Writer, Artist, Creator
Status Report – 050420:
Today, we uploaded a new video to YouTube, worked on the cover to Fredrikus No. 1, and did some administration stuff.
What you see in the pic above is part of Fredrikus No. 1, page 1.
This strip will be in color.
The cover is around 50% complete (color flats are down and modeling has begun).
Hope you dig Fredrikus when he debuts, especially if life humor is your thing.
This has been your Status Report for 050420.
Project Jackass Title Revealed: Fredrikus.
A while back on Patreon, I gave my patrons a patron-first announcement (a perk to being a patron), which was the reveal of the true title of Project Jackass.
Project Jackass was the placeholder title for an upcoming comic strip series from me called Fredrikus.
Fredrikus is that dog you see on the cover of Canister X Comix or throughout my Inktober 2019 sketches. Fred the Dog was a character I created during my time in animation school way back when animation was done on stone tablets that you’d throw past a guy at rapid succession to create the illusion of motion. (Har har.)
Fredrikus is structured as episodic strips, ranging between a single-panel gag and a couple comic pages, and is a mix of humor, heart, and a little bit of social justice with a dose of cynicism.
The plan is for the strips to be collected at some point in comic book format for collectors.
As for how this thing will be published–as in the business model–we’re looking at making it a webcomic (with the aforementioned print version once enough–or close to enough–have aired). The goal of the comic is to simply create an anything-goes comic playground where I can noodle with ideas and styles and experiment with the medium. There’s a general overarching plot to the whole thing, but readers can jump in at any point and will have no trouble piecing it together.
I’ll reveal more of the premise at a different time, but if you like dystopian sci-fi with some of the monster and superhero stuff I normally do, you’ll dig this.
Release is still a ways off, but plenty of strips are written along with some fun side material, and the drawing phase is about half complete in regards to where I want to be before launch.
Stay tuned . . .
Welcome to Various Bits from the Net – 032420.
This semi-regular segment is about items on the World Wide Web that I found interesting or amusing and thought worth mentioning on a public space like this blog. This was last segment.
And so . . .
Been reading Saucetown magazine ever since artist friend Sean Simmans told me he’s working on it and sent me stuff. Go here. It’s a satire thing.
I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation growing up and got really into it in high school. I remember watching the finale when it originally aired and it marking the end of an era. But, like all things, you can get some humor out of it so watch this:
Recently, we got treated to a look at the Batmobile Robert Pattinson’s Batman will drive. As a fan of muscle cars, I’m cool with the new design and am glad they are trying something new. Here is an article from when the picture came out.
A little plug of my own: While the blog was in maintenance mode, my Patreon page was still running and content was still being added, up to including today, which saw the release of the 14th chapter of Gigantigator Death Machine. For just a buck, you get access to the ongoing serial novel and its archives plus patron-only blog posts. Join the story by going here. Every bit of support is appreciated. Thanks.
Welcome to Various Bits from the Net – 012220.
For those unfamiliar with this segment (here’s the last one), it’s basically a round-up of a few items from around the Internet that I found interesting and thought were worth sharing. Do with them as you please.
First up, my friend and cartoonist, Max West, has a new Kickstarter starting up soon. It’s for Dominic and Claire Circus. I have the minicomics from the previous Kickstarter and they are a hoot. Go here to learn more about Max West and watch the video below to see the comics from the previous Kickstarter.
Need a bit of humor? Here is the How it Should Have Ended regarding how Captain America should have returned the infinity stones.
I missed sharing this on social media at Christmas time–thanks Broadcast Mode–so I’m going to share it here. It’s a parody of “Let it Snow” called “Make it So.”
As you know, I love newsletters and prefer them as a solid form of communication from creator to reader. Piers Anthony–whom I had the privilege of publishing in the Bits of the Dead anthology–has a monthly column that acts as his newsletter. He’s always up to something interesting even if his views and mine don’t always line up. His newsletter can be found here.
Lastly, Wil Wheaton’s blog is quite good and, while he’s well-known in fandom, he’s also a really down-to-earth guy so I check in on his blog now and then to see what he has to say. Please visit Wil here.
In personal news, the week is coming along. Finishing up things so I can move on to new things. All this is logged in my weekly newsletter, so if you haven’t already subscribed, be sure to get on board and join me and my other subscribers on Saturdays to wind down from the week. Hope to see you there.
Take care.
Various Bits of the Net for 012220 complete.
by Chris Riseley and Sean Simmans
5 out of 5
What do you get when you team up a struggling writer and an artist who wears a dinosaur costume all day long? You get Rizzo, a hilarious collection of the syndicated comic strip.
Rizzo, the character, writes. W. Bill Czolgosz, the character, draws, and these strips follow them on their adventure of trying to make their mark in a world that doesn’t appreciate them or their “art.”
The gags are brief, about 3-4 panels long, and you find yourself laughing out loud for most of them and laughing on the inside for all of them.
This humor, part simple silliness and part commentary, is smart, witty and, to a degree, “observational” ala Seinfeld.
Rizzo burst onto the scene a few years back and appears in many newspapers across the country.
This book is a “best of” collection, chosen from over 900 strips. (There are about 300 strips in the book.)
Too funny. Read it.
