A hint at where we're at

Hiya.

My name is Mike May, and I'm the artist, and TRUE POWER/muahahaha!!, behind DVD - Dragons vs Demons (NOT Tim McCracken, whose name is included in the credits, because I lost a bet in a seedy bar in the armpit of Southern Idaho). I did EVERYTHING on the comic. Let's get that out in the open right away. I wrote it (not Tim), did the storyboarding (not Tim), and... alright, he did those first two things, but I did contribute art and some other bits.

DVD is actually based on a true story, in a really stupid way. No, there were no true demons or dragons... I can't believe you even thought that. It's based on the fact that Tim, and this guy we used to work with, whose name is too moronic to mention (Brian Motisko), used to have actual, ongoing arguments about which is cooler; demons or dragons.

Yes, they really did. Also, they're both in their 30's. Go figure.

Tim is a writer, looking for a gainful writing experience that will give his life some meaning. By that, I mean he wants to do something he can call his own. In order to do that, he needs a crutch; say -find an artist and make a comic. This makes his dream already failed, because it's immediately no longer his own, and he didn't do it alone. I think I'm digressing. So what?

He and I were talking one day, determined to make a comic together. He began spitballing ideas. Ideas like: what if Disney were even more neat than it is? Maybe we can make a comic about how neat animals and Disney are! Maybe we can find a really neat bird, name him Nemo, and have him get lost in a flock of a million birds! I can tell you to draw the million birds, you draw them for 8 panels a page for 22 pages, and we'll split any success that comes from it 50/50. I wrote it, after all. Since I was well aware of his arguments with Brian, I said, "what about Demons vs Dragons?"

He practically jumped out of his skin. I nailed it. I got started right away. I drew the two main characters, who we still call "Demon Kid and Dragon Fatty." (I'll insert that photo here, once I get a scan... can't find it right now) We've worked very hard on the comic so far, and so far... it's been something like 1.5 years. Maybe more.

The good news, is it's well underway. I've played with style and found it. Tim has rewritten the thing a zillion times. We've had invaluable feedback from some great people, after showing them an ashcan we made of it.

The purpose of this blog is to share in the process (we're learning as we go), and get people excited about the comic.

The comic isn't for everyone. We're adults, but we're juvenile. There's gonna be swears and there's gonna be crass. We're appealing to the irreverent goofballs out there. I'm not skimping on quality. This is setting the standard for future comics I do, if I keep it up, and Tim & I are already discussing future ones. Problem is, I have to hurry and finish this one. I told Ryan Ottley I estimate May/June as the finish... that's not going to happen. I get a page done a week if I'm lucky, and the page I'm working on will take longer. I'll hit that up on my next post.

I'll take questions. I'll share how I do stuff. I want to make people happy. I think Tim should do the same. I've only worked on one other "comic" (Anthology: Tori Amos Comic Book Tattoo) *cough* won Eisner *cough* won Hugo *cough*, but I've learned a lot about process, and I've also lucked out with writers. Tim is pretty amazing to work with, and Jeff Carroll was too- who I worked with on "Toast," for the anthology. He knows how to make life easy on an artist. I know that's not terrifically common among writer/artist relationships. It's a collaboration through-and-through. He's open to my ideas about his writing, and he knows I don't like his ideas about my art.

I'm kidding, it's all good.

My first image is the mockup of the cover of DVD. I have loads more to share, so keep checking back if you want to see those loads... I'll hereby promise to update once a week. Let's go with on/by Fridays.

(click the thing below to see a better quality)

Edit: Added this detail progress shot, yo.