THE TITLE!

Hey ya'll!!!

I'm excitied to announce that I have received the logo for my comic, MERCER: The Pursuit of Honor (LOOK UP^^^^!!!)

After a few weeks of deliberation and tweaks to the image it has finally come out the way I envisioned it.

I knew I wanted something like this, but I did need clarity. I achieved this by having a few different concepts done. The font was always the same as I really liked it, but the look went from being 'Duke Nukem' inspired to very Call of Duty, in green with green and black infrared-like lines running through the text.

What we needed though was something that encapsulated the feel of the story, the grit combined with action and thrill/suspense of the storyline, and I believe we did it.

I think JOSH AITKEN has done an amazing job!

I'd love to hear what you guys think!

See you guys soon..

Picci8

QUICKIE..

Just a quick one this week...

Apologies for not posting last week, and not providing you with anything great this week (I like to post on Thursdays), but I promise you I'm still working away.

While I haven't done much drawing at all, Ive been doing some work on the story, gathering reference, and putting together ideas for future covers. I havent pinpointed exactly what I want in the covers, but im trying to find a theme that will fit for all the issues.

Ive also seen some preliminary logos for the MERCER title designed by JOSH AITKEN, and theyre off to a nice start. Some edits will be done, however I'm expecting to debut it real soon. I've received the query from writer JASON TUDOR and its sounding nice.

I'm also getting the pages lettered, again by Josh, and will preview them in future posts! So look out!

Next week I'll have much more to show so please check back!

Be good!

Dan

MERCER: The Making of a Comic Book Cover

So, getting back on track...

You deserve two posts this week as I was unable to do one last week. Here's the second :) ;

After my first two initial character sketches, and countless hours working out the details of the story, I felt it was time to do a pin up of the comic. Something that stood out, told a story in itself, and looked cool.

I had a clear picture of what I wanted, and began the initial sketch. This one was done at A5 size. (Picture 1)

I then copied it and blew it up to A3, then light boxed it onto a comic art board (Picture 2)

When I completed this, it was over to the talented Ander Zarate (http://zaratus.deviantart.com/) to work his magic with the colors.

When an artist (or atleast me) draws a picture they sometimes have a clear and precise view of what they intend the final colors to look like. To be honest, sometimes its not entirely clear, but I know what I want when I see it. This sometimes means re-work. This one was was clear to me, and was only re-worked once, and then I asked the background to be lightened as I wanted our hero MERCER to 'pop'. (Picture 3)

I think Ander did an amazing job.

Hope you like it!

Best

Picci8

THE BEST FRIEND..

So we've introduced JOHN MERCER, and now here is his partner and good friend, NATHAN KILLGORE.

KILLGORE, nicknamed 'Killer', is also an ex-NAVY SEAL, and was selected alongside Mercer to undertake BUD/S training (Basic Underwater Demolition School/SEAL), a gruelling 25 week course that pushes the body to its physical and mental limits. It is aimed at producing graduates who have an enhanced repertoire of SEAL skills, ready for use upon arrival at an operational SEAL team.

They were both members of SEAL TEAM 7 for four years, leading their team into worn torn areas of Iraq searching for weapons of mass destruction and intel.

Although both highly skilled, they will be tested and pushed to their limits with an invisible enemy neither are ready for.

Picci8

THE MAIN MAN

So after I found a writer it was time to work out story details, and I could also get to the fun part; the characters!

The main protagonist is named JOHN MERCER. An ex Navy Seal with an impeccable track record. Highly skilled and trained, who lead his team into the Iraqi green zone in 2003 in search of weapons of mass destruction. He is now retired, living in southern California. For the time being.....

This pic was to simply get the overall style/flavor down. His face will slightly change, and his outfit is not solid yet, but will be a variance of this right here.

Enjoy

Picci8

THE NEXT STEP....

In the last blog I mentioned how it all began, and when the idea came into mind.

The next step was to start fleshing out the actual story. I continued adding scenes, different events, and how I'd make every action have a reaction. I initially thought I'd write this one myself. I did some research to learn just what made a good story good; the structure, the whys?/hows?/whens?, and especially the characters.

It was in this time when I came up with the underlying theme of the story; What drove these characters? What is the motivation for the story? This is where the subtitle comes in; The Pursuit of Honor.

After around 2-3 weeks, I realised no matter how much research I had done, and how hard I tried to write a story, it just simply isnt that simple! I decided to search for a suitable writer, and placed an advertisment on an art forum I frequent; www.digitalwebbing.com. I was absolutley shocked at the response I got. I received approximatley 80 emails from aspiring writers. Some published in the world of comics, others novels and/or childrens books, and others simply very talented unpublished writers.

It was a huge effort. The only way I found it possible to decide who was suitable, was to choose out of the best samples, and ask them to do a quick and rough take on a scene I had laid out. After I had received them all, it was clear from the moment I read not only his 5 page script, but also his ideas and insight, that JASON TUDOR was the perfect fit.

Jason is a veteran of the US Air Force, a journalist, and a published writer who has brought his intelligence and experience into MERCER, giving the story and characters life and depth.

It was time to get to work!

You can check out Jason's website here;

http://www.jasontudor.com/

Facebook page;

https://www.facebook.com/JasonTudor

and podcast;

http://www.myscifishow.com/

BEST