Flowing Wells
Genre:
Science Fiction, Drama
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Flowing Wells was the most popular social-networking simulated game-world ever. Imagine the SIMS if it were hosted by Google-Earth, with billions of registered users going to and fro, building, selling and purchasing content for the world. - Then imagine that world again, when the only remaining survivors are a small population of service employees - the garbage men, the pizza delivery boys, the street cleaners, the gardeners, the mailmen, the prostitutes, the nannies, the doctors, nurses and handymen. And despite that world laying in ruins, frozen solid, overrun with zombies, aliens and monsters, none of them would chose to live anywhere but Flowing Wells.
super....
I like your style and it's an intriguing story. Cheers.
Just a note to say that FLOWING WELLS lives on and I'll continue to post new pages each week at ACT-I-VATE.com!
To Everyone: cheers!!
Thanks so much for being a part of this last May - And special thanks to Zuda, as that 500 bucks went for miles and several good uses! :)
Famished: thanks!
The art is fantastic, but the build takes a bit of patience. Good work!
Hr.Herring: :D
Raf: yeah, I suppose a mass emailing would've been a good idea...heh Cheers mate!
Tmalo70: Candyman!:) big hugs brother! Thanks!
BryyMiller: hey thanks..I'm keep'n pretty busy with a new pitch of my own, but thanks for the interest.
Benmoss: Thanks man! cheers!
Great stuff, very intriguing!
Andrew,
I'm looking for a few replacement artists. If you are interested in hearing my proposal, my e-mail is on my profile.
Dude... Beautiful as always... Can't wait to see more...
At last, a reason to subscribe to Zuda! Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of this strip earlier, or I would have voted sooner, and often. Great work!
@Andrew- well, my monitor settings are pretty good. They have to be:)
Millus: Hey there, thanks so much!
Mr herring: Thankyou, I'm glad you dig the coloring..seems that for a handful of the readers, their monitor settings were such that they say the blue as grey...the captions are a particular vintage shade of yellow that I still admire from those 60s, 70's comics :)
Infernalbbq: I appreciate that! Thanks:) I'm already dove into my next submission though I do plan on finishing Flowing Wells eventually..I may even restart it from scratch just for kicks..heh
Clayton: "confound the eight page limit"..heh..yeah..it's curious though that Zuda screens are actually half a standard comic page..that is, Sixteen Zuda pages would actually have amounted to the scripting of the first eight pages I had written for Flowing Wells prior to entering the contest. I'll be back strong though :) Cheers!
In line with what others are saying, it is a shame that this month's competition lineup is so strong and that there hasn't been chance to develop the concept beyond 8 pages. Purely on the incredible art, I rate this as something special and love the style. Confound the 8 page limit!
The art is fantastic and if it were longer I'd love to read more. As it is though you've not made the most out of Zuda's admittedly limited 8 pages. That said, I'm almost sold purely on the promise of your art and concept even without any hook or conflict to drag me in, which is no small feat. I look forward to your next attempt!
IMHO the best one this time. Good job, Andrew! I' m diggin' the coloring pattern and atmosphere of the story.
I love the style and how you tell the story. Great.
Darran: Thanks again.
Quite possibly a significant part of why I might not be doing so hot in the ranking is that I haven't actually had internet at home, and I don't think that I've truly made the best use of the time I've been able to get online. Still, it's been a hoot:)
RKB: :) cheers!
Sheri: :D little by little...heh
Josiah: Hey, thanks! I love illustrating clutter:)
herrZEBA: Yeah, the zombie angle isn't such a big element to this, but I thought that gamers would eventually dig it, as I've seen so many Mods created for various game engines that alter the world for healthy zombie fun..heh..and I figured Flowing Wells would certainly be no different:)
superboy072: Cheers! Thanks! hopefully I can bump up at least one more notch before this thing is over.
dconnely: Thanks man! Maybe next time:)
This is great. I wish it were ranked higher.
