WheelJack Union
Genre:
Historical Period, Drama
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A young engineer, Gene Recktor, son of famed scientist Robert Recktor, has always resented living in his father’s shadow. Gene steps forward to head a secret project to develop an “unmanned tank”. Powered by his own delusions of grandeur and arrogance, he creates the WheelJack, a bipedal machine that far surpasses the vision of a mere automated tank.
General Treys, an old friend of Gene’s father, agrees to put WheelJack into full production. Unexpectedly, the Wheeljack production comes to a halt, devastating Gene’s ego and growing aspirations. Gene demands that the military begin production again, but is denied by General Treys who now realizes Gene’s selfish motives.
In the following weeks Gene becomes detached and embittered by his failure. He angrily pursues recognition and is met with open arms by a mysterious man. The actions Gene takes thereafter may very well open a chapter for him in the history books, but maybe not in the way he had intended.
cool meetin ya at the con man!
I reread this a few times. I don't think it's like Atomic Robo at all. Design-wise the robots look more like Scud(disposable assassin) than Robo, and even that is minor. The synopsis and art are better than the writing, but the writing isn't bad. I LOVE the art. B&W will always be a harder sell on Zuda, but it is the right choice here. I think the layout and design are fantastic. It was great seeing you at SPX(I had on an Atomic Robo shirt). It was nice chatting with you. I look forward to seeing more from you... Rob
thanks for the good words noah! :)
my review:
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http://pigs-of-the-industry.blogspot.com/2009/09/zuda-review-wheeljack-union-marvel.html
this is pretty cool, great to see a different style entry!
You're a proseph, broseph. Definitely some excellent talent here, Mike. I can't believe how far you've come. Great line work, great story. Great work.
Crawdad Jones: Six is always a good number! And hey... its a multiple of 3 might there be some significance to that? Thanks Jonesey!
This gets 5 YEATH's and a thumbs up from me! YEATH!! (make that SIX "Yeath's"!)
Man! I love the art on this! B/W was definitely the way to go too, as it plays up the beautiful line work!
I am jealous of your awesome skills.
I LOVE your style man! I am surprised you are so low, but don't take it as a reflection on your work, it rocks. The story is a little bland and a tad recycled, but it's a lot of fun. Keep it up and good luck.
Your technique is so crisp and clean and awesome! A great start to a story that I hope to see much more of!
http://leftyfilms.net/dailybeatings/?p=229
Zuda September 2009 crossover comic.
There are so many things to like about these 8 pages. The stark design is perfect, and I'm really interested to see how the dynamic between the WheelJack robots is going to play out. Good luck!
I'm a sucker giant robots :) That said, it seems like the story was looking for a hook with the father mention, but it needed to be developed a bit more. Hard for 8 pages.
I loved this comic, the artwork is great fun, great style. Personally I would like to see what it would be like with a muted colour palette that would be appropriate for the era, but I respect the decision to go for the B+W. All the best for the competition and beyond!
Stark and clean style!
I love the artwork really great example of how effective black and white comics can be.
This comic is beautiful nonsense. The art is fantastic in most spots (mostly the robots killing the Nazis parts...), but there is nothing that I remotely care about going on with the story. It seems like a big-ass robot would better serve as a page-8 reveal than just having him fight generic bad guys for half the run time. Also, I hate all the characters, especially the forced "history" (when the scientist laments being compared to his father...). Boring! Also, the production could have used some sprucing up. I'm not saying full color, but the stark black and white is hard to take. How about a parchment brown background with darker brown "blacks", to temper the look of it and "age" it a bit? Just a thought...
robots? hells yeah
The art is nice, but the concept has been done, and better (in my opinion) in Atomic Robo. But in all fairness, I'm basing said opinion on 8 pages, so maybe (hopefully) this will take off on a different direction than Robo. Good luck to you!
Anybody who doesn't love an old school war comic, complete w/Massive Robots Fryin Nazis is just Crazy! Seriously, great stuff. I do love old school war comics. Great job on the ultimate contrast in art , Heavy B&W. Great Work! Good Luck!
I enjoyed this comic and I felt that your use of b/w was absolutely appropriate. Best of luck this month!
