The “Sidekicks” photos are still on their way.  In the meantime, below is the work that the students did for this past week, where the lesson was on drawing “faces!”  Another update is coming when that is done.

The Kids at Meltdown U. are a mix of returning students and new students.  This week, all of the attending students were new students, and they learned the drawing faces lesson that others had previously learn.  To recap what that lesson entails (and to see how other students,  including Woody Tuttle and Jackson Siegel) interpreted it), go to the link below!

http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2012/06/20/facing-the-facts-meltdown-uni-comics-for-kids-and-the-drawing-of-more-realistic-cartoon-faces/

And now, without further ado, here are the many faces and character designs drawn by each student this past week!

First, we have Becke’s work!  Becke has created several characters, and in the center of his montage you can see where he did the face drawing according to the lesson.  That character is firestorm.  On top and to the right is Death Skull, who is a supervillain whose powers you might be able to imagine (if you could not guess from his name, you can see that at the bottom of the page, there are zombies coming out of the ground– who he woke up!).

On the left, the round character is a villain named “Giggles:” he suffers, for his laugh is so annoying people will attack him when they hear it.  Yet, it is also his villainous power, and anyone who hears his laugh will go running and jump off of a cliff just to stop hearing it.  On the bottom right hand side, you can see a sneak peek of the cover of his comic.

Becke did a great job of doing shading and pencil work, as well as coming up with creative characters whose bodies and faces he did in extreme detail!

Next up was Sophia Petrella’s work.  Sophia followed the lesson closely, creating a character with a face and then adding a body to the character.  This little four year old drawn below is named Patty.  She lives in Florida.  She’s also a super secret spy who knows how to fly, which you can see below if you look at the jet stream coming from her feet.

Sophia did a wonderful job of character and story design, as well as using the pencil and the beautiful bright colors of her character’s costume and background to great effect!

Next up is Thomas Petrella, who also did a face drawing and expanded upon it into a larger body drawing and character study.  In the throes of the American Revolution, you can see that the character below is a Red Coat and an assassin.  But, is he truly a Red Coat?  Or has he infiltrated their side, in hopes of helping the American forces win against the British?

Thomas’s drawings were very strong, and he did very well designing the character’s body and positioning, showed strong emotion in the character’s face, and gave him a very dramatic red outfit that really made it clear how intense and serious he is about is work– his props helped show that too!

And finally, we have Jack’s work.  Jack worked on several characters, and used the face exercise for his character who is part cyborg, part gorilla.  If you look around his montage, you will see Shadow, and a Ninja, and even the fancy flying apparatus that the characters travel in!  It is somewhat like the Hindenberg, but a more futuruistic and space version.

Note that Jack’s pencils have a great deal of shading, cross, hatching, and fine line work.   Shadow and all of the other characters are great in that they’re all well designed, but they’re also very different and each have their own flair!

So, that wraps up this week’s edition of “Comics for Kids.”  Stay tuned for the next recaps and art updates, and thank you always to those of us who are reading!

A special shout-out not only to the students featured above, but also to Nate, a reader of ours who emailed his samples of drawings he did based on two of the posted lessons!

They were very well done, and it’s clear lots of hard work and passion were put into them.  Nate, if you’re reading this, you will be getting a more detailed email on your homework submission soon

Take care, and best wishes to all.  Until the next post.

Kickstarter Page (more info)

Fun & informative award-winning doc project forges a comic book revolution, recruiting new fans to save the great American art form!

THE GOAL:

DIG COMICS is our feature documentary project with but one holy goal: to get America reading comic books again!

DIG COMICS gained much international attention when we started:  honored as an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, LA New Filmmakers Festival as well as 15 more festivals and ultimately, winning the Best Documentary prize at the San Diego Comic Con Independent Film Festival!

The film also garnered massive positive press with prominent media exposure such as The Los Angeles Times, Ain’t It Cool News, Comic Book Resources and many other popular online outlets including a roundtable interview on National Public Radio (NPR).

Over the years, DIG COMICS has also earned the praise and support from industry heavies such as The Uslan Company (The Dark Knight, Batman), Dark Horse Entertainment (Hellboy) and the legendary actor Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Gallactica, Blade Runner) which lead to dozens of meetings with networks, studios and production companies.  BUT: while interest has been high, forward creation has been elusive for us – which is where YOUR support comes into play!

