#usaokay

This blog post quickly goes through how I make my comics. If you want something more detailed and longer (with a lot of fluff), see my other posts.

Idea!

Whenever I find myself being alone, I think about various kinds of stories relating to my current situation. For example, if I’m in a coffee shop, I think about the struggling job hunter who is trying to make ends meet to fulfill his real dream but has to work in Starbucks for now.

Your idea can come up from anywhere whether if it’s from that thing you saw on TV, your personal life experiences, or something stranger that suddenly dawned upon you.

Write it!

After I get the idea, I go straight to my laptop to type up a rough synopsis so I won’t forget it. Sometimes the idea is so good, it festers in my mind for a while until I get around to making it. At that point, it’s either I get disinterested or I want to continue making it.

I can’t really provide a worthwhile tip on writing other than, “Keep writing” because you’ll eventually learn from trial & error. I don’t think any of my writing is perfect, but I try to learn from mistakes and get better along the way.

Usually there will be times where in the middle of development, I’ll say to myself, “I don’t like this.” I think that’s a part of the creation process for anyone who makes stuff.

Garry’s Mod time!

Since I’m not the most expert artist, I use Garry’s Mod as a way to provide my stories. While it has limitations to what I wish to showcase, it helps to challenge my creativity by only utilizing the resources available.

Besides using the Garry’s Mod steam workshop to find new models, I also head over to GameBanana and other Source-supported map sites to see which area best fits the story and tone I’m trying to set for my comic.

Once I find the proper map, I go in and add in a ton of props in order to make the scenery more alive. If also necessary, I also add in background ragdolls or NPCs. 

Usually I don’t follow my script 1:1. Sometimes I want to change a bit of the dialogue or add in a couple extra scenes to fully flesh out the story or make things more entertaining. Most of the time, new ideas come up on the spot or when I take about 5-10 minutes jumping around the map thinking about what to do next.

Once I get the scene prepped, I begin posing the main character(s), which takes more time to do as I want to make them more expressive. Most of the time I pose their entire body even though the screenshot will only show half of them.

Before I take a screenshot, I type in the console (`):

“jpeg_quality 100″ and “poster #” (I recommend using ‘3′).

Photoshop mode activated!

After I get a good enough number of screenshots, I head into Photoshop CS# to begin the editing stage.

I’m not particularly too focused on trying to make every image really artistic compared to other people who has made their screenshots pretty and over-the-top. My focus is trying to tell an entertaining story with a good-looking layout for each page.

There isn’t a pre-planned layout, so I end up winging it. Yes, I know. Stupid. Sometimes the image doesn’t fit in the layout, so I have to end up recropping it or making the page a bit longer. 

In the end, if I think if it looks fine as-is, I let it sit in my hard drive for a bit until I think if it needs refixing. After which, once I fully complete the comic, I release it and hope for the best.

Like any artist crafting a story, any area can best convey the tone.

Filmmakers go out to different states or countries, comic book artists go around their hometown, and for my comics, I browse around community-made maps.

More often than not, these mappers have crafted some aesthetically pretty locales that are either based on the real world or fantastical. With the rise of game companies openly supporting these community-made content and the said popularity throughout its respective game communities, we’re starting to see the content become an official part of the game - with the content creators getting paid for their work.

Pictured is Heyo’s CP_Egypt in Team Fortress 2. I always wanted to use this setting a lot due to my fascination with the Egypt mythology when I was a kid, so having both a well-made and community map are pluses.

Finding that perfect map takes a lot of time and thought-process on how to make sure the scene you’re trying to convey fits best there. As I see a lot of Garry’s Mod screenshot creators now making terrific and totally awesome scenebuilds (example), I want to keep my work simple but sweet enough.

I typically want to choose community-made content, even some that aren’t made official yet, in my comics because I believe it not only helps to advertise these great mappers, but also to give them a second chance at exposing their works to the masses beyond just using it as a combat arena. It’s in the same vein as machinimas using community-made content too.

Most of the time, I do end up using Valve maps since I believe those better fit the range of my stories or that I generally get a good comic idea while playing on said maps. Other times, it’s that these maps are really popular with people, they know enough on its general layout. For example, if you see your hometown on TV, you know the street that the characters are at. As I shift my comic characters from one scene to the next, you may have a general idea where they’re moving.

Pictured is the second stage of CP_Egypt. If you have played on this map, you may know that this is nearby the first control point and you see a minimal progress from where the BLU/Attacker typically are to going past the point and into the second.

Of course the map is generally empty or doesn’t nearly have enough props scattered about. I end up including whatever prop is necessary for the story and make sure it’s in the shot to convey some sort of plot. Learning from Valve’s “show, don’t tell” rule, I usually put small stories nearby. For example, in the comic page above and in its third panel, you can see a box with beer cans and a lunch bag on top of it. It shows that guards usually eat on their route during their downtime.

I generally don’t like to leave an empty space in my screenshots, so I tend to fill it up with someone if necessary. Of course the focus is on the characters, which is why I tend to make them pop out more than the background. This is done through light, as I learned from Left 4 Dead’s gameplay mechanic of showing their characters in dark spaces.

