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 16!

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 15!

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 14!

(Click to embiggen!)

How great is David at designing monsters? I love this page.

More on Monday. Have a great weekend!

-Brock

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 13!

(Click to embiggen!)

If any page suffers from a lack of color, it might be this one. I think the air of mystery is there, but it would have been cool to see this one with the dark tones that were originally intended. Still, I love the detail in Dave's art here. This is one you really need to click on and see bigger. No doubt about it--this was Ryan's office!

In non-MONSTERPLEX news, SuperFogeys Chapter 10, Bubbles of Light starts today. This is the strip I both write AND draw. It's a great jumping on point.

More tomorrow.

-Brock

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 11!

(Click on the image to embiggen!)

Welcome to page 11! Those of you that are taking the time to comment and let us know what you think, we thank you. We worked hard on these pages and hope you dig where the story is heading. Remember,  Monsterplex is not continuing past page 18 (for now), so please enjoy these with that in mind. 

If you are looking for a continuing story written by me and drawn by someone far better, you could do a lot worse than the Spy Gal origin that starts today over at my primary webcomic, The SuperFogeys. 

More tomorrow.

-Brock

AND NOW...MONSTERPLEX PAGE 9!

(Click to make it bigger!)

This is it, the first MONSTERPLEX page since February, 2010! Now you finally get to see where we were taking this thing. My team is watching and we would most definitely appreciate your feedback.

For those of you who still have questions about Zuda shutting down and letting us go, I recently did a VERY candid interview with Tom Racine over at Tall Tale Radio about the shut down, the money involved and why I think Zuda failed. It's an interesting listen and it's actually the back half of an interview primarily about the big, BIG things happening in my first webcomic, The SuperFogeys, right now. Give it a listen here!

Don't forget! We're posting one new MONSTERPLEX page every weekday until we run out. More on Monday!

-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 5

Hey everybody!

Sorry all has been quiet on the Monsterplex front lately. We're working hard to get new pages to you as soon as possible and as soon as I know when that will happen, I'll let you know. Right now, our contracts are signed and mailed and we should be hearing from Zuda Editorial any day now. That's when the real work will begin.

For now, let's look back again the first 8 pages. This time, page 5. First, the script:

Page 5-

1- Ryan helping Lina up, who is none too pleased.

RYAN
You mean you don’t
know?

LINA (coldly)
Why don’t you
explain it to me?

2- Ryan escorting Lucy and Lina through the theater. Ryan is sweating bullets. We see some beetles crawling on the wall nearby. This is the mighty exposition panel. Panel doesn’t need to be very large, but I need some space for the dialogue.

RYAN
Happy to oblige!

Here at Corman Cinemas
we cater to a very specific,
thrill-seeking clientele.

We pride ourselves on
the chillingly authentic experience
only we can provide.

We don’t just exhibit
monster movies, we show
you real monsters!

3- This is the showcase of this page. Panel 3 is really a series of 4 panels as Ryan and the ladies walk by the four posters outlined below. The posters themselves are free-floating on the page, like panels. Ryan, Lina and Lucy walk by the posters. (See SuperFogeys 45 from Chapter 2 to see how I did a similar thing—though I would not recommend going full body shots on our trio, from about the chest up should do it.)

panel a – “It Came From the Back Nine” – Show the swamp monster from page 4 terrorizing golfers. Tagline: They Never Should Have Gotten a Hole-in-One.

panel b – “Aunt Attack” – Show aunt wielding a knife and scaring kids. Tagline: Where’s the Fun Uncle When You Need Him?

panel c – “Beetles in the Breadbasket” – Show Beetles spilling out of breadbasket on fine restaurant table, much to the horror of the couple in formal wear sitting there. Tagline: Shh! This is One Ingredient That Should Stay Secret!

panel d – “Vampire Love Boat” – Show a Titanic Poster spoof with Vampires. Tagline: Love. Blood. Boat.


RYAN
Imagine watching a vampire
on screen, even as you avoid
him in the aisles!

At Corman Cinemas
we import monsters
of only the highest quality from
the lowest of dimensions.

Our mission is to turn your
hair white with fright, all
within a safe and controlled
environment!

LINA
Controlled!?
I ate a bug!

4- Ryan and the ladies at the door to “Vampire Love Boat.” Ryan is reaching for the door, as though he is about to open it. Let’s be sure and see the marquee above the door or the poster or something, if possible.

RYAN
Yes, well, I won’t say we
haven’t had some…issues
lately.

