P.O.W.! Challenge 44--The Monster Mash...

[Ilaekae]

This Challenge will have a few extra days to it, and it's kind of special...it ends appropriately on Halloween.

The polls for Challenges 41, 42 and 43 will be up later today.

P.O.W.! Challenge 44
Deadline: Sunday, October 31, 2010, 11:59 pm anywhere in the world.

Topic: The Monster Mash...

For those of you under 50, the Monster Mash was a cute and thoroughly stupid novelty song by Bobby Boris Picket released in August 1962. There's probably a church or gigantic monument somewhere commemorating that event. To get in the mood, I'd suggest Googling "Bobby Picket" or "Monster Mash/Monster Mash Lyrics," or trying "Monster Mash" on Youtube...

We're not doing the song (but you can if you want), but we are doing what the song represents--the feeling of fun that surrounds the holiday, especially in the United States. This challenge asks you to come up with a creative approach to the partying and childish joy that IS Halloween. Do the monsters of our fears celebrate it, and if they do, do they have the same date problems we had--finding a costume, date, walking the thin line of fitting in while being different? You can do monsters, you can do monsters in costumes, people in monster costumes, or any combination of these, as long as it revolves around the mash--a party to end all parties.

You can interpret the art any way you wish, and the more creatively, the better. Any media. B&W or Color. We're also going to stick with the (almost) three-week Challenge period for a while because it seems to be giving people a bit more time to play.

You can present your solution as a minimum of TWO to a TENTATIVE maximum of SIX pages which adhere to standard comic specs as below...and, yes, you can have the first or last (or both) as a splash page if you want. You can go to additional pages without asking if you have a decent idea that requires it--just don't get too extreme on page counts.

REMEMBER: You don't have to have a complete comic to qualify for polling--if you're idea requires six pages or so, go for it, but if you realize you're running out of time, try to get at least TWO finished by the deadline. That's all you need to qualify.

Standard Comic Book Size:

--Trim size: 6 5/8" x 10 1/4"
--Live art area: 6" x 9"
--Bleed size before trimming: 6 7/8" x 10 1/2" (1/8" in all directions)

This thread will be the place you ask questions on this challenge, trash talk, post WIPs and post your final art. See the READ THIS FIRST thread for all specs.

Good luck.

Again, this one is three weeks rather than the usual two weeks to see if it will allow more participation or just cause a lot more procrastination.

P.O.W.! Challenge 45 will be posted on Sunday Midnight, October 31, 2010.

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A little note here for all of you who have supported the P.O.W.! Challenges...thankyewthankyewthankyew...

Just a reminder--those of you who didn't get a chance to finish exactly the way you wanted to, or ran into deadline problems, remember there is a sticky section where you can post your stuff when you do get it up to speed.

[donalfall]

I only saw that POW was back too late for #43 but I'm going to try and mash something together for this. Cheers Ilaekae!

[Asatira]

Woot! This sounds like a fun challenge. And an appropriate deadline. I am already brainstorming things.

[Vritra]

Oh great, and I don't even know anything about Halloween except that you need to dress up and go trick-or-treating. And also the scary pumpkins with mysterious light emanating from within.

Research, research.

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

And then you get to smash the pumpkins when it's all over.

[PxelSlayer]

And then you have Smashing Pumpkins singing "The end is the Beginning"...and it goes on and on, one year after another...

[Vritra]

That made sense!

[PxelSlayer]

Ok, so why not give it a shot, eh? Although, I can already see this one pushing all my frail knowledge on lighting, perspective and anatomy to it`s maximum level x_x

Basic concept - Van Helsing kind-of-guy crashing a monster party. Yay!

[Vritra]

Woah, this looks great. Especially the face; looking very tight.

Keep going!

[Raoul Duke]

I'm gonna go for a jack davis art style. I hope the panel layout works. I want the panels to be harmonious and rhythmical, much like music.

[Raoul Duke]

slayer- I like it, but here are some things to consider before you become too committed to the full color, fully rendered style you have started. Can you maintain the quality when things get hot and heavy? Not that I'm doubting your skill, I'm just saying you have a hard road ahead. Are your layouts completed? if so you should post them, because that is the most important stage in comic storytelling. We can help you before you commit yourself to a sequence that isn't working.

