Cover Revamp.

[Brad]

Hi. I'm not really that avid of a Point Guardian reader. But I wish I was.

This is one of the only Super Hero comics on the web that isn't a comedy or a parody. The art has been steadily been getting better and better, which is also pretty awesome. But the stories (sorry) just don't peak my interest.

I know you're going for that retro style, and I love that, but I think you should go and pick up one of the more recent issues of Erik Larsen's The Savage Dragon (Issue 131 I think is the most recent) Since Erik has become the head publisher guy at Image, he hasn't had much time to dedicate to his own comic. His more recent issues are extremely rushed and loose, but still have really dynamic poses and compositions. He even does all the colors himself.

I know I'm not an expert or anything so take my suggestions as just that and don't feel like I'm trying to push my own agenda. But I think your comic would really benefit from a 20-22 page an issue format. That would leave you around an extra ten days a month to refine these pages and maybe even add color. On top of that, I'd like to see more characters that aren't super heroes or villains. Plain everyday people, love interests, or just plain ass holes.

Maybe it's time for a format change. Your art style has progressed nicely, why not bring the rest up to speed?

Anyway... just a suggestion. I was bored tonight and was surfing your deviant art and ran across the black & white cover to issue 21. So in my attempt to put myself even further behind on my school work, I colored a version myself. Let me know what you think.


Original:




My Version:

[ChaosBurnFlame]

Thank you for your kind words, Brad. Colors are something I have been experimenting in, as you may notice, and my latter couple of covers have shown some interesting fruits of my labor. I do like your recolor of that cover, one of my favorites in my run.

As for the 20-22 page format...

I pretty much already do that. When I cut out the weekends and switched to 5 days a week, that does pretty much leave 20-22 pages a month to do, not counting the cover of course.

As for my writing, I do admit I've stumbled quite a bit. A lot of times I've thrown away entire months of script because something didn't mesh or a concept wasn't properly birthed...

In fact, a few issues I'll downright say were the worst I've ever penned.

[Brad]

Oops. Guess I forgot about weekends.

I'm definitely not a professional colorist by any means, but one tip I can give you is to define a value range of colors to operate within. I tend to lean more towards more neutral pastels. Once you define this range, whenever you differ from it (like say for a dramatic scene) it becomes that much more impact-full.

Similar contrasts can be drawn between the layouts and the tightness of illustrations. I've notice (from starting to read Point Guardian from the beginning all the way through) that whenever there is a panel with an explosion or clashing powers or whatever, you still treat the containing panel just like any other. Explosions especially don't have nearly as much impact when contained and cropped into a rigid box format.

For the most part, I won't say that the plots are bad. In fact, given the number of issues you've done, I'm surprised you've kept it fresh for so long. The Dragon Ball Z parodying I've been seeing lately is really kind of lame though, to tell you the honest truth. But that's coming from someone who despises all anime. Are you going to keep going in this Ultra = Goku, Ultima = Vagita, Psi-Kid = Gohan, route? Or is there something different coming soon?

[ChaosBurnFlame]

Oops. Guess I forgot about weekends.

I'm definitely not a professional colorist by any means, but one tip I can give you is to define a value range of colors to operate within. I tend to lean more towards more neutral pastels. Once you define this range, whenever you differ from it (like say for a dramatic scene) it becomes that much more impact-full.

Similar contrasts can be drawn between the layouts and the tightness of illustrations. I've notice (from starting to read Point Guardian from the beginning all the way through) that whenever there is a panel with an explosion or clashing powers or whatever, you still treat the containing panel just like any other. Explosions especially don't have nearly as much impact when contained and cropped into a rigid box format.

For the most part, I won't say that the plots are bad. In fact, given the number of issues you've done, I'm surprised you've kept it fresh for so long. The Dragon Ball Z parodying I've been seeing lately is really kind of lame though, to tell you the honest truth. But that's coming from someone who despises all anime. Are you going to keep going in this Ultra = Goku, Ultima = Vagita, Psi-Kid = Gohan, route? Or is there something different coming soon?

actually, its' quite different.

Psi-Kid's more based on how I feel a teen hero should be portrayed, and the love I had for the original post crisis Superboy before Geoff Johns ruined him.

And the DBZ thing is, well, it wasn't as much of an influence as you'd think.

The energy form Ultra took was more of the original concept I had for what Ultra's powers were to be from the start (I believe I mentioned this long ago, but the original concept was Ultra took a semi-energy state and had to wear a containment suit of some sort).

And as for Ultima, Ultima's more like a look into what would happen if someone young enough got the power, but not the discipline, the structure...

Ultima was treated by his parents like an experiment, then killed his father accidentally, went on his own and grew up with a warped perspective of his own mortality and morality.

These things I haven't done a good job exploring, and that is my bad, and I fully am able to admit my shortcomings as a writer.

Ultima's costume is somewhat DBZ based I must admit, but this was a stayover in an 'amusing' idea I had of showing Ultima as the embodiment of eastern philosophy, fighting ability, and the eastern type of 'hero' you would see in their popular media vs Ultra, who's cut from the same cloth of the chiseled chin boyscout superhero that has a mean left hook.

I hope this makes sense to you, lol.

[Brad]

Yeah, I definitely see that relation. Ultima's a total weirdo foreign Dr. Doom type while Ultra is more of an all american Hal Jordan.

One last question. What's with all the goofy glasses. I can't stop thinking back to that episode of the Simpsons where Bart and Milhouse take over and run the local comic book store and Milhouse spends all their money on that comic book sponsored by Lens Crafters.

[ChaosBurnFlame]

Clarissa is actually farsighted, so she needs them.

Ultima is as well, so he does need his.

as for the visor Ultra wears, part of it is the idea that a superhero's face would be recognizable, and would need some sort of slight covering up. Part of it is the idea to somehow replicate how some superheroes have vision based abilities by turning that very visor into a piece of equipment that's got applicable abilities.

as for Psi-Kid's... again, remember, I'm a big fan of Superboy, who wore a strange set of x-ray visors back near the beginning of the Karl Kessel run of his solo series.

Well, there you have it. I do thank you for reading and I hope I left a good impression on my work.