WOW Signal: Crowdfund

WOW Signal, the book by myself, SirGryphon is currently in the crowdfunding stage. Its been an on and off again project as I worked on other books for other creators, and I wanted to be able to put more time into it. To do that I have to show that there is a demand for this kind of science fiction.

The project has evolved and originally was just me testing the waters of working completely digitally. The process was fun as it allowed me to play around with not just digital pencils and inks but also starting my hand at digital painting to create more dynamic images that had symbiosis between each layer.

The book WOW Signal, has a group of explorers preparing to undergo a mission that takes a dark turn when Aliens try to dog humanities reach outside their own solar system.

It is an idea that I've been playing with for a long time, and originally was more of a space fantasy then the science fiction tale it is now. Inspired by sources such as The Cosmos (both Tyson's and Sagan's) Star Trek, Homeworld, The Hazards of Space Travel, and System Shock, my book tries to take our current technology and prognosticate what it will be like in 61 years into the future. It imagines a world post WWIII and a star system that is tamed by humanity.

One of the double splash pages introducing the NAMALSADIRAH II. A character of itself.

One of the challenges of scifi that is intergalactic is trying to figure out how a people travel from place to place and navigate space both functionally and efficiently. I tackle this in a unique way-where some scifi's try to have a universal form of transportation I realized that a diverse universe would probably have diverse travel. Each with its own unique challenges, pros and cons. In the first issue we see that humanity for instance uses fusion for their conventional travel and for vast distances employ something called the Trabean drive: A propulsion system that functions more like the Hitchhikers guides improbability drive in that it alters the nature of physical reality than propelling the ship forward. Another craft employs something called the Shadow Drive, a engine that warps the craft into shadow that is cast instantly to where it shadow lies, this drive while faster than anything else has a limited distance and takes time to charge.

These are just some examples of what I am toying around with in my series. To see more please bring this book to life by your support!

SirGryphon is an advocate for space travel and salutes all those who have undertaken the dangerous journey into space to help mankind fully discover the final frontier.

KNIGHTS MISSIVE 12/11/2015

KNIGHTS MISSIVE 12/11/2015

Gryphon Knights announces the publication of Millennials #1! This series, written by Dimitrios Fragiskatos, drawn by Guillermo Villareal, and colored & lettered by our own SirGryphon .  


The book was successfully crowdfunded and completed and was released on November 25 along side the Frank Millers Dark Knight III in a David vs. Goliath launch. Both a parody of and homage to The X-Men, the comic takes us on the adventures of... Entitleman! Mr. Hideous! Buzzgirl! Cyber Bully! and Know-It-All! Featured in Bleeding Cool the comic was crowdfunded and received press from sites like the 13th Dimension The comic MILLENNIALS hit stores in late November and sold through the first run quickly, Dimitrios also appeared and talked about the book on the Midtown Comics Podcast; we couldn't be more proud.  

The Second Issue is Due out in late January but we will keep you up to date on any changes!

More coming soon...

This article was written by Tony Wolf who is the creator of Greenpoint of View and True Tales of Comics Series featured on Gryphon Knights Comics. He is also an actor and writer and you can find more about him as well as his social media on his site (Tonywolfactor.com)

Graphic Novel Review: Last Days of an Immortal

Last days of an Immortal is a French graphic novel published by one of my favorite companies Archaia. Its written by Fabien Vehlmann and illustrated by Gwen De Bonneval. This novel follows a man named Elijah who is a member of the philosophical police, as he journeys through the universe trying to not to solve crimes but to resolve them by helping different people understand, and come to accept vastly different belief paradigms and practices.

This book may be one of the hardest things to deliver to audiences because just as Elijah tries to rationalize diverse socio-cultural systems to others De Bonneval is trying to help us understand and ground oneself in this distant Utopian future, where intergalactic travel is so commonplace it doesn't bear mention. In a world where death is all but extinct thanks to mediums called echoes, except for the death of ones furthest memories which are lost when merging with an echo of oneself. It seems a difficult task but she remedies this issue by starting with something carnal and familiar as Elijah investigates a grisly murder scene.

This murder was committed all by a misunderstanding, as an alien who mistook an assassins gunshot in his direction as a sign of affection and the large beast returning that affection ended up murdering his attacker. Elijah is then responsible for resolving the feelings between the human, now revived because of his echo, and the alien and helping them understand where the misunderstanding occurred. This introduction mimics the overarching story as Elijah is trying to resolve the motives of two ancient alien races the Aleph and the Ganedan. Millions of years ago an Aleph ate a Ganedan prince and the Ganedans responded in kind-this conflict was the foundation of each groups customs and culture and now in the present future their conflict threatens to plunge the current society into war. Elijah and his echoes are trying to rationalize what started the original attack between these species all while he is trying to resolve the reasons his friend has chosen to completely die.

