Judas Khemical

It's a long fall from Mars...

2010-01-31T02:47:00.000-08:00

Meet Xemos Heck; he's lithe, three-fingered and always found in a bio-suit.

He's also the proud owner of Cydonia, New Utonia's premier quasi-legal resort, arena, boudoir, bar, dance-hall and all-round entertainment complex.

If it's an experience you want to have have resonating in your cerebral cortex for the next few months then come and enjoy the best that modern technology has to offer.

Xemos is the best of hosts, his distractions carry the course form digital and analog, for both meat and machine.

Of course there's a lot of talk that this little green man is actually from Mars, but don't pay too much heed. There's talk around that he started that rumour himself...

Character Concept Art - Cougar

2009-08-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

Callia Fernandez (COUGAR):

A bounty hunter so attractive - her prey seeks her out. Cougar is an indentured operative, collaring or killing her targets to repay her creators and to finance her search for her true past.

Genetech refined Cougar's abilities and raised her after her parents were assassinated. Cougar owes her existence to Genetech, but not in the way she believes. Either with long-range rifle or close range combat and camouflage abilities; she is ruthless and efficient.

She will stalk her prey and bring them down by hand or claw.
Tooth and Nail.

Character Concept Art - Commander Gaunt

2009-08-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Commander James Gaunt

Gaunt's one true love is the law.
Flawed though she may be, Gaunt sees salvation in the arms of law and order.

Gaunt's efforts have led to the survival of the human species and the continued existence of Utonia. All opposition will be brought to justice or destroyed - especially the under-cities.

He has struggled too long to let anyone hurt his city.
Anyone.

Character Concept Art - Sewer King

2009-08-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Sewer King

Seward is a determined and intelligent black man who has had to fight hard to survive the fight pits of New Utonia. He is an ECO operative, occasional hit man, leader and hero. Seward Othello King is referred to, as 'SEWER KING' -it is a nickname of grudging respect.

Seward is in excellent physical condition. Standing at almost two and a half metres tall; bio-enhanced tissue; dermal regenerative scale; accelerated speed and reflexes; heightened perception of both body and mind; he is not to be taken lightly. Seward's strength, endurance, physical and mental constitution have been advanced by Utonian and Pure Earth technology.

His parents were designers and researchers in the early days of New Utonia who abdicated to form Pure Earth. Their belief in the use of cybernetic technology went against the organic purism that swept through the Pure Earth colonies, hence they were banished. Upon returning to New Utonia, the King family settled in the lower factory areas of the city known as "The Mill".

Seward's parents continued to enhance their son's form to give him the best chance to survive the dangerous and toxic environment. After his parents had completed their work, the illegal medical clinics they had formed in the Mill were raided and shut down by Cyber-Swat. In the conflict that ensued Seward's parents were killed, and he was taken into custody for trial and public execution.

Upon the point of lethal injection, Seward's enhancements fully activated under the stress of near-death. From that point on Seward became a dark hero -surviving the death sentence he was entered into the gladiator fights for public entertainment. There his skills, reputation, contacts and fortune grew.

His mode of dress is sixties Harlem in the 22nd Century: matt black long sleeved t-shirt, bands and jewellery around the neck and wrists. Draped in black suit pants with pattern leg stripe and trim in rusty hue, thick black trench jacket with African circuitry patterns in white and deep green.

Seward is regularly attired in the height of style and intimidation.

The T-shirt I wanted to wear

2009-02-14T05:13:00.000-08:00

On the night of the exhibition (which feels like years ago now) I was hoping to wear this on my torso. I'd ordered it from RedBubble but the poor thing had too far to travel in time. Still it was a good excuse to see how it turned out and made a good present.

Online for your perusal...

2008-11-25T02:12:00.000-08:00

Well the comic preview has been submitted and on display at my end of year exhibition at college.
The opening went well with a decent turn out of people (out of the corner of my eye I kept checking to see if they were browsing through the comic).

As a companion to the exhibition I posted the website online. It's not only the comic but also an early indication of where I would like Interactive Comics to lead into. Regardless of my dreams for a mash-up between Comics an Animation, I though it best to share the site with everyone.

You'll find it at: http://art.tafe.vu.edu.au/sbreese/judas/

From here on I'll be posting some of the production art (as promised) but also hunting for funding.
The next part of the script is also being edited and re-edited and should be ready for illustrating in January. Wish me luck, and if anyone knows a patron who wants to support a new form of art I'm right here waiting...

