culture of fisherman, explorers, simple folk really. The culture also represents a strong pirate nation that makes a fortune with the slave trade. I imagined a lone young man who dreamed of a more simple life where he could find a dream at sea to take him away from the pressures of his society. Poor bastard.

Here’s a cover preview to Raven Nevermore #2! This issue introduces a new villain for the Cog Town Nightwatcher to face off against–just a hint: He’s the kinda villain that’ll teach you to fear the silence in the dark, even if you thought you had those fears mastered. The story behind “Mute” is one that stretches well past this first arc and I’m eager to one day be able to tell it!

Strip number three came out in the November issue of Blueprint Magazine.

This one was the longest one to figure out for me. I must have tried to work out thirteen or so different concepts and scripts for this month’s issue which centered around the theme of “food”. Something to do with cannibilism came to mind first but then the more it rolled around trying to find a way to flesh itself out, I determined it just seemd to obvious a direction and that wasn’t challenging enough to me.

What came after words came from me asking the question: “There’s got to be something I can do relating to vegetarians instead…”

–And so the Cannible Tree was born! I just love the last panel, Emmanuel nailed exactly what I had in mind and I awkwardly chuckle each time I imagine the dance of joy coming from minions of the necrafruit tree.

It is featured below (Click for larger view):

The October issue of Blueprint Magazine has hit the public–I’m a few days behind here! I’m hitting the town tonight and will have to find me a copy. You can read (“flip through”) the digital copy in their Archives. This issue’s theme was sex, sexuality and gender (etc). I couldn’t help but immediately think of the short strip tale below (no pun intended… but awesomely accepted).

I actually can’t believe that the submission deadline is already next THURSDAY! Where does the time go! Next issue theme is about “Food” and I haven’t even begun to think about the strip. It’ll involve eating, that can be certain. Here’s to another exciting last-minute production!

After an awesome September issue of Blueprint where the “Beholder Series” got its launch, Emmanuel and I threw together another strip for submission tonight for the October issue of Blueprint Magazine! The issue’s theme is gender and sexuality (amongst other sub-topics like feminism, eroticism, etc). Due to my “out-of-nowhere” work load over the last 2 weeks, the scripting of the half-page script took forever to get to.

I had the concept fairly early on–one that, after you see the strip, seems almost self-explanatory. At least in my head since Hellmouth as a world has been brewing for nearly 6 years! I passed the script onto Emmanuel and, like always, he nailed it on the first go around! His thumbnail sketch was more like rough pencils (at least in my eyes) and he went straight to ink from there. All in one day!

Letters will be done this evening and then off it goes! Another great little chance to show a piece of Hellmouth that may never get a larger story told about it… maybe.

On a related note: If there are any artists out there in particular who have work that they’d like to see in print, please go to the Blueprint Magazine Submission page and consider sending in work for future issues (or this one if it’s not too short notice!!!). There is no pay for the work, but check over the mags content and feel out for yourself whether it’s a product that you wish to support with a contribution. It is a freely distributed magazine in the Kitchener-Waterloo community relying on funding to be produced. If you aren’t an artist but know artists: Please pass on the word!

[Click to View Larger]

Blueprint Magazine is out! Click on the link to read the online version is a cool flash flip-book viewer!

The first installment of what I hope will be a monthly series guided by the magazine’s theme is printed at the end of the magazine. World of Hellmouth: Beholder Series will be a window into the world of the Hellmouth and it’s people, places, monsters and events. I’m really excited about this opportunity to be able to explore small one-shots with Emmanuel Xerx Javier, the series artist.

Great thanks goes out to editor Erin Epp for this amazing opportunity!

It’s official! Blueprint Magazine will be running half-page strips in their periodical. This month’s issue focuses on the theme of death. This in turn led to Raven Nevermore coming up in conversation one night at a dinner event between my partner, Nikki McCallum, and Editor-in-Chief Erin Epp; both of whom work together in an organization called LSPIRG (Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group). Upon hearing Raven Nevermore’s premise, Erin asked Nikki to get in contact with me about the possibility of running a short strip in this month’s magazine.

