Webcomicography is a weekly article from Champion City Comics that goes behind the scenes of our webcomics to give you the complete story. The Champion City Fire is the first title we published and is the first to be examined in this series. If you missed part one then click here to read and click here to read part two.

Denny O'Shea is dead and now it is time for the police to investigate. Page six, which is posted below, gives us the first glimpse into the world of the New Ravenwood Police Department. Detective Al Savinni, the guy doing all the talking in the fourth panel, is the veteran detective and seated next to Savinni is Detective Ryan Foley, his partner. I like to mention food in some of my stories and a local Chinese restaurant was serving some great empress chicken when I was writing this story. I'm pleased to say that they still are, so I hope I didn't jinx myself.

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A. 'Kav' Kaviraj is our resident artist and comic book guru at Champion City Comics. He loves to watch movies, and when they make him mad, he writes some of the best movie reviews ever.  

Ok so it's the guys who survived a plane crash trying to survive against wolf attack. Now, this should have been NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER if they just armed themselves with jagged shards of the plane, stayed in the fuselage and picked the wolves off as they came in but NO! Instead their plan is to arm themselves with NOTHING and traipse off into the wilderness where of course they get picked off one by one. Then they make a line and go over a cliff to some trees. Unfortunately these are apparently flying wolves, as they are waiting for them at the bottom. We are also treated to the great realistic depiction of them being in the frozen wilderness but their breath is not fogged! Why is this so difficult for Hollywood to compute? It's obviously a sound stage they're on.

Then the two guys left fall in the supposedly frozen water and one guy gets his foot stuck against the current. Continuity guy should be shot in this one too as we see his foot is on the WRONG SIDE OF THE CURRENT! Duh, guys.

Of course when Liam Neeson hauls his ass out of the supposedly freezing water he's not even shivering AND he experiences the instant dry clothes syndrome! I'm not s*****g you! they did it! I see this a lot in movies  like True Grit where the second the chick gets out of the river she is stone dry. Why is this so hard for Hollywood to compute? These things kill a story, guys-didn't anyone tell you?

So Liam makes an appeal to God when he's the sole survivor. God must be thinking 'Hey-I gave you lots of razor sharp shards and a fuselage-plus I dried your clothes instantly-what more do you want from me, dude? OK I'm sorry about the flying wolves but I figured you had that coming. Shoulda stayed in the fuselage, sucker'. Oh yeah-I forgot to mention no matter how many times the flying wolves suddenly appear like in a horror movie, these guys still pay the minimum attention to their surroundings, instead focusing on joking and bickering. Wake up dudes! You're surrounded by vicious flying wolves!!! Snap out of it! Hollywood: audiences find it hard to root for idiots. Make a note.

Then dumbass spends a bunch of time going through the touching pictures in all the dead men's wallets. Hey moron-why are you dicking around with those pics when there are FLYING WOLVES stalking you? If the protagonist doesn't take his situation seriously, WTF are we supposed to? Hollywood: you're brain dead- we're not! Can someone from Hollywood PLEASE hire me as a reality screen for your movies? I promise 100% Oscar winners for every one if you'll just LISTEN TO ME! I'll work for free-it'll be a public service! Ok ignore me then and keep cranking out stinkers. See if I care. Go make Wet Hot American Summer 2 then. What do I know? I do know that I could make a far better movie with my I-phone. PS-enough with dude pulling out the note he wrote to his ex-WE GET IT! No need to hammer us over the head with this every 5 minutes. Criminy. Instead of me paying $2 to watch this movie they should have paid me One thousand billion dollars to watch 4 minutes of it. That would have been fair. Ok I would still have been cheated but I could live with it. Maybe.

So of course as idiot sits looking at the wallet pix OF COURSE the flying wolves sneak up on him. Didn't see that coming-oh no I didn't. I wish Vegas had some betting pool where you try to guess what happens in a movie and you can bet on your predictions-because in that case I would be the Fats Domino of Vegas. Vegas would be my b***h! Oh yeah-by the way, I'm kinda wondering WHY the wolves are even stalking him as they've had about 50 people to eat so far. What are they, Marvel Zombies or something? Come on, work with me here. If these flying wolves need to eat that much they should be extinct by now. There's dumb, there's dumber, there's dumbest, and then there's HOLLYWOOD. And these are the pinheads who are always telling us how to VOTE? I don't think so. See, I'M the smart one. YOU'RE the dumb ones. Dumb ones don't tell smart ones how to vote. Now make sure your helmets are strapped on guys. Kav-why all the anger? Watch this movie for an answer. If you don't feel like waterboarding some producers and directors after that then we'll talk.

