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!

Comic Review: EERIE SERIES Pat the Werewolf

At a convention from last year we had the pleasure of meeting punny mathematician Jason Deeble and was introduced to his webcomics series Monster Haiku. After chatting he was kind enough to give us a copy of his book or the EERIE SERIES. I know its been some time since I recieved it but this Halloween I finally got a chance to read the volume he gave me featuring comic strips of his character Pat the Werewolf.



His series is a very family friendly strip that easy to follow and straight to the point, often using play on words to emphasize the punchline. You can tell this just from the titles of his collections in the series "Pat the Werewolf", "Carpe Demon", "Rob the Zombie." He also pokes fun at typical monster tropes including werewolves having dog like qualities, zombies being stinky etc.

The series is amusing and you don't need to read the previous 1000 strips to know where you are as they are all self-contained. The cast itself is so familiar from the volumes of horror characters universal made familiar back in the 20-60s and have been a vital part of the film industry ever since, that these creatures are already familiar in our minds without any long introduction. The art and the humor actually feel like a spiritual heir to Bill Amend's "Foxtrot", a comic series that was daily from 1988-2006, its humorous that even the creators share a similar education and interest in mathematics and physics.

These lovable monsters Deeble presents us with might be a little to simple if you are looking for heady highbrow finishers but for kids and families its a no miss. A collection would make a great gift for anyone who was a die hard monster, or Foxtrot fan. In addition his store has many fun collectibles and merchandise including a rob the zombie hat!

SirGryphon is an artist for GKCOMICS where he toils and helps produce another comic series called MEANWHILE...

Webcomic Review: Starveil

David Rapoza is an artist that continues to grow in popularity and whose thoughts on the freelance industry are great to chew on. His artwork is gritty and detailed and fun to stare at, he even has instructionals on his process up on youtube. What gained him a lot of notice was the hi res, & detailed ninja turtles that he created over 4 years ago.

Its always interesting to see when an artists creates solo work, the piece he started a few years ago was a webcomic called Starveil. This webcomic kinda feels like an homage of everything that was awesome as an American boy growing up in the 90s. It seems to have elements of Dragon Ball Z, Mad Max, old anime, space operas all thrown in a blender. "Will it blend?" Hell yeah it does.

Along with his gritty style the book is fast paced and displays plentiful and powerful action. The palatte he chose for the backgrounds allow for his characters to pop off the page, and the faded pastel colors make the world he's crafted thus far seem truly alien. A feature that is emphasized by his use of negative space is sublime as certain elements spill out of the panels and into the gutters.

My only qualm artistically with the book is his lettering. While I still love his color choice in bubbles and have no issue with his decision in font, its the layout that bugs me. It seems to have many errors of a neophyte letterist, such as bubbles being to long, or dialogue not being centered and touching the bubble borders... Bubble Borders.

The story isn't anything ground breaking, as of yet, as the "hero" of the book is trying to rescue a beautiful stowaway from his crashed vessel and encountering antagonists on the way. What is innovative is how Rapoza takes advantage of tumblrs' gif ability and uses short animations featured in certain panels that help bring the book to life. Action scenes come alive as characters walk toward you, or energy beems fly across the page and increase the already speedy pacing of the book and makes you feel like you should be listening to DragonForce while reading.

The dialogue tends to verge on being a little slow, and self aggrandizing. Though I feel like this element is homaging the taunts and challenges of characters from certain series like Dragon Ball Z or Conan the animated series. It could also be a nod to the silver age of comics as panels used to be densely packed with words and exposition.

What I've really enjoyed from the series isn't even in the book itself but in his extras, the portrait gallery. The character designs there are so eye catching and colorful as classic cartoon heroes used to be. Its even more enjoyable when a character from the gallary enters into the book and you can see them in action. Its kind of like when your favorite X-men was finally featured on an episode of that 90s X-men animated series.

The series so far has me wanting more but unfortunately there has not been an update in a while. Rapoza has a patreon running for the creation of this webcomic and has said that certain contractual obligations have forced him to keep it hush hush for now. He has also posted random images from the book on his tumblr showing that work is still continuing on it and it may yet still see print. However if you want more of his comic work now you can always check out his hilarious series Steve Lichman about a Lich trying to get by in these crazy modern times.


That guy Sir Thomas J. Gryphon is okay, but overhauling the Gryphon Knights website has driven him batty. You can see his own sci-fi work on series like FvD or WOW Signal.

Webcomic Review: Black Mudpuppy or "How the Word Chumblenuts Invaded my Vocabulary."

