Zeros 2 Heroes - The People's Publisher

Okay, now that Greenberg's out of the way it is time for the next great zeros2heroes unofficial, unreal, hopefully not uninspired contest.  The good news is that it involves fan fiction around your favorite comic series, Minus One.  The better news is that the prize for best page in the comic is a logo design for your story courtesy of yours truly (and, if you're real lucky, TK Jr.).
So what does the contest entail?  Simple.  I will write page one of a story set in a galaxy far far away, a long long time ago in which many of the inhabitants of Planet X are given gifts which help them improve their lives.  Unfortunately these gifts come with a price: their health and, eventually their lives.  And there is no giving these gifts back.  If you'd like to take part simply reply to this blog signing up for the page you would like to write between pages 2 and 22, first come, first served.  Once we have all the pages filled up I will write a blog with page #1 and then in order you should each submit your blog with your page entry until we have a complete 22 page comic.  Sound like fun?  You bet it is!  Now get in soon while there are still some good pages left!

So there I was, browsing through Black Bond Books with TK Jr. the other day when it hit me like a bolt of lightning.  At work last year we had a calendar made up and with this year rapidly approaching the finish line what better way to celebrate 2009 than with our very own Z2H wall calendar?
Twelve CCCN winners, twelve months, it's a natural!  And there is still the cover and both the inside and outside back cover to consider so we could use art from the other books which have been produced so far, plus the three APTN books and Puff Daddy's opus as well for those portions of the calendar!
So who gets which month?  This is open to discussion but here's the way I see it:
January - Minus One - my story is set in that month.
February - Deutschmaschine - set in February.
March - Black Jack O'Breen - it is in Ireland, after all.
April - Rip Current - April Showers bring world wide flooding?
May - Mind Crimes - Maybe a month for a May-niac?
June - Supremacy: Dawn of Heroes - Kicking off the summer blockbuster season.
July - Blake Undying - Next year's Dark Knight
August - Slaughter Inc. - One more thriller before back to school.
September - Hero High - School is starting up so when else?
October - ALMA - Also set in September, but has a seance.
November - Knightcap: November's Song - D'uh.
December - Abigail's War - Love and War: it's Christmas!
So what do you all think?
And just to prove that I am all serious and junk, I have taken the liberty of checking and we can get these done at a very reasonable price through my supplier, though if anyone else knows a printer who will make a better offer. . . .
And if it never goes any further than this at least we can have a little fun debating which comic should have which month!

Hey everyone,

Continuing with the theme I started yesterday I'd like to let everyone in on the master that is Ian Sokoliwski. As you can tell from the books The Mix by IanG and Minus One by Tenzil Kim as well as Lotus, Ian has been on a rampage with producing some great ink and colour work.

*BTW I'm using "Colour" and not "color" cause I'm north of the border.

Back to Ian. As you can probably tell from his impressive resume, his blog and his portfolio, Ian has been working in comics for quite some time. When I was contacted by Z2H about Lotus and was told that Ian would be both the inker and colouer, I have to admit, I wasn't sure how it was going to play out.

Good ol'Google helped me find out some information on Ian and I was hooked. His artwork is amazing and he approaches his craft like a true pro. Lotus was completed in iterations. Miguel would complete a few pages at a time and once approved they would be sent to Ian. Ian then sent me every single inked panel and then every single coloured panel for approval and all of it was inspiring.

Check him out sporting the Z2H shirt at a Con!


Here I was, this nobody with a word processor, having to approve inks and colours from a guy who's worked for Marvel, DC, Ape and Arcana! Obviously this was the first time I'd ever worked with an inker and colourer and I'm pretty sure Ian knew this, but he helped me through the process, made his work transparent and was open to the entire process!

Go check out his blog and portfolio

Again, if Lotus ever gets to continue, I'd want to work with Ian again.

