DECONSTRUCTED

Pin-up - De Waugh (Andie Tong Special)

2011-03-01T09:00:00.004Z

We're very proud to announce that the incredibly talented Andie Tong (TRON: Betrayal) produced a full-colour pin up for us. Want to see the colour version? Of course you do. Look out for it in issue #01!

Thanks again to Andie.

Birthday Sketch

2010-11-08T12:53:00.003Z

I have attained another year of age; wisdom is 'in the post' apparently.

Many thanks to Chris for a lovely sketch of DECONSTRUCTED's heroine, Sophie... and the cute Combat Remotes.

DECONSTRUCTED – Influences

2010-10-26T11:57:00.005+01:00

The Red Star first hit comic store shelves in 1999 and proceeded to come out in fits and starts. It changed publisher a handful of times, and sustaining interest was difficult – a pity as the central concept was so damn satisfying. Somewhere, in a longbox, I have a run of these comics – I was an avid fan.

The Red Star mixes overwhelming Soviet-style military might with psychic Sorceresses. The heady combination of monolithic scale technology, lab designed magic and Russian tragedy is a potent one.

It was this comic that really piqued my interest in the Russian military and Soviet era government – subjects I’ve barely scratched the surface of during my research. Perhaps for this reason I made the Los Perdidos Combine in DECONSTRUCTED a Russian colony in space, instead of an American one (cliché) or an English/ Japanese co-op, which was done in Aliens, as Weyland–Yutani, although you’d never know it.

Back To BICS

2010-10-18T16:05:00.004+01:00

It was rather ambitious now, looking back at it. I was stood in the main hall at BICS in 2009 thinking, ‘I’d like to have a stall, I want to sell comics to people, I’d like to have as much merch as Fetishman. And I’m gonna do it for next year!’

And so I went home and started outlining a plot on the couch. That turned into me writing the first issue during lunch breaks. Then the second issue popped out and so on. Of course, scripts aren’t very interesting reading, so I had to persuade artists to give me their precious time. For free. And they did.

Artists like Chris Christison, Shannon Gallant, Barry Spiers, Andie Tong and the designer Julian Parry. I felt incredibly blessed.

But here’s the thing – comics take time. Taking a brand spanking new project from soup to nuts (even if the nuts are just issue #1) takes ages. You have to write the thing, agree concept designs for the characters, for the environments, for the vehicles. There are corrections when things don’t quite go right and the biggest killer is, of course, the day job.

People have day jobs. They are busy, they are frequently beaten down, and they occasionally would rather not pick up a pencil as soon as their shift is over. They also want to socialise and play Halo (Christian!).

Mathematically you say, ‘OK, 22 pages, that’s less than a page a week over a year’, but it’s still a massive undertaking. And that’s before you get the pencils inked, or even think about colouring the project.

So, am I a little deflated? Well, yes. But then I go back to BICS and have lovely people like the Etherington Brothers asking me how it’s going, and how they like the characters. Abby Rider (Manchester’s very own font of comics enthusiasm) tells me how great the blog is… and it all seems worthwhile because theses guys knows it takes ages and they’re encouraging us and willing us on to make a finished comic.

And it makes it all worthwhile.

So thank you BICS for being inspiring, and continuing to inspire and giving me the opportunity to meet my peers and heroes. And buy Fetishman comics, of course.

DECONSTRUCTED – Influences

2010-09-27T12:32:00.004+01:00

When I started out with DECONSTRUCTED I literally just had the single image of a girl trying to fix her crawler in vast, bleak, snowy wastes. It was one of those steep angled shots that film directors are so enamoured with, and so am I it would seem. DECONSTRUCTED is definitely indebted to a few films and comics, and I’d like to take the time to mention them here:

Solaris (2002) is a beautiful, meditative film full of flashbacks – much like DECONSTRUCTED. Only now (literally, as I’m writing this, nearly a year after I first put pen to paper) do I see how the narrative structure really fed into what I wanted to do with Sophie and the crew of The Evangeline.

This film really does deserve to be seen on a large screen and looks amazing. The art direction cleverly plays out the scenes on Earth (mostly flashbacks) in warm oranges and deep browns, whilst the current day is played out against the pale blue light of the space station. It is this colour differential that underpins the film’s ambience – that nostalgia is usually dark but warm, whilst the present is stark and cold. Cliff Martinez provides a score as gently soporific as the visuals but keeps a line of tension through the electronics to avoid drowsing off altogether.

