It’s with great pride (and a small bit of exhaustion) that I announce the official launch of the Rusted webcomic. Yes, Rusted is the project formerly known as the Super Secret Project, and I’m glad to finally see it get its own home. Check it out at:

http://www.rustedcomic.com

“But, Richard, what happened to the other comic ideas? What happened to T-Minus and HEAVIKROME?”

While I liked T-Minus as a concept, I realized pretty early that the story for that still needed some serious development. I didn’t want to commit myself to a comic before I knew where I wanted to take it. Rusted’s story is much further developed, and so each new piece of the story should come readily. As to HEAVIKROME, that’s also still incubating. I’d like to bring that back someday in the future, but not before I find the proper art style to do it justice. As it stands, the smooth, bright-colored style I had used for the concept work no longer fit the concept in my head.

Regardless, Rusted is now official! I intend to keep it updated weekly, but of course such things can be wholly dependent upon the whims of real life. The good news? I have all pages for August drawn, so I’m about a month ahead right now.

Please feel free to leave comments! I welcome anything constructive.

Tags: Heavy Chrome, rusted, super secret project, t-minus

I’ve posted a short, ten stage walkthrough of my technique for creating a page for the Rusted comic (which is, ironically, still in early development at the time of this post). And because such a thing is a little too long for a standard blog post, I created a new section on this site specifically for such Articles.

So, if you’re at all interested in how an amateur, no name starting artist does his work, please give it a read!

A Step-by-Step Walkthrough of My Art Process for Rusted
In this article I walk you through the various stages (roughly ten in all) of a page from my webcomic, Rusted (still in early development at the time of this writing). This is not a “how-to” so much as an exploration of the process I use for this particular style.

Tags: comic, rusted, super secret project, walkthrough

So the test page for “HEAVIKROME” (formerly known as Heavy Chrome) has been delayed due to a change up in art style direction. I’m researching the new style and would like to redo the page I started. So, in the interim, I drew up the first page for “Rusted” instead.

Rusted is a reinterpretation of an old video game property that my now-defunct game company was developing. The theme centered around the idea that a group of old, rusty robots was fighting against a slew of new, shiny warbots. It was a cute cartoony tale. But over the past few years, the idea “grew up” in my head, and I’ve spent the past few months reworking some basic ideas. Rusted is the result.

Once again, comments are welcome and appreciated. I’m looking for comments regarding the visual style primarily (yes, the rough sketchy style is wholly intentional); these can include the figures, the coloring, even the lettering choice. Also, comments on the actual portrayed story (well, the snippet of story) are welcome. Does this page make you want to read more?

Click the image for the full size pic (and easier reading).

UPDATE 07/15/09 12:30am: I’ve adjusted the font of the page for easier readability. Comments on new font choice appreciated.

Tags: Heavy Chrome, rusted, super secret project

The second comic test page, which should hopefully be up sometime next week, will be called “Heavy Chrome” (working title). This is the my concept art for the primary character’s combat mecha, the Hawk Engineering / Advanced Vehicle Industries (HEAVI) Unit 01. Code-named “Chrome.”

The purpose was to achieve a balance between old school superhero mecha anime like Voltron, Mazinger Z, and Big O and modern-style futuristic mecha.

Comments and critiques regarding whether I achieved this balance are more than welcome. Thanks in advance.

Tags: comic, Heavy Chrome, super secret project

I have a few stories that I’d love to tell visually. Some of these are World of Warcraft stories and some aren’t. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting “test pages” to this site for as many of these ideas as I can get done. After I get enough feedback, I’ll choose which one(s) I’ll pursue further.

This first one is called “T-Minus.”  The idea came to me when I thought whether a web comic could support a structure similar to the television series “24.” Instead of each episode being one hour of real-time, however, each comic page would be roughly two seconds off the countdown clock. Hence, the title “T-Minus.” The plot? Well, the first page should give a little teaser…

Note: The tonal patterns are done to emulate a black and white manga page.

Please leave feedback. I know my manga style is definitely rough and amateurish, but part of the purpose of this project is practice. I seek to improve.

Tags: comic, super secret project, t-minus