Lord of the Rings: Siege of Mirkwood and Beyond

Way back when Lord of the Rings first came out, it was Shadows of Angmar.  Then came the next paid expansion, Mines of Moria.  Now it's Siege of Mirkwood and they just launched another free expansion called Allies of the Rangers.

Now I've been a major fan of the Lord of the Rings Saga since I first discovered it at the library.  I've written a little bit about that before, but to be honest, I love this game.  The playability and graphics are out of this world, and middle earth is an expansive wonderland that you can explore.  From Thorin's Halls to the Misty Mountains and beyond, this game has it all.

When I first began playing, it was a steep learning curve as I hadn't played many MMORPG's before.  Thanks to the tutorials I quickly picked it up and now consider myself to be one of the better players in the Person Vs Everthing environment.

The one complaint I've heard the most is the small amount of PvP (Player versus Player).  To me, that's a good thing.  There's sparring for fun and a whole region to run around in to play against players controlling orcs and the like. 

Now when I first began playing the game, it was a lot more difficult in the early levels than it is now.  They've streamlined the playing of the game to help you level faster.  This has pros and cons to it.  Many players can get to Moria faster, and now Mirkwood beyond.  You can make it to level 65 now instead of just 60.  Crafting tiers are better than before offering more choices.

For an older player like myself, who's been playing since the beginning, I can understand why the changes were made but it's frustrating to have to learn new quest objectives and where to go to fulfill certain quests.  In fact, it's a pain in the ass in Bree Land where I am now.  While I levelled faster than before, it's hard to keep track of where I need to go for what as everything's been moved around and changed since I first played, and even played last about a year or two ago. 

Overall I love this game.  Even though I had to play with the options (now that I'm running Vista) to get it to run without lag, it's still a great play and the Epic Quests follow the storyline in the books quite closely, even making a point to send you to Tom Bombadils at one point, or to go up to the top of Weathertop in the Lone Lands for another.   You can see the books come to life even more faithfully than the movies.  (Which I loved, so don't get me wrong)

I think this game is excellent if you're into MMORPG's.  I think it's one of the most solid out there.  I hope you enjoyed this, one of my few review articles that I plan on writing.

Of novels and Gaming

Novel.  The very word puts many authors to shame, including myself.  It's a scary word, a word used to threaten authors with their own personal version of hell at times.  I know I've felt it as I work on this endeavor.  Beyond Mortality has transformed itself many times throughout the years.  From story to story, from place to place.  From house to house that I lived in.  But never before had it been even close to conceivable as a NOVEL.

Until now.  I'm about 20,000 words into this book.  It's 1/3 finished in it's first draft form.  I'll be working on illustrations to put within it also, grayscale digital paintings and the like to help people visualize the story.  It's a lot darker than it was as a comic.  I can do many more things with a novel than I can with the a comic book.

But that begs the question that some of you may ask "What about the copy of the COMIC BOOK I ordered?"  Never fear, it'll see the light of day.  Kind of as a preview of what could have been, and hopefully to help whet your appetite for what the novel itself will be.

Okay.  Covered the novel.  Now for GAMING!

I just tried out Allods online for a while the other day.  For a free to play MMORPG this game is impressive.  It's very similar to World of Warcraft in gameplay and graphics, yet doesn't have the full finish that WoW has.  For an open beta it's a lot of fun, and this game (as long as it stays free to play) should give other F2P games a run for their money, including Dungeons and Dragons Online.  I know I'll be playing Allods online here and there to get a break from my FAVORITE game, Lord of the Rings Online.  (Once LOTRO is done updating that is.  Just got a new subscription and had to reinstall)

I tend to spend my time off playing games.  Yep.  I'm a part time gamer.  Why part time?  Because I love being creative more than I love grinding out quests on an unceasing quest to gain the level cap.  Also, I like to write and draw more than I like to Game.