Then it's the showdown with 'The Grey' who is actually BLACK. That's right-they couldn't even get the color right. Now do you believe me that this movie sucks? I kinda wish someone WAS stabbing me in the eye now-so I couldn't watch this crappy ridiculous film. Liam Neeson you should be embarrassed, VERY embarrassed. Go commiserate with John Travolta about living down a truly sucky movie-in his case the infamous Battlefield Earth. In your case The Grey (Black).

So instead of attacking, the flying wolves give him time to prepare-taping airplane mini liquor bottles to his knuckles (I'm not s******g you). PS the wolves are obvious animatronics-the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland look more realistic. AAAAR! So we have animatronic black not grey flying wolves-do I about have it right? I'm glad I didn't see this at a theater cause I would have been kicked out for sure for jeering at the movie and throwing milk duds at the screen. Hey-duds for a dud I figure. What's the problem, officer? Then THE WORST ENDING OF ANY MOVIE-PERIOD. Dudes recites a lame poem...faces THE GREY (BLACK) aaaaaaaaaaaand it's over. No I am not s*****g you. That's the end. I am super pissed man. So I have to give this crap-fest negative one hundred billion two hundred gazillion three hundred and fifty-two bazillion stars-and that's being generous. The only good thing I can say about this movie is that no one was stabbing me in the eye as I watched it. I can't think of anything else.

Kav and Tony Break it Down is nothing more than two long-time comic book readers making fun of the Golden and Silver Age Superman comics. We understand that these books were written for a juvenile audience but we could not resist reviewing these classics. Please note that no comic books were hurt during the review.

Last week, we started our review of World's Finest Comics #146, which features the story 'Batman, Son of Krypton'. This comic was published in 1964 and the writer was Edmond Hamilton and the pencils were done by Curt Swan while the inks were done by Sheldon Moldoff. If you missed part one then go here to read.

RIGHT CLICK TO VIEW

KAV: These people are weird. Bruce and Dr Ellison speak like one sentence to each other then Dr Ellison invites Bruce to spend the night-then leaves! Some host. I hope Bruce was at least able to scrounge up some dinner. Then luckily for Bruce Dr Ellis is prone to expositional dialogue so he learns that this f**** destroyed Krypton!

TONY: Ellison is the classic old school comic book character that tries to be sneaky but gives away too many clues that he's hiding something very important. Ellison, you are not very sneaky about hiding Bruce's past with Krypton when you have a gigantic globe of Krypton in your study. 

KAV: We see this dude-like everyone else-has a complete supply of Kryptonite in his home. I'm telling you this stuff is more common than sand.

TONY: I love how all of the pictures have something written on them like "Bruce -El flying". I bet Ellison has a wedding picture somewhere that has written on it, "My wedding day". What a dope. 

KAV: Superman decides that Batman's memories of Krypton must have a sinister cause. Based on what I don't know-it seems pretty paranoid to me. But I guess if you were allergic to Kryptonite and everyone on Earth had a piece-sure, that would make you paranoid. Superman asks the phantom zone criminals if Batman came from Krypton and they cooperate with an answer. Why they are cooperative-another DC mystery. Then Batman begins to ponder how he's been disenfranchised out of super powers.

TONY: A great comic book makes you want to turn the page to see what happens next. This comic is painful to read and I read the next page to see how they bring this total b.s. story to an end. 


KAV: Idiot Batman and Robin blurt out the staggering truth-that dude destroyed Krypton. Why they couldn't keep their big mouths shut when they know Superman has super hearing and is prone to prying is yet another DC mystery.

TONY: I'm sorry, I fell asleep. What happened?

Stay tuned, kids! Kav and Tony return next week to review this super boring story!

Webcomicography is a weekly article from Champion City Comics that goes behind the scenes of our webcomics to give you the complete story. The Champion City Fire is the first title we published and is the first to be examined in this series. If you missed part one then click here to read.

Page one introduced Donovan Page, a time traveling member of a group known as The Disruptors, and Denny O'Shea, a disgraced football player with a lengthy criminal record. Donovan Page has been assigned to kill Denny O'Shea because The Disruptors believe that they can create a better future by eliminating some notorious criminals of the past. The problem for the time travelers is that their technology is faulty and they can only travel to certain areas during a certain time. Page one set up both characters, and the purpose of the second page was to make the reader not like O'Shea.

