AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 18...AND 19 AND 20 (sort of)!

Annnnnd...that's all, folks! I know that's a horrible, horrible place to stop. No cliffhanger, no nothing. So, let me give you a little more. Here's the pages I had scripted that David never got a chance to draw:

Page 19-

1- Lina out from behind the podium and walking in front of the staff. She’s on the left side of the panel. In the foreground of the panel, in the right side, we see Bitsy and Ken. Ken is stretching (as if he’s yawning—he’s trying to do the cheesy move of putting his arm around Bitsy)

LINA

You shouldn’t see

me or the Ishiro Corp.

as your enemy.

We’re here to help.

KEN

Yawn!

2- Ken now has his arm wrapped around Bitsy’s shoulders.

LINA (from off-panel)

It has been many

years since Corman

Cinemas turned

a profit.

3- Bitsy pushes Ken’s hand off of her.

LINA (from off-panel)

I believe that by

thinking outside of

the box that can

change.

4- Bitsy punches Ken in the stomach and he doubles over in pain. A worm flies out of his mouth.

LINA (from off-panel)

Together, we

can turn things around.

5- On Lina. An angled-up shot on her face. Think Hitler and Citizen Kane. A real dictator-like shot.

LINA

There’s an obvious

revenue stream that Corman

has never tapped into.

Here this now:

Size. Matters.

I think it’s time for

Corman Cinemas to

start showing high profit

Giant Monster

Movies.

6- Ryan is up out of his chair. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. The glasses on his head are about to fly off. Priscilla next to him is surprised and recoiling.

RYAN

WHAT!?!?

Page 20-

1- Medium on Ryan still out of his chair and shouting. He tosses aside his sunglasses angrily.

RYAN

Lady, are you off

your nut?

You can’t show Giant Monster

Movies in here!

2- Medium shot on Lina. She’s smallish in the panel.

LINA

And why not?

3- Ryan making his way down the aisle towards Lina. He’s clearly upset. The other employees watch with fear and shock as he walks by.

RYAN

Do you have any idea

what would happen if a giant

lizard or ape came through

the portal?

They’d tear this place

apart in minutes!

4- Lina and Ryan now face-to-face. It’s a stare down. (Not a profile shot though. Let’s find another approach.)

LINA

That won’t be a problem.

RYAN

How do you figure?

LINA

We’ll simply show

the movies without

the monsters present.

5- Ryan looks like he’s going to pop a vessel on his forhead.

RYAN

“Show the movies

without the…”

6- Lower on Ryan now, and looking past him to Ken with Sludge right behind him.

KEN

Go to your happy

place, boss.

Imagine

Sludge going

down the toilet.

SLUDGE

Hey!

And that's truly all that was scripted. In then next several pages you would have seen Lina trying to enforce her rules even while all the Corman employees appealed to Ryan to "do something about this." Then, the worst possible thing was going to happen. Aunt Ant was going to make a run for it and escape Corman Cinemas. Lina then would have split everyone up into teams. She and Cooper would go east and Ryan, Priscilla and Wolf would have gone west. Bitsy and Ken would have stayed behind to "mind the store" and make sure Sludge stays out of trouble. The stakes were gonna get high--we were going to learn from Cooper that a monster escaping had only happened one other time before, during 1970's. That monster's name? Well, we knew him as the Zodiac Killer. 

Needless to say...Season One of Monsterplex was not going to end well for one of the staff. 

But the hunt and its consequences were all in the second half of the Season...which you, for the time being, will not be seeing. Will there be more MONSTERPLEX? I still don't know. There wasn't a huge response to these pages and traffic was low, which tells me that if we were to start MP back up then there would be a lot of work to be done not only in production, but also, just like any other webcomic, in getting the word out and promoting it. Without the Zuda Machine behind us, it would be tough going. 

I said after we won that it felt like I was suddenly living in my own alternate reality. I was a surreal--and good--feeling. Maybe there's another reality where the contract wasn't pulled away from us and all of our plans got to come to pass.