Bonneval's artwork is an interesting complement that is hard to fully describe but it is really easy to absorb and take in. This simplistic rendering has a sort of reminiscence to how Americans perceived elements of the future in the 40s in a type of Italian futurism; it makes an unimaginable future perceptible without the distraction of drowning in overwhelming ad nausea details. The artist takes much care in the setting of scene their artist style morphing to fit the mood and changing mediums (ie from ink to a watercolor wash) to help certain effects stand out.

Last Days of an Immortal  was extremely gratifying to read, while it was initially hard to get into and certain parts seem to be waterlogged with exposition the book helped to challenge my perspectives of science fiction and give me a grasp of what might lay beyond the perceivable. It also puts forth a remarkable demonstration of individual, interpersonal, societal responsibility for our actions and understanding ourselves in these various roles, and what death and memory mean as individuals.

It is a read for someone who enjoys sifting through a heady novel a couple of and times as then sit and simmer in the ideas it presents. Otherwise it can easily go unappreciated as a preachy or dull to the impatient laymen.

I'd like to thank my brother Sean Griffin  for gifting me this book.

The artist SirGryphon sometimes likes to overthink things and will illustrate them as humorous anecdotes in a series called MEANWHILE... or as a fun scifi adventure in WOW Signal. Both books can be found at Gryphon Knights Comics!

The Path of the Artist: My Teachers

I think there has always been something romanticized about the path of an artist. We create worlds, we delight imaginations and bring to light concepts that seem infinitely difficult to conceptualize. It all seems so glorious as long as you ignore the difficulties and dangers along the path.

In school growing up I was always "doodling during class." I always had difficulties concentrating and had an immense amount of energy. This activity was something the staff silently conceded to, as drawing quietly was the best concession they made for me. I stayed out of trouble, and they hoped that I was absorbing something. The public forum I was creating in meant that everyone knew that I was an artist. So I had, from as early as middle school, my identity reduced to an occupation, an occupation that I would often fight tooth and nail for many years after.

An extremely old drawing done on graph paper.

It didn't start like that however; my parents thought my talent should be kindled and had me train at an early age with a local fine artist Mrs. Shepherd. A lot of what I learned from her wasn't how to "draw better" rather it was a way of looking at things. Two lessons of hers stand out: The first was about trees, she asked me one day, "What color do you think trees are?" I thought I knew the answer and replied "Brown." She went on to tell me that it wasn't that simple, that they may seem "brown" but that trees were made up of a variety of colors, and that I had to look closely. She then had my draw a tree and color with just the primaries with water color pencils-I drew but saw a colorful mess, that is til' I swathed over it with some water, and the image came alive. With her guidance I was able to make grey green trees, brown trees, and the variety of colors mixed brought the image more alive because of the texture of the colors intermingling. Imagining the world made up of small bits and colors was mystical as a child.

Her second lesson was more concise: we were at an art exhibit together and she asked which painting I enjoyed the most, I told her, and she questioned, "Why?" Her next words won me a certain admiration and respect, "realism is not what makes art great." Those words reminded me at the time of Yoda's words to Luke, "War does not make one great," and reflecting back it is amazing what we think qualifies something for greatness, and how important that seems to be.

I stopped attending classes with her after getting abducted by aliens, and become a cold introverted child. It was only years later that I came out of my shell a bit. I began attending art lessons with a friend and my second teacher, Joe Tomasini, wasn't as philosophical as my last. He believed that it was only through practice and discipline that a person would improve. However, trying to have two 13 year old boys concentrate and practice and do art homework as well as their regular curriculum was as difficult as trying to rub a cats belly, all we were interested in was talking about girls.

The lesson I learned from him was more cynical and grounding. Tomasini was the original creator of Gargoyles! The show came out a year after he presented artwork and storylines to Disney, work I was privileged to see and was astonished in the similarities, Goliath especially seemed ripped directly from his concepts-it was appalling that even
without tweaking any details they could blatantly steal his concept and still win. Win they did however, as after three years and being drained dry by attorneys the judge ruled in favor of Disney. Ideas are valuable and it is sometimes it is in poor judgement to trust someone with them.

During the time I attended lessons a mothers friend of a friend happened to know Dan Jurgans, who has worked with various comic book companies throughout the years. It was the mid-nineties and he was a rising star in the industry. They were able to get me a chance to talk to him on the phone I was hopeful excited and naively idealistic that I would soon be a true comic book artist. He told me that to succeed in the industry I had to be able to draw everything at every angle and be able to do it well--He also mentioned that even if I was able to do that there are hundreds if not thousands of capable artists and getting a job would be even more difficult. He mentioned how even if I was able to get a job succeeding in it was a whole other story, as the 90s were rife with companies struggling, floundering, and going bankrupt, finally he left me with a "Well, goodbye, and good luck."