This should be ranked much higher.
It takes me some time to find a comic that I want to vote for. This time it took me around two weeks, but I made up my mind. I VOTE for you Andrew. Your story and art are great. You don't throw blood, tits nor poor story telling at viewers. I don't like Zombie comics just because this topic is in today's culture like an old hooker - won't say or do anything new. Your idea reminds me this movie that I've enjoyed long time ago EXISTENCE. Overall Andrew, your entry is a beautiful example that it doesn't matter the story you are telling (after all there's nothing new under the sun), but HOW are you telling it (and drawing:).
The best of luck. Well, just do a lot of marketing, for the love of god!
This is a great looking comic...I love pg 8 in particular.
Hey Ang, congrats on moving up in the contest,should be higher in my opinion.
why I hate text boxes is posted Andrew.
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http://pigs-of-the-industry.blogspot.com/
As silly as it may sound, had the plot been exactly the same, albeit with Flowing Wells set as a real place, I'dve found it easier to digest. I guess there's just a part of me which thinks 'Bah, who cares what's happens in Flowing Wells...just log out'. But yes, the extended concept of the mirrored world is more enticing.
Good luck though, I really enjoyed this comic regardless, and the fact that you're not at least in the top 3 baffles me.
Hi Andrew. That does sound more promissing to be honest. I just find the idea of a digital world, or any virtual or 'fake' world, a little difficult to grasp on to, because I think it's another barrier separating the reader from the story. For me, it makes it a little more difficult to care about the characters and their deeds.
I really like the pacing, AND the narrative boxes, and I'm a fan of subtlety in comics, so I enjoy the way you let the potential for the future of the story to slowly trickle out. When it comes to comics, I'm more Sandman than Superman, so I guess I'm not so much in need of action, so long as there's depth to the story.
Darren Hepworth: I’m glad you popped up again, thanks! I was curious, how you mentioned that ’the more you read the more you loved the comic, but the less you liked the concept’ of the digital world. If I had the synopsis to do over again I’d really try to squeeze more into it to illuminate just how much of the narrative becomes less about the conditions of the world of Flowing Wells, and more about the conditions in our world that would lead to the sort of ‘singularity’ mirrored by the digital world.
Congrats on moving up a place in rank ;)
As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a huge fan of the concept, but really like the execution. I'm really stunned by the narration-box hate though. I think it's a perfect tool for this comic, and I've always found narration boxes far more natural, and less intrusive than thought bubbles.
Chris M: heh…yeah, it’ll be sweet for some laughs when I see her againJ and thanks man!
BlueMaxx: “meh”..really?
Mackenzie: Hey thanks! FLOWING WELLS has been a joy to illustrate & follow Donald around in, & despite it hurting my ranking in this contest I’m really glad that I’ve kept opening up FL with a deliberate sleepy pace.
RBK: When I read that people simply hate text box narratives ( with a passion no less...heh ) I’m more or less perplexed, though maybe that’s not such an uncommon pet-peeve given my ranking:)
This contest seems to bring out a reader’s inner-most-finicky’ness - it’s certainly something to consider if I submit another entry. I’m glad that you enjoyed some of it though and that you’re enjoying Drockleberry over at ACT-I-VATE, and thanks for the thorough review.
FrankieBaltimore: *grin*
Steveapolooza: hey, thanks man!
Not that hot on the story, but the art is fantastic.
All you needed to do was to make it 3D...Im looking at it right now through my Dora The Explorer paper 3D specs under my Vusix eyewear and waiting patiently for page 9!
My review is pretty critical, but you still ended up with a 4/5 and a fav -not to mention a new Drockleberry fan.
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http://pigs-of-the-industry.blogspot.com/
Take a break from the snow day and have a fun day in my Zuda May Crossover Poster http://slidestudios.deviantart.com/art/Zuda-May-09-Crossover-122089727
Man, the way your drawings are using depth here is awesome. Fits perfectly.
