Atland #252 - The Avatar, Pt. 2

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that you can’t count on a demon. It’s amazing that the agreement between the Nameless One and the priestesses of Ria has lasted as long as it has – but then again, what’s a few hundred centuries to a greater demon.
Now’s a good time to talk about demons in ATLAND. I’ve decieded there are two kinds:
Greater Demons – There are only 13 of these. Monstrously powerful non-human supernatural forces. These are like forces of nature of evil-dom. They strike terror in even the worst of the living and non-living. The Nameless One is the first of the 13, as was stated last episode.
They are, by name:

The Nameless One
Braxx, the Fathomless Black (Minotaur)
Zibzibog of the Underworld (You’ve seen this guy!)
Orrrg, the Deepest Bowel
Belora of Blood (Gnome)
Tyugg, the Endless Scream
Yizzaz, Twister of Souls (Elven)
CorpseEater (Dwarven)
Skronk of Fire (Orc)
Wixwill the Oozing Waste (Pixie)
Poxuz, the InsideOut
Jaydrax, the Thousand Horns
Sodemn, the Splendid Agony


Lesser Demons – There are 666 of these. (Cuz I’m goofy like that.) They hold great supernatural power and influence, but not on the scale of the Greater Demons. They concern themselves with gathering human cults to do their bidding, and causing harm and chaos amongst the living. Sissyl is one of these.
And no, I’m not naming them.

Next week: Sissyl victorious?

New pages and Issue 2 goes to press

Issue 2 just went to press and so as I continue to update pages I just felt i needed to update one for fun.

you can read the whole comic here so far

trav

Elf Girl Painting

Just playing around with painting a bit. I don't do this very often. I've always been an inker rather than a painter, but I'd like to develop my skills a bit more.

Harsh criticisms, though they make me cry, are welcome.

Yes, I'm aware she is rather top heavy. I come by it honest.

Saturday Night

I'm a little bit bored and my mind refuses to quit so I did a little writing on a project which usually leads to some fun with the lead. This is the result.
Although there was a little excitement at hand. My friend and comic making genius Cayetano "Cat" Garza won the 2009 Ignatz award at SPX for Outstanding Webcomic. I'm very psyched for Cat and it's well deserved! Check out his Ignatz winning comic, Year of the Rat. While you're at it, check out all of his Magic Inkwell stuff as well. Maybe even buy a book!

Play Nice.
Tony

Atland #251 - The Avatar, Pt. 1

I gotta say…it felt good to not have to draw snow after so many winter wilderness scenes. (In fact, it may never snow in ATLAND again after this story…)

So we rejoin Lily and Sissyl and you have your first look at the incarnation of the Nameless One. I figure he can take any shape he wishes – and a giant mass of writhing corpses seemed pretty impressive to me.

I came up with the idea of the Nameless One’s avatar on a whim. It was a creative solution to avoid having to letter a conversation in that HUGE typeface that I’d established for the full sized demon. When he speaks with smaller creatures, he sheds one of his corpses and speaks through it. I also thought it would be creepy as hell for anyone who had to have a conversation with him.

In other news, ATLAND now has an RSS feed! (Due to the kindness of strangers! Thanks, Matt!)
http://www.realmofatland.com/rss.php

And I’ve removed ATLAND from DrunkDuck and a couple of other places. You will now only be able to get your ATLAND fix on the main site, on the Wizards of Ur blog, and on the front page of Blambot. Believe it or not, that's LESS than how many sites it appeared on before! I am cutting waaaay down on the places where I was displaying the comic. It was taking me an hour just to make sure things were getting updated all over the web every week.

Next week, Sissyl makes her offer to the Nameless One…a deal that may be too good to pass up.

~N

Much the Miller's Son book3 page12

I like doing these little character bits every now and then. I like to think these characters have relationships and dimensions apart from just generating jokes. I guess it's up to you readers to decide whether I succeed at that. Next week, Much will be back in the picture, provided all goes according to plan.

Steve

ZD #50: Monkey's Eye

This was up last week but I neglected to share here at the Wizard's tower...

Dragonling

I pictured this piece sexier and darker in my little head but, I must have let it linger too long and lost my mojo. I'm happy with it for what it is though.

Special thanks to Wizard Travis who tried to fill my head with bright colors. I almost got there. This might be as close as I can get. Thank you Trav'.

Enjoy.
Play Nice.

Atland #250 - Finishing the Job

250 episodes!!!! Woo hoo!

There was no clean and easy way to do this. The fact is, Barry and Inky have to get moving if they want to save Lily. I didn't want them to seem uncaring, but they've already lost one friend...they don't want to lose another.

Luckily, they have Tad and the Potatomen to continue the battle above ground. It's a valuable lesson for Tad as well. In the middle of a crisis, you can't freeze up or slow down. If you don't keep fighting, you lose, no matter what you've already lost.

