Category: Art

Zelda Fan Manga!!

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The Dreaming v2: Volume is out, it’s on Amazon.com. I also finally found out which European company it was picked up by – actually FOUR companies. Akileos of France picked up “The Dreaming” v1 for a Jan ’07 release, while Italian publisher Counter SRL also bought it. And it turns out that there was a Spanish and the Netherlands version all along… which explains why I’d gotten fanmail in Dutch (That was a big head-scratcher…). TOKYOPOP will probably continue to sell “The Dreaming” around the world, so perhaps I should keep an eye on it. It’s nice to know that other countries have picked it up though.

 

My Zelda Fan Manga: On the brighter, more fun side, I’ve been waiting for the Nintendo Wii to come out over in Australia (6th Dec), so I can play The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I’ve been a long-time Zelda fan, so I decided to draw a manga to celebrate the release. Now, this was originally started as drawing practice, but because I don’t sketch much and I never draw anything that isn’t manga, I turned it into something story-based. You get to vote for what happens next though (scroll down to the bottom).

This actually starts halfway through the story, but there’s enough to know what’s going on (we’re in Zora’s Domain, folks). The story’s not based on any of the Zelda games in particular, because then you might as well play the games. It’s set in the same universe, with the same characters, and has the usual Zelda lore in it. It’s fun drawing these characters… Ruto was annoying in Ocarina of Time, but then she’s got some real personality and attitude. She also has an odd nose, which I’ve changed (into something equally odd, but at least different-looking).

 

Zelda - Page 1

 

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Zelda - Page 2

 

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Zelda - Page 3

 

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Zelda - Page 4

 

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Zelda - Page 5

 

Following four pages after these five are up here.

Vote for what happens next. This will NOT determine any plot points, but it WILL determine how the characters interact with each other (possibly with permanent consequences). The poll closed on the 9th December, 2006, and the voting results were quite clear. Option #2 was the clear winner.

 

  • Get all teary-eyed and emotional (12 Votes – 14%)
  • Bow his head, gallantly kiss Princess Zelda’s hand, and greet her with a gentle smile (53 Votes – 61.6%)
  • Smile in relief, pull up a chair, and slap her on the back (14 Votes – 16.3%)
  • Forget Princess Zelda!! Let’s hit on Princess Ruto!! (7 Votes – 8.1%)

 

I didn’t draw this manga in the usual A4 size, which made it fun and interesting. I drew it on 15cm x 10cm page (approx. half an A4), and doing it that way is FAST. WAAAAY faster than drawing a page for “The Dreaming” is, believe it or not. I thought I’d have trouble making a story flow with those page dimensions, but not at all. It makes me want to experiment with other page types. Circle? Triangle? Square? 3-triangles? I also love using dot-tones and cross-hatching. Love it!! It’s not much work compared to what I have to do for “The Dreaming”.

I gotta do something about the font too. Anyone recommend anything?

Only Flora

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The Dreaming Vol3: I’ve finished pencilling chapter 16 (2 our of 6) of vol3, and has started inking chapter 15. This is going to the be last volume of “The Dreaming”, so I’m beginning to work out the details of my next work. But first, I gotta post up a Chapter 8 preview of “The Dreaming” vol2 first, which is coming out in November.

 

Supanova 2006: I’ll be there, selling copies of “The Dreaming” vol1, for about AUD$12. I’ll be at booth Y of the artist’s alley, and TOKYOPOP Australia has also printed a series of bookmarks for “The Dreaming” to be given away for free! Keep your eyes peeled. I’ll be sharing a table with Poshua, who’s selling a copy of “Generation 2006” ($12), an Australian manga anthology. This anthology contains my manga “The Two Dollar Deal” in it, so that’s probably your sole chance to buy it in print (for now).

 

Project “One2Eight” (aka 1 TWO 8): This is a new project I’ve created, and I’ve yet to put up a proper information page for it. The project consists of a series of short stories, each self-contained and complete, with a strict limit on the number of pages allowed. The challenge is to tell 8 stories, consisting of a 1-page story, a 2-page story, a 3-page story, and so on, to an 8-page story.

Both “The Two Dollar Deal” (8-pages) and “Message To You” (4-pages) is part of this series, and now you get to see “Only Flora” (5-pages), which is actually a prequel to another story (part of the “Boy Meets Girl in 10 Pages or Less” series). I did this story a fair while ago, and it was basically just an excuse to experiment at drawing without using ANY rulers (save for the panel lines). What the heck.

