When the Child Knight Grows Up
I read a fantastic comic and make a ton of art
Hey there, cool kid!
With the Kickstarter over, there is still plenty to work on and do. In fact, I’ve had A LOT going on behind the scenes that I didn’t get to talk about since I was ALL IN on The Alchemist of Aurillia Volume 1 and getting that over the finish line (Thank you again to the 105 BEAUTIFUL BACKERS!!!). So let’s catch up this week with everything I’ve got going on.
But first, let’s read some comics!
Long Ago and Far Away…
Long ago, Jason was the “Child Knight” from our world who saved the Legendary Kingdom of Elvenwood from the evil Witch-Queen Nexis. Now Jason is a depressed 30, lives with his mother, and runs a comic book store. Poorly. But Elvenwood needs his help once again. Will he be the hero he once was? Or will he just make things worse because he grew up to be a complete jackass?
One of my favorite books I picked up at SDCC this year was Long Ago and Far Away Vol 1, by
with art by Fernando Pinto. I was very excited to met Chris, as his writing is wonderfully punchy and hilarious. Once I picked reading Long Ago and Far Away, I had a lot of trouble putting it down!
As someone firmly in their skeleton phase, I really appreciate a story that asks the question “what happened to the teen hero when they grow up?” Our main character Jason has strayed a long way from his heroic childhood, but a lot of the heart-filled story beats are about him realizing that he’s an ass, but he doesn’t have to remain an ass.
The full cast of characters flesh out and balance the full story, all driving the plot forward while also bring on the laughs. My personal favorite is Lord Montleban, the right hand man of the Witch Queen Nexus. Whether he’s learning about cars and TV on Earth or kidnapping Marla, this dark knight is so fun on the page from start to finish. I got a good chuckle out of quite a few of his lines.
Overall, I really enjoyed Long Ago and Far Away, especially how it all came together in the ending. It gave me a blend of Saturday morning cartoons and Megas XLR vibes, which I was all about! If you think you’d enjoy it too, then head on over to White Cat Entertainment and grab it for yourself.
Or…
You Can Check Out THIS Kickstarter for White Cat Entertainment’s new series!
Alpha Cat #1 written by Christ Mancini
Take to the stars with ALPHA CAT!
After being a soldier in the devastating Insect Wars, Alpha and his crew are exploring the galaxy. They come across a distress call and an ancient robot temple which hides a powerful secret. Scoundrels are captured and artifacts are recovered, but events have now been set in motion that raise troubling questions. Is the Insect Imperium gathering strength again? Why did most of the robots retreat to Robot Moon after the war? What is the true purpose of the hidden robot temples? And why are they suddenly being attacked by space pirates? Alpha must solve these challenging mysteries, and fast, to save the Animal Alliance.
I got to read the preview ashcan for the series at SDCC and I am digging it already! It’s got this Ducktales in space kind of vibe that I’m digging, and can’t wait to see more! Plus, you can pick up Long Ago and Far Away in the Add Ons menu (I snagged Volume 2 myself!).
Branching out in SmArt School!
Back in September, I started with my new SmArt School course for this year with Scott Fischer! I’ve been a fan of Scott’s work for awhile, so I was really excited to take his class this year. There are two loose syllabi from the course that we could choose from, or develop our own concepts if we choose. I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, and I was really vibing with the prompts in the Magic the Gathering syllabus, so I decided to go with that one!
The first assignment was to do an artefact card. I don’t know what a Magic is, so I just looked up a list on google and picked the first one I read that sounded cool — the Clock of Omens. This piece has been a good challenge all around, from the perspective, doing a hexagonal tower, and digging out all my architecture drawing skills honed between Vatican Assassins and The Alchemist of Aurillia. Usually I’m drawing character focused pieces, so doing a set piece like this has been a nice hop outside of my comfort zone. I just started painting at the end of last week, so I’ve got a bit of a way to go to build up the colors and get the shadows nice and dark.
The next assignment is to do a goblin, so back to the list of cards! I ended really digging the Ecstatic Electromancer, and instantly thought of our man Ben Franklin’s famous kite experiment. Here I have an in progress value and temperature study. It needs some work still as I play with where I want my warm and cool tones, but I’m digging it so far! This will be a fun one to paint.
The Wendi-Turkey Takes It’s Revenge!!
Parting Note
Till the next time!
Melissa J
The MTG-inspired art is looking good! 😄