marsconnorbaldry

[marsconnorbaldry]

Amazing Stories:

Photo is from: https://www.openculture.com/2017/07/a-huge-archive-of-amazing-stories-the-worlds-oldest-longest-running-science-fiction-magazine-since-1926.html

Amazing Stories was a comic book brand that were popular in the 1920′s throughout to the 70s that were based around science fiction based adventures inspired by authors such as HG Wells.

The styles used to create these comics are incredible as they are a mixture of realism and cartooniness which gained publicity back in them time, making them well known still today despite their age.

I am inspired by this style as I fell I have added bright, bold backgrounds In my comic with the colour of the background I have picked for when the robots enter the City of Thebes invaded by the Chimera. I also feel that even though my style is nothing like what these comics have, But I do think that the bright coloured background inspired by this comic company works tremendously well with my style which gives off a great result.

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Back Cover:

I felt that to go with the front cover as well as give more of a back ground of what the story is about, I decided to make a back cover. 

For the back cover, I wanted to add in a mythical creature which i felt would make viewers realise that this comic is based on Greek Mythology and the monster I felt would go perfect with this is the Minotaur as everybody recognises this monster as an antagonist.

To start off I thought that using the head of the monster I created for the free gift would be a huge help for me as it looks threatening, Which is exactly what I want. Once I pasted the head into a new document, I then created a position which i feel shows threat and spreads fear and to make the fear effect more powerful, I thought that giving the Minotaur a Mace would do. 

Once the position was done, I then begun adding muscle and bulkiness to the main body as well as added its clothing which in ancient Greek times, From books was popular to have and it is also very similar to what the five robots, Alpha, Delta, Eta, Rho and Zeta wear in honour to their ancestors.

Now the shape and form of the minotaur’s body is now at a satisfied stage, I could now begin to add in the main skin colour and for this, I used a darkish brown which is very similar to what it’s ancestors’ The bull which can be a variety of colours.

I also begun to add in lighter tints of the brown to show light shining from one side of the page, like I added in the font cover, I thought that at this stage I could also begin colouring the clothes and adding shades of the colour.

As you can see I have changed the colour of the background to black, Like i also did on the front cover to show darkness and I felt that since the minotaur is a monster and a force of evil in Greek Mythology, I thought that a dark colour would boost that effect.

After the main shades were added into the back cover, I could now begin to add in my strongest part as well as my favourite which is applying detail. From doing this, I am hugely confident that this looks minotaur looks amazing and critically links to my story as the monster is in my comic but only as a silhouette. Then to finish, I added in a short blurb of the overview of what the comic is about 

Overall I am really happy with how this back cover resulted in as it blends in with the front cover perfectly which has come out better than expected. I feel that the blurb is very strong and that the whole back cover in general relates really well to Greek mythology.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Comic Page 10:

This last comic page shows off the brand new armour made of pure gold given to Zeta by Zeus. This is also the page Zeta is given his new name, Zetaphus which offers it a god like status. Since this is the last page, I wanted to show off the rich colours of Zetaphus’ new body like I did on the front cover and draw the robot in a position to show power.

Because I wanted to move onto adding in the detail as quick as i could, I didn’t take as long on the posing but enough time to make sure it looked suitable such as the spacing between the legs and the angle of the chest is facing.

Once the quick sketch was done, i began adding in a reasonable amount of detail to expose where patterns go and strengthen the body by adding muscles to it.

To add colour, I used the marker tool over the detailed areas which i used as the outline of each pattern and area so I could not ruin the perfect shape of the body. After colouring the body i then added in the basic detail followed by shading.

Overall I am happy with this page as it feels like it is a nice closing to a small comic as throughout the comic you see the struggle of Zeta, The losses, the compromises and it is nice to see that it has been awarded for such bravery and I feel that Zetaphus’ myth is told greatly with just pictures, making this comic a good one to read.

However Even though I am happy with how the whole comic has come out, I do feel that it could have been made shorter and some of the issues such as the page just randomly resizing itself was not helpful as when i was about to finish one page, it would just change without a warning and would not be able to undo it, and draw out that specific section all over again.

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Comic page 9:

In this scene Zeus has sent Zeta back to his palace where he promises Zeta that he would make it a brand new taller, stronger body made of gold and clothed with rich silk. Zeta agrees to have this and in order to begin the progress, Zeus obliterates Zetas old body but splits Zeta’s consciousness from the metal body.

From the destroyed remains, Zeus crafts the armour which is stronger and looks more god like. But to combine each piece of the golden armour together, Zeus places Zeta’s consciousness in the new head which connects each pieces together, forming the new, stronger, better version of Zeta.

Once again I split the page into individual sections so I could begin adding in the sketches.

Once the sketches were complete I could then begin to add in colour using the bucket tool and the Marker paint tool. Once the colours i wanted to apply were in in each strip of the page, I then went over each part that needed detail using the normal paint tool.