One little catch: I had 4 days to do it!

I immediately contacted artist Emmanuel Xerx Javier, the art machine behind Raven Nevermore, and since he’s nearly as crazy as I am (nearly I said!) he was immediately on board as well. It was midnight for me and morning for him on the opposite side of the world. Emmanuel was preparing to take a weekend trip in a few hours. I eventually needed to sleep. Between a collaborative back and forth on the spot, the entire thing was done by the time I woke up and then re-written and lettered the next day.

Blueprint Magazine is a local publication centered in the Waterloo Region. It is the official student magazine of Wilfred Laurier University and part of the Wilfred Laurier University Student Publications group. The publication aims to provide an independent outlet for student discourse, creative thought and expression between the university masses and the Waterloo community as a whole. Each issue is composed entirely of content submitted by students and members of the greater community.

Once it gets published and released around Sept 25th, I will put the strip up here as well! Each strip will be a window into the World of Hellmouth and will be directed by Blueprint’s monthly theme. Here’s to looking forward to other great opportunities!

I hit some road blocks along the way and had to change cover artists last minute as a business choice. So two covers where done, but this one wins out in the end. It was done by Emmanuel Xerx Javier and myself as a collaboration. Emmanuel created the concept, layout, design framework and finally the art itself. I took that and did the digital work around the art. I’ve always loved collaborative processes but have lost some of my own confidence over the years. I hope to be able to do these collabs for the rest of this series.

Below is are the components that took me in this final direction. The first is Emmanuels art, with the background concepts stripped out. The second is a free texture I found online of paint splattered on a wall.

I immediately saw a raven shape–and I took that as a sign from a great power to roll with it and drop my previous concepts asap. I regret loosing the dog, but sometimes the art controls you. I spent 5 hours last night doing concepts with the dog in it that I ended up trashing… all but one. Maybe it’ll be for the trade some day .

The essential wrapper around the World of Hellmouth is one of horror. With that said though, its also a world filled with steampunk, fantasy and mythological elements. The purpose of the setting isn’t to throw horrific scenarios at the protagonists until they can’t do anything but cower in the corners of their rooms, stripped of any will to be heroic in a world that needs heroes.

Moody descriptions filled with the possibility of a greater evil always watching and ready to strike is often enough to convey a moderate amount of trepidation in a party while they go about their quest, but most importantly is that heroes still have room to be heroes in a time of darkness.

Encroaching Evil

In the World of Hellmouth it’s obvious who the enemy is–for the most part–and that’s the point of applying some of the elements of a good horror tale and leaving room to still surprise the heroes with twists that always leave them guessing. The obvious enemy of course is the essence of the Hellmouth: its entity, its influence, its fiends and cult devotees.

In the world of horror, things are commonly very black and white. Either something is good, or it’s evil. This makes it very easy for a hero to be a hero. The World of Hellmouth is rarely that clear, and the voids of gray happen enough to put heroes on edge each time they encounter what could possibly be the next big threat to humanity. What happens when a fiendish leader of a township uses its influence to protect the population from territorial dragons or renegade celestials that believe the whole town to be corrupt of evil and a blight on the land? Who do the heroes side with then? Having the heroes in these questionable scenarios opens up many opportunities for them to develop their character in ways they might not have predicted. This unpredictability should be just as exciting for all involved as the conclusion of the adventure’s plot itself.

In the World of Hellmouth, the truth of the matter is closer to the modern horror tactic of having the menace survive at the end of the tale. The Hellmouth will always exist. As daunting as that sounds, heroes will be heroes in this settling for their tenacity to never give up. A small win against a menace influenced by the Hellmouth is one victorious step against defeating the Hellmouth as a whole.

Sometimes defeating a high powered menace is possible, but only at great risk–and sometimes even sacrifice. The common convention is that evil will be defeated and characters will gain more power through surviving the experience. It is encouraged to make some plots hang on seemingly overwhelming odds that might actually terminate the life of a character during the climactic battle. Hellmouth can not be feared if these kinds of dangers do not present themselves, and heroes can not be heroes without great lose at times.