The making of The Mighty Enlil cover - The color sketch

On to the second on the step on the creation of the cover for the paper edition of my webcomic The Mighty Enlil, soon to be published by Redbud Studios.
After the line sketch was done, I did another colored version in order to have a proper idea of how the cover would look like.

The making of The Mighty Enlil cover - The sketch

As some of you already know The Mighty Enlil is about to be published in regular comic book format through Redbud Studios. In the next couple of weeks, I'll be showing the development of the cover. First step, after a brief talk discussing ideas with Rob Davis, Redbud Studios founder and Managing Editor, this was the  sketch I came up with.

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Is there life beyond the end of The Mighty Enlil? Yes, there is.

On the following weeks I'll be sharing a few unfinished pages that were originally intended to be part of The Mighty Enlil webcomic. At a certain point in the story I thought of just having Enlil wander around the big city looking at the brave new world of the 21st century for awhile . These pages featured some of the best art in the comic (imho) but upon reflection it became apparent to me that while they might have worked in book form, their contemplative nature would quickly deprive the weekly webcomic of its momentum. So I decided to cut these pages out of the webcomic and move the narrative full steam ahead. Now that the story is over, I've decided to post the pages here as a sort of addendum. Think of it as a kind of "DVD extra" and enjoy the pages for what they are!

The Mighty Enlil went to Beja ...

… thanks to fine folks at the organization of the Prémios Profissionais de Banda Desenhada 2013.

André Oliveira asked me to supply a couple of pages from The Mighty Enlil for the PPBD2013  expo  at the 9^th Festival Internacionalde Banda Desenhada  de Beja. The event took place between  the 1st and 16th of June and I managed to make a brief visit to the expo on its final weekend.

Here’s a few photos . Guess who's posing between those pages?

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The Mighty Enlil in Beja











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The making of The Mighty Enlil

At the request of a few readers, here’s a brief, succinct glimpse as to how I made The Mighty Enlil.

Step 0 - The story.

The Mighty Enlil evolved as I created it. I didn't have a complete story in my head that I put down to paper on a script to follow as I drew. I've tried that in the past with other comics but I lose interest in stories that I already know. In this case, the story developed as I wrote and drew the comic, sometimes rewriting or casting aside entire pages or whole sequences. On the left is an example of a panel from an unused page. 

Step 1 - The thumbnails

I jotted down whatever ideas I had on an A5 moleskine sketchbook that I carry with me at all times - ideas can come anywhere at any time. These could be little images, whole sequences, plain dialogue or some combination of all the previous. This was probably the most creative and time consuming step as I tried to make sense of everything and make the pages as clear as possible. To me this was mostly an intuitive step, following my visual storytelling instincts. Sometimes I drew preliminary miniature pages as the ones seen on the left...

Step 2 - The pencils

I created one page at a time, from beginning to end. The drawing started in rough, simple shapes, without details, just the basic shapes.This was mostly done using non-photo blue pencils or markers on plain photocopy A4 paper. I feel very comfortable drawing comic pages with set panel grids (be it three, four, six, eight or nine). I find that it adds to the effect of simplicity and narrative that I'm aiming for with my comics, so I opted to have a set six-panel grid on this comic.

Step 3 - The inks

For the most part, I inked all the outlines using Faber-Castell Pitt black pens size S or XS. I tried to make this and the previous steps as spontaneous as possible because I tend to lose motivation if I spend too much time on a single page.

Step 4 - The colors

 I colored everything on my computer. I think this was the second most time consuming step, leaving an important part of the storytelling to the colors. I tried to use colors in a symbolic way, sometimes also trying to evoke different moods or environments according to the needs of the story.

Step 5 - Lettering and balloons

 I lettered everything using digital fonts. After having placed the text where I wanted I drew the speech balloons, always trying to create a visual flow that would help direct the eyes of the reader zigzagging across the page, from left to right and up to bottom. Sometimes there was no text as in the last panel of the page on the left. I find silent panels very important as they help create a beat or a pause in the rhythm of the narrative. Sometimes less is more.

And that was it. After each page was done I'd post it on my blog and email it to Brant Fowler at www.comicrelated.com, who graciously formatted everything in order to be viewed through their website.

Hope this helps those of you who make or want to make comics too.

The Mighty Enlil - afterword

After over a year, we've finally reached the end of this particular adventure with our mighty anunnaki friend. I'd like to thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to follow this comic and hope you've had at least as much fun reading it as I had creating it.

No work is ever created on a vacuum. I'd like to make some special extra thanks to :

• Ron Fortier for being Enlil's #1 fan;
• Brant Fowler, the team of Zone 4 and everyone at comicrelated for their incredible support and for having included Enlil on their evergrowing site;
• Geraldes Lino for enthusiastically spotlighting my work on his blog;
• André Oliveira and everyone at the Prémios Profissionais de Banda Desenhada 2013 for Enlil's nomination for best national webcomic and also for taking the time and care to include Enlil pages at the PPBD2013 expo on the 9th Festival Internacional de Banda Desenhada de Beja;
• Pepedelrey for some harsh but helpful critics on my previous comics;
• Finally, last but not least, to my family and close friends. You know who you are and without your love and support none of this would make sense.

