jasonderoga86 | Entries tagged with sneakers' u-force

I just got a reply from a friend of mine on Facebook, Jonathan, thanking me for my comment on his post about powerful women in today's world. Two of the people highlighted were Amanda Gorman, Black poet and civil rights activist (delivered the powerful poem "The Hills We Climb" at Joe Biden's 2021 inauguration) and Greta Thunberg, the fiery young Swedish woman who rose to prominence as a little girl condemning world leaders for their complicity in accelerating climate change at the risk of every vulnerable community in an insane bid to outlast them in a coming global warming calamity (She literally charged the leaders at the UN via video screen in 2019 of selling out the future of generations of children worldwide in exchange for wealth and lavish lifestyles from the corrupt oil, gas, and fossil fuel industries; she furiously ripped into them, saying "How dare you! How DARE you?!") Bigwigs with their wealth and political power are always unnerved when young people put them on the spot for their deadly ignorance of public health issues in favor of amassing wealth and power because deep down, they know the Kids Are All Right. That's why they respond with condescending lectures or ways to punish or silence them to look like the "grownups" in the room. In fact, in some countries, people burned effigies of Greta in response to her saying the quiet part out loud about the fossil fuel industry's profiting from death due to pollution and natural disasters -- they thought Greta, who never took a life, was eviller than the corporations dealing out death profiting from pollution-related disasters and always avoiding accountability. But then again, such is the ideology behind American capitalism -- a perverted view of Darwinism, where the wealthy "superior" few have the right to use the "inferior" masses as expendable to line their pockets, and lobby that money to compromise political alliances and block any meaningful change from dismantling the foul communion. As if they'll be taking all that wealth and power with them to their coffin and into the next life. Stupid? Yes. But that's their M.O.

Touched by Jonathan's response, I replied to him by telling him I have my Texan friend Erin Weinstock to thank for my insight; she's encouraging me to use my voice in written form and in spoken form through a podcast. She even helped me install software to make it possible. At the same time, some friends of mine are requesting me to attend a special "teach-in" community event on the privileged ultra-wealthy's assault on the working-class people of this country in a couple weeks. The event is going to be held at Laney College on Tuesday, April 29th (after work) in my hometown of Oakland, California -- the same college where I launched the first issue of my most popular comic series "Sneakers' U-Force" at a 2010 art gallery focused on environmental justice and activism. As you all know, I was interviewed and photographed for the Laney Tower, the campus newspaper.

As such, because my experience at Laney -- and especially the eco-art class that the gallery was based on, which I took for multiple semesters out of pure curiosity (it was the first time I borrowed and watched "An Inconvenient Truth" at home, which inspired the creation of "Sneakers' U-Force") -- and my deep friendship with my eco-art instructor, who helped me out of a very dark period in my personal life, I feel compelled to go to this event. One of the speakers is a family member of a client I assist at my job helping developmentally disabled people in my community, so there's also that aspect.

I think this is the opportunity I've been searching for, to speak on behalf of the people in my city who are no doubt done with the idea of rich people literally buying political elections and manipulating our institutions to abandon the very people they are supposed to protect and serve. Our entire political system has been weaponized against the people to suit the greed of amoral and heartless opportunists who see the general public as political tools. It's insidious and needs to be called out. Like the rapper Tupac Shakur once said, we call ourselves the Greatest Nation on Earth, yet the hard truth is "We have money for war, but we can't feed the poor". It's the basest hypocrisy.

And right now, I can see how the current state of things is wearing on Erin; she is at her wit's end, and her Facebook posts have become more and more desperate and dire, with one particularly shocking post implying that if she's not able to leave her current neighborhood by mid-July, she "wants someone to kill [her]." Whether she's just figuratively speaking or not, I'm concerned -- she lives in a mobile home neighborhood full of MAGA jerks who have made her life hell for longer than I can imagine. I spoke with her about a month ago, where she told me she was doing fine but was also in a state of desperation due to how unsafe her neighborhood is becoming. She told me that she needs to devote more time to getting the assistance she needs to leave Texas somehow, and thus she wouldn't be as available for a while. While these current posts are very terrifying, not only do I feel I must respect her time as she figures things out, but I also have my life to focus on as well; my new position at my job demands a lot of my time, and this coming weekend will be the birthday celebration of one of my closest friends. And then the following Tuesday afterwards, I plan to go to this political community event at Laney College. Also, Jonathan is also a very close friend of Erin's -- she does paid art commissions for his video business -- so I feel confident he can be there for her when I can't.

Regardless, I am more compelled than ever to make a difference -- not just with our disabled community, but now with the entire community of Oakland. This is a big part of what I believe I was called to do, part of my life mission.✊🏾

Peace and love to you all,

Nana

--"Jason Deroga"

Current Mood: determined
Current Music: Kingdom Hearts 3D OST: "L' Impeto Oscuro", by Yoko Shimomura

After finishing Chapter X for Curse of Creation: Lil' Hero Artists Vol. 3, I was able to get the best rest I've had in... well, a LONG time. I've never been more grateful for my mom's presence in a long while. I'm still having issues with my doctors and the health clinic, but they're minor peeves. And I finally -- finally -- got a chance to start cleaning my room up. That last one's big, as due to the huge insurance snafu and subsequent fallout along with the sudden ghosting of my doctors in the aftermath of two mental health crises PLUS my being forced to quit my job for the sake of my health had a big impact on my ability to find the strength to get anything done... and that's to say nothing of the infernal heat waves during summer and the two friends I lost to Covid, the resulting overwhelming grief of which nearly made me faint twice. Pretty scary stuff. I was able to get Sneakers' U-Force #12 done before the brunt of the pain fully hit, but I can't deny that finally being able to start cleaning my room out (it'll take a few days to fully spruce it up) did give me a feeling of liberation. When people say that a clean room can brighten up your mood, listen to 'em.