I am quite happy with this outcome as it is clear how Zeta gets his new armour from how each strip demonstrates what is going on within the page which is a good thing as the comic has been understandable and would be a huge shame if this page ruined the streak.

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Comic page 8

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Comic page 7:

In this scene, zeta picked up its brother Eta’s sword and see the robot throw the sword in the direction of the chimera.

Like the previous one, I wanted to add more action and show that Zeta was now the main character of the comic, as it is its comic and thought that if i draw the robot in a motion on a reasonable scale, It would hightlight the robot is indeed the main character.

With the proportion all right, I then begun to slowly add colour and reapply detail with in each strip as well as add speech to the little boxes that tell the readers what i going on for those who are struggling to understand the story.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Comic Page 6:

In this page Delta and Alpha try and catch out the Chimera, who doent know that they are behind it until a few seconds later where it then retaliates and pounces on both of them, turning them soldiers into metal scraps, making them no longer a threat to the terrifying beast.

For this age I wanted to show the chimera in action and for that, I posed the chimera in a position with one of its front paws up in the air as if it had just jumped and attacked the robots. So I just divided the page into just two big strips.

One done with the splitters, I then created the quick sketches what poses each character are going to be in.

Then like all the previous ones, I went over colour the backgrounds, and what colours the characters would have using a thick brush and then went over the new colours to apply detail using cross hatching.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Comic page 5:

This comic page shows more of the dragon head of the chimera with what it is capable of by melting robots Rho and Eta with its fire breathing ability.

Once again I drew out the dividers for this page but this time I decided to make each strip more uniquely shaped than the previous ones.

I then drew out the poses the robots were going to be in before they would be turned into liquid as well as sketch the dragon with its mouth open as if it was building up the fire in its mouth before it blows out the fire onto the robots as shown in the third strip and then takes us to the last strip of the page, which is thr end result of the fire melting the robots,

After each strip had the basic features on them, i could now apply the colour and the detail such as the scales on the dragon and also highlight the onomatopoeia that is featured on this page.

To finish, i am quite pleased with how my small comic is coming along because it feels like an adventure adding in a battle between good and evil. Which adds to the action. 

[marsconnorbaldry]

Comic page 4:

In this comic page the five robots are sent by Zeus to the City Of Thebes where the city is under attack by an unknown threat that has caused outbursts of fire within the wall of the city, As we progress further down the page , We find that the cause of this chaos is mythical monster, The Chimera, A breed with a body of a lion, a head of a dragon on one side and a head of a goat on the top with a snake as its tail.

To create this, i first drew out the dividers as i have done in the previous ones using the line tool and then made them bolder by using the marker.

Next I then began to add in the main structures in each strip such as the chimera and the city with little detail which would allow me when I was eventually ready to add in colour then add the detail such as the stone texture on the wall on the second strip with the mythical beast.

Overall I feel that the way I have drawn the chimera as it looks dangerous and threatening, which in Greek mythology, is what it meant to be. Once again I also feel that I have included Lee’s and my style into this page which is what i want to have in each page.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Free gift:

For my free gift, I thought that making a small sticker pack of the main characters and creatures would go quite well as the audience for the comic is all ages so kids could learn from this comic and to enhance their learning, I felt that stickers would keep them entertained in learning about Greek mythology.

Overall I feel that these look really cool and to imagine them as stickers would attract more buyers as from being a buyer of various magazines in the past, I feel that a magazine with a free gift inside adds more persuasion to get the magazine, Which is a great tactic.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Movie poster Analysis: Clash Of The Titans:

Even thought both versions are based on the same story, the posters are very different and I have decided to look into them and judge the use of colour, font and the overall layout from each of them.

The 1981 classic features Legendary Hero Perseus ,a son of Zeus with Princess Andromeda and their loyal companion the mythical Pegasus. Its clever how the artists have created this poster featuring these characters on it by using a range of warm colours, mostly different tints of oranges which to me seems like the artists are showing the viewers who the main star is and the main protagonist. Whereas for the villain who also features on this poster, Medusa is up the top to show dominance and strength over the hero. Once again the creators of this poster have used ark colours around Medusa to expose the beast even more as one of the antagonists. 

Lastly the title stands out really well as it placed in the bottom of the poster where it is dark. This is also another Easter egg that the creators have included in the poster as they have chose to use a bright colour for the title so it stands out of the darkness and that darkness and evil is no match.

Whereas the 2010 remake is debatable as you cannot tell if it is Perseus or not on the Pegasus as well as what creatures are on this front cover, like just from looking at the huge face on the poster, I am questioning which creature it is, is it a Head of a Hydra or is it a Kraken ( huge man eating sea creature) which makes me not so keen as I would like to know what is going on with in the poster. 

