JUDGE DREDD 'DRILLER KILLER'.

Last November (2011) with no small press work on the go I decided to get some practice drawing Judge Dredd for my portfolio.  I didn't have a script so I decided to choose something at random.  I picked 'Case files 15' and as you have already guessed selected the story 'Driller Killer'.  As I've mentioned in previous posts my 'Dredd' character is always evolving and at this point in time I was still drawing him on the old Lawmaster with the old Lawgiver etc.  After a quick look I picked 3 pages of the original strip to draw, which I have posted below.

  
 

Above:  Page 2.  I loved the original artwork which was very atmospheric. Therefore when laying out and drawing 'my take' I did my best to make things look new but keep the original feel.

Above:  Page 3.  My panel layout on this page is very similar to the original. What I have atempted to do is choose different angles for the fight scenes which I hope, are at least as dynamic as the original.

Above:  Page 4. For effect I have chosen to use the full bleed area of this page.  This can be seen in panel 2 where I have drawn for the Perp looking over his shoulder at Dredd. 

If you don't have a copy of  'Judge Dredd complete case files 15' and you want to have a look at the awsome original comic strip then this link will take you to the 2000ad online shop where you can purchase top thrill power at the click of a button.

http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_the_complete_case_files_15

SLADEK.

Script: David Broughton. Art: David Broughton.

Dave Evan's and the ZARJAZ editorial team had accepted and published my first story ‘The Graduate’ I decided to submit another Judge Dredd based story. In December 2010. So I started work on a script featuring Judge Sladek (see 2000ad progs 461-463) that would directly follow 'The Graduate'.  By January 2011 I had finished five pages of artwork which can be seen along with the rough page layouts below.

Confident of success I emailed Dave Evans with a script and finished artwork. A few days passed and Dave got back to me. The ZARJAZ editorial team had decided to reject the story with the main reason being that the story covered too much old ground that had already been seen in the Prog.

I was disappointed. After thinking it through I could see their point of view.  A little later, I emailed Dave to thank him and the editorial team for taking the time to look at my work. Dave was very positive about it all and offered me the script for 'Big Jimping' by Lee Robson to draw.  Once again I thought it through and I quickly decided that it would be good practice for me to draw my first script by someone else in about ten years.  So I accepted gratefully.

Rough page layouts and finished page art.

Above: Rough layout (left) and finished artwork (right) for page one.

Above: Rough layout (left) and finished artwork (right) for page two.

Above: Rough layout (left) and finished artwork (right) for page three.

Above: Rough layout (left) and finished artwork (right) for page four.

Above: Rough layout (left) and finished artwork (right) for page five.

Above: Proposed artwork for a ZARJAZ cover. At this point in time I didn’t know that ZARJAZ covers were normally drawn by official 2000ad artists.

MORE MARTILLO.

Work has started on a Martillo comic book.  More information via this link.
http://hisowndrum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/martillo-goes-large.html

Above: Images from a new Martillo story.

Martillo first appeared in free online comic Temple APA and can be downloaded to read for free in the PDF file format via this link. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11875984/Temple%2010.pdf

BIG JIMPING.

‘Big Jimping’ was my second story for ‘Zarjaz’ and my first comic script from a writer other than myself for a long time. Zarjaz editor Dave Evans emailed me with the script on 4^th February 2011. 

After reading the script by Lee Robson which had some great 'Dredd' one liners. I roughed out the pages. These can be seen below.

More information regarding the evolution of the story can be found on Lee’s blog via this link.

http://www.imaginarystories.co.uk/2012/07/zarjaz-15-futurequake-21-out-now.html

Above: Rough page layouts for pages 1 and 2.

Above: Rough page layouts for pages 3 and 4.

Above: Layout for page 5.

My characterization of Dredd is constantly evolving so I decided to tweak my art style to account for the humorous nature of the story. 

I wanted to include characters from different ethnicities into my art (after all Mega-city is home to 400 million people) so this seemed to make sense.

I decided to give the make-up table seen in the story a futuristic make-over. Therefore I replaced the square table seen on layout  page 3, panel 5 for some thing more visually appealing.

Above: Finished make-up table design.

I then started work on the inked page art. At the time I was still drawing everything on seperate bits of paper, scanning and laying up the pages on computer.

Artists adding extra visual jokes to their page panels is a long established 2000ad tradition and one that I like to uphold with my artwork.

Sometimes these ‘extra jokes’ get covered up by text bubbles. This was the case with panel 3, page 1, which you can see now below without the lettering.

