Saturday, January 19, 2008

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Okay folks, I'm Christopher Mills, and I need some help. I'm trying to decide which cover layout/logo to use on the upcoming Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries comic book miniseries that I've written for Ape Entertainment.

For the past year or so, as we've steadily worked towards publication, I've been pretty well set on the layout/logo above left. I felt that it was less intrusive to the great art I was getting for the covers and looked kind of, well... classy.

But recently, various people – including my publishers! – have been pointing out that the original Femme Noir logo by Nate Piekos (above right) has a certain amount of brand value, as series artist Joe Staton and I have been using it in association with the property since it began as a webcomic back in March of 2001. That's nearly seven years! Their argument is that we have spent a lot of time building brand equity into that logo and that it would be foolish to not use it on the comic book. It's a good point.

Now, I still personally prefer the "deco" look I came up with, but I'm open-minded, and the original logo certainly "works." I guess I'd just like to get a few more opinions before I make up my mind....

So what do you think? Post your choice in the comments and help me out, okay?

Thanks!

Read More...

Pre-Order Goblin Chronicles #2!

Pre-order issue #2 today at your local comic shop (in stores March 2008).

Issue Description:
Before our heroes can confront the Dark Queen, they must consult a mysterious oracle. With the queen’s evil minions in hot pursuit, our heroes venture into a mad wizard's domain, where they must successfully solve his magical maze … or become his eternal servants! 31 pages of story and art!

There are two covers to choose from. Click image for larger view.

goblin chonicles comic book cover A
COVER A
by Fogel & Terrell
Order code: Jan08-3354

goblin chonicles comic book cover B
COVER B
by Tim Seeley (Forgotten Realms, Gi Joe, Hack Slash) order code: Jan08-3355

Thanks ... and stay green!
http://www.thegoblinchronicles.com/

Troy Dye
Co-creator/writer

Read More...

Friday, January 4, 2008

Rise, Kraken! training manual excerpt: Standard Equipment

As many of you know (and several of you are sick of hearing), I've been working on a new comic with the insanely talented Jerzy Drozd, due out from Ape late this year.

What most people don't know is that I'm trying to make it a deeper experience than just a comic, with a lot of supplemental material available on the Web to world-build and make Rise, Kraken! something a bit more immersive* than standard comics fare.

One of these things is a training manual -- something a bit broader than KRAKEN, and that can apply to new recruits to pretty much any Global Domination Organization from HYDRA to SPECTRE. At the moment, I'm working on raw content, with layout and illos (probably photographs) to come later; the whole thing will be bundled as a downloadable PDF and may be available for sale if demand warrants.

I tried posting it here, but it's disgustingly long and Blogger doesn't let you generate a "more" tag without jumping through a ridiculous number of hoops. So you can read the excerpt over here instead. Sorry about the outlink!

*this is apparently not a word. So: "something one can immerse oneself in."

Read More...