Meh. Couldn't keep me focused. I believe I got the premise, but even with the synopsis...it felt like it didn't have a path for me as a reader to follow. And it wasn't the '8 pages allowed' that stumped it either.
Don't sweat the sister stuff. Mine came on here last competition I was in and decided her big brother needed some defending. It's all out of love... Even when they're nuts :)
And it's a crime you're so low on the Zuda totem pole!
Mpd57: I read that part, and thanks again for saying it. I was just possessed to use “wedding tackle”...heh
And about my sister...heh...yikes! She’s an intense gal. It’s a novelty universe :D sorry about that. For the record, I’m happy to have any review, though certainly I’d of loved to have endeared you more, being as I'm in eighth place and all:)
blaquesaber:thanks! cheers
Interesting
Oh, sorry, I just realised that was your sis on my blog? How sweet! :-)
You must have missed the bit at the end when I said how good your art and writing were and the plug for Drockleberry. If I were trying to kick you in the wedding tackle believe me my aim is not that bad. I didn't understand why your strip was the way it was in an eight page competition - that's all. Nothing personal, sinister, evil or outrageous - just another windy opinion from a loud mouth.
mpd57: I appreciate you taking the time to kick me in my wedding-tackle :D
But seriously, thanks for reading and giving it your honest and thoughtful review. I'm pretty happy as it is with just being in the contest this month. No question, I'd love to see FLOWING WELLS get bumped up a notch or two, but hell, maybe eighth place is just enough of a boot to my pants that I might've learned a thing or two...heh
cheers!
A simulated review:
http://mpd57.wordpress.com/2009/05/10/flowing-wells/
gdubstar:Thanks brother:) I don't agree entirely that all of the other entries are employing "used up hooks"...heh..but I do appreciate the hell out of your very solid vote :)
tomstan:Thanks! Yeah, it is certainly vague:) Also, It might've not been the best idea to 'also' leave the synopsis so vague as well, but I sort's just leaped into this contest head first..heh
That would be "vague"
This one really caught my attention. Well done art and the writing is very intriguing.I am still a little vaue on the story, but this a a very nice entry.
Which of these comics is going to hold up after 52 pages are complete? "Flowing wells" the rest doesn't have weight the hooks are used up, and all to common. I can see a whole great graphic novel with drama, action, and resolve. There is no doubt that the one thats wins should have these three things.
1. ORIGINAL STORY 2. BEST ART 3.ENOUGH FOR A WHOLE COMIC.
Clear winner here in my book. If you don't win then it's a shame.
sblack::)hey, thanks so much sis! hugs & kisses!
kingsofsnake:I don't buy that Zuda is a bad fit for this sort of story. I don't see how "hooking" a reader in the first handful of pages makes for good comics.
Franklin44:Thanks so much!
djking:Hey there! Good to see you, and thanks for the kind words ( and the vote! :)
skythorn::) I certainly appreciate the extra "some umm-ing and erm-ing". And I'm partial of course, but I tend to feel that this comic ( and the world it's set in ) does have a lot of leg to it. Thanks again!
Mister McNasty! :) Hey there & thanks so much! & congradulations to the both of you Nastys;D
is cool McNasty asked me to check it out so I did, I hope your work gets more notice. you are a great artist and deserve top rating.
looked at all 8, decided after some umm-ing and erm-ing that this has more legs than the others. The slow start that ends with high-tech. I can see the reveal over time being very interesting, and the sci-fi nature of the storyline played out in parallel with the real world reminds me of Neal Stephensons 'Snow Crash' as well as a bit of ground-hog-day. It could be very interesting. And then there is the art - simple, blocky, impressive and clear. Cant' ask for better than clear.
As usual, you completely amaze me. Your talent is never-ending!! Good luck and I'm sure this won't surprise you, but I'm voting for you!!