Later

Lotus

I've been waiting for the perfect occasion to write my 200th blog on this site, and I found it this morning.  I was waiting to write this site's 5,000th blog, something I may still try to do, but it was taking a bit too long to get there, and at any rate this opportunity came up and I could not resist.
One year ago today, March 9, 2008 my story Minus One started to  glow golden.  Those of you who were around for CCCN or any of the other contests around here know what that means.  My story had been chosen by the community to be made into a comic (if you haven't read it yet, nor become a fan this is your perfect opportunity to do so!).  Needless to say, this was a dream come true, a culmination of the hopes and hard work of a lifetime.  To see something you created come to life in that way is just amazing, and I wish that all of you can feel it some day too.
So how has my life changed since that day?  I'm glad you asked!  Money!  Women!  Fame!
Money? Well, I am still employed, and I do still receive cheques for my articles and cover photos for the magazine I am writing for.
Women? Yes, I'm still happily married, thank-you.
Fame? My son asked for my autograph once, so that was pretty cool.
So where to from here?  I have a plan and I hope that many of you will join in on it with me.  What is that plan?  No, my friends, now is not the time for the great reveal.  Look for that in the days and weeks ahead.
I'd like to acknowledge at this time zeros2heroes, and the squirrels.  I would like to thank them for the awesome opportunity!  Hopefully this is just the beginning!  And thanks for all the magnets too!
I'd like to recognize all the CCCN winners, especially those who have stayed active on this site (genrewriter and Crackwalker being the most visible of these) including Lord Maim, who deservedly went on to win the Greenberg Foundation prize.  All the talented artists deserve another round of applause too.
I really enjoyed having all the gamers here on the site last summer.  Hopefully we can find some way to bring them back as well.
Congrats also to the APTN winners, Beth A Dillon and Big Dawg 007 along with the D2D winners, RichardPulfer and MightyGeko.
During the past year this site has become far richer thanks to the many newcomers who have gotten involved, and some of the "golden oldies" who continue to work away here.  I run the risk of missing some, and apologize in advance for that, but these people should definitely be mentioned:
Morgan J, Titan.inc, Asclepius, J-Mick, AutoLycan, The STURSTEINS, Ps Elliott, Atomic Skull, BD Stevens, Mr. Man, Juiceboy, Steven Menszer, ChrisJones, Trina,Panicman123, Cancerbaby, Eysic Ach.
Remind me who I have missed and I will edit them in later so it looks like I was really thorough!
And don't forget to check out the Minus One comic or the Unbreakable pitch if you get the chance (with thanks to those who have already done so).

Thank-you all for making this place such a great place to be.

PS: If anyone can help with the links????

Since the first finish line is now in sight, I need to ask everyone to stop for a moment and reflect on the campaign that has just been run here.  When have you ever seen anything like it?
It's been amazing, and while we are mostly friendly to each other here on the site it's not like we're all friends or anything.  Most of the people who had eligible comics hadn't even met each other when the contest started and many of us still haven't met any others.
And yet the whole thing has been positive, uplifting, supportive and fulfilling.
It's not like there wasn't a substantial prize available.  Fifteen large and a chance to write a screenplay based on your own work?  I mean how many writers wouldn't want something like that?  No, it was a tremendous prize we all vied for and believe me, everyone wanted to win.
The great thing about it, though, is that even though there will be a winner, there are no losers here.  Each of us writers has seen the product of our imagination brought to life courtesy of some demanding editors, talented artists, and the visionaries who brought us all into this community.  My hat is off to all of you, and to everyone else who has visited or inhabits this website.
This is an amazing community, one I am proud to be part of.
I think if I was losing the Greenberg to a bunch of knobs who acted like jerks I would probably be bitter and pissed off about the whole thing, but I can honestly tell you I am thrilled for whoever gets this opportunity.  The top three, whoever they wind up being, will not have climbed to the top by luck.  They are talented, hard working, and have done a great job of highlighting their own pitches without having to resort to slagging others or trampling on other people to do so.
Amazing.