Face the god of death... I mean 

The Black Mudpuppy is a action comedy webcomic written by Ethan Kocak. The first question you might have when you read the title of this webcomic, is "what the hey is a black mudpuppy." Well a mudpuppy is a type of salamander. The same type of critter that the protagonist Xolotl, the crazy god of death, is imprisoned in by another god Quetzalcoatl, for blowing up goats and terrorizing villagers. Now imprisoned in that form he terrorizes local small wildlife for 500 years until Quetzalcoatl offers him an ultimatum, be good and slowly he can regain his godhood.


Now as the Black Mudpuppy, Xolotl muddies his way through trying to perform good deeds while accidentally destroying charity buildings. The book is filled with such amusing ADHD antics that might remind you of some gems in the 90s, like the Warner Brothers and Freakazoid. While it starts off slow investing in the book is well worth it as its curve balls are sure to make the sternest person chuckle. To give you an idea some of the highlights; there is a brawl between a couple of dinosaurs from hell Stego-Stalin fighting Hitlersaurus Rex. Another nemesis is the evil anti-Ghandi whose passive aggresivism will leave you very upset!

Make my monster GROW!!!

The book slowly evolves from a bunch of gags to a more meaty storyline that is seasoned with bits of Aztec mythology and characters from those same tales, and truly challenging the english speaker in pronouncing something wholly different.

The artwork too takes a bit of warming up to. While rough at first the ink work begins to take on a liveliness and dynamism that resembles books like Bone and the colors go from a flat to dynamic lighting. Additionally the character designs, influenced again from Aztecian designs culture are refreshing and interesting. T
hey are so simple and visually inviting, as too often I think people think detail makes a dynamic and eyecatching spectacle.

The fresh injection of Aztec stylings and the clean cartoon asthetic make Black Mudpuppy a great tale to enjoy. My only regret is that there isn't an animated series yet...

Listen chumblenuts, Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a force to reckon with, as he is the god of gingers trapped in a speckled body creating work like Frankenstein vs. Dracula for Gryphon Knights Comics. 

Webcomic Review: Henchgirl

Henchgirl is a webcomic, created by Kristen Gudsnuk. The main character Mary Posa is the black sheep of her family, lovelorn, and unable to get a legitimate job even at the dankest restaurant. These circumstances bring our... er... "hero, " into the sordid arms of a crime syndicate in a metropolis called Crepe City. Mary then becomes the ever adorable Henchgirl! Meanwhile she tries to bring resolution to her esoteric ails all while surviving and trying to be not too evil.

Those MEAN STREETS!

Henchgirl is refreshingly not a "strong" female protagonist, at least not in the current traditional sense. In a world where female characters seem to have been homogenized into badass martial arts killing machines, absent of personality, Mary Posa is different. She is rich in character whose struggles are empathetic to both sexes. Her true strength is in her determination to move forward in spite of depressingly frustrated ideals. One of my favorite scenes of her trying to overcome, is when she discovered a super powered friend shattered. Taking each of their pieces she painstakingly puts them together with simple things like tape and super glue in hopes that it might restore them.

This scene is reminiscent of a few others throughout the book in a theme that seems to recur in people trying to put others, themselves or things back together; a hope to restore. A powerful inclination that echoes the original theme of persevering.

Well I think its adorable

And while many parts of the book are dark for such a bright character there are many hilarious memorable moments. Such as Mary's roomate whose only ability is to create an army of carrots out of her skin. Not giant carrots, just regular sized carrots... out... of... her... skin...

While her influences are evident of certain anime influences her art style is reminiscent of Bryan Lee O'Malley's, while remaining distinctly her own. A feat she accomplishes through the diverse textures of color she uses throughout the book. However one of the things I feel was recently lost was the progression the creator made over the course of its creation, by beginning to remake the earlier pages of her story to be comparative of her current work.

While "Lucasing" has become more common in the arts, and while her newer pages look excellent, I almost wish that both versions of her vision was available. I myself am a victim of being dissatisfied with earlier work and trying to bring some sort of resolution to it by modifying or remaking it, but by doing so perhaps I am erasing something in the history of creation.

Creative politics aside the twisted tale of the Henchgirl is a great summary of our generation as we are all a bit lost looking for something meaningful, while we are rejected from large chains because our fancy degrees tend to make us unwanted in those positions. Its speckled with pertinent, and the bizarre; then perfectly balanced with a helping of conflict and puns that make this story claw its way into my brain, and heart.