No worries!
Our staff is well-trained and
I doubt we’ll be seeing
any more trouble today!

5- Same as 4, but now the door has flown open and a stream of vampires is rushing out of the auditorium, completely obscuring our view of Ryan and the ladies. Vamps shouldn’t be in tuxedos, ala Dracula. Should be more pedestrian looking. Like a modern gang with fangs, pointed ears and the same reversed-out look to their eyes that Priscilla has.


This first layout was a little boring. This was back when Dave was still doing his own layouts (now we do them together) and I felt like, on this first pass, there was a more dynamic way to present the posters.

This page was a real butt-kicker. Not only was it unconventional, but each of the posters had to be designed individually. Easy to script, but lots of work for both Mike and Dave.


That did it. Just putting the posters slightly askew made it feel more like the trio was walking in an abstract space instead of past a boring wall. It gave Ryan's monologue kind of a "montage feel." I really liked that.


Here Dave is fleshing out his layout. It always amazes me how rough his pencils are in light of how exacting the inks are. Here, see for yourself:


Pretty nice, huh? Dave's inks always blow me away. You'll see the posters have been dropped in now as well. Dave does a great job with those. We need to make more! For the record, the one Ryan is covering up is called "Beetles in the Bread Basket."

More later.

Brock

THE MONSTERPLEX/RE-EVOLUTION CROSSOVER!

Morning, all! I have something incredibly cool to share with you, but first a quick update. As far as I know, this is the last full day of competition. We stand at 15306 views, 320 favorites and our star rating is very nearly 4 1/2! This puts us way ahead of most of the competition, but still far behind the leader in favorites. Hoping we can see a last minute save. It could still happen.

Now, the coolness. Re-Evolution is a winning comic on Zuda and one of the very best comics Zuda has to offer. Writer Gus Higuera and artist Juan Felipe Salcedo are good guys who took the time to talk to me at the DC booth at the San Diego Comic Con this past year. They even said they were fans of the SuperFogeys! That was humbling.

Gus and Juan have thrown their support behind MONSTERPLEX and David and Juan got together for this great jam piece featuring characters from both Monsterplex and Re-Evolution! I'm impressed with how well the two art styles mesh together--totally did not expect that.


I love it! Be sure and go on over to Re-Evolution to give it a read and favorite it! Also, Re-Evolution needs your support to continue for another season. Be sure and go and sign the petition if you like what you see. Thanks!

And thanks again to Gus and Juan!

More later.

-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

FROM SCRIPT TO PAGE: PAGE 3

Each page of Monsterplex took quite the journey from initial conception to finished product. Some more of a journey than others. Let's take a look at Page 3.

THE SCRIPT:

Page 3 –

1- The women watching Ryan give Ken his marching orders. Icky, dirty sludge is dripping down and landing on Lina’s shoulder. I see Ryan and Ken in the foreground squaring off, with us looking past them to the women.

RYAN
Ken, I don't want to hear it.
The bugs are wild in three.
Clean them up and tell them
this is their second warning!

KEN
Yes, boss!

2- Same angle as 1. Ryan is still boring a hole into Ken, but is now pointing up. Lucy is wiping some sludge off of Lina’s shoulder.

RYAN
And take Sludge
with you.

3- Looking up from the ladies’ perspective at Sludge on the ceiling leering at them.

SLUDGE
Mmm…ladies…

LUCY AND LINA (from below and off-panel)
EEEEE!!!

4- Ken busts out his utility broom with sword tip in one hand and his sawed-off shotgun in the other. Total hero pose. (Can combine panels 4 and 5 if it’s easier—it’s the whole “goin’ off to battle shot.”)

KEN
Let’s do this,
Sludge.

5- Ken in the foreground making his way to auditorium three. Sludge follows him along the wall. Behind them, in the background, we can see Ryan, Lucy, Lina, and Bitsy watching (or not if you can’t fit them in. It’s not crucial).

SLUDGE
I want off mop
duty for a week
for this.

6- Now back on Ryan, Lucy, Lina and Bitsy. Ryan is putting on his best game face. All eyes in Ken and Sludge’s direction. Lucy and Lina still a little peeved. Bitsy couldn’t care less and plays with her hair. Unbeknownst to them, a giant swamp-like monster is behind them and about to pounce (he’s the monster from “It Came From the Back Nine”) This should not be a huge panel on the page, even though it’s tempting. Big panel should be the one before it.

RYAN
So sorry. Ken is usually so
on top of things.

Might be the decay.
I’ll have a good look
at the left side of his brain later, you
can be sure of that!

