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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 6, 2022 20:45:48 GMT
Scanning has been done - edits and colours commencing.
Slight change up using Affinity Photo for this (a test to see if I can bin my Adobe subscription).
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 6, 2022 21:31:32 GMT
*Googles*
Ooh, Serif are regarded as okay these days are they? I still have a full suite of their stuff from years back on disc when that was called Photo Plus. Their video editing software was always value for money but at the time Photo Plus couldn't compete with Photoshop. I'd be interested to hear what you think.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 7, 2022 11:50:44 GMT
2 things against it so far.
Scanning - doesn't work. However can import via preview so no issue.
Resizing image doesn't offer percentage as a choice, so need to sort image size values before resizing. - annoying as I work at higher size for original art and downscale by 67 per cent.
levels corrections and image rotation - good.
Straxus Book 4 - i moved the lettering to Affinity Designer and the TFBandW comic was put together in Affinity Publisher, so I am reasonably confident.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 7, 2022 23:04:30 GMT
Partway through page 1
Progress is slower than I would like, but so far so good...
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 8, 2022 22:22:06 GMT
Halftones filter not great, will see if Clip Studio can do what I need. But Page 1 is 99 per cent done.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 9, 2022 21:28:44 GMT
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 9, 2022 21:36:48 GMT
Phwoooaaar!!!
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Post by Llama God on Feb 10, 2022 7:12:47 GMT
Oh, that's lovely. That's looking proper Marvel G1 there. Brilliant job.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 13, 2022 0:50:02 GMT
Page One - COLOURED
Page Two - COLOURED
Page Three
Page Four - COLOURED
Page Five
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 13, 2022 19:09:42 GMT
Page One - COLOURED
Page Two - COLOURED
Page Three - COLOURED
Page Four - COLOURED
Page Five
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 13, 2022 21:03:25 GMT
COME ON THE PAGE FIVE!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 13, 2022 21:33:38 GMT
Tomorrow.
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Post by Llama God on Feb 14, 2022 8:20:34 GMT
I don't think that'll help get it coloured any faster. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 14, 2022 17:28:18 GMT
Page One - COLOURED
Page Two - COLOURED
Page Three - COLOURED
Page Four - COLOURED
Page Five - COLOURED
I now need to edit them and tweak some levels and a few art flubs before lettering
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 14, 2022 21:25:36 GMT
Hmm. Tweaking and flubbing. Sounds technical.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 15, 2022 13:55:56 GMT
First two edit passes done.
A third later -then resizing and lettering and then give the finished pages and aged look.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 15, 2022 17:53:43 GMT
Done, resized.
Lettering/dialogue edits next.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 15:33:05 GMT
Dialogue done, pausing for a bit before I get to finishing the balloons.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 19:44:41 GMT
 COMMENTARY Panel 1 - a calm smiling villain is always more unsettling than a raving madman. Panel 2 - Megatron's fate in the 7 year period from being revived is rather undignified when you look at it the context of what he achieved on Cybertron over millenia. No wonder he cracked. Panel 3 - Yes, Fortress Maximus did beat Galvatron, but as he says Time Travel is complicated, and we have no idea whether this Megatron does become Galvatron, or rather this Galvatron, especially in the context of what is to come. I took out an exchange between whether they might survive and Fortress Maximus alluding to what Megatron did on Cybertron. It felt a bit too doomladen and we get to see Megatron strut his stuff over the next few pages anyway. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 19:45:14 GMT
 Panel 1 - in a 5 page installment there's not always time for true reflection. Ratchet becoming/being replaced by Megatron is going to open a lot of questions. Also, when you are fighting for your life is not the time to ponder. Panel 2 - Megatron is firmly in control and clearly calm and as you can see Fortress Maximus is not in great shape. He's a boxer on his last legs here. Panel 3 - I wanted a dynamic enough shot, but one that still made it clear that Maximus is weakening and Megatron's reaction is pure smugness. That blow didn't phase him. Panel 4 - Almost a mirror image in terms of tone - a devastating blow from Megatron, but one where is is not taxing himself too much. Also I've read too many Batman comics not to go for an "Aparo uppercut." Panel 5 - Again it's all about showing how in control this Megatron is, and how outclassed Fortress Maximus currently is. Fortress Maximus fans this fight is deliberately one sided. We don't know how much energon he has, he's also been through the wars with Galvatron. At peak condition would the fight go the same way, well I am not saying, but it wouldn't be as one sided. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 19:46:05 GMT
 Panel 1 - I don't like it when whole issues of Transformers comics go by without any transforming. Panel 2 - There's a significant amount of people on my twitter timeline who think Megatron (IDW) is a handsome fellow. I think his Action Master one incarnation is a stunner - this is my bit of service to them. Panel 3 - straight lift from Transformers 165 - Meltdown Part 2 - when Xaaron tries to transform. Inspired by Matt's Soverign Noraax custom Action Master. Panel 4 - remember it was Megatron who gave them the gift of Transformation. Seeding an exit strategy for Nucleon should I want/need to use it. Panel 5 - Can you tell I watch an inordinate amount of slasher films? Panel 6 - Just making the comment from panel 3 of last page clearer Maximus is willing to sacrifice them all to stop Megatron, not just Ratchet. I liked leaving it deliberately vague, but was always the intended payoff. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 19:46:31 GMT
