Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Re: 2009 Eagle Awards « Result #1 on Dec 17, 2009, 8:17am »
Hmmm - well, I'm not sure what happened to these awards. I've been checking the official website since May but it all seems to have been very quiet since the nomination period ended. I suspect the Eagle awards may have died without telling anyone!
*sigh!* Another bastion of the British comics industry bites the dust!
On the plus side, Shades did win two of the Drunk Duck Awards we were hoping for, so I'll be posting the details of those in the DD Awards thread shortly!
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Character study - Arturos « Result #2 on Sept 30, 2009, 4:14pm »
Arturos
Name
Arturos is clearly named for the legendary King Arthur, the "once and future king" prophesied to return to save Britain in its hour of greatest need. Originally the name was just a place-holder which I'd intended to change later. One of the script's proof-readers, however, happened to remark that he really liked the name (quite unprompted!) so I kept it! The name of Arthur's sorcerous mentor, Merlin, has also been changed slightly (to "Murlynn" ) for no other reason than to make it look a little more arcane!
Appearance
Like Robin Hood, Arthur is such a well-known character in British mythology that I was initially reluctant to use him at all. If I was going to do so, I felt I needed to find an original look and, given that there are so many popular images of King Arthur already in the public consciousness, that was never going to be easy. At first I played around with the various historical images, including a Romano-British cavalry officer (as popularised by the dreadful Clive Owen movie), an Anglo-Saxon warrior, and a traditional Mediaeval knight in shining armour (possibly with a few World of Warcraft style fantasy embellishments!) I'd almost decided to go with a variation on the Anglo-Saxon design, when I decided to abandon historical accuracy all together!
Instead I thought about Arturos's role as a demon hunter. To me, that role meant he should have far more in common with a fantasy Ranger character, than with traditional knights and kings and so we gave him a calf-length coat. The addition of the over-the-shoulder belt was a deliberate attempt to give him a more swashbuckling appearance!
The designs on his coat are two-fold. The large insignia on his back is a nod to the Arthur of legend, with the four triangular shapes forming the outline of a sword (both Excalibur and the sword of Uther Pendragon being important to Arthurian myth) and the circle in the centre representing the famous round table. The one remaining feature derived from history are the runes around the hem of his coat. Those designs are genuine 5th Century Anglo-Saxon runes, since the historical Arthur (if there ever was such a person) was once believed to have been Anglo-Saxon.
Role within the story
At the narrative level, Arturos's role in the story is fairly simple. As a demon-hunter, he is the Shaman's answer to Bedlam's "super-weapon", the demon Thrawn. He is brought in to save the nation in its darkest hour, just as the prophecy says King Arthur is destined to return. For me, though, he has an even more important role to play in balancing the tone of the comic.
In the early chapters, the introduction of characters such as Doug and the Shaman allowed me to lace the story with some dry, very understated British humour. However, as the main plot developed and the heroes began to suffer a string of defeats, the tone inevitably became more serious and the opportunities to alleviate that became increasingly scarce. When I was trying to decide on a suitable personality and "voice" for Arturos, therefore, I wanted one which would lift the tone and reintroduce some of the humourous elements (before I had to plunge all the characters into battle again!) In the early drafts of the script, I had trouble finding the right voice and Arturos tended to come across as little more than a bombastic oaf. Eventually, however, he acquired his sense of childlike enthusiasm which casts him more in the role of a loveable (if sometimes infuriating!) British eccentric.
Weapon of Choice
If he is not to suffer constant pain while in our "real" world, Arturos needs to be in possession of his sword, a talisman through which he remains linked to the spirit world. Swords are obviously an important part of Arthurian myth. Arthur initially proved his right to the throne of Britain by removing the sword of Uther Pendragon from a stone and continued to rule thanks to Excalibur, the mystical sword given to him by the Lady of the Lake. Arturos's sword in Shades can be either or neither of these. Its main purpose here (other than pain prevention!) is as the vessel in which his mentor "Murlynn" is imprisoned.
In stark contrast to Arturos's enthusiasm, Murlynn is short-tempered and curmudgeonly. When writing their exchanges, I thought of their relationship as one between a nagging wife driven to distraction by an oblivious husband! Originally, I had intended Murlynn's face to be three-dimensional, forming part of the sword's hilt. However, since the script was first written back in 2003, I've discovered Disney's Dave the Barbarian which has (what else?!) a talking sword with a face on its hilt. For a while I considered removing the sword from the script completely but, eventually, I hit upon the idea of having Murlynn's face reflected in the blade. I now think of Murlynn as being trapped in an alternate dimension. The sword's blade is like a window between that dimension and ours, allowing him to interact with Arturos.
