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 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

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 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

SLUDGE FAN ART BY ED KREBES!!

Today's fan art comes to us from one of nicest guys on the ol' internets you'll ever have the pleasure of Googling - Ed Krebes. Ed has been a big supporter of my webcomic, the SuperFogeys, and now he's turned his attention towards MONSTERPLEX for a look at Sludge that made me laugh out loud.



I'm so not eating that. Be sure and check out Ed's own webcomic, Hobo and Bowser!

If you'd like to submit some MONSTERPLEX fan art (and get some linkage, of course), please send your piece along to bwhheasley (at) gmail (dot) com. I'm even working on my own fan art just to see what some of these characters look like in my own style. No reason I can't play too, right?

Hoping to do another Evolution of a Character today. Any requests?

-Brock