 COMMENTARY Panel 1 - I did originally have Cerebros shout here, but it reads better silent. Panel 3 - The crushing of the head is a nice touch, Megatron knows about Headmasters thanks to both Time Wars and the fact he was around in Earthforce era - yes that happened. I will figure out a way to make it make sense, I hope. Panel 4 - probably my favourite of this story and the most comic-book panel you could do. Panel 5 - some old friends already nucleoned up and ready to go. Jetfire's design based on a custom from Matt Marshall. Hewing to the toy aesthetic which is no bad thing. Cliffjumper and Bluestreak (clearly based on Prowl and Bumblebee's Action Master forms) and in the background with a big gun - Sideswipe. I went with the old school Yomtov technique and left him as part of the background colours. He's not part of the action in this panel, but it's a nice wee spot and you can see his big gun was why the door opened rather forcefully. Panel 6 - Get to see the Jetfire design up close - fun fact - Bluestreak in Marvel US and UK somehow never quite gets the same colour scheme in more than 1 issue. Transformers Universe was my go to when getting the colours for him. Panel 7 - I like a good point at the camera panel, and it's a subtle callback to Jetfire's boast to Galvatron in Target: 2006. Panel 8 - This is a whole Megatron, not labouring under any insanity or delusions, we didn't see it too often in Marvel, I wanted to emphasise this wherever possible and show he didn't just get to be Decepticon leader because of raw power. There is brains in there as well. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 19, 2022 19:46:39 GMT
 COMMENTARY Panel 1 - I wanted to use the old shuttle design and as we'd never seen it in space, it made for a nice visual shorthand emphasising Megatron isn't entirely free to do what he wants. Panel 2 - A good and concise debrief, Cebebros/Spike/Max shouldering command, and Jetfire asserting it was his call. Tensions, or simply an open and honest exchange. Entirely up to the reader...for now at least. Panel 3 - Barnett being a company man whatever his moral standpoint is knows that argument won't hold any water with his superiors and to be honest most people if they were confronted by it. The implication is that there have been casualties in the past. I don't think that's unrealistic, I'd assume that I.I.I. may have manipulated reports and the media to lessen them - hence the "robot menace" approach which wouldn't work if the bodycount was publicly known. Panel 4 - I didn't want a response to Barnett to come from Fortress Maximus because he knows he's right, so the rather naive and overly positive Bluestreak was the ideal foil and he sets up the next two panels and the end to this part. Panel 5 - Perchance to Dream was clearly intended to be set at the early stages of the Matrix Quest. So it is here, how exactly, well that's a headache for another day. Panel 6 - can't go wrong with a hand battering a console with ominious intent - comic cliche but it works. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 20, 2022 10:19:03 GMT
My intention is to complete enough instalments to make it worthwhile before doing a printed collection - it will be called Collected Comics and will use the numbering of the old Marvel UK ones with an a appended A.
I was also thinking of maybe doing an annual, partly because Ben and Gav both expressed interest in doing some art - which I couldn't accomodate at the time - as the way I am doing these stories means I don't work from full script, or even a Marvel plot but my own awkward way. That being said, I will try and get a full script for one of the later installments. The other reason is there is a lot of space and stories that wouldn't get touched doing the tale as if it was a 5 page monthly affair.
I mean Perchance to Dream and Earthforce happened before the end of Matrix Quest - how?
The Marvel UK future Transformers - I saw someone posit elsewhere the easy way to introduce Thunderclash, Skyquake et al would be to make them new recruits in 2010 etc..
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Post by Llama God on Feb 20, 2022 14:15:22 GMT
As said on Twitter, I love this. It really does feel like a continuation from Marvel 332, both in terms of the look and the writing - you've nailed it on all fronts.
I also love that you've remembered that Cerebros is a thing (which was largely overlooked after the first issue he appeared in), and that Megatron was at one time credited with inventing transformation. (I'd actually had in mind to do something with that for the Action Masters fanzine a couple of years back, with the Autobots doing a deal with him to get the ability to transform back, but never did on account of having Scraplet brain.) And I was wondering when Jetfire would've gotten a new body, until I remembered (thanks to Sixo's article on high body count stories) that he was offlined by a cosmically powered Starscream and never seen again. Love it.
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Post by Pinwig on Feb 20, 2022 14:42:24 GMT
I am attempting to resist reading until the complete issue is available. Attempting.
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Rich
Protoform
Posts: 880
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Post by Rich on Feb 20, 2022 16:53:48 GMT
Fantastic work!
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 20, 2022 17:16:13 GMT
As said on Twitter, I love this. It really does feel like a continuation from Marvel 332, both in terms of the look and the writing - you've nailed it on all fronts. I also love that you've remembered that Cerebros is a thing (which was largely overlooked after the first issue he appeared in), and that Megatron was at one time credited with inventing transformation. (I'd actually had in mind to do something with that for the Action Masters fanzine a couple of years back, with the Autobots doing a deal with him to get the ability to transform back, but never did on account of having Scraplet brain.) And I was wondering when Jetfire would've gotten a new body, until I remembered (thanks to Sixo's article on high body count stories) that he was offlined by a cosmically powered Starscream and never seen again. Love it. It's been a challenge, the amount of dialogue that's been cut to keep the story moving. Yes, I wanted an easy and non-convoluted solution to Nucleon that was different from Another Time and Place, should I want to use it. Plus, it's good to emphasise that Megatron wasn't always a raving madman. A handy dandy spreadsheet with the cast was created while I was plotting, to try and help me keep track of where everyone was at the end of 332. There are a few notables unaccounted for still though. |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 23, 2022 20:15:27 GMT
So I went back to 333 and have now done the next issue page...  |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Feb 23, 2022 20:19:33 GMT
I've updated the aged pdf link to have it in as well. Didn't bother with the pristine one, as I doubt I will keep that up, might show it as process pics but thats about it.
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