3 Days to ROADFROGS!!!!

In less than 72 hours, my new webcomic, ROADFROGS, will "Officially" launch!!!

roadfrogs.wordpress.com

ROADFROGS is a concept that my wife and I came up with more than 20 years ago. We wrote and I drew a 3 page introductory story back then, which has somehow over the years been lost (I've got artwork that dates back to my high school years, but I can't find those 3 sheets of Bristol Board). Over the last several weeks, I've been working on reconstructing (and improving) that same story - from memory. I've got strips ready for the entire month of January. This initial story, "Froggie Went a-Courtin'", will run weekly for about 4-5 months, at which time I plan to publish the complete story in comic book format.

In other news, here's a teaser for another webcomic I plan to launch later in 2013.

G.I. JEFF: A REALLY AVERAGE HERO is a comic that I created in the late 1980s with Jeff Roberts, who IS the title character. Jeff and I were co-workers at a sub shop in the West End of Richmond at the time. Our somewhat fictionalized adventures take place in and around a somewhat fictionalized version of the shop where we worked. And, yes, I am also a supporting character in this story, but this is Jeff's (highly fictionalized) story.


I've lost track of Jeff over the years, but I hope he sees this poster and the story, when it comes out. "Raw Meal" is really just a one-panel parody gag at this point; however, I am working on a revamp of the 3-page story Jeff and I wrote way back when, "Dead Men Don't Eat Quiche" and its never-completed sequel "Real Men Don't Wear Plaid". Hopefully, somebody out there will recognize the mash-up of the titles of a popular book from the 80s and an early Steve Martin movie.


Other titles Jeff and I had planned to do include "Raiders in a Dodge Dart", "Pus-heads", "Close Encounters of the Weird Kind" and "Raiders Lost in the Dark". If I get any positive response to the first two stories, my wife probably won't be able to talk me out of committing some of the other offenses doing some of the other stories.


And, as I think I mentioned last time, I've got several episodes of PAWNS drawn and inked. I think I'm going to re-letter and color the strips that are ready, then I'll start publishing those on the web also.

The address for G.I. JEFF is gijeff2013.wordpress.com. PAWNS will eventually be found at pawnsthewebcomic.wordpress.com.

Better late than never

Ever since I set up this blog earlier this year, I've been trying to post here at least once a month. Well, I blew that last month! November just slipped on passed me. I kept telling myself, "Robert, you need to put something new online." But now, more than half of December is gone, so I'm forcing myself to sit here and blog. So...

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

Here's a bizarre little Christmas party render I did today in DAZ 3D. Most of the figures I used here are freebies that I just got at 3D Universe (Google it, it'll probably be at the top of the listings). I wanted to try them out, so I played around with them, added Aiko, Genesis and a whacked-out looking Victoria 4. The blue guy on the right doesn't seem to realize that nobody is singing the Christmas carols he's leading. And there doesn't seem to be enough food to go around. Now that I think about it, this isn't such a bizarre party after all.

And, while I've got your attention (assuming that anybody is actually reading this), I have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!

That's right! I've been working on my ROADFROGS comic at last. I have finally given up on finding the original comic book format story that I was drawing back in the early 90s. Aside from the splash page (an early version of which I've already posted), I am completely rewriting and redrawing the story (I spent part of the day yesterday recoloring the aforementioned splash page), this time in a strip format. This will be a continuing story, which offers me a new challenge in that I need to advance the story AND have a gag (or at least a point) every episode. And although this will be a weekly (if I can stay up-to-date) strip, I'm doing it something more akin to a daily styled format. That means a gag every panel or two.

I'll put another announcement on this blog when I actually publish the recolored splash page on the ROADFROGS site, which should be Jan.1.

Additionally, I've been looking at a small body of completed work that is slowly accumulating here in my studio. I've found a couple of rough-pencilled strips and sketches for IVY LEAGUE, some inked PAWNS strips (as well as several unfinished PAWNS strips and scripts) and the original three page introductory G.I.JEFF story (which sorely needs reworking). Add that to drawings and finished pages for a couple of other aborted projects, five unfinished novels and the six completed short stories I'm currently shopping around. And the 3D renders. Not to mention the forty-some odd songs that I have written but still have not recorded. Yeah, I've been kinda busy.

So, look for ROADFROGS to begin weekly publication in January, with PAWNS not far behind. In the mean time, I've got a G.I.JEFF movie poster parody that I've been itching to do for years. I'll probably post that on this blog very soon.

I'm looking forward to my church's Christmas Eve service next Monday night, followed by time with two of my daughters, their husbands and three of my grandsons. And then, on Christmas Day, we'll see my brother and sisters and my mom.

In closing, may your holidays be blessed. Here's a picture I did a couple of week's ago, which we used on our first batch of Christmas cards this year.