I've played a lot of different games in my day so far.  The FEAR series, Wolverine:  Origins, LOTRO, WoW, Allods Online, D&D Online, X-Men Legends series.  Basically my tastes are wide and varied, usually hanging close to First Person Shooters and MMORPGS.  Of course there's games like Chess and Mahjong that I love to play as well.  But the game that I keep returning to whenever I have the money (and believe me, I wish I had the $200 needed for a lifetime subscription) is Lord of the Rings Online.

I've been a Lord of the Rings fan for ages.  Ever since I was a preteen and discovered not only the Hobbit but the LOTR series of books.  The riders in black used to scare me so bad I'd sleep with my light on.  But I kept reading the adventures of Frodo and Sam and Gandalf and Aragorn through and through.  I also read Lloyd Alexander and CS Lewis.  I devoured whatever books I could of the fantasy genre, but kept returning again and again and again to the Lord of the Rings Universe.

When the first movie came out my wife and I went to see it.  Same with the Second.  I can't remember if we saw the third in the theatre as well, but we probably did.  Now we own all three on DVD and fast forward through most of the Frodo parts for the action of Aragorn and Gandalf.

Yep, I'm a die hard fantasy fan.  Heck, I even like sword and sorcery like Conan the Barbarian.

But I will also return to Lord of the Rings both as literature and as a gamer.

Beyond Mortality: Part Three

I suppose I should've announced this update AFTER I wrote this blog post, but oh well.

I'm currently taking a break from the monotonous task of scanning in pages, adjusting the brightness and contrast on them, and preparing them for the lettering process.  And yes, it IS a monotonous process.  I enjoy the actual creation of the pages with pencil to paper followed by inks MUCH more.  But as it's a necessary evil in comics, I hit the grindstone as I have to.  For those who want some more technical information on how I work, read on.  Others may get bored by what I'm about to say.  To those who do get bored, tough noogies.  This is reality of a creator and independent working on a book.

Once I finish drawing the book.  (Line art, Black and White, Inked line over the pencilled) I then scan it in at 300dpi in grayscale.  I've got a HP three in one, printer/scanner/copier that can scan up to 600dpi.  It's served me well since I got it and since my old scanner died on me.  I scan them directly into photoshop.

Once I have the page in Photoshop, I then adjust the size of the page to match normal comic book size.  (6.62 x 10.25).  As I draw on 8.5" x 11" paper, This means that I first reduce the image down to 6.62 x whatever (I make sure that Scale Styles and Constrain Proportions are both checked.)  This brings the image to 6.62 by about 8.5.  I then adjust the canvas height to 10.25, which gives me a bit of a border at the top and bottom of the page.  I use this border in lettering as some extra space in case the artwork is too constrained or I'm not able to fit something important over the line art.

I then hit auto contrast to somewhat darken and balance the page.  Then I move onto Adjust>Brightness/Contrast.  Each page is different depending on what tool I used to ink it, so I move the sliders so that it's a uniform black and white.

Remember that at each step you should save your work.  In Photoshop that's CNTRL+S. 

Once the durned page is scanned and adjusted to the right size and balance of contrast, I save it as a page in my comic book folder.  In this case the last page was BEYOND_01_022.TIF.  I always save as a TIFF file at the start.

After I get all the pages scanned and adjusted, I then close out photoshop.  Go grab a smoke and rest my eyes for a few before I import them into Adobe Illustrator.

Adobe Illustrator's a fun program to use for lettering.  I don't want to go into details right now because I'm not at that stage, but once the page is imported and the document size set correctly, I use the many fonts I have to create the lettering on the page.  I then export it as a TIF with all lettering intact, making it a single layer instead of multiple.  I've found this saves on file size quite a bit.  If the printer I'm using prefers PDF files, I'll save it as an EPS and convert it to PDF in an additional step.  As the company I'm hoping to give a second chance to prefers TIFFs right now, I save as TIFFs.

Then I go crazy, take my meds, and pass out.