As a result, it was much easier to complete that recent chapter for Lil' Hero Artists, and later I went into touching up the fan art I created for Matt Zimmer's birthday with my cinematic poster-like illustration for "The Pontue Legacy", from Gilda and Meek and the Un-Iverse. And in case it wasn't clear: I had a LOT of fun designing that. But now I'm feeling like doing some more full-color work, and the best place to start? Welp, I dug up my list of story ideas planned for Sneakers' U-Force from my external hard drive and remembered the next idea I wanted to put to work. After a few days of drafting a proper synopsis and refining it to a workable state, I can announce that I've officially started writing the script for Sneakers' U-Force #13. The episode will feature a new face along with a returning character from waaaay back in Sneakers Vol. 1, as well as a plot device that could very prove to be a thorn in the side of Team U-Force in the future. I've been waiting to get started on this episode for a long time, and with all the good vibes I've been getting over the past four or so weeks, this is gonna be a lot of fun.

More info on this new episode in the future as I make progress. Drawing it is gonna be when the fun really starts!

Peace and love to you all!

Nana

--"Jason Deroga"

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Donald Fagen, "H gang"

What is UP, Dreamwidth Family?

At long last, I’ve completed the next part in the Un-Iverse epic that is “The Pontue Legacy”, and getting it outta the way now, I had SO many good feels reading “Part IV: The Blessed Child.” This chapter left me with an even higher respect for series creator Matt Zimmer, especially given his statements on the entertainment industry and the dark side of fandoms. Not gonna preach too much about it, let’s just jump right in, shall we?

The Un-Iverse #12 – The Pontue Legacy, Part IV: “The Blessed Child”

• Oh, man, can you say coincidence? Reading the opening page with Zyle and Sarah promising each other’s partnership to the end while playing “True to Your Heart” by 98 Degrees w/Stevie Wonder from Disney’s Mulan soundtrack was just too perfect, especially with Zyle’s impulsive reluctance for perceivably “moving too fast”; she loves you, Zyle, and you know that can’t be bad… you should be glad! I don’t mean to invoke American politics, but Sarah’s view of Zyle’s leadership as the President of Kosram really echoes the current sacrifice of Joe Biden. Sarah refers to Zyle as the heart and soul of the movement to take the fight to Sorceress Augatha, basically calling him the hero, the Mjolnir-wielding Captain America who’ll assemble the resistance to make their stand. It just feels really fitting considering the current times and me happening to be playing “True to Your Heart” – you gotta be true to your heart, Zyle. She loves you; you can accept it now.

🎵True to your heart, you must be true to your heart
That's when the heavens will part
And baby, shower you with my love
Open your eyes
Your heart can tell you no lies
And when you're true to your heart
I know it's gonna lead straight to me...🎵

• Bob the Wizard was responsible for the banishment of the Dragons to the lair that now stands as the Dragon Council – damn, one human wizard single-handedly defeated an entire race of fire-breathing warriors means Bob was the shit. That takes guts from a human, magician or not. Gotta respect that. Eventually Augatha made a pact with them, but they broke the cardinal rule; they didn’t tell her they stashed the egg. And for that, well… it’s a “hell hath no fury like a woman deceived” lowdown in the works. And she’s already at the Council – our protagonists haven’t even set out yet. I believe the trope of “the shit’s gonna hit the fan” will commence in about the next two seconds it’ll take for me to scroll down to the next page, so…

• Dragon Springer, well met. You wouldn’t happen to know a human from Earth-1 named Jerry, would you? Judging by your attire, I think you two would get along great! Boco, you’d fit right in with the Sesame Street crew -- but you play nice with Elmo, got it? Larnath, my man, there’s a fella from Middle-Earth named Smaug who’d jive right with you, chemistry-wise. Oh, and uh, your cousin stopping by to say hello… and goodbye. She might throw in a “burn in muthafuckin’ Hell!” too, just giving y’all a heads up.

• Springer… see, Jerry from Earth-1 is known for fights breaking out on his pad, but I don’t recall him ever trying to start one. And if you know your “cousin” is a Sorceress, what exactly makes you think it’s a good idea to be lecturing her on the issue of respect? I mean, Boco and Lanarth picked up the hint that you overstepped your boundaries in one second just by doing that. Better prepare yourself, pal…

• See? Just like that, the ultimatum comes down. You already screwed up once by waxing pompous arrogance, Springer. You’d best hand over the goods now if you don’t want to lose your seemingly already meaningless life. The girl don’t play that, thought you’d have figured that out by now. And she’s implying it with the tried-and-true threat of intending to prove that indeed, there are many things worse than death.

• Holy—okay, this is new. Los Amigos Dragones have plotted something far more sinister as a response to Augatha’s threat; they’re blackmailing her. My repsonse? I’m just gonna paraphrase to ‘em: “Let me get this straight. You think that your cousin-in-theory, the most powerful sorceress you’ve ever beheld, of whom the Un-Iverse itself is terrified due to her immense power, isn’t a problem because you truly think you have an effective bargaining chip in play that’ll keep her at play… and you seriously wanna blackmail her, now of all times? …Good luck.” Ho-hoooh, this is gonna be good.

