d i g i t a l g r a f f i t i

[Gezstar]

Apologies to those who've already seen this at eatpoo! Anyway, for the past few months I've been working on a comic I'm drawing and co-writing, called Digital Graffiti. It's being put out by AP Comics (http://www.apcomics.com/) from November, and I'm pretty excited about it. :)

Here's the cover - c&c would be appreciated, especially cos I can still change it before it gets published. I'll probably update this thread with some character designs later on. :beer:


http://www.gezfry.com/pics/gez_digigraf_issue1cover.jpg

With logos:

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/news/images/0306/digital2.jpg

Our blurb:

"Digital Graffiti - a new take on London, a few centuries from now. Towering buildings stretch high into the sky, reaching through the clouds for a better way of life. Back at street level, life remains much as today: cars, schools, and an overabundance of resentment at the elite above. When education ends and unemployment looms, teenagers band together to place their identity in a gang style, each gang adopting a separate motif and lifestyle. They lash out at society by scrambling the digital advertisements that cover the surfaces up and down the city.

Meet Beez - our cheeky and resourceful hero, who thinks himself too good for gang life. He yearns to break his way into the upper levels of society - but he can�ft do it on his own. He finds help from best friend Lincoln, boss of The Pride. Violent, unstable, but undoubtedly charismatic, he commands fierce loyalty and knows how to use it.

Meet Lon - sinister boss of the Kei-Wan, local rivals brimful of technologically obsessed minions. Determined to hit the Pride where it hurts, Lon makes every effort to scupper Beez�fs plans. Throw into the mix Pride heavyweights Kenzo and Sirius, bigoted cops from the Street, robot cops from the Sky, and a gang rumble seems inevitable.

Meet Sapphire - Lon�fs sister, and a rare beauty. A tragic past has left her with a hatred of gangs, and inspires her own desire to leave the hope-free street level. When Beez and Sapphire first lock eyes, mutual attraction is inevitable - as is the impossibility of their union.

A Manga take on West Side Story, full of the passion of reckless youth!"

[spinefinger]

wow, beautiful work! i really dig the semi-muted colors...almost watercolorish...

-sf

[I.was.ink]

This looks pretty cool! I want to see some more! ;)

[incognito]

The evil person in the background is "wicked". Which one is saphire?

[endregan]

haha dood great idea. i would like to see how it turns out :). looks really good and congrats!

[blackhand]

The separation of the foreground characters and the background is handled well. I think you could stand to pop out the foreground figures just a bit more--maybe add thicker outlines as you start to lose the figures towards the back.

The 'henchmen' on the evil guy's back in the background really isn't working for me. I see the effect you're trying to go for, showing that the evil guy is in charge of a big gang, but with the gang grouped into that small space, the effect is diminished. I think the image would be just as strong, if not stronger, with just the evil guy alone.

You could perhaps fade the background just a bit more so it doesn't compete so much with the foreground figures. With your softer color palette, things tend to compete. Just push your contrasts more.

[Loga4]

Beautiful cover,Gezstar
and interesting story line,I like
it.Congrats!!

:chug:

[michael see]

jeezz..this is one fine piece of work.~~.i like the way u introduce the story and the character..hmm.was it Lon?the nasty looking guy with the mask?

keep it going buddy:)

[Gezstar]

spinefinger - thanks!

I.was.ink - thanks! I'll try to put up a preview page soon.

incognito - cheers. Sapphire is the girl in the white top in the middle.

endregan - thanks man!

blackhand - thanks - good crits. I agree about the henchmen... any suggestions other than straight out removing them? With the bg separation, what I've done is tried to use hue as a separation element - since I didn't want to lose the lines too much.

Loga4 - thanks man, and I'm really glad you like the story too! :chug:

michael see - Thanks a lot. Yeah, the nutter is called Lon. :)

[amphex]

TRhaatts awesome!
where can i buy it?

[enoc]

wicked work i love your use of soft colors gives it a unique futuristic feel

:D [TASKINLUDE] (http://active-x.net/taskinlude/) :D

[krayz]

Neat.

[Knives&GreenWater]

I love the linework and choice of colours. The only thing I don't like is the cast. They look like the cast of a Nelly Video.
"It's gettin' hot in here ...so disengage all brain activity! Uh! Uh!"

[Gezstar]

amphex - thanks! I think you can either mail order off the apc site (look at the top of this post for their site), or in your local comics store? Maybe? It'll be in Previews.

enoc - cheers bro!

krayz - thanks.

Knives&Greenwater - Thanks. Hey that's a good video too, but you got the lyrics wrong mate. Your lyrics don't scan properly ;)

[Knives&GreenWater]

"Hey that's a good video"
I think you misunderstood me, Gezfry. Unless you were being sarcastic? It's so hard to tell on forums. How can Nelly be associated with a good video? It's just him and his loser mates dancing around cars and groping naked chicks and eachother and grunting and swearing.