No really, then I take a break for a few days.  Seriously.  I'll stop working on that particular book and work on something else for a few days.  Then using the image viewer that windows provides, I'll read through the book from start to finish making notes of corrections or problems.  Sometimes my wife'll read over my shoulder and catch some stuff I miss.  Other times she'll get into the story, boot my arse from the chair and read the whole thing at one go tossing stuff that I need to adjust or change over her shoulder hoping I catch it all.

Okay........Time to go chill for a few.  I'll be finishing the scanning tomorrow, and starting on the lettering.  I was hoping to do it tonight, but my fingers are itching to start the artwork for Book Two tonight.  Or maybe I'll just get obliterated on my meds and pass out for the night.  Or who knows........

Triumph and Tribulations

Many of you who read this know I'm ordained.  Others know that I've taken time away from being a Pastor of any shape or sort.  Many of you don't know the why:  I'm immature and unschooled.  I need better training and to know the Bible better before I even attempt to fill this role.

Three and a half years ago I attempted suicide.  During this time I had a vision, and that vision told me it wasn't my time and that God had a wonderful plan for my life.  I rededicated my life solely to God at this point, and then jumped into pastoral ministry with both feet.

Over the past three and a half years, it's been insane.  What started out well, and the fire I had burned brightly but I was not tempered.  After three and a half years I'm burnt out.  The fire for pastoral leading is gone, and all that remains is my comics and what I do ministerially through comics and in person. 

Since I left the pastorship, I've felt directionless and lost spiritually, until tonight.  Tonight I had a wonderful discussion with a brother named Sergio Cariello.  Comic book fans may know him from his work on Crux from Crossgen and other books in the comics industry.  God sent Sergio to me to encourage me, to let me know that I made the right decision, and that I do need more training.  Up till this point my training was spending a month in Maryland learning at the feet of a Bishop who denied the trinity and believed in the Jesus Only doctrine.  I couldn't follow that when everything I read pointed to a Trinity.  I couldn't follow prophecies that were spoken of Jesus coming before the end of 2010.  I can't do that kind of thing, not now not ever.

I was in a desert, drowning in the sand but now I feel as though I'm at an oasis, waiting on the Lord to deliver me, to transform my tribulation into a triumph.  Whether I have an open mind or not doesn't matter as much as what I feel deep within me, the peace that passes all understanding.  I'm becoming non-confrontational (which I used to be VERY confrontational) and more patient when it comes to discussing things with other people.  I think that this will be a time of tempering and training for me as I continue my work in comics, both Christian and Secular.

Updates Galore!

Well in case ya haven't heard through my facebook:

Due to popular demand through e-mail, facebook, facebook messages, and instant messages, I will be releasing Beyond Mortality as a three issue series.  Each issue will feature two chapters of story and 10 pages of backmatter relating to the book and the creative process found within.  That means at least 30 pages of artwork per book (31 pages of story and art in the first book), 10 pages of backmatter, plus some letters and ads I run as a service to other independent publishers!  All for $3.99 an issue!

I've also updated this little site with an ABOUT ME page, and more importantly, the BUY OUR STUFF page, which has both the all ages title by Kurt G Lewis "The Improbable Barnsy and the Pocket Full of Teeth" for sale and the pre-order for the very very soon forthcoming Beyond Mortality #1!

I'm also gonna be posting my commission prices on a separate page, along with a full links directory of sites I visit for research and fun.  Heck, i'll throw in some major comic book news sites as well just for flavor.

Things are beginning to move fast again, and 2010 is gonna blow 2009 outta tha water for all of us involved with this little publisher that could!

Beyond Mortality: Part Two

As of today, I'm starting a weekly column about my graphic novel Beyond Mortality.  It will be published once a week(duh,) but maybe not always on the same day of the week.  In part one I talked about how happy I am with the direction it's taken, and the way the that the war of light and dark is being portrayed, today I'm gonna talk a bit more about the creative process that brought me to this place.  If you think you've read this particular story before, think again.

I've been in and around comics both as an amateur and a professional for over 15 years now.  I've learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes.  I'm finally to the point professionally that I wish I could have been at five years ago, but am happily paying my dues.  Yet there's one project that has forever escaped me finishing, this one, Beyond Mortality.