• Okay… I stand corrected on all counts. Turns out what I said before about Zyle was apparently only the tip of the iceberg. This guy isn’t just a magician’s apprentice, president, and hero – he’s the freaking namesake of this chapter of The Pontue Legacy. Dreamwidth Family, I give you… Zyle, the Blessed Child himself. And he literally is. I mean, the title card for the episode appears right afterwards, epic soundtrack by John Williams and all. And Augatha knows it, as Dragon Springer conjures an image of the other half of her soon-to-be-problem: a make-out session between Zyle and Sarah teetering on into censorship territory (we are watching a PG-rated visual comic, and Matt Zimmer is a man of standards). Sarah possesses knowledge about Pontue that if passed to Zyle will effectively Infinity Gauntlet-Snap Augatha out of existence. That’s some serious shit right there, and our Sorceress is terrified. It’s now decision time; like, split second decision time. Time to roll out the dice, deal her hand. This is one outcome she hasn’t foreseen.

• BUT she remains dead set on her goal – whether Los Amigos Dragones can keep the egg hidden matters not, and if Sarah finds the egg, our lady Augatha will have the princess dead at her feet anyway. Again, “hell hath no fury like a sorceress deceived” and all. Relishing the fact that she literally just played the three angry Gigante-lizards, Augatha boastfully takes her victory lap while Los Amigos Dragones look at each other with a singular facial expression that reads, “Dude… we just got royally fawked.”

• Now realizing their very lives are slated for execution, Los Amigos Dragones have no choice but to resort to Plan X – they have to kill Augatha or be killed themselves. It is time to release the Beast itself! Larnath seems most interested, judging by his sadistic grin and the fact that the mention of slaughtering Augatha just brightened his day in a nanosecond. Oh yeah, he’s gonna enjoy this.

• Zyle is a man after my own heart; to borrow a line from Milo James Thatch from the animated Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, when it comes time to decide on something, it doesn’t matter if it’s the smart thing – what matters is if it’s the right thing. But his Veep suddenly drops in and seems visibly unsure of the viability of his superior’s mission. Zyle responds by invoking a “failsafe servant” protocol similar to America’s process in the event a sitting President dies or is otherwise unable to effectively carry out their duties; if Zyle never returns, due to loss of contact or being killed in action, then Kosram will have the Veep serve as an interim President. The Veep will also be tasked with providing continuing support for Princess Sarah in her quest to take back the Kingdom of Finn. The VP is honored but doesn’t sugarcoat the facts; he doesn’t have full confidence in his abilities and knows next to nothing about leading a kingdom. Again, I don’t mean to mention American politics, but the situation oddly reflects the times today – Joe Biden deciding to have his VP Kamala Harris lead the Democratic Presidential Ticket for 2024 (now with her own VP pick Tim Walz at her side), putting his hope and faith in her to protect and strengthen American democracy is quite similar to the trust Zyle has placed on his VP, confident that his possible successor will find his way through the pressures of a position of leadership. It’s a neat emotional moment where I see two people who are terrified of what the future may bring, but who have also accepted that fear and have focused on having faith in each other and the world to strive towards defying the odds. It shows the kinds of emotions that run through the minds of heroes who are pushed to the brink – sometimes to an acceptance that the ultimate sacrifice may very well be necessary – when the odds are mountainous.

• Oh my God, Disney nostalgia overload here! Just as our protagonists prepare for what is arguably a daunting travel prospect – a three-day trek, followed by another’s day worth of steady trek and ending with a flippin’ two day mountain hike… all on HORSEBACK, mind you – Zyle reminds us all again WHY they call him a “magician”; Nope, he didn’t say “hocus-pocus” (that would’ve been SO uncharacteristic of him, wouldn’t y’all agree?), he stylishly channels magical electricity like the BOSS he is, and transforms each and every one of our heroes’ equestrian transports into dashing Pegasus horses! Yeah, man, they goin’ to the Mountaintop in style. I’m seeing Disney’s Hercules flashbacks all over again… it’s… so overwhelming, and so… beautiful. Matt, I HAVE to express some REAL gratitude for this scene, as Hercules remains one of my favorite animated Disney flicks since elementary school (even if James Woods is a prick now). And our Princess, understandably, feels like she’s on Cloud Nine at this point with her personal Pegasus, the wind on her face, and the closeness of her sweetheart more present than ever… sigh…

• At Sorceress Augatha’s campsite, however, the situation is nowhere near as optimistic… at least, as far as the two sentient footwear entities, Fuzzy and Scuzzy are concerned. Fuzzy is visibly unnerved about Augatha’s brazen confidence over coming out as the victor in the conflict ahead, and especially about just how much of a potential MacGuffin that Zyle could be, given his status as The Blessed Child. Scuzzy doesn’t wanna hear it, as his faith in his sorceress remains unshaken. Or does it? I mean, let’s hear Fuzzy out for a second; Scuzzy wants to believe that Augatha generally always comes out on top, regardless of being wrong sometimes. But Fuzzy begs to differ on that, citing that the last time Augatha was “wrong” about something, well… the sun – the light that God was said to have “turned on” on Day One of “Project: Genesis” – ceased to exist for THREE FRIGGIN' YEARS. Three years without sunlight would surely kill every living being on this planet, no joke. Fuzzy’s basically asking, “do we really wanna risk THAT again?” And y’know what? Scuzzy suddenly gets it, and he silently calls his own prideful piety into question. And just when things couldn’t get any tenser…

