Well for the two or three of you who look at this blog, guess what...? We finally put a book out! Khozos: The Adventure of buck Halisson #1 is out now. So far there are three retailers Drive thru Comics, Amazon, and Lulu.
The best $2 you'll spend all day. You can also get a 12 page preview on Scribd.
Thanks for feeding the animals.
Showing posts with label Khozos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Khozos. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Murdering my darlings...
Sigh.
Yes, for those of you in the "writing know" have probably guessed, I am rubbing out something that I'm overly fond of. Namely: Khozos. I've been building up the story for... 4-5 years, maybe? Regardless, its been a project that I(and recently my wife, Rissa) have been pruning and cultivating with some seriousness. I took samples to the International Licensing Show in 2009, I have the first 32 page issue drawn, inked and partly colored. Five more issues after that have been written, and I have a plot line that stretches out over three graphic novels and two generations of characters. Plus two stand alone stories for after the big climax of the third book.
I'm saying all of this just to hammer home that I'm putting aside something near and dear to me. This was going to be my magnum opus, my path to riches and comic book fame, and a semi-legacy to leave for my kids to pick up and continue. I know, right? I think big sometimes.
Why would I put aside all of this after so much work? Because it's ungodly.
Lemme clarify. The "point" of Khozos, beside being a cool space/fantasy story, was to have a mainstream book with Christian morality at its core, in a genre not usually known for having moral substance. I was getting there. The basis for the first six issues was to show the main character changing his behavior from one of greedy self-indulgence to paying attention to how God wanted him to live his life. However, because God is real and the setting of this series was decidedly UN-real, I couldn't just have them paying attention to God because fictionalizing a real person who is currently alive distorts reality. I don't think it should be done. Now, after a person is dead, and you play around with them some, OK. I will read a book about Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter, or Jimmy Stewart and U.S. Grant as time travelers fighting robots controlled by Fu Manchu(not to self: write that story). Anyway, God is real and I won't fictionalize him.
So, I had to put in a god-like character called the All Father in Khozos. But the reverence and importance that character plays in the story can give rise to false worship.
I'm not saying that Khozos would be so huge and popular that everybody would be driven to apostasy, but I'm not going to put anything out that leaves that open to chance.
I'm trying to use the creativity and skills God has blessed me with to make stories that honor Him, and entertain people without filling their minds with trash. Its too easy for people to get into a story with a sort-of-religion in it and take it on for themselves.
So, no more Khozos. I may try to resurrect it in some kind of fashion, but I don't know how, currently. Not as big of a problem as one might think. I'm rather back-logged with story ideas.
Next on the list will be redoing(fully drawing) "Blow Up the Outside World". Its a sci-fi story about a maintenance worker who can't dream getting addicted to a virtual realty device. I have a series of "Carson Cole" stories, about a Christian underwater scientist/adventurer. The first one is an underwater ghost story called "Not Quite Atlantis". Then there's a cyberpunk tale called "Artificial Soul". And the list goes on.
But, from here on out, everything that Manic Repressive produces will be unmistakably Christian.
Thanks for reading. Back to work.
-Joe
Yes, for those of you in the "writing know" have probably guessed, I am rubbing out something that I'm overly fond of. Namely: Khozos. I've been building up the story for... 4-5 years, maybe? Regardless, its been a project that I(and recently my wife, Rissa) have been pruning and cultivating with some seriousness. I took samples to the International Licensing Show in 2009, I have the first 32 page issue drawn, inked and partly colored. Five more issues after that have been written, and I have a plot line that stretches out over three graphic novels and two generations of characters. Plus two stand alone stories for after the big climax of the third book.
I'm saying all of this just to hammer home that I'm putting aside something near and dear to me. This was going to be my magnum opus, my path to riches and comic book fame, and a semi-legacy to leave for my kids to pick up and continue. I know, right? I think big sometimes.
Why would I put aside all of this after so much work? Because it's ungodly.
