TRAILER – ZUKAHNAUT
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Issue Nine

41 comics.

TRAILER – ZUKAHNAUT

on January 29, 2015 at 11:29 am
Chapter:

For the duration of this week, I’ll be running a daily webcomic trailer for a selection of ace comics that I think you’d enjoy. I believe sharing the hard work of fellow creators is a great way to help boost online comic readership. In less than a week, Vanguard issue 10 will launch. I AM VERY EXCITE!

Today’s comic: ZUKAHNAUT

PLOT
After years of hiding on Earth a lonely alien finally reveals himself. Now Zukah must fight his own nature in order to redeem a wasted life.

SETTING
Across the face of the Earth a strange phenomenon has emerged.

Dubbed “Portals” by the public at large, these disturbances in the very fabric of reality can manifest in any combination of size, shape, or colour. They can open at anyplace and at any time, only to knit themselves back together and vanish again. Sometimes people and things disappear into the Portals… and sometimes people and things emerge from them.

Though initially kept secret, these Portals have become too frequent, widespread and unpredictable to remain hidden from the general public. Now civilians deal with the consequences of living in a world less predictable by the day.

Zukahnaut is produced by the uber talented Otty Jutason and Sonya Somers. Zuka is at the top of my list of webcomics to read!

See you tomorrow for the last of this week’s trailer ads!

Dan

5 Comments

TRAILER – Smaller Totems

on January 28, 2015 at 2:47 pm
Chapter:

For the duration of this week, I’ll be running a daily webcomic trailer for a selection of ace comics that I think you’d enjoy. I believe sharing the hard work of fellow creators is a great way to help boost online comic readership.

Today’s comic: SMALLER TOTEMS written by Roby Duncan and Lewis Lain
The Magic of Dreams

The modern world is largely thought to be a knowable place. Science and logic build us technologies to explore and control our environment. Electricity and light allow us to cross vast distances and communicate almost instantly, sharing lives and knowledge in ways that would have been unthinkable just decades before. Magic, superstition, and the irrational have been driven from the center of our lives, replaced by electric lights, wireless internet, and the wonders of medicine… but driven from the center does not mean banished. Mystery still lingers at the edges, in the dark, and in the backs of our minds. Fear of places we can’t see and noises in the dark. Vanishing and disappearances. Ghost stories and folk tales. Lucky charms and little rituals. And of course… the nightly mystery. For nearly a third of our life, we exist in a state where ghosts and phantasms move about freely, distance and time are free to shift and change, and anything is possible: for nearly a third of our life, we sleep… and when we sleep, we dream.

Even to much of science, dreaming is a mystery. We have experiences we don’t understand. We see those who have passed from the world, and others who have never lived. We dream epic adventures and anxious nightmares. We dream worlds of magic, and sometimes magic can be dangerous. Its no wonder that we sleep and dream a little easier knowing we aren’t alone.

Welcome to the world of Smaller Totems, where the myths and magics of dreams linger in the dark after waking, and the words “it was just a dream” provide precious little comfort.

Dan

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TRAILER – Sunday Superheroes – STALKER

on January 26, 2015 at 10:14 am
Chapter:

Webcomic trailers: GO!
For the next five days, I’ll be running a daily webcomic trailer for a selection of ace comics that I think you’d enjoy.

Today’s comic: STALKER
When Carrie’s mother is murdered, she takes on her legacy as the masked crime fighter, Stalker.

I’ve read through STALKER and it’s a truly excellent, ‘old school superhero-style’ webcomic. Stalker is written by the talented Bradley Potts with ace artwork provided by a plethora of artists. Go check it out!

Dan

2 Comments

V09 – Pg39

on January 23, 2015 at 10:44 am
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Characters: ,

And that’s the end of issue nine. It seem Pendragon has had enough and wants no part in anything further. A bit of a downer, I know, but when you’re at the bottom, the only way is up, right? Where will the team (what’s left) and the comic go from here? Find out on February 4th 2015, when issue ten launches!

Next week, we’ll be running a selection of choice cuts of webcomic ‘trailers’. These are comics I read and heartily recommend.

Like this page?! Please consider giving it a upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

Explaining VANGUARD

What’s this post about? Well, before the second arc of this story begins, I thought I’d spend a little bit of time explaining my working methodology/ideas behind what I’m trying to do here.

Design:
When I first came up with the concept of VANGUARD and started designing the characters who’d be part of the team, I was presented with some interesting design challenges. I presumed that, as the team would be simultaneously be public figures and special forces soldiers (or sorts), that alongside their ‘super suits’ they’d otherwise be dressed in combat gear. As I’m sure most Governments would do, they’d garb ‘their’ meta-humans so they basically looked like walking flags. This is not true of every Government meta-team in the book though (Eagle-5, for example).

Story:
With the story that’d i’d planned to tell, I made a decision early on that the reader would never really see what the antagonists were up to. Only in the first/last few pages of an issue would we get a glance of what they were up to. I stuck to this rule in hopes of showing that our protagonists were facing a huge, unseen threat, that never really identifies itself. We know that there is an evil plan of sorts that being played, yet have only glimpsed aspects of it. What is the ultimate goal of this plot and who is behind it? This will be a challenge that the characters in the upcoming comics will have to uncover and confront. I’ve planted many seeds within the nine issues that have already run. These will story threads will start bloom as we progress further into VANGUARD ‘arc two’.

Characters:
With telling such a fast paced story, where the characters are swept along in events that seem to unfold fast than they can deal with, characterization suffered a little. Not everybody ‘arcs’, something I’ve identified and will be addressing in the future.