[Vritra]

Raoul, I can't properly make out what's happening from your layout itself. Mind telling us a bit about what's going on there?

[vineris]

I'll toss my hat in the ring for Hallowe'en.



@Pxlslayer - Great rendering! I don't think the diagonal panels are really working here, though. Too distracting. If nothing else, I think you're going to have to show the castle and not just a bit of the courtyard because the guy's face is dominating the page and there's nothing of interest in the other panel.

@Raoul - The layouts look good so far!

Edit: re-uploaded attachment.

[Raoul Duke]

oh yeah my layout is pretty sloppy. Since this isn't storytelling in the conventional since, this is mostly decorative and fairly abstract. I'll go ahead and write a rough script for ya.

Pg1
panel 1
haunted morgue spooky night.
panel2
frankenstein counts down at the drums
panel 3
graveyard
panel 4
mummy and wolf man's guitars merge at the neck.
panel 5
tombstone thumping.
panel 6
tombstone thumps harder
panel 7
tombstone door burst open from dracula's rockin stand up bass.

pg2
panel 1
dracula plays the bass and resites the lyrics.
panel2
dia de los muertos horn section.
panel 3
witches and hoes singing back up.
panel 4
wide shot of the whole band rocking out revealing the lyrics sheet.

[Vritra]

@Raoul

Hah, the bass looks... big, as it should be. Also, I like Dracula's expression.

However, the perspective on the Frenkenstein monster playing the drums is a bit skewed (compare the snare/toms to the base drum). But you might have wanted it that way to begin with.

Anyway, the panelling looks good, and I can feel the rhythm you were talking about.

@ vineris

The attachment isn't working; at least for me.

[vineris]

I uploaded the pic again. Something was being a bugger the first time, but I could see it so I thought it finally went through.

[Raoul Duke]

here's a little inspirato.

[Raoul Duke]

This isn't finished, but it's on it's way. I'm going to work out the hatching and details soon.

vineris- the shadows under the noses look like hitler mustaches. You need to either go all the way with the structural shadow patterns, which really isn't an option for your chosen style, or do the easy thing and get rid of them.

[Raoul Duke]

I think this page may just be finished. what do you guys think?

[Vritra]

vineris

To me, the page looks good. I love the style.

Raoul

It's hard to differentiate between panels right now. Also, the mummy and the wolf-man aren't very clear. But hey, the page looks nice, and the rhythm is definitely there.

[Raoul Duke]

well the mummy fingers are a problem I haven't found a solution to. I can see the bottom three panels as being misleading. It might look like three different caskets, so I'll make them a bit more deliberately separate.

[Raoul Duke]

better? Like in a finished kinda way?

[bhanu]

I am in... Where are my markers?

[Vritra]

Hell yeah! Good to have you on board, man.

Your markers are in my drawer.

Raoul, the last three panels will have little continuity no matter what you do. That is not only because of the way you have set it up, but also because you aren't following the 180 degree rule. But I think you may want it to remain that way. To me it looks good, what with the music-like flow you were talking about.

[bhanu]

Your markers are in my drawer.

by drawers do you mean.......pants....
meh I just had to say something perverse....

But this looks like fun, will get to from tonight.

[bhanu]

A halloween pic by Greg simkins, just get us people in the mood I guess

I hope The mods dont mind. Is this thread strictly for the WIPS and works?

[bhanu]

A mock cover to get me started,I have the plot somewhat....lets see how it goes,
I will try to do six pages

[Vritra]

Bhanu, boy, let me tell you something. And listen carefully.

Don't try analysing puns. Especially dirty ones.

The Greg Simkins cover is... well, insane. And yours... meh. No but seriously, you've captured the mood well in the rough. I want to see how you finish it.

And lastly, this is a sequential art activity, so get to the pages already!

[Raoul Duke]

yay moar competition. I like your cover, but the composition is lacking some spacial organization. Maybe do more thumbnails and explore your options.

I have to do more studies for the horn section, it's becoming a pretty difficult task.

[vineris]

Tightening up page 1 and in the meantime here's page 2: