AMK Comics
  • Home
  • MAN IN THE MASK
  • Blog
  • Ramses Feline
  • Commission by MWB
  • Creative Origins
  • Join the newsletter!
  • Shop

Allies in the Alley Thoughts

7/8/2020

0 Comments

 
One of the biggest reasons I decided to take MAN IN THE MASK digital first, is the immediacy of the format. I can pretty much draw, ink and color a page and have it be seen in a day’s time. I like that because it allows me to do things on the fly.

Like Allies in the Alley.

I’ve had this little behind the scenes story in my head for a couple months. It really could have been left alone but I thought it would be a cool idea to make it a reality, if for anything, an exercise. Since I began this series I have created it between the cracks of any free time I might have. I’ve never treated it with any deadline in mind. I think the fastest book I’ve created was the Halloween Special and that was two months.

With everything going on in the world, my freelance design business has slowed a bit. Hence, the focus I’ve been able to put on the series as of late. I felt if there was any time to try to put out a short story while creating it daily, now was the time.

it’s a pretty simple story. One month after the end of the graphic novel and a few months before the beginning of issue 1, Tommy is just getting used to wearing his pop’s mask. Even though for years, he was running around Millerton, he was hiding as best he could, trying not to be seen or identified. This adventure puts him directly into a confrontation between two men. One who is the obvious victim, the other the antagonist.

i get to introduce a new street level bad guy in Thadeus Wulf and his sons as well as some motivation Gwen’s Uncle Felix has in my series as he becomes kind of a touchstone for Tommy.

if you read the graphic novel, you can see Tommy gained a mask by the end, but lost some things in the process. Felix and Colt’s Corner factor into Tommy rebuilding his foundations. A city is a big place. And for one masked hero, it’s good to have a smaller piece of the real estate to start with. Felix gives Tommy a home base to be able to stretch out but close enough to have a stake in what Felix envisions for the Corner. And by doing so, Tommy is reminded of the sense of community that his Pop was instilling into him about the mask.

I am very proud to say I did do this story in 8 days like I wanted. I penciled and inked in one day, Aiden colored and then I would letter. I’m pretty happy with the results. Usually I plan everything out too much. Sketch model sheets of each character layouts etc. I did everything on the paper this time. Even the designs of the Wulf family. It was a exciting experience to say the least.

I tried to put action into it as best I could, but at the heart of the matter, I’m more a character guy. I like trying to make my guys as human and relatable as possible. And in that respect, I think I did it for this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    A lifelong comics fan, Mike W. Belcher is the writer/artist of MAN IN THE MASK. A story he's had with him for over 20 years.

    Archives

    July 2022
    May 2022
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.