Showing posts with label Adult Webcomic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adult Webcomic. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2015

The History of Champion City Comics - Part III - The Champion City Fire

The cover for our first issue

The Champion City Fire was the first webcomic/comic book project for Champion City Comics. It was initially pitched to comic book publishers as the first of a six issue comic book run, but a lack of interest led us to the world of webcomics.

My interest in writing comic books started sometime in 2004 when I was reviewing comic books for Silver Bullet Comics (RIP) and Erasing Clouds. My reviews mainly focused on small independent companies and self-publishers. Some of the titles were amazing while others were so bad that I should have scanned them, created a PDF, titled the thing 'How Not To Write Comics', and uploaded it to Scribd for the world to read.

If you followed the Erasing Clouds link then you saw the title of my column was Champion City Comics. I was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, which was once referred to as "The Champion City" because it was the producer of the Champion Farm Equipment brand. Also, it works well for a comic book review article and it's even better for a comic book and webcomics community.

A few story ideas floated around in my head, but I decided to do something that blended noir with vigilante tales. I was reading a bunch of Batman graphic novels at the time and was watching films like Blast of Silence, The Killers (1946), and Le Cercle RogueThe Champion City Fire was a title that I wrote down in a notebook and it stuck with me for months. There was a story with that title and it took many synopsis revisions before I came up with a story that was good in my opinion.

I came up with a rough guide to a six issue comic book series c.2004 and a few months later I had developed a rough draft of issue #1 of The Champion City Fire. It wasn't easy, but I developed a twenty-five page script and eventually sent it to a colleague for review. Their critique of my script was blunt but diplomatic. It takes a special person to tell you that your story sucks. I re-wrote the script and my colleague found the changes to be an improvement. Then I was hit with a moment of inspiration, re-wrote the script again and sent it off for review. My colleague was impressed, and that mini boot camp of script writing was tough but necessary in my writing evolution.

Finding an artist was not difficult because my cousin, Joe Haemmerle, was a talented artist that graciously accepted my offer of collaborating on a comic book project. Joe must like me because he's still around some six years later. Also, he's still a very talented artist.

Let's talk about the story. The Champion City Fire is set in the mythological city of New Ravenwood, Ohio. Two time traveling vigilantes arrived twelve years ago and murdered ten of the most notorious criminals in the city. Detective Johnny Magnum was assigned to investigate the murders and discovered that all ten victims were in the proverbial doghouse of New Ravenwood's crime lord, Alex Empire. Magnum's top witness was an insane former used car salesman, but everything went cold and the cases were left unsolved. Fast forward twelve years and the time travelers have returned and are back to taking out New Ravenwood's infamous criminals. This is Magnum's last chance to solve the crime and figure out who was behind the murders.

I've re-written that previous paragraph plenty of times and have realized that my "hook" for grabbing readers might not have been solid as I wanted. At the time it was viewed by me as a golden script. No, it was a golden script plus it was in the running for an Eisner Award. I'm amazed that I didn't dust off some shelf space for the award I was sure to win.

I sort of cringe at character names like Johnny Magnum and Alex Empire, but I'm proud of the script. My earliest scripts didn't contain the hard-boiled inspired captions and dialogue. Those early scripts featured some seriously bland captions, plus a few captions were basically these horrible text bombs.

The artwork was also a work in progress. Joe and I knew that color comics were appealing to editors and readers, so we went with a style that looked incredible when we started the project. Below is the proposed first page of The Champion City Fire. Not only does it have the original artwork concept, but it features the early draft of the script which was heavily revised. This is what happens when you have a script that's not critiqued.



Not only did I revise the script, but Joe decided to give the story a new and improved design. The page below is the result of our changes. This is also page one of the story and you can see the differences.



The artwork by Joe Haemmerle is excellent and I love his minimalist use of colors. Joe's style is a great asset for Champion City Comics and I'm always excited to see what he brings to the table when we collaborate on a project.

Something I learned while researching writing a script is that you have the basic story people see on the surface but there is something else to your story that some readers may or may not recognize. The Champion City Fire is not just a story of time travelers and cold cases but it's also about how vigilante justice is basically an act of sheer folly. We're not talking a revenge tale, but the act of reactionaries serving as judge, jury, and executioner. It goes back to reading Batman graphic novels. Batman is one of my favorite characters and he's a vigilante. The inconvenient truth is that he's never solved the cycle of violence that plagues Gotham. Batman fueled the criminal fire and never put it out. The argument goes deeper than this statement and I'm sure an entire novel can be dedicated to vigilantes in comics.

