Thus far, all the characters I’ve posted and written about here at Blog Central have been male: Super John Doe, his son Junior, Junior’s dog Blimey, and of course the villainous Evil Butthead. One might justifiably be moved to ask: hey, any chance of getting some face time for the ladies here? Ask and ye shall receive! On the left is Robin, Junior’s sidekick; and on the right is Mom. In my initial board Mom was wearing a dress that made her look way too June Cleaver, so I changed that up. Next post: a sneak peak at the alien who co-stars in Junior’s fantasy sequence. All for now. So long, friends.
I’m a cartoonist, not an animator or a board artist. So when it comes time to tell a story, I always gravitate toward the comic strip and/or comic book format. When you’re talking little boxes, dialogue balloons, and onomatopoeia, you’re definitely talking my language.
When I first sent “Super John Doe Junior” to Frederator, it was a 17-page comic book, 12 panels per page. Here are a couple of those panels (hand-colored to look a little more snazzy on the blog). I’ve since edited the original story and created a more conventional storyboard, but we’ll be hiring a real board artist once we get into production.
Inspired by the buttocks-shaped cranium of Evil Butthead, our man Steve Levinson took it upon himself to do a quick animation of said villain. IF I’ve managed to successfully upload it (always a big if), you can check out the quicktime movie here:
Pop quiz, gang: Is the title of this blog a.) a quaint cockney expression which immediately brings to mind the spectre of Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins”? b.) the way you feel when you’ve eaten too much blime? c.) the name of the canine character pictured here who plays an important supporting role in “Super John Doe Junior”?
And the answer, of course, is d.) all of the above. Blimey is modeled after a proper British butler. Can’t wait to hear the auditions.
I know I want him to be either white, off-white, or gray, so I’m fiddling around with my prismacolors. All for now.
After my only marginally successful attempt to post an image of Evil Butthead the other day, here he is for real, in all his skinny-limbed, fat-headed glory. Ain’t he cute?
Once again I take mouse & keyboard in hand for yet another attempt at a successful image upload. Here’s Super John Doe, the ordinary suburban dad who happens to be a superhero.
Okay, did this actually work? I’m taking the new scanner out for a spin, but I’m not sure if the sinister leer of Evil Butthead has been successfully splashed across my blog or not. If so: HERE HE IS! If not: WHERE IS HE??
Anyway, if you can see him, friends & neighbors, let me know what you think of his twin-orbed cranium along with his wardrobe borrowed from the fashion files of Elwood Blues. I’m sure he’ll dig the feedback.
Holy cow, has it already been over a week since my last dispatch from the front lines of the techno-lame? Time flies, especially when you’re waiting for your new scanner to arrive. But friends and neighbors, I assure you I HAVE been doing more than gazing eagerly out the window in search of an approaching FedEx truck. I’ve been hard at work finalizing my character designs and turnarounds, and am delighted to report that they’re looking great from any angle.
Did I mention Gary Conrad will be directing “Super John Doe Junior”? I’m thrilled to have Gary at the helm. We spoke yesterday about any number of things as we start to ramp up production; the next time we’ll speak in person will be in April, when I’m back in LA for the voice record. Looking forward to combing through a bunch of voices in the next few weeks, and [Read more…]
Another post from the front lines of the techno-challenged:
Great to get feedback from other bloggers about “Super John Doe Junior”, especially since the only image posted thus far was a little sketch I hurriedly whipped up for Melissa during my visit to Frederator last week. More visuals will eventually follow — not quite exactly precisely positively sure when, but it won’t be long until you see some other characters. Without giving too much away about the story, I’ll tell you that you can expect to become acquainted with a villain sporting an odd-shaped noggin, a dog who speaks with a British accent, and an alien who (depending on what color we choose) looks like either a giant pickle or a monstrous potato. And I know my potatoes — remember, I’m from Maine.
And now, back to the drawing board. (Actually, I don’t have a real drawing board. It’s just a desk. [Read more…]
Be forewarned, blog readers: not only is this my first blog entry for Frederator, this is my first blog entry. Period. Of any kind. In the techno-savvy department, I would place myself somewhere between Alley Oop (the caveman of comic strip fame) and one of those confused soldiers who is discovered on an island in the Pacific and is convinced World War II is still being fought. Which is reminding me of an old “Johnny Quest” episode, but I’ll leave that for another time.
I’m Lincoln, I’m happy to be here, and I’m looking forward to working with all the good folks at Frederator on “Super John Doe Junior.” As Melissa mentioned in her very kind welcome to me, I zipped out to LA this week from my home here in Maine for a pitch/get acquainted visit. All went well and I had a great time. Many thanks to the multi-talented [Read more…]