Page One.  Full Page Panel. A glass bubble large enough to hold several people is floating to earth in front of a man named MEKIKAS.  He looks pleased.
                CAP
                Twenty-first Century Vancouver.  A sunny Saturday afternoon.
                MEKIKAS
                OMG!  This looks like one ofthose time bubbles from the future!
Pages Two and Three.  A double page panel.  Mekikas is inside the bubble, riding the time stream from 2008 to 3008.  We can see space, scenes from different years, and landmarks announcing various centuries.  Ghostly images of Mekikas inside the bubble start at the upper left of page two and continue down until the bottom of page three to indicate the journey.
                MEKIKAS
                Woooooo-hoooooooo!
Page Four: Four panels.
Panel One: The bubble has landed in a futuristic setting. It looks like home, but different.
                CAP
                The year 3008.  Vancouveropolis.
Panel Two: Mekikas is walking towards an upside down looking rocket ship.  One of the Jetson's cruises by behind him.
Panel Three: Mekikas arrives in front of the door.
Panel Four: Mekikas smiles as the door automatically glides open as on the Enterprise.
                MEKIKAS
                I can't believe I am really here.  This is a dream come true!

Enough of this - cut to the cover!


That is Lotus (Scott), speaking with genrewriter (Nick) in the middle and mariathedreamer (Carmen) on the right all rejecting Mekikas (Greg) and telling him he is not even worthy of being a zero!  Imagine the humiliation!  Imagine the shame!  Imagine being less than zero!  Why, that would make him . . . . MINUS ONE!!!!! (Cue the creepy music).
For those of you X-Files fans who don't accept this explanation and want to know the truth (never mind the Colonel Jessup lines) what happened is this.  Six of the people who have comics produced on the site got together one day to meet and greet, get to know one another, slag all the other winners who weren't there, figure out ways to better promote our books, and find a way to embarrass Greg!
HUGE PROPS to genrewriter for the photoshop work, and thanks to everyone for being willing to play along with my silly idea.  If you don't know the famous cover this is based on just look up the real issue.
I have one more photo to share with the class as well, and that is a group shot of everyone in attendance.  It's a little bit crooked, but then the photographer was none other than the excitable TK Jr. himself!  Standing, left to right, we have Nick, Scott and Greg, while seated in the front row are Tenzil Kem me, Carmen and  Yen (Jennica).  What are these people like in real life?  Just like their zeds, except taller and much better looking!

Alright... assuming there are no other "hidden" pages out there... after a long, long wait... and after a final false start... finally I have delivered my MOFF entry.  I know it is busy, but that is life.  Enjoy.

This is my contribution to MOFF. I had a surprise root canal today, so I am not feeling too chatty :0)!

I will be interested to hear what folks have to say about an artist writing a page without dialogue, though.

Back soon.

Page 15

 7 Panels: three panels along the top, a page wide panel in the middle, and three panels along the bottom.

 Panel 1 is tinted the same red as the eye as Adam?s eyes. SCU of Ikaros? matte black eye with a slit pupil.

 Panel 2 is a med CU of Gustav?s knife (recognizable from the previous exchange with Mylestra) deep in his own ribs.

 Panel 3 is a med shot of Tumax drawing the knife, cradling his friend, his face contorted with rage.

 Panel 4 is a long shot. Tumax is is the FG on the left hand side, Gustav?s knife is his hand. Leading from left to right is a row of Verdant soldiers falling in succession, the furthest right almost hitting the ground. They are all blood is gouting from their throats.

 Panel 5 is a med CU of Lord Davion, smiling smugly.He looks somewhat battle weary and is covered in gore.

 Panel 6 is a med long shot of King Killian slumped in front of the emerald from behind. His posture is one of defeat.

 Panel 7 is closer in over Killian?s shoulder. We can see Honson emerging from the floor.

 

Page 5 (5 panels)

Panel 1 - Panel is tinged in emerald green with several facets. Side view of the hillside with the armies charging each other, half a length of a football field separating them.. A blurred streak, originating from the front of the INDIGO army is only a few paces from the VERDANT army.

