Indie Sketch Pad is a new creative initiative from Dixie Ann Archer-McBain and I. It’s going to be a bi-weekly video blog that deals with all the topics that are dear to us. From art to anime. 80s toons to tutorials. We’ll be covering it all.

Subscribers will have the opportunity to come alongside us as we work on our current project the Celflux Animated Short. We’ll also be giving away free commissions.

Subscribe today and also follow the Indie Sketch Pad page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndieSketchPad/

Learn more about the Celflux Animated Short. http://bit.ly/celfluxfilm

If you would like to support us you can do so on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/gemgfx

Thanks to The Passion HiFi for the music in our promo. Check him out at https://soundcloud.com/freehiphopbeatsforyou

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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The Early Days

I first started sitting in front of the television as early as the age of five. Jonny Quest (1964 ), Birdman (1967), The Herculoids (1968), Space Ghost (1968) and, Thundarr The Barbarian (1980) were some of my early introductions to cartoons. I fell in love with animation immediately. I loved seeing these characters with superpowers in action and I remember thinking to myself, even way back then, “Boy I wish I could do that someday.”

During the 80s I was introduced to a lot of great animated sci-fi and fantasy movie classics. Watership Down (1978), Heavy Metal (1981), The Secret of Nimh (1982), Rock and Rule (1983), Fire and Ice (1983), Starchaser The Legend of Orin (1985), Transformers The Movie (1986), Gi Joe The Movie (1987), Gandahar (1988) and, Brave Starr The Movie (1988). This is just a small list and I haven’t even touched on the Japanese animation that I discovered in the 80s and 90s. I singled these out because they had the greatest effect on me at the time. So my hope was that one day, maybe, I would be able to animate something.

Just a few of the classic sci-fi and fantasy animated movies that I came across in the 1980s.

The First Celflux Trailer

When Dixie Ann and I decided to create Celflux I wanted to create a trailer to help promote the book. The first one that I did was similar to a motion comic. Have a look at it here.

It was cool and got the job done. I simply used the images from the comic itself and put them in the video. At the end of the trailer, I did my first animated footage and it was of Samantha doing a flyby. I realised then that the next trailer that I did had to have more than just the motion comic.

When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen.

I started this post talking about Thundercats. The reality is I’ve always loved 80s cartoon intros. Bionic Six, Thundercats, Silver Hawks, Visionaries, you name it. I loved the action and energy demonstrated during those intros. Have a look at this Visionaries Knights of the Magical Light intro.

So I wanted to do a trailer for Celflux with an 80s cartoon tribute feel to it. I didn’t have the skill or know-how though, so I decided to approach some animation studios to get some quotations. I got quotations of $20K and 30K for a 30-second intro. Astronomical and rightly so. Make no mistake animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. So I couldn’t be angry with anyone who charges those prices for their animation work. It is well deserved. I, however, did not have that kind of money. So what was I to do? I thought to myself “Perhaps crowdfunding?”. Crowdfunding is a strange creature and is not for everyone. Many people see the success of certain crowdfunding campaigns and think that it’s easy to do. We have a saying in Trinidad. “Gopaul luck, ain’t Seepaul luck.’ It means what one person will get away with, another person will not be so lucky. Therefore, we decided against that. So we didn’t have the money and couldn’t raise it. Most folks would give up on the idea at this point. But my fellow indie creators can bear witness that we don’t give up that easily. When you have a burning desire to create, you find a way to make it happen. I thought about that little boy sitting in front of the television all those years ago hoping that he would someday animate something and realised, that little boy’s time had come. I was going to teach myself how to animate, and I was going to attempt to animate the 30-second trailer myself.

Is it Possible To Animate Alone?

This is a question I had to ask myself. As I said earlier, animation is a very difficult, tedious and technical process. Hence the reason there are usually teams of people working on any given animated project. So I had to find out if it was possible for one person to do it all by themselves. I was happy to discover that the answer was a resounding YES! I found that there are hundreds of talented animators out there creating masterpieces all by themselves. The advances in technology and the availability of software has made high-quality animation possible for the single creator. There are several case studies, but the one that stands out to me was the story of Makoto Shinkai.