 

Only Flora - Page 1————————————

 

Only Flora - Page 2

 

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Only Flora - Page 3

 

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Only Flora - Page 4

 

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Only Flora - Page 5

 

The inspiration for this project came from a quote of Hagio Moto, who said that if you can tell a single, complete story in 8-pages then, you’ll never have any trouble telling a story of ANY length. Hagio Moto is right on that, but I want to go a step further, to see whether you can a single, complete story with a story arc in less than 8-pages (what a “story arc” will need a better definition). And I’ve proven that it’s doable. You can tell a 1-page story, but you can’t have a narrative arc in only 1-page of manga. Another aim of this project is to find the watershed point at which a story can begin to have a story arc, which is to say that it actually has a beginning, a middle and an end.

 

Narrative Watershed: I’ve found this point to be at 4-pages. 4-pages is the least number of pages you can have in telling a single, self-contained story with a story arc. It was originally 5-pages, with “Only Flora”, but I decided “Message To You” could qualify. At first it didn’t because it had no text in it, but I changed my mind when I realised you can tell a far longer story without text (Gon, anybody?). So why wouldn’t it qualify?

 

The Waking: Book 2 is done!!

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The Dreaming (Book2): Is finished. YAY!!! All 181 pages of it, plus a 3-page mini-manga at the end. Jesus, whatta heckuva month. It’s going to be out on November 22, and while I made the deadline, it was no fun experience since there was a major muck-up with my schedule. It turns out that the schedule laid out in my TOKYOPOP contract was wrong. In my contract, it said that everything was due on October 6th, but actually the due date was August 22nd. I found out after mid-July, and while having 6 weeks shaved off your schedule will kill most people, luckily I was a month ahead of schedule. That was what saved me, really – being 1 month ahead of schedule meaning that I had to work extra hard to fill in those 2 other weeks, but otherwise I made it. Now that it’s over, I can get back to bulletin-boarding and essay-writing, which I have really missed. I also got a new editor – Paul. Unfortunately, my former editor Carol is too busy to handle “The Dreaming” now. It’s a bit sad, but she was a good editor and I hope she’s coping well with her new workload.

I’ll be updating my site in the next few days, but first, some divider art. I wish I had more time to spend on these dividers, but given the circumstances, it wasn’t really possible.

 

Chapter 11 - "The Dreaming" vol2

 

Chapter 12 - "The Dreaming" vol2

 

Chapter 13 - "The Dreaming" vol2

 

Chapter 14 - "The Dreaming" vol2

 

Yu Yu Hakusho Anime: I often “watch” YouTube while working, and I have rediscovered a much beloved golden oldie on it. Yes, people, the Yu Yu Hakusho anime – which along with DragonBall Z, is one of the grand-daddys of the shonen-fighting genre. Created by Togashi Yoshihiro, otherwise known as He Who Has God-like Powers Over Shonen Jump Editors, it ran in Shonen Jump from 1991-1994, and the anime was made around that time. If DragonBall Z provided the endless fight scenes, Yu Yu Hakusho provided the characterisations (and the best-looking special attack moves EVER). Anime like Naruto owe a great deal to Yu Yu Hakusho (and unlike Naruto, YYH has no filler episodes). If you liked Naruto, you’ll probably like YYH (If you didn’t then… well.)

Why the sudden mention of such an ancient anime? Well, apart from the fact that the English Funimation Dub of YYH is SUPERB, YYH also has some of the best character designs EVER. It’s main four-man unit, consisting of Yuusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei, is one of the most memorable fighting teams around. Precisely WHY is pretty easy to pin down – Togashi is a good character designer, and he’s inspiring me to write a detailed essay on character designs. Truth is – you may not have watched YYH, but chances are, you’ll recognise the characters, because they’ve got sharply drawn designs. I first started watching YYH BECAUSE I kept seeing posters of it everywhere, couldn’t get it out of my mind, and after resisting it for a few years, gave up and started watching it. And woah, I was surprised at how good it was.

Unfortunately, the show DOES drag at times. If you started watching YYH but didn’t finish watching all 112 episodes, then you’ll probably have missed the best parts of it. One of the best things about it is the way the story arcs end. It has NO filler episodes, good villains, and great character moments. The first arc in the show descends into endless fight scenes, but the second half of YYH is the REAL reason for watching the show, because it has a real interesting spin on the usual shonen-fighting formula. The story also takes a surprising turn near the end. Unfortunately, you’ll have to watch the first half to know who everyone is and what they’re all doing.