OP (KING KILLIAN)
What is that?!

OP (TOADY)
I do not know KING KILLIAN.

Panel 2 - Ariel view of the charging armies. TUMAX, at the head of the INDIGO army, his path shown by a blue streak, has used his super speed to plough through the VERDANT army creating a divide. The INDIGO army has formed a wedge and is pushing the two halves of the VERDANT army apart.

Panel 3 - The masses are grappling in hand to hand combat around a cleared space. In the clearing, SIR DAVION is shooting blue fire from both hands at HONSON who appears translucent. The blue fire passes through HONSON, singeing the VERDANTS behind him in the clearing.

Sfx (From DAVION?s hands)
WHOOSH

Sfx (the burning combatants)
Aahh!

Panel 4 - Small stone walled chamber, lit by one torch, and the brilliant glow of the 4 foot emerald. KING KILLIAN and his TOADY are staring at the image in the emerald of DAVION harming loyal citizens of Verdent in disbelief.

KING KILLIAN (icy)
SIR DAVION, you will pay dearly for this treachery!

Panel 5 - Close up of the back of KING KILLIAN his robes glowing from the emerald as he has his arms wrapped around it in an embrace, his face pressed against it.

KING KILLIAN
Ah, there are the others!
RHIAN, AOIFE, MYLESTRA, EVERENT, ELON.
With them, we can not loose this battle!



It's late, I hope this makes sense:)

Blondfully Yours
JMick

PAGE FOUR (Eight Panels):

Panel 4.1: An armored hand passes over a floating four foot sapphire. In the depth of the sapphire is displayed the three Indigonians from panel 3.7, leading their Queen's army into battle against the Verdant. The splayed fingers of the right hand are entirely encased in a silvery material, its overlapping plates jagged and menacing. The metal is tarnished with age and combat, and undeniably intimidating.

IKAROS: The attack begins.


Panel 4.2: We look down past the left side of a raised throne, down upon the kneeling form of SIR DAVION, who has his head down in genuine respect and fear. The other armored hand of IKAROS points down at the traitorous Verdant, tattered layers of brown robes falling down around his arm.

IKAROS: Go now, and lead the armies of the Verdant King into battle. Our victory is at hand.

Panel 4.3: Close on DAVION, who has raised his head slightly but still dares not look directly at IKAROS, instead favoring the floor a few feet ahead of him with his nervous gaze.

SIR DAVION: My lord, I still do not understand why you saw fit to grant the Indigonians abilities as well. Will that not interfere with our plan?

Panel 4.4: IKAROS is seen for the first time, his body swathed in layers upon layers of aged and torn brown cloth, heaped upon him almost haphazardly. One cloth is pulled up over his face, his eyes are lost in the shadows of a hood. The only distinguishing feature is the jagged armored hand that points at the viewer. His posture radiates imminent violence.

IKAROS: Do not presume to question me Davion, or this time I will take that eye.

Panel 4.5: Narrow panel showing half of SIR DAVION's face. He has looked up in shock, the long vertical scar over his left eye prominent in the panel.

Panel 4.6: IKAROS gazes into the sapphire again, the light of the gem brightens the brown robes, but only serves to deepen the shadows beneath his hood.

IKAROS: When both armies have destroyed themselves, bring the emerald to me and I shall honor your request.

Panel 4.7: Side view of SIR DAVION looking up at IKAROS, his face now showing naked avarice at the mention of his ambitions. IKAROS hands now grasp the edges of his hood.

SIR DAVION: I will be crowned King of the Verdant?

Panel 4.8: IKAROS' hood has been pulled back by the armored hands to reveal his sneer. IKAROS' skin is deep red, the color of old blood, with matte black eyes set in hollow pits that gaze with hatred upon the half-breed Verdant. One armored fist is raised, clenched before him in anticipation of his success.

