The Darkest Hour, 7-9

I've had a very busy weekend, so it's another quick update.

This week: a page with little text, a page with no text, and a page with a lot of text. Don't say this comic has no variation ;-)!

The story will be advancing quickly from here. The plot is not my own, but Geoffrey of Monmouth's (he died in 1155, just so you know where to situate him), so there is quite a bit of action, violence, heartache and all-round tragedy as opposed to my trademark thoughtful silliness. It's Geoffrey seasoned with Ampersand sauce, of course; I'm not just copying :-). For one thing, Gorlois is younger than Geoffrey would have him. And Ygraine is a Faerie.

As always, click the pictures for a readable view.

More next weekend!

The Darkest Hour, 4-6

I posted this update elsewhere first, and apparently it confuses readers... Maybe I should explain the structure:

- Intro (Klingsor Enters Fortress, Chats Up Ygraine)
- Title (The Darkest Hour)
- Flashback (The Story of Gorlois and Ygraine)
(- To come: return to Ygraine and Klingsor)

If I did my job properly, this should all be self-evident, but it seems I have been lacking in something with these pages. Should I use special frames or something to make it clearer that page 6 is the beginning of a flashback episode? Suggestions are welcome!

Click the pictures for a readable view!

Incidentally, I have made tags by title. "The Darkest Hour" has its own label, and the previously posted part of the story gets the label "Sunrise".

The Darkest Hour, 1-3

Hello hello and welcome to what is actually the beginning of my story :-). Sorry if it's confusing! I thought I could skip this part of the story for the time being, but I can't. So I went back in time to bring you the story that is at the origin of everything that will be happening to Gawain. And it has a title! :D

Please click the images for a larger version...

Gawain comic, 25-27

It's the last of the Prologue!

I have been wondering about the best moment to start doing a finalised version. I think it's best to wait till the first story is done in storyboards, at least, because I may come across things that need clarifying and the Prologue may need editing to accomodate those missing elements.

Meanwhile, here are pages 25 to 27. Click for a readable view...

I hope you enjoyed this first part of the comic!

All constructive criticism is very welcome :-).

Gawain comic, 22-24

I'm really sorry I didn't get round to posting yesterday. The weekend was pretty filled up, and today too I'm rather pressed for time. This will have to be a quick update.

This is the one but last instalment of the Prologue. I hope you enjoy it!

Click the pictures for a readable view...

Gawain comic, 19-21

I have just ordered a few Arthuriana over the Internet. I was still missing two out of three parts of Gillian Bradshaw's trilogy Down the Long Wind - I only have the middle one, and that made me curious about the first book especially. It's about Gwalchmai ap Lot, a. k. a. Gawain. I had been on the lookout for these for a while now, but whenever I came across copies on the Net they seemed comparatively expensive for tanned, 1980s paperbacks, and any vendors I could find were in the States. This time I found an English vendor via Abebooks.

The other thing I got is a pretty crazy-sounding DC classic comic called Camelot 3000. In it, Morgan le Fay sends an army of aliens out to conquer the planet Earth (*dies*), and a young archeologist wakes up King Arthur who, as everybody knows, lies sleeping under Glastonbury Tor. Arthur goes to find Merlin, who, as everybody also knows, is emprisoned under Stonehenge, and then he goes on to pull Excalibur out of a stone, though it is a well-known fact that Excalibur is not the sword in the stone, but let's pretend for a moment that it is. - Anyway, as Arthur can't very well ward off Morgan's Army of Aliens on his own, his knights reincarnate. Apparently Sir Tristan reincarnates as a woman - that is one story arc I can't wait to read :D. Gawain, I am told, comes back in the shape of a black South African.

I couldn't very well not buy that comic, could I? You will hear more about it when I have actually read it :).

Now: on with the story. You know the drill: click the thumbnails if you want to be able to read anything...

Gawain comic, pages 16-18

Next week, I will be drawing the last of this prologue. I know how Chapter 1 is going to start, but not quite what else is going to be in it apart from that beginning :-). I have do do some thorough thinking to figure out all the bits I need to tell before Gawain can have his first famous adventure. As you can guess from that, I don't intend to detail his entire childhood. I just want an introductory part that mentions the important, formative events of the time before he arrived at King Arthur's court - the kind of information a reader needs to understand his actions and reactions. It also has to launch the main themes. So it's important to do it right. It's also the part most likely to receive content edits as I go along.

Anyway: three more pages of the prologue.

CLICK THE IMAGES FOR A READABLE VIEW.

Tools of the trade

Gawain comic, 13-15

People sometimes ask me whether my fellow commuters are ever curious about the fact that I draw comics during my train journeys. In general, they really aren't. Last week I got my first ever comment from two girls sitting opposite me. They liked what they saw, and wished me good luck with the story.

I think I grinned like an idiot.

Anyway, here are three more pages :-).

CLICK THE IMAGES FOR A READABLE VERSION.

Gawain comic, 10-12

Look, here's more :).

I'm still struggling with the continuation of the story, but I'll sort it out. I need to place a few of my themes without it being too obvious that I'm sowing seeds. As far as I'm concerned, that's the difficult part of storytelling. Also, I'm a little worried that the next part might put readers off a bit. Which would be meh.

Anyway - let's continue with the story.

CLICK THE IMAGES FOR A READABLE VIEW.