Making Episode One
Well here’s a wee project that’s been in gestation for quite some time.
So, if you’re reading this you probably know all too well about the Dalek strips from the 60s, and maybe you know about the Cybermen ones from the 90s.
I just loved those.
I loved the brevity of story telling, and moreover I just loved seeing Doctor Who monsters strut their stuff in their own adventures.
Another thing I loved was the Ice Warriors themselves. Indeed, I had a fangasm last year when they returned and stomped across the TV screens in 2013.
A couple of years back, when I was thinking about getting into the crazy world of comic books creating, this was one of the first ideas I had.
Eager to test out my new graphics tablet my wife got me for my birthday, I gave it a shot and drew the first episode myself.
And it was horrible! You can see it here in it’s it’s amateurish glory.
Thankfully I’ve since worked out more what I was doing with the art side of things, in my ongoing comic book Biblical (what you haven’t read it – well click here gentle soul and check it out!).
But I was just the wrong fit for the art.
Then I thought about my old friend, and occasional collaborator, Stefano Cardoselli, and reached out to him.
Stef’s work is really RIGHT for the brutish nature of the Ice Warriors, but also has the sensitivity to tell the more emotional, character driven stories I wanted to tell.
So, Stef’s one of the Notwe – Not a great Dr Who fanboy, like me, and didn’t know anything about the Ice Warriors. Now, that I think works to our advantage, as it brings some creative freshness to the project.
Firstly, Stef got to work doing some design work, presented below.
Next it was time to work on the actual script, click here to read it.
And here’s stage one of the art – the layouts. Now Stef and I have worked together a lot in the past, so this is just a bit of short hand to make sure we all understand what’s going on, and we’re not having problems with a language barrier (I don’t speak Italian, and certainly don’t write it).
From here Stefano worked up the inked art.
Next stage was digitally airbrushing out the pencil lines and adding the gray tonal work, which I did, and following on from that I lettered it.
And that, boys and girls, is how comics are made.