Nothing to worry about!

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

Dave's first pass at penciling Page 3 showed me that he was already improving quite a bit as their were very few elements that needed changing.


Panel 3, I felt, didn't quite get across the idea that Sludge was bearing down on the ladies. And Ken's big hero-going-off-to-fight-the-battle panel just wasn't dynamic enough for me. I made a few suggestions and Dave came back with this:


Don't forget to vote for, star rate and favorite MONSTERPLEX! We're in the final days of the competition and this when things can turn around fast. Spread the word and help us do it!

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 REQUEST: MONSTERPLEX VERSION OF NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION MOVIE POSTER

The sketch requests are getting weirder and weirder, none more so than today's which comes to us from Evil Greg. It's a parody of the classic National Lampoon's Vacation movie poster and I think Dave did it justice!



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

From Script to Page: Page 1

To a lot of people, the process of making a comic is a mysterious one. In this "From Script to Page" series, I'm gonna try to pull back the curtain a little and show you some of the thinking and drawing that went into the creation of MONSTERPLEX. Enjoy!

PAGE ONE

The first draft of the MONSTERPLEX script came together pretty quickly over just a few hours. It was one of those lightning-in-the-bottle creative sessions you always hope for but rarely get. Subsequent drafts did not differ greatly from the rough. The whole story just kind of fell out of head.

Let's look at the script for page one:

Page 1

1 – We see two women buying tickets for a show at the front ticket window of CORMAN CINEMAS. Corman Cinemas looks like the sort of place you wouldn’t have wanted to go into even if you were being chased by a mugger, an element which, unfortunately, tends to hand out around the theater. Old movie posters for such classics as “It Came From the Back Nine” (a monster terrorizes a country club golf course) and “Aunt Attack” (serial killer Aunt cuts through her nieces and nephews) and “Vampire Love Boat” (this one’s pretty obvious, but it’s about Vampires that seduce and feed on a cruise ship) and “Beetles in the Breadbasket” (Bugs storm a restaurant and get in the food) line the outer walls. The posters, like most everything on the outer façade of Corman Cinemas, are barely hanging on. (In fact, let’s not really see the posters very well. They should be mostly obscured or so small we can’t make them out. We’re going to feature them more prominently later.) We can see the large, fluorescent sign reading “Corman Cinemas” We can’t see who is selling the tickets in the ticket window because he or she is obscured by the dark glass. This should be the big panel on the page, either vertically off to the left side of the page, or horizontally across the top. Whichever works. Check out the other comics on Zuda to see how they handle the space.

The women: One is Lucy. . Lucy is in her mid-40’s, wears glasses and generally thinks she’s too cool for school. But she LOVES monster movies! Lucy carries a purse.

Not so excited is Angelina Patel, Lina for short. She’s an attractive East Indian woman in her mid-30’s. She’s dressed, as her friend is, in business attire. Lina would rather be anywhere other than Corman Cinemas.

LUCY
Two, please!

LINA
Lucy, what is
this place?

2- The two women are now inside the theater and having their tickets torn. The inside of Corman Cinemas stands as a direct contrast to the outside. Sleek and clean, this is an inviting theater with a great big lobby and classically styled architecture. At the same time, it’s very modern. Think of it like the great movie houses of old like Grauman’s Chinese and Egyptian, but with all the modern accouterments like an ATM, modern snack bar, an arcade, etc.

We shouldn’t be able to get a good look at any of the theater employees yet. Feel free to put other patrons roaming in the background, but I want the employees to remain mysterious. I see this panel as being shot over the ticket tearer’s husky shoulder.

The women are very wrapped up in their conversation, neither one paying any attention to the employee.

LUCY
Lina, relax.
I found it
online, isn’t it great?
They only show old
monster movies here,
nothing else. Is that
not the greatest thing
you’ve ever heard of?

LINA
Sounds like a
good way to lose a
lot of money.

EMPLOYEE
Second theater to your right.

3- The women are now at the concessions counter. Lucy is fishing money out of her purse to pay for the their snacks, while Lina takes the popcorn being handed to her by the concessions employee. Again, neither is paying any attention to the employee. Indeed, all we even see is a very hairy, clawed hand poking out of a uniformed sleeve handing the popcorn to Lina.

LUCY
For shame!
You dare besmirch the
name of man’s greatest creation,
the low budget b-movie!?
You are dead to me.

LINA
Better dead than
undead.

4- The two women walking down the hallway to their show. Again, keep the employees mostly hidden, but feel free to include a couple patrons.

