Red Alert: Coloring the Return to Megatropolis Graphic Novel

Preview of the Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis graphic novel, conceived as five "issues" but planning to release it as a single 160-page book, I have been working on issues #4 and #5 in recent blog posts.

This particular page is from earlier in the book, #2 which I began around 2005, but put aside when industry insiders reacted badly to the 9/11 theme, and didn't ink until 2014. (What did I do in the intervening decade? Long story.)

This page reflects the coloring style I am considering for the graphic novel: flat, bold, with some subtle modulations or "glazing." It recalls the Atlas (Marvel) monster comics (Fing Fang Foom, et al), which was in fact one of the models for the coloring of the early Megaton Man comics at Kitchen Sink Press (colored by Pete and Bill Poplaski and Ray Fehrenbach). While those overlay-cut comics were severely limited in color choices, Photoshop allows for an unlimited range of colors, although I do want to keep them flat. I call it "reinvented retro," and in any case would like to avoid the overly modeled look of airbrushed Photoshop that smothers so much drawing in comics these days. Comments?

Connie's Cab Ride: Meet Me at the Doomsday Factory!

In this newly-inked sequence from the Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis graphic novel (now in production, publication details TBD), Megaton Man transports new roomie and sidekick Connie Carlyle to Bayonne, New Jersey to introduce her to the Doom Defiers and the whole blamed extended Megaton Man nuclear family! Connie's status as a semi-pro beach volleyball player will be a boon in the team's upcoming match against the Bronx Bombers, if she doesn't fall asleep during practice! Simon Phloog is just glad be spending time with his dad, although he seems enthusiastic about this sandball ringer in general. At the same time, Kozmik Kat looks on as a mysterious delivery is made to the Doomsday Factory...

(Fun drawing the container cranes of the Port of New York and New Jersey, along with the Statue of Liberty!)

To see the original pencil roughs, go here; to read on, go here!

Joisey Self-Store: The Inking Continues!

Here is a sequence I am inking for the new graphic novel Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis, from the fourth "issue" (hence the cryptic numbering at the top of each tier), although I am hoping to release five issues' worth, or 160 pages, in a single volume (publication deatils TBD). In this scene, Megaton Man drops of the trailer he used to move his stuff back into his New York apartment, which is no sublet by Connie Carlyle, his new de facto sidekick. Meanwhile, the menacing cabbie with the penchant for uploading threatening videos resurfaces. Each image shows the pencils (scanned and printed out at the same size they were drawn) and the inked Clearprint Design Vellum final, which will then be scanned and colored.

See the original pencils for this scene here!

Megaton Meltdown: Meet Simon Phloog!

Here is the first colored page-and-a-half of the opening introduction to the graphic novel currently in progress, Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis. The 160-page all-new adventure is composed of five 32-page issues forming a single, post-9/11 storyline created in 2002, 2005, and 2014-2016 (okay, the creator took a decade off to go back to college!). This new material will transplant the extended Megaton Man family firmly back in New York (or Megatropolis), where the Megaton Man Narrative will have manifold possibilities for future development! Simon Phloog, heir to both the Megaton and Meltdown nuclear family trees, will emerge as a major character (Megaton Meltdown?) in this and subsequent graphic novels. See previous posts on this blog and on Ms. Megaton Man's blog for more preview art, and stay tuned for forthcoming publication details!

Simon flashes back to Megaton Man #1-4 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1984-1985).

The framed photo shows Simon from Return of Megaton Man #3 (1987); Clarissa gains her powers in Megaton Man vs. The Uncategorizable X+Thems #1 and her costume in Yarn Man #1 (1989).

Flashbacks from The Megaton Man Weekly Serial and Bizarre Heroes (1990s).

The Last Shall Be First: Graphic Novel #1 Pencils Completed!

I've wrapped up principal penciling (is that like principal photography?!) on Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis, a 160-page story created in five "issues" (I still think in terms of 32-page issues, although any publishing plans for MM: TRM would be for a single volume book). I finished issue #5 a few days ago, and created a new 2-page introduction for the beginning of the story. Below are the pencils.

The flashback here depicts events in Megaton Man #1-5 (Kitchen Sink Press, 1984-1985) and one-shots from the late 1980s including Megaton Man Meets the Uncategorizable X+Thems #1 and Yarn Man #1 (1989).

The framed picture of Simon flying refers to The Return of Megaton Man #3 (September 1988), the issue in which he was born. The flashback in the central panel depicts events from Yarn Man #1 (October 1989). See more on Clarissa James and the origin and evolution of Ms. Megaton Man here!

More on the Phantom Jungle Girl!

For more on how these pencil roughs fit into my current cartooning work flow, check out this post on my inking method!

This framing sequence is intended to negotiate between the Megaton Man Weekly Serial storyline (which I created online eons ago, some which was serialized in early issues of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon), and the opening scenes of the graphic novel (issues #1-2 were posted previously as Atomic Aftermath), which wrap up a few lingering sub-plots.

There's no disguising the fact that I created issue #1 in 2002, #2 in 2005,  #3 is 2014, and #4 and #5 in 2015-2016. Still, my hope is that the narrative will hang together as a cohesive reading experience. In any case, without some kind of introduction, the early scenes (about ten pages) which deal with some dangling plot threads might come across as non-sequitur. I considered cutting these pages out altogether and beginning the story when the main action of the narrative begins (with Megaton Man and X-Ray Boy in high school), but  where to begin and how to introduce potentially new readers to the Megaton Man mythos still remains a problem.

I think including the early scenes with this intro as a framing device will at least demonstrates how convoluted and aimless Megaton Man's life in the Midwest had become before the jarring events of 9/11 call him and his extended family back to Megatropolis. (Besides, many of the characters in these early scenes who exeunt will either return later or show up again in the second graphic novel, which hopefully won't take as long to complete as this one!). Judge for yourself. Your feedback is welcome!

I'm on track to finally completing the graphic novel this Spring 2016! (For more on my thinking behind it, see here.)

Now, on to March Madness: inking "issues" #4 and #5, and coloring the whole 160 pages! Stay tuned for updates...

Beach Bots Beaten Back in Bayonne by Bayonette!

Dr. Winnie Wertz left behind a defense system at the beach house on the Bayonne waterfront adjacent to the Doomsday Factory that the newly-constituted Doom Defiers inadvertantly tripped off! In this sequence, our heroes gain the upper hand, but the Bots battle back! From the current work in progress, Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis (publication of which TBD). More previews of art on this blog as well as Ms. Megaton Man!

Allegorical Attack: Geneviève Breaks Out!

Geneviève Brulé, daughter of Chuck Roast, the Human Meltdown, breaks out as another allegorical figure from the nineteenth century to join Columbia and a certain monument standing in New Jersey waters to battle pesky robots alongside the Doom Defiers! From the current work-in-progress on the ol' drawing board, Megaton Man: Return to Megatropolis #5 (publication details TBD). More previews here and elsewhere on this blog.