The Way of the MANGA MUERTO, PT 3

Okay, here's another update on MANGA MUERTO Vol. 1 (coming October 2009!). And what should be the final cover is shown above...

Let's start with the pin-ups....

I've now received all four pin-ups from my guest artists. I already showed you the first one I received from cartoonist Krishna Sadasivam. I'm going to save the other ones for you to see in print! I mean c'mon, let's show some support people! The other pin-up artists are Audra Furuichi, Mort Todd and Robin White.
Audra is co-creator/artist of Nemu-Nemu, an online comic about two cute lil' magical stuffed pups and their owners. Mort Todd has a resume a mile long! One of his earliest jobs was as Editor-in-Chief of CRACKED magazine. One of the things he's working on today is promoting his documentary film, SADISTIK!

Our fourth pin-up contributor is Robin White, a Canadian cartoonist currently living in Japan. Robin creates an online comic called DOODZE, and in fact in addition to his MANGA MUERTO pin-up, he sent me some sketches of his Doodze dressed up as El Muerto. Those you can see....



MANGA MUERTO Vol 1 will reprint the two previous stories. One from me and Rafael Navarro, the other one by me and Ted Seko. An all-new Manga Muerto story will debut in this book, written and illustrated all by my little lonesome! Here's one of the pages (well, at least the rough draft of it):



FYI: This is drawn on 8.5" x 11" paper. I'll draw out the whole story this way, then make any changes before I redraw it at the full size, which is on 11" x 17" bristol board. Then it's inked, lettered on the computer and banzai, we have a comic book!

One thing I've realized about working on this book is that while I love the idea of doing a 'manga' version of El Muerto (at least the specific Japanese genre of a young hero controlling a giant robot), I primarily did it for my own self-indulgent desires! I realize now, 8 years after I did the last Manga Muerto story, that my work often attracts a younger readership. Not that the regular El Muerto comics are too extreme for kids, but I like the idea of having a version of El Muerto that most younger kids can enjoy as mostly a real fun, visually appealing comic.

Lots of what goes into a Manga Muerto story are obvious. This is foremost my own nod to the classic animated series GIGANTOR. It's an American translation of the Japanese anime TETSUJIN-28, the creation of Mitsuteru Yokoyama (who also created the GIANT ROBOT television series).



But what I've also realized, just working on this new story and reflecting back on the original stories is that I was also creating, through Manga Muerto, a really easy to read, fast paced story along the lines of a childhood favorite of mine, SPIDEY SUPER STORIES:



SPIDEY SUPER STORIES, the comic, was based on the SPIDEY SUPER STORIES segments shown on the 70s classic kid's show THE ELECTRIC COMPANY. Both featured super kid-friendly tales of Spider-Man. The comic was drawn in a really clean style, minimalistic in details, but designed to keep the reader engaged in the story. I really like that type of storytelling, as far as being designed for a particular readership. (If you click on the link to check out an episode of SPIDEY SUPER STORIES, be prepared to see Morgan Freeman playing an umpire!!)

And another comic I think about when I look for how to approach all-ages material is the grand old American comic book, ARCHIE!



Archie comics, for all their hijinks involving teenagers, dating and chasing girls, always remained an innocent, innocuous story, aimed to entertain it's all-ages readership. Again, very clear, easy-to-read artwork and simple dialogue. Storytelling for easy reading!

(A page from the first Manga Muerto story I ever did. Pencils by me, finished art/inks by Rafael Navarro. Read the 4 page story online here)

So I'm definitely drawing inspiration from Archie comics, Spidey Super Stories and GIGANTOR, and at the same time creating an extension of my signature character El Muerto. I think the uniqueness of a supernatural Mexican character in Japan, with a giant zombie robot at his control, makes for a pretty interesting premise, too! All the while I'm entertaining myself, as well as the readers. At least that's the plan!

Next update will involve showing a page or two of the fully inked new story, "A Day at The Beach".

The Way of the MANGA MUERTO pt. 1

I started tinkering around with some cover designs for my next book. MAN-SWAMP is currently at the printers, and as soon as I receive my proof, if all is well, I can place an order for the first run.

In the meantime, I'm already planning for October, where it looks like I'll have three conventions to attend on three separate weekends! One of them is APE, the comic show I debuted EL MUERTO at back in 1998 and the one show I've exhibited at every single year since. The year I'll have the MAN-SWAMP comic to premiere there, as well as the following book. This is my initial mock-up for the cover, and who knows what I may come up with later, but I'm happy with the way the design is shaping up:



The drawing was actually done in crayon, which is something I've wanted to try for awhile. The textures you get from crayons was what I was most interested in. I liked using them, but I think when I redraw the image, I may ask a friend of mine to watercolor it. The softness of crayons doesn't let me get the fine points out of them that I'd like to. But I like the pose of the character. I just need to draw his flying robot in the sky above, and tinker a bit with some compositional elements.

Flying robot? Yeah, you didn't know? Manga Muerto has a giant flying robot called SKELETRON!


Pencil layouts by me, finished art & inks by Rafael Navarro

In the debut Manga Muerto story, I introduced Skeletron along with this version of El Muerto. The whole reason of doing this story was my desire to create my own giant Japanese robot comic, so I figured I'd just turn Muerto into a Japanese-esque character, in the honorable tradition of childhood favorites like GIGANTOR and JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT. Marvel had licensed SPIDER-MAN to Japan in 1970 for a manga and later, a live-action TV show. And DC had authorized BATMAN to appear in manga in the 1960s. Figured I'd do it myself, as I was a fan of Japanese comic and cartoon heroes anyways. This was a four page story that I premiered in my old newsletter, THE BORDER. (It was reprinted in EL MUERTO MISH MASH). On that first story, my good friend and fellow DIY comics creator Rafael Navarro (of Xeric Award winning SONAMBULO fame) collaborated with me. I wrote the story and did pencil layouts, and Rafael finished the art and beautified it with his stellar ink work. He sure did a fabulous job, don't ya think?

The second appearance of Manga Muerto was in 2001, in a photocopied squarebound comic called SUPER COMICS BLAST. For this story, I teamed up with another friend and comic creator, Ted Seko. We decided to do a team-up story where he brought in his character, Skyman (who late was renamed Fusion Man) and supporting cast, and collaborated with me on a story involving Monster Mechs and two groups of intergalactic gangs of evildoers! Ted and I hammered out the story, I did the pencil layouts and took lead on the dialogue, while Ted did the finishes on the art and inked in his trademark style. That was a really fun time, as we both have very similar interests in some of the classic Japanese shows. Here's the cover to the long out-of-print SUPER COMICS BLAST!



Ted inked the drawing and also provided an ink wash, I handled the penciling. Ted's SKYMAN is the robot on the right. In the background is SKELETRON, whom Muerto controls via cell phone!

About the MANGA MUERTO VOL. 1 comic: It'll reprint the first two stories mentioned above, as well as featuring a brand new short story I'll be working on all by little lonesome. I've got four cartoonist in mind to ask for pin-ups (the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that I've blocked the names out on the cover until I actually approach the people!). I threw a halftone filter over the artwork, just to see how it would look. Like I mentioned, I'm going to try to get the drawing watercolored. The logo may get some tinkering, but I like the color schemes. It seems to have a real playful, manga pop art look that I think fits these stories well. Not exactly sure of the page count, so the price point may change. But I like to mock up these covers and look them over for awhile. Often I can either get sick of them right away or see little things that need tinkering to make them better. This one I'm really digging.

Stay tuned for more updates!