A big shout out to my co-conspirators, artist David Schlotterback and colorist Michael DeVito. They did  the kind of work I was so proud of and so excited to share with all of you.

A hearty thanks to all of you for your support and enthusiasm. That's the thing I take away from this in the end--all the goodwill that rose up in our favor and the time and effort you all put into it for no other reason than you liked what we were doing. It was tremendous. 

-Brock

P.S. I can always be found doing my thing over at superfogeys.com. Hope to see you there. 

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 17!

Hey Everyone,

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to comment. Some of you are really enthusiastic about MONSTERPLEX and that's great to see. Would be nice if there were more of you...but this is a burn-off so I suppose I can't expect too much. 

More tomorrow!

-Brock

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 12!

(Click to embiggen!)

All the MONSTERPLEX pages from here on out will be in black and white. Better that than nothing, right? And besides, I think Dave's pages hold up well in black and white. 

This page and the last set up the two little romances I was gonna be playing with over the course of our woulda'-been first season. This is the first and last taste of the Ken/Bitsy relationship that you'll be getting  for now. Shame, that. Their story was my favorite thing of everything we had planned.

Well, that and the plans I had for Aunt Ant.

More missed opportunities revealed tomorrow!

-Brock

AND NOW...THE COMPLETE MONSTERPLEX

Hey ladies and gents,

So. I've been trying for weeks now to create a bare bones site to host the MONSTERPLEX pages on and, logistically, it's just not happening. So, since you're all familiar with this blog already, I figured why not post them here? It's not the easiest way to browse through the pages, but it's better than nothing, right?

And nothing is about all we have right now besides this. At this time, no decision has been made as to whether or not MONSTERPLEX will continue. Sorry to be so lame, but that's the truth. I can tell you though that the entire team is anxious to see what you think of these pages!

Here's how this is gonna work. Today you get the 8 pages you've all already seen. Then, starting tomorrow, I'll be posting one new page every weekday until I run out. That's right, RUN OUT. The MONSTERPLEX team (myself, artist David Schlotterback and colorist Michael DeVito) only produced 10 pages of MONSTERPLEX that you've never seen (in various stages of completion--more on that on Monday). We had great plans for stuff after those 10 pages, but, well, you all know how that went.

And now...the first 8! (Click on the page to make it bigger, as always.)

More tomorrow!

-Brock

FROM SCRIPT TO PAGE: PAGE 4

So little time left! We've seen a 15+ jump in favorites since this morning, but we're still WAY off he leader. We need those votes and those favorites. Although, I'm guessing that if you're reading this blog then you've probably already done both!

Today, let's look at the creation of Page 4. First, the script:

Page 4-

1- Now you go big. Big action panel here. The swamp-like monster tries to pound Ryan, Lucy, Lina and Bitsy. Ryan tackles Lucy and Lina to the floor so that the monster just misses. Bitsy keeps playing with her hair and just kind of leans out of the way. She’s entirely nonplussed.

MONSTER
RRRARRRR!!

2- Lucy and Lina are on the floor as Ryan crouches low, the only thing standing between them and the monster. His arm is outstretched, as if he expects something to be in his hand. A large sword is spinning and flying towards that hand.

RYAN
Bitsy!
Sword!

3- Ryan’s hero shot as he faces down the monster and the monster rears up to hit him. Ryan holds his sword in front of him, towards the monster. Total Conan the Barbarian pose.

RYAN
We just had these
carpets cleaned.

I swear if you’ve tracked
in any mud…

4- The monster takes a swipe at Ryan and tears off the back of his suit coat as he leaps away.

5- Ryan puts his sword into the monster’s back. We see the monster’s comical expression of surprise.

6- In the foreground we see the monster face first on the ground with the sword sticking out of his back. Ryan has one foot on the monster and holds the sword, trying to get it out. Beyond him and the monster are Lucy and Lina, still on the floor and looking up at Ryan. Lucy looks up admirably at Ryan, while Lina is screaming at him.

