P.O.W.! Challenge 58 (A-B-C) Murder and Intrigue

**donalfall** · February 19th, 2012, 03:38 PM

THERE HAVE BEEN MAJOR CHANGES MADE, SO READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY!

All future POW! Challenges will roughly follow the format below, unless otherwise noted for a special event.

In all cases, you can interpret the art any way you wish, and the more creatively, the better. Any media. B&W or Color, unless we specifically point out otherwise.

Topic 58A: Murder in the Manor

I'm not an obsessive watcher of period drama, but even I have noticed there's more of it about recently. Make a POW! in the fashion of a period drama, set in a big house or grand manor, but the central story must include one or more murders (hey, it can be a massacre if you like, just as long as its a period massacre). The characters could be solving them, avoiding them or committing them... it's up to you!

Topic 58B: The Power behind the Throne

A political intrigue, an authority figure, a quiet word in the dark - paint a picture in a POW! about how one mysterious character holds all the reins of POWER! The story should show the extent of the characters reach, the way they hold their pawns in check & someone who is trying to take them down. The Power behind the Throne can be the hero, or their opponent can be the focus... it's up to you!

Topic 58C: Cover for A/B

Make a cover for one of the two topics above! Get a nicely designed cover image, but the more graphic and striking the image the better. Think limited palette and vector-like imaging. Make it bold and striking! The design decisions should get you more arbitrary points on the scale of non-existent points than conveying the idea of the comic title.

One or All-Deadline: Sunday, March 18th, 2012, 11:59 pm anywhere in the world.

You can present your solution as a minimum of THREE to any practical maximum you wish 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--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 realize you're running out of time, try to get at least THREE pages finished by the deadline. That's all you need to qualify for polling..

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)

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Good luck.

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** · February 19th, 2012, 03:48 PM

As per a suggestion I received on the last few POW!'s, perhaps everyone should try to post something towards their progress by the end of each week and we'll try and drum up some critique about each post?!? It's not a rule or anything, just for keeping the place fresh and airy.

Post anything you like - breakdowns, script, individual panels, full pages, character designs, whatever.

In the case of anyone who wants to attempt a cover, make sure to read the Reverend Dave Johnson's blog.

**B-Lister** · February 20th, 2012, 01:58 AM

I really enjoyed the Dave Johnson link that you posted, I think I'll try to participate this time. I'm still a little rough, and this would be my first comic but I like the challenge.

**NicoleWG** · February 20th, 2012, 12:20 PM

I'm hopped up on Bonanza and Gunsmoke, so I'm doing Part one.

**Hawkswift** · February 22nd, 2012, 06:05 AM

I've been watching a lot of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes...

I'm thinking A as well.

**j.s. sabastian** · February 23rd, 2012, 05:12 AM

aaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

**donalfall** · February 24th, 2012, 10:47 AM

I'm going for Power behind the Throne. Mine is about what happens when a super hero retires and decides to take over a small country to act as her retirement plan. I keep trying to put way too much into these POW!'s though, leading to never finishing the story I have plotted out.

Oh well, I may learn this time.

**R3u5** · February 24th, 2012, 01:55 PM

**donalfall** · February 27th, 2012, 11:17 AM

I didn't get a chance to post anything for the last week (failed at the first hurdle lol) unlike R3u5- I have some thumbnails ready, I'll scan them in when I have a chance for this friday coming.

So some critique, anyone? I find it hard to crit R3u5's work very hard, because I am in love with that style. "the Butler" makes me think this is for Murder in the Manor, not to mention that Chekhovian gun in the bottom corner, but it could just as easily be for Power behind the Throne, what with "The man in the shadow" and general tone. Murder... is meant to be a period piece, whereas this looks contemporary-ish, but that can be forgiven, as setting the era is the smallest part of these challenges.

This thumbnail would make a great promo for a comic even as is. The golden highlights on "The heir" drag your eye in, then my eye follows the blue floor under "the Brother" and then I notice the hard edges of the gun under him. It makes you - or me, anyway - almost skip over "the Man in the shadow", helping him hide there in plain sight.

Really well designed! I like the look of the characters a lot and I really want to know what that sinister butler is up to!

**doppelgangergrl** · February 27th, 2012, 11:42 PM

R3u5, really digging the style so far. The Butler seems especially suspicious.

Here's my effort so far... try not to judge me too badly, I work crazy messy when I do WIPs (probably why I never let people see them) and this is the first time I've actually posted anything (I've just been lurking for like 2 years...). The WIPs are sort of a weird Frankenstein of traditional and digital, so I'll understand if its they're practically impossible to decipher.

My main storyline is the idea that the family killed their guest in order to consume his heart. I'm not really much of a writer. I was mostly trying to focus on expressions because I have a horrible habit of ignoring them. You know...I think this is my first comic that's actually been more than 3 pages. Hopefully I'll actually finish this! ...also in pg 3, the bottom kitchen scene is missing the cook and everything that should make it look kitchen-y (I'm rather awful at perspective)

**Wild Bill Turkey** · February 28th, 2012, 07:34 AM

If I can successfully post this, it will be the first thing I've put up on this website. I've been meaning to do one of the challenges for a while, but the timing was always off for me when I checked in. This sounds like a fun topic ( Murder in the Manor ) and for once I may even have time to finish it, so here goes...

Some of you have already got a lot of storyboarding or character design done. All I've got so far is the sketch I started here for my setting, shown on my first page: Landsend House. The story will take place in 1938 or thereabouts. I've got ideas for my main characters, a basic idea of my story, and a fair idea how to show it in 8 pages. So now I start trying to get it down to 4-5, or maybe fewer so I have a prayer of making the deadline...

