Category Archives: Graphic Novel

Comics I Admire: “A Space Boy Dream”

A while ago, I stumbled across A Space Boy Dream, a wonderfully clever and charming webcomic by Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna.

Somehow, my first experience of  A Space Boy Dream was somewhere in the middle of the comic and out of order. But I immediately perceived Moira and Mark’s refreshingly satirical portrayal of hipsters, struggling artists, and the average young person. Not only can I relate to the plight of the angsty and self-concious protagonist Vincent, but I also marvel in the amazingly expressive character designs and unique design aesthetic of this comic.

I didn’t realize until later that the artists live in and portray the Mediterranean island of Malta!! This fact went completely over my head because A Space Boy Dream‘s hipsters are identical to the ones I’ve encountered in Manhattan, San Francisco, and across the U.S. in general. I guess some components of society and subculture are far more universal than I originally imagined.

The following images belong to Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna.

comic16

comic18

comic22

For more A Space Boy Dream, please check out the following websites…

aspaceboydream.com

aspaceboydreamcomic.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/aspaceboydream

www.facebook.com/aspaceboydreamcomic?fref=ts

moirazahra.prosite.com

www.behance.net/markscicluna

Interview with Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna: www.maltainsideout.com/22565/comic-strip-artists-life-space-boy-dream-character-vincent

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Comics I Admire: “Quarterly Stories”

Today, I am pleased to present Joshua Kemble and his new online graphic novel Two Stories.

I stumbled across the website Quarterly Stories whilst on my search for autobiographical/non-fiction webcomics. I’m not sure how I came across this amazing work, but I sure am glad I did.

Two Stories is an autobiographical graphic novel that deals with themes of “…life, love, loss, and depression.” As far as I can tell, the novel will consist of a series of short stories that are all autobiographical, but will be presented in various styles, tones, and genres (“serious to silly”).

Not only are Josh’s illustrations absolutely stunning, full of texture and movement, but his storytelling is powerful and compelling. For this first chapter, it is not just a story of attempted suicide, but more astonishingly a step-by-step examination of the protagonist/author’s thought process — a complex mind that makes connections (from Shakespeare to It’s A Wonderful Life and back to reality) and plays tricks on itself (“The Suicide Game” on page 4).

Josh is a Xeric Award-winning cartoonist who works as a freelance illustrator as well as an adjunct professor at Laguna College of Art and Design. With such an impressive background and body of work, I’m expecting Two Stories to be quickly snatched up by publishers. :)

The following images belong to Joshua Kemble.

QS Cover

QS Page 4

QS Page 7

For more Quarterly Stories and Joshua Kemble, please check out the following websites…

quarterlystories.com

joshuakemble.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Joshua-Kemble-Illustrations/130292550362837

Store: joshuakemble.com/?page_id=241

Numbwww.amazon.com/Numb-Lost-Love-Broken-Memories/dp/B002O746WA

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Seeking Webcomic Suggestions!

★Please Note: Feedback on this post would be extremely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Dear friends, followers, readers:

I need your help!

Screen shot 2013-02-06 at 6.03.26 PM

This is me, flailing for help, as represented by a simple emoticon.

I am looking to compile a list of webcomics/online graphic novels that have yet to be professionally published and fall under the category of non-fiction, young adult, biographical/autobiographical/memoir, and/or historical.

Below is my list so far (in no particular order):

  1. Awkward Shelby by Shelby Lynn Criswell
  2. A Space Boy Dream by Moira Zahra and Mark Scicluna
  3. Pre-Raphernalia by Raine Szramski
  4. Eve of All Saints by George Herman & Kit Seaton
  5. Eavesdropping by Rebecca Pugh
  6. Laura Knows Best by Brett Williams
  7. Comics/Illustrations by Lucy Bellwood
  8. Quarterly Stories by Joshua Kemble
  9. Melancholy Rainbow by Nina Kim
  10. Oswald the Webcomic by Adam Bastuscheck
  11. Weak Highlights by (?)
  12. Jack Tinn and the Aquanauts by Jess Smart Smiley
  13. Comics by Elis
  14. Future eating disorder comic by Lani Fernance
  15. Ben Draws Life by Ben
  16. Bad Machinery by John Allison
  17. In Oscar’s Footsteps by Lucy Knisley
  18. Loyalty & Liberty by Tamara ‘Meezer’ Gale
  19. Raised On Ritalin by Tyler Page
  20. The Unsunny Valley by Michał Shadovski
  21. I Think You’re Sauceome by Sarah Becan
  22. So Far Apart by Rasmus Gran & Rene Engström
  23. Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engström
  24. Comics/Zines by Heather Bryant
  25. Big Plans Number 5 by Aron Steinke
  26. Stripped Books by Gordon McAlpin
  27. Clockwork Game by Jane Irwin
  28. Dovecote Crest: A Civil War Reenactment Webcomic by Hailey Bachrach & Bridget Underwood
  29. Lovecraft is Missing by Larry Latham
  30. Kevin Burkhalter’s Journal Comic
  31. Alex’s Guide to a Life Well-Lived by Alex Heberling
  32. Bobwhite by Magnolia Porter
  33. Johnny Wander by Yuko Ota & Ananth Panagariya
  34. Conversations With The Boyfriend by Jade F. Lee
  35. Delilah Dirk and The Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
  36. Sleeping on the Sleeper by Jen Collins
  37. Nine Lines of Metro and Seven Days in Berlin by Neil Slorance
  38. …?