Makoto Shinkai left his job to work on the animated short Voices of A Distant Star

Makoto Shinkai born as Makoto Niitsu, is a Japanese director, writer, producer, animator, editor, cinematographer, voice actor, manga artist and former graphic designer. The story is told that in May 2001, Makoto quit his job at a video game company and began to work on a film called Voices of a Distant Star. As he would later say in an interview, the 20-minute film took about seven months of “real work”. The film went on to be critically acclaimed and is talked about even to this day. The work on Voices is fantastic and one is hard-pressed to believe it was all done by one person. But it was. So it was possible. I decided then to apply myself. Look at tutorials on YouTube. Learn about the animation process, frame rates, cinematography, lighting, film editing and so on. It was a learning process but I put my best foot forward. The result was the first Celflux Animated Trailer. It had a lot of room for improvement, but I was happy with it. So we put it online and set it loose. It racked up about 14K views (on Facebook) in a relatively short period of time. By no means viral, but it encouraged us that we did something worth watching.

The Celflux Animated Short.

Many folks saw the first Celflux trailer and gave us some great feedback. One of the individuals was Ms Camille Selvon Abrahams. She is the owner of Full Circle Animation Studios and the head organiser of an event called Animae Caribe that takes place annually here in Trinidad and Tobago. She saw the trailer online and extended an invitation to us to be guests at Animae Caribe. We’re eternally grateful to her for this because she gave us an opportunity to introduce Celflux to a local audience. The response to Celflux was fantastic. Our books and t-shirts sold out and everyone has some really encouraging words for us about our animated trailer. Because of the positive response to the first trailer at Animae Caribe and online, I asked Dixie Ann if she thought we should try to do an animated short film. Dixie Ann is always encouraging and convinced me that I could do it. So I again decided to do more research into the process of creating an animated short. This was going to be more involved than the first trailer. This was going to have a story, and actors, and lots of other cool stuff. So I got to work on the planning. The first thing I did was write a script. I had to learn how to do this as well. Scriptwriting is a skill. Much respect to those who do it for a living. With a few drafts and much trial and error, I was able to complete a stand-alone story featuring the characters of Celflux. The second thing I needed was voice actors. I found the Voice Acting Club and I put out a call for people willing to collaborate on the Celflux Animated Short project. To our surprise, we got quite a few responses from folks wanting to be a part of it. All of them very talented. We eventually settled on a group that we believe are not only the most talented, but the most decent, helpful and genuine individuals you would ever hope to meet. We are lucky to have them on board.

Demetria Bridges – Okira, Kate Sample – Samantha, Matthew Curtis – High Councillor, Sarah Brown – Genocyde, Tony Black – Raymond, Manuel Benavidez -Ahoteh, Chasity Conner – Shandrita, Tracy Pfau – Sarah, Hector Chavez – Indigo, William Harmar – Stephen, Stephen Jared – Aditional voices, George Sharperson – Aditional voices.

Gwenaël Mario Grisi the talented musician from Brussels came on board to create an original musical score for Celflux.

We want to thank Kate Sample as she was the one who brought on board Demetria Bridges who is the voice of our leading lady Okira. We also want to say thanks to Matthew Curtis as he was the one who brought on board Gwenaël Mario Grisi who would become our talented musical composer. We also want to thank Tracy Pfau who was responsible for bringing on board her husband Stephen Jared and her good friend George Sharperson. I sent them the script, and they all recorded their lines and sent them back to me. We were going to do this. For no other reason than it’s something, we wanted to do. I then had everything I needed to begin working on the next thing. A trailer.