Sir Thomas J. Gryphon is a bunny who has lost all his eggs working for Gryphon Knights Comics on wacky books like "Meanwhile..."

Webcomic Review: Wish³

The comic Wish³, by Sylvia T. Leung, is a 400+ page complete webcomic manga. That's right, you could sit down right now and read the book from start to finish! Heck, you can even order the volumes online right now from the same place we sell Greasers, on Lulu.com!

I started reading the book after I graduated high school and it wasn't finished until I had graduated college. I'd check back religiously because there weren't too many cheap sources of entertainment for a student in New York other than Web-comics.

This book starts off with Basil Toback, who is turning 18, eavesdropping on his family. He finds out  the 3rd born of any generation of his lineage is cursed to be the wielder of  three wishes. It is a curse because after the 3rd wish is made the wielder goes insane and dies. Unfortunately, Basil also finds out his family intends to use the wishes themselves with no regards to Basil. Eluding his family he begins a long quest to bring an end to this curse. His journey pulls him through other dimensions and peering back in time to the wishers of ages passed, finding allies, and strange enemies alike.

I really enjoyed Wish³; it captures the feeling of any one who just turns 18. That age brings with it a lot of harsh realities. like the struggle for independence, and finding a purpose. Watching Basil work through these struggles was reflective and cathartic for me. It also encapsulates a lot of interesting aspects of Japanese style and culture.

The supporting cast really stand on there own. Many times the supporting cast become so overshadowed by a lead that they become little more than plot devices, something I like to call "Goku Syndrome." Wish's cast really works, because, while the focus is on breaking Basil's curse, they have their own dilemma's they are facing.

Seeing this work come together before my eyes was really invigorating for my own creativity. I watched the artwork evolve from inks with pencil shading, to grayscale, to full color. It was really remarkable to see Leung's improvement over time, and how the layout and details in her work became more polished. Watching the production and how it comes together is like a bonus form of entertainment for following webcomics.

This style of artwork is a bit underwhelming as it is similar to many other artists who have had manga influences on their work. Even still the story is really beautifully rendered, and action is conveyed creatively. At times, you can get lost in the panels and feel like you need to reread a page to take it all in. Additionally, Sylvia proves herself a master of Prismacolor, her marker brand of choice that is infamous for bleeding a lot. In the age of  the web-comics, most done digitally, it is impressive she crafted this book with analog tools like pen, ink, marker, and watercolor.

Sylvia herself was always quick and open to questions, and sharing her methods. The website is full of concept art and behind the scenes information. She seemed to network very well as we see covers by guest artists like Christopher Berkeley, who worked in the animation departments on the animated Green Lantern, and BATMAN: Under the Red Hood.

I recommend this book to everyone, but especially to fans of anime like Blue Seed, or books like Harry Potter!

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is an artist and anime caricature working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, and The Only Choice.

For any who enjoyed Wish³ I'd recommend reading GryphonKnights's own coming of age story,  Greasers in GREECE!

Webcomic Review: Calachurras

Jesus and Angel Delgado understatingly summarize their webcomic Calachurras as "a few three-arm guys, a beach and a very strange battle."

You are welcomed into this world in a first person POV through the eyes of a churra. The plot is cleanly laid out by one of the leaders of the clan (or Misters) that their clan's purpose is to battle a rival clan, and defeat them before the great wave comes and destroys them all.

You quickly garner the concepts in this society by their castes and jobs. Following two of the Misters, Mr. Future and Mr. Maker you become drawn into the urgency and the innovation they are trying to execute so that their tribe may survive.

Things aren't easy though as they quickly encounter red tape, and taboos which pepper this culture and makes for amazing parody & commentary on religion & politics. This satire while silly strikes very close to home for anyone who has dealt with a system.

The art captures one's attention right away. It has beautiful simple landscapes and in its simplicity immediately reminds me of the works of Jeff Smith (the creator of Bone) or Lewis Trondheim. The Brothers Delgado allow the time of day to affect their characters, fully immersing them into this world, a detail which many forget to do. The lighting plays off their civilization indicating the passage of time, as well as ticking down to the oncoming battle, and creating a sense of urgency that continues to draw the reader in.

In most webcomics you see the art evolving or improving over time, but this book has a consistent look throughout its first arc, a nice feature (although I do find see the evolution of an artist's style entertaining.)

The pacing in this book is amazing, the art and dialogue work in tandem to create a time bubble that races you through this story, but leave you wishing for another tome in this epic.

