Hey, everyone! My name is Jacob Bear and I'm the artist for the Warlock comic, debuting in March from BlueWater Comics. I was invited to ComicMonsters.com to give you a glimpse of what it takes to make a killer Warlock comic.
For those of you that don't know, the Warlock is based on the movies, released from Lionsgate Films, in the late 80's and early 90's. The tag line was, ‘Satan also has one son'. A being that came from the past, to destroy the future. That was the premise for the first film. Although, I've heard of the movies, I never watched them until I got this assignment. (Well, to be honest, I did watch the 3rd film along time ago, but I really don't remember much about it.) So, I set out to watch the first 2 films and to be honest, they were fun to watch. If you haven't seen them and you're a fan of the supernatural, you should check out these films.
With that being said, it is not necessary to watch the films to enjoy the comic. The first film was released in 1989. So, you could say that this is the 20th anniversary of the Warlock, and what better way to celebrate this event, but by releasing a new comic that will introduce this brand of evil to an all new generation.
When I got this assignment, I was told that our Warlock could not look like the original actor, because of some licensing agreement on the actors image. I'm not sure what it was, as that really isn't my department. But whatever it was, I was glad for it, because that gave Nick Lyons and I, the opportunity to make this Warlock our own. So, when it came to design the new version, I remembered from the movie trailer, that he is supposed to look handsome and angelic looking, but likes wearing black. So, I made him look like a guy that you could trust, but you'll be sorry if you do.
So, with that, and before I bore you to death, lets move to the stuff you really want to see! We'll start with the cover.
We wanted to go with the classic movie poster, so I did my homage to that. I'll do the rough version of it, like this:
Then I'll go and tighten it up with the final version. With the Warlock, I decided to make his clothes pure black, so it may give it the impression you're staring into the void of a person that is pure evil.
When that is finished, it goes to our colorist, John Hunt, and off to Darren Davis to put all the dressing on.
This page is an example of my roughs. I'll put in little grid lines to help me get the perspective right for when I work on the final drawing.
Since the background in the first 2 panels is the same, I will just draw it once and then…
… take it into Photoshop and composite it together and add in all the blacks.
Here's another example from the roughs to the final page.
Okay, now that I've given you a taste, it's time to really let you in on the secret! How I take it from the script to the final page. When I get the script, I will read it once though. As I'm doing that, my mind will fill with key images to certain scenes. I'll go through it again, but this time I'm making thumbnails of each panel. At this point, I'm not really thinking of how the page is laid out, but just making shorthand notes of what's going on. See if you can make sense of my thumbs.
Then, I'll go to an extreme rough. At this stage, I will usually draw each panel on a separate sheet of paper. Basically doing storyboards. This way, I don't have to worry about a figure not fitting in the panel right and I can concentrate more on getting the structure down. And I usually draw these as fast as I can to keep it lose. Plus, I don't know how much of the image I will use, so I don't want to spend too much time on it. Then I will scan it into Photoshop and layout the page the way I want it and the way I think will work best.
Then I will print it out in light blue and draw over it again, but this time flushing it out more. I'm still keeping it lose, but it makes it clearer for me on what I want to do. Then I usually email this to the editor or the writer to make sure it's what they want before I spend hours working on the final page.
Now that the hard part is over, I can relax and just put in the cool detail. Since I know the Warlock is going to be all black, I won't shade him in, but do it in the computer.
Which turns into this. Since I don't really ink, I try to keep my pencils as tight as possible so I can just fill in the blacks, in the computer.
Okay, since you twisted my arm, here's one more from start to finish. This is one of my favorites, where the Warlock is demonstrating just one of his many powers.
And there you go. Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the making of a Warlock comic. Be sure to get the comic when it debuts in March and pester your local comic shops to carry it.
Wishing you all the best,
Jacob Bear
www.bearclawstudios.com
www.bluewaterprod.com
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