Some 15 months later ‘Big Jimping’ has been published in Zarjaz 15, which can be bought from Futurequake publishing via this link. http://www.futurequake.co.uk/shop.php

A review for the issue 15 of Zarjaz has been posted on the Forbidden Planet blog by regular blogger Richard and can be read via this link. http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2012/zarjaz-more-thrill-power/

MARTILLO in 'MANERAS de VIVIR'.

Script: Greg Meldrum. Artwork: David Broughton. Lettering: Owen Watts.

Greg Meldrum contacted me on 1^st January 2012 to ask if I would provide the artwork for a story he was writing.  The story was going to appear in an online publication called 'Temple APA' however there was a deadline of 29^th January. I said I was interested and two days later a script appeared in my inbox.

After reading Greg’s script (which kicked butt!) I began the drawing process with thumbnail designs and rough layouts. I managed to finish the four pages of artwork by 12^th of January.  I sent the scanned images to Greg who passed them to Owen so that he could letter the story.

Greg talks about martillo on his blog via this link:

http://hisowndrum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/vete-al-infierno.html

Martillo appears in Temple APA 10 and can be downloaded free via this weblink: http://templeapa.blogspot.co.uk/

Above: The first panel page one of Martillo.

Above: Layouts for pages 1 and 2.

Above: Layouts for pages 3 and 4.

Above: Rough designs for Martillo.

Above: Other thumbnail sketches for characters in Martillo .

Colour work featuring 2000ad characters #2.

DREDD: STREET LIFE.
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/5/ Thanks to Richard McAuliffe for posting this on his website and to everyone for their comments on the artwork.


ROGUE TROOPER: JUST DESERTS.
Artwork by David Broughton.

Below: Rough sketches and layouts for the picture above.

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


DEATH RACE 2000AD.
Artwork by David Broughton.

Below: Rough sketches and layouts for the picture above.

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/2/ Thanks to Richard McAuliffe for posting this on his website and to everyone for their comments on the artwork.

NEMESIS the WARLOCK. THREE FUNERALS and a WEDDING.

Script, Artwork and Lettering: David Broughton.

At the end of March 2011 with no small press projects on the go, I began work on a five page Nemesis story for my portfolio.

I wanted to draw a story with Nemesis fighting Terminators (as this would be fun to draw) and I had an idea for an ending so I started producing rough page layouts which can be seen below. 

Above: Rough page layouts and sketches for pages 1 and 5.

Above: Rough page layouts and sketches for page 2.

Above: Rough page layouts and sketches for page 3.

Above: Rough page layouts and sketches for page 4.

Two weeks later I had completed the art and lettering.  I decided to send the story to Richard McAuliffe over at the 'Everything Comes Back to 2000AD' website.  Richard had stated previously that he was a Nemesis fan so I hoped that he would share my work on his website.

Even though I have posted the finished story (see below) here on my blog, here is a link to the page where it can be seen on the ECBT2000AD website: http://2000ad.wordpress.com/category/art-gallery/page/6/

The ECBT2000AD website is always worth a visit for any fans of 2000AD or comics. It is always kept up to date with terrific news, reviews, photos and artwork from 2000ad fans and professional creators.

HEROES AND VILLAINS.

Script: Adam Page. Artwork: David Broughton. Lettering: Dan Bell.

December 2011 Owen Watts editor of the fabulous small press comic ‘Dr. WTF’ contacted me. I had been in correspondence with comic script writer Greg Meldrum a few days before. Greg had mentioned that Owen might need an artist to do some work for his comic. I told him I was interested and a few days later I gladly accepted a script by Adam Page with a deadline of February 1st 2012 for the artwork so I had plenty of time.

I started the artwork on December 18^th 2011 with the script in hand I produced a series of thumbnail rough layouts for the pages (these can be seen below) after I began to pencil and ink the final artwork on A3 220gm heavy weight paper. I completed inking the last page on 27^th of December 2011.

By January 1^st 2012 I had fully coloured all five pages and had sent them to Owen for lettering with a whole month to spare.

Above: Rough page layout for page 1 with some thumbnails.

Above: More rough designs and thumbos for page 1.

Above: Rough page layout and thumbnails for page 2.

Above: Rough page layouts for pages 3 and 4.

Above: Page layout for page 5 and rough pencil art for top panel.

Above: The Teaser pic used on Owens WTF facebook page. Owen mentions 'Heroes and Villains' in his Blog which can be found near the bottom of the page via this link:  http://crazyfoxmachine.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2012-03-19T10:45:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=3&by-date=false

Should you wish to read 'Heroes and Villains' a copy can be bought from Owen via this link:

http://drwtf.co.uk/

Above: Picture of myself holding A4 pages of my artwork at Britstol Comic Con and on the right the awesome Colin MacNeil cover for Dr. WTF 2012 which is published and beautifully finished in A5 (all credit to Owen). 

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