What Time Is It?

It's review time!

Oh, go on then, bonus points if you answered either hammer time or adventure time.

Comics Bulletin has posted a review of Vanguard #2. Being a selfish little so and so, I'm going to direct your attention to this bit:

"Halo and the Gryphon" is somewhat less demented, but nonetheless has a hint of the weird about it, due in the most part to Louis Carter's art. It's a blend of bold, thick linework and fine detail, and it should make for an ugly clash, but it somehow works, even if it looks less like what one might expect from a post-2000 AD anthology comic and more like one of those Soviet Bloc cartoons that were used to fill an empty five minutes on BBC2 back in the day. The writing lacks the eccentric feel of the art, but the narrative provides some structure that one might well argue is necessary to prevent things getting too arty and indulgent. "Halo and the Gryphon" was my favourite strip from the first issue, and my favourite it remains; it's unique and odd and so very compelling.

Don't forget, you can read this story here, while I'm working on part three.

End Of February Miscellany

This week I have been joining various other Paragon contributors in getting possibly a little too excited about our recent Comic Heroes review. I must confess that each issue of Comic Heroes would cost me more than I earn in an hour, so I can't justify the expense, but that Nikolai Dante badge does almost swing it for me.

I'm particularly invested in this as they used a little of my art to help decorate the page. Mine is the stuff on the top right, the rest being the fine work of Dave Candlish, Steven Denton, and James Corcoran.

In other news, I believe I have completely neglected to mention that I've seen the fully lettered pages for Dr WTF?! and they are looking super sweet! In fact, have a preview, you know you want one:

"Enough wallowing in the past," I hear you cry. "What about the future?"

Well, this month I have been experimenting with tracing paper and found that I like it. A lot. The smooth texture, the fluid pen marks, the reusable pencils, all leads me to think I have a new favourite way of working. At least, until I find some other way I prefer over the next few weeks. I choose to see my flitting tastes as a positive aspect of my work!

Here is a picture of a boy riding a bike. Why have I drawn a boy riding a bike? It's all part of a comic I am currently putting the finishing touches onto, so there will be more news of that over the coming month. 

There will also be news of the other project I am working on. The great cyclic nature of blog posts leads me once more to Paragon's Rise of the Mekkosapiens, for which I am drawing yet more 'time-and-space-rupturing-super-violence'. Well, there will be robots and guns at any rate.

Bikes, robots, and guns. That's the shape of March to come. See you there!

End Of Year Review

Last year I discovered that there is something of a tradition among small press bloggers of creating a yearly review of everything recently accomplished. I found this out a little late to write anything up myself, and probably would not have thought much of my achievements at the time.

This was unfortunate, as it meant I failed to thank my brother for getting me to create this blog, the Legendary Shark for dishing out his scripts to all who would wish to practise on them, Matt Mclaughlin for seeing this practise work and for letting me work on his own strips, and the wonderful people at Temple APA for publishing our first collaboration; Lugal.

Lugal: Temple APA Issue 8

Not to worry though, as this time I am more prepared! The year got off to a good start when Dirk Van Dom saw my art on Lugal and asked me to contribute to Vanguard. The first issue was released in July, and my story Halo And The Gryphon was met with pretty good reviews.

Halo And The Gryphon: Vanguard Issue 1

As we were working on this project, Owen Watts released Dr WTF?! in which I provided some art for Oscar Maltby's story of Apocalyptic Whovian Fan Girls. I got to draw varying standards of cosplay, and expressed my view on the term "Homo Repticular" (no italics).

Back To The Wreckage: Dr WTF?! 2011

By the time Vanguard burst free from it's release date, I was already working on episode 3 of Rise of the Mekkosapiens. Matt Mclaughlin once again trusted me to put my pen to his words and I got to draw crowd scenes, chase scenes, and all round robot action. This has recently been released in Paragon 9, so go check it out.

Paragon Issue 9: Rise Of The Mekkosapiens Part 3

Halloween saw the release of Hallowscream, which answered some reviewers requests that I put fewer lines into my art work. I got to add another writer to my list of collaborators, and Lizzie Boyle seemed pretty pleased with the results. Don't forget this one is available for free, and can be enjoyed not just at Halloween, but every other day of the year as well!

Storage: Hallowscream 2011

That's the last of my publication credits for the year, but it certainly doesn't finish the list of work I've been involved with. The art for Halo And The Gryphon part 2 is already finished, and my work for the next Dr WTF?! continues apace. I've also managed to ensure that I have made over 52 blog posts this year. That averages out at one a week!

