Tales of a Checkered Man

This strip is dedicated to Wade Gleason.

Gone too soon. Rest in peace. 

Hello friends and welcome to another week of checkered goodness! Everything has been bananas pre, during, and post C2E2 that I just can't even wrap my head around it all! What an experience! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the table and said hello! Thanks also to everyone who bought copies of the book! I had no expectations going into the con, so needless to say we were all really pleasantly surprised by the reception and sales of the book.

ASIDE: Speaking of, all you great folks who pre-ordered the book should start to see your orders arriving soon! =o)

On top of all the TOACM goodness, C2E2 was also the debut of Art and Franco's AW YEAH COMICS #1 and #2! I have the privilege of having a page in each of these two issues (and more to come). If you want your own copies, let your LCS know. You can also download the first issue on Comixology under Mark Waid's Thrillbent store here: http://www.comixology.com/Aw-Yeah-Comics/comics-series/10541 Aw yeah man!

As for this week's strip...well, I'll let it speak for itself...

-Denver

Greetings friends! Thanks for tuning in! It's an exciting week for us here in Exotic City, and not just because of this week's new comic. No, this weekend is C2E2! Aw yeah! You can find me, as well as Jillian and Brandon, at table K4 in Artist Alley! We're super excited because Thursday April 26th marks the debut of TALES OF A CHECKERED MAN: BEGINS the very first TOACM print collection! If you're going to the show, you have to swing by the table and say hello! I'll also be doing sketches and we'll have some fun freebies to give away too!

If you can't make it to the show...we understand, so order your copy of TOACM vol.1 by click the link: denverbrubakerart.storenvy.com

Thanks again fro reading and please make sure to come back next week as the third act of Changing of the Guard rolls on!

Hello all. I know some of you are probably wondering…haven’t I seen this strip already?

The answer is: yes.

You have seen it before, or at least the original version of the strip—this was the first strip after my summer break back in September 2012. As you can see (by reading the original post which accompanied this entry below) I knew this moment came toward the end of the story, but I wanted to return from hiatus with a bang. Flash forward almost seven months later and I find myself at the point in the story where this strip SHOULD have gone…so I tweaked the text a little and am re-posting it here today as something of a refresher.

So does that mean no new strip this week? NO WAY! In fact, tune in TOMORROW for the all new strip! Aw yeah! And don’t forget to catch up with the last few weeks so you can be all caught up…we’re getting closer and closer to the end…  

Originally published 9/26/2012

Welcome back!

It's been a while, but we're back with all new Tales of a Checkered Man comics for you to enjoy (hopefully)! First, let me say thank you to all of you long-standing readers out there who have stuck with me over the break, your loyalty is much appreciated. Secondly, I'd like to welcome all the new readers who may be discovering TOACM for the first time--it's nice to have you on board!

So this strip begins the second part of the Changing of the Guard story line. I know the storytelling has been choppy as I flash back and forth from the then and now. It's a little confusing like watching the later seasons of Lost or something especially since with this strips we forward to a very important scene near the end of the story! I definitely wanted to start things off with a splashy bang! I hope you approve...

FOOTNOTES:

• The pigeons are back! The trio of pigeons have been making appearances now and again since way back in TOACM #008 "Tastes Like Pigeon" from 4/29/10! Plus, my mom loves those pigeons so there you go...
• The dialogue in panel 1 referencing Sgt. Mulveny and his line "You have no idea what you got yourself into" goes waaaay back to TOACM #094 "Games People Play" from 3/1/2011.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Here's some WIP artwork for ya! This is a shot of the scanned inks before I clean it up in Photoshop and begin toning and lettering. As the weeks tick by I've been inking my comics more completely. In the past I used to rely more on toning and Photoshop to make some of the work more dynamic.

However, in the case of this strip I intentionally left the big hand and pistol in panel two un-shaded. I wanted to mess around with different lighting/shading on those elements to see which effect I liked best. After a few takes I decided upon this one which is more of a rim-lighting take.

