Blitz
Blitz is © Ted Dawson
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Science Fiction, Action/Adventure
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In the days of the Old West, a crippled alien transport made an emergency landing near Alamo, Nevada. Thousands of aliens were assimilated into the United States culture, starting life anew in a strange land. The 20th century would never be the same.
Not all Americans were happy with the integration of Alien-Americans. Some sought to profit by the potential influx of cheap labor and technological knowledge. Yet others had more sinister motives…
Nice! The little alien guy DOES look a bit like Fone Bone, but that can be forgiven. I like the old school style, and it makes me sad to see this take 10th place.
my review here:
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http://pigs-of-the-industry.blogspot.com/2009/10/zuda-review-blitz-yeah-i-can-see-jeff.html
Thanks for the interview, Ted. You've got a fun style. http://www.rocketllama.com/blog-it/2009/10/21/interview-blitz-zuda/
Crossover!
http://thefarlander.deviantart.com/art/Zuda-October-09-Crossover-140759405
I like the art style. None of your characters look alike and are easy to tell apart. I see the Bone thing people were talking about and that's OK and a compliment. I do have to agree with the not liking the dialog. I get the accents your were looking for but it felt too forced and overdone. Keep up the good work!!
Thanks, guys. Live and learn!
I reckon one mistake I made was in misunderstanding how the pages would be "published." I had thought a new page would be shown each week. That kind of strip is a different animal. I lost any sense of suspense and instead ended up with a flat 8-page story. This was designed more as an old-fashioned adventure newspaper comic strip.
I'm a little surprised by the Bone references, but I suppose that's a reflection of what comics one is familiar with.
Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read Blitz.
Wow! I am just astounded by some to the comments on this entry! I read all the comments before reading the comic, and was prepared for some of the weaknesses in dialogue, but a lot of the complaints seem to boil down to *This doesn't look like Hellblazer or Walking Dead, so it sucks.*
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Here's my suggestion - the artwork works well for this type of story. What I think might be the biggest drawback is the dialogue, wherein characters seem to give exposition rather than actually talk. Example: Oh, no! He broke all the dishes I was washing!
Pretty fun and energetic. I'd like to see a fat graphic novel of this on newsprint--
I like how carefree and loose it is, Ted.
Good luck!
I'm digging this, the accent's inspired - it sets Blitz up as a scrapper without him even lifting a finger. It could probably do with a little less expositionary dialogue and a little more showing than telling but other than that a solid funny entry. I'd love to see more.
The story has lots of problems. The art does look a little rushed. The art remeinds me of some newspaper strips from the past, Lit'l Abner? Or is is Sky Pirates? Can't remember. The story could have saved it though. If it keeps going I'm sure it will all improve. I see lots of promise.
I really don't understand the hate for this.
Yes, the main character is quite similar to the Bone design, but aside from that, the drawing bears no resemblence to Jeff Smith's work. I'm not crazy about the overall strip, and the main character should probably get a redesign, but i think Ted did a great job and has the makings of a great cartoonist. Congratulations on a really solid entry and good luck.
"I know this is a free comic website, but I felt like almost no effort was put into this."
Just give your criticism, please.
Howdy. I recently posted reviews of this month's comics on my website and thought you might be interested. The article can be found here:
http://comicsvault.blogspot.com/2009/10/zuda-week-october-reviews-part-1.html
Good luck and keep creating.
p.s. I, too, thought of Bone when I read this, which is mentioned in my review. As Ted has alluded too, however, Bone wasn't created in a vacuum -- it was also heavily influenced by the classic comic strips Ted cites as his influences, such as Pogo. I think some of the comments here are therefore a little too harsh.
I know this is a free comic website, but I felt like almost no effort was put into this. Barely sketched, run o'the mill comicstrip scenario...early Archie Comics seem like Citizen Cane compared to this. Sorry to be so harsh, especially if you put some heart into it, but, again, it felt bare-minimum. I mean, it technically is a comic. Usually am more lenient with comedy, because it is so subjective...this just wasn't good.
Right on Jeebus. There's a huge amount of talent hanging about and submitting stuff to Zuda and it's a great space to find encouragement and morale-boosting comradery. Sadly though, it's also a place where artsist and writers can end up losing confidence.
It's part of the problem with the competition set-up I suppose. Nothing is going to be perfect and in fact most entries are deeply flawed in some way, but ultimately everyone here loves comics. It's unnerving to think that there's a lot of hard-working people out there pouring out their soul and being creative just to be greeted with great big blasts of scorn and venom by avatars over the interweb.
Constructive criticism and confidence-boosting encouragement should be the order of the day; and that's true for all feedback on all entries.
That's a fair enough comment James Clayton, but I had a look at his website and he's also ripped off Calvin and Hobbs in one strip, not a criminal offence, more just a phase some artists have to go through to improve they're confidence, there are plenty of established big name comic artists who started off as rip-offs of other artists. Ted's a decent enough artist, he needs be more confident in his own abilities, and the response to this entry probably won't help that.
I think this one is suffering the wrath of the masses because it bears similarity to another comic. Yet people seem to have no problem when Zuda entries basically lift entire movies...
Hi Ted, I just read your comic, and I owe you a congratulations on making such a great entry! The story was very compelling, and your penciling is fantastic! I have a lot of respect for people who can draw action sequences as well as you did in this comic. If you don't mind, could you send me an e-mail at: captioncomix (at) gmail.com? I have something important that I would like to talk with you about. Thanks, and good luck! -Daniel
Can you say Ted the Bug.
