Notes from the Field: Odd Job

So I started my onsite contract gig with Sony Online yesterday. I know what you're thinking, it's the same thing I've been thinking. Who cares? No...in reality what I've been thinking is, how bad will this impact my schedule?

Suffice it to say, pretty bad.

I'm going from producing about a page to two pages of color a day to a page every two days. I'm not about to compromise the project, and I don't want to compromise the release of this book. My goal has always been to have all five books done before we solicit Book One. At the very least...at this rate, I'd have four of the five done...or so I strongly believe.

Now I can't really say for sure, but we are planning on soliciting Book One around October. Meaning it'll be in Previews to order and will be in your shops for December. Again the goal being to get it out before 2008 and to have the story start the same month it takes place in the future. With that in mind the pressure is really on. So how do I manage it?

I don't live much. Meaning, the only time I get to relax or chill is when I'm sleeping or two nights per week where I hang out with my wife and watch a couple of films. Other than hitting the gym frequently I'm at the board or computer knocking this stuff out. With this new opportunity at Sony, I'll be working on what I can during lunch, mostly prep work for the last two books, and the marketing materials. Which in the end could really help me quite a bit. As it's hard to break from the work on the books to do the work outside the books that is also important.

It's all about balance.

Art-wise I'm quite out of balance. I need to get back to my regimen of drawing and painting from life. Soon I keep telling myself. Very soon.

You be wondering what the art in this installment is? Well, it's early development work and tests to figure out how I was going to color the book and execute the blackline. Every story demands to be told the best way possible. Not everything deserves the same approach.

BTW, if you haven't read Scott's latest blog entry, it's really worth it. If you're the least bit interested in Evolution this focuses on the creative evolution as well as the maturing of two creatives. It amazes me we had the foresight to keep all this stuff. Can't wait to see what other surprises we unearth.

Stay tuned!

=s=

The Story Behind The Writing: Origin Of The Species

I began writing The Overman when I was 18 years old, during my first year as a student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. This has been one of those projects that refused to be ignored, and despite lulls in activity through the years, Shane and I have repeatedly gone back to The Overman, like frustrated scientists re-examining alien technology. We couldn't get it out of our system, because we knew there was something there worth developing. We bought into our own half-serious pretentiousness regarding The Overman. Just as my crude scribble implies (see letter below to Shane White, dated 1990), The Overman really was heavier than we thought, and we weren't ready to carry that weight yet.


We are ready now, and I know that after you download the preview from this site and read it, you'll agree. While Shane is hard at work drawing the comic, I'm going to take some time here every week and delve into my story archives. I have a large cardboard box packed with hand-written notes, letters, scripts and various drafts of The Overman, beginning around 1989. I
won't post complete scripts or plot synopsis drafts from that period, because honestly I don't want to confuse our new audience, the folks who will read this mini-series for the first time when issue #1 hits comic shop shelves in December. The plot and characters have changed much through the years, so keep this in mind when you read these never-before-published excerpts. I have quite a few of Shanes early drawings, sketches and sequentials from this period as well, things he's probably forgotten about. For the same reason that I'm holding back on publishing completed scripts and other plot points, I'm going to resist the temptation to post those drawings, which also include a few of my sketches and character concepts. After the series concludes next year, we'll take another look through all of this old material and see if some of it can be put to use in a special feature section in the collected edition or elsewhere.


Scott Reed
www.websbestcomics.com

Notes from the Field: Looking back to our Future

A friend of mine once said, "Anything worth doing, is worth doing right." What I took from that for my work is to do the pre-production before the production. Because any journey you go you need to be prepared in every way.

The reality in all this though is you can overthink things to such a degree as to immobilize the actual doing of the work. So for my approach I laid down the big notes, the items that I needed to clearly address. First and foremost was the look of the world in which this story is staged.


Secondly I had to have the characters personalities reflect the world they live in. Scott didn't write the visuals anymore than to explain things to move the story along. That being said all we knew for years was that it was "in the future".

The characters were pretty fleshed out, and have evolved somewhat over time as our tastes and skills have evolved. But when it came down to this iteration of work consistency and imagination were very important. Going against current convention of "sci-fi" entertainment I took a look to our past to find a look for our future. The Machine Age was a perfect place to start. It's strong shapes and open spaces really make for the kind of atmosphere I wanted to play in. It would give it a distinct look on the shelves to boot as many people are caught up in the world of tomorrow.

While these are older concepts some of the base ideas have held true and have been carried through in the books. I hope you'll come to appreciate the effort being made to transfer you into our future.

=s=

Notes from the Field: More Concepts

Here are some of the older concepts that I started when Scott first sent me the final script. I was so inspired by the words that I needed an outlet. Of course at that time he said nothing of me getting to do all the artwork for it.



Luckily for me he was old and weak and after birthing the script curled up, died and wanted nothing more to do with it. Three books into the five book epic and I'm starting to understand where he's coming from. Though at this stage of the game it's a big hump to get over. I mean I'm right smack in the middle.

How do I keep my energy up?

I guess the way I look at it is, the middle is just that the middle, and it should be easier after that. But I think Book Four will prove to be challenging as it's second to the last...kind of an obstacle to the end. Luckily I reread the script and realize how much of a challenge it's going to be to do.

Book Four is like nothing I've ever read. I hope I can make the visuals equally so.

I think there will be a bit of post-partem depression when all is said and done. I hope there's enough people who by the book to warrant a trade paperback to come out. I'd really like to include an additional set of pages of just development art from our earlier efforts throughout the years. And there's a a bunch of it...embarassingly so.

=s=