I’m not sure I’ve seen a Science Fiction film capture a sense of yearning and regret quite like Solaris, which makes it perfect fit for DECONSTRUCTED.

Tune in for more influences next week.

DECONSTRUCTED – Influences

2010-09-20T10:16:00.003+01:00

When I started out with DECONSTRUCTED I literally just had the single image of a girl trying to fix her crawler in vast, bleak, snowy wastes. It was one of those steep angled shots that film directors are so enamoured with, and so am I it would seem. DECONSTRUCTED is definitely indebted to a few films and comics, and I’d like to take the time to mention them here:

Alien (1979) is exactly the sort of film I mentioned in the previous post about influences (find it HERE). Heartless corporation? Check. Grumbling, bored employees? Check. Pre-CG effects and lovely chunky models? Oh, yeah.

Plenty has been said about Giger’s phallic-headed super-beast, but what really interested me about Alien, with relation to DECONSTRUCTED, was the dynamic between the crew. Space is an incredibly hostile environment, and each of the crew is placing their safety in the hands of everyone else. Now imagine if someone on the crew is new, and you’ve never shipped out with them – the pressure and possibility for paranoia are huge.

The film also features hierarchy and procedure – never more so during Ripley’s frosty conversation about quarantine with Ash, the science officer. As the crewmembers start dying, people begin to come apart at the seams and struggle to act efficiently.

A large turning point of the story (if you haven’t seen Alien you should stop reading now!) is when Ripley finds out the crew are expendable and discovers the company’s primary objective is the live capture of the creature. It’s exactly that ‘at all costs’ mentality I wanted to apply to the crew of The Evangeline in DECONSTRUCTED. Indeed, in the first draft of the comic the body count was almost total. You’re just going to have to wait and see who survived in the subsequent drafts!

DECONSTRUCTED – Influences

2010-09-13T17:18:00.006+01:00

When I started out with DECONSTRUCTED I literally just had the single image of a girl trying to fix her crawler in vast, bleak, snowy wastes. It was one of those steep angled shots that film directors are so enamoured with, and so am I it would seem. DECONSTRUCTED is definitely indebted to a few films, and I’d like to take the time to mention them here:

Moon (2009) was largely feted as a return to the classic Science Fiction of the 1970s – a time when computer generated effects could only be dreamt of. Indeed the models and the chunky design of all the vehicles and even the moon base itself are intensely satisfying.

Moon manages to be engaging and heartfelt, even with its tiny cast. The film even toys with being a psychodrama in space for a while. One of the tropes that often appear in 70s and 80s Science Fiction is that of the uncaring, faceless Corporation – one that will do anything to ensure its profit margin. Whilst I don’t explore that idea too much in DECONSTRUCTED, it will no doubt appear in some guise in future story arcs.

Possibly the most poignant feature of Moon, for me, was the simple boredom and drudgery of working on the far side of the moon, and the things people do to escape that boredom. The amazing (living in space) reduced to the mundane (dirty laundry, coffee stains, general clutter) is a lovely counter point to the high tech minimalism of the design.

Another feature of Moon is the Artificial Intelligence (voiced by the ever-wonderful Kevin Spacey). Without giving too much away, it’s nice to see that usual ‘AI goes berserk and starts killing everyone’ is nicely avoided. The idea of a benevolent AI really appealed to me for the story arc on DECONSTRUCTED, but I can’t say too much more for fear of spoiling the story!

More influences soon!

Stay Frosty – Issue #01, Page 05

2010-08-16T10:21:00.006+01:00

Did you miss us?

Of course you did! So what's news? Well, we have five finished pages in from Chris, and six pages from Shannon. Shannon also drew our first pin-up way back at the beginning of 2010. Not bad, huh?

We also have a full colour pin-up from Andie Tong, which is nothing short of kick-ass... and there's another pin-up to come from TRANSFORMERS cover artist Barry Spiers.

Click on the picture to see the bigger version!

The Wonky Donkey – Issue #1, Page 01

2010-06-18T12:15:00.002+01:00

Issue #1, page 01. Who is this fixing the broken down Snowcrawler? And where they hell are they?

