A Bit Cheesy

liked 3 times!

A Midwinter Nightmare

Fitz on Jan. 20, 2008

A new page up - as promised :) And I bet most of you are thinking: what the HECK? ;) So let me explain. This is my little attempt at comic noir. You know, Sin City and stuff. Except I don't know JACK about comic noir :) I never read any of the Sin City comics (although I intend to!) I only saw the movie (which I absolutely loved, btw). So basically, what I'm doing here is based on intuition and inspirations from media other than comics. Of course film noir, with its sharp contrasts. But my biggest inspiration here was the 90's Batman: The Animated Series. If you remember the intro - that's the kind of style I was trying to recreate. Same red-and-blue theme. I love how red's taking this page over towards the end. And there's no speech bubbles. The narrative is a monologue. You know, the typical noir, drunken, disillusioned private detective sorta talk. At least I hope it sounds like it. I just wrote it the way I thought sounded noir. All in all, I was trying to make it look a bit like a movie and a bit like a bunch of movie posters. I really like the fonts, too. Got them from Blambot ( http://www.blambot.com/ ) - the one I use for narrative is called Winter in Gotham (how appropriate, especially considering the Batman reference!) and the one for gunshots is called BlamBlam (go figure!)

As for the story - which is probably even more confusing than my sudden change of style… As you might have figured out from the chapter's title and some hints on the page itself - it's a dream sequence. More specifically, a nightmare of being chased. Erica compla– ummm, I mean –noted that the comic's too static, nothing much going on. So there You go, Erica: an action-packed episode, just for You :)

Hope you enjoyed the earlier update :) If you did, I have good news for you: the whole chapter will update weekly! :D It's a bit easier - and faster! - to make due to the simplier style. Then again, it's not THAT much faster, since it's Sunday night, well past midnight and I'm still up :P But oh well, I enjoyed doing this one so much. Looking forward to drawing more!

See you guys next time! Hope I'll see some friendly lurkers come out and say hi, too! Over the past week I got some 7,000 views and about three comments from new readers. Not complaining - because how could I? - but just wondering… So come on, guys, show yourselves :)

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abitdark at 10:46AM, Feb. 12, 2008

Pretty cool

Nepath at 6:00AM, Jan. 29, 2008

hello Fitz, didn't miss this update but at the time of reading I was bogged down with the various art projects I seem to have set myself up for...anyway, i fully intended to come back and comment. I really liked this page, you attention to detail on all the panels you draw astounds me. For me on this page it is the central panel of the clock, the panle below it of the bullet and for one reason or another I love the cracked glass. Subtle but really effective! Rest assured though that ABC is still firmly on my Fav'd list!

Mikewingmh at 5:22AM, Jan. 27, 2008

Pretty good page dude. Although i've been busy and haven't had a chance to keep up with my online comics i'm glad I decided to look at them again. I'd like to chat with you about writing if you have any spare time. I'll send you a mail with my info, get back to me.

Coyotejeff at 7:55PM, Jan. 26, 2008

You did a great jog captureing "Noir"

bobby_the_kid at 3:23PM, Jan. 26, 2008

love it.nuff said.XD

Fitz at 10:00AM, Jan. 24, 2008

Trevor: Haha well the dillemma is that the page that you want to turn is not there yet - and I let you wait a week, which is an EON in internet terms ;) Hope I'll manage to keep the tension on subsequent pages! PinkertonPark: Thanks! :) Hope you enjoyed the archives and will continue to enjoy future installments! :) LoudG: I think a lot of my readers missed the update because it was here a week earlier than usual. Oh well, a double treat for them next week :) I'm about to start working on the next page today, sorting out color themes and such right now - so watch this space! :)

Loud_G at 5:33AM, Jan. 24, 2008

I can't believe I haven't commented yet! The layout and art for this page are brilliant. The chase is on. Great work as usual. I look forward to the next installment.

pinkertonpark at 1:24PM, Jan. 23, 2008

Very stylish...well done! *dives into archives*

trevoramueller at 11:08AM, Jan. 23, 2008

This page is extremely well paced! It builds in intensity, and gets faster and faster - showing the amount of tension and building to a climactic finish. One that leaves you hanging and wanting more - which, according to Bendis, is the goal of a comic writer. "To make people want to turn the page." Well, you have certainly succeeded here! Make mine a 15 / 10!