I've embedded the story below for you to read and hope you enjoy the first twelve pages of The Champion City Fire. Yes, we only completed twelve of the twenty-five pages. It was always our intention to finish it, but we never got around to it, which is typical of some Champion City projects. I don't want that last statement to be taken the wrong way because I'm very pleased with our work. Some of our stories are completed, others are a work in progress, and some are in a state of development hell.

Just read The Champion City Fire. Thanks.


Tony Wright is the onwer of Champion City Comics. Follow him on Twitter @TonyDougWright.  

THE CHAMPION CITY FIRE (Pages 1 to 12) (Adult Language & Violence) by Tony Wright





Monday, May 5, 2014

THE RED DEVIL: A WEBCOMIC SERIES

Writer: TonyDoug Wright

Pencils: Erik Roman and Joe Haemmerle

Color: Joe Haemmerle and L. Jamal Walton

Inks: Joe Haemmerle and Cristian Docolomansky

Letters: Joe Haemmerle and Magnus

Synopsis: Dublin O'Darby (The Red Devil) is an international crime-fighter who works for Sebastian Coronado, the director of an organization dedicated to combating cartels of evil. Joining The Red Devil is teenage sidekick Charlotte Murphy (Kid Diablo). In the exciting first issue, Red Devil and Kid Diablo track down a dangerous ninja, Silent Noise, who has stolen a mysterious ring which once belonged to a diabolical group of demon worshipers known as the Order of Methalius.


The Red Devil by Tony Wright



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

CLEAR WATER KILL - AN ORIGINAL WEBCOMIC SERIES

Please enjoy this original webcomic series from Champion City Comics!

Clear Water Kill

Writer and Artist: Ryan Cairns

Letters: Magnus

When his father is murdered by his own brother, Red Arrow must dig deep and discover what it truly means to be alive, what it takes to survive, and just what is worth dying for. Get front row seats to this brutal and unforgiving story about courage, betrayal, and the forging of a legacy.

Clear Water Kill by Tony Wright


Monday, January 6, 2014

ORIGIN OF LEGEND: AN ORIGINAL COMIC BOOK

Danos Philopoulos submitted a great creator owned comic book to Champion City Comics titled Origin of Legend. Origin of Legend is a dramatic retelling of the life of the Greek mythical creature Cyclops presented as a misunderstood and feared creature. The story has been published in past in the anthology Uncanny Adventures by 8th Wonder Press.

Writer and Artist: Danos Philopoulos

Origin of Legend

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

WEBCOMIC WEDNESDAY: THE COMPLETE RED DEVIL WEBCOMIC IS AT TAPASTIC

We are pleased to announce that our action packed webcomic series titled The Red Devil has ended its first episode at Tapastic. Don't fear, faithful fans, because we have another episode in development that is just as awesome. The Red Devil is a pulp comic that is written by Tony Wright and features the artwork of Joe Haemmerle and Erik Roman. Enjoy!


Friday, October 25, 2013

A NEW WEBCOMIC PROJECT

Ryan Cairns is a comic book artist that recently proposed that I work on a webcomic series with him, which I thought was a fantastic idea. We emailed some ideas back and forth for a few days, and came up with a killer series. The working title is White Blood Cells, and it follows a group of specialists who are trying to bring down The Avignon Star, an international organization determined to rule the world. Yes, White Blood Cells definitely sounds like a G.I. Joe inspired webcomic, which is totally cool with me as a writer because I'm a fan of Larry Hama. However, we have some original idea to set this one apart from the pack. Trust me, folks.

Ryan has been emailing me some character designs, and the first character I want to share with you is named Gnarly Bones. He's a member of the White Blood Cells, and he's the wildcard/joker of the team. This writer sees a great deal of potential with this character. Enjoy!

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE 

Friday, September 6, 2013

INNOCENCE

Story: Frank T. Allen

Art: Nick Wright

A weary detective recounts his horrific experiences from many years on the police force. In this harrowing tale, we see one man's struggle to find some sense of meaning and worth in the work he has done. Does any of it really matter? Does anyone even care? Clear black and white morality is not something that can be related to anymore.
He doesn't expect you to understand.

Innocence by tonydoug25



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

CURSING IN WEBCOMICS

I was reading a thread on a webcomics discussion board about cursing in webcomics. Someone asked if they should have the actual curse words or replace them with characters like $@&%!. I do not have a problem with cursing in webcomics, and my advice to creators is to have some sort of heads up to readers that their webcomic does have adult language. It's just a nice courtesy because not all readers want to view a webcomic with profanity.

Another problem I see with some webcomics and comic books as well is that there seems to be a lack of finesse in how some writers use cursing in their work. I recall a line from A Christmas Story where the Ralphie as an adult narrator, Jean Shepherd said: "My father worked in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It was his true medium, a master." I've read scripts, webcomics, and comic books that have cursing just to shock the reader. When you use something unnecessary as shock value, then your work suffers.