• THERE THEY ARE! The Kosram Cavalry has already arrived (yeah, having wings kinda makes things a lot easier. The power of flight is so underrated in this day and age…) Tork and Augatha are understandably surprised, but the Sorceress is still not intimidated upon laying her eyes on the Blessed Child bearing down on her. That… can’t be a good sign. Sarah and Zyle join hands, seemingly preparing for some kind of ritual, with Augatha looking on with a pair of binos that look like they could give the night-vision goggles from Jurassic Park’s SUV transports a run for the money in efficiency, given the weather conditions at the moment…

• Winifred and Krac are psyched up and ready to join the others, but not before… oh, come on, Winifred. You KNOW you wanted to get in a little lip-locking with him. Don’t lie to us, you wanted that. You trying to give the princess some attitude on that? Lady, Sarah knows a romantic moment when she sees one. You saw her plant a nice one on Zyle lips right at the beginning of this chapter! There’s no shame on being open about your infatuation with your beau here. S’all good.

• Zyle says that to enter the mountain ahead, the earthly construct demands an offering: the blood of either a Magician or a Sorceress. He offers his own blood, which triggers an opening awash with heavenly light. Opening another door with Zyle’s blood leads our intrepid protagonists… right into the mitts of Los Amigos Dragones! Sarah politely requests the egg she’s been questing for, but the three reptilian giants say that’s to be decided later as there are more pressing issues to discuss. King Krac is already leery, judging by the sinister glares from the dragon buddies that this is NOT going to be a friendly meet-and-greet. Dragon Springer, glad that he has his guests right where he wants them, narrows his eyes and grins menacingly as he assures them they aren’t here for serve as sustenance for the three dragons’ bellies, but rather “entertainment”… Oh, God. If he’s thinking about enacting his version of “The Jerry Springer Show”, then I’m gonna say right now that in the Un-Iverse, that very thought has me scared as hell. And that… is where the cliffhanger ending is capped! Matt, you tease me so! Seriously, though, this is looking pretttyyy bad for the good guys. And while all this is going down, who’s holding back Sorceress Augatha? Damn, it’s ‘bout to get real bad, real soon.

I gotta give props to Matt for this chapter in terms of emotions. The previous episode had a lot of powerful optimistic feels to it, and the moment between Zyle and Sarah were not only cute, but also real and human. I saw a lot of realism during those scenes, and for Gilda And Meek and The Un-Iverse, I always see that as one of this series’ strengths. Being to look at the past episodes from a more personal lens and not solely political ones (which, looking back, I think were mainly because the political climate in America prior to the rise of the newly christened Harris-Walz campaign dragged me to an alarming low, mentally speaking) has also made me really appreciate the work as something that is for all intents and purposes a story, first and foremost. I remember back in high school that my first “brooding superhero” comic “The Viper” was mainly politically charged (it was originally written to remind people of how America screwed up in Vietnam and as a voice to protest the calls for invading Iraq, given the known savagery of war and how it guarantees nothing both death and grief), but over time, I saw that writing it as a story first and ditching the anti-war tropes was a better idea. My series Sneakers’ U-Force is broader, focusing on awareness about the continued downplaying of the climate crisis and its very REAL consequences, and Lil’ Hero Artists turned out to basically become my personal expression on what it truly means to be an artist on my terms. It really shows how “writing from the heart” rather than writing “what sells” or “what the market wants” is what makes for successful series like Gilda and Meek and my own personal works. I have a whole new level of respect for Matt now, especially since he’s one of the few people out there who know how “the fans” actually DON’T know what’s best for mainstream IPs. Fans ARE the industry’s worst enemy in that regard, full stop.

Anyway, I’ll see you all again in the hopefully near future with a review for the next chapter in this arguably high-stakes saga in The Un-Iverse #13 – The Pontue Legacy, Part V: “The Dragons and the Egg!”

Peace and love to y’all!

Nana

--J.D.

Current Mood: GUUD stuff.
Current Music: 98 Degrees w/Stevie Wonder, "True To Your Heart" (Disney's "Mulan")

Global Comix sends me bi-monthly updates on readership of my comics there. I have 3 followers there (I technically don't count the fourth because it was an erroneous follow vote from myself, but I'd rather not un-follow because I feel that shows I'm not proud of my work... yeeeaah, I'm kinda weird like that), which to me is more than I could ask for.

What surprises me, though, is that of all the installments for each of my two series, Lil' Hero Artists and Sneakers' U-Force, it seems Sneakers' U-Force is the most popular of the two series, with readership for all three current installments -- Volumes 1 and 2, and Volume 3 - Issue #12 -- currently amounting at nearly 4,600 reads, with one reader also favoriting the series today, tying it with the single favorite for Lil' Hero Artists.

During my time at my former job, I remember something all of my supervisors -- our HR manager in particular -- always told me to take to heart: that it's high time I start taking the compliments I've been getting from others seriously, because they are honest compliments. As I've always been extremely self-critical and self-conscious, accepting compliments hasn't exactly been easy to do. And as far as my art goes, yeah, many people tell me I'm FAR too humble about my work, ranging from my local bookstore owner who never complained about slow sales with my work while also declaring to me that I'm the only local artist whose graphic novels would grace her shelves (!), to my Eco Art instructor who not only helped my with my vision to bring Sneakers' U-Force to life, but to make it the star attraction at the gallery in 2010, along with an interview and photo-op for the college paper.

