Azure
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The year is 2022. The ice caps are long gone. The world is a watery grave for most coastal and low-lying cities, and the land left has been decimated by Warfare and stripped bare by the remnants of humanity. This was caused by a cataclysm in the year 2012, (called the “Event” by survivors), predicted by the Aztecs centuries earlier. The temperature of the planet is an average of +35 degrees Celsius, and the oxygen level in the air has been reduced drastically, with kelp and ocean-based plant life maintaining a barely breathable atmosphere. Over time, the survivors of mankind have fled to the only cool areas left on earth, and many have migrated beneath her oceans. Entire cities have been relocated to undersea environments, in order to escape the wrath of the sun and the creeping of the seas. Most of the struggling submerged communities have died. Survivor scientists tried in vain to replace the icecaps and to make their watery cities work, only to learn that man needs air and light. After eons of evolution moving away from the water, mankind is being forced back into her depths.
Precious commodities of 2022:
Technology that is self-reliant or solar powered.
Trees and plants of any shape or kind.
Fresh water; rain collectors and filters
Replenishing, energy-based weapons
This is awesome. I look forward to seeing where you take it from here. You have an impressive talent.
It's beautiful and clever... now what happens next???!
The illustration is ill!
Impressive story.
Hey Gnar! Thanks a ton :) I really appreciate the sentiment, especially given all the good stuff that has been turning up here. I hope when the future updates start up you will keep that feeling :) Oh, and if you check out the blog here: http//azurezuda.wordpress.com - I should have some new tidbits up in the next day or so. Thanks again for the congrats and the kind words GD!
Ever read one of your posts & think you may have been unclear? I just read my last one,(below), & I think your comic is one of the best on the site, (not the month!), that was my meaning. Congrats Again!
DanLTaylor - Hey thanks Dan! Wow - quite a month for Daniels, hunh? Skullgoyle was a good read and a work you guys should be proud of. There were just too many good comics in October, by my estimation. I hope you guys submit another entry, and it will be good to see you guys around these parts. I will certainly keep a look out for your usernames :).
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Bryy_Miller - ha! Oh my :)
I can see it now. The Holy Unified Church of the Megalodon.
Huzzah for Azure! Congratulations to Daniel Govar for a well deserved win in October's competition. You beat out the Daniel and Daniel team of Taylor and Thollin, and our gray guardian, Skullgoyle. I look forward to reading more Azure.
ha ha ha - nice! Have you seen one of those teeth btw? Crazy how big they are.
I believe we need:
LONG LIVE THE MEGALODON.
Hey guys! I have been given permission to post the pencils to some of the pages and have posted them here with notes: http://azurezuda.wordpress.com/ - feel free to comment here or on the production blog. Enjoy!
I kind of died off with my responses at the end of last month and missed a few of your comments…
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Khiton – awesome observations and comments as always and a pleasure to read :) . Did I write Emancipated?! Oy… That must have been a snafu with my spell check. You’re right about my not indicating any reasons for the emaciation as well, in these 8 pages. Thankfully we will have more pages to explore all facets of Azure, and to get a lot more of the backstory to round out this underwater world. I will check on whether I am allowed to post the pencil sketches on the blog… As to the proportions – I think the angles I chose to illustrate were not always the best. At certain angles it does lengthen and slightly distort others. As to the tiny Azure up to – yah – that one does look a bit off I suppose :) Hope to hear more from you soon!
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twotimingpete – gotta love your screen name man. Thanks for the props on the artwork :) I appreciate it!
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LadiesandGentlemen – Thanks for the kind words and the “amazingness”. Future installments promise not to disappoint!
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RKB – well I’m glad it was between the two of us in which you had to make the call :) I’m glad you will be around to check out future installments though, and thanks for all the kind words on Azure.
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Stauff! – Good to see you here man! Thanks a ton for all your support – I really appreciate it! See you around :)
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Hesamiar – I appreciate the comments on the 3D effects I’ve been throwing in there. Glad you are noticing those little details. I will def take those 4 stars and work hard to abolish your cliché doubts you might have ;) Thanks for the notes on my perseverance and determination – I thank you for that very much, and you will be seeing more in the very near future. Stay Zuda-tuned and good luck with the filmmaking. It’s another hard world to get into!
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hereortherebamf… - is your username a Nightcrawler reference? Nice! If so :) Kurt Wagner was always a favorite of mine. It’s good to see you here Pritchard31! Thanks for heading over for a vote and to help support me. I really appreciate it! Haha – about the metal grate :) I will have to figure out a way to work in a pair of fuzzy slippers…If that’s your only gripe – I’ll take it! Thanks for the help and the comments, and hope to see you back here sooner rather than later.
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BlueMaxx – Thanks for the kind words!
