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

Here’s the trailer for the film…

On March 20th the movie I worked on, “Supercapers”, is going to be shown in select theaters. Having gotten a chance to meet writer/director Ray Griggs last weekend at Wondercon and getting to see the entire film, I am really hoping it will do well enough to get national distribution.

It’s silly, fun movie that pays homage to some of the films and directors that shaped Ray’s desires to become a filmmaker like Star Wars, Back to the Future, Etc. It also is a tribute to the superhero genre… and not in the dark, depressed way that so many cape movies are now slaves to. This is more in the line of the goofy fun of the 60′s Batman era. It’s campy, but in a loving sort of way. It doesn’t mock superheroes, but pokes gentle fun at the sillier side of them while making them charming and likable. Ray pulls off this balancing act well. Best of all, it’s totally kid friendly. While some of the references to older movies will go over their heads, 5 to 10 year olds will probably like this movie a lot.

Lionsgate has agreed to distribute the film in theaters and on DVD. It will appear in 80 theaters in several cities on March 20th, and if they reach a certain number of seats sold it will be released into 2,000 theaters nationwide. This is the kind of movie that comic book fans should support, as it was made by a fan of the medium without the need to play the psychologically flawed, anti-hero card or include brutal violence. It shows super hero movies can still be fun, even on a limited budget.

If you live in or near NYC, Incineration, Cleveland, Des Moines, Omaha, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Dallas, San Antonio, Los Angeles or Las Vegas, click here for a list of the theaters the movie will be showing in. Take your family out for a silly popcorn superhero movie that is quite enjoyable, and support independent filmmaking.

Here’s a few samples from the 13 page comic book Ray, Tom Nguyen and I did to promote the film. I don’t think we’ll be winning any Eisners but we did okay for only having a little over 2 weeks. It’s an interesting story as it actually is a sequel to the film itself, but thanks to the miracle of time travel not really. Weird but true.

Incidentally, I inked all the faces and Tom did most of the rest, but there are two pages I inked myself, one of which is in the above samples. Can you tell which one? Seems obvious to me but…

Some people have expressed an interest in getting one of these printed comics. If you want one I have about 40 copies, and would be happy to mail one to you if you send me a self addressed, stamped envelope. Email me privately and I’ll send you the details.

I had a great time at WonderCon in San Fransisco this past weekend. I’m on my way home today but here are a few quick pictures of my time at the event.

Signing at the DC Comics booth

“Super Capers” actor Adam West, writer/director Ray Griggs and myself

R to L starting with Samuel Lloyd (standing in back), Justin Whalin, Ray Griggs and myself.

As I mentioned before, I have suddenly found myself attending WonderCon in San Francisco beginning tomorrow and running through Sunday evening. This happened very much at the last minute… in more ways than one. Before I begin to go into the gory details, here is my official schedule of appearances at WonderCon:

Fri. Feb 27th:

• 4:00 pm- 5:00 pm: DC Comics Booth

Sat. Feb 28th:

• 12:00 pm- 1:00 pm: DC Comics Booth
• 5:00 pm- 7:00 pm: Super Capers Movie Promo Booth (1412)
  

Sun. Mar 1st:

• 11:00 am- 12:00 noon: Super Capers Movie Promo Booth (1412)

UPDATE- I will also be spending some time at the National Cartoonists Society booth, but have no definite times for that. Likely I’ll be there on Friday evening and possibly between my signings on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon.

I will have some copies of MAD #499 to sign at the DC booth, and will be signing the promotional comic book I did the art for at the Super Capers booth. I will also likely have some original MAD art available.

Which brings me to the last minute thing again…

Earlier this month I got a call from Super Capers director Ray Griggs about doing a promotional comic book for the film for WonderCon, where they had a booth set up and would have actors from the show as well as a panel on Sunday screening the trailer and discussing the movie. The catch was he needed to get the finished book to the printer by February 20th in order to get copies printed by WonderCon.

He delivered a movie type script that needed to be set up for comic book format, and we had about two weeks to get it done. I managed to edit the script down to 13 pages, and I enlisted the skills of comic book artist/inker Tom Nguyen of DC Comics fame to help out with the inking. I did the layout, penciling and inked all the faces plus two of the pages myself, while Tom worked on the rest of the inks. I then did the coloring and type/balloons, delivering a final CMYK page in EPS format to Ray, who placed them in a layout template I did for him and put together the cover (art from the movie poster by Drew Struzan!) and the other pages needed to fill the rest of the comic.

I have really no idea what the final results will look like, having had nothing to do with the printing or prepress… but hopefully it will turn out okay. It was definitely an adventure putting it together that fast. I was buzzing back and forth to Tom’s place to pick up finished inks and drop off fresh pencils, and he dropped off as well.

Here’s a few of the finished pages. There were some very necessary shortcuts taken to save time, but for only having 15 days to do the work, it didn’t turn out too badly:

Cover by Struzan! Click for a closer look

Click for a closer look…

Click for a closer look…

Click for a closer look…

Click for a closer look…

It was interesting to see someone else’s inks over my penciling. That has not happened in a long time… not since my “Married…with Children” days. Tom did a fantastic job, especially considering the time crunch.

Yes, that is Adam West… he is in the movie (in a cameo… sans any superhero costume). In fact he will be taking up most of the time over the weekend signing at the Super Capers booth. I was supposed to have dinner with him and some other movie folks on Friday but that fell through.

If you will be attending WonderCon stop in and say hello!

Right now I am deeply immersed in trying to kick out a 13 page full color promotional comic book that is to be given away as a promo item for the movie “Super Capers”. I did a bunch of illustration work for the film, which will appear during the opening credits and in a flashback scene near the beginning of the movie. The movie will debut in select theaters on March 20th, and if sells a predetermined number of tickets it will get picked up by a major distributor (there is a deal in place) and will be shown in about 2000 theaters this summer. I actually have a credit in the opening credits, complete with a caricature of me (sort of) at the drawing board.

I just got a package with some of the other promotional items for the film, and one was a figurine of the main character “Ed Gruberman” as played by actor Justin Whalin (Jimmy Olsen in “Lois and Clark”). It was sculpted and produced based on a “turnaround” I did of the character. Here’s the partial turnaround:

Here’s the figurine. It’s very small at only about four inches tall including base.

More pics of the figure after the jump: (more…)

Poster art by Drew Struzan!

I just got the word that the movie I worked on this summer, Super Capers, got picked up for limited distribution in select cities and theaters. Here’s the press release:

Damn, Milwaukee is the closest one to me. MILWAUKEE?? Why not Minneapolis?? Oh well. No actual theater info… just the cities.

I did a series of illustrations for the film’s open credits and for a flashback done in a limited animated style, as well as two set paintings for the main villain’s lair. Looks like a fun movie, and the script was pretty funny. Maybe it’ll be a sleeper hit! If anyone gets to see it, let me know about it.

You can check out the movie’s website here, which features a bunch of the art I did. I was being considered for the movie poster art as well but the movie’s backers decided if I did the artwork in my style people might think it was an animated film, so they went with second stringer Drew Struzan instead. What has THAT guy ever done?? Oh… nevermind.