The Mighty Enlil comic is ended - at least on this web format - but on the following weeks I intend to spotlight some behind the scenes and extras. Then, hopefully, in a few months, we'll return with another new ongoing comic. In the meantime, keep on checking this blog at the same day, same hour!

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Comic Jam #54

Na passada terça-feira, teve lugar mais uma Tertúlia BD de Lisboa. Desta vez, o homenageado foi João Lameiras. Tive o prazer de participar no habitual comic jam, desenhando a última vinheta. Os interessados podem ver a prancha e os improvisos em toalha de mesa publicados por Geraldes Lino no seu blogue. *** Last tuesday, another Tertúlia BD of Lisbon took place. This time the honored guest was João Lameiras. This time, I had the pleasure of taking part in the usual comic jam, drawing the last panel. You can see the page and the free style drawings done on the table covers posted by Geraldes Lino on his blog.

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PPBD 2013

Foi com surpresa e agrado que tomei conhecimento da nomeação da minha bd The Mighty Enlil para melhor webcomic nacional nos Prémios Profissionais de Banda-Desenhada 2013. Ficam aqui os meus agradecimentos à organização responsável por esta iniciativa e a todos aqueles que nomearam a minha bd. A lista de nomeados nas várias categorias assim como mais pormenores sobre esta iniciativa podem ser consultados aqui. A divulgação das obras vencedoras terá lugar em Lisboa, dia 24 de Maio no auditório da Torre do Tombo pelas 17h30m. * * * I was surprised and pleased to learn that my comic The Mighty Enlil has been nominated for the national best webcomic award of the Prémios Profissionais de Banda-Desenhada 2013. I'd like to thank the organization of this event and particularly to all the responsibles for the nomination of my comic. The list of nominated works and authors, as well as further details, can be read in full detail here. The winners will be announced on the awards ceremony taking place in Lisbon on May,24th at the auditorium of Torre do Tombo around 5:30 pm.

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Comic Jam #52

Na última terça-feira, aconteceu mais uma Tertúlia BD de Lisboa. Desta vez, o "convidado especial" foi o blóguer Nuno Amado. Mais uma vez, tive o prazer de participar no habitual comic jam, desenhando a última vinheta. Os interessados podem ver a prancha publicada por Geraldes Lino no seu blogue. *** Last tuesday, another Tertúlia BD of Lisbon took place. This time around, the "special guest" was blogger Nuno Amado. Once again, I had the pleasure of taking part in the usual comic jam, drawing the last panel. You can see the page posted by Geraldes Lino on his blog.

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Comic Jam #51

Na passada terça-feira, teve lugar mais uma Tertúlia BD de Lisboa. O homenageado foi Jorge Machado-Dias. Desta vez, tive o prazer de participar no habitual comic jam, desenhando a última vinheta. Os interessados podem ver a prancha e os improvisos em toalha de mesa publicados por Geraldes Lino no seu blogue. *** Last tuesday, another Tertúlia BD of Lisbon took place. The honored guest was Jorge Machado-Dias. This time, I had the pleasure of taking part in the usual comic jam, drawing the last panel. You can see the page and the free style drawings done on the table covers posted by Geraldes Lino on his blog.

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The Mighty Enlil in "Divulgando Banda Desenhada"

Geraldes Lino é um dos maiores militantes e divulgadores de Banda Desenhada em Portugal. Para além da sua actividade enquanto editor e colecionador de fanzines, fundou a Tertúlia BD de Lisboa, um encontro mensal para autores e fãs de BD que acontece todas as primeiras terças-feiras de cada mês. Esta semana, Geraldes Lino publicou um post no seu blogue sobre a minha mais recente BD The Mighty Enlil. Podem ver e ler aqui. *** Geraldes Lino is one of the leading promoters of comics in Portugal. In addition to his activity as a publisher and collector of fanzines, he founded the Tertúlia BD of Lisbon, a monthly meeting of comics authors and fans that happens every first tuesday of the month. This week, Geraldes Lino published a post on one of his blogs about my most recent comic The Mighty Enlil. you can see and read it here.

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Three Against the Stars - now on Amazon

On the distant alien planet of Rhajnara a conspiracy created by the facist Khandra Regime is set into motion to overthrow the rightful Rhajni Republic and instigate a policy of ethnic-cleansing. The conspirators are cunning and it seems nothing in the universe can derail their mad apocalyptic scheme. Nothing that is but three rambunctious Space Marines from the Third Regiment Company E of the United States Space Marines assigned to Rhajnara with the Terran Expeditionary Force. Sergeants Fernado Cortez, Seamus O’Hara and Claudia Akira are the most unlikely trio ever to don jarhead camouflage and become military heroes. To their superiors they are wild, reckless and incessant troublemakers always in the thick of things. Yet their courage, loyalty and devotion to duty prove them to be the toughest Devil Dogs in the Corp. Now, with the aid of a Medical Corpsman named Makki Doon, a young Felisian native proto-feline humanoid, these three futuristic musketeers are about to become the one factor capable of exposing the traitorous Khandra coup. But to do so they will have to put their lives on the line one more time and risk all to save the day facing off against incredible odds. To save an empire they will truly become…THREE AGAINST THE STARS - The latest book to which I've contributed interior illustrations is now available at amazon. What are you waiting for? Go grab it while it lasts - it'll make for a wonderful late Christmas gift :-D

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