journey to the center of the earth

At last!... Bringin' Newt and John Home!

Ok, I admit, I didn't expect to just leave Newt and John on the other side of the world, trying to hitch-hike their way home for the last few months... but better late than never, I'm finishing this very long story that I started in an oversized Paper Airplane, way back in April of 2010. I'm happy to tell you I'll soon be posting new comics with new ideas and new shorter multi-episodes coming soon!!!  Read more »

Bottoms-up!

As a weekly reader of this comic, it may have felt like a long time to get here, but when the pages are in a book layout, it's really a short amount of reading time from the point Newt and John enter the 'bottomless pit' to the point the fall out (or up!) the other side. The challenge has been keeping it interesting, creating light-sources, and reminding new readers the characters are actually falling in every panel, since I didn't want to show them motion-blurred for every shot. Read more »

R.I.P "GLOWIE" - 2010... We hardly knew Ye.

Ok, just like the previous episode, this one was not a part of my original story... but I liked the idea of mis-directing the reader to thinking Newt and John were finally at the end of their journey... only to reveal the "light at the end of the tunnel" was actually a new creature. It also gave the reader a much-needed break from looking at the boring eyeballs against black background. I intentionally based all light sources in those panels using "Glowie" as a center-point. You'll also notice I put bright highlights on Newt and John's pupils... which I've never used before. In this case it really added something, and gave a sense of closeness to the light source. Read more »

Finally after 39 episodes, I get an easy one!

The one thing I've been looking forward to with this story, is the point when the bottomless pit becomes so dark that you only see their eyes and mouth. Why?, well, from day one I've stayed firm on my commitment to keeping the quality of the artwork in Newt and John the same level it was in the first episodes. This often means many many hours if not a full day on one panel, like I had with the 'Eyeball Creature' in the last episode. So, as time per-panel goes... this episode became a much needed 'easy one' for me... as our heroes fall and argue in total darkness. Read more »

EGAD!.. What was that thing?!?

This was a fun, and challenging episode, as far as the art goes. I wanted to show a gradual transition into darkness as they fall further away from the entrance to the 'bottomless pit'... which also... (thankfully!)... leads to the next episode (coming soon!) where I am granted a little break from elaborate artwork while Newt and John fall in absolute darkness.

So for this commentary, I'll try something a little different. I'll break down the 3 main "photograph scenes" and tell you how each one was made. Read more »