Ideas from a Wannabe

[kukla_tko]

I wannabe a web comic artist. Ok, I am not that computer-savvy. I don't have my own web page. But I have thousands of ideas swarming me all the bloody time, and it might be a good release valve for them. (That way, I don't try to push them all onto the stage...)

What's more, I have been contemplating what I might call such a thing. I am a big fan of Something Positive, Queen of Wands, The Devil's Panties, Scary Go Round, The Whiteboard, etc.

So I guess I was setting the whole thing in a sort of alternate reality of my own life. And yet, the title that I found that I really liked was:

Bradlands.

Set against the salad days of the Brad Davidian Compound, I could tell the stories (real, rumored, or ridiculous) that came from that era. Variations of people I know might appear, along with "archetypes" of certain kinds of people.

Anthopomorphs may or may not wander through. Magic may or may not exist. Legends will become solid and facts will become legendary.

MUAHAHA.

And, from time to time, the mild-mannered Friends Of Brad will show their super-powers, and blow their secret identities.



SuperBrad (Or Bradman!): Smarter than the average bear, stronger than his own knees, able to rip new assholes with a single word... it's SUPERBRAD!
This mild mannered aging fan seems to be a quiet former computer programmer, but when evil rears its ugly head, BRADMAN is there to save the day with diligent research, hard work, and the power of (his) attorney. SuperBradMan also has the power of Naming; beware what he calls you, soon everyone else will call you that, too.
Occasionally mistaken for a villain by the weak and the actively stupid, Bradman has everyone else's needs carefully placed before his own.

Crazy Lady: Sometimes appearing as Bradman's Sidekick, Crazy Lady is a whirlwind of activity. Leaping from project to project, she unleashes her creativity upon the world. Powers include Charismatic Recruitment, Heraldic Voice, empathy, and the ability to see potential regardless of its package. Always there for her friends, always the first to volunteer to put on a show, Crazy Lady will take you along for the ride. But not unlike the X-men's Jean Grey, she has a darker side;
Evil Kukla: When good girls go bad, everyone is delighted. When bad girls turn evil it's time to run for the hills. Evil Kukla strikes without warning and is a master manipulator. Powers include Medusa Gaze, Crowd Control, Scream of Rage, Talons of Doom and a wicked bitch-slap.

KuJo: No, not a rabid dog. This name I did not choose myself, but is the best one I can put here. KuJo's powers are subtle and clever. He can hide in a room full of people who are actively looking for him, and is an excellent Watcher. He has wonderful tools, and is able to quickly adapt himself to almost any situation. He prefers to work from behind the scenes, carefully pulling the strings to make things go smoothly. Powers include: Obfuscate, Gaseous Warfare, super speed, and Clever Remark. Able to run cable through an entire building, faster than a computer virus, able to leap red tape in a single bound... it's KuJo!

Wander Woman: Carries her possessions upon her back (read: In her Car), she lives in several homes simultaneously.

Bright Girl: Sure she's pretty, sure she's blonde, but she's Bright Girl and she's smarter than you. She is able to balance her checkbook, figure out your bra size and color her hair all at the same time. Not just smart about clothing fashion, she also keeps up to date on all the fashion trends of the Graphic Designer. Evil Nemesis; The unemployment rate.

Spider Bane: Kills spiders (and bugs) with his BARE HANDS!

The Secret: He lives an exciting and exotic life, but don't tell his coworkers (or fellow parishioners.)

Bunny Bun: Like the rabbit with the drum, she can't be stopped!

Eh. That's enough for now. There will also be a superhero with the name "underwear" or "underpants" in his or her name.


Is there some reason why I couldn't post this thing in my JOURNAL?

Comments

[bradhicks.livejournal.com]

Well, you don't have to know much about computer art. Most of the web comics artists aren't drawing their stuff on the computer. They're drawing it in regular pencil on good art paper, inking it by hand with a decent marker or brush, scrubbing the pencil with a real gum eraser, scanning the inked copy to their computer, and using simple tools to color and shade it. alienne could teach you how in 10 minutes, tops, and I think she even offered you a scanner.