The Celflux Secret Weapon Trailer

Like the first trailer, I had new things to learn. I needed to learn sound editing. How to match up the sound effects with the action. How to synchronise the character’s mouth movements with the voices and so on. So once again there was a learning curve. But I was following in the footsteps of all the other talented independent animators that had gone before me so it could be done. After about 5 months of work, I was able to complete and release the first trailer for the Celflux Animated Short. Have a look at the trailer here:

In April of this year, after some encouragement from one of the voice actors Tony Black, we submitted a proposal to CreativeTT. There was an open call for individual filmmakers to receive grants for film projects. The Trinidad and Tobago Creative Industries Company Limited (CreativeTT) is a wholly-owned State enterprise established by The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago through the Ministry of Trade and Industry. CreativeTT’s mandate is to stimulate and facilitate the business development and export activities of the Creative Industries in Trinidad and Tobago to generate national wealth and, as such, the company is responsible for the strategic and business development of the three (3) niche areas and subsectors under its purview- Music, Film, Fashion. In May, we received an email from CreativeTT that told us the Celflux project was selected to receive a grant for Marketing and Distribution. We can’t really talk about our plans yet, but suffice to say we are seeking to take Celflux to the next level. You can find the official announcement by CreativeTT here.

Conclusion

So that’s the story of how the Celflux Animated Short came to be. We began working on Celflux the graphic novel in 2013, and had no idea where it would take us. Now four years later, we’re working on an animated short with a great group of voice actors and a state investor behind us. If you had told us that in 2013, we would never have believed you. I’d like to encourage my fellow independent creators out there to live that independent spirit. Follow your creative heart and do what is necessary to bring your creations into reality. Don’t let the pursuit of fame or money cloud your vision. Don’t let anything hinder your creativity. In the immortal words of Shia LaBeouf “Just do it!” You never know where your journey will take you.

Till next time. All the best.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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Our recently released animated trailer has risen to 13K views on Facebook. This is more than I ever thought possible when I was making it. Because of that response and some really positive feedback from our fans, we have decided to embark upon an even more ambitious journey. We’ll be making a Celflux animated short film.

UPDATE: Celflux Animated Short First Trailer Completed.

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I’m a child of the 80s and my early Saturday morning cartoon addiction was the inspiration for me spending nine months creating the Celflux animated trailer. You can have a look at the trailer:

Or check the 13k views on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2fbd82D

I had to learn most of it from scratch and there was a learning curve. Through it all, I’ve learned a lot and we received som really good feedback. So Dixie Ann and I were talking about the possibility of us doing an animated short. Was it possible? Could I do it? It would be a lot of work. But I thought to myself it wasn’t necessarily about my ability but more about “What have I got to loose?” So as is our custom we began to do our research. We also had to decide if we were going to do a short with voices for the characters. I did everything for the trailer. But I couldn’t do voices. We decided that we had to have voices. But who would want to be a part of this little project? So we took a leap of faith and sent out requests. To our surprise, we were inundated with auditions of extremely talented individuals who wanted to portray the characters of Celflux. So much so, that it was really difficult to choose the voices because of so much talent.

What helped us decide was not how well someone could deliver a line, because as we said all the auditions were awesome. No, the deciding factor was if the individual could capture the spirit that we had in mind for the character. This was really important to us because the voices had to be believable. So today we are happy to introduce you to the talented voice artists who will be lending their awesome talent to bring the characters of Celflux to life. We want to say a huge thank you to each and every one of these individuals who not only have committed their time to help us, but they have really expressed a confidence in the project that really encouraged us. We encourage everyone to show these guys all the love and support possible.

Demetria Bridges – Okira: Her tagline is “The voice with the velvet touch.” Believe me, when I tell you, that’s a perfect description. Demetria has accepted the awesome task of being the voice of our leading lady Okira. She is an extremely talented and experienced voice actor with a long and impressive resume. She is also a fan of 80s cartoons. We are very lucky to have her as part of this project. You can find out more about her work and connect with her via her
Website: www.demetriabridges.com
LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/in/demetriabridges

Kate Sample – Samantha: You would remember Kate as the voice at the beginning of the trailer. She did a really good job for us and was excited to learn that we wanted to do a short. She is also highly talented and a really cool individual. It means a lot to us to have her on board. Visit her links to show her some love and support.
Website: www.BostonBritVoice.com
Voices 123: http://voice123.com/katesample
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kate-Sample-BostonBrit-Voice-1488146798064029/

