Production, Computer Issues and Fixes

What a journey it has been so far in getting the comic out each month.  When I started the comic, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do in terms of producing the comic.  The writing wasn't a concern, but how I was going to draw it was a bit of a problem.  

At the time I launched the comic in April of 2018, I had a Dell Inspiron Computer from 2008 running Windows Vista and just a mouse (no stylus), but I figured that was what I had to work with, so I better make it work; and I did...for the most part.

Through out my comic, issues 1 to 29, they were always a mix of digital and hand drawn.  For the first few issues I did a pencil on paper breakdown and inked and colored it using the ArcSoft PhotoStudio program and lettered it with that program as well.

But I soon learned that I had a hard time getting things the way I wanted them inking digitally, so starting with issue # 5, I did something different.  I just used a black ink ball point Bic pen and drew the issue directly on paper and then fixed and edited it digitally.  However, there were a few problems with that, sometimes the ink wasn't spread evenly and that was very prone to smudges or spots on the paper and I was spending too much time correcting those errors.  I only did this for numbers 5 and 6.

Starting with issue 7 through 29, I penciled them on paper and then inked them on paper was well, using Sharpie Ultra Fine point markers, sometimes in later issues I would use Razor Point markers from Pilot, these were my markers of choice for inking when I used to do posters for my brother years ago.

Starting with issue # 8, through now I started doing the lettering using the PhotoScape program.  

Things went along quite nicely for several years, but then we got to early May of 2021 and the monitor on my old laptop stopped working.  Luckily for me it has a port where I could hook up another monitor and I was able to keep working, but I knew my time with that laptop would be ending soon.

In early June 2021 my laptop/monitor set up didn't want to work.  I came home on a Friday night ready to finish my work on issue # 29, but I couldn't do anything.  After about 45 minutes of messing with it, I was able to get it working, but knew that was it.  I ordered new Dell Inspiron computer and then spent the weekend setting it up. (I did end up finishing # 29 on the old laptop)

I had to make quite a few adjustments to be able to do what I wanted, but knew also that I needed to evolve with my comic and decided to go completely digital.  I ordered an M708 Graphics Tablet from Ugee and I downloaded the Kitra art program and started to learn that.  Here's the first thing I created on there:

Trust me, I got better after this one!  

Starting with issue # 30, every issue going forward will be completely digital.  

The pro's to me: no more spending time penciling, inking or scanning in the book - I should be able to increase my production and get more material out there.

The con to me: digital drawing just feels weird and I'm not comfortable with it yet. 

Issue 23

Issue 23 was a bit of an interesting issue in that it didn't deal with just one storyline, instead it bounced around between many stories and it also paved the way for future stories that we haven't even gotten to yet.

Some of the stories that we touched on:

We saw that Ice Mistress from Alternate Earth 1 made her way to our world and we also saw how the members of the Ultimate Team learned that she was missing.

We got a hint that Tiger is keeping something from the team.

We saw that Titan and Phantom were bouncing between Alternate Earths.

We saw Moonlight warn Cat about Ebon Wolf.

We saw Serpent and Mythos being confronted by villains in Mexico.

We checked in on a young Semeulke.

We got a hint of what happed to the blue light element (from the first Interlude) in Malta.

We learned that Magno and Master Mind are way more than just friends.

We saw Orb, Power Boi and Dire Wolf's first visit to headquarters.  

We learned that Vapor and Electrode are heading to the Pinnacle Forest.

We learned of the Worioggs, an invasive species invading another planet. 

We saw a mysterious man planning a secret meeting in the ruins of Manhattan on Alternate Earth 2.

We saw the Water Bearer become Water Wonder.

We saw Mr. Roboto meeting with Heam, the builder of the headquarters.

We saw the birth of Dark Bow.

We saw the young woman with the Book That Can't Be Named attacked by shadowy forces in Florida.

We learned that Diodarius still has the Cronus Shard, even though he told the team that he didn't.

We saw Hanu (the cat from Interlude 2) visiting Times Square in New York City.

We saw Italus in Italy investigating reports of weird creatures.

Finally, we finished out the book meeting the mysterious First T team.

Boy, that was a lot crammed into 74 panels!  In time all of these will be touched on again! 

Time, the Tree and Me & Issue 22

We have to go a little back in time for this blog...back in 2012 I had the idea to revive my characters that I had created over twenty years ago and that started me on a bit of a journey to where I am today with the characters, although I didn't really start to work on the art until 2014.

In 2015 Webtoons held a contest to try to get new creators onto to their platform and I decided to take part.  While I wasn't ready to launch my main comic, I did have ideas about another storyline that was going to involve time-travel and be influenced by genealogy; the title was Time, the Tree and Me.

