HAVE YOUR SAY: Glowing eyes or not?

When God gives a prophetic word or decision through a prophet in the comic I have used the device of glowing eyes to indicate that the prophet is seeing something of God's spirit. This blog is to ask if this device it working or sending the wrong message. 

In the comic the bright cyan coloured light represents the holy spirit or spiritual things like angels. Here is an extract from the "use of Colours" blog to explain...

Supernatural and Spirit

One of the most important colour elements is the use of the Spirit colour. This is a bright Cyan/ turquoise and it means there is something of the Spirit or something of God in the story. The idea is to show things that are very real in the spiritual realm but not necessarily the physical. The best example of this is with Balaam and his donkey. When I draw that story the angel that stands invisible to Balaam but that the donkey can sense will be shown in the Cyan colour. When it manifests in a way that Balaam can see it will be in the standard black lines. This colour is also used when Samson is empowered by the Spirit, with a power acting in the spiritual realm depicted as Cyan lightning. Lastly, it is used when God speaks, and for the speech of angels.

So while Samson and Othniel might strike someone with glowing power someone like Deborah the Prophetess has glowing eyes. 

This is something that is extremely common on comic as many superheroes have glowing (pupiless) eyes whether they are doing some mutant power (Storm-Xmen) or all the time as part of their costume (Batman) or nature (Abe Sapien).

It is also helpful to imply when someone is prophesying god's word or a false prophet. 

It was suggested that it might give the impression of possession or the Spirit taking over the person. The reason I have use it thus far is I think it is so common in comic it doesn't suggests possession or anything like that, but if it does even to some people I guess I'll need to reconsider this option. 

Here are examples of where I used it in the comic. 

  I really value your comments here or on the social media post you found this on, please give reasons for your opinions if possible... 

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HAVE YOUR SAY: What font should I use for God?

So, I've decided I don't like the font and style I was using for God' dialog, so I'm going to change it. I'd like your help please, can you suggest a good typeface to use for God's speech in the comic. People speaking other languages have a different fonts so I think God should too. 

Until now I was using the normal font for speech and changing it to be the Cyan colour that represents the spirit in the comic with the bright cyan glow or outline stroke. (For a Blog about the use of colour click here) 

I would like to use a more interesting typeface, but which one? Also suggest if you think it should glow or anything. 

Here are some criteria: 

• It has to be easily readable. 
• Needs to be free or inexpensive.
• Usable on PC and ideally available on MAC as well.  
• Not too fancy as there are sometimes long sections of God's dialog. 
• Has lowercase as well as uppercase letters

Please also comment about effects they you think would look good. (Glow, transparent, bubble, no-bubble etc).

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HAVE YOUR SAY : Chapters 17-21 as a Flashback?

In the book of Judges the stories and events of the first 17 chapters are in chronological order. Then in chapters 17-21 there are two stories which are basically appendices that are from the period at the start of the book.

I was planning to present them the same as the other chapters in colours and just try to indicate that they are the same period as the early part of the book with the dress and equipment and other indicators. I can't add any words to tell the reader that they are “in the past” as far as the chronological story line goes, because there is no such words in the Bible text.

I have a couple of options in regards to how to present them and how to try and show they are not a continuation.

Present them as a flashback

They could be shown as a flashback. In the book I have established the format for a flashback already so it should be clear that is what it is. The down side is the flashbacks are in a brown “grey scale”. So they are not in full colour like the rest of the comic. If they were only a few pages I probably wouldn't hesitate as it would be a helpful tool for showing the disconnect chronologically. However, it is 20 pages and it might seem like a strange stylistic choice to suddenly go into grey scale at the end of the book.

The benefit is that in the wider context of the Word for Word Bible Comic it might be a good idea. To help readers grasp the overall timeline of the events. I was thinking that the device I could use would be to introduce the writer or at least the character recounting these stories. Scholars believe the Book of Judges was written by Samuel. I could introduce Samuel in full colour about to tell the story. Then the story starts and is a flashback. At the end of the book Samuel could be pictures restating the immortal words that run throughout the book of Judges “ In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

On the grand scheme of things it might be a nice segue into the later books of 1 and 2 Samuel, because Samuel is a contemporary of Samson, and Samson's death (which is where the precedent Chapter 16 ends).

An added bonus but not necessarily a key factor is that the greyscale colouring takes less time bringing the completion date forward a little bit. 