Lovely stuff from Chris Christison.

Issue #01 Pages 15-17

2010-06-03T18:21:00.003+01:00

DRONE ATTACK

2010-05-20T15:08:00.003+01:00

Pages have started to come in.

The project takes shape.

More pages soon.

BLUE LINES

2010-04-06T13:34:00.002+01:00

Just a sneak peak of the forthcoming pin-up art, by TRANSFORMERS covers artist Barry Spiers.

ROUGH PAGE LAYOUT

2010-03-04T12:37:00.008Z

Here is a little something to whet your appetite – the rough page layout of page 5, from issue #1 of DECONSTRUCTED. After the script is written an artist will block out the page, and figure how the panels work. Remember, this is sequential storytelling, so it has to flow. What might seem like a good idea to a writer might be considerably trickier to pull off in two dimensions.

CARRIER HAS ARRIVED

2010-02-19T09:24:00.007Z

Forgive me for the old skool Star Craft reference, I'm just teeny tiny bit excited. The Evangeline is complete, and ready to rock.

The Evangeline is a salvage ship that doubles as a hauler. She's small enough to land on planets, but equally able to dock in orbit. When I was trying to describe what I had in mind to Chris, I quickly realised The Evangeline was something of a love letter to both the Republic Cruiser/ Blockade Runner from Star Wars, and the blocky functionality of The Nostromo from Alien.

Here's her specs from the comic (deliberately spare, so Chris could go nuts).

DESIGNATION: LOS PERDIDO COMBINE SHIP EVANGALINE
REGISTER PORT: NEW ARKHANGELSK
TYPE: COMMERCIAL SALVAGE VESSEL/ HAULER
CHARTER: SALVAGE AND ORE TRANSPORTATION
CLASS: AMERICANA HS B-20
CREW COMPLEMENT: 7 (CAPTAIN, PILOT, NAVIGATOR, SCIENCE OFFICER, SECURITY OFFICER, MECHAINC, ASSISTANT MECHANIC)
ADDITIONAL: COMBINE SPECIAL OPERATIONS OFFICER
INFRACTIONS: NONE

DECONSTRUCTED – Pin-up

2010-02-09T13:12:00.007Z

I bet you were thinking we'd sunk without a trace. Far from it.

In the last month I've been busy working on the scripts for issues #2 and #3. Meanwhile, in fair Bournemouth town, Chris has been working on the page layouts. As if that wasn't enough, SL Gallant (you many have seen his work on GI Joe for IDW) kindly provided us with a pin-up. However, if you want to see the inked and coloured version you'll just have to buy the comic when we launch later this year.

Fan Mail

2010-01-05T17:07:00.007Z

Lordy, we haven't even published or printed a single page, and we've got fan mail!

Well, fan art to be precise, from that devilishly talented (and filthy) Spleenal. You can check out his work HERE. I think you'll agree that's some pretty spanky skills, right there.

What a nice way to start 2010. We hope you had a good break, and keep following us over the year ahead.

DECONSTRUCTED – Shurin

2009-12-21T13:00:00.005Z

Bio: Shurin is the pilot on the Evangeline. He is very competent with aircraft of all sizes. Shurin is in his late twenties and is a voracious reader. His bedsit apartment back on Los Perdidos looks more like a library with a bed in it. Shurin hates the cold.

Service Record: Shurin has served on the Evangeline for five years. He has spend most of his life ferrying people from A to B. He likes it, but is tiring of the physical demands of space-going life. Shurin signed on about the same time as Riley.

Origins: An American, from Chicago, Shurin defected from AmeriCorp. to the Los Perdidos Combine during the Second Earth Exodus. Tired of the increasing influence of the New Patriots Neo Conservative movement he took his chances with the Combine.

Distinguishing Features: Shurin doesn’t have any tattoos, scars or jewellery. He has brown eyes and black hair.
Effects: Flight suit, fingerless gloves and skullcap. Usually found reading a battered paperback.
Languages: English, Russian (little)
Height: 5’10”

Shurin was designed by guest artist Julian Parry, see more of Julian's work HERE.

DECONSTRUCTED – De Waugh

2009-12-16T13:19:00.006Z

Bio: Los Perdidos Operative De Waugh is a dark-haired, Caucasian woman in her early thirties. She looks like she runs a fashion magazine. She is a no nonsense customer and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She is rarely seen without her sunglasses on.