I think I'll start taking the compliments now. No point in denying what people keep telling me; I am proud of what I've accomplished. And I'm excited about what I've got planned for the future for not just my series, but another series currently in development headed by a good friend of mine since 7th grade who wants to try his own hand at scripting a graphic novel of his own with me as illustrator and graphic designer. It's gonna be a lot of fun.

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Patrick O' Hearn, "Down Hill Racer"

I recently drifted off into a little daydream about my progress with my graphic novels and art in general. I remember long, long ago -- 2005, if I remember correctly --when I took my first serious dig at making a fully written and fully drawn comic. At the time, I had just graduated from high school; it was cathartic for many reasons, among them completing 12th grade, which was arguably the most challenging part of my K-12 journey (my bipolar depression had brought me to a major low, costing me a girl I later felt deep affection for and regret for being so closed up -- Nina -- who seemed interested in me, and the deepening concern from my friends over my lingering silence and aversion to hanging out). Getting my GED was proof to myself that this tumultuous part of my life was finally coming to a close, and now my life was in my own hands.

Before starting college in late 2005, I enrolled in a special art program in San Francisco at an academy known as the Art Institutes. The branch in SF was offering a special 5-day crash course in animation. I had always been fascinated by animation; the CGI from the film "Spider-Man 2" was still fresh in my mind, as were fond memories of a recent Nintendo GameCube title I recently completed at the time, "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker", which had an animation style that took me by surprise sooner than I thought (Anybody who's ever played a "Zelda" knows about the controversy regarding this title, having been announced after the dark and mature title "Majora's Mask", which itself was a sequel to "Ocarina of Time", often cited as the greatest of all Zelda games and, for a period of time, the greatest video game of all time). There were two consecutive courses, each was two and a half days. The first was a course in traditional hand-drawn animation. Given the brevity of the weeklong program, our drawn animations were basically done in mannequin/stick figure-style format. I learned that as I had suspected, hand-drawn animation isn't for the faint of heart; that was a LOT of repetitive drawing, almost 100 pages. But it was fun, and for some reason our instructor had a thing with the film "Shrek"; any chance he got, he would diss the film's animation style (Shrek is, of course, a CGI film, but I digress...). We also got a quick shot at human anatomy, and our resources were nothing like I expected -- many of the lesson plans were photocopies from "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way", which seemed oddly fitting since I was just getting my new comic, "The Viper", off the ground. Being my first attempt at the typical "superhero" comic, this was pretty useful.

The remaining two and a half days were spent on the other half of animation, 3D animation. However, unlike the traditional animation class, this was nowhere near as fun or easy. As I tried to animate a simple 3D mannequin, I learned just how different this was from my alma mater, hand-drawn style. Looking back, the biggest problem wasn't the style of animation, but the mechanics -- computers are machines that use calculations and algorithms to execute a single action. They are essentially a massive group of digital chains, and as the adage goes, a "weak" link can derail the whole line. Such was my issue with this style of animation; it took several hours to get the "links" in the proper order, and each "frame" required its own set of chains that needed to be smooth, flawless. By the fourth day, I actually became frustrated, almost angry at hard the task was. It reminded my new enemy back in elementary school, the bane of many students' 1st to 5th grade run -- mathematics. To this day, much as I hate to admit it, I'm still very weak in math; scraping by with Cs in even college-level classes was the norm for me. Eventually, I got an animation completed, but I added some improv: along with a walking figure, I created a sort of "playhouse room" with a bouncing ball and a wobbly TV playing the hand-drawn animation I did in the prior class. My classmates were really impressed at those little tweaks in the background, saying the ball and the TV more than made up for the wonky walking figure. And throughout the week, after class we went to five different restaurants for a celebratory dinner, all expenses paid. It reminded me of a special dinner hosted by my 12th grade Graphic Design instructor, who was also a big fan of comics.

When I started my summer vacation following my first year in college, I had already completed the first issue of The Viper, which was to be a 3-issue miniseries. It was all penciled, sans the cover. But I became intrigued about how to stylize the work, as I learned a lot of the tools and tricks of Adobe Photoshop in 12th grade. After researching on the web, I found a way to digitally "ink" my pages, and then add color to the line work... but it took up a LOT of time and a LOT of curving nearly a hundred tiny lines with the Pen Tool. At times I wanted to give up, but I was still scared stiff of inking the pages by hand for obvious reasons; the thought of drawing the wrong line or a making a mistake in line weight totally destroying a meticulous penciled was too much to bear. I kept at it through 2006, and eventually I took the plunge and tried my hand at inking by hand. When I started the first chapter for Lil' Hero Artists in 2007 I had become pretty comfortable with inking by hand, when I realized that the pens the "pros" use don't work for everyone. Everybody has a preference. Mine were simple "gel-ink" Pentel ballpoint pens; their ink ran smoother than regular ballpoints, which often trip up due to occasional clogs. I learned how to make my own "line pressure"; I didn't need a fountain/calligraphy pen or a brush pen, I could just widen a curve like a crescent and fill the in empty space inside the shape. Having learned this skill, it wasn't long before I finished Chapter 1 of Lil' Hero Artists. The difference in line weight and curves with those pens came out better than I thought. It was around that time that New York small press publisher Alterna Comics was sponsoring a submissions contest. The winners would be offered a contract by Alterna, under creator-owned conditions. The creators kept all rights except publishing; intellectual property and copyright remained with the creator alone, negating a sale of all ownership unlike the Big Two and their two close-second presses who, in the Big Two's case, "buy" the rights and thus assume ownership of the ideas through the "work for hire" model (strangely enough, at the time I had no idea what "work for hire" meant, I thought all publishers let the creator(s) keep the copyright; many of the storybooks I read as a child listed the author as the "copyright owner", but in reality the author was the author, but the publisher was the true owner of the IP rights).