I began work on this thing when I was in my late teens.  I mucked about with witchcraft and christianity equally back then, and my book showed that.  I had a guy named Talbot with scars on his face almost like the crow and supernatural powers.  I had another guy named Dameon that was a detective who was investigating the murders of a killer known as the CROSS HATCH KILLER because he'd mark his victims with #1, #2, etc.  I even had Christianity in there in some ways.  Yet it was a violent book with no real direction.

Over the years I've returned to the base concepts of Beyond Mortality again and again, trying to figure out how to represent this tale in the best way, and how to balance the violence with reality and with the battle between good and evil.  I've written and rewritten this thing a thousand times by now.  It sucks so bad that I lost some of these drafts in the past 12+ years.  Some were very good, some weren't.  In fact, this book also became a sword and sorcery fantasy at one point.  That was shortlived, thank god.

Now the creative process is different.  I have a loose plot in mind, the beginning middle and end of the book.  Yet what comes in between to make it to these points isn't known until I start drawing it on the page.  Finally I'm to the point professionally and talent wise that I'm able to make these transitions, able to make this story live and breathe to me.  So here's how I work.

I have my beginning, my middle, and my end.  Those three points are set in stone.  (The beginning especially since it's already been drawn and lettered.  It's on my backup drive ready for print.)  I haven't quite reached the middle yet, but I'm getting close.  Each story chapter, even though it's not separated that way in the book itself, has a definitive message to it.  The first one is loss of hope.  The second is the rise of darkness.  The third is questions.  And the fourth is the ending, where we either see the light win, or the darkness win.  I know the ending.  And I'm not telling.

As I draw each page, I think about how it will serve the story.  I think about how it'll work in the overarching scheme of things.  And when I letter the entire book, I'll probably remove or move around some pages to better serve the story.  If when you read it (in probably another two or three months) you notice that each piece of this book is done in scenes, you now know why.  This way I can move them around if I need to, in order to better tell the story.

I'm drawing each page in numerical sequence.  1, 2, 3, 4, etc.  I'm now on page 35 and nearly to the middle of the story, which would be the end of chapter two as I outlined above.  So think of it like this, 40-45 pages will see this graphic novel halfway finished.  At this point I'll have a decision to make, whether to publish it in two parts or one part.  I'm currently leaning towards one part, but you guys are gonna help me make the actual decision.

As I draw each page, I get ideas for dialogue that get written on the back of the page.  I refer to these notes when I'm lettering the book, using them as indications about how the mood and theme of the page was supposed to be.

Well, lunch is ready.  I'll continue this next week with some pages in their raw inked forms!

Work and Life and Life and Work

I've been enjoying life lately.  Since I quit being a Pastor (whether temporary or permanently, I can't say) and started some life changes, I've been MUCH happier than I have been in the past three years.  Things are going really well in our house.  Fights are almost non-existant lately.  My son and I are having fun bonding, as are my wife and I.

Works going really well too lately.  Beyond Mortality is shaping up nicely.  The art changes I've made in my style plus the ability to use some quality supplies (such as my new Rapidograph Technical pen in inking) has made work more enjoyable.  I'm currently at about 35 pages of artwork for this graphic novel.  It'll top out probably at about 90-100 pages when I'm completely finished. 

The freedom (which is the key to any enjoyment of life) that has come upon me since leaving the ministry is great.  I can't talk enough about how it's opened up not only my mind, but my work to other influences that I may have ignored before.  I'm letting my work out to play now, my art and my stylings.  I'm drawing big boobs on women, which I always have but had to cut them down for my "christian work".  I don't feel this burning need to put christianity into everything anymore.  I feel free for the first time in my life to be who I am and make no excuses, both in work and life.

This blog will slowly be undergoing a bit of an evolution as time goes on.  I'll be concentrating more on my work and less on these personal blog messages as time goes on.  I'll also be doing more illustrative work that I'll be posting to show you all.  Hope you enjoy what is about to happen here!