Service Record: Special Operative De Waugh is not a member of the Evangeline crew. She has a been a Special Projects operative for the Combine for four years, after working her way up from an assistant role in Research and Development.

Origins: She was born to an English mother and a wealthy American father, but had to flee to the Los Perdidos Combine after her father was accused of embezzlement.

Distinguishing features: She has had ocular implants, which allow her to see in thermal vision, as well as in low light conditions.
Effects: Designer sunglasses, pistol in should holster, black suit.
Languages: English, Russian, Spanish.
Height: 5’10”

De Waugh was designed by guest artist Julian Parry, see more of Julian's work HERE.

DECONSTRUCTED – Riley

2009-12-09T17:29:00.004Z

Bio: Riley is a navigator in her late thirties. She is Caucasian with shoulder-length, dirty blonde hair who continually struggles to give up cigarettes. She is infamously feisty and shoots her mouth off. She occasionally gives graphic accounts of her sex life, much to everyone else's discomfort.

Service Record: Riley has served on the Evangeline for five years. She signed on at the same time as Shurin. She is due to resign from the ship in two months.

Origins: English, from London. Riley is notoriously close-mouthed about what she did before working on the Evangeline. She joined the Los Perdidos Combine during the Second Earth Exodus.

Distinguishing Features: A razor sharp tongue.
Effects: Plastic cigarette substitute.
Languages: English
Height: 5’8”

DECONSTRUCTED – Janowicz

2009-12-02T17:10:00.003Z

Bio: Janowicz is in his late fifties and is the owner and Captain of the Evangeline. He left during the First Earth Exodus and put a down payment on the Evangeline with a sizable inheritance. Despite this money he is heavily in debt. At various times in his life he has been a drop ship pilot, a trucker and worked in construction.

Origins: Janowicz refers to himself as an American despite living on Los Perdidos for twenty-five years. He was born in Texas to a long line of soldiers and airmen.

Service Record: Janowicz has owned the Evangeline for eleven years now.

Distinguishing features: Longish grey hair and beard, attractive. Large scar over the back of his hand.
Effects: Wears his wedding ring on a cord around his neck.
Languages: English, Russian (little).
Height: 6’1”

Join the Los Perdidos Combine!

2009-11-24T16:31:00.002Z

The Plan: Initially, we are planning on putting DECONSTRUCTED out as a black and white web comic. Once we have the whole run, we’ll look into doing printed, full colour comics. And who knows, if that goes well, maybe we’ll do a collected edition with sketches and pin-ups.

Yes, I’m an ambitious little bastard aren’t I? But when you’re doing science fiction, you may as well shoot for the moon, or the nearest star system.

Colonies don’t build themselves you know.

The deadline for this feat of sequential loveliness is next October, in time for the Birmingham Comics Show. The mini series will be five issues, with art duties divided between each of the pencillers.

Sign up: Interested in getting into comics? Tired of drawing sketches and not getting to grips with a comic strip? Would you like to be part of a passionate team? We are currently looking for a second artist to help draw DECONSTRUCTED. The hours will be long, and the pay… er, yeah.

If all goes well we’ll be looking for a colourist too, but I’m getting ahead of myself. However, I will say you’ll be in good company – we already have a writer, an editor, and one artist on board.

Comment: If you’ve got advice on web comics, want to say how much you love the characters, or just want to say ‘Hi’, drop us line.

Follow: Why not follow us? Keep up to date with all the DECONSTRUCTED developments. Don’t miss a thing!

DECONSTRUCTED – Donkey

2009-11-18T11:19:00.003Z

Designed to traverse rocky environments, and able to fulfil roles as troop carrier, forward base, ambulance or cargo truck, the Donkey is the epitome of hard working vehicles. It is resistant to small arms fire, features a polarized windshield and has significant scanning and broadcasting capability.

The Los Perdidos Combine military use a version of the same vehicle with a heavy machine gun mounted on a cupola above the cab, and smoke launchers. There is also a version that eschews the troop carrying capability, instead mounting twin howitzers behind the cab. These variants are frequently called ‘Jackhammers’, due to the sound of the artillery they carry.