In 2008, after I parted ways with Alterna on good terms, I learned about drawing "tablets" that simulate drawing on a computer screen, which had become popular among graphic novelists. I saw a few graphic novels and manga that used that method, among them were "Aoi House" (a shojo "yaoi" (lesbian romance) series), and "Inverloch", an Elder Scrolls-esque fantasy completely digitally rendered by one author, Sarah Ellerton (she's long finished the 5-volume series and was published under Seven Seas Entertainment. However, after Volume 2 Seven Seas ended their contract with Ellerton due to lackluster sales, returning the IP rights to her. She reprinted the entire saga through a POD (print-on-demand) service to make it available on her own terms, but as of now she's de-listed the whole saga -- buyers now have to risk going to eBay and the like, who are notorious for hosting pricegougers). I decided to try one out, buying a Wacom Bamboo Fun unit. Turns out the people were right; the tablet could be hooked up to my desktop and came with a stylus pen that could simulate pressure. I had to install a driver before use, and before long I was on my way.

However, I soon learned I made a slight mistake with the Wacom -- I didn't read the fine print. The tablet unit itself was a decent size, but the actual drawing area was much, MUCH smaller than I thought. The stylus also became more difficult to use over time, which combined with the small drawing surface area led to a lot of hand cramps. Translating the lines to the screen only added to the discomfort, forcing me to bend my drawing arm at odd angles just to get the lines right. A bunch of other widgets on the tablet actually made it harder to draw consistent lines than easier, and lint getting on the drawing surface always spelled bad news if not cleaned up swiftly. I soon found myself discarding the thing after years of unsuccessful attempts at an artwork I was happy with; the last page I inked with the Wacom was page 4 of Sneakers' U-Force #3, afterwards it was back to inking by hand for me. Over the following years, I became even more confident and efficient in inking by hand; I was producing up to 6 pages in one day, penciled and inked.

In 2023, I bought a simple HP laptop (which I'm using to type this right row) after a disaster with an Acer that lasted only a year and a half (again, didn't pay attention -- the Acer I bought had so many 2 to 1-star reviews, most citing the laptop eventually not starting and staying on the "loading" screen (I remember waiting a little over an hour when I witnessed this, to no avail). Worse still, closing the lid on this thing eventually wound up shutting the whole thing down instead of going into "sleep mode", which frustrated the hell out of me). Turns out, the Acer operated through a cooling fan vent, and at a certain point the fan stopped spinning. I'm guessing it overheated or something. But man, I was so mad when the Acer apparently "died", as the family desktop was on its own death throes. The new HP laptop doesn't appear to run on a cooling fan and has yet to fully crash -- thought I often have to refresh (restart) it when the storage capacity reaches its limit, and apps take longer to open. I'm looking for ways to free up space, but the apps that take up the most space seem to be vital to the laptop's functionality; if I delete them to free up space, it could kill the whole CPU.

As I was wrapping up the art for Volume 2 of the "Curse of Creation" arc in Lil' Hero Artists, I poked around even more with a new, 2023 edition of Adobe Photoshop. I had purchased it on subscription with Adobe, and right from the start I saw just how much the app evolved. So many new tools along with the original ones, which were more streamlined and easier to use. Midway through Chapter IX, starting around the fight scene between Viper, Ted, and Katy and Nightshade, I had found a way to again replicate "pen pressure" lines with a new tool: the Smoothing gauge. The lower the gauge, the easier it to literally draw a curve by mouse. Back in the day, digitally inking with a mouse was all but ill-advised by many, as I found out while "inking" The Viper #1.

With this tool came a lot of freedom, as now the lines "smoothed" the curves as I dragged the mouse cursor to direct them. This allowed for that "smooth digital inking" I had been trying to accomplish for years, and it also sped up the remaining pages in Volume 2. Greyscale toning was a snap after all the line work was smoothed out. I had also used this strategy on the final few pages in Sneakers #11 which, along with the streamlined coloring and shading tools, allowed me to speed up the process without sacrificing my intended outcome.

Both of these closing chapters in "Curse of Creation: Lil' Hero Artists, Volume 2" and "Sneakers' U-Force Volume 2" (whose cover sports a redone version of Issue #8's cover using the aforementioned Smoothing and coloring/Gradient tools) taught me so many things about the potential of simple tweaks that really spice up a piece of art. I went into Sneakers' U-Force #12 starting with that strategy, but by page 10 I found myself going back to hand-inking. It wasn't that I no longer liked using these new tools, but rather because I noticed myself slowly falling back into perfectionism -- something I had to pull myself away from back when I started Lil' Hero Artists. This time was worse though, because now I was working with digital tools. Many people with software like Adobe Photoshop can easily develop an obsession with the "intended" outcome, leading them to overuse the "undo" and "redo" like hell and eventually fall into frustration and maybe even quit the work-in-progress. I'd been there before in 2005 with The Viper #1, and I refused to go back. I wound up using Photoshop for touch-ups on the line art and vibrant colors/shading only, but for inking I've returned to using pens or "liners" -- what I currently use are Macron drawing pens with a medium-small thickness.