POW1b by WildBillTurkey, on Flickr

**donalfall** · February 28th, 2012, 11:20 AM

Wild Bill Turkey you can't use the HTML code Flickr generates for you to embed your images so I just edited your post to an Image Link for now. If I remember correctly, you can get Flickr to generate BB Code instead, which gives you the Bulletin Board code you need to embed your picture.

Your style is awesome. Really intricate. I can see how you'ld have to push to get to the deadline. POW! rules mean that if you have 3 pages of the story done mean you qualify for the poll though.

**donalfall** · February 28th, 2012, 11:27 AM

Ah yes, in Flickr under "share" you just tick BBCode instead of HTML.

**Wild Bill Turkey** · February 28th, 2012, 03:57 PM

POW1b by WildBillTur

**ashess** · March 1st, 2012, 04:55 PM

hello all! this is my first time participating. mainly because I only just noticed the event. I really enjoy making comic and have for quite a while. hope to hone some staging skills here, so I'd love any feedback you have.
it seems like a great topic, so I just started tonight.
well, this is just the first page. I hope 3 pages will be enough to tell the gag. might need more though.

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@doppelgangergirl- haha! funny story. not sure about your opening shot. also, I can tell it's the man on the plate just bc of the text. ofc that part is still pretty sketch.

@ Wild Bill Turkey-
I really like that opening shot. it's very powerfull. there is a bit of a perspective issue; the rocks interlocking with the building seem to suggest we're looking up at it. but the bridge clearly shows we're looking up. this flattens the building a bit. should be easy to fix though.

@ r3u5- going for option C then? the style is really cool and fitting. you could put a bit more thought into layout and color coordinating. the 'brother' especially is falling off the page. this one and the man in the shadow are quite weaker then the other drawings here btw. the heir in particular is great! I'd change the sizes of the panels a bit around to see what works best.

**klortho** · March 3rd, 2012, 03:05 PM

Pencils for my first mystery story page.

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**ashess** · March 3rd, 2012, 03:48 PM

@klortho-amazing page there! wow. one thing though. where are you gonna put the text?

**klortho** · March 3rd, 2012, 05:06 PM

Thank you, ashess. I map out balloon space in the composition when I do the layout. It's a very tight fit, though. Some of the background drawing definitely gets covered up.

**j.s. sabastian** · March 8th, 2012, 04:11 AM

i really don't want to but i'm sure i'll make a last minute desperate attempt on this one just too save face. only because we have new blood and i wanna test my metal....... altough i'm not sure how good my name is these days-haha!

**donalfall** · March 8th, 2012, 09:47 PM

j.s.sabastian your name is always good currency here.

Sorry I was super busy this week you guys. Bloody day job got in the way.

**HugeHarHar** · March 9th, 2012, 06:29 AM

Four out of the five pages I plan on doing for this. I'm going to work on tightening everything up a little bit and doing some work on the text to make it fit the speakers more.

**ashess** · March 9th, 2012, 03:32 PM

@ hugeHarHar -wow.. thats wild stuff!

here's my 2nd page of the murder mystery (poirot-style)

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**HugeHarHar** · March 11th, 2012, 12:43 PM

Alittle touch up on er'thang and the 5th page.

**Wild Bill Turkey** · March 12th, 2012, 10:04 AM

Finally had some time to finish the layouts for a couple more pages. There's one final page, which will be a full-page panel. I know...not a lot of frames per page. I know I should work on that, but it's tough, I like to draw.

Believe it or not, I'm still holding out hope of making the deadline, even though these are clearly not even working pencils. The writing/layout is the hurdle for me, and I speed up a lot once it's passed.

I will not be doing "spot color" on the girl in the green dress. I just did that as a shorthand for myself to keep track of her through all the panels at the stage in the drawing where she couldn't be recognized by her features. I'll be making lots of changes. The crazy staircase at the bottom of page 2 will be fixed, (again a shorthand to remind myself to use a big curve to match the bridge and the Bugatti) and the loopy perspective I was messing with in the first panel of page three may have to go. It made sense when it was being drawn by itself, but looks incongruous with the rest of the page.

I'm very open to criticism as I get ready to go into finals. Ashess, thanks for your comment! I'm hoping that my final inking will clear up the confusing way in which the foundations of the manor lay into the rocks.
Here goes:

POW1t by WildBillTurkey, on Flickr

POW2 by WildBillTurkey, on Flickr

POW3 by WildBillTurkey, on Flickr

**Hawkswift** · March 13th, 2012, 04:56 AM

Thumbnails for my four pages:
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Not sure I'll finish, but we'll see.

**donalfall** · March 13th, 2012, 09:32 AM

Hey you guys, a dude I work with took a tumble and is out of commission, so I've had double my work hours at the crappy day job grind. Hence I've not been on here much. I doubt I'm going to get my pages done this time around - they're only roughs with 5 days left... oh well, there is some stellar stuff rolling in at the minute, so I don't feel too bad. I'll roll in here later tonight with some thoughts if I have a chance.

Cheers!

**ashess** · March 14th, 2012, 05:26 AM

wild Bill- oh, it's wonderfull! love the mood especially. it's a great set-up and I want to read the rest already!

@hawkshift- the pages are a little hard to read. espec with no text in there yet. the picture where the girl draws the gun is great though.

@donoval- too bad :/

well, my 3rd. not done by a long run! and it looks like ill need at least 4, quite possibly 4 to tell my story. it's going to be tight to get it somewhat done!

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