Next year I'm hoping to be even more productive, but I feel that will be a tale for another day. Hope you all enjoy your new year's celebrations, everyone. See you in the future!

Some More Reviews!

Some of you may remember a few months back when I posted some reviews of my work. Well, I'm back to do more shameless self promotion, on this blog that is almost entirely shameless self promotion! Go me!

To start with, my work for the next Dr WTF?! is already getting good feedback, and I'm not even past the preliminary sketch stage. Greg Meldrum seems happy with the work so far, while over on Facebook  Owen Watts claimed that "This is easily going to be the MOST INSANE story in Dr WTF?! 2012." So while editor, writer, and artist all stand around slapping each other on the back and marvelling at their own brilliance, let's anchor this post to the ground before it disappears up our collective backsides. 

Forbidden Planet International has a less glowing review of Vanguard. It's not a completely bad review, but is certainly the least positive we've had so far. Here's what it says about my work;

The art by Louis Carter starts out so strongly, that very first page above of really nice, almost abstracted shapes as the Halo makes planetfall. But after it gets too damn busy, panels just so full of detail, with everything a mass of lines and shading. It’s not bad, not at all, but if it were stripped back just a little, to what we saw on the opening couple of pages it would be so much better. But the potential here is huge.

Not to worry though, for if that was our least positive review, this next one is the most positive! Comics Bulletin has seen some cutting reviews in its time, and I think many of us were waiting for this one with nervous anticipation. It all turned out well though, take a look at this;

"Halo and the Gryphon" feels like an underground comix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix; the big selling point for me is the art of Louis Carter, a strange and evocative mix of fine detail on the characters and a far more blocky, abstract approach to backgrounds. It looks like nothing else I've ever seen -- aside from perhaps David C. Sutherland's artwork in the early days of Dungeons and Dragons, and even that's not quite the same -- but it's stunning work.

Amusingly, the page that they picked to illustrate the Comics Bulletin review was the one that I find the most crowded, while the Forbidden Planet one chose a page in which only one of the six panels has a background to distract you.

Still, I welcome constructive criticism, and I will be considering my strengths and weaknesses as I continue working on part two of Halo and the Gryphon. As such, I would like to offer my thanks to Richard and Kelvin, and all those who have taken the time to offer their opinions elsewhere. The next few weeks should see me posting some sketches of some new characters, so don't forget to drop by again!

An Agglomeration Of Things!

Thing 1: Vanguard Revisited

The much mentioned small press comic extravaganza Vanguard is now available on-line! Download it here for £1.01, or here for £1.00. I... don't really understand why there is that difference, sometimes life is just strange like that I guess.

Here is some slightly stripped down praise for Vanguard; cut from its source material in such a way as to highlight its comments about me! The links provided take you to the pages where good stuff is said about all the other people involved.

Everything Comes Back To 2000ad "liked the art in this which felt very kids story book." Hilary Lawler over at Irish Comic News liked it even more, saying "Halo and the Gryphon is great.  The style is busy but throughout  the detailed artwork you don’t lose focus on the story.  Overall the page layouts are fluid and easy to follow, with some beautifully drawn pieces nicely scattered between pages.  This is a well crafted original take and a completely fresh approach to comics which works." Thanks Hilary!

Thing 2: Rise Of The Mekkosapiens

I've just finished drawing a strip for the next issue of Paragon. I would have mentioned this yesterday, but I was too busy debating which individual picture to post with the news. The sequential nature of comics left no individual picture with quite the right 'feel'. Writer Matt McLaughlin solved my quandary by shoving these three pictures up onto the net together, as they were always meant to be seen. Thanks Matt!

This story will be published in Paragon 9. While you're waiting for that, why not check out Paragon 8, which has just been released, continuing stories that began in Paragon 7, a good 'jumping on' issue for those new to the comic.

Thing 3: The Future

So now that art is safely heading the letterer's way, what lies in store for me next? Well, Van Dom has already sent through the script for the second part of Halo and the Gryphon, Dave Candlish has offered me the art duties for one of next year's episodes of Rise of the Mekkosapiens, and just to prove I'm not in a rut, I've got another project lined up as well! Over the next month or so, I'll be working with writer Lady Festina on a script for the annual Halloween comic Hallowscream! More on all of these as they develop!

Thing 4: Going So Far Into The Future That It's Mildly Scary

I have a twitter account. I'm not completely sure I know how it works, and I can in no way guarantee that I'm going to check it on a regular basis, but I'm going to give it a try. You can follow me if you like, I'm LRGCarter.

Well, that's all the news I can think of at the moment. See ya later, internets!