Spider-Man pencils

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Clinical Assassin Print On Sale Now!

I just got the notification from ComiXpress about the print version of Clinical Assassin. It's now available to order from their online store!

To order a copy just CLICK HERE!

The story is written and created by Shan Lee Cook (that's me) with art by J.C. Grande and letters by Ben Rollman

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Star Stream: Invasion p16 "Pencils"

This is page 22 of Star Stream. That's p16 of Chapter 1: Invasion. It's all done digitally. Sky (that's her name btw) and A.J. are trying to talk Jintuan into leaving with them. Did it work? Well you'll have to wait another week to find out :)

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Captain America

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Blood On Our Hands

Another one of these guys. I like doing these... maybe if I get enough of them done I can put them together into a cohesive storyline and put it up on Webcomics Nation

I started one with a kind of Templar Knight character the other day but never finished it. I wanna do some Samurai ones too, who knows...

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Submission Guidelines Questions?

I found this site that has a pretty detailed list of over 60 comic book publishers submission guidelines

It's a pretty good article to look at if you're considering working in comics. The guy's name is Jason Thibault, and I don't know how much time he put into compiling the list but it had to be a while.

If you're interested, go check it out.

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Battle For Heaven

I call it 'Battle for Heaven'

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More Art Coming

I've got some new art to post hopefully tomorrow. It's a new "series" of pieces that all follow a common theme and feature a specific "cast" of characters but I wouldn't call it a "comic strip"

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Review: The Zuda Round-Up (March)

Some quick thoughts about the rest of this month's Zuda entries...

Doorman Bill - was kinda weird. It reminded me of 'The Bucket List' without Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

Lani, The Leopard Queen - The whole 8 pages are a dream sequence. I can't make up my mind when nothing literally or figuratively actually happens.

Panda Force - This is pretty much a rip-off of the Powerpuff Girls. Cute, but a rip-off.

The Dirty Mile - Dirty Mile has some interesting, but unspectacular art. The story has potential, I just don't think it's good enough to deserve to win.

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Review: The Rejects (Zuda)

The Rejects****

After a life of idol worship, two social misfits discover their own superpowers. Deciding to take up the mantle of justice, they discover that it’s more difficult than comic books ever let on. Unreliable powers certainly don’t help.

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I liked this one. It started out kinda boring but by the end I thought it was good. 

2 kids with super-powers bust up a heist and fight 3 "stooges" that spend more time arguing about 'The Sopranos' than stealing...

The best part was probably the fat kid that instigates the whole "lets be superheroes" thing, coming up with ridiculous names (Punchboy and Kid Electro) only to get his ass whooped as quickly as the fight starts.

If the story-telling is over-the-top, the art is sitting comfortably on the top. It's like a cross between traditional superhero comic books and the Sunday funnies. It lacks a lot of detail, but it's good enough that that doesn't matter. 

It's a shame we only get one winner a month on Zuda, because this comic is another one that's good enough to follow but not good enough to be the one single comic that gets to stay. Hopefully the creators will put it up on another site (Maybe Webcomics Nation)

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YouTube Problems

For some reason, my first attempt to upload the Star Stream Trailer didn't work. I uploaded it again though so hopefully it'll work right this time.

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Star Stream: Trailer

I made this short trailer for Star Stream this afternoon and put it up on YouTube So go check it out! If you can stumble, digg or w/e else I'd appreciate it a lot.

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Review: Maintaining Bohemia (Zuda)

Maintaining Bohemia**

Who keeps order in the land of total indulgence? The janitorial and security staff of the New Academy of Art and Design are all that stand between clean, well-maintained hallways and pseudo-intellectual chaos.

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The premise of the story is the art school janitors sit around on break all day talking about how weird the students and their art are... the punch-line is they could just as easily be talking about themselves...

The best part of the comic is the scene at the beginning where one of the students presents a self-portrait short film that mocks the self-loathing emo culture by showing a puppet commit suicide by throwing a radio in the bathtub. Call me a bad person, I thought it was fucking hilarious!

From there the story turns from kinda funny to pretentious nonsense. In one panel, the lead character goes on a forgettable rant that came off as the writer trying to say more than he knows about shit nobody cares about... and on top of that it feels like he's doing it for the sake of doing it.

The art is ok. I wouldn't call it my favorite but I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad either. It's kinda like graffiti caricatures. The only thing I don't like about the art is the way every character has this creepy smile that looks like the Joker raped Joan Rivers. 

Overall, it's ok I guess. It's not something I'd enjoy, but at least it's not as bad as last month's Indie entry.

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Review: Kharon: Scourge of Atlantis (Zuda)

Kharon: Scourge of Atlantis***

In a time lost to history, where the greatest kingdom of all time is also the most corrupt, one-man challenges the imperial might of an entire nation. He is Kharon, Scourge of Atlantis.

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This has everything from an 80s cartoon... From the cartoon art style to the outdated dialogue...

I love the old cartoon feel in this comic. The look of the characters struck me as something you'd see on Saturday morning. The mannerisms have a kind of traditional approach with the dark hero's glaring eyes and the evil General's smirking expressions.

The costume design was cool too. They look original without straying too far from a traditional design for a story of this type.

I really don't have much to say about this one. The dialogue wasn't that good but other than that the story really isn't bad. It's not extraordinary either. I enjoyed reading it, but not enough to vote for it over 'Dracula vs. Santa'

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Review: Dracula vs. Santa

Dracula vs. Santa*****

Dracula wants the North Pole, with its six months of darkness, for his new home. Only one thing stands in his way: Santa Claus! Now it’s naughty versus nice for real as each man gathers their allies for all out war! And this time…it’s seasonal!

