Topic: Comic Book Concept Art

[Kaiizen]

Thanks, got a new robot idea and I should have a finished version of the world ship soon as well.



I'm not completely sold on the design of the weapon but it is supposed to be a Linear Accelerator Cannon. The idea behind the weapon being that it fires a tightly packed bundle of particles at very near the speed of light. The reaction would be, at worst, a truly enormous explosion leaving any target hit reduced down to it's constituent parts.

Think of a cue ball hitting a freshly racked set of billiard balls. The Cue ball being the particles being projected and the racked billiard balls being the target.

Science is fun!

[legionnaire]

The weapon is a decent idea and it looks nice. My thing is does it have a rotateing mount or is it fixed due to the amount of energy needed to fire it?

[Kaiizen]

It can rotate vertically only (which is the reasoning for not putting it directly in the middle of the back, this way gives it a larger firing arc). Since the only way to target something horizontally is to turn the entire machine, this weapon is more like a 'sniper' weapon. Because of this the weapon will track poorly at shorter ranges. I feel this is a good trade off though due to the size and power of it.

As for the energy required, It's completely dependent on the power plant of the machine firing it. Firing it too many times in rapid succession will leave the entire machine completely without power and ultimately 'dead in the water'. This might end up being an important plot point in the comic as well.

[Guildmage Aech]

I approve big stompy battlemecha.

Also as to the bug annenae on the guy's armour its probably a good idea to keep it. If you're having both the guys in their armour suits wandering around you'll need to be able to give them an obviously different profile in order to prevent the reader getting confused as to whos who.

[Mr.Peanut (Turtleproof)]

Clean, crisp lines and self-confidence in an established style.  Gorgeous stuff, I love it.  My favorite detail is that your walker actually shifts weight exactly like a bipedal must (yet so many concepts neglect this).  The quadruped reminds me of the Bulldog from the Earthsiege games.

It's your comic, make it how you wish, but might I suggest that any females involved in combat dress the part?  Bare mammary tissue is not the best ballistic protection.  If there are skimpy outfits there should be some kind of justification (note that Mass Effect 2 has both succeeds and fails at this: Miranda has a distinct justification for dressing in a form-fitting body suit while the Asari Justicar dresses like a strip club motorcyclist for no discernible reason).

[Rakuall]

RE: furries

Arghhh! A Furry kill it!

Also, in regards to the furry. I kinda knew how people would react when I first created her and trust me, it's only going to get worse from here. If it's any consolation though, the two main characters will constantly be making smart ass remarks about her appearance.

what is everybody's problem? Really, people, must we be so immature? we have seen wierder/cooler/hotter aliens (not necessarily how I fell, just standing up for our fellow freaks) and nobody cares.  Look at Star Wars, Avatar, Aliens, even 40K. Someone says "Damn, I'd do a na'vi," or "I bet Eldar are beslubbering Sexy," and nobody runs them out of town. Yet, when someone says "cool, a furry" they are burned at the stake for the mildest view of favor towards furries. Well so what?

I think in the comic, there should be perhaps a few characters who tease the furry, but the majority should accept her. Are prejudice and racism something you want to exemplify? Or would you rather showcase tolerance and acceptance.

To the rest of you: There is no way in hell you don't have a crazy (ok, maybe not crazy) fetish, so lay off the furries.
P.S. to answer the inevitable: No, I am not a furry (someone attracted to anthropomorphic characters), but I can empathize with those who are. Furry is no different than Gay, it's just how that person swings.
P.P.S. for the next inevitable: No, not gay either, just figured I'd use an example most of you likely accept.

[Rems]

No need to get on your high horse skweeky, no has insulted furries, furry lovers or the auther.

What wehave done is made a few humourus references to the fact he drew one and the stereotypical internet reaction.

The joking can be seen with the use of smiles and such.

[legionnaire]

But.....But....I want to play with my flamer and its the nearest thing to a xeno we have.

On note to the character at hand i don't mind i think it looks like one of the best drawn none main stream comics i've seen this year. So i'm digging the work that keeps coming out and waiting for the next update.

As for showing racism and intolerance in a comic, i can of like that idea to say the truth i like comic and books and movies that take subjects that show the faults in society and bring them to the for front to show future generations the dark truth of the past.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Personally I don't like furries because they seem too "perfect" and idealized in a sense - I've always wondered where the non-cute parts of the animals are on these hybrids... but that's just my personal opinion, so no one needs to care if they don't want to.

[Kaiizen]

Whoa, things got a little heated here while I was away. I guess I should say first that the 'fury' character in question isn't really what I'd consider anthro. Anthro characters tend to be animals as a base with some human characteristics (basically they walk upright like humans and have 5 fingers and 5 toes with opposable thumbs and that's where the human traits end. In this case the character is mostly human with some animalistic traits, the idea being that different alien species develop from the dominant life forms on their planet but ultimately become 'human' in shape. To avoid another controversial topic here, if you are a creationist, you WILL be offended by this topic so stay clear.

As for her getting poked fun at, only the two main 'human' characters ever do it. It's because their fragile little minds are warped by gamer culture.

Here's another shot of the main character in his battle armor. No background yet, trying to decide what to do with it.

[Sir_Godspeed]

Sweet, love the jetpack-thiny on the back.

Just a question: are the types of suits common in the warfare of this universe, or do you have something more akin to 40k carapace and flak armour? - ie. not hyper advanced. Just wondering.