Lemme clarify. The "point" of Khozos, beside being a cool space/fantasy story, was to have a mainstream book with Christian morality at its core, in a genre not usually known for having moral substance. I was getting there. The basis for the first six issues was to show the main character changing his behavior from one of greedy self-indulgence to paying attention to how God wanted him to live his life. However, because God is real and the setting of this series was decidedly UN-real, I couldn't just have them paying attention to God because fictionalizing a real person who is currently alive distorts reality. I don't think it should be done. Now, after a person is dead, and you play around with them some, OK. I will read a book about Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter, or Jimmy Stewart and U.S. Grant as time travelers fighting robots controlled by Fu Manchu(not to self: write that story). Anyway, God is real and I won't fictionalize him.
So, I had to put in a god-like character called the All Father in Khozos. But the reverence and importance that character plays in the story can give rise to false worship.
I'm not saying that Khozos would be so huge and popular that everybody would be driven to apostasy, but I'm not going to put anything out that leaves that open to chance.
I'm trying to use the creativity and skills God has blessed me with to make stories that honor Him, and entertain people without filling their minds with trash. Its too easy for people to get into a story with a sort-of-religion in it and take it on for themselves.
So, no more Khozos. I may try to resurrect it in some kind of fashion, but I don't know how, currently. Not as big of a problem as one might think. I'm rather back-logged with story ideas.
Next on the list will be redoing(fully drawing) "Blow Up the Outside World". Its a sci-fi story about a maintenance worker who can't dream getting addicted to a virtual realty device. I have a series of "Carson Cole" stories, about a Christian underwater scientist/adventurer. The first one is an underwater ghost story called "Not Quite Atlantis". Then there's a cyberpunk tale called "Artificial Soul". And the list goes on.
But, from here on out, everything that Manic Repressive produces will be unmistakably Christian.
Thanks for reading. Back to work.
-Joe
Friday, July 17, 2009
Help pick the Cover for Khozos #1
The art for Khozos #1 will be wrapping up at the end of this month.
Help us pick the layout for the cover.
Click the thumbnail here to see the art, then enter your choice on the poll to the left.
The first installment of our series Seven is also coming along nicely. We're also picking away at modifying the Manic Repressive site, so keep checking back through out the month to see all the minute tweeking we do.
I have the subject matter for the con art for RoundCon '09. Once I get the layout decided, I may give everybody here a sneak peek at that as well.
-Joe
Help us pick the layout for the cover.
Click the thumbnail here to see the art, then enter your choice on the poll to the left.
The first installment of our series Seven is also coming along nicely. We're also picking away at modifying the Manic Repressive site, so keep checking back through out the month to see all the minute tweeking we do.
I have the subject matter for the con art for RoundCon '09. Once I get the layout decided, I may give everybody here a sneak peek at that as well.
-Joe
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The NEW news
Hello, you who probably aren't seeing this. I'm putting down this post, just to have something here.
Over the next few days I'm going to try and bring the old Manic Repressive news posts over to the new format. Not sure how, but boy do I love learning new things...man.
From now on, this will be where we share all things Manic Repressive with you the world-wide web. Expect more frequent postings now that we have an easier template to update.
When not trying to totally redesign the MR website, I'm drawing the first installment of Khozos, our new space fantasy comic book. Should be finished drawing & inking in July sometime. Then on to drawing the next while coloring & lettering the first. I'm a regular one-man gang, without all the old wrestling moves.
-Joe
Over the next few days I'm going to try and bring the old Manic Repressive news posts over to the new format. Not sure how, but boy do I love learning new things...man.
From now on, this will be where we share all things Manic Repressive with you the world-wide web. Expect more frequent postings now that we have an easier template to update.
When not trying to totally redesign the MR website, I'm drawing the first installment of Khozos, our new space fantasy comic book. Should be finished drawing & inking in July sometime. Then on to drawing the next while coloring & lettering the first. I'm a regular one-man gang, without all the old wrestling moves.