Please leave a comment below with your suggestions (name of webcomic and website address) and I’ll add them to my list.

Thank you so much for you help!

Best regards,

G. E.

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Preliminary Design: “The Flea” Plush Toy

Related Post: First Zine and Future Shop

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Everyone seems really enthusiastic about The Flea plush toy, so I thought I’d tackle this project sooner than later! Below details the progress I’ve made so far…

Tuesday, January 15th: I began drawing a rough outline for what will eventually become a plush toy of The Ghost of a Flea à la my graphic novel The Poet and the Flea. I’m still playing around with various ideas — size, fabric, etc. Ideally, I’d like the finished product to be simultaneously adorable and menacing. (^-^;;)

Friday, January 25th: Worked on a second outline, this time on a larger scale and with slightly more exaggerated features. When the time comes, everything will have to be hand-stiched since I currently don’t own a sewing machine. My mom has a lot of experience with sewing, so she’s going to help me out.

Flea Preliminary

Monday, January 28th: After finalizing my travel arrangements for Cannes/London with an agent, my mom and I stopped by Britex Fabrics and picked up fabric and other supplies (stuffing, needles, thread, etc.). It might take a bit of experimenting to figure out the best materials, but I’m looking forward to it! Stay tuned for more details!

Sewing1

Sewing2

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Check Out “The Poet and the Flea”!!

---Silhouettes

Yesterday, I posted the 10th page of The Poet and the Flea – I can’t believe it! The Flea premiered online November 28th, 2012 and has already received almost 5,000 views. I’m so excited that everyone seems to be enjoying my graphic novel so far and I hope more and more people will begin to read it. :)

For those of you who have yet to check out The Flea (and for those who wish to read the first 10 pages over again), I’ve included links below. Enjoy!

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In related news, I just discovered a very long and detailed review of the first 9 pages of The Poet and the Flea by Sarah Goode at University College Oxford on the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’s website! Wow!!! Check it out here!

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Start from the beginning!

Cover

Title Page

Note

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


First Zine and Future Shop

★Please Note: Feedback on this post would be extremely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Only January, and I’m already beginning to tackle some of my New Year’s goals (New Year’s Resolutions, Anyone?)!!!

First and foremost, I’ve been working on goal #1, making progress on some of the finished illustrations for Elias & The City of Cats. I’m hoping to make a bit more progress in the coming days and then meet up with Gabe on Friday to show him my work. :D

In the meantime, I’ve been brainstorming on goals #6 and #7, my first self-printed zine and my online storefront!

Zine:Shop 1

Possible envelopes for first zine.

The other day, I decided that my first self-printed zine will be an illustrated poem.

I was doing some research on The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and came across the perfect poem for my first zine! I think this poem will be unexpected and exciting while still tying in with The Poet and the Flea. The poem will remain a secret for now, but I’ll give a free copy of my zine to the first person who can correctly guess which one it is. Hint: The Seven Deadly Sins. I’ll be truly impressed if anyone gets this!

As far as production goes, I’d like to keep this zine relatively simple since it’s my first: about 6 to 8 pages, black and white with simple lines, a number of special hand-watercolored copies, all packaged in a lovely envelope. I’ll probably print about 25 or 30 copies, but I’d love to know if anyone is seriously interested in purchasing a copy so that I can figure out if I need to print more or less.

Zine:Shop 2

I’ve been planning my online storefront for a while now, but I’m waiting for the right time to set it up and launch it.

I’ve decided to use Storenvy, because it seems user-friendly and stylish. And it helps that it’s free.

Other than my first self-printed zine, I’d like to offer a wide range of products including The Poet and the Flea merchandise (prints/posters, t-shirts, tote bags, badges/pins, etc.). For prints, I’d like to keep them high-quality but made-to-order so that one can request any page of The Flea or whatnot.

