Main menu…

About a year ago I did a job for a movie company called RG Entertainment and their film “Super Capers“, which you can read all about here and here and here. This winter, director Ray Griggs commissioned me to adapt a script he had written into a promotional comic book for the movie’s release, which I worked on with my pal and comic book superstar artist/inker Tom Nguyen (in record time, as usual) and which was given away at WonderCon in San Fransisco. Sadly the film did not do well in limited release and was not picked up for national distribution, but is coming out on DVD later this month.

Ray is quite an idea man, coming up with all sorts of promotional ideas. He and a computer programmer friend of his named Stevo Brock even did an iPhone app for the movie. Ray had told me he and Stevo were working on a second iPhone/iPod Touch app that was an interactive version of the promo comic Tom and I did. Sometimes these sorts of projects actually happen and sometimes they never get past the idea stages.

Well, this particular idea was just announced as being released on the iTunes App Store (See official press release at bottom of post).

After downloading the comic to my iPhone I see they did a fantastic job on it, especially considering they did not have layered files to work from. The “interactivity” seems to mean that you turn the pages like real pages by swiping your fingertip from the lower right corner across to the lower left. The panels themselves have sound effects and some limited animations, which are nice touches and not overdone. This really is pretty cool…

An example of a panel from the digital comic

The page turning feature…

This full comic/page menu is also available

The app costs $1.99 at the iTune App Store. Here is a link to the App Store page (warning, this link needs to open in iTunes). Of course you need an iPhone or an iPod Touch to be able to use the app.

The official press release:

RG Entertainment Releases First Ever iPhone Interactive Motion Comic

Beverly Hills, CA    Jul 02, 2009 in iPhone

[prMac.com] Los Angeles, CA – RG Entertainment, Ltd. today announced the availability of the “Super Capers Comic #1 – Back to the Feature” for the iPhone/iPod Touch. This application is the first of its kind, Interactive Motion Comic, designed exclusively for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The digital comic book is the official prequel/sequel comic to the independent film Super Capers, picking up where the film left off.

RG Entertainment, Ltd. has created a new kind of comic book experience that takes full advantage of the iPhone/iPod Touch. The traditional 2D art style comes alive as you watch and listen as the action pops-in, hovers, bounces, and rockets off, with full sound effects and music from the film! Take control of the interactive experience by physically turning the pages with your finger!

Features:
* Interactive Motion Comic complete with animation and real music and sound effects
* Turn each page controlled by your finger
* Double tap to turn page quickly
* Pages index table of contents
* High Quality film trailer for the film Super Capers
* Quickly return to the last page viewed from the menu
* Complete info on the entire Super Capers Collection and other products from RG Entertainment, Ltd
* No “loading” screens

Credits:
Written and Created by: Ray Griggs (Film Writer/Director)
Pencils and Color: Tom Richmond (Mad Magazine)
Inks: Tom Nguyen (Incredible Comics) and Tom Richmond
Application Design and Development: Stevo Brock

Minimum Requirements:
* iPhone or iPod touch 3.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Super Capers Comic #1 – Back to the Feature is only $1.99 (USD) and is available exclusively through Apple’s iTunes App Store.

RG Entertainment
Download and Purchase

RG Entertainment, Ltd. is an entertainment company dedicated to telling compelling and captivating stories to family audiences that they may be swept away from reality and lost in the Silver Screen for a moment in time. RG Entertainment, Ltd. most recently completed the award-winning, independent, feature film Super Capers, coming to DVD on July 21, 2009, and is now pursuing development of the epic, feature film Lucifer, based on the multiple award-winning short created by RG Entertainment, Ltd. Copyright 2009 RG Entertainment, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

###

Ray Griggs
Producer/Director
RGEntertainment, Ltd.
310-246-1442
United States

Tags: app, comic book, iPhone, Super Capers

Once again, late but better than not at all.

This is a sketch for a possible park sample of the late Michael Jackson. I decided to do one based on his look at a time when he wasn’t a punchline and was still more famous for his music than for his bizarre, and possibly criminal, behavior.

Tags: caricature, Michael Jackson, sketch

Summer is hit and miss with frelance work for me. Sometimes I am busy and sometimes… not so much. Her’e what i have on the baord right now:

• MAD Project- Finally wrapping up a small job for MAD that got put on hold by the special “Issue 500″ spot and the Bo Confidential book. It might appear in 501 but likely it’ll be bumped to 502.
• Penthouse Illustration- a 1/2 page gag illustration.
• Graphic Novel?- I’m currently working with a well known cartoonist/writer on developing a graphic novel adaptation of a book he wrote years ago. We are doing some art for the “pitch” right now and if a publisher picks it up it’ll keep me busy for quite a while.

I just finished this workplace poster job Monday morning for The Marlin Company. It was a rare instance with them when the initial concept got changed and I had to do a fair amount of redrawing to suit the new direction.

The original image called for “a high school classroom scene. It’s the first day of school. Two students are comforting a student teacher – a husky, strapping guy – who clearly has a major fear of public speaking. On the blackboard, in very shaky lettering, he’s written, ‘Welcome! Mr. Williams. Student Teacher.’ He is facing the class, sweating, looking humorously terrorized, while two or three sympathetic-looking students gently pat him on the arm or shoulder in a show of support.”

The initial pencil rough:

Upon review the client decided that the students comforting the teacher conveyed the wrong message, which is supposed to be about supporting your coworkers when things get difficult. The students are the difficulty, not the source of support. Therefore they asked that I change the image to show more of the class, looking a little menacing but in a non-threatening way, and then have two faculty members offering the support.

The second pencil:

The only changed they asked for here was to add a sling shot to the back pocket of the foremost student.

The final art:

Click for a closer look…

Tags: cartooning, freelance illustration, humorous illustration

I am returning today from a trip visiting my caricatures operations in the St. Louis, MO area at Union Station and Six Flags.

Q: I’m really interested in CG and was wondering what your views on 3D (or CG) caricature are, and do you know of any talented artists you could mention for me to check out?  I’ll always like pen and ink, but I could imagine there are some interesting possibilities with CG.

A: I’ve never worked in “CG” before but like any medium it has great possibilities in the right hands. There have been some terrific 3D caricature animations done via stop-motion film and using puppets. For the former I have linked before to this video which is one of the best I’ve seen:

and of course the great BBC show Spitting Image is the best example of the latter.

I don’t know of any major commercial endeavors combining CG and caricature, although one could argue many of the characters in the Pixar films are caricatures of those who voice them, and there have been some caricatured characters snuck in as cameos in some of those movies. I know two of the legendary “Nine Old Men” of animation, Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas, had a cameo in CG caricature in “The Incredibles”:

Beyond that I don’t know of any high profile ones.

My friend Joe Bluhm worked on some CG shorts for an NYC animation company a few years ago. These were either based on his sketches or he worked on them directly:

I beleive that same animation company, SO! Animation, went on to produce some CG caricature commercials for Virgin. I am sure there are lots of examples of shorts and personal projects showcasing CG caricature out there for the finding. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of it in the future.

Thanks to John “Coffeebot” Vaughters for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!

Tags: 3D, caricature, CG, Mailbag

…from an old sketchbook. I thought it might be timely. Say what you want about Michael Jackson, but he was definitley two things: One of the most popular and influential recording artists in the history of American pop music, and the poster child for what money and fame can do to a person without a solid childhood upbringing as a foundation.

Tags: caricature, Michael Jackson, sketch