Cheers!

Next up, Production Sketches!

2008-11-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Suce, shown here in a black and white inked sketch; is just one of the characters of the Judas Khemical story. In the next few blogs I'll cover some of the process behind going from rough pencil sketch to finished art. But for now I'll leave you with the delectable Suce.

Demonic in appearance, but canny enough in the cut and trade of the world that she could probably beat the Devil in the Soul Trade. Behind every stranded Alien and underground empire there's a brilliant and beautiful woman.

Credit where it is due in the Strange New World.

2008-11-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

Every idea needs fertile ground to grow. That can come from a job on the side, friends and lecturers. Patient and loving Family members. Inspirational creators and fellow collaborators.
It's not a good ideas to forget these folks and I'm not going to start now. So thank you to everyone who has been interested of at least humoured me while I've tried to draw them into my strange new world.

Time to roll a Seven, Judas.

2008-11-09T06:14:00.000-08:00

I'm really happy with Judas' narration on this page. When the audio gets added to the ICR (the Interactive Comic Reader) you'll be able to hear the sense of twisted pleasure and dark humour he gets when he says "But I'm broken..."

For a while I was torn between drawing a close-up of his mouth smirking, but I like the rhythm between panels that I got from zooming in on his eye. As your gaze focuses on Judas, the other panels move from the darkened hive of the Factory to the tunnel's promise of escape.

I'm going to hunt for funding so that I can finish the first story arc more easily. And answer some of the questions that the Preview raises. Why was he so beaten up at the beginning? Is it too late to find Xemos? Who has sent the Cyber-Swat Troops after him? If Judas is a Simulant why doesn't he follow orders? And who named him Judas anyway?

The Six Billion dollar mortgage.

2008-11-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

Page Six starts with the mobile city state, New Utonia. I once described it to someone as "a model toy big enough for God to play with". Basically everyone wealthy and important enough gets to live at the penthouse level and everyone else gets crammed in underneath.

But even if you live in a pod with twelve other strangers. Spending half of your time in virtual reality just to stop the sense of claustraphobia from killing yourself (or everyone else around you). It still doesn't come cheap.

Citizenship to New Utonia is mortgaged at a genetic level. Six Billion credits have to be paid off individually by you and/or your descendants. If you die with no progeny to pass on the debt, then your genetic structure is forfeit. The management will decide if you are worth re-shelling into another body or just grown in pieces for replacement organs.

If you're really obstinate about it and dared turn your death into a political statement; they re-shell you into a security simulant. That's basically the nightmare of being aware, amphetimised and paralysed. Your job is to stare at security camera footage and have the brainwaves of your reactions fed to a computer that ascertains whether or not to send the Cyber-Swat Cops around.

Reality TV for the rest of your life with no interaction or freedom.

On Page Five the Earth is in pretty bad shape...

2008-11-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Any post-apocalyptic story needs to be after a disaster. Mine is set after a global environmental upheaval that occurs at the changing of the Mayan calendar. The Mayans had a lot of things worked out and some alternate historians surmise that the Mayan civilisation was coming to the collapse of a highly advanced society. A point where knowledge was being lost instead of increased.

Whichever theory you subscribe to, it is undeniable that their building, architecture, writing, astrology and astronomy were quite advanced. The Mayans measured time in not only days, months, and years; but also in Worlds. If the theory is correct then the world ends in 2012.

Then the New World begins. A new world that in my story heralds a shift in the permutative forces that make up our reality, allowing for esoteric energies to become as recognisable as scientific laws. By 2071 these energies are beginning to coalesce and focus. Opening this little science-fiction saga into other future pathways.

Page Four - meet Cougar Fernandez

2008-11-08T15:08:00.000-08:00

Or as the caption reads "Gunpoint with the delightful Cougar".

Cougar Fernandez is a biochemically augmented bounty hunter. A mature and dangerous woman who is likely to bring you back in little packages if you give her any grief. Funnily enough I was unaware that Cougar is the fifties slang word for an attractive older woman on the prowl, but it fits.

Three is the magic number...

2008-11-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

The simulant gestation tank in the first panel was based on the organic shapes of orchids and tulips. I've had that set in my head for more than a few years now. So when I saw Geoff Darrow's magnificently detailed pod designs for The Matrix I was both blown away and gutted. Even though there is a visual similarity I figured "bugger it, that's how they always looked in my head -that's what I'll publish".
I'm just glad that my brain was on a similar wavelength to Darrow. I consider him to be right up there near Syd Mead when it comes to concept art.

