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JG's Comic Action Thread

JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127
in Art Studio

Hello everyone, this thread is going to contain all my Daz comic-related stuff.

I've been talking about coming out with a comic for years, but I never really pulled the trigger on it. I've created many comic strips and one-off comics from over the years, but I never actually came out with the main story I wanted to tell.

Mostly this was because I just wasn't satisfied with the look I was getting out of Daz. But now I feel like I've cracked the "3D comic code" as it were, and I'm moving forward with my first comic which is called "The Bill Collectors: Someone Must Pay".

To the outside world, 'The Bill Collectors' appear to be a group of ruthless mercenaries, bent on inciting anarchy and unrest around the world. This is true...but it's only half of the real story... 

 

I've got about 8 pages or so done, and my initial plan was to come out with a 12 issue mini-series. However, after reading stuff from creators like Jim Zub (www.jimzub.com), I decided to come out with a one-shot first, maybe 40 or so pages (52 at most). Then I can hopefully gain some traction and get people interested before the full story comes out.

Anyway, here's the cover for what was going to be issue one - I probably won't use this for the one-shot, so we'll see if it actually ends up as the cover to the real issue number one:

Comments

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Now here's a look at my main character, "Jackknife Jenkins".

    This is a "extra" page I came up with to give some backstory on the characters in the form of a government report from the agency that's charged with hunting these guys down.

  • Worlds_EdgeWorlds_Edge Posts: 2,152

    Excellent renders @Johngarrett  From what you have shown, you are making a high quality comic book.  The first thing I thought when I saw the first one above is that wow, that would also make a great book cover.  

    You might be interested in the discussions in the "non-photorealizstic renders" thread.

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Thanks Worlds_Edge, I just headed over there, lol! 

    Worlds_Edge said:

    Excellent renders @Johngarrett  From what you have shown, you are making a high quality comic book.  The first thing I thought when I saw the first one above is that wow, that would also make a great book cover.  

    You might be interested in the discussions in the "non-photorealizstic renders" thread.

     

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127
    edited May 2017

    Here's another "government report" sheet on the rest of the Bill Collectors. I had a lot of fun making this one, I used Adobe Illustrator to lay it out.

    Post edited by JOHNGARRETT on
  • mmitchell_houstonmmitchell_houston Posts: 2,484

    You have some intriguing work. Thank you for sharing it with us.

  • FirstBastionFirstBastion Posts: 7,760
    edited May 2017

    I like that front cover. It parlays the idea of the story in a single image.  One thing I'd suggest is making a little room at the title for your publisher's imprint.  Even if you are publishing yourself,  placing an imprint adds to the design balance. .

    Post edited by FirstBastion on
  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Thanks much, I appreciate you checking it out! 

    mmitchell_houston said:

    You have some intriguing work. Thank you for sharing it with us.

     

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Thanks, @FirstBastion! And that's a great idea. It had actually slipped my mind, so I'm glad you mentioned it.

    FirstBastion said:

    I like that front cover. It parlays the idea of the story in a single image.  One thing I'd suggest is making a little room at the title for your publisher's imprint.  Even if you are publishing yourself,  placing an imprint adds to the design balance. .

     

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Sam Wilson: Captain America.

    All the posing/setup was in Daz, and I did the materials, lighting and rendering in Blender Cycles.

    I made a "comic style" render out of Daz with this same model, and I showed that one over in the Daz NPR thread here:

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2508311/#Comment_2508311

    Anyway, as I mentioned there, the suit was tough to make. This is a really elaborate costume and there were some issues crossing the UV's. I got tired of fighting it and ended up making a new UV Set in Blender to make it easier to position the elements of the suit.

    The wings and harness I modeled in Blender, but the rigging in Daz was a bit of a problem. They work, but they don't deform exactly as I would like.

    The craziest thing is I spent quite a bit of time modeling the shield to get it exactly right, and I didn't end up showing it in either of my renders. Oh, well. Maybe I'll do another one of these down the road. Even though it looks like Sam's run as Captain America is over, I enjoyed it a lot, so I can see myself putting in the work on another one.

  • wsterdanwsterdan Posts: 2,348
    JOHNGARRETT said:

    Now here's a look at my main character, "Jackknife Jenkins".

    This is a "extra" page I came up with to give some backstory on the characters in the form of a government report from the agency that's charged with hunting these guys down.

    Hello everyone, this thread is going to contain all my Daz comic-related stuff.

    I've been talking about coming out with a comic for years, but I never really pulled the trigger on it. I've created many comic strips and one-off comics from over the years, but I never actually came out with the main story I wanted to tell.

    Mostly this was because I just wasn't satisfied with the look I was getting out of Daz. But now I feel like I've cracked the "3D comic code" as it were, and I'm moving forward with my first comic which is called "The Bill Collectors: Someone Must Pay".

    Absolutely love the look and feel of these pages; very, very nice.  It looks more drawn than 3D rendered, very impressive. Hopefully you'll share more. 

    -- Walt Sterdan

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    I love your style.  The cover is unique and really pops.  Nice!

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

    Thanks @wsterdan and @Knittingmommy! There's definitely more coming up that I want to post here before I put out the finished product.

  • JOHNGARRETTJOHNGARRETT Posts: 127

     

    These are a couple of panels from what was previously going to be the beginning of my "Bill Collectors" limited-series.

    However, as I mentioned above, after doing some more research I'm going to back up and lead with a one-shot story instead.

    These panels are from an 8-page segment that I think I will release as a free preview.

    It's funny how you work so hard on something, and then you come back a few months later and all you can see are mistakes...aargh.

    Anyway, there's some things I'm doing differently now, and I've updated my upcoming course to reflect that.

  • megarandommadnessmegarandommadness Posts: 29

    Awesome!

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    These are very cool!  Looking forward to seeing  more.

  • vrba79vrba79 Posts: 1,398

    Certainly can't argue with these results.

  • SteveM17SteveM17 Posts: 973

    Never managed to get the comic book look right myself.Very striking cover, if you don't use it for the cover you should certainly use it for something (advertising the book for example).

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,547

    That cover is bad ass.

  • tkdroberttkdrobert Posts: 3,547

    Forgot to mention.  In addition to the NPR thread there is a thread specific to Comics with some great info.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/36615/comics/p1

  • HeadwaxHeadwax Posts: 9,987
    edited July 2017

    great thread, thanks for sharing your work

    Post edited by Headwax on
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