#hellcraft

Name: HellCraft Author: Lud Game: Doom 2 (doom2.wad) Source port: GZDoom Type: Gameplay mod (weapons + items + monsters replaced) Link: https://forum.zdoom.org/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=60092 Release date: April 3, 2018

Hello readers.

This week’s blog post will be a very short one, as I don’t have very much to say about this page. It seems to be that way for every splash page I post, which makes a lot of sense, considering these pages are all art and very little writing.

In this page, Hank enters the tomb. I don’t remember exactly what I put in the script for Greg to draw here, but it was something akin to ‘draw whatever you want’, and I was very happy with the results.

Greg captured the essence of the story with this page, as he manages to do with each cover. I find that surrendering control of the page to the artist produces incredible results. Though I suppose that would depend on the artist. I’m lucky to be working with Greg.

Hello readers.

I’m excited this to introduce you to Randolph Carter, one of my absolute favourite members of the Hellcraft cast. This character is meant to be a surrogate for HP Lovecraft, as the character named Randolph Carter often was in Lovecraft’s own fiction. This makes him a joy to write. I haven’t gotten into it just yet, but writing Lovecraft’s purple prose style into a character’s dialogue is a lot of fun. There may not be too much of that style in the next few pages, but further down the line I’ll lean into that much more heavily.

Lovecraft Easter Egg: 454 Angell Street is the house he was born in. 

This page was a huge pain in the ass to letter. I went through countless rewrites and script changes to get it just right, and I’m still not 100% happy with the way it turned out. I still think the dialogue between Hank & Betty feels clunky & unnatural, while the dialogue between Hank & Randolph feels compressed. But I did the best I could, and I can live with that.

I am happy with the balloons and tails on this page. It seems that I am still improving my lettering skills, which is a very good thing. I’m okay with not being a good letterer so long as I am consistently a better letterer than I have been.

Greg’s art definitely stands out on this page. He knocks it out of the park with the establishing shot of the house. I guess that’s why he’s consistently meeting his Kickstarter goals. That’s right, folks! Greg’s latest Kickstarter project, Bree Bubbles, has exceeded it’s $500 goal, with still 9 days left at the time of writing this. If you want to chip in some more money, maybe get yourself a copy, check this link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1413636382/bree-bubbles-comic-book-cleaning-up-crime-in-the-b?ref=email.

Next up in Hellcraft, a sequence of very exciting pages. I can’t wait to share them with you, they’re the highlight of our first story arc. You can go ahead and set your expectations high for the next 5 weeks as our story reaches its climax.

See you next week!

I don’t think she’s going to return it to its owner...

This is it, readers.

We’ve finally reached the end of the HELLCRAFT series as it exists today. It’s been an incredible journey to post it all online and write about it page-by-page, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for being a part of it.

If you, like me, can’t stand the thought of HELLCRAFT ending this way, I urge you to take a look at our Kickstarter and pledge any amount to help us reach our goal. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1026913243/hellcraft

Just like last week’s page, this one was very difficult to letter. I wrote too many words! And now that I’ve re-read it with fresh eyes, I have to admit that I am not happy at all with panel 2, where I placed Hank’s line, “please leave” much too high.

It was fun to write the miserable, depressed Hank of the final two pages. Being miserable is such an important part of my own personality that I found it easier to write Hank in this moment than when he is in Hero-mode.

One final shout-out to Greg, for sticking the landing perfectly. 10/10. The final panel has such an eerie-ness that was brought to the table completely by the art.

Thank you all again for reading, and take care.