Well, onwards and upwards! I’m constantly trying to improve the storytelling and my artwork. I’m also glad to see that readers are enjoying what we’re doing here and should you have any questions, about the comic/story, fire away!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

12 Comments

V09 – Pg38

on January 21, 2015 at 10:06 am
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The penultimate page of issue nine! Apologies for no update on Friday. I bought a new memory stick and was working on this page when it corrupted, losing most of this page… which was excellent. Fortunately, I keep a myriad of save files of what I’m working on, just in case something like this happens, so the damage wasn’t that bad. Years ago, I had a file corrupted and had to re-do a page from scratch – FUN.

Next week, we’ll be running a week of webcomic trailers before issue 10 launches. I’m sure many of you will be in for a big surprise.

Before that kicks off, I’m going to be posting a blog on here with some feedback on what I’ve tried to accomplish with this comic. Some of it has worked, some hasn’t. I’ll explain why certain things have been designed ‘that way’ and various other creative decisions I’ve made over the course of making this comic.

Like this page?! Please consider giving it a upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

Was very pleased to find out that VANGUARD was talked out on the Empire Of Geek podcast recently. Steven and the gang talk about the comic at the one hour mark(ish). Thanks for the shout out! on the Empire of Geek podcasr, they discuss comics, films, etc., with a particular bias towards reporting on Brit based stuff. I’ve listened to a few episodes and enjoyed them.

Anyyhoo, see you Friday for the last page of issue nine!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

10 Comments

V09 – Pg37

on January 14, 2015 at 10:06 am
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Characters: ,

Readers asked ‘what happened to Luke/Spitfire?’ We last saw him, he was being launched skyward by Maxtreme.

Who finds him? John Hatcher. He was last seen in issue eight. The Vanguard Government Liaison fled the carnage at Downing Street with Godvia’s niece.

So it looks like the three of them are safe, at least…

Like this page?! Please consider giving it a upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

PATREON

The Vanguard Patreon account is up and running. Starting next issue, all Patreon donors will see pages 24hrs before regular readers. If you enjoy reading this comic, please consider donating a $1. It all helps. Thank you!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

19 Comments

V09 – Pg36

on January 9, 2015 at 10:05 am
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Characters: ,

As I imagine a few of had suspected, The Prime Minister wasn’t going to be around much longer. I also imagine that a lot of readers are also thinking ‘WTF is going on!?’ Never fear. The answers to your questions are coming…

This issue ended up being a bit of a beast. 36 pages and counting. There’s three more being worked on, but I’m going to add in another page to make it an even 40. After that, the comic will undergo a metamorphosis of sorts. Interesting times ahead!

Like this page?! Please consider giving it a upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

COMMISSIONS!

I’m currently doing a sale on commissions – 50% off! Huzzah! Why not commission me to draw YOUR comicbook character… or you as a comicbook character? Head over to the Commissions page for more details.

PATREON

The Vanguard Patreon account is up and running. Starting next issue, all Patreon donors will see pages 24hrs before regular readers. If you enjoy reading this comic, please consider donating a $1. It all helps. Thank you!

Also, I made a trailer video for the comic. Huzzah!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

18 Comments

V09 – Pg35

on January 7, 2015 at 8:18 pm
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Characters:

Feels a little late, but Happy New Year! I hope you had a good one. Personally, I was fast asleep in bed when midnight struck. Living it Rock and roll. Heh

Anyway, Back to action!. Last we saw of the Prime Minister, he was being frog marched through Number 10. Where to? Well, we’ll now find out.

I’ve set up a fan art category, so now you can see all the lovely pieces of artwork supplied by readers and admirers of the comic.

Also, I made a trailer video for the comic. Huzzah!

Like this page?! Please consider giving it an upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

9 Comments

V09 – Pg34

on December 19, 2014 at 11:10 am
Chapter:
Characters: , , ,

So we say a sad farewell to both KingSword and Godiva, as we find out that X-Bow’s assault did in fact kill her. It’s a bit of a somber page for the holiday season, with KS unable to reach his lover before dying… but I doubt many of you we’re expecting a happier ending for these characters. With a majority of the team now dead, how will this story continue? I’ll have to change the header on this site for one! Heh.

Well, in regards to Vanguard page updates, that’s it for this year. Updates will resume on January 7th 2015. It’s a real shame that I had to drop down to a page a week updates in November, as I was on schedule to have this issue wrapped up before Xmas! Ah well. The final four pages will go up in the new year, before we launch into Vanguard – Part Two.

Over the Christmas week, I’ll be posting up some fan-art made by fellow CoH creators for you to enjoy.

I hope you have a great Christmas break and an awesome New Year. Thanks for taking the time to read/share/support the comic, it means a lot to me.

Like this page?! Please consider giving it an upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

45 Comments

V09 – Pg33

on December 17, 2014 at 10:49 am
Chapter:
Characters: ,

PAYBACK TIME!

So, MaX finally gets some payback from a downed KingSword. That’ll hurt, eh?

The calendar I worked on with AP2HYC is now on sale! It’s packed with ‘geeky’ dates and info about release dates of upcoming films. It can be purchased from Pikcal HERE.

Over the the past few weeks, I have had chance to set up an account on Patreon. If you enjoy this comic, please consider dropping a few quid/bucks to help fund it’s creation. I’ve set up some great rewards and will be posting exclusive sneak peeks at up coming pages and future character designs often over there. I’m also working on producing a series of ‘Comic Art SFX’. It’ll be a bi-weekly tutorial series on how to achieve certain looks/effects with your comic art. It’ll be open to suggestions, so if you wish to see something in particular, as a Vanguard Patreon, you can request it. Cool, eh?

Like this page?! Please consider giving it an upvote on Reddit. Thank you!

Dan
MrHades

Edited by
Gary Cohen

20 Comments