I realized that this path was not going to be an easy one, and I wish I could say I pushed ahead in spite of overwhelming odds, but I think that's just a phrase used in films and stories. I think that people who push forward no matter the odds are those who have either no literal or psychological other way they can go. They push on in spite of the corpses of those who have tried before, not because they feel they are brave or better able, but because in their core they feel they have no other choice.

SirGryphon is just a guy who doodles. Doodle a lot and it may get you somewhere, as for him he doodles for Gryphon Knights Comics a collective rife with artists and outcasts trying to push forward because they don't see another way to go. You can help them along the way by becoming a patron!

Indie Comics Review: Salvagers ISSUE 1

SALVAGERS: Visual Storytelling Done Right

There are many space opera sci-fis out there. Stories where you watch characters go from nobodies on a farm to galactic heroes whose names are spoken in awe by its denizens. SALVAGERS is not one of them; though that's not a bad thing.

I was given the opportunity to read their first issue when the creators of Salvagers graciously gave away free PDFs of the book to celebrate 10k followers. This premiere of the series quickly introduces us to the crew of the Harrier, the calculating Teagan bickering with the computer A.V.R.I, the quirky Brigby, Mighty T'yr, and of course the roughneck Cpt. Roanick. The first novel introduces them not as heroes but blue collar labor, a theme of the series that originally drew my interest. These "Salvagers" are a group of people trying to make money harvesting old wrecks that are drifting through space post a huge galactic war.

Bob Salley really nails a few features of this first book. In a one page blurb without too much text he is able too give you context so that you can grasp the state of this galaxy and basic economics, it was so short and sweet that I wish George Lucas could have seen it before making episode 1 whose dialog was washed out with economic and trade discourse. The first issue also really drives home the relationships of this crew, while they are concerned about each other, they aren't tight as family; rather they are coworkers - trying to do a job while not getting killed by automated security in

Its this "let the page speak" presentation that I really admire as a fellow comic creator. Too often you have huge blocks of text that are hogging otherwise beautifully rendered pages that try to educate the reader about the world their entering but only end up alienating them, even more so if the book is a science fiction piece. It is something that I feel plagues the industry especially "the big 2" who often need these word chunks to outline decades of prior history and timelines of their characters. Its terrible, and that is why Marvels "nuff said" series in the 90s really spoke to me... No pun intended. They used pictures exclusively! That was remarkable for the entertainment industry that has gotten too reliant on narration, reading large blocks of text,
and seemingly unable to leave things implied.
otherwise dead warships or sucked out into space. In just 24 pages he is also able to give you a firm grasp of who these characters are using subtle hints in the communication between each crewmember, such as Brigby betting on T'yr destroying something emphasizing that character as a bruiser sort of archtype.

Let me get off the soapbox simply to say that Salley has started strong. It allows the artist that he works, George Acevedo to create really engaging gritty images. These are chock full of Jim Lee levels of detailed backgrounds, and he creates doodads and circuit panels and so many other eyecatching inventions to fill the image. One page I really liked visually was page 5 where Teagan is arguing with the computer , Acevedo doesn't just fill the screen with nonsense, he has actual blueprints displayed their of the wreck they are investigating. A ton of work for such a simple detail that only seen on one page. That's crazy! I like that kinda crazy. As far as his visuals his visual story telling and even his stylistic leanings remind me of early Adam Kubert work, specifically on the 90s X-men. Its this ability that really moves the action along and allows your eye to flow smoothly along the page.

As far as lettering goes there isn't really anything groundbreaking or special there and the letterer does a capable job telling a story. That's not to downplay that ability as early letterers often can make a mess of the page. The one thing they may have considered is when transporting the letters from whatever program they use they might want to consider adjusting its color as black text moved from a program like Illustrator to Photoshop lose their crisp black element, and you end up having words and word bubbles that are grey and it just looks a little lazy and sloppy.

Those minor nitpicky grievances aside my interest was originally peaked in Salvagers because of a little number called Starlight Tavern. A comic-strip comedy that is an extreme foil to Salvagers, as Salvagers tone overall is dark and has muted colors and thick dark inks, the Starlight Tavern, meanwhile, is fun and bright and welcoming. Both series are worth as shot, and I think these guys really have something special. They have 2 other issues of their book out and a 4th on the way so you don't have to worry about the series ending on a frustrating cliffhanger... You can salvage them from Comixology or their store.

All in all, Salvagers was a refreshing break from the norm of glorified farmboys in space, and I have to say I'm looking forward to more.

This guy SirGryphon is a scifi junky and he eats it for breakfast and dinner. He works on his own scifi over at Gryphon Knights Comics called the WOW Signal.