mercury

[Alski]

I think it's frustration more than bashing Stu. We actually want to see some stuff (from the beginning, not just random so we have an idea of what's going on) and you aren't providing.

Join one of the many free image hosting sites, put up, say 10 pages from issue 1's beginning, and leave a link. I'm sure an artist here will be able to recommend a good, easy to use site for it.

In the meantime, I have put in a bid for issue 1 on Ebay. Fingers crossed!

[mrstu]

i guess i maybe being a little over sensitive with all this, as this story and writing in general is something im very passionate about and believe so that may go some way to explaining some of my reactions. i shall try and get some pages uploaded later (im at work at the moment) anyone have any idea of any decent sites?

[TordelBack]

Passion for your work and your product is good, essential even, so points for that.  But always remember that these quasi-anonymous internet folks are actually your market, your peers and potentially your publishers, so try to deal with them as you would a tricky boss, rather than an ungrateful mob.  At least until you get to know them. 

I'm not a creative type myself, but there are many experienced writers, artists, letterers and editors on this site, and generally people mean well, and are very generous with thoughtful criticism of both content and marketing.  You don't have to agree with them (ever), but there's no harm listening to what they have to say, as many of them will have been through it all before.

[mrstu]

ok, point taken.

[mrstu]

seriously though i do appreciate and take on board peoples points, etc. i didnt want to come across as being overly defensive.

[davethomson]

MrStu - I have used imageshack.us for image hosting and it seems to work. Also Photobucket is quite popular for this sort of thing.

I'm looking forward to seeing it, there are a lot of small pressers on here (myself included) and we really want to help each other make great comics and that will come with some critique. There is nothing wrong with being sensitive to critique, we all were at some point. Heck, it wasn't all that long ago that I used to fall into deep, drunken, suicidal despair by even mildest criticisms of my art. I felt they weren't passing judgement on my art but on me as a person, after all this creative thing is quite an egotistical affair.

Overcoming this was one of my first steps to becoming the artist I have always believed I can be, which I am sadly still a long way from being.

It beats being one of those deviantart types that have been badly drawing faeries for 20 years, exploding in rage when one of the commenters even mildly mentions something like anatomical accuracy.

Oh wait, I'm on DA too! Damn!

[mrstu]

haha, cheers dave and thanks

[Alski]

Well whatever the heck all this was, it piqued my interest, so I bought a copy for a penny on Ebay (plus 75p post). Worth 76p I think, just to find out what the comic is like.

A report will follow. I really do hope it's good.

[mrstu]

i'm just on my way out to post it, thanks for buying and hope you enjoy it!

[mrstu]

and i've also taken the advice of the good people of this forum and it's getting a review on comicbuzz.com

[Alski]

Well I've now read the first issue of Mercury, and it's a mixed bag.

SO far we have a quite standard "alien crash lands on earth and gets powers" story, although it may go off on a more original tangent as the story progresses. It's quite clearly printed on A4 which helps give it an uncluttered look, although this is often muted by the extremely poor captioning. It would have benefitted a lot from a proper letterer, and also a proof reader to weed out several grammatical and spelling errors.

The script is passable, at times wooden but with some nice lines. It feels stretched, though, and I am sure a good editor would have helped tighten things up, although I appreciate they don't grow on trees.

The art is rather messy, unfortunately. Thick black lines surround eveything, and facial expressions are often unintentionally comical. As with the script, there are moments that shine through, particularly an effective panel of a young boy in his mother's shadow, but overall it is quite weak.

Despite my reservations, it's a well put together first attempt by what I assume are two young creators. More college project than serious contender, here's hoping the story goes somewhere cool in later issues.

My advice is to get someone to proof read future issues and to take a lot more care over the captions and speech as they are often wonky. These kept taking me out of the story and back to the real world, which is not a good thing.

[mrstu]

thanks for your feedback and thanks again for buying. all criticisms are good and im the first to point out the flaws (a pessimist is never disappointed) , but hopefully you'll stick around to see what happens in forthcoming issues. thanks again.

[mrstu]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCURY-issue-1-/270872097550?pt=UK_Books_Comics_Magazines_Comic_Magazines_ET&hash=item3f113c330e

[mrstu]

i've taken the advice of you guys and managed to get a review on comicbuzz.com, check it out if you get 5 mins http://comicbuzz.com/review-mercury-1/

[locustsofdeath!]

Nice work. Did you submit your story to them electronically, or did you send a hard copy?