Let's take a look at the original page two below.

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It has been a busy week for yours truly, and I'll be spending the next few days traveling. Champion City Comics will be updated on Friday, June 22, 2012. Thanks for your patience. See you Friday.

Last week we showed you a preview of page six from the new version of Dr Death vs The Zombie. This week, we are showing an updated version in color. Joe Haemmerle did a great job.

Click to enlarge

CLICK TO ENLRAGE

The creative team behind the re-launch of Dr. Death vs The Zombie has been working hard to deliver new pages. Page six has been posted, and if you read the original Dr. Death vs. The Zombie, then you'll recall that this page was the first page of the original series. The pencils and inks were done by A. Kaviraj, the artist for the original story, and he always does a great job, especially with details. Look at all three panels and you'll see why he is one of the best. Joe Haemmerle is working on the color and MaGnUs will add digital lettering.

Kav and Tony Break it Down is nothing more than two long-time comic book readers making fun of the Golden and Silver Age Superman comics. We understand that these books were written for a juvenile audience but we could not resist reviewing these classics. Please note that no comic books were hurt during the review.

Kav has selected World's Finest Comics #146, which features 'Batman, Son of Krypton'. This comic was published in 1964 and the writer was Edmond Hamilton and the pencils were done by Curt Swan while the inks were done by Sheldon Moldoff.


KAV: We see the splash-setting up the premise-as if the cover didn't already do that. Keep in mind back then DC would come up with a cover idea, then write a story around it-which may explain some of the incredible plot points they came up with...

TONY: Bruce-El? I can't wait to read how this craptacular tale unfolds.

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KAV: Superman has to leave an 'important experiment' with Batman to go observe 5 minutes of silence for doomed Krypton. We see Supergirl dangling in space stating that she will never ~choke~ forget Krypton. Glad she said this cause I thought she might forget her doomed home world since she has the attention span of an insect. Good thing the Batcave is stocked with lots of Krypton footage so Supes can mourn correctly....

TONY: Let's take five minutes of silence for Kav and Tony who have to read this god awful story. 

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KAV: We see Batman troubled by unexplained memories of Krypton...how could he possibly know these things? Uh, dude-maybe it's because you and Stuporman visit the place almost weekly....duh.

TONY: The Red Tower is not at all phallic. Not at all. 


KAV: Suddenly Batman remembers flying as a child????! Wtf? That's a memory that slipped his mind? Criminy. In the last panel Robin ponders Batman being a Kryptonian-"OH no it can't be!" Like it's the most horrible thing in the world. What a racist.

TONY: World's Finest Comics? I dispute that claim. I really do. This just might be the most boring story we've reviewed, Kav. I need a nap.

Stay tuned, kids, we'll continue this review next Tuesday.

Eight years ago, I started working on my first comic book script. I had been inspired by some unknown force to develop a story and submit it to Marvel or DC to become the next big thing in comic book writing. Eight years later, I have worked on eight titles that are in comic book and webcomic format. I'm not the next big thing in comic book writing, but am very pleased to have been on this journey.

When I started my first comic book project, I wanted to write a crime noir tale that blended everything I loved about Batman and 100 Bullets. Phase one was underway. Rough drafts were developed, scrapped, more rough drafts were written, scrapped, and within a year of starting my project, I had a script for a crime noir tale titled The Champion City Fire where time traveling vigilantes went back in time to kill the worst of the worst criminals in New Ravenwood, Ohio to obtain a harmonious future. The story was going to be seen through the eyes of the time travelers, the cops that investigated their murders, and the criminals that were being targeted.

Phase two of the project was landing an artist who could do pencils, inks, color, and lettering. Those all-in-one artists are hard to find, but fortunately I had a talented comic book artist in my family. Joe Haemmerle is my cousin and I approached him sometime during the summer or fall of 2004 to join me on a comic book project. He was game and I was very pleased. Once the script was developed, I sent it to Joe to get started.

Feeling great about my script for The Champion City Fire, I emailed a copy to a guy I knew who wrote and produced independent comics. As I awaited his response of, "Oh my God! This is amazing!", I was given the "This sucks" response in an oh-so-diplomatically-worded email.

The wind was knocked out of my sails for a moment, but I decided to revise the script for The Champion City Fire one last time. As I emailed the revision to the guy I knew in the comics business, I hoped for some good news. Fortunately, he liked the revision and told me I had something good with my story. That was the stamp of approval I needed to move forward.