RYAN
Are you ladies alright?

LINA
JUST WHAT
IS GOING ON
HERE!?

-------------------------

This page was pretty straightforward and didn't require a ton of revision. However, we do have a pretty good record of David's process to share with you. Check out the evolution of Page 4:







Don't forget to check out MONSTERPLEX today! More views and more comments will help!

More later.

-Brock

MONSTERPLEX FAN ART BY BROCK HEASLEY (???)

Did you know we're seeking and posting MONSTERPLEX fan art? We've gotten a couple of pieces so far and they've been great!

As the writer, I've mostly stayed away from trying my hand at the MONSTERPLEX characters, but the fan art we've gotten so far inspired me and last week I went to town on the piece you see below. As with all pictures on this blog, you can click on it to make it bigger.



Whaddaya think?

Submit your own MONSTERPLEX fan art by sending it to me at bwhheasley (at) gmail (dot) com!

More later.

-Brock

HOW THE NAMES OF THE MONSTERPLEX CHARACTERS WERE CHOSEN

I've been asked this question a couple of times now, so I figured it might be high time I pull all this info together in one convenient spot.

WHERE DO THE NAMES OF THE MONSTERPLEX CHARACTERS COME FROM?

LINA PATEL and LUCY LING - These characters were both created at the same time and I was going for that very comic booky thing of using multiple "L's." (See: Superman - Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, etc.) I just like the musical quality of the 'L.' Lina is, of course, short for Angelina. Being that Lina is a strong woman, I think it's fair to say that I had Ms. Jolie on the brain when creating her. The name 'Patel' is a very common Indian surname and it has that 'L' sound in it again, which is a plus.

RYAN HULL - Ryan Hull is the name of a good friend of mine. Ryan had been begging me for a while to base a character on him, but my SuperFogeys comic just wasn't quite right for him. Plus, two four-letter names is a good things in comic. When you're constantly dealing the space issues inherent in speech balloons, the shorter the better.

BITSY ANDREWS - Bitsy Andrews is a spin on the name of a girl I knew in High School named Betsy Andrews. I always thought that was a great name. I changed Betsy to Bitsy because of the way the name 'Bitsy' really describes and offsets this little goth girl running around the theater.

PRISCILLA - Priscilla the vampiress is a spin on the name Drusilla from the Buffy the Vampire series, who was also a vampiress. And, like Drusilla was often called Dru, I liked that I could have some characters call Priscilla, Pris.

WOLF - Wolf has a very simple mind so I figured a very simple name would fit him best. Doesn't get much simpler.

KEN "ZOMBIE" WATANABE - I knew a guy named Watanabe at the movie theater I worked at when I was younger, and it rhymes with "zombie" so...bonus, right? Ken came from actor Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins).

SLUDGE - Sludge is like a mini-blob. I couldn't call him Blob, so what else do you call him besides Sludge, right? By the way, Sludge's full name is Sludge, the Living Mop.

OFFICER CARL COOPER - Officer Cooper is a character that so far has only shown up in the Promo piece. His first real appearance will be on page 9, the very next page after the initial Zuda submission. I'm a big Twin Peaks fan, so Cooper is named after Agent Dale Cooper. Carl just sounds good with Cooper. Double consonants are always good.

More later.

-Brock

THE MONSTERPLEX PROMO IN FULL COLOR!

You may have seen this here and there on the internet attached to interviews we've done. Well, I'm now pleased to present the MONSTERPLEX promo in all it's full-color glory!



(Click to embiggen)

You'll notice a character in there that we haven't seen yet. He first shows up in the as-yet unseen page 9, so consider this a sneak peek!

It's Monday morning now and MONSTERPLEX has taken some heavy losses over the weekend. We're still up in overall traffic, but the number one ranked comic is leading by more than 60 favorites. We really need to get that number up if we're ever going to win this thing. Please spread the word on Facebok and to all of your friends! --And please share this promo!

More later. Probably not today. (It's a holiday, y'know.)