This forward-thinking project is ultimately aiming to jump start a modern comics revival as well as continue a futuristic revolution based upon the timeless art form of comics, graphic artwork & the American-originated  comics industry & its much neglected, highly talented artists’ works.

PLEASE:  Join us to help educate, teach, learn, enjoy, evolve & carry on the positive, creative, comics torch into the future and beyond!

THE CALL TO ARMS:

How is it that in the US, where comic books were born, less than 1% of the public reads them anymore? Yet their artistic cousins such as film, books, music & TV are more popular than ever, often borrowing or stealing ideas from comic books themselves while letting the medium fade into obscurity?  This wonderful, unique art form deserves the same respect and wide audience as all of the other popular forms, yet…it is still largely ignored in America overall as only a genre for geeks, freaks, children and weirdos.

DIG COMICS is here to help America re-discover comic books as the unique, respected art form that it should be!

Far from being exclusively about superheroes or just for kids, there are thousands upon thousands of comics out there for people of all ages and backgrounds. And not only that – we are now living in a new Golden Age: with an incredible variety of gorgeous images and rich stories in the comics world.  But unfortunately, these works of art are most often tirelessly produced by unrecognized creators who hardly sell enough work to support themselves, if at all. We can’t let our Picassos and Van Goughs fade into obscurity!

DIG COMICS is here to celebrate the awesomely diverse world of comic books and to RE-educate America on what it’s missing!

THE PLAN OF ATTACK:

We’ll cover the grand history of comics in America:  from the men and women who forged a new medium, to the political attacks and poor business practices which undermined the wide popularity of comic books, making them all but vanish from both the marketplace and the once-exalted position they held in our culture.

New York City – the birthplace of comics – will be our first stop.  We will investigate the rich history of how comics got their start.  We’ll also travel to France and Japan where comics are enjoyed by HUGE audiences of all ages and - where comic artists are treated like rock stars!  BUT, they’re also seriously big business…

We’ll see how cultural differences might be bridged and lessons can be learned to change things around here at home. We’ll talk to teachers & educators who have used comics in the classroom as educational tools with PROVEN success rates – often above and beyond traditional schoolbooks & curriculum plans.

We’ll take to the streets of the US and challenge non-readers to take a look at comic works that they might end up loving according to their own personal tastes and styles, as we already very successfully proved in the DIG COMICS short film!

DIG COMICS will also interview comics professionals in addition to big celebrity comics fans:  From top comics creators, to huge movie stars and popular musical artists who all LOVE comics, we will connect with these celebrity comics lovers via our production company/industry  friends & allow them to reveal why comics have been such a positive, creative & inspirational influence in their lives and/or careers.

We’ll be getting these big names on screen to get their two cents about what comics means to them, as well as their ideas about how we can re-introduce a larger American audience to DIG COMICS, like every other popular art form!

THE REVOLUTION:

This isn’t just a feature film, folks:  it’s the start of a MOVEMENT.  We WILL help comic books make a comeback!

Please join us – be a part of our artistic & cultural revolution!

BE an individually unique part of DIG COMICS & the worthy ranks – participate in an original, American, revolutionary history.

Help bring back this much-marginalized yet creatively pillaged art form to its once successful standing in this great country.

We can’t do it alone – but we can do it TOGETHER!

Kickstarter Page (more info)

Digital Comics Now Available

]]> http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/18/pull-customers-and-comixology-subscribers-this-weeks-new-books-and-restocks-posted/feed/ 1 http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/12/comics-for-kids-a-double-review-of-creating-super-villains-and-how-to-create-sidekicks-for-the-good-and-bad-guys/ http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/12/comics-for-kids-a-double-review-of-creating-super-villains-and-how-to-create-sidekicks-for-the-good-and-bad-guys/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:46:15 +0000 Donna http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/?p=25364 [...]]]>

Thanks for tuning into this double recap!  This text is from last week AND The week before, detailing what the kids have been studying.   A future blog will soon be up, showing everyone’s work on these themes.  Scroll down to get an idea of what was done, and come back later to see the cool things the kids came up with!

What made the Villains interesting? The villains has to be more than a mere punching bag, it has to be superheroes counterpart, while the Heroes was stronger, smarter and better than everyone else. The Villain rejoiced in being everything else which is mean.

