Are Black & White comics still a thing?

Asking for a friend.

It gets better the more you do it.

Get your minds out the gutter, I’m talking about creating comics.

I’ve noticed a definite update in my drawing over the past month or so, the speed of getting a panel down & the line choices I’m making appear to be the correct ones to my eye. Not all of course, there are still a few times you find yourself ditching the whole panel & approaching it differently rather than flogging a dead horse, but on the whole it seems to be coming to me a lot quicker than it did.

This week has had less distractions so my work levels felt more productive overall, I know I know that’s all sounding a little bit like I’m trying to convince a boss type figure that it really is a good idea to let me work from home but you really notice the difference when you’re spending more time in the zone, here’s to next week being the same.

I’ve also discovered that I’m now inking only the most basic parts of the pages with the intention of adding all the shadows etc after I colour it, my usual practice is to get all the details etc down at this stage but often found that my colouring was almost wrestling with it if that makes sense?

As of tomorrow (Monday) I’ll have one more page to ink in the morning then another pass at the rest of the script where I’ll be getting the rest of the thumbnails down all the way to the final page of this second chapter, then back to page 16 to begin the next wave of pencils. It’s looking like a busy week ahead again & I’m here for it.

Sunday had me focusing on the Kickstarter for SPACEBOY & THE FUTURE KING 2 : AWAKENING OF THE SPITTYPIG! & I’m just one short video clip away from sending it off to be reviewed by the folks at Kickstarter & hopefully having it accepted so it can launch. All the rewards are just about sorted & I'm aiming to give the whole book another pass just to tighten up some of the panels over the duration of the campaign as I’d actually drawn this some time ago & have learned a lot since then, working in layers being the main one! Something I had forgotten about running a crowdfunding campaign was all the little images that you need to produce, let alone new images for promo on the socials leading up to & during the campaign. I may well push the launch date back just a little bit more so I can get a longer run up at the promotion stage, run the advertising for it for a little while. I’m not sure just yet. I’m worried folks have waited long enough already, well the ones who are near & dear like to tell me so anyway? So with that patience in mind, here’s a little peek…

Tintagel’s olde post office building, before its wonky roof ‘arrived’ .

It’s a great deal of fun doing this locally based comic as you get to fill it with local landmarks etc that folks & their little ones might recognise while holidaying, a beach here, a building there, a rectangular shaped hole in the cliffs where a certain hermit might well have resided?

Trebarwith Strand looking towards Tintagel, home of Earl the Grey?

On a slightly different note, more from curiosity than anything else, do you think there’s still a market for black & white comics? I absolutely LOVE to see them & I'm constantly thinking about producing one at some point, or perhaps shoehorning one into a part of the comic, I’m thinking more for my INCOMERS OF THE BLOATED GOAT when ever I get back to it?

I’ve always fancied having a real good go & then discovering I’m no FRANK MILLER when it comes to the mastery of black & white. SIN CITY was a real eye opener for me all those years back & still stops me in my tracks whenever I pick up one of the many copies I own just to flick through for inspiration. Another black & white book that I fell head over heels in love with was GABRIEL BÁ & FABIO MOONS TWO BROTHERS, I feel there’s a real beauty to black & white work when it’s done right?

From TWO BROTHERS by Moon & Bá.

Just a thought.

Anyway my lovely’s that’s it for this weeks gabble.

Until the next one.

Rory.