Has anyone here ever used a Wacom or similar drawing device? If so, what was your experience like -- was it a beneficial tool to your work, or was it just a major detriment your project and possibly even your enthusiasm for said work? Just curious...

Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Mark Ronson w/Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk"

Hey, Dreamwidth Family! Time for a little press release:

As the headline says, Sneakers' U-Force #12 has been completed! As in, ready to launch! Here's the story's premise:

"It's been a long time coming, but at long last the adventures of Sneakers and the Eco-Hero Team U-Force continue... actually, let me walk that back. Contrary to what you may think, Sneakers actually takes a back seat role in this story, making way for Marie Mouse and new U-Force member Wanda Squirrel! After they get wind of another planned attack by the Shadow Legion, both girls ready themselves with their unique abilities, with Marie's pyrokinesis and Wanda's... wait, what kind of powers, if any, does the new girl have? And it also seems that in the midst of all of this, Marie's deep feelings for Sneakers plead for an outlet somehow..."

Now, the launching schedule: for those who wish to read the whole episode in one sitting, Sneakers #12 will launch tomorrow on GlobalComix.com around 9:30 am Pacific Time. I will provide the corresponding link once the comic goes live. For those who prefer a piece-by-piece read, #12 starts updating on Comic Fury on Monday, April 15th; I'm also shooting for a morning release there as well. In the meantime, I've put up a teaser poster for the readers at CF.

This was definitely a LONG time coming, I finished scripting in early October of last year I believe, then drawing/inking/coloring/lettering from December to now. I'm awestruck at how it turned out; I was envisioning something FAR less stellar than I'm beholding now. I really hope you all enjoy it, and I have to admit that when I read the last page of the episode, I felt some real "Awww..." moments.

Peace and love to you all,

Nana

--J.D.

Current Mood: Whew... a job well done!
Current Music: Kirby Air Ride Soundtrack, "Top Ride: Light Stage"

Wow, fortune smiles today! On Friday, I saw the surprising statistics of my webcomic series Sneakers' U-Force, with the series view count having reached 978 views, a record for the comic. But recently I just checked the stats for my other series, Lil' Hero Artists, and Lord Almighty, this was a record breaker for not just this series, but my highest view count for comics PERIOD.

As of the time of this writing, Lil' Hero Artists has amassed 1,064 views -- the highest view count for any of my comics.

Does this have to do with my recently updated page advertising the series being available at Amazon.com, My Lulu.com Storefront, local bookstore websites through IndieBound, and e-comic versions at DriveThruComics.com? I dunno, but I can say one thing: this is ONE thing I'm definitely thankful for this Thanksgiving, along with my new friends Matt Zimmer, Jazz Nevermore, Lady Jess (a_natural_beauty), and TwedeeNimbus.

Thanks, guys! Meeting you all has been one of the best things to happen to me this year!

-- J.D.

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Kim Waters, "Stepping Out"

I've been reading up on the publishing industry lately out of curiosity. A question has always lingered in the back of my head since about 2010. Why do people really write, particularly fiction?

I learned to read at a very early age, but didn't get into drawing until about halfway to 2nd grade. I was mostly drawing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but my affinity for art really kicked off after playing the Sega Genesis game Sonic the Hedgehog. For some reason, the design of the little blue fella just set me off and drawing became my new hobby (as well as the Sonic games, back then I just had to have the newest game in the series). Then, as I went through the rest of elementary school, my instructors saw promise in the fiction I wrote for my classmates. One particular counselor at the after-school program at the campus took major interest. Out of respect for him, I will only call him "Big Dre".

If it weren't for Big Dre, I surely wouldn't have pursued my new hobby. My family wasn't really supportive of this "gift" I had. As a matter of fact, my folks once told Dre that they were actively trying to discourage me from cultivating my hobby because it was interfering with my studies (looking back, it was video games that distracted me, not art). Dre told them point-blank not to do it, because I was great at what I was doing. Then, around 4th grade, at a summer program I met a friend with the next thing that fanned the flame of my artistic desire: Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comics.

Reading these was the first time I really read comics (my parents had taken away my Spider-Man comics because they were "too violent"). I was fascinated with how the format worked, the art itself, and the vocabulary (prior to this, I didn't know what the word "henceforth" meant). And back then they said comics weren't literature! it was... unreal. Not to mention they were stories about my favorite hedgehog and his friends.

Returning to school in the fall, I started creating my own Sonic comics, and then grew into creating my own stories and original characters. As I progressed through my educational career, I spent more and more time writing and illustrating my own comics. By the time I reached the end of middle school, I had a pretty good foundation of the mechanics and nuances of the comic book medium. At that point, I had completed a 3-part series starring a character named "Dynamo": each issue was 13 pages. Then I made a "top-secret" epilogue issue, which capped at 32 pages, I believe. It was quite an achievement that I still look back on fondly. The books now reside with my young cousin as a gift, who's colored them.

In high school, my next project took off in 11th grade, in AP History. As we read and discussed the Vietnam War, I took great interest, and at the time we were also going over Black history and systemic racism. The injustices of both subjects led to me forming a new idea addressing them. At the time, the film "Spider-Man 2" was close to release. At that time, I remembered my fascination with the guy back in my youth. After sketching out designs, I eventually created "The Viper", a Black/Vietnamese young adult superhero originally infiltrating a shadow ninja clan bent on avenging the atrocities of the Vietnam War. However, eventually I felt I was not really prepared to address such sensitive issues, and I was eventually encouraged to slightly change the subject matter.

