Anatomy of a Comic - Part Two

Continuing my overview of creating a GMod Comic, I will go over the steps to writing out an episode.

There are a few ways to go about this. But first, you might want to finalize you comic layout and panel counts. For these examples I will be using the Opti-Pessi eight panel layout.


The first is to simply sit at your computer(or grab a pen and paper), and write it. This example will be from the first four panels of the first episode of Opti-Pessi.

1) *wide shot of train station*
2) *opti and pessi sitting at table*
Opti- Can you believe it Pessi, we're back...
Pessi- *mumble*
Opti- And what a wonderful place too...
3) Pessi- Alright look! It's bad enough of I have to see that stupid grin of yours...
4) Pessi- If you're going to be following me around for the rest of my life...

The second method is to use a template, I like this method best. I tend to use these while at work. I made up a little sheet in Excel, made some copies(with the copier at work to save on my ink and paper), and while bored at work I brain storm. Below is an example of this method, while brainstorming I use quick sentences with basic information. The holes are filled in my head and everything is fleshed out when typed onto the computer.



The next method for writing is very similar to the above method, only different. In this form, you draw the comic. Below you can see the creation of Episode 13. This method only really works in cases of heavy action or specific angles desired. And is very helpful for pre-posing ideas.



The fourth writing method is to not write at all. I have done this a few times. It's a case of you load up GMod, you pick a map, you spawn your characters, you pose. As you go about this you think of what you what to happen, so you know how to pose. Sometimes you give yourself extra panels to play with, allowing for any idea changes in the script that you write during the editing process.

Those are the four methods I use to write both Opti-Pessi and BLU. There are other ways to formulate your ideas into a comic. And with time you will discover what works best for you.

Stay tuned for more later this week.

Anatomy of a Comic - Part One

Back in June I got a message from a YouTube user about the thought process and structure of production that goes into the creation of a single comic.

Hey, I recently discovered your G-Mod comic, and was wondering if you could give me a rough idea of how you go about one "episode"? I know it may be a lot to ask, but I'm an avid fan of Garry's Mod and would like to do something more with it than silly poses or the occasional submission to the Garry's Mod challenges! If you'd like me to be more specific when I say "a rough idea", just let me know.
Thanks very much, Steven

So, after four months I finally have the time, and actually remembered, to answer his question.


The first thing needed is you main character, or characters. The number is entirely up to you. The less you have the easier it can be writing dialog, while more can add to the feel. For Opti-Pessi I chose two, for BLU, three. One of the most popular GMod comics, Concerned, used a single character. You're best bet is to start with many, and as you write weed them out and/or combine them into fewer as you need.

Once you have established your characters, you work on your Synopis. You really don't need major specifics. For example, the Synopis of Opti-Pessi is, two brothers, one is an idiot the other arrogant and easily annoyed.

With your Synopis set you can now move onto a storyline. Here is where you work on the who, what, where, when, and how. Again, you can keep from the very specific. Say your character goes to the bank, instead of saying your character goes to the bank and speaks to the teller to get money out. Small details you can keep out.

You do, early on want to take time to decide on the rough layout of your comic. Is it going to be a simple one or three panel, common to newspapers. Is it going to be more akin to a full page comic six to ten panels. Or is it going to be completely random, and the panel count change from issue to issue. Again just a rough idea of this will be plenty, this early in creation.

With all the information you have compiled it is time to start writing! All of the above I pretty much keep in my head, occasionally revealing bits to McNaire when I remember to.

Stay tuned for part two, later this week.

BLU - Spy

BLU - Train

It's a safe bet that this was inspired by some of the happenings over at the Ubercharged.net fourms.

Not living under a rock.

Well, no. BLU wasn't canceled, just that issue. It's kinda confusing, I know. But it's been kinda hectic as of late for McNaire and myself. There are a bunch of issues waiting in the edit que, but I'm not sure if McNaire has had a chane to work on any of them.

There has been some work placed in the Opti-Pessi storyline development. A lot of ground work has been done on the plotline. We got a lot of great episode floating, just working on the startup.

Stay tuned for more.

BLU - Cancelled

ID-10-T ERROR

There would be a BLU comic here, but I forgot to upload it and all that stuff before I left for work...

BLU - Leggin

There would be a new BLU comic here, but blogger is giving me crap and I can't get it uploaded. I'll see what I can do to get this thing working.

Fixed

BLU - Melon

Ubercharged Pyro Tennis

Last night I had a great game of Pyro Tennis over on the Ubercharged.net server. I recorded a demo of most of it and plan to try and smooth some of the better moments. Keep an eye out.

BLU - Movies

Opti-Pessi Season 2 - Coming Sometime

TF2 Stuff

Here is a bunch of TF2 randomness...


I associate the great Sniper night to the fact that I was listening to the new Metallica album while playing.




And, my first attempt at Smooth in TF2...



And, my second...

This has nothing to do with games...

But MetallicA is BACK!

So it's been five years since a studio release, eleven since a good one, and that was even recorded a year and a half before it was released. But it's okay now, with their newest album, Death Magnetic, they have brought back the sound well remembered and loved from their '84-'91 releases. The old school MetallicA.

Being a die hard 'tallica fan, I'm super stoked about this, and have a feeling this will be about all I listen to for a while.

BLU - Sandvich