Present it in full colour

In this option the stories just run on as they do in the book of Judges text of the Bible, without much comment as to the shift in period setting. You could argue that the Bible doesn't make an issue of it so why should I. It's true that you don't need to pin down the time period precisely to understand the story or the point and moral of the narratives but seeing elements that indicate the shift of time which I intend to be helpful (like the dress and equipment as well as faces from the early chapters) could end up being confusing. I hope it won't be confusing but when I consider an unbelieving reader trying out the comic I want them to have as smooth a ride as possible.

Present in full colour with breaks.

The only other option I can think or is to insert blank black two sided pages between the stories to indict a break in continuity. It wouldn't be explicitly clear that that was why but it might help readers realise 'something is up' and not get as confused when people like Othniel seemingly come back from the dead after 300 years later.

So...

Please look at the examples and give your opinion on how you think it should be tackled. Is a 20 page flashback too much? Does the chronological order really matter? Please have your say and suggest any other genius ideas you have here or on the social media post you saw. 

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HAVE YOUR SAY: Speech Bubbles Opaque or Transparent.

Responding to feedback about the comic I'd like to get your opinion on how the speech bubbles look in the comic. Currently I have them a little bit transparent to allow you to see what lies beneath but the standard way is to have opaque white bubbles. Which would be better in your opinion?

Here are some of the benefits of each as I see them, with an example from Judges 13 .

Opaque :

• Clearer and a little easier to read the text

• It's the standard, so it's what people expect

Transparent :

• You can see more of the picture below

• Helps understand the picture sometimes where the bubble cuts into the picture.

• It's not the standard and therefore could be an interesting distinctive.

Please add your comments about this and your vote as to which way they should be. If there is a good consensus towards Opaque white speech bubbles I will change them.  

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Accurate Ancient Writing in the Word for Word Bible Comic

In the comic we strive to make everything as accurate as we possibly can. There are some great verses in scripture where someone writes a letter to someone else. Because we have, in some cases, the words recorded we can draw them as they would have looked. 

So often in my research for images I see depictions of the priestly vestments described in Exodus with the words that are engraved in the stones emblazoned in genuine modern Hebrew. Which is great until you realise that the script of Hebrew from that time was very different from modern Hebrew, not only does it not have many of the jots and tiddles, the characters were much less developed. 

In the example below I explain how I derive the ancient script for the comic. Below that are a few other examples of it's use in the comic. (To read Judges 9 click here). 

Judges 9

High Priests Vestments which have words all over Exodus 28

"JUDAH" reading right to left is "H-D-V-H-Y" from Judges 1:2

I believe this level of attention to detail and accuracy is what's missing from other comics, films etc about the Bible stories. 

Some may say this sort of detail to be pointless as "no one will ever know". Well, I considered this too but, firstly, I think this is the level to which God called me to invest in the work. But secondly, when I shared my work with my Kickstarter backers (a pool of people numbering under 200) someone in that group could actually read the script (you know who you are ;) ) and a friend of a friend I met could also read it, so it turns out some people will appreciate it. 

Hope you enjoyed this explanation. If you happen to be able to write ancient languages please get in touch as I will need help with other languages. 

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New Webcomic: Limited Pre-release available now.

Great news everyone! You can now view pages of the comic online as a limited preview webcomic!

Each week (on a Monday) I will upload a new page and take the oldest one down so there will be just three pages at a time, so please return to see more pages and tell your friends as soon as possible so they don't miss pages.

In a few weeks time I may add a couple of pages a week will give it little while to build a following, so they will be cycling even faster.

If you miss a page or two you can always read the storyline from the pages you missed by picking up any Bible or going to Biblegateway.com and searching for the verses you missed.

The samples are watermarked and not hi-res as the comic is not released yet.

Please share the link on your social media and help the comics fan base continue to grow!

The three pages I am starting with are the first three I drew, they start off the story of Samson which is twenty three pages in all. The full graphic novel (over a hundred pages) includes Gideon, Deborah even Joshua gets a cameo as well as epic battle, assassinations, angels and more.

If you get excited about the project but frustrated with this narrow window of pages available there will be an opportunity to get your hands on a full printed copy or the full story digitally in a couple of months. Keep upto date with the Facebook page, Twitter and the Blog for more news on this.

