Category Archives: comics

comics, my art, Science, SF

Astronauts could use Mars soil for 3D-printing on the Red Planet | Space

Martian soil could serve as a 3D-printing material, researchers have shown, meaning it could be used to manufacture items on the Red Planet. 

In a series of tests, Amit Bandyopadhyay, a professor at the Washington State University School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and his team used simulated crushed Martian regolith to demonstrate its capabilities as a 3D-printing material.

The results may be crucial for future crewed missions to Mars.

This reminded me of a 2 page comic I did a while back, which shows 3d printing buildings in passing

See the whole thing here: link

Art, comics

Some Comics Printing Advice from Chip Zdarsky

My early comics, like Monster Cops, were black & white, which was an easier thing to manage. There was a period where I printed the FCBD books for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which was a nightmare, because they were in full colour and have multiple cartoonists submitting work. But the biggest things I learned were:

  • Lettering should be 100% black, no extra colours or it’ll get fuzzy. You want lettering to be crisp and readable.

  • If the lettering is on top of a colour, make sure the lettering is set to overprint. That means the colour will be laid behind it and the black will be printed on top of it. Otherwise it’ll print the colour with white knocked out where the lettering goes and you run the risk of white halo around the lettering.

  • Your total ink value should never exceed 300%. Like, say I have a rich black colour that’s made up of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. If I make all those values at 100% of those colours, the ink load will be 400% and that’s just gonna soak the paper.

  • Adding Batman will increase your comic’s sales by 65%.

You’ll have to scroll down past all the royals crap, but the relevent stuff is above.

From his newsletter.

Art, comics

Steve Ditko RIP

I didn’t know Steve Ditko. I only met him through the pages of Spider-man, Dr. Strange, Hawk and Dove. In later years he developed Shade the Changing Man, and squirrel Girl for the big companies. His other characters include Mr. A, the Question, and many more.
He became a recluse and declined interviews in the 80sI think, and worked mostly on his own B&W comics.
He was found dead in his apartment on June 29th, and may have been dead for 2 days according to the police.

Here’s one from one of his Mr. A comics, and a tribute I did as a portrait of a friend.

Ditko
Ditko Mr. A
Damien as Dr. Strange
Damien as Dr. Strange Ditko Tribute

Art, books, comics

Jeanne & Modigliani: Paris in the Dark

A story that was quite common in the early 20th century, beautifully illustrated. A graphic novel not to be missed. You can only get it for Kindle or via Comixology right now, but the physical book is (supposedly) on its way.

[showbookcover isbn=”B07C3TCWPC” action=”amazon”]

Art, comics

On the Desktop

Here’s a new comic I’m working on. Been penciling about 2 pages a day, and am 8 pages in. Hope to have it finished by the end of April. I’m plotting other stuff, too. Hope to have a bunch for MECAF.


Art, comics

On Gir • Joe Keatinge’s Tribute to Jean “Moebeus” Giraud

Don’t wallow in the past. Aim for tomorrow. Don’t be beholden to what was created before you. Create the worlds you want to see. Create the experiences you want to share. Create in the medium you love the most. Create relentlessly. Don’t hold yourself back or tell yourself you’ll get to it later. Don’t wait to be brilliant. Don’t talk about what you want to do. Do it now. Do it in your own way.

@joekeatinge

via On Gir • Joe Keatinge's Comics & Stories.