HERE ARE SOME TYPICAL KINDS OF VILLAINS in SUPER HERO STORIES

The Insane Super Villain

Villains like this seem to cause chaos for no real reason.  With them acting out, and doing very dangerous things, they sometimes even put themselves in danger.  But they still enjoy the rush.

The Joker is an example of this.

He has deadly Joker venom, a flower that squirts acid, and he risks everyone’s lives—including his own—when he has gone through with various robberies, bombings, and stunts.  There are also a lot of backstories about him—so many that it’s hard to know what is true and what isn’t, and whether anyone should truly feel bad for him.  There’s always the chance he makes things up for sympathy, and to hopefully trick his victims.

He has deadly Joker venom, a flower that squirts acid, and he risks everyone’s lives—including his own—when he has gone through with various robberies, bombings, and stunts.

THIS VILLAIN IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS, SINCE HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ANYONE—NOT EVEN REALLY HIMSELF.  ALL HE WANTS IS TO CAUSE TROUBLE AND PAIN, EVEN AT HIS OWN EXPENSE.

The Smart, and/or Accidental Super Villain 

Doctor Octopus and Harry.

Most successful Villains are actually very smart.  Even if the Super Hero ends up outsmarting them, they wouldn’t be such a threat if they weren’t careful to not be defeatable.

Doc Oc, and Harry, from the “Spider Man” Universe are two examples of smart, and accidental villains.  Much the way “Spider Man” himself gets his powers by mistake, so does Doc. Oc.  Once a professor, who wanted to change the world, an experiment goes wrong and gives him too much power, as well as the will to be evil.

Similarly, Harry was smart—and his father (another accidental villain), dying broke his heart, and made him want to be a villain.  He was a normal, smart, nice person before the pain in his life turned him angry.

NOTE:  THESE VILLAINS ARE VERY DANGEROUS, BECAUSE THEY CAN USE THEIR SMARTS TO DO EVIL THINGS.

HOWEVER, THEY ARE MORE SYMPATHETIC.  UNLIKE THE JOKER, THEY DID NOT START OUT WANTING TO BE MEAN OR HURT ANYONE.  THEY ARE OFTEN TRAGIC, BECAUSE DEEP UNDERNEATH THE CHEMICAL CHANGE OR THEIR HURT AND ANGER, THEY STILL DO NOT WANT TO HURT ANYONE ELSE.  SOMETIMES THESE VILLAINS REFORM, OR COME TO TRAGIC ENDS.

Here are some character traits that any of the Villains above might have:

*They can be DEVIOUS, OBNOXIOUS, OR CHARMING.  DEVIOUS is a big word that means “tricky.”  An OBNOXIOUS villain will be annoying and rude, while a CHARMING one could seem polite and fun to talk to.  Some Villains can be both—again, the Joker is an example.

* They can be FUNNY.  This is different than villains who are funny because they’re bad at what they do—occasionally, the Joker makes amusing jokes, and Loki too has a sense of humor.  When a villain makes jokes that are funny, but inappropriate and perhaps mean/sarcastic, he is being SNARKY.

*They are all various types of EVIL.  But PURE EVIL villains are the ones that have no problem destroying the lives of innocents, or just taking them away.

*They can also be AMBIGUOUS and SYMPATHETIC.  AMBIGUOUS means they are gray- not black and white.  They are not totally bad, or good—but somewhat in the middle.  Selina Kyle is an example of this.  SYMPATHETIC means you can feel bad for them, even when they do bad things—which happens a lot to accidental villains, or emotional/jealous ones.

* They can be CREEPY, or SCARY.  Now, Scary just means they are so powerful, mean, or evil, that they are terrifying.  This is different than CREEPY.  CREEPY gives you a sense of unease, dread, or future harm.  Villains who follow victims around would fall into both categories.

(Two example of villains who are almost always considered creepy, even if not scary, are Gollum from “Lord of the Rings” and Randall from “Monsters Inc.”)

Refer to the tutorials in your packet for very specific villain character design.  Remember:

Some Villains will be more Animal-Like.  Others will look almost exactly the same as a Super Hero, but have scarier weapons, or be even bigger.  Some will look more like regular humans, if they are Mad Scientist Super Villains.

Today’s Exercises will be about CREATING your Super Villain, then putting him or her into a Drawing, or a Comic.

