Sunday/Monday's Strip!

So I tried to get this strip out Sunday evening (right now it's 2:31 Monday morning) in the hopes that I could post two strips within a single weekend, but alas it wasn't in the cards for me this time. Anyway, at the least I was close!
This is another strip featuring Evan Lomax (the third and final main character of IKC), I think the best thing about this strip is that this (and the other Evan strip, 'Reason to be Vegan #71') is exactly how an exchange between the Real Evan and I went. We were talking outside of a Bob Evans (which is one of the worst restaurants in the world) and for some odd reason our subjects ranged from Hobo Meat, to me wanting to become a Vagabond.

The background is an abstract painting of the front of Bob Evans, though the characters are covering most of it up. Just know that I spent a long time working on it, and it looks awesome! Again, I am experimenting with the coloring so there may be inconsistencies within the next bushel of strips. Just bare with me, IKC is all about experimenting.

Well, enjoy! And as always, let me know what you think!
More soon...

HEY, HERRIMAN!

Look Kids! New Comics!
Been sitting on this strip for a little bit (at least a couple of months) mostly because I didn't know how I wanted to present it, I really liked how crisp the linework came out but it was way too empty. With the exception of 'Fahad's' hair and in inside of his mouth everything else was white and open. So after I while I decided, no matter how crisp the lines came out, I had to color it. AND COLOR IT I DID, that's right a new FULL COLOR IKC STRIP (it's been a while since we had one of those)

Two points should be made, the first being that this was the first thing that I ever colored with my new WACOM TABLET! There was a bit of a learning curve, but after I got the hang of it the tablet definitely made the coloring process much easier for me, cutting the time it usually takes in HALF (before, I would use a mouse and it would take me hours)
The second, is that this strip is an (obvious) ode to George Herriman and his comic creation KRAZY KAT, if you don't know who or what I am talking about EDUCATE YOURSELF NOW, YOU ARE ON THE INTERNET YOU HAVE THE VERY TOOL YOU NEED TO LEARN!

more soon, comment if you can!

....well maybe not FULL vegan. Just sans Meat.

Ahoy-hoy!
Here is Monday's strip!
It's the first strip featuring the third (and final) main character: Evan Lomax! Though this strip just dives right in without a real establishing scene, I assure you one is coming (at some point). Also, the dialogue here is word for word an actual conversation that the real Evan (Puckett, not Lomax) and I had outside an accursed Bob Evans (seriously I'm pretty sure, in Hell, you eat your breakfast everyday in one of those)
I like the way this turned out (which is strange for me) and like I said in the previous posts about experimenting with different ways to Grey-Scale....digital is obviously the best way to go.

More Soon!
(If you aren't already, become a fan of IKC on Facebook! Or Subscribe to the blog!.....or at least comment.....jerks)

Forget Me Don Knots!

The second part of the running gag, unfortunately at the expense of Sam's character. But I suppose he can take it, he has tough skin.

This strip was created at the time as 'Kitten', and like the other I was experimenting with different ways to grey-scale (this time using Warm Grey Prismacolor markers as oppose to the Cool Grey of 'Kitten') I didn't like how the greys came out in this one either, so I think I am going to stick to digital coloring.

Second Verse same as the First.

Kitten is to Cat

Here's a "New" strip, new in the sense that you guys haven't seen it. I have been sitting on a BUNCH of strips because I wanted everyone to have a book full of new material for COMIC VS. READER 1 but since we have hit a few speed bumps it was suggested to me to just start uploading the content from CvR to the site while we wait. So, here is the first of what will be a series of regular updates (so says the Boy Who Cried Comics)





'KITTEN IS TO CAT, AS BOY IS TO OGRE': this is the first of a two part running joke, both strips were done while I was manning the Cafe @ Borders Book in DC (man, I miss that store). Tried to experiment with doing the grey-scales by hand (this time with Prismacolor markers, Cool Grey 10%, 30%, and 40%)...I think I am going to stick with digital grey-scales from now on.

*also, this strip was created just 10 short days after "D-Day" so that undoubtedly had some effect on the overall mood of it...

Kick to the Face

So, I have been having the worst time with life as of late. Feelings of worthlessness, of claustrophobia, and an ever-lasting impending sense of Doom. So what does that mean to you the reader?
MORE ART!
AND SOON!
Also, I am going to over-haul the design of the blog. When will this be done, you ask? Well, I want it done by the end of this weekend, which means look for the new and improve I KILL COMICS DOT COM Summer of 2011!

Screaming in an Empty Cave.

So I should begin by apologizing to you out there for not updating the blog as frequently as I said I was going to, but I assure you dear friends there is ample reason: for the past two month my colleague Evan Puckett and I have been working on what will be the first issue of our new anthology series COMIC VS. READER

(original concept for the cover to Issue One. Though I still really like the stark design, I think we are ultimately going with a different approach)

The book is to be a 32 page collection of my strips (all the 'I Kill Comics' material to date) and Evan's strips (which go by the title 'Tell Tale Tales' and are brilliant). All in all production of this book has been HELL, without going into too much detail I grossly underestimated the amount of work that goes into self-publishing a book. Choosing a printer, Designing the layout, Financing the project, etc., and ultimately creating the CONTENT that's to go in it. Needless to say it's been an extremely daunting, and emotionally draining experience, and an experience we want to endure again! Yes, that's right! We haven't even completed Issue One and we already are in pre-production of Issue Two (mostly making notes of what went wrong with this Issue and how we can prevent it in the future)! I can't wait to share this with you guys, but unfortunately we still have a couple more weeks of waiting. Evan and I (and the rest of COAC INK (which is the moniker we are calling the collective that has struggled day in and day out, bleeding, to ensure this Issue to come out)) are going to premier Issue One as a free giveaway to attendees of the Small Press Expo, affectionately referred to as SPX, in Bethesda, MD as a way of promoting COMIC VS. READER! If all works out we plan to also be at the Mid-Ohio-Con in Columbus, OH a few weeks later doing the same thing. After we return from SPX CvR Issue One will be going on sale (the "how" we are still trying to work out, we have a few options on where to go) for the nickles-and-dimes price of just 5 Bucks.
After Issue One is said and done, the plan is to make CvR a quarterly Anthology of Comics, Essays and anything else that floats our boats. After SPX we are going to have an open call to anyone who wants to contribute to future issues! Comics! Writings! Reviews! Essays! Anything! Let your voice be heard, remember it's US VS THEM, the line will soon be drawn in the sand. Which side will you be on?





...now that I have the hyperbolic grandeur out of the way, time to take a quick second to talk about what is inspiring me at the moment! And golly, it had got to be JAIME HERNANDEZ one of my all time favorites! His simple clean line work, stark use of shadows, his ability to realistically depict woman (both through his line work and his writing) without losing any of his cartoon integrity, really makes him the bees-knees in my eyes.

Here's a few examples:









(yes, that is Radiohead)
















I've notice that I posted examples of his Spot Illustrations and Cover work but only a few examples of his EXCELLENT page layouts and paneling.
I suppose we can leave that dissection for another post.

ciao.