As an example of finesse in cursing I've embedded the NSFW video clip of Alec Baldwin's speech from the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross. This speech is filled with profanity, but this is a Picasso of profanity. This works because it adds to the intensity of the sales meeting led by Baldwin. He's trying to get these guys in gear and get some properties sold. You might think he's being a bully, but he is actually getting the salesmen to do their best.


Cursing is up to the creator, but my advice is to do it right and use it because it works for the character. Readers know when writers use profanity and violence for shock value. Do something for shock value and readers will not bother reading any further because they see your work as juvenile. 

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

AM I AN A-HOLE OR IS IT EVERYBODY ELSE?

This tale follows the day-to-day adventures of Mr. Bob Toben who has been described a curmudgeon, a surly fellow, and a total a-hole. Maybe the people are right or maybe he's just one misunderstood dude. Take a read of the comic below and enjoy. WARNING: CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE.


TO READ THE COMIC, IT IS RECOMMENDED YOU SWITCH TO FULLSCREEN MODE AND CLICK ON BOOK MODE.

Am I An A-Hole? by Tony Wright

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

PERSPECTIVE (ADULT LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE)

Writer: Darrin O'Toole

Pencils and Ink: A. Kaviraj

Lettering: Magnus

Check out the latest noir thriller!

Perspective

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

SWITCHBLADE (ADULT LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE)

Writer: Johnny Jaye

Illustrator: Michael Kennedy

Letters: John Burton

Drake Cutter is the Switchblade Gunsmith, he is a vigilante of the wild west, a superhero before a time when people knew what it was like to witness a man defy the laws of modern fitness, acrobatics, the handling of advanced weaponry and technology and the laws of justice. He creates his own law and order. Drake lives in the small town of Switchblade.

SWITCH TO FULLSCREEN MODE LOCATED IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE PDF READER


Switchblade

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

WEBCOMICOGRAPHY: THE END OF PARADISE - PAGE 36



The End of Paradise

Writer: TonyDoug Wright

Pencils, Inks, and Lettering: A. 'Kav' Kaviraj

Synopsis: Nick Hamilton, a former small-time criminal, is on a serious revenge mission to kill Frankie Paradise, a notorious mob boss responsible for the death of an innocent man and his family. Joining Nick on his mission is Marshall Jackson, a weapons dealer, and The Kid, a teenage prophet and gun for hire. Nick, Marshall, and The Kid must take out Paradise's henchmen in order to get to their main target, Frankie Paradise.

Webcomicography is a weekly article from Champion City Comics that goes behind the scenes of our webcomics to give you the complete story. Today is a review of page 36 from The End of Paradise. Diod you miss the last article? Click here to read. Also, click here to see our past articles for this webcomic.

My apologies for the long delay, but Webcomicography is back. Let's take a look at page 36 below:

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE 

Nick and Marshall have met up with a former colleague, Walt Fenderson to get some information on the hiding places for Sato Akio or Frankie Paradise. Walt, like Nick and Marshall, worked for Paradise, so there is that common bond for these characters. I wanted to add an ally for this journey, but had no idea how Walt's character would blossom. He really developed into an old-school tough guy that was modeled after actor Sam Elliott.

Comic book writing rookies, take a look at this page and the following pages with Walt Fenderson. Walt is introduced, but the dialogue is natural and doesn't contain expositional dialogue. It is important for characters to engage in conversations that move the story forward and not give the reader an unnecessary history lesson. Expositional dialogue happens to the best of us, and all it takes is a little bit of script polish to clean up that mess.

On Thursday, we will review page 37 of The End of Paradise. Want to read the entire webcomic? Click here and enjoy the story.


Tony Doug Wright is the owner and head writer at Champion City Comics. His works include The End of Paradise, The Red Devil, Dr. Death vs The Zombie, and Day 165.

Friday, September 21, 2012

WEBCOMICOGRAPHY: THE END OF PARADISE - PAGES 34 AND 35



The End of Paradise

Writer: TonyDoug Wright

Pencils, Inks, and Lettering: A. 'Kav' Kaviraj

Synopsis: Nick Hamilton, a former small-time criminal, is on a serious revenge mission to kill Frankie Paradise, a notorious mob boss responsible for the death of an innocent man and his family. Joining Nick on his mission is Marshall Jackson, a weapons dealer, and The Kid, a teenage prophet and gun for hire. Nick, Marshall, and The Kid must take out Paradise's henchmen in order to get to their main target, Frankie Paradise.

Webcomicography is a weekly article from Champion City Comics that goes behind the scenes of our webcomics to give you the complete story. This week we are reviewing pages 34 and 35 of The End of Paradise, a crime noir tale of revenge.

