Taking the plunge!

sandycarruthers · Post by **sandycarruthers** » Thu Jan 08, 2004 2:03 pm

Hi all.
Man, its been ages since I've dropped in! Too damned busy! Any, here's what I've been busy with, my newest creation: Canadiana!
Check it out at:
http://www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html
I hope to update it weekly, so drop in as you please.
Hope y'all like it!

Tim Mallos · Post by **Tim Mallos** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:10 am

Hey Sandy!
Welcome back!

There was a bit o' talk about the card jam recently. I always loved your contributions to that. Looking forward to your new efforts!

Tim

sandycarruthers · Post by **sandycarruthers** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 7:50 am

It's good to be back! A new card jam, hmmm? We should make it Tarot Cards this time, just to 'spice ' it up!

Tim Mallos · Post by **Tim Mallos** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:39 am

Neat.
The Tarot cards could deal out randomly when the reader comes to the page. I have Cold Fusion running on my server, you could probably do it with PHP (not sure) too.

Mabe standardize the dimensions. I dunno.

Tim

icepick · Post by **icepick** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:25 am

Hey, I checked out the comic-I liked it-its sharp.

Tim Mallos · Post by **Tim Mallos** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 11:46 am

Oh , yeah, sorry! I loved your work on the new comic. You render human beings very well!

There is a touch of Eisner in some of your figures, especially the panel with the boy clutching his mother at the hospital saying he's scared.

Really beautiful stuff.

Tim

sandycarruthers · Post by **sandycarruthers** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:14 pm

Thanks for the kind words. It took alot of work to get this far, and it seems like it is just beginning. I will pass your comments on to my penciller Jeff Alward, who (I believe) is incredible when it comes to portraying humans. Mark Shainblum's writing also deserves praise in terms of character capturing.
I hope to have a new page up on Monday (then a consistant page each week after that) with the Xmas holidays, etc., things have been extra hectic!
Again thanks! The juggling Tarot cards with Cold Fusion would be cool as hell!

William G · Post by **William G** » Fri Jan 09, 2004 5:05 pm

Despite the fact that I dont like hero comics, this is pretty good. It's very old school.

Since I'm a Canadian superhero myself, I can relate.

Eric F Myers · Post by **Eric F Myers** » Sat Jan 10, 2004 5:07 pm

Super cool... but... um... Canada has like zero crime for her to fight

. But I'm sure you have a lot of ideas planned. I look forward to reading more.

And that tarot card jam idea sounds great too.

Rip Tanion · Post by **Rip Tanion** » Sun Jan 11, 2004 4:31 am

efm wrote:Super cool... but... um... Canada has like zero crime for her to fight .

She keeps busy by breaking up fights between drunken hockey fans, and people smuggling dutie free beer into the United States.

carruthers · Post by **carruthers** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 2:44 pm

Yeah, and she always apologizes, to boot!
Keep reading, eh?
; )

sandycarruthers · Post by **sandycarruthers** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 3:08 pm

Just a quick note that the Canadiana story has been updated with A NEW PAGE!!! KRAK-A-BOOOM!!!!!
http://www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana
Free cyber-booze for the first fifty customers! Well, not quite...but free comics....

carruthers · Post by **carruthers** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 1:33 pm

The update for Canadiana is up. Sorry for the delay, my life was going through personal LIVING HELL mode last week...
much, much better now.
Enjoy.
www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html

icepick · Post by **icepick** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 1:50 pm

Enjoyed this weeks page.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 10:53 pm

Anonymous wrote:The update for Canadiana is up. Sorry for the delay, my life was going through personal LIVING HELL mode last week...
much, much better now.

When people start paying you enough money to live off of your comics, then you can start apologising for attending to personal matters instead of drawing your FREE webcomic.

Anyway, how are you doing your coloring?

kaos_de_moria · Post by **kaos_de_moria** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 11:00 am

...ok, first of all, i didn't have the time to read the story yet, which i will do later. now just some thaughts i have on my mind.

the quality of drawing is great. it's something one doesn't always see in webcomics. but there's the term. webcomics.

i really have the impression, what you publish here is a scanned printed comic. it doesn't use any webcomics technics. as a printed comic this would be neat, but for a web comic the format seems strange. with the links on the left side and the high format of the pages, it includes alot of scrolling on small screens. (i have 800 by 600 pixels on this computer)

just some thaughts,
i'll come back to give my thaughts on the story, as soon as i read it,

kaos

William G · Post by **William G** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 1:32 pm

I kind of agree with what, I think, kaos is suggesting. I'm assuming that you're drawing it with the idea of later getting it printed.

But if you're not, then you should open up your composition more to take advantage of that "infinite canvas" thing.

