Ultraist Studios Blog Journal

Comic book readers who are interested in Aazurn Publishing’s Indie Comics Magazine and did not preorder #2 need to buy today at their local comic shop, said Editor Gary Scott Beatty.

“They’ll disappear fast! We have no huge overprint, no digital version and no back issue sales,” Beatty explained.

Appearing in this issue is Mike Kitchen (Spy Guy), Alonzo Washington (Omega 7), Tim Vigil (Faust), Terry Cronin (Students of the Unusual), Michael Marcus and George McVey (Pulp Dreams, IF-X), Gary Scott Beatty (Jazz: Cool Birth), and Blair Kitchen (The Possum).

The cover to #2 features a full color painting by Tom Kelly (DC’s Zuda).

“We’re receiving kudos for the diverse styles in Indie Comics Magazine #1,” said Beatty. “#2 has a different lineup. Both issues feature done-in-one stories, short bios of the creators and a huge chunk of indie goodness.”

Indie Comics Magazine introduces readers to talented comic book pros with regional fan bases that deserve wider audiences, said Beatty. It is likely the talent in Indie Comics Magazine #2 will never appear in the same publication together again.

ICM #2 on the shelf at Conspiracy Comics in Burlington, ON.

Just been retweeted by ICE T.
Thanks! That made my day!

Here’s a post made especially for Ice-T and the Final Level Twitter Gang. A comic strip that I made a few years back that I thought you might get a kick out of.  You can click the comic for a larger version.

The above strip comes from this comic, published in 2004.

SPY GUY: MINIS is a collection of mini comic strips created between October 2001 and April 2005, primarily as a stream of consciousness to explore ideas surrounding the aftermath of 9-11 and the resulting war on terror.  The comics also include a humorous barrage of pop-culture reference, philosophy and current events, through the eyes of police officers in the Special Investigation Division’s Intelligence Unit.

$4.10

Want to see the first page of SPY GUY #2?
Here it is!

For more updates tweeted live go here: SPY GUY #2 Updates

Would you like your local comic shop to order Indie Comic Magazine #2 containing the 8 Page exclusive story SPY GUY:  The Case Of The Anunnaki Artifact?  Just print out the below order form and bring it to your local comic book guy by February 18 2011.  Couldn’t be easier!

Click above for easy printing pdf version.

The Ultraist Blog Journal has just received intelligence reports that after years of resistance, SPY GUY has managed to infiltrate Diamond Comics Distributors via Indie Comic Magazine #2.

SPUD & HARRY has been nominated for The 2010 S.P.A.C.E. Prize in the General Category.

Voting ends this coming Monday.

To read the online preview edition just click on the cover below.

All finalists are posted at http://www.backporchcomics.com/space_prize.htm

All 2010 S.P.A.C.E. exhibitors be sure to vote by sending your picks to Bob Corby by January 31!

A photo by Matt Campbell.

On Page 15 of SPY GUY #2 I had a very clear image in my head of what is supposed to be happening. Though try as I might, I hadn’t been able to get the image on to the paper. It’s a slightly skewed perspective of Spy Guy shooting stuff up with his Uzi. My 11 x 17 roughs were scribbled out back in August, but this panel wasn’t quite working Something about the pose was wonky. Yesterday I grabbed some reference images off the net and attempted to figure out the pose by drawing different thumbnails, but sketch after sketch the pose still wasn’t working, as you can see from the drawings below.

Well, when this happens, it’s time to pull out the camera and act out the exact action for photo reference. And this morning, that’s exactly what I did.

The final frame I decided on was screen captured and flipped (as Spy Guy is ambidextrious with a gun, and I’m not).

Spy Guy is a funny character in that his proportions make certain poses difficult to capture, but I’m pretty sure this one will work for the story I’m telling. You can let me know how successful I was once the page is finally completed.

Starting October 4th 2010 SPY GUY #2 became a full-time job. This is the first time in my life I’ve been able to dedicate the entirety of my “work-time” to a comic. Even when I took two weeks off to complete SPUD & HARRY I was still doing videogame contract work on the side. Two weeks and two days in I can say it’s been an interesting experience. Suddenly there is time to think about the work. Pages that have been sitting idle for over a year are suddenly coming to fruition. That said: There isn’t nearly enough time to do all that needs to be done. On my white board, I wrote all the things I hoped could be accomplished. In my delusions of grandeur I had thought since the comic would replace the “Clark Kent Day Job” that suddenly side projects would replace the time spent making comics. I thought blog entries would come quicker, and the SPY GUY: Minis webcomic would suddenly go live. But you know what? It takes A LOT of time to make a comic. Not quite as much time as it takes to make animation. But more time than enough.

As of this writing, I’m averaging at two days to complete one page, which happens to be the same amount of time it took to complete the SPACE Anthology pages. As I move forward with this comic, it’s becoming apparent where the time is being spent, so it is the hope of this artist that as time moves on the process will become streamlined for maximum speed and productivity. Part of the trick is being able to make snap decisions. Having a solid script helps. Having solid thumbnails helps. Having reference material on hand helps immensely! The rest of it is being able to execute on demand. That trick is a little more tricky. My hunch is that skill will develop as more pages are completed. I’m noticing that having drawn convention sketches has helped a lot. It’s a great format of experimentation in figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Today’s agenda is putting the final inking touches on the first half of SPY GUY #2 and scanning the pages, turning them into print ready files. This is what the drawing board looks like as of this moment. Note some of the items in the picture: The corkboard full of ideas and reference. The photo of my children. The rulers for drawing perspective and speedlines. The tape for tracing paper transfers. A tracing paper transfer for Page 9. Post it notes full of dialog (for placement on the page). Star Wars Manga book 2 for speedline reference. And Pages 4-10 of SPY GUY #2!

Enough blogging.
Time to get back to work.