Let's review page 34 below:



Page 34 is the last page where our main bad guys, Frankie Paradise and Trent Reynolds, are introduced. As the writer, I've established that Paradise is hiding out in a bunker. Why? If you've been following along then you have read that he did it as a service to his friends in the FBI and Congress, but he also went underground due to the emergence of rival powers from Hong Kong and Juarez. Is Paradise a criminal that's also a snitch? Is Paradise a washed-up old man who can't handle a turf war with international gangs? When writing these pages, I saw Paradise as both. He's the old school who has not fully realized the power of the new school. Maybe he's overly confident or perhaps he's slipping. I wanted readers to not get a clear view of Paradise because it would keep them interested in reading the story. 

Let's review page 35 below:
 

After establishing the bad guys, I wanted to go right back to our heroes, Nick Hamilton and Marshall Jackson. Nick and Marshall have made a stop while on their road trip to find and to interrogate Sato Akio, an accomplice of Paradise. They have met up with Walt Fenderson, an old buddy from back-in-the-day. I'm not going to talk too much about Walt right now because the upcoming pages will give the readers some background on Walt's character. However, Walt's last name comes from Deral Fenderson, a guy I know from Virginia that has lived the do-it-yourself rock and roll lifestyle. 

Next week, I will write more about The End of Paradise.   

TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The ZombieThe End of ParadiseThe Red Devil, and Day 165.

COMICS FROM THE EDGE #111

Comic by Bob Toben

Friday, September 14, 2012

WEBCOMICOGRAPHY: THE END OF PARADISE - PAGES 31 - 33



The End of Paradise

Writer: TonyDoug Wright

Pencils, Inks, and Lettering: A. 'Kav' Kaviraj

Synopsis: Nick Hamilton, a former small-time criminal, is on a serious revenge mission to kill Frankie Paradise, a notorious mob boss responsible for the death of an innocent man and his family. Joining Nick on his mission is Marshall Jackson, a weapons dealer, and The Kid, a teenage prophet and gun for hire. Nick, Marshall, and The Kid must take out Paradise's henchmen in order to get to their main target, Frankie Paradise.

Webcomicography is a weekly article from Champion City Comics that goes behind the scenes of our webcomics to give you the complete story. This week we are starting part two of our series for The End of Paradise, a crime noir tale of revenge. Did you miss part one and two of the story? Click here to read part one, click here to read part two, click here to read part three, click here to read part four, click here for part five, here for part six, and here for part seven.

The heroes were the first to be introduced and we have introduced the villains. We are still getting introduced to the villains in The End of Paradise, so let's look at page 31 below.

Click to enlarge

I continue to use conflict between Trent Reynolds and Frankie Paradise to keep the reader interested in the story. When you have moments that are dialogue heavy, then it is a good rule of thumb to have some sort of conflict to keep things interesting. Nobody wants a boring conversation. I also established the fact that Nick Hamilton is viewed as a snitch by Paradise. Why? I had ideas on Nick turning into a snitch after Danny Calhoun's death, and snitches get stitches in the criminal world. Adding the snitch element creates more danger for Nick because there may be other's out there that are angered by his snitching. Let's review page 32 below.

Click to enlarge

Paradise is pretty cocky in his underground bunker, and that is upsetting to Trent because he deals with all of the nonsense in the real world. I wanted to create a situation where you had the crime lord and his right-hand-man on different pages. That was a good bit of conflict that just doesn't keep the story interesting, but creates more problems for these characters. But I also created more conflict by having rival crime families causing trouble for Paradise. While Paradise has some enemies that are no longer an issue, Reynolds brings up some trouble from Juarez and Hong Kong. The names of those cities would give the reader an indication that these are some serious bad ass dudes. Let's review page 33 below.


Paradise gives Nick Hamilton a hard time about being a snitch, but he seems to have no problem being a crime lord that works with law enforcement. The second panel of this page is something special because Kav added the cards to the background for a nice touch. I thought it was brilliant. 

I wish I could write more today, folks, but this week has turned into one busy week. I'll see you next week as I talk more about The End of Paradise

 TonyDoug Wright is the owner and editor of Champion City Comics. His webcomics include Dr Death vs The ZombieThe End of ParadiseThe Red Devil, and Day 165.

COMICS FROM THE EDGE #108

Comic by Bob Toben

Friday, August 24, 2012

COMICS FROM THE EDGE - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

Editor's Note: As we approach our 100th comic strip for Comics From The Edge, please view comics #1 to #99. 

Welcome to our Comics From The Edge page for comics .Thanks for supporting our humorous comic strip which is featured at Champion City Comics daily. All comics are drawn by Bob Toben.


CLICK ON EACH IMAGE TO ENLARGE 






















   












































































































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