Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 12, 2019 20:08:04 GMT -5
I'm still surprised Confessor got his copy in England before you got yours in Canada! I shipped them out the same day.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2019 9:13:31 GMT -5
Crimebuster ... I just got mine in the mail today, and spent a good half hour glancing all the pages and sample your writing first and I'm really amazed how well you write and express yourself and knowing that you did both writing and drawing; I've considered this a top-notch quality workmanship that should be duly noted. It's gonna take me a hour or more to read this altogether and that alone is a testament of your work. I'll try to write a review in a day or two (possibly 3) to figure out how to write it up ... I'm locked in all future installments of your creation. Well Done! 
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 13, 2019 11:08:43 GMT -5
Crimebuster ... I just got mine in the mail today, and spent a good half hour glancing all the pages and sample your writing first and I'm really amazed how well you write and express yourself and knowing that you did both writing and drawing; I've considered this a top-notch quality workmanship that should be duly noted. It's gonna take me a hour or more to read this altogether and that alone is a testament of your work. I'll try to write a review in a day or two (possibly 3) to figure out how to write it up ... I'm locked in all future installments of your creation. Well Done! Thanks for the kind words, I hope you enjoy the story! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2019 13:20:57 GMT -5
Crimebuster ... I just got mine in the mail today, and spent a good half hour glancing all the pages and sample your writing first and I'm really amazed how well you write and express yourself and knowing that you did both writing and drawing; I've considered this a top-notch quality workmanship that should be duly noted. It's gonna take me a hour or more to read this altogether and that alone is a testament of your work. I'll try to write a review in a day or two (possibly 3) to figure out how to write it up ... I'm locked in all future installments of your creation. Well Done! Thanks for the kind words, I hope you enjoy the story! I'm reading it tonight; and again ... thanks for your comments. |
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 13, 2019 13:24:34 GMT -5
I'm still surprised Confessor got his copy in England before you got yours in Canada! I shipped them out the same day. I actually forgot there was a Canadian civic/union holiday in there as well. Like I say I'm used to how long mail can take, it was basically on time. Going to try and have enough thoughts for a letter of comment soon. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 13, 2019 23:54:45 GMT -5
Thanks to beccabear, I've received my first letter for the lettercolumn! Hurray!
If anyone wants to write a letter for the lettercolumn, just send it to me in a PM here, or to one of my email addresses, and I'll answer and print it in issue #2!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2019 21:56:59 GMT -5
Your artwork is really stands out just nothing short of professional pride and I loved the shading and you've done a terrific job drawing the expressions of all your characters. I'll start reading it tomorrow and hopefully I'll share my review in a day or two.
Artwork is an "A".
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 15, 2019 8:58:28 GMT -5
Your artwork is really stands out just nothing short of professional pride and I loved the shading and you've done a terrific job drawing the expressions of all your characters. I'll start reading it tomorrow and hopefully I'll share my review in a day or two. Artwork is an "A". Thanks! I'm glad you like the art! |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 15, 2019 8:59:59 GMT -5
One of the rewards I offered during the Kickstarter campaign was a choice of custom Funko Pops. I only had a couple people select it as a reward, which turned out to be a good thing because they were a lot of work! Still, it's cool to have these exist. Even though they are very clearly hand made - turns out painting figures is not my strong suit - I'm really happy with the overall results.  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2019 9:38:05 GMT -5
Crimebuster ... I just finished reading your book and it was a fun adventure and it was different unlike any book that I read and I'm not used to read the formatting of your book and it's took me nearly a hour (a little bit more) to read it. Normal Comic Book about 20 minutes tops; but I really don't know the characters that well and I don't have a favorite but your book is wonderful, full of life, and some fun times of the adventures of Chuck and Trixie. Well written, engaging, and entertaining ... I'll continue to support this book and eagerly awaiting book #2.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 18, 2019 20:37:48 GMT -5
Crimebuster ... I just finished reading your book and it was a fun adventure and it was different unlike any book that I read and I'm not used to read the formatting of your book and it's took me nearly a hour (a little bit more) to read it. Normal Comic Book about 20 minutes tops; but I really don't know the characters that well and I don't have a favorite but your book is wonderful, full of life, and some fun times of the adventures of Chuck and Trixie. Well written, engaging, and entertaining ... I'll continue to support this book and eagerly awaiting book #2. Thanks for the kind words, I'm really glad you enjoyed it! and I'm excited to share #2 with everyone once it's done. I'm working on page 12 at the moment, so I am hoping to have it finished in November, with a Kickstarter launch date in January. I'm aiming to put out two issues a year, but who knows,maybe it will get faster as I get more practice. Three issues a year might be possible at some point in the future. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Sept 10, 2019 12:24:58 GMT -5
OK, so I got around to reading the new issue of The Crimebusters last night and this is my spoiler free thoughts on it.
