MONOLITH: In the Studio » Production Update

Re-corking the Bottle

Josh — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:04:07 +0000

We are getting closer and closer to press time.

Slow, laborious, leaps and bounds.

And at every turn, everyone who is not currently the one slogging away is standing just behind that slogger with champagne bottles ready and little party horns in our mouths. And we’re looking at eachother like Dick Clark is counting down. All of our hard work and stress and humbling set-backs have all lead up to this one…

And then the word comes down from the desk!

10 more minutes.

1 more day.

Just a few more hours.

The champagne corks are suffering PTSD disorder from the constant on-duty, off-duty. From constantly being called up, primed and fluffed, and then bing sent back to the shelf with no indication of whether or not the next time would be the real deal, or just another drill. This constant near-elation is exhausting.

But it really is getting closer, and each new step is amazing.

I am so proud of the work that my incredibly talented friends have done, and continue to do.

And then, before anyone could possibly be ready, it will be time for the New York Comic Con. New York. Synonymous world wide with “big time”. If we can make it there, we can make it anywhere.

Well, we are MAKING it right now. And we can make it THERE. But can we MAKE IT THERE?

I know people get bored with my ceaseless, determined, optimism…but yeah, we can make it there.

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Developments

Josh — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:57:35 +0000

Comics is about tracking changes from one moment to the next. You see two different images side by side, and you are seeing two different moments in time. The change happens in between.

So that’s what we are getting here. You look one minute and it is one thing, and then it is another.

Blah, blah, b;ah, long story short. We here at MONOLITH are proud to announce our latest addition. He is an artist from Memphis named Matt Bowers. His stuff is high-energy and fun, but also very technical.

We’re working with Matt to get something together for the NYC con. Matt and I are re-tooling a Rapid City side story that Micah, Jason, and I had started to put together a few months ago. So, if nothing else, this book is sure to have our most extensive credits page to date. It is really a fun challenge to make this story work with a new artist. Going over the whole thing again, but seeing it fresh, really shows me what works and what does not. Hopefully, those of you who stop by to see us in New York will agree with the decisions we end up making.

And here are some of the roughs we are working with.

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Taming Horses

Josh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:13:55 +0000

‘Rapid City’ is about (among other things) power. It is about different individuals and their relationships to power. It is about what you do with the power you have and how you feel about the power you have.

These relationships are literal when it comes to the superheroes on the page, but they are also metaphorical for those of us doing the creating. You know, we have certain powers over this work, and our efforts, and we are responsible for how we use them. Power, glory, responsibility, duty, penalty….all that stuff. How we use our powers (for example: the power to draw awesome pictures), will determine the fate of “Rapid City”. See what a cool metaphor that is?

Different characters were created to represent different attitudes toward power.

The werewolves who turn up early in the first act are there to show the results of power gleefully unchecked. Not just loose, but wantonly running rampant. Power with no control.

Meanwhile, in the real world, pressure and time conspire against us and Jason found himself having trouble getting ahold of that creative energy. The power was in there, it just wasn’t doing what it was supposed to.

Back in “Rapid City”. The wolves must have an opposite. If they are power with no control, then there must be someone who has no power but complete control.

Enter Hector. One of the very few ‘normal’ humans in the main cast of characters. Hector represents control. He sees all use of power as excessive. Through training, focus, and determination, he turns the tables on those with powers. Exploiting their abilities as weaknesses.

They are the opposite ends of the spectrum. Power and control.

So, when Jason finds himself needing to not only tap into his power, but control it to get some work done…who comes out on his sketch pad?

Hector.

Hector, putting a beat-down on those wolves.

Hector, Tamer of Werewolves.

Josh

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24 Gone.

Jason — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 02:18:11 +0000

Well we did our little 24 Hour Comic Day project (see last post) this past Sunday. Needless to say it was quite a learning experience. It showed our strengths and our weaknesses. I think best of all we had a great time doing it. It was a lot of fun. And a huge thanks to those that took the time to come hang out with us while we did it “live”. It definitely gave us renewed inspiration to get Rapid City done. It also got us talking about doing something similar to the 24HCD on regular basis (monthly or bi-monthly), but for a shorter period of time. Something where we can interact with others while we work. We’ll have more on that soon. Thanks again, and we’ll be in touch shortly here.

(*The main villain of our 24HCD project.)

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Status Check.