I would encourage anyone to step into the... grabbers of these churras, and experience the difficult battle and complex war they are engaged in. 

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is an artist and acloyte of Chaos Magick working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, and The Only Choice.

For readers who enjoyed Calachurras I'd recommend reading GryphonKnights's Frankenstein Vs. Dracula!

Webcomic Review: Jesus Christ Comics

Religious webcomics aren't new, and it can be really challenging to stand apart from the mass of artwork that is out there. When Dave contacted me the other day to check out his Jesus Comics (www.jesuschristcomics.com), I thought it was funny because before I did comics I was pretty religious. I attended church regularly, studied Greek, Hebrew, Biblical Archaeology etc... Yes, comics have taken me off the path of righteousness, that or helped me realize that religions can be a little nuts!

I still get a kick dealing with the topic. For example The Book of Genesis illustrated by R. Crumb is one of my favorite things ever. It's page after page of detailed illustrations interpreting passages of Genesis. Its a massive, beautiful book, and contains all 50 chapters.

In this case, however I was confused with Dave's introduction.  "...The subject matter is [too] controversial," he said. referring to the story of the birth of Jesus, one of the most retold stories of all.

But I dove in! It was a pretty quick read; 4 parts, 11 pages each. It's a bare bones retelling of the greatest story of all, but Dave's imagery seems to stand out in certain points, where the pictures end up being accidentally hilarious. For example, there is these gory images of a Rabbi standing over John and Jesus with a pair of sharp, bloody scissors.... post-circumcision. A panel with the caption "King Herod was also upset." has the image of a man clutching at his sliced throat while an interesting combination of Hades from the Disney's Hercules and ZigZag, glares in the foreground.

Herod, actually is my favorite things about this comic; his design and the creepy way he carries himself stands out. He isn't the only character in the book who has a face-lift; the angels look more like the common interpretation of Djinn from Islamic mythology.

Over-saturation of this type of comic makes it tough to compete in the market. Even though it isn't the strongest book I've seen there is a lot of potential and while needing refinement the artwork stands out as stylistically memorable. The coloring is also good for a webcomic made by only one guy. Dave shows some competence in lighting and storyboarding which other neophytes lack.

Jesus Christ Comics has the potential to be something really awesome if he allows more character exaggeration like he does in Herod.

Again thanks to Dave for showing me his book!

Sir Thomas J. Griffin is a poor artist and carpenter working for GryphonKnights Comics. He's illustrated books like Greasers in Geese , Hero, The Only Choice, Meanwhile, and others.

He also wonders if Herod is worse than Emperor Septimus from Greasers in Greece

Your Promiscuous Comic

So your into comics, huh?

The truth is comics have been around.

There's not one comic that exists that you can claim as yours. The X-Men issue #1 you own was handled by at least one factory worker, at least one distributor, and at least one retail worker before those perfect corners, luscious colors, white gutters, even staples ended up in your hands.This was before you sent it to CGC services to get it graded and slabbed.
Thank God, those CGC guys use protection when handling your book! Who knows what those other guys had!

Maybe you can claim the comic you wrote, or drew is yours. What about the copy that ended up with a 5 year old? She colored in the black and white parts. She showed her mom who congratulated her for a good job and asked for her autograph. The black and white parts were a snow scene in your story, now thanks to the orange and red Crayolas, there is a lava portion instead. Did you collaborate with that 5 year-old? Are you going to denounce her book as non-canon? You can probably claim it's yours, if you claim the child is yours.

Did you create the character that appears in a comic? Did you come up with the plot? What about the readers who offer their interpretation of what happened? What about those who assign a meaning, to what happened, one you never thought of? Are you going to disagree with them in public? Or secretly claim that was your intention all along?  That character has left your hands and has been handled by someone else. They've made stories you couldn't dream of. You'll still get credit. After all Icebox and Ovenflame wouldn't exist without your initial guiding hand. The sad part is when Alan Moore reinterpreted them and brought about their sexual awakening, where we learn Ovenflame is a pyro-sexual and that that's ok, fans have started to ask for the "realistic" version. Your version is the cartoon version. It's dated, and for kids. At least, to those aware of it. Most people won't ever remember you were involved. No one will say it's yours.

No. No comic is ever yours. But there is a time where you pick one up, read it, and get invested in the story you read. That's the only thing you can claim ownership of:

The moment.

It's also true for when you hit save on the Word document, or add that final touch of India Ink to page 23. That moment is yours and it's precious, and the only unselfish thing to do it to share it.