Issue one of The Champion City Fire introduces the time traveling vigilantes and the cops who investigate the murders of the criminals they kill. The story was to have two rival time traveling groups: The Travelers, a vigilante group that takes out some of the worst criminals but spares a few, and The Disruptors, a group that will take out all criminal elements.

Let's examine the first page of this project for today's post. 

Page one introduced a disruptor named Donovan Page, who was assigned the task of killing Denny O'Shea, a violent criminal with a lengthy record. O'Shea had been spared by The Travelers, but The Disruptors wanted to make a big statement by killing O'Shea. Let's examine the progress of page one.

Below is the original first page with the original script. Donovan Page and Denny O'Shea are introduced and the reader is given some background information on O'Shea. The narrator on the first page is a recording that a Disrutpor gave to Donovan Page before he was sent back in time. The narrator would give a description about O'Shea's past where he was a famed football player, but his love of women and gambling led to his demise.

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Click to enlarge

The dialogue has been trimmed down and the hardboiled style of language gives The Champion City Fire something different in the way of dialogue. It catches the reader's attention and is not as long-winded as the first draft. Joe and I were happy with the changes, but Joe thought that the art should be changed as well. In Joe's opinion, he wanted to up his artistic style and use a color scheme of black, grey, and red to give our noir tale a grittier vision. I told Joe I trusted his thoughts on changes and the page below is the end result.






TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The Zombie, The End of Paradise, and Day 165.

Champion City Comics artist, A. Kaviraj, has plenty of Silver Age parodies to share with our readers.

Champion City Comics is pleased to present another alternative comics selection from A. Kaviraj. This week, he presents Yucky Cur, a parody of Chester Brown's Yummy Fur.

Pencils and Script: Don Reynolds

Inks and Lettering: A. Kaviraj

Yucky Cur (Adult Language)

Kav and Tony Break it Down is nothing more than two long-time comic book readers making fun of the Golden and Silver Age Superman comics. We understand that these books were written for a juvenile audience but we could not resist reviewing these classics. Please note that no comic books were hurt during the review.

This week, we are finishing our review of Action Comics #295 titled 'Superman Goes Wild'. Did you miss part one and two of this series? Click here to read part one and click here to read part two.

Action Comics #295 was published December, 1962. The writer was Henry Boltinoff, the pencils were by Curt Swan, and the inks were by George Klein.


Kav: Superman usually flies around but whenever he's been a bad boy he walks the sidewalk so people can more easily shun him.

Tony: Wow, it's so convenient that Perry keeps green kryptonite chains in a secret vault in the basement. I'm amazed that Clark or Superman never used his X-ray vision to scan the Daily Planet.     


Kav: Superman releases some Kandorians to help him by shooting a hole in the bottle with a bullet...we learn it was all an act him going crazy and as usual he only acted crazy while sending out elaborate super-ventriloquistic orders. Too bad about all the Kandorians now being deaf from the massive explosion the bullet caused in their mini-atmosphere...sad really.

Tony: Wait...what? This is horrible writing. First of all, how does a bullet fired at least a foot or two away from the bottle doesn't cause the bottle to be more damaged than just a tiny hole? Secondly, if Superman has super ventriloquist skills, then how did the people of Kandor hear him and nobody else on earth? STUPID!   


Kav: This is perhaps the dumbest ending ever scripted. We learn that Superman used code words to initiate 'Plan 9 From Outer Space'.."One day, Perry, and I don't know why exactly dude, you will need to shackle me with fake Kryptonite...." Tony? Tony? Are you there? Talk to me Tony!!!

Tony: Plan 'P' for Perry? This was more like Plan 'C' for Craptacular. Action Comics #295 totally sucked.


Kav and I will return next week for more tomfoolery. 

Need more Kav and Tony? 

Kav & Tony Break It Down: Action Comics #283 (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)


Kav & Tony Break It Down: Action Comics #311 (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) 

Kav & Tony Break It Down: Action Comics #312 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4)


A. Kaviraj is an artist and writer at Champion City Comics. His works include Dr Death vs The Vampire, Doctor Death vs The Zombie, and The End of Paradise. 

TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The Zombie, The End of Paradise, and Day 165.

A. Kaviraj has been working as the artist for various comic books and one is a comic book version of the movie, The Crimson Mask. If you would like to see some sample pages you can go here to view A. Kaviraj's work. I've included a couple of images here at Champion City Comics, so click on each image to enlarge.