Also, tell Dave Cullen that Bill Beckerson says "Hi" the next time you talk to him. And if he says, "Bill who?" tell him I'm gonna go down to Strange Adventures and wait to kick him in the butt for it.

Carruthers! · Post by **Carruthers!** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 3:26 pm

Thanks for the comments (and support). I'll try and answer your questions as clearly as I can.
I color the pages using a Wacom Intuos Graphics Tablet(the smallest one money can buy) with Photoshop 7. God bless Layers! It took alot of practice (still!) but I love the results so far.
As for experimenting with panel layouts, etc. I guess my long term is to see this become a graphic novel eventually(depending on its popularity), so it's pretty much a basic layout in terms of some of the more innovating and exciting work I've seen. Again, time is my enemy, and this is just one of MANY projects I'm currently doing (including my fulltime gig of teaching).
Bill, crazy Dave Cullen is no longer here in the Maritimes! He now resides in Toronto (the allure of many a Bluenoser!). If you'd like his address/phone #, please email me (sandycarruthers@hotmail.com), and I'll be glad to forward it to you. (Please address your header 'Looking for Mr. Cullen' so I won't mistaken you for spam).
Kaos, my apologies for the troubles you are having. I do however, hope you enjoy the work.

William G · Post by **William G** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 11:22 pm

Anonymous wrote: Bill, crazy Dave Cullen is no longer here in the Maritimes! He now resides in Toronto (the allure of many a Bluenoser!). If you'd like his address/phone #, please email me (sandycarruthers@hotmail.com), and I'll be glad to forward it to you. (Please address your header 'Looking for Mr. Cullen' so I won't mistaken you for spam).

Well, damn him to Hell! Who's butt will I kick if I go to Strange Adventures now?

carruthers · Post by **carruthers** » Wed Feb 11, 2004 10:55 am

This webcomic stuff can get challenging! Man! It's always too bad when life throws you curve balls and creative stuff suffers(like getting your work updated!) Sorry for the delay, folks, but the new installment is up!
Am I alone in this, or do other creators find it a challenge?
I hope you like!
www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html

DON the IDEA GUY · Post by **DON the IDEA GUY** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 7:01 pm

I agree with the other comments made -- high quality comic with classic overtures. The vibe I get so far is a cross between DC's Captain Marvel (SHAZAM!) and Wonder Woman... heck, even your heroine's name is "Diana."

Can't wait to read more. Compliments to the penciler.
~DON

carruthers · Post by **carruthers** » Tue Feb 17, 2004 3:18 pm

Low and behold! The next installment is up and running! And early to boot! Check it out - tell me whatcha all think!
www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html

carruthers · Post by **carruthers** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 1:19 pm

Hey Don!
Interesting comparison... Wonder Woman, maybe... but Shazam? Hmm. Okay. Actually the heroines name is Jennifer... just to be a bit picky. I'm glad you like it.
I 've been getting alot of feedback with comments on it looking 'old school'.... is this something I should be concerned with, perhaps? I simply do not want to emulate that 'manga' american-ized look comics are giving out these days... it's too cartoony. I dunno... maybe I am old school... what do you all think?
I know Jeff Alward ( the penciller) is in his mid twenties, so it's a bit confusing.
Here's the question: should I be copying current drawing styles to capture current readership, or 'do my own thing'?
I'm open to comments!
Also: new page!
www.sandycarruthers.com/canadiana.html

DON the IDEA GUY · Post by **DON the IDEA GUY** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 2:23 pm

Anonymous wrote:Interesting comparison... Wonder Woman, maybe... but Shazam? Hmm. Okay. Actually the heroines name is Jennifer... just to be a bit picky.

Sorry about the name, but I'll bet you'll start to see that become a common mistake -- the project name is what got me: "CANADIANA" = CANA-DIANA.

Where I get the SHAZAM-feel is in the way her nature is being revealed: she's referred to as a spirit of Canada, the Tarot reader is using arcana references to her true nature vs. the initials of the immortals that formed Capt. Marvel's transformation (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury.)

Can't speak to how others interpret your work, but those are the references that spring to my warped little mind!

Anonymous wrote:I've been getting alot of feedback with comments on it looking 'old school'.... is this something I should be concerned with, perhaps?

I think the best course is to always do your own thing.
When I say 'old school' I meant it reminds me of the classic hero comic book -- when Batman was a detective (but not-so 'dark') and Superman was a big boy scout. Looking at the art on your current issue, I can almost see overtones of Neal Adams-meets-Mike Grell in the style. Manga was never really my thing anyway, so I definitely like what you're doing. :)

Keep up the good work!
~DON

Zwol.org

Taking the plunge!

Taking the plunge!

oooooh

CANADIANA

very cool... but...

Re: very cool... but...

Canadiana

hmm...

Holy Crap!

Classic

new page!

Bada bing!

Re: Bada bing!