Monday, December 29, 2014

Maya and the Outer Reaches 100% Off (That's Means Free!)

Starting today at Sellfy, Issue One of Agent Maya—Maya and the Outer Reaches—is free! That's 22 full color pages for nothing. Simply click on Share and Download. Choose either Twitter or Facebook to share with everyone the link to Maya and the Outer Reaches, then download. That's it. I appreciate everybody spreading the word. And while you're there, buy Issues Two and Three, just $.99 each. Over sixty full color pages of comics for $1.98. Really, you can't go wrong. Thanks, and enjoy.


Issue Four Production Post Four

Well I'm sneaking this in under the New Year's wire—two new teaser images for you! I've got about two-thirds of Issue Four in the can; now the big set piece needs to be setup and then rendered. It's taken me a bit longer to do this issue, as the holidays slowed me down due to the day job and a bit of software fatigue set in on me. I'm a bit disappointed in the looks of some renders I'm getting out of Daz Studio right now—hopefully the new iteration will please me a bit more.




Saturday, November 15, 2014

Agent Maya Issues Two and Three Available!

A quick plug that Agent Maya Issues Two and Three—Maya and the Vestal Doll and Maya and the Clash On Titan—are now available for sale at Sellfy! 99 cents each and full color, downloadable PDFs.

Maya and the Vestal Doll



Maya and the Clash on Titan


Thanks and enjoy.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Issue Four Production Post Three

Issue Four is moving along well. I have plenty of scenes blocked out, and many just need rendering to finish. I have several complex sets requiring many moving pieces to block out yet, and fortunately the worst part is just the work itself. I've been building some models that appear in this issue with the express purpose of utilizing them in future spinoffs—when you see them in the story, you'll know why.

And here's two teasers.




Saturday, August 30, 2014

Issue Four Production Post Two

Since my last post, Issue Four is chugging along. No renders right now—my energies are on the scene creation front. Hopefully within the next few weeks the scenes I've built will be ready to render and will give me some teasers I can post here.

On the digital comics end, ComiXology rejected Maya and the Outer Reaches. Can't say I'm totally surprised, and frankly I'm a bit relieved that the ComiXology saga is over, at least for now. Granted it would be great to be on the same site as the big leagues, but waiting nearly eight months (!) just to receive a rejection reply is a bit much for me to build my brand. I could pursue a further investigation as to why, but in the end I don't want to wait months just to get that rolling again, and who is to say the others wouldn't face the same fate? Which brings me to my next piece of news...

After some searching, I have found a couple of intriguing outlets for digital sales, the first of which I have actively joined! The site is Sellfy.com, which allows Paypal checkout for easy sales, and I'm all for that. Uploading of PDFs is painless, the process takes just a few minutes, and best of all, it's free to join! They provide a readymade url for your product; what else do you need? Sales, that's what. So check out Maya and the Outer Reaches. Maya's waiting.

Thanks, and enjoy!

And thanks to Ryan Estrada for this great post on digital comics and ComiXology Submit. He provides some great ideas, talks you through pros and cons, and introduces other comic creators to Sellfy and Gumroad, the two sites I've researched as alternatives. Thanks, Ryan!

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Issue Four Production Post One

I have begun building a plethora of new models and locations for Issue Four. Issues Two and Three relied on previous assets or hardly any at all, but the upcoming comics are requiring brand new stuff and that means extensive preproduction. The cast in this issue is the largest yet, with many speaking parts and the return of two guest stars from Issue One, along with many scenes and locales. The plot is fast, the action is fierce and the villain is someone I've been waiting over two years to put into play. Agent Maya may have just met her match....

ComiXology update: Tumbleweeds and crickets on the email front. Six and half months later and getting a bit short on patience.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Issue Three Production Post Two

Well, midway through 2014, and Issue Three is complete! I'm excited by how well it all came together; improving my handling of Daz Studio enabled me to utilize Photoshop less for postwork and more for compositing. That being said, I basically had two to three renders for each panel—and sometimes four or five—owing to the complexity I am putting into each issue now. When I began Issue One as a novice, I had no idea I would be producing such involved artwork by Issue Three!

Okay, enough blabbing, here's the goods—two full-page teasers:






ComiXology update: Five+ months and still no email...well I'll keep the production line chugging along.



Sunday, April 20, 2014

Issue Three Production Post One

All right I'm back to post more production news—as the title says, I'm well into work on Issue Three. Currently I am working on better lighting and camera rendering, utilizing f-stops and focal distances to achieve the cinematic panels I have aspired to since this project began. Below are two teasers.






Still some ways to go but every render I do pleases me more...I'm finally achieving the look for Agent Maya I've had in my mind's eye for nearly a decade now! Obstacles are being overcome and each issue now is many times improved over the last. The story for Issue Three scratches the surface of the overarching mythology for Agent Maya, and just maybe a few questions will pop up to make you think what exactly is going on in the Solar System. I promised more thrills and exciting new vistas for each successive issue, and I'm ready to start delivering. Now I just have to bide my time until ComiXology approves Issue One—hopefully just another six weeks or so to go....

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Issue Two Production Post—Ready For Liftoff

While I was away I finished Issue Two! I seem to be making a bad habit of forgetting to post every month as I had been, so forgive me for that. But work has been steady on the latest Maya adventure, leaving me just the cover to design and the interior credits, etc. to edit. Having put myself through the gauntlet of Issue One, much of the post-production and individual page editing for Issue Two has been quite easier, as I didn't have to recreate the wheel this time around.

And speaking of Issue One, Maya and the Outer Reaches, six weeks ago I uploaded to ComiXology the digital files for their submission process. The waiting period is lengthy, often a few months (and five months for one creator I came across online) so it will still be some time before I can announce it's on sale. I'm crossing my fingers that I receive that email soon!

And returning to Issue Two, I'm very pleased with the beta version; my reader over at Crow Greetings will be sure to give her very best critique. I'm happy to be well on the way to its release so soon before Issue One makes into the world.

I'll leave you with a few teasers and news that preproduction work on Issue Three has begun....