IKAROS: Bring the emerald to me, and I will give you this world.

We are still a couple of pages shy of a book but I'm officially calling the contest on as of right now, confident three more writers will emerge willing in the next couple of days to fill in the blank pages. (Editor's note: those three pages have now been claimed.  The book is now full!)
Here are the rules:
 #1. The winner of the contest will receive a logo for the comic title of your choice designed by Tenzil Kem, and, if you are really lucky, TK Jr.  No guarantees on how good it will be or if you will ever want to use it, but you will win it nonetheless.
How do you win?  Best page for flow, originality, sticking to the story, surprise and quality of writing.  TK Jr. and I will be judging which means our pages are ineligible.
# 2. This is an all ages comic.
# 3. Everyone gets one page, no more no less.
# 4. Remember, you all have your own takes and your own ideas, but the point is that this is all one book, one story and must read like it in order for this to work.  Surprise us, but do so within the context of the story we are trying to tell.
# 5. Please do not use any characters who already exist in the real world or in fiction anywhere, including on this site.
# 6. You should not reference the Minus One comic.  This is fan fiction of the idea, not the book itself.
# 7. You MUST put the Minus One property tag in your blog and title your blog Minus One Fan Fiction # whatever your page is.  Do not put page two on this blog.  Each page must be its own blog.
# 8. Smile.  Have fun.  This should be enjoyable, not work!
# 9. The world this story takes place in existed thousands of years ago millions of light years away in a world remarkably like ours several hundred years ago.  No industrial revolution or electricity or anything like that.  We have two groups of people, the greens and the blues, and each has something the other has always wanted.  Six people from each side are randomly given powers by space aliens visiting the planet.  Each of these twelve is now among the most powerful people on Planet Zero, and just like in the comic Minus One each of them loses health every time they use their powers.  I will set the wheels in motion.  The rest is up to you!*

Here is the line up:
1. Tenzil Kem; 2. panicman123; 3. TK Jr.; 4. Lord Maim; 5. jmcleod; 6. Lazerman; 7. Sorshania; 8. RPulfer; 9. Crackwalker; 10. WillGibson; 11. Fetternity; 12. N3k0_b0i; 13. Tyler David Coltraine; 14. Autolycan; 15. Eysic Ach; 16. Ivy Crow; 17. Juiceboy; 18. MightyGeko; 19. mariathedreamer; 20. mekikas; 21, Steven Menszer; 22. Asclepius

MINUS ONE FAN FICTION - Page # 1
Four Panels.  One widescreen across the top third of page. Three equal tall panels running across the bottom two thirds.
Panel One: Establishing shot of castle kingdom on top of a hill.  It is early morning, spring time.  A beautiful day is dawning.
CAP
Long ago and far away there existed a Kingdom called Verdant.  The people all had green skin and they lived high up on a hill.

Panel Two: The King of Verdant, a tall, bearded green fellow is walking through one of his great halls of his castle with a toady little fellow nipping at his heels.  The toad is trying to read from a scroll as they walk.

CAP
For Centuries they had been envious of the blue people who lived down in the valley.

Toady
This way, Your Majesty.  Not far now.

Panel Three: The King and the toad are now climbing a winding staircase.

CAP
In all that time the balance of power was too close, the two Kingdoms too equal in strength for either to take over the other.

King
I certainly hope not.  You know I don't like to exercise before breaking fast.

Panel Four: The toad is pulling a door open for his King.  We cannot see inside.

CAP
But this winter something wonderful happened to change all that.  The six of them have been gathered to meet the king.

Toady
Sire, we are here.  Prepare yourself.  Today I give you the means to finally conquer the Valley Kingdom of Indigo.






