Comics, Writing, & Art by Will Strode

Character Art Dump

As promised, I scanned some of the art I did as prep work for Vapor Trails.

I’m still trying to peg down a style for this comic, it’s definitely more cartoony than the work I’ve been doing lately. I’m trying to get back to my roots I guess, weird animals and people with simpler shapes.

I’m also working up a site redesign now, so expect some changes to the homestead soon enough.

100 Days – 1-3

It’s been a madhouse few weeks, what with conventions and weddings and other little nuggets of life changing interruptions. I can’t say it’s been bad at all, but these things do tend to draw me away from my duties as a blogger.

With the fate of Zuda, and therefore 2 of my comics, up in the air, I’ve decided to focus on some new things and some side projects. I’ll talk more about that stuff later when it’s a little more sure. Until then I wanted to show off some sketches I was doing for a Mourning Electric side story. It follows the effects of ME’s events from the other side of the country. Maybe one day you’ll all actually get to know what that is!

So I’ve decided to launch into a project with Lindsey…100 Days of COMICS. Every day, for 100 days, I will be making comics in some capacity.

Here’s where we’re at!

100 DAYS TALLY – END OF DAY 3
Free Comic Book Day! Reference books acquired
Goodbye Blue Monday #57 script – Complete
Pins N Needles Issue 01 Script first draft, 22 pages – Complete
Character Designs for Mourning Electric side story – Complete (below)

I’m working on the two main characters, really trying to capture the averageness of office workers. Wolverine popped in there too I guess, but he does not wear business casual…

The scummy side of the story, a trampy little girl and a cross between Jack Nicholson and Rip Torn

Up, up, and crap I forgot to watch

My good buddy Henry and fellow comic-dude loaned me a dvd of the Richard Donner cut of Superman 2. I would love to regail you with my illustrious insights and my hard-edged critiques, but I totally forgot to look up when I watched it because I was busy drawing. So maybe I’ll do that when I watch it again later.

For now, mark your calendars, for this is one of the very few times you will see superheros on my website. Mainly because Lindsey berates me for hours when I draw them.

Kneel before Zod… Zod, kneel before him

I’m sure that scene is a male power fantasy but I still find it attractive

The Ghost of Adolf Hitler

This blog is swiftly becoming a catalog of Things I Watched Last Night While I Was Drawing. I will look back in years to come and think “ohhhh right”.

Last night it was Ghost Hunters International’s big GHOST OF HITLER episode. Rob and the crew taunted, cajoled, and bragged to the nonexistent Ghost Hitler. Of course they didn’t find him because they are retarded and the show is really fake, but at least their nerd-courage in the face of absolutely nothing dangerous made me laugh a few times.

Lindsey and I have a game we play during any of the Ghost Hunting shows, I would recommend you do the same. Every time someone says “What the hell was that?” you try to say it in as many different inflections as possible. It’s a surprisingly long-running game.

So that’s the GHI crew down there, Rob on the left, Joe Chin and his epic fuzzy cockroach chin ornament, and Brandy the goblin. Oh and the ghost of Adolf Hitler

What the HELL was THAT?

I’m also sketching some stuff for a short I’d like to do as an anthology submission. If you know anybody that is looking for an anthology submission, this one is a doozy. Promise.

Hey look people! These guys will be doing some serious comic talkin.

Thanks Hulu

Happy New Year in case you missed it. You know, the new year.

I’m hard at work on scripting out stuff for my In-Submission Zuda entry Operation Electric Eel Fighter. Wait now I wish that was really the title. Let’s all hope it gets in so I can finally stop teasing you about it.

I’m also at the drawing board trying to work through some materials for publisher submissions. This is a new process to me and looking through my existing stories has given me some clarity as to what I need to be working on in the moment. You see, most of my stories are long. I believe this is a good thing for when somebody is willing to give me a shot, because I have a large back catalog of compelling stuff to work from. However, as a newbie in this game, I’m pretty sure nobody’s going to hand me a deal for some 60 issue series.

So I work, and brainstorm. It’s my least favorite part of the process, but I stumbled onto some old piece of a short story and it looks like a decent foundation. Pillage your own memories for today’s victories.

In the meantime, I decided to amuse myself with some sketching and some Fist of the North Star on Hulu last night. This happened.

North Star Cross-Stepping Five Finger Smash, A Dining Room In Hell’s Servant Quarters Awaits You