-Brock

SKETCH REQUESTx2: LUCY AS THE CHESHIRE CAT AND BITSY AS MARY ANN

Morning, all! Had some trouble with our servers earlier. Sorry about that. Everything should be running fine now.

MONSTERPLEX began this morning much like it has every morning this week, staying juuuuuust this far away from first place, with 7852 views, 185 favorites and just over 4 stars. The margin appears to be very slim between MP and the current number one comic, and I don't see any reason we can't push it over the edge. Can TEAM MONSTERPLEX grow? Let's spread the word some more and find out.

Now, first up in the sketch requests was one from my brother Tyler who asked for Lucy as the Chesire Cat. That's....just bizarre, Tyler. Still, here you go! I think you'll be pleased.



Next is a request from MONSTERPLEX mega fan Heather who asked for Bitsy dressed us as Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island. Dave has called this his favorite of the sketches he's done, and I tend to agree.



Use the comments field below to get your sketch request in and Dave will get to it asap! Dave is looking to do up sketches of the MONSTERPLEX characters in whatever form you see fit. Have a comic? Dave could do the MP characters dressed up like them! Please, no nudity or anything otherwise inappropriate.

We're also looking for fan art. Send 'em along to bwhheasley (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll post it along with a link to your comic or site. Have fun!

More later.

-Brock

FROM SCRIPT TO PAGE: PAGE 2

Morning, all! As of this morning MONSTERPLEX is holding steady in the number two spot. We're way out in front in total view numbers, but lagging behind in our star rating and way behind in number of favorites. If you haven't favorited or star rated yet, please do so!

Today we take a look at what went into the creation of Page 2. This was a tricky page to pull off as there was a couple of tonal shifts going on. Here, take a look at the script:

PAGE 2-

1- Lucy and Lina running screaming out of the auditorium. I see them as kind of coming at the camera real close like, with the door to the auditorium way in the background. Just trying to evoke the old woman screaming cliché of the those monster movies.

LUCY AND LINA
EEEEEE!!!!

2- Lucy and Lina talking to Bitsy, our “Juno”-like, regular teenaged girl employee of Corman Cinemas. Bitsy is holding a broom and scoop, like would be typically used by a movie theater employee. Lucy is screaming at Bitsy, while Lina is doubled over and looks like she’s about to throw up.

BITSY
Uh, yeah?

LUCY
I want to speak to the
manager, RIGHT NOW!

3- Ryan Hull, the manager of Corman Cinemas pops up behind Lucy and Lina. Lucy is now turned to Ryan, while Lina still looks like she’s about to throw up. Ryan is sweating and nervous.

RYAN
Hi there!
What can I do
for you lovely
ladies?

LUCY
For starters, you can
explain to my friend here
why her popcorn was
seasoned with
beetles!

RYAN
Ma’am, I’m sure
there aren’t any beetles
in our pop—

4- All eyes on Lina as she throws up a beetle.

5- Same angle as 4 as Lina, still hunched over, wipes green slime from her mouth.

RYAN
Riiiight…

6- Ryan talking to Bitsy.

RYAN
Bitsy, who’s got
auditorium three?

BITSY
Ken, I think.

7- Ryan turning around and screaming. (You might want to combine panel 7 with 6, if you need to.)
RYAN
KENNNN!!!

8- Looking past Ryan, Lucy and Lina to see Ken, also known as Zombie Watanabe, running up. Ken has on his decaying uniform and has a broom and a shotgun strapped to his back. Ken should be the true focus of this panel, as this is the big reveal.

KEN
Sorry boss, there’s this—

LUCY AND LINA
EEEEEEE!!!

------------------------------------------

Now, check out Dave's first pass at the script:



I felt like was a good first try, but that Dave was way overemphasizing the vomit scene. I meant for it to be a little joke on a page with a lot of important things going on. Dave took what was visually the most interesting part of the page and made it huge. Sometimes, that's what you want to do. Other times...