This page also introduces three major characters. Xemos Heck, the stranded Martian tourist. Fae, the ambassador for the Faelien species, and Suce, the enticeing and devilishly brilliant business woman. And 'the Makers' from the first panel? I'm not telling yet.

Attack of the Second page.

2008-11-08T01:42:00.000-08:00

I was pretty pleased with how the Cyber-Swat troops in the first panel turned out. One at your doorstep would be imposing enough. With three coming you know it's not a good idea to stick around.

Enough talk - bring me the comic!

2008-11-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

The next posts will show the completed interior pages and credits page for the preview.
It's not quite the same as hearing the dialog play with the page's soundtrack, but that day is coming. So far the preview can be read as a Flash based pageflip of a pdf slideshow.

Of the two I prefer the slidshow, each page lasts onscreen for ten seconds and is accompanied by a looped soundtrack. Still, I haven't given up on the magic of Flash or Java riddled XHML.

That's enough talk for now, you saw the cover at the last post. Now here's the first page...

Judas Khemical preview Art complete!!!

2008-10-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Despite death, plague and disaster the artwork for Judas Khemical is now complete. In the next 18 hours it will be combined with the ICR (or Interactive Comic Reader). In the meantime here's a view of the front cover artwork.

The final project will be part of the end of year exhibition for my interactive multimedia course. If all goes well the comic will be viewed with an interface that allows you to swap from page to panel views (and vice versa) with up to three pages or panels on screen at a time.

The reader will be able to listen to a soundtrack and/or dialogue to accompany the images. In this way I hope to allow readers to bridge the gap between comics and animation while being able to choose how they experience the story.

Fate willing...

First page artwork sans text

2008-10-22T21:03:00.001-07:00

For those of you who've browsed my links you'll have seen the 'Playing with Text' earlier post.
But for those who came in late, and crave artwork here's a taste of the first page (free of lettering and titles).

It's a shot of Judas sporting the bloodstains and bruises of the recently beaten. He is in the process of scanning for his friends (Xemos Heck in particular), however he knows that he was the only one to escape.

Denial is a powerful thing after all...

How long is a piece of quantum string?

2008-10-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Recently I was asked how long it takes to make a page. I must admit I was stumped, effectively there's a big difference between when I'm in a groove and when I have to push things through.
Time wise I find that when the pencils, inks and photo-shopping are all working together then I can get a whole page done in less than two days.

But if the tornado you're trying to draw looks like a bad mechanical arm made of irish stew, then it holds up the inking. That leaves you with not much to digitally enhance and can stretch out a single panel into a three day stress-fest.

Still, the golden rule of the creative process is: There's no room for 'Can't'.

Paint my walls Vectroid

2008-10-22T05:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks goes to the typographically skilled 'fontologist' Andreas Nylin who created the font 'Vectroid'. He created it as freeware, but I didn't think it would hurt to ask permission and give credit where it's due.

You can find the Vectroid font here at http://www.fontspace.com/dustbust/vectroid
As you'll see by the images from my comic book preview the font certainly helps add a certain element to a background or location. Attached is a panel with his font showing the exterior of Xemos Heck's Martian themed club and here's a link to a previous post that featured the Vectroid font (just in case you're not in the mood to search).

Thanks again Andreas.

Psimonic: Playing with Text

2008-10-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is an earlier post from my Psimonic blog which features a look at the first page of the Judas Khemical preview.
Feedback and adulation is always welcome. Cheers!
Psimonic: Playing with Text

So what the hell is Judas Khemical?

2008-10-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

The Judas Khemical is a storytelling experience which utilises illustration, audio, and written elements. It is the pitch or preview for an ongoing multimedia comic book series.

An extended series based on an alternate Earth in the future, focusing around the development of the central character's personality as he integrates with his peers at both human and super-human level. The story also seeks to make certain observations at social and political levels. The story also focuses on the development of heroes and anti-heroes.

If you end up saving the world when you're just trying to save your ass, does that make you one of the good guys?

Welcome Citizen...

2008-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the sister blog to The Judas Khemical Project. A comic book previewing the exploits of a renegade simulant on the run in the futuristic mobile city, New Utonia. Over the next few posts we'll introduce you to the cast, setting and reveal some of the process behind the execution.