[Kaiizen]

Battle Armor is a necessity for all troops in this universe I've created, there is a difference between battle armor though and Tacarms. Tacarms are powered battle suits, they augment the users strength and gives them all manner of additional functions. Standard battle armor will be limited to integrated sensory systems (such as I.R. and light amplification) whereas Tacarms (which are featured here) provide them with energy shields sensors (including short range radar I.F.F. transponders) communications equipment and the ability to link wirelessly into a Battle Frame for control.

In this case, there are two very different types of Tacarms. The first one with the volleyball sized orb on the back is fitted with an integrated plasma shield. The onboard AI tracks and deploys the shield in the direction of an incoming projectile (or in the case of beam weapons it looks for a high energy reaction) and then Ionizes liquid hydrogen into a plasma state which is held in place by magnets in the direction of the threat. The shield isn't perfect however and only covers about a quarter of the body at a time and the system only activates long enough to counter a threat (keeping the shield active at all times would be incredibly wasteful and would result in the shield lasting for less than a minute). Excess energy from attacks are bled off into the environment using a variation of inertial dampeners used on ships for space travel.

The one with the jet pack is developed especially for people called 'Elements' which would be something akin to starwars jedi and maybe psychers in 40k. Rather than just having them use generic abilities like 'the force' and 'the warp' I have been thinking of making them something like, applied physicists. They can perform great feats by manipulating particles in the environment and even their own bodies. Essentially, an Element is limited only by the potential energy their bodies can produce and by the properties of the environment around them. In this case, Elements don't require a system designed stop incoming projectiles because they can produce it themselves and even create more effective ways of diverting projectiles and energy discharges (they could ionize the air around them, pull a wall of rock around them or even divert the energy of the attack). This suit actually amplifies their physical strength as well as their abilities as elements and siphons a small amount of their energy to power the integrated systems and the jump pack, prolonged use will physically fatigue the wearer however.

Elements will also be the only ones with jump packs due to their enhanced senses and reflexes. Normal people using these systems would only injure themselves.

Kind of long winded, but it's hard to describe everything that's going on, and there is a lot of thought involved in every aspect of this comic.

[GreyMaster1]

Greetings to Sqweeky! I salute you for your rantingness, and agree with you, but it is good to have a little fun.

Anyway Kaiizen, it's an interesting story and amazing artwork, I hope to see more.

[Kaiizen]

Been a long week, had a lot of work to do so not much to update with.

Still practicing action shots, I need to do more with my back grounds but I'm getting really lazy.

[SnipingSnowman]

Has anyone else noticed that the girls always have more exotic poses? 

I like it all!  As far as advice goes though, I'd change that walker thing - the one with the Linear Accelerator Cannon - it looks unbalanced, maybe widen it? Or have the legs more spider-like...

Just a thought really..

[burgers4me]

I think it is looking more and more kick ass!

Yay for eldar farseers chicks with spears!

Burgers! Can see pointy ears!

[Kaiizen]

Has anyone else noticed that the girls always have more exotic poses? 

I like it all!  As far as advice goes though, I'd change that walker thing - the one with the Linear Accelerator Cannon - it looks unbalanced, maybe widen it? Or have the legs more spider-like...

Just a thought really..

Thanks.

I hear what you're saying here but the placement is necessary. The cannon needs to be able to pitch up and down so mounting it in the middle of the back would interfere with that movement. I could fix that by mounting the weapon higher but that simultaneously gives it a larger profile and make the machine even more top heavy.

I also tooled around with an idea for a much broader and stable looking machine but abandoned it because it looked just a little too lumbering. This machine is supposed to be a stable sniper/scout. 4 legs provide enough stability for the weaponry and the positioning of the legs will give it better land speed than something that appears more stable.

I have already considered an arthropod design for an artillery mech however.

I think it is looking more and more kick ass!

Yay for eldar farseers chicks with spears!

Burgers! Can see pointy ears!

Thanks.

Man, I didn't notice it before but you're right, this definitely has some eldar feel to it. I guess I should have put her in a Tacarm rather than just the skin suit.

[SnipingSnowman]

This machine is supposed to be a stable sniper/scout.

Ah, I see! I thought it was supposed to be like, a spearhead sort of vehicle, and having it so tall and thin would be a major flaw - like the Star Wars AT-AT's? 

[Kaiizen]

Well as far as the AT-AT's go, they weren't necessarily built with function in mind. They were more of a 'terror' weapon. I do suppose that the extreme height gave them the advantage of always having the high ground though...

My Battle Frame was built with mobility in mind though. The longer legs lets it more easily travel over rough, uneven terrain and heavy thickets. Battle Frames aren't meant to be huge though, this one for example is only about twice the height of an average person when measured to the top of the cockpit.

Also, looking for more opinions. My line work isn't going to change but I have toyed with the idea of adding more depth through shadow to the figures. This is something of a 'proof of concept'. The down side is that this much shading could 'muddy up' my work. The up side being that it's much much easier to create depth in a 2d field when describing everything with deep shadows.

[burgers4me]

I have to say, the picture is awesome! It looks fantastic.

And a tip if you feel everything is getting too 'muddied up', just put a thick hard line around important character and objects. Helps them stand out in my experience. Also, practice (which you seem to have god like levels) makes perfect!

Burgers!