The LPCS Evangeline carriers two standard Donkeys – one nicknamed ‘Wonky’ and the other (less reliable) called ‘Shonky’.

Who says space ship crews don’t have a sense of humour?

DECONSTRUCTED – Varenkov

2009-10-23T10:55:00.005+01:00

Bio: Varenkov is half Russian, half English. He is in his mid-forties and has blue eyes and white hair and a short beard. He reads military history and has a filthy sense of humour. Varenkov is the Security Specialist, he protects the crew from external threats, and each other. His primary objective is to keep the Captain alive.

Service Record: Varenkov has served on the Evangeline for seven years.

Origins: Originally from Moscow, Varenkov moved to London to be with his mother. He served in the army, before becoming a ‘freelance security consultant’. During the First Earth Exodus he threw in his lot with Los Perdidos Combine.

Distinguishing features: Receding white hair, short beard.
Effects: Reading glasses, chunky analogue watch.
Languages: Russian, English
Height: 5’ 9”

DECONSTRUCTED – Nakamura

2009-10-16T11:37:00.008+01:00

Bio: Nakamura is the wunderkind of the Evangeline. He is the Science Officer, but also has an aptitude for navigation and is a reasonable pilot. He is amiable, if a little quiet, and is often found in the lab peering into his microscope or reading the latest edition of The Scientific Life.

Service Record: Nakamura has served aboard the Evangeline for just over a year and is looking 'for a few more years experience, before I go planetside full time'.

Origins: Nakamura is of Japanese extraction. His parents moved to Russia just before the First Earth Exodus. He is in his mid-twenties and speaks fluent English. He never bothered with Russian as he resented leaving Japan.

Distinguishing features: Nakamura has perfect teeth, and is very popular with women.
Effects: He carries his RiteBord © everywhere, and is never with out his lab coat.
Languages: English, Japanese.
Height: 5'9"

DECONSTRUCTED – Ament

2009-10-16T11:09:00.011+01:00

Bio: Ament, the Chief Mechanic aboard the Evangeline. Ament is of Russian stock and plays on that 'Great Bear' archetype. He is a man of few words, a little surly and not to be trifled with. In fact, he hates trifle. Being in his late thirties Ament has been around the block, at one time serving with the Los Perdidos Combine Militia, but in a support role. It was here he developed his love of spacecraft whilst servicing drop ships. He was also the regimental boxing champ, as you can probably tell from looking at him.

Service Record: Ament has known Captain Janowicz for five years, and as such is a trusted member of the crew. He'd like to retire, but the fact of the matter is, he wouldn't know what to do if he lived planetside full time.

Origins: Ament is actually half American, something he neglects to tell people. His parents settled on Los Perdidos during the First Earth Exodus.

Distinguishing features: Ament has blue eyes, is built like a house, and has a huge mustache.
Effects: Black bandana, dog tags, tool belt.
Languages: English (rusty), Russian.
Height: 5'11"

NEWS – 13TH OCTOBER 2009

2009-10-13T16:59:00.006+01:00

Welcome to DECONSTRUCTED Comic, an idea born out of visiting Birmingham Comics Show. Indeed, I got home from BICS on the Sunday evening and scrawled the plot outline in black pen. In an hour and a half I had a mechanic, a snow crawler, espionage, Diesel punk, Near future.

Make of it what you will, and remember ‘When the machine breaks down… we break down.’

Den Patrick, 13th October 2009

DECONSTRUCTED – Sophie

2009-10-13T15:39:00.008+01:00

Bio: Sophie is the Assistant Mechanic aboard the Evangeline. This is her first job off world and she is keen to make a good impression. Her mother was a space ship navigator, and away from home a lot of the time. Sophie's mother died in a drop ship crash when she was thirteen, and she became estranged from her father shortly after. When Sophie got to college she trained to be a navigator herself, but failed the first year. She changed her course to engineering and managed a reasonable pass.

Service Record: Sophie has served on the Evangeline for six months, completing two ‘collections’ from outlying colonies.

Origins: Born to a Polish mother and Nigerian father, Sophie is Jewish, but non-practicing.

Distinguishing features: Sophie has striking green eyes and dreadlocks.
Effects: Nose ring, tool belt, often found holding a wrench.
Languages: English, Russian.
Height: 5'8"