Check out the gooses in Greasers in Geese

A lesson about comics, and maybe life.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to respond below.

Dimitrios Fragiskatos
Author and new contributor to this blogspot

Check out our comics at Gryphon Knights Comics

and patronize us here

The Resource Known as Patreon

Greetings and salutations!!!

I wanted to turn you guys onto a resource the small comic company I run with @DimitriosFragiskatos & @HarperArsenal have begun to use. 

Our comic company has expenses as any company or artist does. Website costs, advertising, convention costs, and (what is often neglected) pay for any work we've done to for our company. We weren't sure how to meet these constant costs, and for a long time these expenses came out of our own pockets.

Finally we found Patreon! Patreon is a crowdfunding service that functions similarly to other CF services, except this one donors can contribute per month, or with comic books can donate per page published. Its pretty handy especially if you have regular readership. Those who are already interested & investing in your book are likely to donate. While the rewards are more difficult to figure out, many users have dollar subscriptions that just support their comic and $3 subscriptions that allow readers to see extra content on the Patreon.

Visiting a variety of users can soon help you garner some ideas on how to reward those who are faithful contributors. Things from one time rewards like sketches to monthly prints of pages of the comic. Another way to garner contributors is using a twitter management tool like justunfollow.com or others to set up automated messages to new followers providing the link to your comic and to your Patreon!

In the end it also never hurts to ask for contributions from those who have expressed interest in your book!

We've had good success with it thus far, and have actually found other people on the site that we ended up donating too. Also at the time of this writing Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC) Was making $100,000 a year. They are one of the most successful Patreon users there are. 

Finally if you haven't seen our work yet you can really our various webcomics on gryphonknights.com! If you have and you love our artwork & storytelling then please help by donating to our Patreon page at www.patreon.com/gryphonknights! Each donation allows us to focus more time on the comic, and will hopefully one day make us full time artists!

Tom Gryphon

PS. Hippopotamus Prime thanks you for any & all contributions you make!

Parody & Radiation

Our one book, Meanwhile started because we all have a good sense for satire and parody. One day we were just sitting around having a few beers and discussing the real results from being bitten by something radioactive, or being exposed to serious radiation, or even getting struck by lightning around a series of chemicals. The results were amusing to hilarious, and I decided to draw up a few of the jokes we had made. Eventually these added up and we decided to share them as the book you now know as MEANWHILE...

The ideas continued, parodying other cliches and unwritten rules comics seem to be plagued with, but it eventually evolved into thinking about what certain characters would be like in different situations, including turning one of the seagulls from finding Nemo into an orange lantern. It was a perfect fit if I don't say so myself.

The name "Meanwhile..." was chosen, as these short strips would be interspersed between our more serious books, implying that these humorous tidbits were always going on in the background of our minds, even when we weren't directly considering them.

It was amazing how parody which started out as fun banter actually stretched our creative muscle and was very directly entertaining. People already knew the content from the mass media, so changing the context allowed them to understand the humor without having to stick with a story for ages. Some might consider it cheating because we are using someone elses premise to provide humor but humor can open people up to alternate ideas or complex ideas that are buried in the subject.

For example, poking fun at how a hero would more likely die from radiation, then successfully mutate also opens up the question of what would the probability be that someone could successfully mutate from radiation into an alternate species?

What would their abilities be?
Would they be able to procreate?

Perhaps our visions of superheroes isn't so unlikely after all, just very improbable, and that's what makes the situations humorous, or capture our imaginations, because we know that there is that slim potential.

I guess there is truth in humor, even when it is not purposeful.

Dollar Store Combine

     A friend posted a few pics of dollar store toys that he frankensteined one day and I was in love. I thought the concept the execution and the final product were amazing. They were so good I decided to draw some fan art of two of the characters from his lot.

 

     We eventually posted this image on our site with a title "Felix & Saw." It originally was an april fools joke as the image just seemed so ridiculous, but eventually it grew into something bigger--an idea, that my brother and I eventually fomented into an actually title.

     You can see all of Dollar Store Combine on their tumblr http://genustoys.tumblr.com/

T Gryphon

Location, Location, Location!

In a variety of our comic series we have locations that are drawn from real life. It is these locations that help give our fictional worlds life.

In the second issue of HERO we are immediately taken to a location called Mitchel Airforce Base. This was a real airforce base out in Long Island, NY. While it was viewed as a strategic launching point by the Germans during WWII the base was never really more than a distraction.

