blog.maljones.com

The notebook of illustrator and designer Mal Jones. It's got sketches, photos, news, reblogs... the usual stuff.

#webcomics

Last week we decided to start updating The Giant War twice a week (which is apparently called semi-weekly). I was already laying out pages that had a natural mid-page break for reading on screen, so why not fully commit and actually split the page in to two updates. It’s not like I’m not already doing the work for it and it ups the frequency of releases, which could (should… will hopefully) lead to more readers. We want to keep it simple (a goal of The Giant War is to stay out of our own way), so the page dimensions still are the same and eventually when it’s printed I won’t have to do a ton of reformatting. I need to point out that Warren’s post on the Shape of Webcomics a few months back stuck this in the back of my mind. Since then I’ve just  been looking for a natural place to make the change. As we shifted from the one-off strips to a more linear period of storytelling, the opportunity presented itself. So now you can get your Giant War fix semi-weekly! Mondays and Thursdays at http://thegiantwar.com. Yes we got an actual domain as well. I still can’t believe it was available.

Last week we decided to start updating The Giant War twice a week (which is apparently called semi-weekly).

I was already laying out pages that had a natural mid-page break for reading on screen, so why not fully commit and actually split the page in to two updates. It’s not like I’m not already doing the work for it and it ups the frequency of releases, which could (should… will hopefully) lead to more readers. We want to keep it simple (a goal of The Giant War is to stay out of our own way), so the page dimensions still are the same and eventually when it’s printed I won’t have to do a ton of reformatting.

I need to point out that Warren’s post on the Shape of Webcomics a few months back stuck this in the back of my mind. Since then I’ve just  been looking for a natural place to make the change. As we shifted from the one-off strips to a more linear period of storytelling, the opportunity presented itself.

So now you can get your Giant War fix semi-weekly! Mondays and Thursdays at http://thegiantwar.com.

Yes we got an actual domain as well. I still can’t believe it was available.

First up: A call for support (and I don’t mean money). We’ve been going strong for 15 weeks now, and are planning to keep on going for at least a full year. I hear from folks that you’re reading and enjoying it, but we’d love to see those numbers in notes, tweets, reblogs, and some general internet support. The internet is made up of connections and we need to make more. Enjoying The Giant War and have Tumblr account? Follow us and tell your followers by reblogging the latest episode.. Enjoying the episodes when I post them on Twitter? Tweet about the comic (with a link of course) with the hashtag #thegiantwar Enjoying it in general and don’t want do any of those things? Drop us a line and let us know.  Thanks and we appreciate it everyone. And now! On to the notes: Episode Notes The Weathered Man returns! I think that just leaves the Nomad in need of an update.  Note to Future Jones: I think I need to tighten up the line height in the lettering going forward. Giants aren’t the only bad guys in the world. Fact.

First up: A call for support (and I don’t mean money).

We’ve been going strong for 15 weeks now, and are planning to keep on going for at least a full year. I hear from folks that you’re reading and enjoying it, but we’d love to see those numbers in notes, tweets, reblogs, and some general internet support.

The internet is made up of connections and we need to make more.

  • Enjoying The Giant War and have Tumblr account? Follow us and tell your followers by reblogging the latest episode..
  • Enjoying the episodes when I post them on Twitter? Tweet about the comic (with a link of course) with the hashtag #thegiantwar
  • Enjoying it in general and don’t want do any of those things? Drop us a line and let us know. 

Thanks and we appreciate it everyone.

And now! On to the notes:

Episode Notes

  • The Weathered Man returns! I think that just leaves the Nomad in need of an update. 
  • Note to Future Jones: I think I need to tighten up the line height in the lettering going forward.
  • Giants aren’t the only bad guys in the world. Fact.
Episode Notes It’s the brothers and sister from Episode One. Now we know what they were tracking. Proper planes just get swatted out of the sky by giants, but the ultralights are more like annoying flies then giant mosquitos. They let the crew get closer for attack runs.  I’m using an already limited palette, but I seem to be settling in on a few dominant colors these days.

Episode Notes

  • It’s the brothers and sister from Episode One. Now we know what they were tracking.
  • Proper planes just get swatted out of the sky by giants, but the ultralights are more like annoying flies then giant mosquitos. They let the crew get closer for attack runs. 
  • I’m using an already limited palette, but I seem to be settling in on a few dominant colors these days.
Yesterday Marc Bryant and I launched The Giant War, a new webcomic we’re updating every Monday. From the description on the site: The concept is simple. One day humanity woke up to find themselves the second most dominant form of life on the planet. As insects are to man, humankind is to the Giants. What are they? Where did they come from? What do they want? No one knows and no one cares. The only question is, how do we make it through one more day? It’s the first long form comic project Marc and I have worked on since the The Card Cheat pitch a few years back. We have both hit a point, creatively, where we just needed to get out of our own way and out of our comfort zone.  There is no ongoing storyline (besides Giants show up. World fucked.). Instead each week the update is a small snippet, a moment in the The Giant War world.  Sometimes it’ll be a comic, some times illustrated text, and we even have plans for some audio episodes. The art will shift a bit too… sometimes it’ll really stink, sometimes I’ll knock it out of the park. The whole thing is one long experiment in fun for Marc and I, and we hope you enjoy watching it unfold. The Giant War

Yesterday Marc Bryant and I launched The Giant War, a new webcomic we’re updating every Monday.

From the description on the site:

The concept is simple. One day humanity woke up to find themselves the second most dominant form of life on the planet. As insects are to man, humankind is to the Giants. What are they? Where did they come from? What do they want? No one knows and no one cares. The only question is, how do we make it through one more day?

It’s the first long form comic project Marc and I have worked on since the The Card Cheat pitch a few years back. We have both hit a point, creatively, where we just needed to get out of our own way and out of our comfort zone. 

There is no ongoing storyline (besides Giants show up. World fucked.). Instead each week the update is a small snippet, a moment in the The Giant War world. 

Sometimes it’ll be a comic, some times illustrated text, and we even have plans for some audio episodes. The art will shift a bit too… sometimes it’ll really stink, sometimes I’ll knock it out of the park. The whole thing is one long experiment in fun for Marc and I, and we hope you enjoy watching it unfold.

The Giant War