Jason — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:44:35 +0000

Well it’s been quite some time again. Things have been quite crazy on my part. I’ve been in job searching mode for the past few weeks now. See I’m about to loose my job. I don’t have a set date to leave yet, but my time is definitely limited. So I’ve been submitting resumes going on an interview or two and updating my portfolio. I’ve also been working on getting my profile taken care of at Aquent, a creative placement agency. So my mind has been totally focused on that. It has to be.

On a positive note, Micah is back to putting lead to paper and thumbnailing pages for me again. This will help out immensely. I hope sometime this week I’ll have all my job stuff updated and straightened out and will just have to worry about submitting resumes and going on interviews and I can focus on drawing again.

Also I did manage to fix my scanner. So hopefully I can get things back on track here in the next few days. Check back soon.

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Scanner.

Jason — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:49:53 +0000

Well it appears my scanner has gone to the big pile of dead tech junk in the sky. I think it got fried out somehow during the storm we had a little over a week ago. I had been trying to get it work again, but haven’t had any luck. I’m quite mad about that too, it was a good Epson scanner too.

So now I need to get a new one, just not sure how soon. Blah.

Well here’s one for you. Josh wanted these two to look kind of ’90′s looking for a short Wraith story. I think WildThing (guy jumping at you) is pretty close to what he wants, but Vector still needs some work.

Well that’s it for now. Hope to get some more done soon.

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Status…

Jason — Sun, 06 May 2007 01:56:37 +0000

Well unfortunately things have slowed down a bit for us here. With Micah finishing up his schooling the end of last year into the first half of this year, me having to take on some extra freelance work to help out financially at home and with the wedding coming up here real quick, our production has suffered. Not by choice, trust me on that. So we just wanted to let you know we are still working on bringing this “labor of love” to the masses, just taking a little longer than we wanted it to. So we apologize to everyone for the delay. Do expect to see it released this year though, just towards the later part of this year is all.

Also for those that were paying attention today, it was Free Comic Book Day at your local favorite comic store. One of the books I was most eagerly awaiting was “THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN” from Image. See this book was co-created (with Robert Kirkman of Walking Dead and Invicible fame) and all the art done by a friend of mine, Jason Howard. Anyone who doesn’t know Jason should know that he is a hard working guy and totally deserves this “big break”. I have known Jason for close to ten years now and he’s a really great guy. So anyone who didn’t pick up his book today, make sure you ask your local shop if they have any extra copies you could maybe buy, cause this is going to be a good series to get into.

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[SKETCHBOOK] Mira

Jason — Sat, 05 May 2007 18:44:23 +0000

Mira is one character I really like, even though she is quite disturbed (you’ll see soon enough). I really enjoy drawing her, though I find myself “refining” her each time I draw her. Hopefully next time I draw her that will be it.

Enjoy.

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[SKETCHBOOK] Wraith

Jason — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 22:16:29 +0000

So here’s a new sketch for all you. This one was a lot of fun. The idea just popped into my head the other night and I just hast to put it to paper. So before I hit the sequentials, I started this sketch and finished it up today.

Enjoy.

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[SKETCHBOOK] Flamethrower

Jason — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:52:46 +0000

Well this one was a tough one to get sketched out for some reason. Erased most of it a few times. I had to really force my way through it. Well it’s done (for the most part) and there are a few things still kind of “off” to me, but I can live with it. I also kind of changed up her costume a bit too.

Enjoy.

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Glyph and Switchboard

Josh — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:18:58 +0000

Two more great character sketches from Jason.

What do these two have in common?

Switchboard is a third (or possibly more) generation superhero. She never liked the way that her dad and grandfather spent their lives, but more than that, she dated the way their failures haunted them.

When that heroic mantle was passed on to her, she took it up with the purpose of making sure that other heroes would not make the same mistakes her family had.

Glyph is a student, and player, of magic. He sees, uses, and explores the rhythms and patterns of energy which are all around him. For him it is all about exploration and discovery. And, as this picture indicates, occasionally kicking some ass.

So, what do they have in common? Sensitivity to energy flow? Following their own path in the world? Supporting other heroes? Yeah. But mostly they just seem to me like they would get along really well.

They’re friends.

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[SKETCHBOOK] Glyph

Jason — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:13:52 +0000

Another character I haven’t drawn in a while, Glyph. This time I decided to show a different “side” of Glyph, the martial arts side.

Enjoy.

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