Matt Curtis – High Councilor: When we heard Matt’s audition for the High Councilor, we were immediately sold. The guy is a vocal wizard. If someone can make you see facial expressions by just hearing their voice, that person is talented. He also has a long and impressive resume and a lot of experience doing character voices. To have him as part of the Cleflux project is invaluable. You can connect with him at these links:
Website: www.MicTheMatt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MictheMatt/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MictheMatt

Manuel Benavidez – Ahoteh: Manuel describes himself as a newbie to voice acting. Well, we couldn’t tell. Because his audition was exactly what we had in mind for Ahoteh. Ahoteh is one of the main characters of Celflux and we needed someone to properly deliever him. The intensity and spirit were perfect so we immediately let him know that. He’s also shown us a great deal of encouragement and is really excited about the project. We are excited to have him as well. You can reach out to him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/manuel.benavidez.9

Tony Black – Raymond: We’ve always pictured Raymond played by Michael Jai White in a live action version of Celflux. So for the animation, we said we wanted a voice “similar” to Michael Jai White. When Tony sent his audition, we thought the real Michael Jai White was auditioning for the part. The guy did a perfect impression. We are really lucky to have this guy as part of the project. We have no doubt that Raymond will become one of the most memorable characters of Celflux because of Tony’s portrayal. You can check out his many other impressions and extensive demo talent via his Soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/user-69124635

Chasity Conner – Shandrita: How can you demonstrate an introverted person using a voice? That’s what we had in mind as Shandrita’s personality. Chasity was able to capture that. She has extensive experience doing voices for anime and said Celflux was a project she really liked the first time she saw it. She, like the other voice actors, is very talented. We are really blessed to have her on board. You can check out her work via her Social Links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeeCeeVA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ceeceeva/
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ceeceeva
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CeeCeeVA

William Harmar – Stephen: William has a strong English narrator’s voice. His YouTube channel has some really powerful readings of short stories that reminded us of those radio dramas that we used to listen to long ago. The guy is a vocal performer. To play Stephen would be a walk in the park for him, in our opinion. He sounds like he belongs on Broadway. The guy is that good. His audition for Stephen sold us immediately. We still can’t believe he is on board. You can check him out on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/GentlemanWalrus

Hector Chavez – Indigo: Versatile. That’s the word that comes to mind in listening to the work done by Hector. We needed a crazy, unhinged portrayal for Indigo. We wanted it believable. Hector delivered it spot on. His YouTube channel shows his wide range of work. His talent speaks for itself and we really appreciate the fact that he is part of this project. Follow him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HectorChavezVO
Or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdmAyESqajZTY37-sRFXB6Q

Sarah Brown – Genocyde: The interesting thing about Sarah’s audition, is we weren’t sold at her portrayal of Gencyde, but on her introduction of the audition. She started out by saying. “Hello my name is Sarah Brown and I’ll be auditioning for the role of Genocyde”. The way she spoke saying that, sounded like Genocyde to us and it was enough for us. But even more than that, she captured Genocyde’s rage perfectly. In our minds, we saw Genocyde’s rant while we listened to her voice. It was perfect. As with the other talents, we cannot believe how lucky we are to have her as part of the project. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Synaes

Tracy Pfau – Sarah: So we’ve saved Tracy for last. But believe me when I tell you she is by no means the least. Tracy is not just a voice actor, but an accomplished movie and TV actor. As her IMDB page will tell you, (yeah, she has an IMDB page) she’s had roles in Touched by an Angel, Vampire Diaries, Chuck, Married with Children and Dragnet to name a few. To say her resume is extensive is a drastic understatement. She is an excellent actor. We still are in disbelief that she sent us an audition and wanted to be a part of the project. You can check out her work at her website http://www.tracypfau.com/ and on IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0679336/

So here you have it. The amazing voice cast of our Celflux animated short film. It will be titled “The Secret Weapon”. So here’s the thing. With this level of talent being on board, I’m challenged to bring my work up to the level that will be worthy of this kind of talent. As with the trailer, I’ll be doing everything myself. Yes, all of it. I have my work cut out for me. But I’m excited about it because not only is the team talented, they seem to really believe in Celflux and that’s a huge, huge encouragement to me.