The use of colour on this poster is the complete opposite to its original as the warm colours have been used on the monsters to highlight them and have used darker colours on the actual hero which in my opinion was not a good idea.

However, the thing I do like on this poster is the title as it is very similar to Greek Font which I used on my comic book cover. From the creators of this poster using this, you can tell that this film is based around Greek Mythology just from them using this font.

Out of two posters from the same film, The original classic one is far, far better than its predecessor as it is has the correct choice and use of colour and it looks more appealing to the eye as you can understand the basics of the story from the poster whereas in the 2010 one, You question what is going on, which is not a good move in the film industry.

[marsconnorbaldry]

Shining Force:

Even though I have looked into this Retro RPG for inspiration of the last project, I feel that this links even more crucially to this one as the game is full of mythical beasts and monsters such as the chimera, Minotaur and even dragons which I didn’t even acknowledge as being one. I also think that I could potentially the universe of this franchise with The adventures of Zetaphus and could result in an amazing story in the future. Such as Zetaphus in a pose of holding the Dark Dragon’s (shown on this little GIF from the game) horns and then later on actually punching the dragon itself.

It has also made me want to create a Retro version of Zetaphus at some point in the future. 

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Comic page 3:

This is the outcome for page three featuring all five robots (From left) Alpha, Rho, Eta, Delta and Zeta who have just been created by Zeus to protect him and his family’s home from any more threat.

Unlike the previous pages I experimented a little and went a bit wild with the brush in applying detail and I feel that it has actually resulted in a great outcome as I have managed to boosted the sketchiness of my style, now very similar to Lee’s style which was the objective to feel inspired enough to add an aspect and I feel I have done this. However thinking of it, I feel that this effect can only work on a comic page with no dividers as I can fully express the detail without them splitting the page up.

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The original design for Alpha, Delta,Eta, Rho and Zeta::

Since the story is going to be based around Zeus’s robots that eventually get destroyed by the fierce Chimera, I needed to come up with ideas of what they could look like so i came up with two ideas that are totally different from each other. 

Idea 1 is of the robot that has a sleek, thinner body and has a sword and shield to take into battle. Another feature I thought looked nice is the Winged Helmet, I got the inspiration of the helmet from what Superhero/ God of Thunder, Thor, wears in his third film ‘Thor: Ragnarok’.

I really like this design as it is simple and since the robots and this version of Zeta will not be in the comic for long, that is a good thing, I also feel that even though it is easy to provide the detail in this idea, It could potentially look really good.

Idea 2 is really different from the original as I hade the main body really bulky, similar to Zetaphus’ golden body and i did like this feature at first but then i thought that it looked too similar and the main point in creating a different design for the robot warriors was to make it look completely different to its predecessor. I also think this model of the robot looks evil, which I could potentially add in as a rogue robot if I was to do another comic on the adventures of Zetaphus.

Out of the two ideas, I am really confident in using Idea one for all five robots as I feel they could be really effective on the comic. To make each robot recognisable, I will place the first letter of their god for example, Z on Zeta for Zeus and A on Alpha for Athena etc and change their eye and robe colour to the element they are associated in for Rho, who is Poseidon’s robot, has dark blue eyes and robes and Eta who is Hades’ Robot has red eyes and robes. 

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Comic Page 2:

For each page like the first page and for this one I divide up the page with the line tool but i have changed the positioning of the lines to make bigger sections. 

With the sections big enough for what i need them to be, I could now begin to come up with very simple sketches to get the basic features and shapes included into the strips. 

After the rough sketches, i could then begin a little bit of detail into each section to define the main characteristics such as the face of Zeus in the second section and get it to look as detailed as possible.

I am really glad with how this came out as this one I feel has much more action going on with not only the use of onomatopoeia but also has more rougher, free lines which adds more detail but also gives more of a comical effect, much like Jim Lee’s style, whose style I have aspired to add in.

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New additions to Front cover:

Since finishing the Front cover, I have made a few adjustments to help strengthen the attraction of the title as well as the robot itself.

Once major change is the size of the 'Issue 1' box as its original size did take the spotlight away from the actual title Which was not what I wanted so I decided to shrink it.

The last which was not intentional but I ended up altering anyway was the size of the title. I changed it as I had alot of space given from shrinking the red box down.

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Back cover plan:

Since the front cover has the heroic robogod on it, I am debating whether to have Zetaphus or having an Mythical creature on it such as the Creatures that will be in the actual comic such as a Gorgon, The Cyclops, The Minotaur and the Chimera who I have not drawn into the comic yet.

I also feel that I could Pose The Chimera in any way as it has 3 Heads and can always customize the looks of it such as having wings and not having wings.

Before confirming that I am going to use the Chimera for the back cover, I am going to create some poses of it to see what it looks like and then Decide from then on if the beast and the poses are reliable to use for the cover.