Can you say Ted the Bug.
I think that modern comics could as well dare a leap into the past once in a while, but it's almost impossible not to be influenced. Therefore you will most likely produce something which has been already seen many times. I love retro comic strips, they're part of my background, but I still prefer a more original work. I think it's got potential, but it needs much more experimenting and search for freshness.
Doesn't flow well for me. There's a lot going on, but it doesn't make for complexity. It instead just seems convoluted and unfocused.
frequentcontributor, I love reading your comments!
I think the industry is very much in need of light-hearted and just plain fun comics. This has the feel of the old adventure serial strips (Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, etc) with the art of Pogo. It's rough around the edges and not likely to win Zuda. However with continued work, this could be a successful online strip.
I look forward to seeing more.
Oh my god I hate this. Page after page of unfunny "jokes", obnoxious accents ripped out of gangster movies from the 1930's, and absolutely no actual characterization. This could work if the whole story ran only 8 pages and were actually funny or whatever it is trying to be, but I don't think that I would want to read some long, drawn out serial of this. I almost stopped reading halfway through, but thought that there might be some sort of "twist" ending. There wasn't. The art is very nice, here, but incredibly dated, and it REALLY did not save this comic from being a misery to have to sit through.
Bone with a small nose, Granma Ben in drag on a horse, HEY, GROW UP AND GET YOUR OWN STYLE!!!! Other than that, not bad...
It is fun, lighthearted, and hectic. I like that thing of aliens being second-class citizens (District 9 anyone?) - it is still fresh enough to me for it to be funny, like racism, but without the risk of offending anyone. For me, you tried to put too much into your limited space, and had to resort to too many silly coincidences that went past being funny into being a bit annoying. I would have wanted to read more of it if there had been more time spent developing one or two things instead. I did like the style of the drawing though.
great characters, great dialogue. Well drawn also.
however, the Bone influence is so similar, one cant help but take that into consideration when looking at your comic... I dont know your intentions, if you were just paying tribute, but instead your comic comes off as a cheap rip-off.
I've only been here recently but this, and the "tarzan" comic last month... I dont know why artists think ripping off old classics would give them a better chance to win... no, those classics were so succesful because they were ORIGINAL
Bulldog, Blitz, Sissie! good characters! Your Hero's easy to root for, (the Finger counting was classic, wish I'd thought of it!) Funny!
Yes, some obvious influences here but that doesn't hurt this one bit. There is definitely nice energy here and it certainly drops you in the deep end of the pool in terms of everything going on but its fun and that counts for a lot.
Thanks, guys, I appreciate the feedback. When I was drawing these, I had classic strips like Wash Tubbs, Terry and the Pirates and Dick Tracy on my mind. I just wanted to do something fun and pack as much into each panel as I could.
I had sketches of the little guy with goggles from a few years back, before I discovered Bone, but I can see why there are comparisons to Bone. Jeff Smith is tops, and it'd be about another hundred years before I could hope to write and draw that well.
Blitz has a permanent scowl because that's the only way I know how to draw him so far. Hopefully I'll get the chance to develop that and his personality down the road.
As a fan of Bone and that style, I have to say I loved every page! Great stuff!
"Bone-tastic!" is right. And how about "Pogo-riffic"?
I gotta admit that I immediately thought of Bone as well when I looked at this, but that's not entirely a bad thing as Bone is a great comic. However, this just doesn't have the subtle charm that comic had. This was just a bit too fast paced to really characterize the more important characters (Though I do understand the 8 page limit can really hinder this).
I do apologize for the comparison BTW (I'm probably not going to be the last guy who thinks this). Anyway this is still a great entry, but would of been better if it was drawn out a bit and given a slower pace.
Pros: Great use of the grid and I enjoyed the dialogue.
Cons: The story is generic and I couldn't get interested enough to care about any of the characters or where they're going.
That opening line alone had me laughing out loud.
Aliens, Old West, Gangs, gunfighting and a lovestory meshed into one? What's not to like! Has some thin threads in the plotline but i like it. Very much.
Who are you calling unfamiliar? You wanna step outside and say that again?
Wonderful I love the character :D
My first thought was that it reminded me of Walt Kelly's Pogo meets Bill Morrison's Roswell, Little Green Man. I would put the Bone similarities down to the common influence of Walt Kelly, but maybe the author is as unfamiliar with that artist as the other commentators here. Still I think this piece stands on its own merits, particularly for characterization and cartooning. Well done, Mr. Dawson.
This is a lot of fun and really enjoyable. An excellent entry for sure and I salute you for brinbging some proper, fun comic-strip spirit to the table for this month. Ace!
Clicked on yours first this month and I must say: Wow! Just finished up Color Bone #5 and started on #6 today. I must say that you've been able to capture Jeff's style superbly! Great look and story! 5 stars and a fav sir! Possibly my vote once I read thru the rest.
Reviewed: http://leftyfilmsblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/zuda-octoberhalloween-2009.html
your one of the best so far may the best web comic win !
Is Blitz's visage a nod to Dick Tracy?
Love how it evolves at a nice pace, and the artwork is very reminisent of Jeff Smith. However, why is Blitz in a constant scowl?
I agree. The art does really remind you of Bone. Unfortunately the writing, not so much. The dialogue is stilted and a little silly. I like the setting and the direction the story is going, but there is so much that just feels unnatural in the storytelling that it really pulls the rug out from under this one
Bone-tastic!