Exalted pages

[Inkthinker]

I just realised, I never showed these here.

Back about a year ago I was approached by a client I'd worked with in the past to do some subcontract work for Udon comics, specifically Exalted issue 05, the final in the miniseries.

Over the course of the next several weeks I drew about 15 pages from the script. For various reasons I don't care to go into, the pages were not used by Udon (basically the agent that functioned as the gateway between the artists and the publisher had a breakdown, and our participation in the project spiraled horribly into disaster). The book they would have appeared in, Exalted vol.01, was published earlier this year, leaving me free to show these pages in portfolio if nothing else.

It's also worth noting that, at least with these initial few pages, I was working over a layout provided to me by the agent. So any comments regarding layout, at least to some degree, might be tempered by that knowledge.



Enough bitchin', let's look at some comics.



Page 05 of the script, about the point I picked up. Aruna, the woman seen here, is chasing a flock of golden, glowing birds through the campgrounds of a traveling circus. The birds actually represent a spell cast by the spellcaster Jasara in her attempt to escape.

This is all stuff you'd know if we started with page 01, but hey... work with me here.




Page 06. Aruna casts a spell that turns her skin to bronze, hence the "bong" fx and the dent when she bounces off the crate. I might have done an ink effect to show her skin looking metallic, but I was instructed to leave the lines as open as possible for the colorist to do her thing (which was admittedly awesome, I wish I had the right to show these pages in full color).

[Inkthinker]

Did I mention that these were drawn with Manga Studio EX, using a 4x5 tablet?



Page 07: Faka Kun (the girl with the spots) and Kidale are on the run from Aruna's allies, the fanatical Drogath and the steadfast Taguro. Drogath is the dude on the horse, Taguro and his partner Setaket (the archer) are in the chariot.





Page 08. I lacked a good reference for Kidale's sword, and as a result it needed to be corrected by the colorist here. In later pages it changed as I began drawing it correctly.





Page 09. Apparently I got the "simhata" entirely wrong, again due to lack of proper reference. These are the sort of problems that arise when you subcontract as a third party... I don't much recommend it.

[Mike.M]

I always wondered what happend with Exalted, but honestly, UDON seems to have just dropped everything.

[Inkthinker]

Page 10. First page in which I began to do my own layouts. Also at this point I was told to fill in the gutters with black, something I don't normally do unless I want the scene to appear particularly dark. At any rate, from this point on you can bust my nuts about layout issues (not that I didn't edit the layouts on the previous page when I thought to, but I was still working from someone else's guidelines and I largely stuck to 'em).

I'll drop more pages in here later on, but this ought to give you guys something to chew on for a bit. Plus, it's a cliffhanger! Woo-hoo!!

If you'd like, you can compare my pages to the final pages published in Udon's Exalted vol. 01 (I tried to find a page for it on Udon's site, but the best I could find was their Exalted main page), which I've also seen on the shelves at Borders.

Hit me back, tell me what you think.

[Inkthinker]

I always wondered what happend with Exalted, but honestly, UDON seems to have just dropped everything.

Well, part of that story connects with my own, but I'm not willing to go into details on it... needless to say, it was a lot of trouble that generally came down to one person who failed to live up to their responsibilities, for reasons that were never clear to anyone but him.

It's not the fault of Udon, though, and they shouldn't catch flak for it. Jim and his crew have never been anything but consummately professional in my experience. Ultimately they did finish the story arc, and it can be found in its entirety in the Exalted trade paperback, on shelves now.

[Mike.M]

Well, part of that story connects with my own, but I'm not willing to go into details on it... needless to say, it was a lot of trouble that generally came down to one person who failed to live up to their responsibilities, for reasons that were never clear to anyone but him.

It's not the fault of Udon, though, and they shouldn't catch flak for it. Ultimately they did finish the story arc, and it can be found in its entirety in the Exalted trade paperback, on shelves now.

Hm I wasn't even aware that they finished it. I've only ever seen 4 issues.

Back on topic, I think the pages look great.

[Inkthinker]

Hm I wasn't even aware that they finished it. I've only ever seen 4 issues.

Back on topic, I think the pages look great.

The final issue was never published, due to the fiasco, but it was collected with the previous 4 in the trade.

Thanks! I find all sorts of problems with 'em (mostly having to do with errors in composition, which is my weakest link), but I take a bit of solace in knowing they're a year old now.

[Inkthinker]

More pages:

page 11 (we cut to here from the last page, in case you thought I was skipping around)



page 12



Yeah, the guns throw fire, not bullets. Musket-shaped flamethrowers. The lady with the fans is still bronzed, hence the "BONG!" sound that I rather liked.

Right after this, they asked me to stop adding sound effects. Oh, well.


page 13

[penabled]

I think they look pretty good...I know from my own experience that that if I'm forced to finish something when I don't think it's done...I can see the smallest of flaws.

[Pikachu]

You're story telling is getting smoother. At least your sequential pacing and flow is connecting better in terms of how the eye flows over the page. Some of your earlier sequentials were a little bumpy.

It's too bad that you can't do more comic book stuff, I would really love to see something in published form by you. Heck, I'd love it if I could commission from you a pin-up of my own "Scarecrow and Lady Kingston." So, if you ever do find time for the 'rare' paid commission, put me on that list --I mean, if you wouldn't mind.

Pika!