Another location featured was in the draft of WOW Signal issue 1. In it, there is a landscape that includes spaceport America in the middle of New Mexico, and behind it a fictional city called Branson City that grew up nearby. The writer felt that if asteroid mining took off it would cause a wave of industry and for people to travel there like they would any other port city.

It's interesting to note that on the day of the writing of this article that Richard Branson talked about delays in Virgin Galactic's first commercial space flight.

Part of the writers goal with the WOW Signal, is to create a book not so far in the future so that readers can become excited but technology featured in it that is in present just theory.

Finally the last book I am going to talk about today is Felix & Saw. This sci-fi, comedy, has one of the protagonist's emerge in a water reservoir by Kensico Dam. This doesn't play a huge role in the book except for the writers giving a nod to an area, and a landmark in which they grew up nearby.

You can read more about any of these locations by clicking on the links!

Crowdfunding on Patreon

Things with crowds can be a lot of fun, crowd surfing, protests, crowd funding, mob rule... well not all of those things are a lot of fun but it does show that people en masse can make huge changes.

That's why GryphonKnights Comics have started a crowdfunding page on Patreon. Patreon is was created to enable fans to support and engage with the artists and creators they love. Empowering a new generation of creators, Patreon is bringing patronage back to the 21st century. As a small comic book company it was our desire to be more receptive to our fans and contributors.

Our goal in making books is two fold. We have printed books that we sell to try make profit, but we have our webcomics to be available for everyone to be able to read. Having free webcomics was very crucial to us as no matter how large we get we wanted to have free content for anyone to be able to enjoy. I know that when I was out of work I curved my buying habits because comics were very expensive, whether it was trades or single issues, during that economic trial comics was something I just couldn't do. That's when I began discovering loads of webcomics.

There were so many quality webcomics out there, Ava's Demon, Calachurras, The Fighting Stranger, Hench girl & many others, that our team decided to take some of the books we've been working on and adapt them for web viewing, and then make other books better adapted to the webcomic format.

Gryphonknights was a great experiment to see if a comic publisher could function paperlessly, with mostly webcomics. Garnering books, artists, and writers as we grew. One of our recent editions to the site is Tony Wolf's Greenpoint of View. Greenpoint of view was his autobio created as a comic book. Tony is one of the many artists who has done work on our book Frankenstein vs. Dracula. When we saw the work he was doing the webcomic we really wanted to showcase it on our page. 

Currently we have 6 titles on our site, with the addition of two printed graphic novels. Our first book Greasers in Greece is in print, we have a second about to be printed called Frankenstein Vs. Dracula.

Please check out our work and consider becoming a patron, so that we can continue to cut the middlemen out of creativity & to help us allow comics to be available to everyone!

T Gryphon

A GREASY Preview

Ever hear of Greasers in Greece? Well the best way to summarize it is if Zack Snyder directed Grease the musical. Time-travel, fighting, races to the death, & elements of the silver age of comics all blended into a smoothie of hilarity.

Now you can preview the first ten pages of the book on our blogger pages, or over at our official website www.gryphonknights.com! But that's not all! Their exclusive webcomic series, Greasers in GEESE has begun!

Following up their zany travel in time, they are now resuming their humdrum lives in their home of Logtown Ohio. However their need to prove the validity of their tale has them breaking back into nebula's lab. What ensues can only be described as a jaunt of miniscule proportions. What does this mean? FIND OUT IN-- GREASERS IN GEESE!

WOW! Signal Rebirth

WOW Signal was a fun title to create. I may have mentioned before that I started it to force myself to learn how to draw and color digitally. I started working on the computer about 8 months ago using both adobe photoshop and Illustrator.

Since then, from trial and error and watching tutorial videos online I've had great leaps in my ability. I finished work on the first issue of the Wow Signal which ended up being 15 pages long. I then started work on the second issue. Those first 3 pages of the second issue looked so much better then the first that I decided that I wanted to go back and re-illustrate the first issue of the WOW! Signal so that the style and the images were consistent. I also decided to tweak some of the story telling.

April 2013

If you check the images on the right you can see the difference from the first time I drew the starship Namalsadirah and the second. I also have become better at creating space locales and planets.

A lot of what I learned was often details can help create a complete and realistic image.

December 2013

Taking time to recreate the first issue, has helped me appreciate the amount of growth I've experienced and enjoy the new work that I have been creating.

You can see more of my artwork @ http://sirgryphon.deviantart.com/art/Rebirth-of-the-Namalsadirah-420593958

You can also read my book WOW! SIGNAL and other free comics at http://www.gryphonknights.com/