New page! Here are some note!
1. Last week I posted the script for this page, though only patrons can see it–if you want to read it and can’t, maybe consider becoming a patron? Anyway, you can compare the script to the finished page, see how the vague descriptions were interpreted and transformed into reality.
2. If you look at the script, you’ll see that I included an illustration from How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, to demonstrate how I wanted the punch to look. Kaylah took Big John Buscema’s lesson to heart in that first panel. (Yes, Jack Kirby defined the Marvel style, but it was John Buscema who illustrated the book. He was able to break down Kirby’s dynamism in a simple way.)
3. At his best, John Buscema was SO GOOD. There were also so many pages that he clearly didn’t care about, that are pretty lackluster . . . but when it came to showing a villain slouching in a chair, no one’s ever been better.
4. I thought it would be interesting to share that How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way image, since Kaylah didn’t grow up with Marvel comics; she has her own set of influences. And her brain is probably less rotted than mine.
5. Speaking of influences, “Can’t . . . black . . . out . . .” is very much a Frank Miler line. I was fully cognizant of that when I wrote it.
6. As you can see, after that punch, Jaxula is indeed shellshocked, once again showing how relevant this story’s title is.
7. I really like the blurry turtle effect in the last panel. That’s one of those things where I put it in the script, I wasn’t sure how she’d do it, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it. And he looks like such a sadistic turtle!
8. There’s only a few things happening on this page but, you know, sometimes you just have to show a turtle punch a dude.
9. I really like those background colors, especially in the last panel. The colors in this story have been trippy as heck.
10. There’s only two more pages after this; the battle between Jaxula and Barnacle will be settled soon. There’s a little twist in the next page that you probably don’t see coming . . . I hope it works, dramatically speaking. We shall see!
Hey, we published a page, and that page’s designation is #279! Read that page, read it again, and then join us below . . .
1. I like the way Kaylah drew Jaxula’s face and hand in that second panel, very expressive.
2. Sorry I didn’t get this post written sooner; it has been a very hectic week for me, what with it being the first week of school. Well, I say hectic–I’ve been busy at work, and then come home too exhausted to do anything but make sure that the children have been fed, then lie down on the couch and read.
3. I’m slowly rebuilding my strength. Soon I’ll be back in fighting form!
4. We see on this page that Jaxula is hesitant to start fighting. Even though Barnacle is a giant killer turtle, Jax wants to reason with him. This is the heart of the character, that he’s a peaceful man by nature, who was forced into a militant role because of his father’s expectations. If you haven’t read his backstory, it’s covered here.
5. The school year is off to a good start. I’m happy with my classes, the students have been well-behaved so far (they usually are, the first week), and everything is running smoothly. This year I’m teaching 11th grade English, 12th grade English, and English Companion.
6. The last two panels are set up just as I requested in the script–I’m big on that kind of repetition–but it was Kaylah’s idea to add in that downward diagonal slant, which sort of subconsciously makes the last panel feel slightly more claustrophobic than its predecessor, increasing the sense of danger as Barnacle shatters the force field.
7. My kids also had a good first week of school.
8. On Monday I posted this on Facebook:
ANNOUNCEMENT: I am publicly committing myself to publishing, or getting published, TEN BOOKS in the next year. That is before August 19, 2020. This will include previously mentioned projects such as Leopard Women of Venus, the collected Ross Fulton stories, The Electric Team #10, as well as stuff you haven’t heard of. It’s going to be epic, my friends. LET’S GO.
9. That should be an attainable goal. The Electric Team #10, which will consist of the three unpublished short stories we’ve done (“Time Troubles”, “Ubermensch Unleasahed,” and “Shellshocked”) is only 3 pages and a cover away from being done. I have SO MANY things that are close to being done, which is the main reason I publicly announced that go, to force myself to follow through.
10. Once again the characters are fighting a giant turtle which, while hopefully exciting for the reader, I don’t have much to say about. Next week there will be more giant turtle fighting, but there will be some twists! Get ready!
(If you would like to read the notes for the previous two pages, they are available at our Patron page, www.patreon.com/electricteam.)
Page 276 is eager for you to read it! Make sure you’ve done so, then come back to read these notes.
1. I’m late in writing these notes, because I was out of town most of the week. I went with my wife, kids, and parents to Mammoth Cave.
2. We also went to Dinosaur World!
3. While we were away, my buddy and creative partner Josh wrote a good blog post about our upcoming project Leopard Women of Venus! Read it!
4. Oh, hey, also we released page 276 of The Electric Team on Tuesday, right before we left town. Kaylah Blaackar did the artwork.
5. This is another page of conversation, and while most of the stuff they say is stuff that the reader already knows, I felt it was worth making it clear that the characters know it, you know? For example, we know that the other members of the Electric Team were transported to Swann Castle, but know we know that Jaxula also knows that, so he’s not totally freaked out and thinking they’re dead or anything. This is worth establishing, since we cut away from Jax for a couple of years.
6. I just now noticed the typo in there where Jax says “When we shunted the excess enerdy”–enerdy? Dang, I need to fix that.
7. I wanted to put in that line where Jax acknowledges that he has made some questionable decisions in the name of love. If you’ve read “Brianna’s Story,” you know that he made some drastic changes to his life because of Brianna, but we never got to see his point of view in that story. This is the first hint of how he might think about it.
8. But we can’t just have them stand around and talk forever, there needs to be some action! So this page leads to a cliffhanger–what is roaring at them? WHAT?!?
9. We’ll find out next week, when things get intense!
10. But seriously, if you’re in the Mammoth Cave area, and you like dinosaurs, check out Dinosaur World, my kids loved it.