Graphic Novels

We're always thinking about stories and too many of them pop in our mind all the time. There's honestly not enough hours in a day, nor lifetime, to encompass the flood of ideas and tales we'd love to share at some point when chance allows. For the moment, we have these graphic novels, either published or in progress. We hope someday they can be turned into something more, as games, TV series, or animation of sorts. It would be a dream to publish physical books.

We've been into making comics since childhood and had always dreamt of it until computer graphics took over later in life. Since it's not a priority compared to our current endeavors, it's tough to say when we'll be able to reach the next phase. Working from home, we inch forward in whatever progress we can, sometimes sketching during lunch or dinner breaks, and then using our phone or scanner to digitize and finalize on our desktop.

Making a film can be too expensive and writing a novel doesn't quite hit the spot in terms of capturing what visuals can. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, it brings us a step closer to storyboarding a series. Graphic novels help push ideas to the next level with hopes of inspiring others and building an audience over time.

While it can take our focus away from more pertinent priorities, getting a graphic novel done is a lifetime achievement. It's worth progressing even if never perfect, no art ever is. While a shame we can't dedicate ourselves fully as hoped, something is better than nothing. So far, feedback has been reassuring.

As you browse our gallery, we hope you love it too.

And That's How I Got My Nickname Pharaoh (In Production)

We've always wanted to tell the legend of Egypt's first Pharaoh, a character named Rikayon rising to power in a rags-to-riches story that turns the foundation of a renowned ancient civilization on it's head. It takes place during a time when Egypt had a king and our main character, along with other scholars, and every other kind of skilled labor, would travel from everywhere to be employed by the infamous, wild, and unpredictable monarch; government jobs were a stable source of income then as today. We thought it was an intriguing part of ancient history based on an old controversial manuscript dating back to the 1600's. Not minding if it was true or not, we felt it was worth telling because it kept coming to mind often. It was also nice to revisit ancient history with a modern perspective and a little humor to connect the old with new. Many things about being human still resonate, as the saying goes, "the more things change, the more they remain the same."

Risky Business

Learning lessons from the Compass of Imagination, we switched gears, heavily focused on editing, timing, and dialogue over art to tell a better story. With 13 chapters in all, we're proud of the result. Color was also abandoned and instead replaced with duo-chrome, having no more than two colors in any given panel, relying more on texture, lighting, shading, and composition to compensate. Since it's closer to manga, we aimed to use similar print pattern techniques while taking advantage of an old art trick by defaulting backgrounds to mid-tone; telling an ancient story in the form of an old scroll as an excuse to pull it off. Brights with darks would then add volume and the rest would end up to imagination.

We understand the risk of abandoning color, since it's what brings greater appeal and we've seen results from our previous comic to know it's a sure fire way to have something that caters to a wider audience. But limitations are our friend, if we pull it off, it'll be unique, and perhaps more compelling as well as immersive in the end.

Will the risk be worth rewards?

Below you'll find work in progress and a fully readable version using our custom Webtoons-like browser written from scratch in HTML. To simulate the experience, it works on mobile and desktop, give it a read when you get a chance and send us feedback. We'd love to hear from you.

Sneak Peek: 13 Chapters, Roughs with Final Lettering

Compass of Imagination Webtoons

It's hard to pick a medium. Films, comics, and games all share similar elements, especially with storytelling and art. But it all boils down to time, chance, scope, and budget. The Compass of Imagination graphic novel was a prequel based on our short film project with co-writer and director Yosh Bolivar. Finished in 2016, we wrote, inked, and colored this 4.5 chapter comic for Webtoons. It rated 9.61 out of 10 with 197 subscribers and over 4,000 views.

By the time we wrapped up our last shot of live production, it was clear the 3 season, 39-episode, vision for our TV series and all the crazy things associated with it, might not see the light of day. Also, even with compositing and CGI, live action limits made us realize we'd be stuck in one medium rather than letting our story roam free. We wanted to experiment with something different.

Behind The Scenes

That's why in 2014, while in production for the live-action trailer and initial scenes, we sketched out a storyboard that later turned into a comic. Showcasing our vision for what a third season would look like, if money and time were no object, it was also a great way to establish parts of our tale that needed some pre-history to make sense.

Little by little, while messing with sketches, coloring, and writing, we came up with a process that gave us full-color results in a fun yet unique blend of everything we wanted without fear of budgets and blueprints...sort of. We hoped someday the comic would inspire taking our film to the next level.

While the initial process was cumbersome, we followed our simple screenplay without dialogue which was later added at the behest of the director. We then penciled in blue, sketching every scene to the end. Later backgrounds were composited in 3D to avoid worrying about perspective, composition, and proportion, especially to make action scenes more compelling. Later we shaded every page using a Cintiq and added highlights, glows, and effects using iPad Pro. It turned into an exhausting, 5-chapter, year and a half. It was meant to fit one page, but the scope grew larger as time went on and it was hard to keep up. We came to the conclusion that a limited palette was the way to go, saving time, and forcing ourselves to make unconventional choices, leading to a more powerful, stylized, and impactful polish.

While it took too long to produce for the schedule we planned, feeling like forever, it was done before we knew it. Happy with the results, we're not sure we'd approach coloring the same way again due to the time-consuming nature if it all. But we're glad it worked out and learned a lot.

Is Compass of Imagination is better off as a comic or live action? Check out our final on Webtoons.

Details, Demos, Videos, & More

Behind the scenes

Read on Webtoons (4.5 Chapters Total)

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The MookInstagram

Jack Kirby's iconic comic style was the inspiration for this light comic. The Mook was an experiment in making simple Sunday strip narrative along with a mix of elements from anime like Naruto. We weren't sure where this was going when it was made but at least it helped establish a means to play with color swatches, which led to unconventional yet interesting choices.

It probably started around 2016, taking a few weeks to complete. Testing the Cintiq and iPadPro for coloring, textures, and tones gave it a distinct feel. We had a tough time figuring out how to share it so we ended up posting it on Instagram as a swipe story. While it didn't get the traction we hoped for, there was a chance it could've been considered a waste, yet it worked out as something interesting that may not happen again. It was a great exercise for the next comic. Who knows where this could go?

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