The most ambitious product I’d like to see in my store is a The Flea plush toy. I’ve been playing around with many ideas for this, but know it has to remain relatively simple. The plush toy will definitely be handmade in black fabric, possibly with buttons for eyes and silver/gold (maybe glow-in-the-dark) fabric paint to add texture/scales. It will take me a while to get to this project (and I might recruit some help for it), but I’m excited to see how everything turns out.

Also, I’d like to offer commissioned illustrations, but I have to work out the details on that!

Again, feedback is very welcome! Just leave a comment below or send me an e-mail at gegallas@hotmail.com!

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Comics I Admire: “Pre-Raphernalia”

Who says comics can’t be educational and hilarious?

Today, I’d like to share a very special online comic I admire very much! Please, let me introduce you to…

Pre-Raphernalia: The Pre-Raph Sketchbook Cartoons of Raine Szramski!

Raine Szramski is the awesome (and, not to mention, super nice) artist/illustrator of Pre-Raphernalia as well as another amazing series called Heaven & the Dead City, which can be either read online here or purchased here.

Pre-Raphernalia centers around the Victorian avant-garde artists known as The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including the likes of John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. These artists were quite eccentric, even by today’s standards, and lived oftentimes rowdy and scandalous lives.

What’s so wonderful about Pre-Raphernalia is that Raine takes the true historical events/relationships/facts and depicts them to the full extent of their eccentricity. When reading, I often find myself laughing out loud! Furthermore, she takes the time to write a full historically-accurate explanation of each comic, thoroughly detailing the backgrounds of each individual involved.

I highly recommend Pre-Raphernalia for anyone who wants to learn a little bit of history while having a fun time doing so. :D

Below are a number of my favorite images/pages from Pre-Raphernalia.

The following images belong to Raine Szramski.

Wombatink

millais2

sir ned1

For more Pre-Raphernalia and Raine Szramski, please check out the following websites…

preraphernalia.blogspot.com

thewatchertree.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/raine.szramski

rainesz.deviantart.com

www.co2comics.com/pages/co2_heaven_and_the_dead_city.html

www.lulu.com/spotlight/co2comics

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Copyright 2013 by G. E. Gallas


Brief Update

★ Don’t forget to check out my graphic novel, The Poet and the Flea!

A new page every Wednesday!

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Here is a brief update on my current creative projects and endeavors…!

Wednesday, December 12th

  1. Second day of cat sitting!
  2. E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
  3. Helped my mom, the abstract artist, with developing her blog (irenezweig.wordpress.com).
  4. “Correspondence with The Blake Society.”

Thursday, December 13th

  1. Third day of cat sitting!
  2. E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
  3. Worked on The Flea script.

Friday, December 14th

  1. Fourth day of cat sitting!
  2. Sent out some more fellowship/internship/job applications.
  3. Worked on The Flea script.

Saturday, December 15th

  1. Last day of cat sitting!
  2. E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
  3. Worked on The Flea script.

Sunday, December 16th

  1. Went to see The Hobbit with Wes and the folks! I was a major fan of The Lord of the Rings films when they first came out (and still am), so of course I was (and still am) super excited for The Hobbit. Even my dad, who was skeptical and didn’t really want to come, loved the movie (and even shed tears at the bromance between Bilbo and Thorin, I kid you not). (^-^) I know this is bizarre, but I think my favorite part was when the Great Goblin’s secretary cackled as he ziplined through the air!
  2. Wes is so sweet and got me a Rose Vampire figurine from Super7 – IT’S SO CUTE!

photo-4

Monday, December 17th

  1. Signed up with Behance.net: www.behance.net/gegallas.
  2. Worked on The Flea script.

Tuesday, December 18th

  • Worked on The Flea script.

Wednesday, December 19th

  1. As usual, great meeting with Gabe. Working out the next few steps for Elias & The City of Cats and thinking about our future projects.
  2. 2:30 p.m.: Phone interview with The American Pavilion for the Cannes Film Program. I think it went pretty well. I’ll be hearing from them this Friday. Wish me luck!
  3. Came up with a really cool idea for The Blanks screenplay collaboration. Wrote an e-mail to Gabe and waiting to hear what he thinks!

Thursday, December 20th

  1. E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
  2. Applied to the Creative World Awards (a screenwriting competition). For more information, click here.
  3. Worked on The Flea script.
  4. Did some more research on fellowships/internships/jobs.

Etcetera

  • The Poet and the Flea: 60 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
  • The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.

To Do:

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For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.

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Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas


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