Here is the link to share. Enjoy the comic and please spread the word.   

https://wordforwordbiblecomic.com/web-comic/

Page one of the webcomic click the link or the page the see the rest. 

Progress Report July 2015 and historical accuracy example

This pie chart is filling up nicely now. With two colourists working away as well as myself, we are turning the pie to “complete” quite quickly.

I'm currently drawing my way through the rather depressing Chapter 19 and the story of the Levite and his Concubine.

For the past ten days or so I have not been doing much drawing though as I have been praying about and trying to decide what to do as the next step for the comic, (thank you to all those who commented on the previous Blog regarding this).

I have a few strong applications to publishers outstanding, where I have heard back with some initial interest but still waiting for any more news, but as time is crashing on regardless I need to make a call regarding what I will do.

So I've decided to start gearing up for another Kickstarter for Book 2, probably running from mid-August to the end of September. If I sign with a publisher before then I may call it off but I have to plan stuff now to be ready for then. (If you want to see the previous Kickstarter page as an example click here) 

The idea will be to do the Kickstarter as a way for people to get hold of a limited edition pre-release copy of Judges (Book 1) to fund Book 2, which they will get soon after the campaign is finished and allow for a bigger order to fulfil the original KS rewards. Of course this also open up the opportunity for people to get there faces in the comic and get other great rewards. I'm not intending to be drawing from the previous backers again but am finding more ways of getting the word out there this time, using conventions, blogs maybe even Christian radio shows to talk about it.

If I get this funding I hope it will support the project at least until next summer. Between then and now I hope to get signed by a publisher and if I do not that is the time I will self-publish.

If I do launch a Kickstarter I will need the help of all my followers and backers. Aside from backing the project I need it to reach a wide audience so I'll need everyone to Share social media posts, Like and Comment on them to help your friends and family see the posts, last time a good number of backers were what I refer to as “one step away” family of my friends, friends of friends etc. So please be ready for that.

I am currently trying to decide if the Kickstarter should be for the book of Joshua with a stretch goal for Ruth or the book of Ruth with a stretch goal for Joshua. Maybe I'll open this up as a “Have your say” post later.

Please continue to pray for the project, for guidance and faithfulness to the Word.

Below is an image I just created to communicate the historical accuracy element of the comic.

If you have any suggestions or comments please add them below of on the social media platform you found this blog on.  

HAVE YOUR SAY: Strapline

I'm am currently reviewing the strapline for the comic, I want to make it punchy and include all the key elements of the comic. 

The current one is:

"Unabridged, historically rich graphic novel of the Bible with a high view of scripture." 

I define the three main selling points of the project to be:

• Unabridged: Not missing one word from the biblical text. This is a trustworthy, faithful and authentic rendering. 

• Rich historical and geographical setting: In depth research and landscapes from real locations give a rich historic and cultural setting.

• Aimed at an adult market 15+: Telling the stories exactly as they are written, the material will not be tamed for young readers so that the full impact of the narrative can be felt.

In my proposal I rewrote it to be:

The Word for Word Bible Comic will enthral adult readers with the untamed, full word of God using hard-hitting imagery and historical accuracy.

Which is not exactly the same because it is an introductory statement. The strapline I want to create now will go under the title, so it doesn't need "The Word for Word Bible comic is-" in it. 

The words I would like to use are: 

Untamed - to represent the fact it is not watered down for children and is aimed at ages 15+. I can't really use the word "adult" on it's own however as that implies an even higher age category.

Hard hitting- is good to convey the action and excitement with in the stories that people might not be expecting the find. 

Also , It has to mention being Historically accurate some how because this is one of the main selling points for the non-christian market.

It needs to have to unabridged part mentioned as this is the main point of the project as a whole. 

The reason i included the "with a High view of Scripture" is to show it is a faithful representation of the text not a parody or anything like that. 

Untamed and unabridged obviously both start with "un-" so they go quite well together but i'm finding it hard to get a sentence to follow that strong start. 

For example...

Untamed, unabridged graphic novel of the Bible (that is historically accurate) 

Unabridged, historically rich graphic novel of the Bible with a high view of scripture.

It could be super short if the important parts are covered but this is even harder. 

Hard hitting, untamed and unabridged - (but this does not mention historically accurate) 

Historically accurate, unabridged and untamed. 

You get the idea. Please get a thesaurus out with me and see what combinations and suggestions you can make.