The Bonus Story is Colored!
Posted August 17th, 2007 by Howard TaylerI just finished coloring the last page of the Bonus Story for Schlock Mercenary: the Tub of Happiness. Yay! With luck (and a bunch of hard work) I’ll be able to ship files to the printer by the end of the month. I’m shooting for a November ship date for the books, which would put pre-orders sometime in October.
Right now, though, I’ve got piles of buffer-work to grind on. These things don’t draw themselves…
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August 17th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
Yay! One step closer to another book!
I have to say Howard, I have quite a few books from some really great comics and I do enjoy them all but your books are absolutely my favorite. I actually enjoyed reading them from cover to cover as though they were new to me, and I still go back and read them. Even though I have read the archives in their entirety at least 3 times. Wait, I think that makes me way more of a fanboy than I am comfortable with. ;)
(That dang giant chicken rider saying “Giddyup” still slays me every time.)
Looking forward to the new one. And every other one you have planned.
August 17th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Oooh, not long until I get to buy more Schlock, then…
And yeah, the Schlock books are great. The marginalia are great, and the Sunday-style colouring all through adds much more than I’d expected it to. Attaboy, Howard!
August 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
For the record, the Sunday-style coloring will only extend through the Bonus Story in this book. The strips from the archives in this book are going to appear exactly as they appeared on the web, only with about four times the resolution — all the missing pixels will be back.
Re-coloring the early artwork would put me too close to having to re-draw it, too.
The Bonus Story, however, is (in my opinion) the best of the Bonus Stories yet. Which basically means I like it best, and I’m not sure that’s a good indicator for how much you’ll like it.
August 17th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
’sokay, we’ll like it.
August 17th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
hmmm, i’d kinda like to see schlock try to draw himself…
August 17th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
If I was feeling uncharitable, I might ask if the restored resolution will flatter the early artwork… as it is, I’m looking forward to having those strips on paper. There’s something satisfying about that, and not just because I’m a book addict…
August 17th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Um, First time posting since I just created an account! Tee-hee! I love your strip, Howard, and as soon as my financial aid refund comes through, I have a little room in my budget for fun stuff, and some of it is planned for schlock merchandise!
Also, if you have Mediacom available in your area, I can’t recommend them enough. I’ve had them a while, and I’ve never had a problem. Everyone I know with even half an intelligent brain that has had any problem with anything has been able to get support quickly and efficiently. As they say, the Qwest is SO over.
I love schlock!
-Dawson
August 17th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Plasma4TehWin: I’ve only read the archives in their entirety once, but I think that’s because I don’t find webcomic archives as convenient as books.
Howard, on the colouring: Fair enough. Those of us who want better artwork in the prequels will just have to wait until you have time to do a Special Edition (presumably after the books catch up to the online story).
On the bonus story: I fully expect the bonus story to be the best yet, given what you’ve told us about the time-period it covers. Although I’m not expecting any single line of it to be better than “The only thing I can’t kill with this is a star.”
Fabber-osi: Pff. Schlock doesn’t need any drawing talent to draw himself – he just has to morph into the shape he’s just drawn.
McNutcase, on the early artwork: Meh. I enjoy xkcd. It’s stick figures. Schlock Mercenary was entertaining from the start. The fact that the artwork in the recent ones is good is a bonus.
That doesn’t mean I don’t intend to get the aforementioned special edition, though. Oh, and I’m also looking forward to the first ten years being published in one big mauve volume.
August 18th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Oh… is that what mauve is? Huh.
August 19th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Oh, the early artwork is plenty good enough to get the story and jokes across. I do recall Howard himself describing it as “embarrassing”, though.
And yeah, both the special edition and the First Ten Years set are on my shopping list when they appear. Quite apart from my completist tendencies, they’re highly likely to have more margin doodles…
August 19th, 2007 at 5:30 am
Pre-Order Schlock + October birthday = PERFECT.
Excellent timing, Howard. ;)
August 19th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Howard I quite like the old artwork. I know it embarrasses you, but I think it is truly the right side of quirky. Plus we all got to watch as your art grew to match your writing.
Sam I am a computer geek by trade so when waiting for servers to do things I still have the Internet in front of me. Thus my rereading of the archives. Plus, I usually just go to the archives to read a particular arc and then I get sucked in and end up reading most all of it.
Ooo, and good catch on the mauve volume, Sam. That one got by me. That is one we will all want. *glee*
August 21st, 2007 at 3:10 am
Howard
Yesterday I looked at a newspaper cartoon for once. The drawing was worse than your early ones so don’t be too embarrassed – and he gets a salary for doing it! I know you have got better at drawing but the originals were not that bad. Wish I could do as well!
We all had to learn and learning on the job is actually a pretty good way of doing it! QBE is something I’d like to see more of, myself!