Firstly, I gotta say that the production values were really high -- great print job, high quality paper stock/cover stock and really professionally written text pieces. I have to confess that I've never read a Crimebuster story prior to this, so this comic was my first expossure to the character. Despite that, I think Scott did a great job of introducing Chuck Chandler and his new female co-star Trixie Trouble, and I liked both characters straight off. I also really liked the editor's notes referencing issues of the old series...that was a nice touch.
The story itself was genuinely entertaining and intriguing. It kept me guessing and was nicely paced, holding my attention right 'til the end. I found the issue a fairly dense read, but without being verbose, which I liked a lot -- what can I say? I like value for money and don't want a comic that I can zip through in 5 minutes!
The artwork smacks very much of other stuff I've seen in various small press comics over the years and, I have to be honest, initially it wasn't to my taste. But once I began reading the comic, I soon came to appreciate the craft and dedication that had gone into the artwork. I think the "sequential story-telling flow" (for want of a better term) was very good. The panels were clear and concice -- never confusing -- and, as I say, the pacing of the book was really nicely done.
I think my biggest criticism would be that the Squeeks back-up strip felt inessential and, personally, I would've prefered something like a text feature about the history of the original Crimebuster comics or something similar. I'm just not much of a fan of pet/animal sidekicks, I'm afraid.
Overall though, this was a really entertaining start to the series and a fun read. Keep up the good work!
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958
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Post by Crimebuster on Sept 10, 2019 16:29:52 GMT -5
OK, so I got around to reading the new issue of The Crimebusters last night and this is my spoiler free thoughts on it. Firstly, I gotta say that the production values were really high -- great print job, high quality paper stock/cover stock and really professionally written text pieces. I have to confess that I've never read a Crimebuster story prior to this, so this comic was my first expossure to the character. Despite that, I think Scott did a great job of introducing Chuck Chandler and his new female co-star Trixie Trouble, and I liked both characters straight off. I also really liked the editor's notes referencing issues of the old series...that was a nice touch. The story itself was genuinely entertaining and intriguing. It kept me guessing and was nicely paced, holding my attention right 'til the end. I found the issue a fairly dense read, but without being verbose, which I liked a lot -- what can I say? I like value for money and don't want a comic that I can zip through in 5 minutes! The artwork smacks very much of other stuff I've seen in various small press comics over the years and, I have to be honest, initially it wasn't to my taste. But once I began reading the comic, I soon came to appreciate the craft and dedication that had gone into the artwork. I think the "sequential story-telling flow" (for want of a better term) was very good. The panels were clear and concice -- never confusing -- and, as I say, the pacing of the book was really nicely done. I think my biggest criticism would be that the Squeeks back-up strip felt inessential and, personally, I would've prefered something like a text feature about the history of the original Crimebuster comics or something similar. I'm just not much of a fan of pet/animal sidekicks, I'm afraid. Overall though, this was a really entertaining start to the series and a fun read. Keep up the good work! Thanks for the feedback and kind words, Confessor, I really appreciate it! I'm glad you enjoyed it, especially considering how ridiculously expensive it is to ship to Britain. I'm hoping I can figure out some cheaper way to do it by the time the next issue comes out, but I'm not optimistic. I'm also hoping the art will be a little better in the next issue. The first one took me 6 months to draw, and to my eye, you can see the difference between the art in the first few pages compared to the end. I think the stuff I have done so far in issue #2 is better as I get more practice. I never did a comic before because I didn't think my art was "good enough," but I eventually decided to just go for it. And though my linework isn't pro level, I did think I had a pretty good understanding of comic storytelling, so I'm glad everything was clear. I read a lot of pro books even now where I'm not always sure what's happening, or what order to read the panels in, so it was important to me to have a book that reads well even if it doesn't quite look as good as I'd want. But I do think I'm improving! Learning how the program that I draw with works has helped, as I'm slowly figuring out different techniques and tools that are making things easier and better. Here's the latest thing I did: {Spoiler: Click to show}  I'm doing my first show this weekend and I realized I needed some prints, so I made this, as well as a couple others. The story for this image probably won't be told until #11, so it's going to be 3-5 years most likely - this will be the cover for that issue. But I thought it best captured the spirit of the series and would make a good print even for people who don't know my characters, so I decided to draw it up now. I appreciate your thoughts on the Squeeks backup as well! I had a couple reasons for putting this in. I had received some feedback from first readers during the creative process that the main story was darker than they expected, so I wanted to end on a lighter note. I also know there are some Squeeks fans, so I wanted to include him, but since he's not at school he's not going to be part of the main stories for a while - we won't see him again until #5, and then it will be #9 before he starts appearing more regularly. I thought this would at least signal to fans of the character that I haven't forgotten about him. And I also love backup stories; I think it's a fun way to get a change of pace in each issue while also