So err sorry if you got the wrong idea, but that part of my last post was criticism. Sorry if you're into all the homie BS, but that's all it is.

awesome, awesome background tho, I just noticed ;]

[Gezstar]

No I know you were critiquing me there - I'm not stupid. It is a good video though...

I don't really see how you can think my characters are 'homie BS', man - what is it about them? Is it their clothes? I designed their clothes to look cool, with a hip hop feel to them, but not to make them look mentally deficient, which is how you seem to have interpreted them. I mean, the story's about gangs, so I think polo neck sweaters might not fit, know what I mean?

[Knives&GreenWater]

uh oh. my normally biting sarcasm has failed me. I really don't intend to start a flamewar so keep in mind my rational train of thought here and remember I'm trying to be nice, i'm just not very good at it.

"what is it about them? Is it their clothes?"
"yes" it is the clothes, obviously, seeing as I know nothing about the characters, having only seen the cover of the comic.

"I designed their clothes to look cool, with a hip hop feel to them" Sorry man, I just don't see what's cool about the current public view of hip-hop. To me, the baggy blue jumper/white beanie/baseball cap combo coupled with the matchstick(?) in his mouth screams 'tryhard'. Perhaps that's your intention, but since I haven't read the comic (and living in Australia, that'll probably remain the case, even though I do honestly want to see the comic), how am I to know whether the character is meant to be "cool, with a hip hop feel to them", or woefully lacking in important decision-making areas of the brain? From your reply I can glean that you do think they look cool, so I'd better just hold my tongue now. However, in case I got you wrong and you're just trying to do a realistic gang-story, keep in mind that a succesful gang with violence in mind (and being a comic, I can probably rest assured that violence will indeed be a significant factor of the story) won't necessarily be wearing day-glo Ludicrs (?) or Nelly or Li'l Bow-Wow or any of that shite.

Ok, I think I was pretty fair. Congrats on the headphones too, just noticed them.

[Gezstar]

look man forget it - all you had to say was 'I think hip hop fashion looks stupid'. You don't have to prove your ability to wax lyrical at me. Oh yeah, and I didn't notice anything that could be construed as biting sarcasm from you.

Though to be honest, I know where you're coming from - when I see someone wearing a polo-neck and black-rimmed glasses, I think 'dipsh*t'. When you see someone wearing baggies, you think 'homie BS'. It's a matter of taste, and let's leave it at that.

[Knives&GreenWater]

You got my number alright, Gezfry. Been having a bad day etc., needed to have a big whinge. All better now.

The funny thing is, I am into hiphop, I do graffitti on a regular basis, skateboard everyday and am generally a disreputable guy. My regular attire is a baggy shorts, jacket and cap, just a more subtle look than the common hiphoppin' beeboppin' type.

And btw, I think everyone thinks "dipsh*t" when they see "someone wearing a polo-neck and black-rimmed glasses" ;]

Man I give a bad account of myself online. Okay, final words, great composition, colours, etc.

http://www.ice.org/search.php?search=1&artist=knives+%26+green+water

Go criticise my pictures if you want.

[el coro]

shiiit...you know it had to be a graffiti writer flashin'. people who think hip hop fashion looks dumb dont generally say it for fear of being stabbed or shot or something. graf writers talk soooo much shit. but thats why i love it, i guess. great cover, my man. i love to see graffiti culture creeping into different facets of society. too bad it automaticaly comes with the stigma of gang violence. but then again, every crew i ever been in had some sort of gang affiliation, including the guys i paint with now, so i gues there's a fair amount of truth to it. keep doin what your doin' gezfry. you gots a lot of fans on these boards, and you earn more respect points from me every time you post.-c36

[Gezstar]

Hey, thanks a lot Coro - I was wondering what you'd think of this, since you've been writing for so long. Basically, I wanted to make a comic that isn't superheroes, that isn't swords and sorcery, etc. Instead I wanted to make a story about things I'm interested in - youth cultures like graffiti, hip hop & dnb, skating, and themes like friendship, love, and violence (oh, and a healthy dose of Sci-Fi for the geek in me :D )

About the gang violence thing - well, don't expect the comic to glamorize that too much (well, maybe a little at first ;) )... I don't want to spoil the story, so I'll just say that when you get to the end of the series, you won't be thinking 'wow, I must go and gang-bang now!'

Knives&Greenwater - I checked out your pics. They're not bad - but my advice would be to hold off on the colours for the time being, and concentrate on the basics like anatomy, light & shade, stuff like that. Some people would say stop drawing anime - but not me! Try to draw stuff other than anime too though.

Lastly: the ironic thing is, I don't wear hip hop fashion, I wear skate clothes. :beer:

[incognito]

skate clothes are the only clothes :) I predict that the evil guy turns out to be his long lost brother, and that they make up and become 2 evil guys that run the block, am I right?

[spok]

hey, i love the cover...simply beautiful, great concept...but...will it be avalaible online, coz í live on France, but i don't like reading translated comics, so i would like to get it in english...thanx...