Below is a Character Worksheet you can use if it helps:

When drawing your Super Villain, try to draw a shot of him using his BIGGEST POWER.  Also, decide on WHICH OF THE VILLAIN TYPES HE IS, or if he is more than one.

You may also create more than one villain, or work a new one/develop a pre-existing one if you are currently drawing a comic.

AND NOW, for those who work along side the good and the bad guys.  SIDEKICKS!

You may end up as supernatural rivals.  Or, you may end up not being able to tell your friend about your life.  Sometimes both.  See the picture below:

For VILLAINS, a Friend or a Love Interest can complicate things if they get distracted from what they want to do.  It can be harder if one person is a Villain, and one a Superhero.

Also, since many villain couples work together– and often each person is not always nice– fighting and plotting against one another can become a problem.

For SUPERHEROES, a Friend or a Love Interest can be a great help– someone to support the superhero when he or she comes home and changes back into their Alter-Ego—but often, they can cause problems.

At the bottom of the previous page are examples of Superheroes and Love Interests.

*Like with Villains, if a Superhero is with another person that has Superpowers– either another hero, or even a Villain (like Batman and Catwoman)– it will get complicated having to work together, or work against each other.

*If Superheroes and Villains keep their identity secret, then it might seem like they are lying about where they secretly go all the time.  This makes trust hard.  And even if the Love Interests know where the Superheroes are going, they may feel hurt and not as important as the crime-fighting that the Superheroes are always out doing.

SIDEKICKS:  BEING A FRIEND TO THE END, AND HELPER, TO THE GOOD GUYS

MORE DETAILS ABOUT CREATING THEM

It’s important to learn that sidekicks aren’t important ONLY because they give your hero a friend and someone to talk to.  THEY CAN ACTUALLY HELP YOU TELL YOUR STORY.

Sidekicks give you a way to:

*Make your story funnier—if they say funny things, are sarcastic, or can make a bad situation seem less bad, they’re what you call COMIC RELIEF.

*Make Your superhero more HUMAN.

Even the most powerful people need friends, and the relationship between a superhero and a sidekick can show that even someone who flies, can leap tall buildings with a single bound, or slings webs, can at least bond with someone they work with.

*They can help show off a hero’s personality—either by being a lot like the hero, or nothing at all! 

For example– In comedy, there’s something called the STRAIGHT MAN and the FUNNY MAN.  The STRAIGHT MAN often doesn’t react to things as much, is calm, and what’s called DEADPAN—he can say funny things, without blinking an eye.  The FUNNY MAN is much sillier and over the top.  With sidekicks and heroes, sometimes you can choose to make one character over the top, and the other totally serious.  Can you think of any examples?

*They can sometimes even be competition for your hero.  This can give drama to a story, or can make their friendship stronger if they work together and do not try to over-power each other.

 HENCHMEN, or LACKEYS: 

These guys often have a lot in common with their opposites, sidekicks—but if you’re going to create HENCHMEN for your villains, these are important things to remember:

*Henchmen are more like employees (of a mean boss) than friends.  Most of the time, bad guys need people to do their bidding—and other characters who listen to all their demands do just fine.  Unlike the friendly relationship that a good guy has with his sidekick, many villains treat their henchmen badly: they usually are mean to them just for fun, or if they’ve had a bad day.

Worse, they may yell at them, hurt them physically, and even get them killed.

“Mr. Tinkles,” from “Cats and Dogs,” follows this rule when he leaves his second in command (who does escape) in a burning building.

Rarely, but sometimes, Villains love their sidekicks.  Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam, from “The Little Mermaid,” are all good friends.

Ursula already hates Ariel (the hero), but is super angry after Ariel accidentally zaps the Eel with King Triton’s Trident.

*Henchmen are either great at helping their bosses, or totally terrible at it.

NOTE:  Henchmen who are great at being evil may sometimes become the villain, at their evil boss’s expense.  Henchmen who are mean, but not super geniuses, sometimes give up on the bad-guy lifestyle, or may even realize it is better to become one of the good guys.

*There can be different levels of Henchmen.

This is important to note:  The higher up henchmen are often smart, and more likely to rebel, or want to take the villains spot.  The others in the group, who never say no and always listen to their villains—are called “LACKEYS.” 

Most lackeys are henchmen, but not all henchmen are lackeys.