doing to world building and character development. Each issue I'm planning to do a 3-5 page backup story starring one of the supporting characters as a way to flesh them out, since they won't always get much room in my plot-heavy main stories. #2 will have a Vera backup, and I am tentatively planning to have Officer Joe in #3, Stu in #4, and Loover in #5, but we'll see how it develops. I know not everyone is a fan, but I really fell in love with this sort of thing reading the Gruenwald Captain America run. When the book went bi-weekly for awhile in the late 80's, the lead artist couldn't draw that fast so they shrunk the main feature down to 16 pages or so and had ongoing backup features to fill out the book. And Gru really went deep in the roster, with backups featuring the likes Battlestar and Vagabond, who wasn't even a superhero but was just Nomad's girlfriend wearing a mask because they were dating. I often liked those more than the main feature! Hopefully you'll like the other backups more, but unlike Cap, they won't come at the expense of the main story - those will be as long as they take, and then I'll just add extra pages to the book to get the backup in as well, so I look at it as bonus material. Anyway, thanks again for the feedback and I'm really glad you liked it! The fact that people are reading and enjoying a comic book I made is really amazing and fantastic to me, so I love hearing from everyone. And if anyone has ay constructive criticism about stuff they didn't like as well, that's cool too; I want to improve with each issue. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Sept 10, 2019 16:58:29 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback and kind words, Confessor, I really appreciate it! I'm glad you enjoyed it, especially considering how ridiculously expensive it is to ship to Britain. I'm hoping I can figure out some cheaper way to do it by the time the next issue comes out, but I'm not optimistic. Yeah, the shipping was a killer. I realise that that's not your fault though. I'm also hoping the art will be a little better in the next issue. The first one took me 6 months to draw, and to my eye, you can see the difference between the art in the first few pages compared to the end. I think the stuff I have done so far in issue #2 is better as I get more practice. I never did a comic before because I didn't think my art was "good enough," but I eventually decided to just go for it. And though my linework isn't pro level, I did think I had a pretty good understanding of comic storytelling, so I'm glad everything was clear. I noticed the improvement in your artwork as the book went along, but, irrespective of that, your artwork was clear and easy to read right from the get go. So, that's something you definitely have a good handle on. I can see even more improvement in the new poster you showed in your original post, so that's great! I read a lot of pro books even now where I'm not always sure what's happening, or what order to read the panels in, so it was important to me to have a book that reads well even if it doesn't quite look as good as I'd want. I agree. A lot of professionally produced books -- especially books from the past 20 years -- have dreadfully unclear and confusing artwork. Yours did not suffer from that at all and I was also struck by your panel composition, which was nicely done. I appreciate your thoughts on the Squeeks backup as well! I had a couple reasons for putting this in. I had received some feedback from first readers during the creative process that the main story was darker than they expected, so I wanted to end on a lighter note. I also know there are some Squeeks fans, so I wanted to include him, but since he's not at school he's not going to be part of the main stories for a while - we won't see him again until #5, and then it will be #9 before he starts appearing more regularly. I thought this would at least signal to fans of the character that I haven't forgotten about him. And I also love backup stories; I think it's a fun way to get a change of pace in each issue while also doing to world building and character development. Each issue I'm planning to do a 3-5 page backup story starring one of the supporting characters as a way to flesh them out, since they won't always get much room in my plot-heavy main stories. I have no problem with backup strips per se. I used to love the old Atom & Airwave strips in Action Comics, back in the early '80s. I think my problem here was more that a monkey sidekick is just never gonna float my boat. I know that some in the forum absolutely adore those old Silver Age comics with Gorillas, Chimpanzees and various super-pets in them, but that's really not my thing at all. The closest I come to being into that kind of thing would probably be old issues of Angel & the Ape, but the absurdist nature of that strip makes the presence of Sam Simeon much more tolerable. Ultimately, I'm just never gonna be that into a character like Squeeks. A Vera or Stu backup sounds much more interesting to me. I'm glad you aren't planning a Squeeks backup every issue. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Sept 10, 2019 21:01:55 GMT -5
I do think Squeeks served an important purpose in the original series, one which he doesn't really serve in my series. Originally, he was someone for Chuck to talk to, and also to provide comic relief to break up what otherwise were often disturbingly bleak and violent stories aimed at kids. With Trixie and the other human cast members I've brought in, though, Squeeks isn't really needed for either of those things, so I'm not going to feature him nearly as much.
I do think he can still serve some story purposes though. I think I've said this before, but somewhat by coincidence rather than intentionally, I ended up with a core group of characters that can be a rough analogue to the Scooby gang (Chuck is Fred, Trixie is Daphne, Vera is Velma, and Stu is Shaggy). As the fifth wheel in an ensemble, filling a scooby-esque role, I think he can be used sparingly in certain types of stories and still be effective and fun.
We'll see if I'm right, eventually! It's going to be a while before I get that far.
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