We won’t be doing any form of crowdfunding for the Celflux Animated Short. The only support we’re asking of our fans, is to help us spread the word. Share the news with your friends using the hashtag #CelfluxFilm. So stay tuned for updates as we begin this journey, and we look forward to creating something we hope fans can watch and enjoy.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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(from Wikipedia)
“Strikeforce: Morituri is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1986 to 1989. The series was created by writer Peter B. Gillis and artist Brent Anderson.

The premise is that aliens have invaded Earth and nearly succeeded in conquering it and stripping it of its resources. A scientist discovers a process which can provide humans with superhuman powers, effectively creating a group of defending superheroes. However, the process would also ensure that the empowered humans would die within a year of being empowered. The series thus focused on the heroism of the main characters in fighting the invaders, while living with the knowledge that their fates were sealed regardless of whether or not they prevailed.

The title comes from the Latin phrase “Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant” (“Hail Caesar, we who are about to die salute you”), a salute that according to popular legend (although not academically agreed) was uttered by Roman gladiators before battle in the arena. The subtitle of the comic was “We who are about to die”.

Gillis and Anderson left the series within two years. The series ended after thirty-one issues, while under the tenure of writer James Hudnall and artist Mark Bagley.

In 2069, an alien race called “the Horde” arrived in Earth’s solar system (it was later revealed that the actual name of the race was the ‘Va-Shaak’). Although they were technologically advanced far beyond humanity at that time, they were extremely savage.

Humankind’s best hope was discovered in 2072, when Dr. Kimmo Tuolema perfected the Morituri Process. This was a two-step process that allowed people with a specific type of genetic structure to have a new metabolism overlaid on top of their original one, granting them enhanced physical attributes. The second phase of the process would allow for unique superhuman powers. However, there were three mitigating factors inherent in the use of the Morituri Process:

The process was compatible with very few persons; the estimate was that fewer than 5% of all humans had a compatible physiology for metahuman conversion through the Morituri Process.
The optimal age for subjects for the Morituri Process was between 18 and 21; older subjects who underwent the process would suffer a significantly reduced lifespan than expected from optimal subjects (measurable in weeks).
The nature of the energy-based metabolism was such that, within one standard year, the human body would reject it. The rejection of the Morituri metabolism by the human body is 100% fatal. In most cases, the subject’s imminent death was indicated by massive upsurges in the subject’s power and ability levels.”

This is the poster I saw that introduced me to Strikeforce Morituri. I was hooked from that day forward.

As in the case of Thundercats I remember seeing a poster in the back of a comic book I was reading. I don’t even remember what book it was, but I remember the poster. To the top read. “The Ultimate Power, The Ultimate Honour, The Ultimate Sacrifice.” It featured six figures obviously in a battle and to the bottom just above the logo read the words. “We who are about to die.” “Wow…. What on earth is this all about?” I thought to myself. Surprisingly I forgot about it until one day I was visiting my comic book store and I saw the cover to issue No.5 and I recognized the logo and the tagline. I told the store owner. I want this, and tell me where I can find the earlier issues.

This was the cover I saw in the comic book store. I remembered the poster I had seen some time before, and I told the comic book store owner “I want this!”

There have been books about teams before that I had read. Books about teams with special abilities that had difficulties. X-men and so on. But Strikeforce Morituri was different. Here were a group of heroes who, because the humanity was under threat, volunteered to undergo a process that they knew was going to kill them. But it was the earth’s only hope, humanity’s only light. This concept blew my mind. The book taught me that victory does not come without great sacrifice, and that in many cases the sacrifice itself is the victory because the sacrifice, though made, does not guarantee the victory. This book taught me that the real hero is not the one with the super powers, but the one who is willing to make that sacrifice. That ultimate, selfless sacrifice. The one who is willing to give up everything for nothing in return. The book showed individuals with super human abilities, but with very human personalities and emotions. Even though everyone knew their death was sure because they underwent the process, I saw heroes cry when they lost a friend and afraid when they thought about their own mortality. I saw heroes in conflict with authority that saw them as expendable. I saw heroes who showed great bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. I saw heroes demonstrate unbelievable grit even though they faced an overwhelming enemy.