SIDEKICK  TUTORIALS:  Do you recognize the person in the first example?

THINGS TO NOTE WHEN DRAWING SUPERHERO SIDEKICKS

And now, for Today’s Assignments!

1. Come up with ONE SIDEKICK, and one HENCHMAN—you may also practice drawing classic ones if you cannot think of your own, and you can draw a non-superhero best friend (a person like Harry or Mary Jane) if you like. 

Draw Character Designs, and then EITHER put them into a full comic, or do a larger scale illustration with them.

Remember to think about:

A)    How are they drawn differently, or more similarly, to the main character?

B)     Are you going to create cartoony side-kicks, or ones that can hold their own like Robin?

C)    How are their personalities DIFFERENT or SIMILAR to the Good or Bad Guy they work for?

D)    Will your Sidekick and Superhero stay friends?

E)     Is your Henchman going to become a good friend and work alongside your bad guy?  Or will he rebel, if the bad guy is mean, and become his own villain/turn good?

Have fun, and Happy Drawing!

Stay tuned, for the updates showcasing student work!

]]> http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/12/comics-for-kids-a-double-review-of-creating-super-villains-and-how-to-create-sidekicks-for-the-good-and-bad-guys/feed/ 0 http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/10/meet-the-zombie-survival-machine-with-host-veronica-belmont/ http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/2013/06/10/meet-the-zombie-survival-machine-with-host-veronica-belmont/#comments Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:55:55 +0000 FcoD http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/?p=25346 [...]]]> Come out to Meltdown to see the first ever Hyundai Elantra Coupe Zombie Survival Machine, designed and inspired by Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead.

When: Saturday June 15th from 11:30am until 3:30pm

Where: Meltdown Comics rear parking lot (7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA)

Exclusive Walking Dead giveaways and prizes including signed copies of The Walking Dead comics!

Host Veronica Belmont will give fans a guided tour of the car’s zombie-proof features: Zombie Herd Plow, Titanium Wheel Pikes, Steel-armored Sunroof Turret, 50-watt Floodlights, Steel-armored Glass

Written by Beacham and supervised by del Toro, PACIFIC RIM: TALES FROM YEAR ZERO is a 112 page narrative, divided into three sections, that begins in 2013 and chronicles the very first time Earth is menaced by Kaiju – inhuman beasts that rise from the ocean depths and threaten to extinguish all mankind! The book features pencils by Chris Batista, Sean Chen, Yvel Guichet, Pericles Junior and Geoff Shaw; inks by Matt Banning, Steve Bird, Pericles Junior, and Mark McKenna. The cover art was painted by Alex Ross.

Please, no outside items and the book must be purchased from Meltdown Comics. Line-up starts at 2:00PM.

So for instance, buy a ticket to the Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail (pictured above) and when you come to the show, you can get 10% off merch at Meltdown Comics. Or maybe you wanna come to Harmontown (pictured below)…same deal!

Come to a show, save some money at Meltdown. Tell your friends. Spread the word. Save some coin. Party. On.

For a full listing of shows you can check our show calendar RIGHT HERE.

Exhibitors at Eucalyptus Grove

• Arm the Animals
• Brett Bean
• David’s Doodles/ David Colman
• Furry Feline Creatives
• Extracurricular Activities
• Jungle Boy Productions
• The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles
• Weatherly Studio

Artist Alley at Treetops

• The Art of Jacqueline Monroe
• Audrey Miller Art
• Carter Comics
• The Art of David Depasquale
• Dirty Kitchen Press
• Draw D.V.L. Productions
• MeeLee Art
• RawrzToys
• Sydney Hanson
• Zoe Moss

Special Appearances

• 501st Legion
• The Finest
• Marvel’s Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Captain America

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And now, scroll down to read Captain Crusader’s adventures thus far: panel by panel!  We haven’t seen him yet, since this is the Villain’s time to shine.  But scroll down to read and see the damage he’s causing, so you can find out what the Captain will be up against!

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Woody also did a great job following the lesson’s principles, working on shading, muscles, and showing anatomy in his superhero drawings, and his well-crafted drawings were full of suspense when it came to the actual sequential story he began!

Now Readers, if you haven’t already, go and check out the corresponding blog on student Thomas Petrella’s!  Thanks again for tuning in, and Have a Good Night.