Battle On

And there you have the name of my upcoming comic project. Syllabus will be a serial narrative that will keep going until the day that I tire of creating comics. It’s a story that has been building in my head for years and the underlying concept of the narrative will allow it to continue indefinitely. The first post will appear on New Year’s and will be followed up, at minimum, on a weekly basis. Just keep checking back to this blog for the latest installments. I’m currently redesigning Lead Battle into a more comic-focused layout. I’m hoping to make it the one stop place to go as opposed to this blog. You’ll be able to find all my past work with a simple link instead of manually searching through this blog’s archives.

As much as I enjoyed working on Hullabaloo, it was too grounded in reality. I’ll be getting back to Honey, Austin and Tress at some point. The great thing about Hullabaloo is its slice-of-life simplicity. I can continue making new strips alongside Syllabus whenever the need arises.

To the nearly a dozen individuals that I’ve enlisted as my research advisors, I hope that this does not disappoint. I’ve chosen each and every one of you because I value your opinions and trust in your knowledge. Even though I’m heavily backlogged with material to read and watch, it will all be worth it in the long run. Thanks again for the help because I certainly can’t tackle a massive project like Syllabus on my own.

Decided to finally finish off Fantasy Star, my 12-part comparison between Final Fantasy XII and Star Wars over on The Bloggles Do Nothing. What was initially supposed to be a 12-day ordeal, is looking like a project that's been a year in the making. At least once it's done, I can move on to other topics on that blog in hopes of further validating its existence in conjunction with this one.

So here's what I've got so far:
Fantasy Star V
Fantasy Star IV
Fantasy Star III
Fantasy Star II
Fantasy Star I

Good lord. I nearly suffocated from the dust after digging up these ancient drawings, not to mention from my laughter after rediscovering my amateurish illustration skills. I can name off dozens of things wrong with the linework, coloring, proportions, etc. These characters were created many, many, many, many, many years ago while I was still in high school. The reason I'm digging them up is because they will be the main characters of my latest comic project. I've had ideas brewing for quite a while and I feel it's time to get started on them. In the coming weeks ahead, I'll post revised designs as it gets closer to the project's planned start date of January 1, 2009.

Thanksgiving break has given me the invaluable time I needed to reassess my current situation. As well as things have been going, it still feels like I’ve merely been coasting. I’m content, but I haven’t really accomplished anything of note.

I need to start over someplace else. I’ve lived in the San Fernando Valley for far too long. I remember that I promised myself in high school that I would move out of there. The Valley is literally and figuratively too sheltered. As much as I like to trash Los Angeles proper for being Hell on Earth (there’s a reason why it’s the setting of numerous noir films), it’s also the hub of activities and jobs. It’s time that I left suburbia and toughed it out in the big city.

As for work, I need to start thinking in the long term. At the moment, I’m just focusing on paying the bills. But I have to start structuring myself towards an actual goal. I’m not quite at the point where I know which career I want, but I do have an idea of the general direction that I need to proceed. I also need to free myself up to work on personal projects relating to comics.

After participating in the 24 Hour Comics challenge several weeks ago, I realized something. The ideas I’ve been sitting on are actually quite ready to be transferred into a tangible product. I had been waiting to get better at drawing and writing but at the rate I’m progressing, it would be years before I got started. I don’t need to be perfect; I just need to get better as time progresses. And the longer I wait, the more likely it is that someone else will accomplish what I’m trying to do before I get a chance to. I'm going to start posting new material up shortly.

As is usually the case with these things, the only thing holding me back is myself. There’s really no reason why things should continue on like this. This coming month and onwards should be pretty interesting as I get my act together. I’m by no means fooling myself into thinking that what I am about to do is easy. It just feels like now is the time to do something, anything. It’s about time I stopped getting by and started doing something great.

So my website, Lead Battle, has gone up today. Check it out. It isn't much at the moment but it should start to shape into something cool over the next month as I continue working on it. Due to the relatively slower rate that I will be updating Lead Battle, this blog will continue to be where I post my latest illustrations and comics.

So first thing's first. I've been defeated in the webcomic contest between myself and Megan. I called her up last Saturday and conceded because I knew I wouldn't be able to finish on time. I probably could have put another placeholder comic up, but it felt sort of cheap last week when I did it to prolong the competition. As for the final installment of the Hullabaloo story arc, it should be posted in the coming week once I get some more free time.

Now one of the reasons why I've been so busy lately is because I've been working on my personal website that I plan on launching on Sunday. Once that's over and done with, I'll be able to focus on drawing again. I only ask that you overlook the incredibly primitive nature of the site. I'm more concerned with having it up and running than aesthetics. Plus, I'm still learning CSS so hopefully it'll be upgraded to more efficient coding over the next month. I'll give the link on Sunday when it's ready.

Just had a dose of inspiration. Check back after the fourth.

Although I'm no longer getting paid to write an opinion column, I feel it's still necessary that I don't give up the practice. I point you towards The Bloggles Do Nothing! This blog will remain as a type of online portfolio while the Bloggles will be geared towards reporting and opining on geek-related news. I also plan on expanding Bloggles to other contributors willing to add their own commentary on such subject matter.