Strikeforce Morituri was to me one of the greatest comics ever created. It still remains my favourite book ever, hands down.

I understand that Marvel has plans to make a live action movie in the next couple years. I hope they stick close to the original material, and even if they don’t I am glad that this book was created and I had the opportunity to read it.

So that’s it for our little trip down memory lane and the look at some of the things that inspired me as a young boy. What were your early inspirations? Look back and find what they were, and I guarantee you they will inspire you even today. I enjoyed taking this look back with you.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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(from Wikipedia)
“Justice (John Roger Tensen) is a character from the New Universe imprint of Marvel Comics, the protagonist of a 32-issue comic book series of the same name published from 1986 to 1989. Most of its run was written by Peter David and penciled by Lee Weeks, though it also featured rare 1980s Marvel work from Keith Giffen. David later reintroduced Justice as a supporting character in Spider-Man 2099, a series with a very different setting. This version of the character, also known as the Net Prophet, was older and had different powers.

This is the artwork for Issue No.1 of Justice. This image grabbed my eye on the comic book rack, and it was love at first sight.

In 2007, the New Universe concepts were also revived, in a modified form, as a single-title ongoing series, newuniversal. A new version of John Tensen is one of the main characters featured in that series and two other characters with ‘Justice’ powers have also appeared.

Justice was a middle-aged DEA agent named John Tensen, whose wife was killed by vengeful members of organized crime. He was undercover at the time of the “White Event,” investigating Daedalus Darquill and his son Damon Conquest, who were running drugs out of their front company, Conquest Dynamics. He begins experiencing headaches as his psionic powers manifest. Eventually his cover is blown, and Darquill uses his own newfound parability to remake himself, Tensen, and the others around him into characters from a fantasy dimension, the “Far Place.” Tensen’s new identity is that of a law-enforcing knight called a “Justice Warrior”, who was having an illicit affair with Queen Endolana of the Land of Spring when he was exiled to Earth.”

The character in Justice had a very black and white sense of morality. He had the ability to read people’s auras and determine weather they were good or evil. He also executed “justice” with the power of a energy blast that came from his right hand which he called his sword. He also created a protective force field out of his left had that he called his sword. What made this book so interesting to me, was that even though the character had a very straight forward view of right and wrong and for him everything was black and white, the book was by no means straight forward. It had a lot of unexpected twists and was written in such a way that you almost did not know which world you were in at any given point in time. If it was the real world, or Tensen’s home world. You also did not know if his home world was actually real, or just something in his mind. Seriously, the book had you guessing.

This book introduced me to complexed characters. The world was shady. There were drug dealers, crime lords, and decadent lifestyles. It taught me that characters could be deep. It just wasn’t about super powers and fantastic abilities. It wasn’t about coming up with the cool looking costume. It was about characters experiencing turmoil and anguish. Having to make tough choices and experiencing great loss. It showed me that characters could reflect the human struggle. These types of characters people could identify with because they were real. Not real as in actually existing, but real as in believable. Marvel was making a push in these days to make more realistic characters and this book was a product of that.

I learned that characters had to be believable. That broken characters were more interesting. Someone could identify or sympathise with a broken character rather than one who seemed perfect. This would later influence my character creation.

Here’s a review of Justice by edward2962

Do you remember this comic at all, and did you read it back when it came out? What has influenced your character creation? Till next time.

Cheers.

Everard J. McBain Jr.

Everard is the Creative Director and CEO of GemGfx. GemGfx is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Trinidad and Tobago. He has been involved in the field of Graphic Design for over 14 years. He is also the art director and co-author of the graphic novel Celflux which he created along with his wife Dixie Ann Archer-McBain.

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