Raygor: Long time no talk man! Really appreciate you taking the time to look. I'm glad you like it and could identify with the old-school character designs. I was watching a lot of the Johnny Quest around the time while I was making this so there could be a touch of that in there. :) But yes as much as I wanted the robot to fit into the era archetypes it may have still come off a bit too typical.
As for seeing how far we get, I will probably continue this story regardless of what happens here. Thanks again for the comments/criticisms man!
Mike, this is a fantastic comic, your art style is very dynamic. Strictly black on white creates very sharp definitions with the character designs. Speaking of which, you did a great job with the design of the humans, harkening back to older cartoon/animation styles with more definition of character shown in facial design as well as dialogue. If I had one complaint, it would be that the robot itself, while a good concept, reminds me a lot of other robot designs, namely Atomic Robo, though the character itself is different, just seems a similar design for a "combat robot." (nuklearpower.com) That being said, I understand that man concepts for robots within the WWII era might be similar, so it's understandable.
Overall, the story is interesting (Would like to see what is after to be continued.) the art is fantastic, with the right mix of new techniques and older ones, and the format and layout is nice and clean. Here's hoping you get far. :)
bluescale: Wow, thank you so much for the review you were more than generous. I'm so glad you enjoyed Wheeljack and I am particularly happy that you understood the context of the comic. Also i appreciate your criticisms. I feel the character development should have come further as well and the dialog could have been more assisting to the story. These are things I hope to revise in my work in the future. Thanks again!
My review: http://silianrailroad.blogspot.com/
awesome artwork! and who doesn't like a giant robot shooting nazi's? hopefully we see more of this one...
It has very much of oldschool - especially this monologue with face shown from side. But there is no twist in this preview which would make me wait for what is gonna be next.
Maeryl: Thanks so much for your comment and vote! The Iron Giant was a fine movie. I didn't want this to come off like it but I can see how Wheeljack could be construed as being similar seeing as I did use some of the same sort of robot archetypes IG used that came out/were common of that era (such as a bullet head and round eyes). But I feel the story is a quite a departure from IG. Either way, glad you enjoyed it and thanks again!
coffeehousecomics: Thanks a lot for the comment ! Glad you enjoy it!
the story itself seems like its been done before. very similar to The Iron Giant from I believe it was 1999? But your stylization and bold use of contrast intrigues me. I love it! It reminds me of the older comics, the good comics. not the ones you see now that are just so over done completely with the color and shading. but you have my vote dear! i hope to see some more stuff from you!
I love robots. This is one of the best things I have ever seen on Zuda! You use those two colors like I wish I could use those two colors! Has anyone made the Rob Schrab comparison yet? :) This is like a back in time prequel to his wonderful assassin comics and I think I accidentally did a prequel to your back in time prequel by mistake. Really, I think I did. Awesome job man!
bl00d0n0urhands: Thanks! I really appreciate you taking a look and commenting!
enjoying the high contrast b/w. great work mike!
MONSTAR555: Thanks for taking a look, I appreciate the comments!
Love the art, love the story, love the campiness. Best of luck!
vonblinden22: Thanks a lot! I put a lot of effort in my inks I really appreciate your comment.
Pretty good! Your line work is very clean. Solid.
BlueMaxx: Thanks for the comment man!
I liked how it gave that old-scifi feel with the b&w. The story could easily go somewhere great.
JeffAlbertson: Thanks for the comments! Yeah, I really hope to continue this story there is a lot more I want to do with it.
Lacking retro-charm, this just feels amateurish and outdated.
The genre description as "historical period drama" didn't quite lead me to expect what you gave us. But the art is good, and the situation would seem to lend itself to some fun stories.
kingofsnake: I agree. I also felt the story was lacking a bit- its definitely something I'm going to work out better/further next time. And should I continue with this story I intend to pick it up. Thanks for taking the time to give me a more in-depth critique!
Thanks for all the comments/votes so far everyone I really appreciate it! Just keep em' coming!
Reviewed:
http://leftyfilmsblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/zudaseptember-2009.html
Cool, but it reminds me of the prototypes drawn up for atomic robo that weren't used. I'm not a big fan of super-contrast, but you do it well.
Touch of Rian Hughes here? No bad thing.
Fun pulpy stuff! The tone works well alongside the brilliant, black-and-white style and I love the idea of an Iron Man-type robo-weapon being smashed through WWII. Top tankpunk - good luck in the competition!