DAVID SCHLOTTERBACK (Monsterplex Artist): The big “throw up” scene with LIna was a favorite of mine. I thought the real humor would take place in that panel. But, it was a little over the top and I admit a little gross for our star heroine to be displayed in such a ugly demonstration right off the bat. So, the throw up scene was toned down a lot in the final version.

So, we moved on:



Now we were cookin', but again the emphasis was on the wrong thing. This time, it was panel one that was the problem. Way too big. I learned here that I needed to be a little more explicit in my scripts. I could have saved Dave a lot of trouble if I'd just let him in a little more on what I thought the focus of the page was.

After finally explaining myself, Dave was able to nail it:



More later today, including the latest sketch request!

-Brock

SKETCH REQUEST: BITSY AND KEN AS THE GHOSTBUSTERS

Our first sketch request has been fulfilled! Reader ED- (a longtime reader of my webcomic THE SUPERFOGEYS) requested Bitsy and Ken as Ghostbusters and I think Dave did it up in fine style.



Use the comments field below to get your sketch request in and Dave will get to it asap! Dave is looking to do up sketches of the MONSTERPLEX characters in whatever form you see fit. Have a comic? Dave could do the MP characters dressed up like them! Please, no nudity or anything otherwise inappropriate.

We're also looking for fan art. Send 'em along to bwhheasley (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll post it along with a link to your comic or site. Have fun!

More later.

-Brock

THE EVOLUTION OF BITSY

Day two of the TEAM MONSTERPLEX effort and things are off to a good start. While the number of votes is not public knowledge, we do how many pageviews we're at and how many people have added MP to their favorites. As of 24 hours after the competition began, we stand at 1,436 pageviews and 45 favorites. Not bad!

Part of what I'd like to do with this blog is share with you some of the great artwork that's been produced for MONSTERPLEX that you'll likely never see on the Zuda site. First up is the Evolution of Bitsy. While she she doesn't do too much in the 8-page preview on Zuda, Bitsy has a big role to play going forward and so we had to get her to look juuuuust right...



DAVID SCHLOTTERBACK (Monsterplex Artist): This was the very first attempt at Bitsy. “Juno” was the jumping point for this character. Bitsy was to retain the cuteness, yet reclusive quality of that character and I felt that this first attempt contained too much similarity to Ellen Page herself. So, back to the drawing board.



DAVID: Here I obviously pushed the “alternative” side of Bitsy to the max. She looked too wild and loud and could easily be mistaken as a witch. However, I was digging the hair. So, I thought I’d give’r another shot.



DAVID: This was my favorite version at the time. But, we decided she looked a little too rough around the edges. Looking at it now after not seeing it for quite some time, I notice a similarity to Pink in her. She definitely lacks the “cute” aspect of the Bitsy of today, but I still fancy this approach mainly due to the dreadlocks. Brock was not sold on the dreadlocks, hence the 9 samples of hairstyles later to come. But, we were set on having her hairstyle be a little wild and also be dyed, as referenced in the notes along the edge. You can see at this point, we really were starting to bring her character together.

BROCK HEASLEY (Monsterplex Writer): I hated the hair. I admit that. I really hated the hair. But...I loved the look of the uniform. I felt like Dave really nailed in his third sketch and that look would dictate how we handled the uniforms on all the characters.



DAVID: Finding Bitsy’s hairstyle ended up being real crucial to her personality. We had settled on an alternative personality for her character. I mean, one would have to be a little off their rocker to want to work for Corman Cinemas. So, getting the hair to capture that personality, but still retain some fun and not evoke a dark persona was the key. It would be too easy and predictable to go the “goth” direction. As you can see I went through many sample ideas until we settled on a variation of the hairstyle on the bottom left.

BROCK: I think at one point I was arguing in favor of the top middle hairstyle. Really glad that didn't happen.

Bitsy's final look:



Don't forget to visit MONSTERPLEX and cast your vote! If you've already voted, did you add it to your favorites? No? There's still time!