Re: Ooh King Arthur! « Result #3 on Sept 20, 2009, 1:05pm »
looking forward to that bio.
This certainly is the hour of need where it was said that Arthur would return although I'm not sure about going back to a absolute monarchy rather than our current system, maybe he'll run for election
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Re: Ooh King Arthur! « Result #4 on Sept 18, 2009, 3:14pm »
Yes, there will be a bio for Arturos. I've been trawling through my old design notes and it's nearly complete. Keep your eyes peeled! With regard to your specific questions (most of which will be in the bio, too):
Arturos's Sword - there are two important swords in Arthurian legend. The sword of Arthur's father (Uther Pendragon) which is the sword Arthur has to pull from the stone and Excalibur which is handed to him by the "Lady of the Lake". This sword is not necessarily either of those but, if you want to, you can think of it as either, both or neither! Its only relevance to Shades is in its role as a talisman, linking Arturos to the spirit world.
The old guy - We call him "Murlynn". (See what we did there!) ;-)
The cross - Yes. I've no idea how the Shaman got it in there (although mystical powers were obviously involved!) but, essentially, the idea is that the Shaman has been keeping it safe for Arturos's return.
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Drunk Duck Awards 2009 « Result #7 on Jul 27, 2009, 7:05am »
Drunk Duck is a webcomic hosting site and, as you may know, we serialise Shades there, as well as here at BVC.
Well, those nice people at DD are going to be giving out awards again this year, so - if you enjoy Shades, please do support us by giving us your nomination! If you are already registered at DD, just click on the banner below and nominate Shades, in as many categories as you think it deserves ... Best super hero comic, Best color art, Best writing, Best dialogue etc are probably the most relevant but - as in previous years - there are also some rather interesting categories like Best character design, Best protagonist (Boo? Stan?) and Best background art, so please do feel free to nominate us in as many categories as you think appropriate!
If you're not already registered at Drunk Duck you can register now (it's all free!) at the DD homepage.
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Re: Rising from the dead! « Result #8 on Jul 24, 2009, 2:26pm »
Okay - it's up! The first new page of Hunted to be posted here at BVC (or anywhere else!) for many a long month is finally live!
It's been a long wait but, like every good vampire, it has finally risen from the dead so, if you think you're ready to go meet those bloodthirsty critters, you can find the new page right here!
Joined: Feb 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 229 Location: UK
Character study - Thrawn « Result #9 on Jun 18, 2009, 6:24am »
Thrawn
Name
"Thrawn" is an archaic English word from one of our many wonderful Northern British dialects (my dictionary didn't specify which one!) meaning "twisted". It was chosen to reflect Thrawn's role as a creature able to manipulate half-truths. When I posted the title page for Chapter 12 (the chapter in which Thrawn first appears), it was brought to my attention that there is also a Star Wars character called Thrawn (what are the odds?!) There's no relation between the two!
Appearance
He's a demon. From the spirit world. Of course he looks mean and 'ornery! From memory, I believe the only guidance I gave to the artist (E.C. Nickel) was to stipulate his height and the fact that he had to have tentacles to wrap around his victims while he was zapping them with his evil energies! Other than that, I think I just left it to Nickel to come up with something suitably demonic!
The only other feature of Thrawn's appearance which is worth mentioning is that, when he first appears at the end of Chapter 12, he is not quite fully formed. There are patches of his flesh which have not yet grown a layer of skin and, in the centre of his chest, his heart is still on show. Eeeew!
Role within the story
As with most of the characters in Shades, Thrawn's role is tied up with the British national character. If good old British common sense relies on the ability to see the other side of an argument, Thrawn's "power" is a dark and twisted version of that. Once an enemy is caught in his tentacles, he will take one of that character's darker personality traits (or twist and distort one of which they are most proud) and turn it against them, thereby undermining their self-belief, destroying them from the inside.
For the purposes of the comic, this ability is represented by a spirit energy known as "sophisma", a word derived from sophism or sophistry (the art of using a "deliberately invalid, misleading or specious argument" - at least according to my dictionary!)
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although I'm not sure about going back to a absolute monarchy rather than our current system, maybe he'll run for election
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