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Zenith and not a Unicorn in sight.

I'm nearly ready to put this up on the art comp, the more I worked on it the more distant the reference to the Dark Knight Returns became. Homage or not I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out.

The whole Kickstarter thing is new to me. I can see how a pro (and I define a pro as someone who's sole income is being a freelance creator) could use this kind of thing to get a creator owned project off the ground, even an artist has to eat.
It does draw sharply into focus how thin the line between pro and small press is though. Except from the very top of the game (where the core idea is developed and sold as a cross platform property with associated brand recognition)

comics has become a bit of a minority cottage industry in America and the UK) Canvassing for investors is nothing new; Dragons Den is probably the most popular example of pitching your ideas to backers. Kickstarter projects aren't offering a slice of the equity but a chance for fans to become part of a comic. A small press creator has to have the necessary skills to produce a comic, a lot of time to push it, and a little bit money to print it, but a backer only needs a little bit of money.

(Wild non-specific generalisation) The small press is full of fantasists some well meaning and some with massive egos, many of whom think they are the new Alan Moore or Grant Morrison or Ashley Wood.  I think there is an argument for pro Kicksarter projects looking so 'achievable' that any delusional or dreamer thinks 'I could do that; I could be one of the big boys.'

OK

1 Bluemeanie 2

2 Larf 3

3 Albion 1

HM Dave Thomson

Damn! That's some good work Neil, love the colours on the first one. I need to practice my women drawing skills. IAMTHESYSTEM  nice concept design. CrazyFoxMachine I always enjoy your stuff who ever it follows!

Almost certainly I would have done a painting of a naked Barack Obama centaur unicorn being ridden by Robocop and being chased by Dredd on a Pegasus. 

If i had seen this thread I would never have painted this!

Thanks Zarjazzer and Kieran.

I have always had a soft spot for the much maligned fully painted era of the 90's. Sure there was a lot of rubbish but there always is. Digital painting is nice when people get it right too (Alex Roland for example) but I do like to see a splash of paint in the pages of a new comic.

Searching for Robocop reference for my last comp entry I stumbled across an old Robocop on a unicorn meme. I thought if Robocop can do it so can Dredd! (I also wanted to practice horses and painting and it was going to be my Christmas card but I didn't finish it in time)

That is the reason he is mentioned in the same breath as Ezquerra, McMahon and Bolland. Colin MacNeil is without a doubt one of the all time great art droids.

It's been a while since I did this for the first get well Carlos project so I guess it's ok to put it up.

Locust Of Death that's just plain brilliant! Love the script and the art! This thread is as good as an old school annual under the christmas tree.

 I am really enjoying seeing all the different versions Cycle of Violence. Very solid work  Adrian, normally I would try and find something critical to say but I can't really see anything technically wrong with your art or story telling. Solid work.

Alex, that's the best Christmas card I have seen this year! Wooly, Tharg needs to get you on a digitally painted strip right now! It's the new old school.
CrazyFoxMachine, NeilFord, Great stuff, have you had a go at one of the sample strips yet?

Thanks for the review, it's not often I get to see what other people think of my stuff.  'Never turn on your own' was a reaction to the need for the villain to always draw first so our hero can be justified in gunning them down. It was also an attempt to pack as much story into 6 a5 pages as I could. I realise this can make things a little confusing or had to follow if you don't pull it off.

Thanks Niel & CrazyFoxMachine 

Page 2 looked like it was going to be better in the roughs stage but it turned out ok. I don't think I have quite found my Dredd yet but I am happy with the mix of solid blacks and cross hatching I have been gravitating towards.