When Rodney Met Dickie is complete

I finished and posted on Wednesday the final installment of When Rodney Met Dickie.

Part 1: http://www.bohemian-zen.com/?p=672.

Part 2: http://www.bohemian-zen.com/?p=879.

Part 3: http://www.bohemian-zen.com/?p=899.

When Rodney Met Dickie is part of the Special Edition project at www.bohemian-zen.com. The main story of Special Edition is told in the online comics. The serialized fiction tells peripheral stories involving characters featured in the comics, mainly members of the various gangs that inhabit the Tax Free Zone. When Rodney Met Dickie introduces the Bingo Ladies, one of said gangs, and the 50s-style street gang greasers that serve as the Bingo Ladies’ underlings. Both gangs will be seen again in The Bathroom Attendant, one of the comics being worked on for Season 2 of Special Edition.

The first part of When Rodney Met Dickie was written in July 2009. After a lengthy hiatus, I returned to the material and wrote and published parts 2 and 3 in November. Part 2 and 3 were difficult to write. I lost the narrative voice I had used in part 1. It was a struggle to find it again. As a result, part 2 went through several re-writes. In fact, I made small changes to it yesterday when I posted part 3.

The final installment was difficult too. I knew how the story was going to end– the ending was one of the first elements I wrote in my notebook when I started plotting the story in mid-July. I also knew I wanted part 3 to build upon the tension that had started to grow in part 2. I spent considerable time editing part 3, trimming and rewriting wherever I let the tension subside.

I read the whole story again this morning and am pleased with how it turned it. It took me a while to get it to where I wanted it to be but I believe I succeeded. I hope you agree. Enjoy.

Black Salt #2 update and Black Salt #3

Owen Ratliff, creator of Black Salt, asked me yesterday to get started on Black Salt #3! The production on Black Salt #2 has progressed according to plan. Blackline Comics (the publisher) and Owen wanted Black Salt #2 completed in 5 – 6 weeks. The whole team is proud to say Black Salt #2 is almost complete, with a digital version of the comic scheduled for release in early December.

When Rodney Met Dickie continues

After much delay, the story of Rodney Wimpy and Dickie continues on bohemian-zen.com. The first part in this serialized fiction was posted in July 2009. Many delays occured in the months that have passed, none of which warrant detailed discussion on this here blog. I did, however, tackle the story once again when November came around. It took me a couple tries to find the narrative voice again but I did and so I am happy to say When Rodney Met Dickie part 2 is now available.

Part 1 can be found at http://www.bohemian-zen.com/?p=672.

Part 2 is at http://www.bohemian-zen.com/?p=879.

The third and final installment of this serialized fiction will be posted next weekend.

Zuda submission revealed

The Thunderchickens logo as conceived and designed by 3!LL

Way back in June, I posted that I was collaborating with 3!LL on a submission for Zuda. I have kept quiet on the topic even though there is a lot of story development discussion, character sketches and rough page layouts I could have posted. I was hush on the topic because I am saving that background material for blog posts I will put up if and when our submission is accepted by Zuda. That is correct; we have completed and submitted our project. We did so on October 4.

Zuda is an online endeavour started by DC Comics. It is an American Idol for comics creators. Creative teams create and pitch eight completed panels of an online comic. If DC Comics likes the pitch the eight panels are entered into a monthly contest. The contest has ten such projects competing for votes from the public. The project that receives the most votes is given a contract by DC Comics. It is possible to become an instant winner, meaning DC Comics likes the project so much that the creative team is given a contract without needing to compete in the monthly contest.

I am not going to reveal much about our Zuda submission at this time. I will post more when the project is accepted by DC Comics. (If it does not get accepted we would likely continue the project on our own and seek another publishing venue.) I will tell you though that the title of our project is The Thunderchickens. I will also say the artwork and colors from 3!LL are the best I have seen him produce to date. We are both very excited and optimistic.

My Goon script

A few months ago, Viper Comics held a talent contest for artists and writers. The winners would be given the opportunity to work together on a Web comic for Viper Comics.

Writers had to submit a five-page script. It had to tell a complete story. It had to feature characters that already existed in comic-dom. That is, Viper Comics would not accept contest entries featuring original characters.

I entered. I figured this would be a chance for many writers to write about their favorite superheroes so I decided to stay away from heroes and villains from DC and Marvel. I also knew I wanted to write something funny. After some deliberation I selected Eric Powell’s The Goon.

For a plot device I turned to my teenage years. Near the home where I lived in Cape Breton was a large culvert through which ran a sizeable brook. A good friend of mine had a fear of Yeti and so he and I and a couple other friends concocted this neighbourhood mythology involving Yeti that lived in the culvert. We referred to them as “Culvert Yeti”. Yeti such as these are featured in my script.

For your enjoyment, I have decided to post my script. You can read it here.  I hope you enjoy it.

Alas, I did not win the contest. Reading the script again, I think I crammed too many panels on some of the pages, with too much dialogue in a few of the panels. Still, I enjoy the gags and think my comedic timing is well crafted. Perhaps these culvert Yeti will find their way into an original comic or fiction  from me some day.