Astute readers will note that Tad has retrieved Bruce's axe.

In other news, I have officially drawn THREE episodes for Season 2. I’ve also hired Jason Embury to color a 5-episode flashback scene. He just showed me the first finished page and it’s wicked cool.

Next week, we rejoin Lily & Sissyl in the lair of the Nameless One…while they bargain for the fate of all of ATLAND! The beginning of the final act is upon us!

Cover for issue 2

Well issue 2 goes to print in the next week or so. Here is the cover for it. Also been updating the web comic- you can check it out here to follow the story. http://www.needcomics.com/Tales_of_the_Broken_Moon/

trav

Much the Miller's Son book3 page11

Can anyone understand what these idiots are saying?

Zyn Dweomer #48 and #49

New Corben Book

I had forgotten about this one. I'm ashamed and should be flogged by a Corben babe. No, really. This is based on an obscure story originally brought to life by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith back in the very cool Marvel Bullpen days of the 70's. The new version is written by Daniel Way with eye candy by Mr. Richard Corben. More info can be found here. Kudos for Marvel for dipping into the Corben well once again.

Just sharing.
Play Nice.

Atland #249 - Tad

Thus ends the 3-parter, "The Death of Bruce". This was a sad one to draw.

Barry & Inky have arrived too late to help their friend.

Originally, panel 3 didn't have the potatomen in it. I intended it as a private moment between Barry, Inky & Tad. But after some thought, I drew in the potatomen assembling behind them and faded them into the background a bit -- as if they were an honor guard for the deceased. I imagine most of the fighting on the bluff (and in the battle in general) is over and they just realized what happened and have begun assembling to support Tad, their brave general in his moment of loss.

Next week, episode 250!!! (Jeez, I thought Season 1 would be over by now!) Can Tad handle the responsibility that Barry & Inky as of him?

In other news:

- The website resizing is complete! Same old design, only BIGGER! Enjoy.

- I've hired Jason Embury ( http://www.jasonembury.net/ ) to guest-color some episodes of Season 2. And I just sent him the FIRST completed episode!

Here's the new one. Why does that guard speak in Shakespearean English? I don't know. Makes him more interesting though, don't it?

I'm Still Alive!

I apologize for my lack of presence here on Ye' Old Wizard's Blog but, I have been a busy little camper behind the scenes here in Da' Bunker.

I'm still working on an old project that is about 75% there and I'm still happy with it although, I'm still not ready to share. Sorry. I'm also about to begin the last chapter of a backup story I've been working on for Jay Carvajal's Misadventures of Clark & Jefferson. Good stuff! Look for that from APE Entertainment soon!

If that wasn't enough, I'm still working on getting some more Major Tom pages out there. On the right there is a mock-ad I did for what will eventually be a print collection of the Major Tom story. I'll have a whole bunch of extras, cool stuff and even additional pages that will enhance the story beyond what you'll see in the webcomic version once Major Tom sees print.
That's it for now. I'm still alive!

Play Nice.

ZD #47

So Hurke is getting a cool sword. Remember the one he bought was a replacement for the one he shattered back in ep #6.

Which reminds me, I need to do something with the site design. I've been focused on just maintaining a reasonable flow of episodes and haven't given much thought to archives and the like.

Coming up on #50, which isn't significant story-wise but does have some kind of meaning to it psychologically. I'm not slowing down or getting bored or distracted. And that's never happened before. Never. So rock on for me, baby.

One thing I am 98% certain of is that I will change the format very soon to mini-comic/manga, which is basically a 4.25" x 5.5" size. From the moment I conceived this series a couple of years back I wanted to create a mini-comic fantasy series and actually sell printed copies. That's a secondary concern, but I don't see any reason to not do it.

More later...

Atland #248 - Bron

Part 2 of 3 of the "Death of Bruce" scene. It also happens to be the "Death of Bron" scene. Hope you enjoy the spilling entrails.

Last week, we talked about the mistake that Bruce made. This week, we see the mistake that Bron made...he handed a dying man a weapon and disarmed himself in the process. This is a problem I've always had with spears in combat: It's a once use weapon if you throw it. Bron didn't throw it, but he should never have left it in Bruce. All spearmen should carry a secondary weapon.

In other news, I am burning the candle at both ends these past couple of weeks. Not only drawing the weekly episodes, but I've started really drawing the concept art for Season 2...AND I'm revising the ATLAND website to make the layout wider. Easier to read & navigate. It's not a redesign...I'm taking the original layout and increasing its size. (Hell, I think the job that Freddy Lopez did on all that dwarven brickwork is too awesome to get rid of...)

Next week, the finale of the 3-parter. Barry and Inky return to their fallen friend. Get your hankies ready.

ZD #46

Now we see inside Naola's place, which, I believe, is serving as The Westwood Company's base of operations. It's a small band right now, just getting started, so they can't really afford a Baxter Building yet.