Here's a couple of samples from what I produced then:

It was a black and white series that I never finished, although I did complete several more panels for the series.  Of course I didn't win the contest, but it really was an eye-opener about how to produce a web comic and I learned so much from that experience.    Somewhere out there they are still floating around on Webtoons.

I like the concept though and decided to bring that into my main comic, the Ultra-Elite Team; and really it wasn't hard to do - it was easy enough to make the connection between Cat's human half - Rick King and Brian King, the star of this series.  

In issue 22 of the comic, I finally brought this concept into the main book, but it really was just the introduction, there's a lot more story coming with Brian King in the years to come!

Here are a few panels from issue # 22:

Issue 21

 The Boy Who Was Allergic to Gravity

In this issue Power Supreme, Beam and friends discover a boy hidden in the lower levels of Tech Point One and they call in Phantom Queen to help him.  In the adventure that follows they met up with Power Boi and together with Dire Wolf they join the team.

Meanwhile Crossbow is in New Jersey looking for the hero Orb, whom she originally met while traveling into the future. 

While this is going on, Serpent and Mythos take a side trip to Mexico and on Alternate Earth 1 Ice Mistress decides to go through the portal left open by Titan's visit to that world.

This was the October 2020 issue of the comic,

Return to Blogging

 I hope everyone has been well!  

Over the last several months I haven't been able to blog much!  I think I mentioned once I was running an old computer - well, the computer was actually from 2008 and it was still on Windows Vista and over the last several months many things started to break down on it.

About a month ago the monitor stopped working, but I was able to hook up an external monitor and kept it going.  

Tonight when I came home, I couldn't get it to come on, but after a few restarts I was able to get it to work, but realized it was time - something had to be done.

I went out a bought a new laptop!  I actually have one that now runs Windows 10 - I've had that at work for a while so I'm pretty used to it and luckily I was able to get all of my files moved over so I'm happy about that.

I have to say that with the old computer, I don't think I did too badly on the comic consider the computer I was using and the fact that I only had a mouse and no stylus...but onward and upward.

I have a lot of things planned for the comic, but I was holding back quite a bit due to the limitations I was dealing with, but production value should start to improve and production in general should pick up!  

For now though, I'm going to get back to blogging on a regular basis - and try to catch up on a lot that has gone on over the last few months!  

Issue 20

Issue 20 helped set up for a few long running storylines that are going to play out over the next sevaral months - the issue opens with the introduction of some characters in Austria and for those who have been reading along, you might see a familiar cat there as Hanu was introduced in the second interlude...which reminds me, I haven't done and interlude in a while and I need to get another one out on that! We then go on to visit Tech Point One, the semi-governmental facility that Crossbow's family runs and again we meet a few more characters. I should mention, for those reading along - I really don't have much in the way of 'throw-away' characters, if they are named - they will be seen again! Finally the book ends with a visit to a very mysterious island, now I will caution that this storyline will take a few years to play out, but it will be worth it in the end.

Above is the cover to # 20 and in the photo hosting site I use it is the most viewed cover to date. [Just a note - as I mentioned in a couple of posts ago, I'm able to post on here again, and I'm greatful for that - but what I learned after the last issue is that I can't insert any links and I won't be able to until I get a new computer, so I do have some links off the older issues and a section of links on the blog if you want to look them up. The other thing is that I can't have paragraphs - everything kind of blurs together - so my blog isn't looking it's best right now! Please bear with me, in a few months I do plan to upgrade my computer and hopefully I can get the blog back to normal! - thank you very much!]

Issue # 19

With being gone from the blog for months, I have to get back in the swing of things and have a lot of ground to cover. Sorry it will be a little run together for now, but at least I'm getting some content out there again! Next up is issue # 19. This one was set largely in Egypt.

Here we learn the origins of Phantom and Phantom Queen. While Phantom was one of my original characters that I created a long time ago, Phantom Queen actually came about a few years later, but in this series that I'm publishing I introduced her much soon!

This issue also ties in a little bit with the Biblical Moses and also contains a revealing scene when we introduce the human that Cat has been merged with the whole time he's been around. Of course that person, Rick King, emerges from Cat totally naked, but I can't show that in a comic meant to be PG-13, or can I? Well, either way I drew the panel as he appeared and then blacked it out, maybe some day I'll have to reveal it as it was originally drawn!

For now you can enjoy all the issues on Webtoons or you can click any of the links off the prior issues to read on Youtube! Now that I'm back (at least somewhat) I'll be posting more often!