Fitz at 12:46AM, Jan. 22, 2008

Amy: Thanks! Nibbi: That second panel was problematic. I edited it a couple of times before settling for this version. First I left out the contours, then messed with the coloring a bit, before painting it all black and leaving only the highlights on head, around the eyes and nose. But I still like it. Dawn: Simple? Well I beg to differ, ma'am ;) That damn clock took a WHILE to do. Hehehe :) As for the writing, it's had its ups and downs along the way, but I like this page and this whole chapter. D0m: Yeah this page's enjoyably dark and sinister, isn't it? :) Bocaj: The title is an allusion to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The clock is a copy of one of New York's last free standing cast iron clocks, located in Greenpoint. I renamed it Dreampoint to give a little hint what's going on. I'm excited about the weekly updates, too. It means no quality slacking time for me in the weekend for a month - but I really like this chapter :) JMT: Thanks! RoyceMarie: I don't think I've seen that one. I've missed so many movie classics. But off the top of my head, one worth checking out is "Payback" with Mel Gibson. And the noir-est thing I can think of is the "Max Payne" video game. BLNTmaker: I experimented with layout on this one more than I usually do, especially with the bottom panels and font sizes. More layout extravaganza to come :) GhostRunner: Hello! :)

ghostrunner at 10:45PM, Jan. 21, 2008

blntmaker at 10:40PM, Jan. 21, 2008

You're an incredible writer with a great layout style that translates it all for you nicely!

roycemarie at 5:58PM, Jan. 21, 2008

This page rocks! Every little bit of it. I love noir, but like the films better. There are so many good ones, but my favorite has always been the origianl "China Town" with Jack Nickals and Faye Dunaway. (Don't know if I spelled the names right.)

jmt at 5:37PM, Jan. 21, 2008

pretty sweet man.

Bocaj at 5:26PM, Jan. 21, 2008

I loved the text, the perspective, the text, the red, it all. Great page. I didn't get it was a dream until you pointed it out, but the title is a pretty good hint. Also I noticed the 'dream point' after you mentioned it was a dream. Congrats again on the feature, and I'm excited that this will update weekly!

D0m at 4:56PM, Jan. 21, 2008

Very interesting, as usual. I really adore your dark colors.

dgriff13 at 12:37PM, Jan. 21, 2008

simple but effective page, Fitzy. I like your artwork, but it's the way you tell a story, the cleverness of your writing, that makes me come back!

nibbi at 12:35PM, Jan. 21, 2008

Nice page. Not such a fan of the second panel but still awesome. Love the way you use colour.

antcomics at 10:14AM, Jan. 21, 2008

Bang up job, as usual!

Fitz at 9:09AM, Jan. 21, 2008

Vickie: The blue tones are still a bit muted - but that makes red look even redder, I guess :) And I tweaked the contrast significantly, compared to my usual style to give it that typical noir feel. Crispiest Fortune: Glad to see you come out of hiding :) Hope this chapter - and the ones that follow - will keep you entertained! More next week. As for Sin City, I read that they left almost nothing out - save for the scenes of Alba getting whipped, which were just too gory, supposedly. I'm definitely gonna get the comics - and Miller's other comics, too. Oh and I'm familiar with "100 Bullets", I thought of getting those, too, but it slipped my mind, somehow. Abt: My favorite line is "And no escape" - I like how it works with the panel. Oh and the bullethole in the glass. But you're right, the three panels with the clock are the most sinister. As for Batman, that series was pure genius! There was nothing like it before or afterwards. The art and the stories were just brilliant. No to mention the characters. The Joker. Harley Quinn. Oh and the putty monster! I'd love to do something like it someday! Tantz: Not a bad pun at all :) I'm a pun demon myself, so I always enjoy them. Harry: I'm graditudefulistical ;) Walrus: Hm is that a typical sound walruses make? I wouldn't know. Always thought it sounded like "onk!" or something. Or maybe I got them confused with seals? Midge: Bloodhound was one of my inspirations, too. I learned a whole bunch of things from you, which I'm going to implement in this episode - negative space among them. MetalLuigi: Thanks! The comic is basically a comedy, but I enjoyed coming up with a more serious narrative for this episode :)