DOC DEATH BLOOD FROM A STONE.

Script: Greg Meldrum. Art: David Broughton. Lettering: Bolt 01.

Having agreed to draw Greg's script for the fanzine 'Dogbreath' I received the commissioning email and script from Dave Evans on 3rd September 2011.  I had really enjoyed working on 'The Big Scab' with Greg and I was looking forward to fleshing out his latest story. One of the good things about Greg's scripts (from my point of view) is that he provides just the right amount and type of information for each panel.  In doing so he leaves me a little wiggle room to use my imagination which can make all the difference to the finished look of the artwork.

I had been drawing every panel for my comic strips on different bits of A4 paper and then scanning them in for the last few years (I liked the freedom created by this, rather than being restricted to drawing the whole page on one big bit of card)  however I had decided to go back to the old methods and was producing all six pages for this story on A3 220gm heavy weight paper.

I got cracking on the artwork and managed to get all six pages done in the evenings by 20th of September 2011.

In the 'Pro' world of comics seventeen days is way too long to complete six pages however: for an unpaid small-press artist with other time commitments I felt sure this was ok....but as ever I wanted to do better on my next script.

For those interested in how the story 'Blood from a Stone' was developed here is a link to Greg Meldrums blog where he talks further about his idea's and more importantly...(LOL!) praises me!
http://hisowndrum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/youre-doc-doc.html

Below I have provided the page layouts for the six pages.  In previous projects ('The Graduate' and the 'Big Scab') I had produced more elaborate page layouts.  For 'Blood from a Stone' I decided to save time by drawing quick 'thumbnail' sketches for each page. Then if I was happy with the layout and story telling aspects of each panel, I would start on the page right away.

Above: Rough page layouts for pages 1 and 2.

Above: Page layouts for page 3.

Above: Page  layouts for page 4.

Above: Page layouts for page 5.

Above: Page layouts for page 6.

Should you wish to read 'Blood from a Stone' you can buy a copy of Dogbreath No. 25 via this link...
http://www.futurequake.co.uk/shop.php

The GRADUATE.

Script: David. Broughton. Art: David. Broughton: Letters: Bolt 01 A.K.A. Dave Evan's..

The Graduate was my first submission to a small press publication. I completed the story late in October 2010 and submitted the entire strip, completely lettered, in November of that same year. It was published in the 2000AD fanzine 'ZARJAZ No.13' roughly a year later on November 1st 2011.

Six months later as I write this, I know I was extremely lucky that my story got through first time with almost no changes to it.  The exception being that Dave Evan's offered his lettering services for the story and I gratefully accepted the offer. His lettering massively improved the whole look and feel of the finished story and without a doubt greatly enhanced the whole strip.

It was obvious that the guys in the ZARJAZ editorial team consisting of Richmond Clements, The Emperor & Dave Evan's take their job seriously and don't hold back when it comes to getting the scripts right.  My heart goes out to would-be comic script writers: although from what I can tell its good practice for writing scripts for the 'Mighty One!'

The Graduate is set in Judge Dredd's world of Mega-City 1 and for those that don't know the main character's identity is not known until the last panel of the story.  For older readers of 2000AD the slight twist at the end will reveal a character from around prog 450.

Here is the finished published story:

Page Layouts.

The page 1 layout (above left) shows that the last panel (panel 5) was changed for a more dramatic angle on the final artwork.

Above left: The layout for page 2 shows that one of the characters is sporting a moustache. This was removed from the finished art for plot purposes. On page 3 (above right) I wanted to mention the Plasti-domes that were seen over mega-city from prog 4 until approximately prog 90.

Above: Layouts for pages 4 and 5. The layout for the final page 5 artwork was changed from the rough layout (see above right) to a more dynamic one on the final published page.

The Graduate is no longer available to read in Zarjaz No. 13 (see below) which is now sold out. However other issue's of Zarjaz can be bought from the Future Quake online store via this link: https://www.futurequake.co.uk/zarjaz/?p=3

The Big Scab.

Script: Greg Meldrum. Art: David Broughton. Lettering:  Bolt 01.

Back in March 18th 2011 Dave Evans, also known as 'Bolt 01' Editor of the Galaxy's greatest Fanzine 'Zarjaz' contacted me to see if I was interested in drawing a Strontium Dog based strip for the fanzine 'Dogbreath', which, as most 2000ad fans will know, is set in the world of the character 'Johnny Alpha'.

I thought, "Great I'm going to get a chance to draw Alpha!"  I received a script by Greg Meldrum entitled 'The Big Scab' featuring as the main character (a baddie known as 'Impetigo Jones') and as I scanned the script I could find no mention of Johnny anywhere in the story...my heart sank a little...

Quickly putting this aside I read the script which was nicely typed and laid out. Greg also added visual references when needed, which is most helpful.  After finishing the script I thought "This is great!"

How Greg had managed to pack a great plot, a whole host of gags, puns and general wit into 5 pages with-out complete overkill is beyond me! Should you wish to read more about Greg's thought process behind his script, click this link to go to his blog site: http://hisowndrum.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/impetigo-jones-big-scab.html

Now it was down to me to sell the story visually and I began work on the rough page layouts.

You can see (above) the layout for page 1 next to the finished artwork on the right.

Above: Layouts for pages two and three.

Above: Layouts for pages four and five.

With a full time job it took me about 5 weeks to finish the artwork and I emailed my efforts to the Editor Bolt 01 on the 21st April 2011.

This was was my first ever comic strip to be published and I was lucky enough to get a fairly good review from 'Everything Comes Back to 2000AD's' very own 'Flint Lockjaw', who doesn't mince his words!

Here is a link to the podcast page on the ECBT2000AD website: http://ecbt2000ad.libsyn.com/webpage/ep61-ecbt2000ad-zarjaz-and-dogbreath-review

Should you wish to read 'The Big Scab' it appears in issue 24 of  'Dogbreath' and can be bought from the Future Quake online shop via this link http://www.futurequake.co.uk/shop.php

Colour work featuring 2000ad characters #1.

STRONTIUM DOG: The ICEMAN COMETH.
Artwork by David Broughton.

This image can also be viewed on the Everything Comes Back to 2000AD website via this link:
http://2000ad.wordpress.com/category/art-gallery/page/7/ Thanks to Richard McAuliffe for posting this on his website and to everyone for their comments on the artwork.


DREDD vs GIANT GREEN ROBO-SANTA MEANIE.
Artwork by David Broughton.

This image can also be viewed on the 2000AD web forum via this link:
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,34797.0.html
Thanks to everyone for their comments on the artwork.



THANK YOU TO RON SMITH.
Artwork by David Broughton.

This image can also be viewed on the 2000AD web forum via this link:
http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php/topic,34167.0.html