When you see the title 'Dracula vs. Santa' you know going in you're not supposed to take this comic seriously. What you can expect is a lot of humor and parody...

March is turning into the month of page 1 for Zuda. I said in my review of 'Deadly' that the first page was one of the best I'd ever seen on Zuda... The first page of this comic is even better. Santa sitting in a chair, with his back to us, staring at a wall of monitors while a reindeer lies on the floor next to him doesn't need the "Who watches the Toymakers" screen to let it's readers know what infamous scene from the classic graphic novel it parodies.

Next we meet a parody of Nick Fury (Nick Frosty) that may be a little too much like the real thing (aside from the fact it's an elf) 

When the Easter Bunny shows up beaten and bloody I realized this was just Breakfast of the Gods with holiday mascots taking the place of their Breakfast counterparts used in that comic. (BotG even features Count Chocula as the main villain) But that doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

The cartoon art is just awesome. It fits perfectly in this hilarious holiday fantasy world setting. Each character has his own mannerisms and the emotional expressions hit the mark perfectly. 

The only downside to this comic is that we never get to see Dracula. Aside from that, this comic is perfect for what it is.

Overall, I've still got 6 comics to read from this month's competition, but unless one of them turns out to be absolutely incredible, this is the one I'm voting for.

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Review: Deadly (Zuda)

Deadly****

What was once Australia is nothing more than dust, rock and poisoned air. Inhabited only by deranged carnivores. It's no place for a child.

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I'm just gonna come right out and say it, this is one of my favorite first pages of any Zuda comic to date. There's only one line of dialogue "It started with a snake" 

But it wasn't my favorite first page (or one of) until a few pages later when we see what he means...

So this dude in a space suit is watching this giant snake swallow a little Aborigines boy... No I'm not kidding. Don't worry kids, the space man kills the snake and frees the boy. 

Usually when I see one of those made-for-tv movies about giant snakes on the SciFi channel I look for something else to watch. Not because giant snakes aren't fun, but because they're cheap, cheesy, and look terrible. But that doesn't transition to comics. It doesn't have to look like flawless CGI, it just has to look artistically solid.

The art is good. My only complaint was that every page was limited to no more than 2 panels. That'll look fine if the story eventually goes to print, but as a Zuda comic, it makes the story go by quickly. 

The plus side to that is that each panel has more room to breathe. As a result you get a better picture of the space man killing the snake, and for that matter the snake itself.

Overall it's a quick read, but worth the 30 seconds it takes to read it. I'm not sure if it's deep enough to deserve to win, but if it does I won't have a problem following it.

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Star Stream: Character Bios - Bale Calistas

Name: Bale Calistas
Race: Human
Homeworld: Bel Sollace
Alliance: Aboshi Alliance



Bale Calistas is the Commander of an elite Special Forces Squadron under the command of General Grimm.

His Loyalty to the uniform is only surpassed by his loyalty to his friends. He'll do whatever is necessary to protect them. When the situation is desperate he's the first person you want on your side.

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Review: Children of Armageddon (Zuda)

Children of Armageddon ***

An extraordinary event will push Secret Agent Eric Gray into discovering his past.

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Another invulnerable superhero with a mysterious past battles a giant robot. What makes this story different is that our "superhero" is a secret government agent...

There's a lot of potential in the concept to do something different, rather than a typical superhero vs giant robot cliche'. Unfortunately it's wasted potential. All we get in these 8 pages are a quick origin story, an introduction of sidekicks and a giant robot.

After reading this I'm left wondering what it would be like if James Bond were blessed with invulnerability. I'm left wondering this because I didn't get to see it in this story. Maybe if this comic wins we'll get to see more of that but, like I love to point out, on Zuda you only get 8 pages...

The writer missed when he introduced this interesting concept directly between the 2 most over-done cliches of the superhero genre (origin stories and giant robots) rendering it nearly invisible.

The art on the other hand is nice, especially the first few pages. Watching the boy fall and the devastation it caused to a busy Dallas street was fun. The giant robot actually looked good... if only it wasn't a giant robot.

Overall I'd say I wouldn't be disappointed if this one won, if only for the chance to see the concept of a James Bond type character with super powers, but I doubt I could follow another superhero fighting giant robots for very long. 

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Flashlight

I was just messing around on the tablet and made this. No idea what it is. I'm gonna call him Flashlight.

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Star Stream: Ships

One of the first main villains in Star Stream are the Braigon... this is one of their cruisers. The starfighters look a lot like this too.

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Star Stream: Character Bios - Ardon Jace (A.J.)

Name: Ardon Jace (A.J.)
Race: Human
Homeworld: Bel Sollace
Alliance: None


A.J. attended the Bel Sollace Starfleet Academy with Bale Calistas. After graduating from the Academy, A.J. was stationed on the "Hurricane," A star-cruiser under the command of Admiral SoDeck.

After serving his 5 year tour, A.J. left starfleet, against the protests of Bale, claiming he'd never fight another war.

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Star Stream: Character Bios

Starting today I'm gonna be putting up a few short character bios for Star Stream

Each "Bio" will include a short description of the character and a small picture. I'll be starting with A.J. and Bale, since they're the 2 main characters, and I'll go from there.

Right now I've got 5 done and hopefully a few more by the end of the week. I'm a little busy working on the actual pages at the moment but hopefully I'll be able to put up some more bios and maybe some more concept art as well.

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