-Joe
Monday, June 15, 2009
June Updates
No wild changes to the site this month. Now that we're back from the Licensing show we're in full-on production mode.
You can check out new art from both of us in the Licensing section from the galleries home page.
Issue #1 of Khozos is slated to be finished by September as well as most of issue #2. Not to mention a separate Khozos web comic with totally different content.
A fully illustrated version of Seven is being worked on too. Those of you who liked the first chapter posted here in May '08 will be in for a treat!
Friday, May 15, 2009
May News
Licensing show in TWO WEEKS! Oof. Expect to be watching the Khozos cartoon while wearing your Seven T-shirts, drinking soda from your Opus 3 mugs soon.
We know you're wondering where the "expletive" is the store front so oft hyped. Joe is a slacking slacker, that's where. But next month it'll be up. We know you're tired of not being able to throw your money at us, its something we all have in common :)
We know you're wondering where the "expletive" is the store front so oft hyped. Joe is a slacking slacker, that's where. But next month it'll be up. We know you're tired of not being able to throw your money at us, its something we all have in common :)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
April News
Alright! Month four in a row of regular updates. I know, this isn't even news anymore. I'll stop with next month.
News, news, news... oh! Davis Ketterer has finished writing the first part of Khozos: The Adventures of Buck Halisson. Joe is stoked to start drawing it in the next few weeks. He's been blessed with too much work to get it started sooner.
If you want to follow Joe's exploits in more grisly detail, check him out on Facebook if you already haven't.
News, news, news... oh! Davis Ketterer has finished writing the first part of Khozos: The Adventures of Buck Halisson. Joe is stoked to start drawing it in the next few weeks. He's been blessed with too much work to get it started sooner.
If you want to follow Joe's exploits in more grisly detail, check him out on Facebook if you already haven't.
April Updates
Its been a grueling month here at Manic Repressive headquarters. We're still chugging along with our Licensing show portfolios. Here is an example of something new Joe has done for the show. We gotta stop showing everything off. Ah well.
In the early parts of next year Manic Repressive will be in full swing of producing "Khozos: The Adventures of Buck Halisson" It'll be six issues long, roughly 32 pages each issue. When issue 2 comes out we'll be starting a simultaneous web comic based on the history of Khozos, giving you a weekly look at the back story that leads up to the events in the first Khozos story. Here is a sample of what Joe did for the opening shot back when he was foolish enough to think he could draw a weekly strip and monthly book.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
March News
Alright! Month three in a row of regular updates. On time even!
The licensing show looms ever closer on the horizon. We just about finished with the new portfolios, and now we have our sweet new sign for the booth there. If you like it, go check out the company PostUpStand.com and see their other projects. They were great to work with. Given enough of a budget, we'll probably get more stuff done with them.
The Downloads page is radically different this month. Unfortunately with work and other things Joe hasn't gotten the store front finished quite yet. But once its done, you'll be able to get our Coloring book, Splash! a children's book, as well as a hard copy of Flight of the Magpies, then all the new stuff we're putting out at the end of the year. Namely; Khozos: The Adventures of Buck Halisson Pt.1, and Opus 3. We can't wait to explode all over the place with these.
The licensing show looms ever closer on the horizon. We just about finished with the new portfolios, and now we have our sweet new sign for the booth there. If you like it, go check out the company PostUpStand.com and see their other projects. They were great to work with. Given enough of a budget, we'll probably get more stuff done with them.
The Downloads page is radically different this month. Unfortunately with work and other things Joe hasn't gotten the store front finished quite yet. But once its done, you'll be able to get our Coloring book, Splash! a children's book, as well as a hard copy of Flight of the Magpies, then all the new stuff we're putting out at the end of the year. Namely; Khozos: The Adventures of Buck Halisson Pt.1, and Opus 3. We can't wait to explode all over the place with these.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
February Updates
Joe went to the NY Comic Con. You can see pics of the trip here.
Joe also updated his gallery page. He's done some new comic book coloring samples and has them up now.
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