I was also taking a graphic design class with a great instructor. One day, we were given an assignment that challenged us to integrate pencils into a drawing. At that point, I had created another new character: A boy with pencil arms, a dog, and a pencil-themed jet. The boy's adversary was a cloaked figure with a pencil staff who rode on a pencil-themed shark. Needless to say, that assignment got an A+.

When I got into college, things got complicated. I honestly thought I'd dive straight into my art studies (after all, I had taken part in a rigorous but fulfilling 5-day program at The Art Institute in San Francisco), but I found out that the niceties of education still had to be addressed: core classes and a couple electives. It was disappointing , but I dealt with it and drew in my spare time. In 2007, I got my first job. It was a decent one, didn't take up all of my time, and I was able to work my work schedule with my college schedule. Also around that time, I had eventually finalized the pencil boy adventure in what would finally be dubbed "Lil' Hero Artists". As I worked, schooled, and wrote/drew my stories, I caught wind of a publication contest by Alterna Comics. The top 3 winners would get a print publishing deal. It was 2008 and I was polishing Lil' Hero Artists, also having found a friend to collaborate with on the series: A spectacular scribe named Nick Vollmer. Teaming up, we entered Lil' Hero Artists, which did pretty well in the contest polls over time. I'll never forget what one of Alterna's editors, Michael S. Bracco, said as he cast his vote: He compared Lil' Hero Artists to the likes of Bone. Yes, THAT Bone. Jeff Smith's Bone, one of the all-time greats in graphic novel mythos. That was VERY humbling, to say the least, and his comment is emblazoned on the back cover of The Original Series.

Nick and I didn't win the contest as we didn't make the top three. However, we were surprisingly dubbed "runners-up" (there was another runner-up, but they failed to deliver on time). As such, we got something not hinted at before: An e-comic publishing deal. We gladly took it, and finally got a publishers name/logo plastered on the front cover. It was great, for a time.

I was still working the day job and going to school, until one day I checked our sales and saw that we weren't really making... much of anything. I also learned that the whole "if you build it, they will come" stuff doesn't apply in the business world - not even the comic/graphic novel business. I didn't know the first thing about marketing and promotion, and I was struggling to find the time to continue with the next installment (we had only published one thru Alterna). I decided then that this was not the right path for us. It was gut-wrenchingly difficult, but I eventually had to inform Alterna that I couldn't continue with them as I wanted to do my own thing with Lil' Hero Artists. Alterna gave the rights back to me and Nick, and we parted ways on good terms.

As I grew at my job, I realized that I could get our stuff printed professionally through POD (print on demand) services online. It took a few tumbles, but eventually we got a 136-page complete graphic novel. Finally, Lil' Hero Artists saw print. At the time, we had also done an AU (alternate universe) version of LHA with more detailed character designs, a slightly different storyline, and all scripting duties handled by Nick. We dubbed it "Lil' Hero Artists: Manga-ized". Long story short, it was well received and made it's first-ever bookstore debut in a village not far from where I live.

As I was nearing the end of college, my newest idea took shape. I was taking a class called "Eco Art Matters", in which we discussed how art could be used to address environmental issues plaguing the planet. I was fascinated at what various artists did, like Andy Goldsworthy's rock sculptures resembling eggs. Word got out about Lil' Hero Artists upon request, and all were impressed; one of my classmates' niece was there at the time, and throughout the whole two-and-a-half hour class she was hooked on the graphic novel. At the end of class she asked my classmate (her aunt) if she could buy the book, to which Auntie sadly said she had no money on hand. But soon after, I thought that perhaps I could use the comic book medium to tell an eco-story.

As the semester was drawing to a close, the class was faced with a gallery showing to finish off the year. At that time I had created and polished my newest idea: a team of animals who swore to protect Earth from an extremist organization. The idea was partially inspired by an old throwaway character I previously named Sneakers the Chipmunk back in around 1998, I think. He had special shoes capable of flight, sticking to walls with built in suction cups, springs for altitude, and a few other things. I decided to change him into a squirrel and limit the shoes only to flight. I created some buddies to fight alongside him and an underground city which contained their headquarters. When all was said and done, the product was completed and named "Sneakers and the U-Force". Long story short, my instructor treated the 24-page intro comic like it was the star of the gallery, and I was spotlighted in the college newspaper photo and all.

After I finally graduated in 2020, I had two main series staring multiple characters from my whole career thus far: Lil' Hero Artists and Sneakers and the U-Force, which eventually became just "Sneakers' U-Force". As far as my characters Dynamo and Viper go, instead of retiring them, they play a big part in my crossover comic in the LHA universe (and the sequel to its original series), titled "Curse of Creation". Both series have been picking up a lot of steam, and my friend Nick still has more scripts for "Manga-ized" in the event he's able to return to continue (He has his own obligations; family, day job which he loves, etc.). I'm happy for him and for myself as I have finally achieved my dream of becoming a graphic novelist who's seen a bit of press, have a great collaborator and collaboration, wonderful fans (including my closest friends who are honest critics but kind ones at the same time.), and a bookstore owner's graces. And the funny thing is, if this is as far as I go, I'm good. Hell, if I lose all of this, I can take it. Because I'll still have myself, who will always find value in the work and, on a more personal level, the one loyal reader referred to in Scott McCloud's "Making Comics".

Achieving such success as this alone, being the "one loyal reader", feels really strange and even narcissistic, though everyone tells me otherwise. I've come to accept it for what it is: that I'm happy I achieved what I've been pursuing for most of my life.

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: peaceful white noise