Which leaves only finding a web host to store the images on. There's a reason why everybody uses KeenSpace or KeenSpot, Kukla. For one thing, decent graphics are storage-heavy. But the bigger deal is that lots of people downloading your graphics gets bandwidth-heavy, which is expensive for your hosting provider. Most places that let you store images have pretty strict limits on how much bandwidth you can have per month. For web comics, that limit seems to run out at around 25 or so readers. Keen specializes in web comics, and is pretty artist friendly (when everything is working right, which isn't always, which is why artists have a love/hate relationship with them). I gather that Keen's software even lets you get several issues ahead and schedule when they get uploaded.

As for the content, gee, I always thought of myself as being like DoorMan in The Tick, with the awesome cosmic power to know who gets in and who doesn't. That and my Mighty Glare of Doom.

You know, though, that the most popular character in the strip is going to be Naked Boy. Half the best dialog in the real Tales of the Brad Davidian Compound were from, around, or about him. Who can forget the_geoffrey's "I wish he'd put that thing away, it makes me want to go out and buy a red sports car"?

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

"Most of the web comics artists aren't drawing their stuff on the computer. They're drawing it in regular pencil on good art paper, inking it by hand with a decent marker or brush, scrubbing the pencil with a real gum eraser, scanning the inked copy to their computer, and using simple tools to color and shade it. alienne could teach you how in 10 minutes, tops, and I think she even offered you a scanner."

Yeah, I knew this. I can do all of this, but I dont' have a scanner (yet).

No, it's mostly the whole "Uploading it into the webpage" part that I have no experience with.

Snerk.
Door-Man. Yeah, you have a little of that, too. I expect that "superpowers" will wax and wane, crop up mysteriously and vanish just as mysteriously. Don't expect consistency, my beloved readers!

comic

[minidoc.livejournal.com]

Why not put it in your journal? You could always have cuts to it to another site if the graphics get too large.

I think brad has a point about naked boy, he appeared quite a bit in the days of the great brad parties at the compound.

Uh, please don't put all you ideas all at once onto the stage. It might be sensory overload for us mere mortals. We tend to prefer small frequent feedings. :)

[alienne.livejournal.com]

Or i can give you webspace, with a comic-management-oriented CMS, and show you how to use that, too. As Brad says, 10 minutes, tops.

Since i HAVE webspace, *and* bandwidth. Out the wazoo, pretty much.

--adrienne

Yeah, all right...

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

So... let me get a few comics put together, and then you can come over and set me up!
:)

Naked Boy

[kukla-tko42.livejournal.com]

Hmm. He'll be fun to draw, too, since I don't actually expect to put any real nudity in the thing. It will be very "austin powers" with random objects blocking stategic views.

Since Naked Boy was often seen wearing the Leather Jacket and Boots (and little else) I can do some "cheating".

I think it would be more effective if you never see his package, and can only guess at what it looks like by other people's reactions to it.

Like the Sports Car comment. Heh.

I have been working on characters. I got a really good series of Brad pics, including one where Brad is making the "You MUST be joking... or an IDIOT" face with the one eyebrow up and the other covering the eye.

I think that Bradman will have a "monobrow" line for now.

I havent' been able to nail any of the other people yet. I am working on the Brown Mouse, who is the secret identity for SEVENSTAR!

I tried to work out how to draw the Naked Boy. Got partway there. I think I am going to have to refer to some photos to get his hair right. He was sporting the "Almost at mullet" look at that time, right?

I am also accepting names for superheroes (and villains...)

And I am trying to figure out how to include THE RED SCARE. (Primary villain for season 1, eh?)

Re: Naked Boy

[codeb6.livejournal.com]

Will there be a long term story arc where mysterious conspirators plot to make the compound a parking lot?

Naked Boy pics

[felax.livejournal.com]

Mel has said that she has pics from that time period. If you're interested, contact her. (And yes, I'm crawling through old journal entries. 8^P )