Character Development SEVEN (6 of 7)

Group dynamics are always fun.

Character Development SEVEN (5 of 7)

Finished up the photos for episode ten last night. It features thick chocolate yogurt as a special effects substance. We had messy, tasty fun.

Also spent part of yesterday setting up a separate blog for this strip
http://itscharacterdevelopment.blogspot.com so it could be submitted to webcomics sites.

Character Development SEVEN (4 of 7)

Trying to make Playmobil look like they are running ... and stating the obvious.

Character Development SEVEN (3 of 7)

The paranoia of roleplayers knows no bounds. Give them and easy option and they're suspicious. Probably for good reason.

Character Development SEVEN (2 of 7)

Pick a path ... how many hours have I spent flipping pages only to have my imaginary self meet a sticky end? Of course our heroes cheat, by looking at the pages before deciding which way to go. That just makes sense.

Character Development SEVEN (1 of 7)

The start of the seventh episode. Featuring the introduction of another character ...

I've been a bit distracted by the real world the last week or so. But I seem to be calming down. So it's back to the keyboard with a vengeance. Time to write some stories that have been haunting me for a while ...

Character Development SIX (7 of 7)

A D&D party is like a collection of flatmates. They have to find a way to live with each other and get through the basic tasks of the day. Most D&D campaigns, including my own, neglect such interesting dynamics as who does all the dishes. Maybe I shouldn't.

Character Development SIX (6 of 7)

Relationships at work are always difficult.

Character Development SIX (5 of 7)

The camera has been feverishly clicking away ...

The keyboard has been frantically clicking away as well ...

Character Development SIX (4 of 7)

It's hard to make Playmobil look guilty of something, in that "um, er ... sure Pal" kind of way.

Character Development SIX (3 of 7)

In the roleplaying campaign I run the goblins speak in bad cod-Mexican accents for some reason lost in the mists of time. This lead to an unexpected twist, as several of the party thought they sounded cute and sweet, and wanted to befriend them rather than exterminate them.

Character Development SIX (2 of 7)

Goblins ... the plankton of the D&D ocean.

Character Development SIX (1 of 7)

The start of the 6th episode. Guest-starring a goblin named Gob.

I'd better get the camera snapping away, as I'm running out of finished pages fast.

Character Development FIVE (7 of 7)

Poo jokes! One of the cornerstones of humour.

A new Character Development starts tomorrow.

This strip, and many others, can be seen in a more pleasing format at www.virtuallycomics.com

Character Development FIVE (6 of 7)

The map doodle makes a reappearance. Thanks to Guy Landry for that little piece of art.

Character Development FIVE (5 of 7)

I had fun writing this episode.

The reason so many of these are already scripted (22 in total) is that they are fun and easy to do. Six pages of story, must advance some overall plot however obscurely while remaining a complete story itself, must have jokes, bad puns, and be reasonably easy to photograph. The constraints actually make the process easier in some ways, because you know what has to happen.

Tomorrow page features a poo joke. Something to look forward to. ;)

Character Development FIVE (4 of 7)

The angles required for this episode meant it took a little longer than normal. I ended up making a free standing wall so I could take photos from both sides.

The episode was inspired by all the dungeon crawling games that have an equipment shop that magically appears somehow so the characters can 'upgrade' while still crawling the dungeon.

Character Development FIVE (3 of 7)

I'm frantically writing a script for something that will never be made into a Playmobil comic (too complex visually). I'm having fun, obsessive fun, but I do need to find the time to take some more photos of toys. Fortunately I've already written up to episode 22 of Character Development, and done the comic layouts, so it's just the photos that need to be taken. But can't stop writing ...

My five year old has started taking photos of Playmobil for her own comic projects. Unicorns feature prominently. I may share some of them with you all if they come out okay.

Character Development FIVE (2 of 7)

By episode five I think I was beginning to hit my straps with the characters and the situation. Without knowing it I'd laid the seeds for all the future plots in the text of the first episode. It was time to start watering those seeds ... and fertilizing them too.

Character Development FIVE (1 of 7)

The start of episode five. See if you can guess where the title comes from ...

Remember you can see previous episodes in a more pleasing to read format at
www.virtuallycomics.com

Dark Bay SEVEN (6 of 6)

And with that little cliffhanger we say goodbye to Dark Bay for a few weeks.

Starting tomorrow is another Character Development.

Dark Bay SEVEN (5 of 6)

One more page to go for this episode ... and a twist to come tomorrow.

Dark Bay SEVEN (4 of 6)

I may have some exciting news sometime soon.

Then again, I may not.

If you like possible worlds theory then lets just say that in some subset of all possible future worlds that are similar to this one there will be some exciting news.

I can't make it clearer than that.

Dark Bay SEVEN (3 of 6)

Dark Bay is a 'talking heads' comic. It's all about the dialogue like any cop-buddy story. So it suits being made into a comic with toys.

The current story I'm churning through is much more about the complex visuals. There is no way it could be turned into a Playmobil comic ... the numbers of toys needed would be beyond our meager budget.

Character Development (which returns soon) was written specifically with Playmobil in mind. Although, every now and then I write something that'll be challenging to photograph ... just to keep me on my toes.

Dark Bay SEVEN (2 of 6)

Another phone-call page.

I got all arty and had continuity on this page, which meant it took a lot longer to do than it should have.

Dark Bay SEVEN (1 of 6)

The morning cup o' joe at Franky's.

I look at this page and all I can see is the giant mistake. Oh well.

Policyperson poster

Guyanne Landry drew this wonderful re-imagining of a classic Wonder Woman cover.

My wife recently acquired her very own office at work, and needed something to go on the drab grey walls. So I re-wrote a few old comic covers to be somewhat work-related, and in doing so we came up with an alter-ego for my wife ... Policyperson.

Is it a bird? (How sexist!)

Is it man? (More sexism!)

No! It's Policyperson!

Fighting for liberty, justice, and a good cup of espresso.

Able to write tall legislation with a single pen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dark Bay SIX (6 of 6)

See ... it is a New Zealand comic ... it has someone ordering a flat white.

The Franky's storefront is a Playmobil hot-dog stand, bits of which are also used as the corner dairy, which we managed to get for a good price on TradeMe (it was missing a couple of pieces which meant 'collectors' wouldn't want it).

The only problem is that the police figures don;t fit in the old 1974 style chairs, so have to sit side-saddle a bit.

It's the little things that drive me mad.

Another Dark Bay starts in two days. Tomorrow will be something a little different.

Dark Bay SIX (5 of 6)

Have Playmobil police car, will use it recklessly.

Dark Bay SIX (4 of 6)

Another filter to get the dried skin look, and that's a Playmobil water canteen pretending to be a film canister.