That's it for this week! I'd love to read your comments and thoughts on the story thus far!

Cheers!

-Denver

 

I hope you all enjoyed last week’s awesome guest strip by Don Ahe! Well, I’m back and I’m not gonna yap on too much ‘cause there’s plenty of footnotes to get to! So, without further ado…

-FOOTNOTES-

Panel 1: Gus and the Checkered Man have been telling Mulveny the story behind how they ended up on the run from the ECPD since TOACM #153 “Shelter From the Storm”.

Panel 2: Gus left her apartment to head down to the park to look for clues in TOACM #173 “You Go Your Way”.

Panel 2: Tracy is referring to Pembleton’s hand wound sustained in her tussle with the Checkered Man in TOACM #166 “Outlaw Blues”.

Panel 4: Gus’ phone ringer is the 80’s classic “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa. This was my fiancé’s phone ringer for years.

Panel 4: You may or may not also recognize the internet-famed Nyan Cat meme as Gus’s phone wallpaper.

Panel 4: Gus’ phone looks very similar to a certain Mac product in our world, but in the TOACM universe is a product of Idea Inc. This eye symbol is their company logo. More on them later…

Panel 5-8: Before Gus left for the park, she left Joey the Sloth back at her place to wait for news from the Checkered Man (who’d disappeared in TOACM #163 “All the Tired Horses”). Before his bath, Joey cooked a big ol’ breakfast for himself in TOACM #167 “Hard Rain”.

That's all this week folks! Tune in next week for Odds & Ends part 2 as the third act of our story unfolds! Also, stay tuned to the blog as I'll be announcing the pre-order for the TOACM vol.1 book soon!

-Denver

This week’s comic has been one I've been itching to get to for some time—ever since I first mapped out this story arc. I hope you've been enjoying the new comics that have come along these past few weeks. The third act of Changing of the Guard is upon us!

-FOOTNOTES-

PANEL 1: Weston and Mulveny go way back--they were rookies together. Weston uses Mulveny’s nickname “Murph” here greeting the old friend informally. However, Mulveny’s reply “Weston” (the inspector’s last name), keeps things a little more formal between him and his old friend. This is probably due to him harboring some resentment for being a proxy and asked to retire following the Dark Cloud Incident back in TOACM #69 “Internal Affairs” from 12/9/10 – an order carried out by Weston himself!

PANEL 2: Changing of the Guard began with Weston, as well as Inspectors Tracy and Pembleton, chasing both the Checkered Man and Gus as seen in TOACM #151 “Never Gonna Be the Same Again” from 2/28/12. Mulveny has been harboring Gus and CM since TOACM #152 “Tangled up in Blue” from 3/7/12.

PANEL 3: When Weston says “the law is the law” he’s referring to the Capitol Hill Act which outlawed superhero activity in Exotic City following (and named for) the tragic death of the legendary superhero Capitol Hill. A memorial statue was raised for the hero, commemorating his sacrifice, at the heart of Liberty Park at the spot when he was killed. It was there that CM saw a shadowy doppleganger (or did he?) and followed it into the park back in TOACM #155 & #156. In TOACM #157 “Series of Dreams” from 5/9/12, our hero once again* has a supernatural encounter with his childhood hero, the deceased Capitol Hill, who warns him of a terrible danger and urges him to seek out the aid of an old ally. This encounter urges CM to seek out Gus’ help in the first place and sets the storyline’s events into motion.

PANEL  5: When last we saw out hero a couple strips ago in TOACM #178 “Not Dark Yet” he was lamenting his current situation and being comforted by Penelope while Mulveny phoned Weston.

*CM had a vision of Capitol Hill while being knocked unconscious during the Dark Cloud Incident back in TOACM #58, and again while reading his old Capitol Hill comic books in the three-part “America Idol” comics here, here, and here.

Tune in next week as the plot thickens (even more, can you believe it)!

-Denver