LUCY
I see there’s a
lack of Zombie in
your movie diet.
We may made need to make
more than one trip.

LINA
You are really into
this stuff.

LUCY
It’s primal, Lina.
We all need a good
scare once in a while.
It’s only when we’re
frightened that we
truly want to be
alive.

5- The two women sitting by themselves in the darkened theater with their popcorn and sodas. Lina is reaching into the large popcorn tub.

LINA
You telling me
Zombies are life affirming?

LUCY
Not just zombies, but vampires,
werewolves, mutant creatures—
the whole lot of them.

LINA
Yeah?
What’s this one about?

6- A smallish panel, maybe inset in panel 5. We see Lina’s hand being brought to her mouth, full of popcorn and, more importantly, bugs. The bugs are crawling over her hand and in the popcorn. Let’s make ‘em beetles. This is a close-up shot. We should only see Lina’s mouth and hand. We wanna get up close and personal with the grossness.

LUCY (from off panel)
Bugs.

-----------

As you can see, I'm a wordy sonuvagun. You'll even notice some dialogue in panel 3 that I later deleted completely.

I've found that most artists like a lot of description, not less. Monsterplex Artist David Schlotterback is a bit of comics novice so I really wanted to give him as much info as possible. As you can see, it really worked:



Dave did a great job with this first pass at page one, but there were some continuity problems and not enough room was left for the dialogue. I gave him some notes and he came back with something a lot closer to what you see in the final version:



I loved how Dave filled out the world a little more in this one.

DAVID: We wanted to have the backgrounds provide fodder for humor as the characters wander the halls. To take that further, I schemed to put my favorite people or characters from popular culture in the background for a little extra eye candy. I continue to do this with future pages of MP, so keep a look out in the background. You never know who you’ll see lurking the halls of Corman Cinemas.

Luckily, Dave is really good at sort of thing. Lots of cameos and great creature designs coming up as the MONSTERPLEX story really gets going on page 9! Be sure and help us get there by voting, favoriting, commenting, giving a 5-star rating and visiting often!

More later.

-Brock

THE EVOLUTION OF LINA

Our lead is holding steady today, though we're not seeing much movement in the favorites anymore. If you've already stopped by MONSTERPLEX on Zuda and voted--thank you! But don't forget to add to your favorites. It all counts!

Today's entry in the "Evolution" series takes a look at Lina, the first character created for Monsterplex! Look at how she started!


David Schlotterback (Monsterplex Artist): Lina was the very first character I took a swat at in order to address the main issue of this very fine comic that was given to me. That issue being: What is the style of art going to be, anyway? Well, I had no idea and needed to play and play and play until something came forward worth looking at. This first attempt is waaay off the mark, but fun to look at, in my opinion. Not a beautiful specimen, but I tackled the first obstacle, which was her ethnicity. The character is supposed to be of Middle-Eastern descent. I’d never drawn this ethnicity before, so, needless to say, I feel I conquered that aspect of her character, but not the beauty. Definitely not the beauty. Back to the drawing board I went.


David: Yet another attempt to find the style. Getting closer, now, I can just feel it. I liked this one and still do. However, Brock saw Lina as a sexy woman and I agree that this is not sexy. Pretty and powerful, but not sexy. To get sexy I figured I need more hair, bigger breasts and no pants. Sexy doesn’t wear pants.

Brock (Monsterplex Writer): Getting David to draw a beautiful woman was like pulling teeth. My sense was that it wasn't something he was accustomed to and I admit I was freaking out a little at this point. That's when I sharpened my pencil and came up with this head sketch. Dave got a better idea of what I intended for Lina from this, but it wasn't exactly his style. The challenge was for Dave to try to adapt the look and feel I was going for here to his own way of doing things.

So, Dave went back to drawing board once again.


David: Another attempt at Lina using a different style. Keep in mind, the style chosen for her would dictate the style of the rest of the cast and comic in general. I thought this was too Josie and the Pussycats for my taste. I got the beauty to shine through though.

Brock: He did, but I thought she looked too much like a little girl in this one.



David: Another approach to her head in the new style. Wanted to see if I could get it to work. In the immortal words of Charles Bronson, “No dice!”.

Brock: The features were just a little too babyish still. But we were getting closer.


Brock: Finally, David nailed it. I mean, just nailed it. I knew if we could work this hard to get one character just right, he could do great work on all of them. And Dave did. I think one of the strengths of MONSTERPLEX is the strong character design, and Dave's commitment to getting it just right is why.

More later!