* Contest void where prohibited by law, which probably means Quebec, Maine, Nunavut and South Dakota at least, unless I'm mistaken in which case this becomes only an exhibition, not a competition unless the lawyers say otherwise at their quarterly meetings or while out on the golf course or at any other time.  zeros2heroes assumes no responsibility for any injuries suffered during the running of this contest and may not be held liable if TK decides to welch on what he has promised, not that that is likely to happen in any event.  No purchase necessary.  Your odds of winning are frankly not very good unless your name is Lord Maim or Crackwalker because they are TK Jr.'s favourites.

Here again, back by popular demand, the Stormtrooper Theatrical Regiment 501 presents the ensemble piece

Minus One, Page Nine

So Jessica throws down the challenge about some 3D fan art related to the pitches.  Naturally this gets TK Jr. all fired up.  Before unveiling those, however, he would like to show everyone the coloring job he did on Cassie from Lord Maim's comic Blake Undying.  The artwork is courtesy of the talented Christian Major aka Fetternity. 

Then TK Jr. got busy posing action figures.  Yes, the figure in question really is the Boy Wonder, but it was the closest he could find to Crackwalker's Moondog from Hero High.  See how you like it:

Finally, he got busy with some Play-Doh (Did Homer Simpson really have something to do with inventing this stuff?) to do a mock up of everyone's favorite Sand Monster from Tenzil Kem's Minus One comic.

Finally, though this is not fan art, TK Jr. did not let the fact his old man wouldn't let him join the site stop him from creating his own avatar.  He printed off a copy of mine, colored it himself, and created his own zed.  Now does this kid deserve some magnets or what?

A lot of the recent blogs going around have touched on the idea of what are people doing here?  What is this site for?  What purpose does it serve in your life?
So let me ask you all this: What is zeros2heroes doing for you? and;
What do you hope or what would you wish zeros2heroes would do for you?

For me, first and foremost it is a very cool online community of like minded people (geeks and nerds, just like me).  I don't do Facebook, nor do I twit.  This is it for me online, so thank goodness it is still here and going strong despite the past year for businesses around these parts!  I love the fact I have made so many "friends" online and really enjoy interacting with all of you.
Secondly, this place gave me the opportunity to have a lifelong dream fulfilled and have my comic professionally produced.  It's not perfect but it is everything I had imagined and it is a real validation of myself as a writer that I was chosen from among so many talented writers to be one of the CCCN winners back in 2008.  It was the start of an amazing run which has also included my eight page story in mangamemoirs.com.
Thirdly, it is where I have met my fellow ZU collaborators.  Without this place I have no idea how I would have ever had the opportunity to meet so many other dedicated, passionate creators who share a common interest in creating a new comic universe.
Fourthly, it is a place where you can receive praise, and more importantly criticism on your work, whether you are an artist or a writer.  I really feel it is an important function of this place to spend some time evaluating other people's work and helping them improve.  I really appreciate everyone who has taken any time to look at any of my stories.
Finally, for now, it is a place where we can sound off, have fun, state our opinions and goodness knows what else here on the blogs and (rarely) the forums.  I don't have many friends in the real world who share anywhere near my passion for comics, so it is great to have some like minded nerds to bash things around with.

What do I hope zeros2heroes will do for me?  Two things.
1 Keep on keeping on (but with improvements as per Chief Zero's recent post; and
2. Help Minus One get discovered and put out there in comic book or television series form (or both, even!), etc. and help launch my career.

It's time for a contest.
At least I'm pretty sure it is.
And since no one else is putting one up, I will.  Oh, sure I supposedly have my MOFF contest going on, but I'm pretty sure now that the Senators will be carrying the Stanley Cup around the ice before the Geko adds his little page to that one.  So it doesn't count.
And I think Zeros2Heroes should send the winner a pair of Minus One fridge magnets to the winner (since I thought of the contest and the Minus One magnets are the coolest ones of the whole entire set).  First prize goes to the first person who can correctly identify all of the characters in the masthead above.  We need to know who the characters are, which book they appear in, who the writer of that book is, and on what page the image you see above appears.
There.
That ought to keep everybody busy for  a while.  Assuming we have anybody around, that is.