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zensurfer – Thanks! Welcome to Zuda :) Not sure yet, but the comics tend to update on a weekly basis. Azure just won the October competition so it might be a little while before we have a schedule of updates for it. This was just the first 8 pages of the 60 page run. I really appreciate the print comment! Thanks again for the comment.
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swordfish – Thanks a ton! You helped get Azure to the top SFish!
Congats on winning what had to be one of the toughest competitions yet, here on Zuda! Looking forward to more from this beautiful comic!
Well done! Though I get the critique of the pacing being slow, I like it. Doesn't work well for a web book where we only get 8 pages to begin with, but I could image snuggling up in a comfy chair in the dead of winter and paging through a massive graphic novel of this, letting it unfold over hours.
I agree with fernview a bit. I think the pacing needs to picl up a bit. Seems like it could be cool though
Congrats, saulone!
The pacing is slow. Four screens of this eight screen teaser were spent on the main character just getting out of bed! I'd also recommend some stronger panel borders. Some panels just blur into another. It looks like there are some figure drawing problems as well. The female figure is a little inconsistent. In her close-up, she looks like a goofy Anne Heche.
The premise though is engaging and the art is acceptable and even moody. I'd read this again as well as tune in for future instalments ...provided the pacing picks up.
CONGRATULATIONS.
I can't wait to see the next one. Good Job!!!
Congrats on the win. I really can`t wait for the the story to continue. I really think this is gonna be a great read.
Congrats.
Congrats!!! Your artwork is on another level, can't wait to see more.
Awesome, Can't wait to see more!!!
Congrats! Says alot when you beat the kind of stuff you did. Alot of Top Notch Stuff here. Yours Definitely One of the Best in My Book. Well Deserved, Congratulations again, looking forward to the next pages!
congrats, glad you won, though I take no pleasure in mathema losing. wish we could have both!
Sweet ! Nice Work.
Congratulations!!! :°)
Congrats on the win, and like I said I will be reading.
woot!
Congratulations Saulone!!
looking forward to how this progresses.
congrats. :)
Welcome aboard Saulone...Congratulations
Congratulations!
Congratulations! I can't wait to read more!
WOW! Thanks so much everyone! I have to drop soo many thanks I don't know where to start...
Thanks to the fine Zuda PTB, and to the Night Owls guys for putting Azure into the competition this month. Thanks to Mathema, the Hammer Sound crew, and the other competitors for giving me a month of sleepless nights and an extremely grumpy girlfriend. Thanks to Em BTW ;) for putting up with me and the dog this last month. Thanks to all the fine people who voted for Azure. Thanks for the tons of feedback you all have given me! I am very blessed to have met so may new amazing artists, writers, animators, publishers, producers, filmmakers, bands, moms, ...you name it. You guys all rock so hard! I can't wait to get started on the updates and I promise to do my best to knock your socks off in the coming months.
Thanks again everyone!
~Dan
Yay!
congrats !!! i'll be excited to see where this goes. suggestion: talking sharks. please?
Congratulations!
Congratulations, Dan!
Congratumalations!!!
Congratulations, Saulone!
...
Looking forward to seeing where the story goes
and what other sea life is out there!
Congratulations Saulone! - You've done an amazing job throughout the competition, it's been an awesome month
Happy Halloween :)
The final stretch! Go Azure! Have a deep blue Halloween everybody!
Voted mate... lovely work!
beautiful work! i am new to zuda. how often will azure come out? was this the first installment? this is so good it should be in printed form!
Looks like you've got this month in the bag, saulone. Much deserved too. Congrats!
a.k.a Pritchard31 on myspace.....I liked it. You had multiple "camera angles" for your shots, which all of them seemed to work. The Panel lay-out wasn't hard to follow at all, even though it was unconventional. "Cliche'" yes, but isn't everything? It depends on what you do with the story that will make it memorable. From s storytelling standpoint, it is easy to follow. Art Standpoint, you do have a lot of detail in there which is cool, but I want to know one thing......how in the hell did she not react to the metal grate? You know that has to be cold, first thing in the morning no less. At least give her some fuzzy shark slippers or something to put on. That's the only gripe.
Good job.
Nice job! I like how there is a 3D effect going on in some of the larger panels. I gave it 4 stars because so far, it seems a bit of a cliche. Ok, maybe that's just me being picky, but I'd like to read more before I decide whether or not it deserves 5 star treatment.
As a long-aspiring filmmaker, I greatly admire your dedication and hard work, which figured heavily in my voting.
I appreciate the work, the effort, and the fact that you send personal messages and introduced yourself.
Kudos, best of luck, and I hope to read much more very soon.
DAn this looks great, loving the concept in the art as well as the attention to detail, this is my fav zuda comic!