Pictured below is the Bravo team being focused upon through light and major action while players in the background are standing around or walking. It helps to show that this movie theater gets a lot of attendees while the Bravo team are going to their showing.

Ideas don’t just randomly come out of nowhere. We get it from any kind of source we encountered in our lives. Whether if it’s an event like going to a concert or a personal relationship with your sibling, there’s always some form of story to be told.

For me, I fell in love with the idea of comics when I first picked up the newspaper to read the comic strips. Garfield, Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, and Foxtrot are the main sources of why I wanted to entertain people through webcomics.

I tried making my own comic similar to what kids Harold and George did in Captain Underpants. Using notebook paper, I drew up a comedic M&Ms comic where he later becomes a superhero. It was childish at best. When I lacked motivation to be an artist, I had no idea what to do. I stuck to entertaining my classmates, friends, and family - to everyone’s annoyance.

Discovering Half Life 2 and consequently, Garry’s Mod, through Filefront, I saw the “Picture of the Day” the site would host. Each POTD would have a comedic or a really interesting Garry’s Mod-made picture. I decided that’s what I want to do.

From there, I found Facepunch and later, PHW Comics. Both sites have a community centering around Garry’s Mod-made pictures, but also for machinimas and comics too. With my lack of self-confidence in my drawings, my thrive to entertain people, and a love for comics, I found a perfect place.

I looked up to all of these comic makers as: the story-tellers, the comedians, the authors, who all wanted to share the same goal like me. They wanted to tell a story, make people laugh, and share their craft with the world. These folks were my main proponent to entering the comic world, but as this was the internet and certain people have changed through having too much power, I was banned from both sites and left depressed.

Being 12-years-old at the time and publicly announced my age, not a lot of people has taken me seriously and ended up being toxic. Odd though. You would expect 20+ year olds to be a bit more mature and nicer, but I digress.

As a fan of Concerned and whatever machinima Rooster Teeth puts out, I decided to not let “them” win by going to do what I always wanted to do in the first place: Make comics.

Servers was born.

I followed Concerned’s layout format, but since I was newbish at Photoshop at the time, I didn’t know how to use borders. I did ask in the Concerned’s forums, but a mod locked it, calling me a “dumbass.”

Using ideas inspired by Rooster Teeth’s PANICS mini-series, I made the Bravo team and Frank. The next set of ideas was their occupation. Since I have heard about gaming tutors, I made the Bravos contain two people who act as instructors with Frank as the newbie. I’m not entirely sure why I stuck with three characters. Maybe it was easier to bounce their chemistry upon all three rather than having just focusing on two.

As Servers continued development, I realized the world needed to be bigger and so do the stakes. Mentioned before, the Game Helmet was inspired by a mix of the Virtual Boy and Kingdom Hearts’ multi-world settings. I want these guys to go all across to a wide variety of maps that the Source modding community creates.

With the cast being developed, I looked to Bravo 2 and Katie, who lacked character compared to the quip-machine and accident prone Frank.

Also mentioned before, I based Bravo 2 on myself and his background on certain parts of my past. That even includes the shake-up between me and the two Garry’s Mod communities I’ve been banned from.

Katie Izaki is based on a girl I have made a mistake with.

Since I cannot change the past, I have to seek to fix myself to save my own future. In some strange way, I felt better about writing these character backgrounds.

Servers is continued to be developed as new ideas come in and old ideas get a slight “update” as I encounter new things in my life.

There is a written ending and a character end goal that I think everyone, including those I have made mistakes with, may enjoy seeing.

During Servers’ development, I have gotten disinterested with the series’ long-running cycle. New parts wouldn’t come out for a year or so. I was sick of the comics.

Due to this, I wanted to do something different. Something new.

Enter Team Fortress 2 Originals.

Since I was a fan of TF2 at the time, I focused all of my attention at making an actual fancomic series. I paid attention to the TF2 lore and kept the plots simple enough for fans of the game.

The first main comic, Maggot, used the same plot from my favorite Spongebob Squarepants episode, Wormy. People loved it and I was motivated to continue making TF2 comics. I continued this trend by having a homage on my favorite comic strip of all time, Calvin & Hobbes.

Pyro & Hobbes was a huge success and may be the largest yet. People have come up to me in random places around the internet to ask if I was that “Pyro with the bear” guy. I never expected this to be my most successful project, but their loves for the duo made me pursue them as the “poster children” for the TF2O series.

Next up was their multi-dimensional adventure. Quest for Candy was a strange shift that deviates strongly from the TF2 lore, but more so it was a reused idea from a non-canon Servers Halloween comic. And the idea for that comic came from a desire to make Servers crossover with other Garry’s Mod comic series at the time. Quest for Candy is meant to be for fans of video games. This was also a success.

Eventually the need for Pyro & Bear and my TF2O comics waned. I became less motivated as people have gotten more insulting and even outright want me to quit posting my work. I won’t stop just yet, but I do admit that these type of people are really demotivating to pursue on a usual rate. This was the case when Fairly Bonking Road Trip came out. As I based it on my two older brothers and myself, I expected this to be another hit, but it wasn’t the case.

Basically, the point what I’ve been trying to make in this story is that you may get ideas from literally anywhere. It may just randomly come up to you, but I consider that to derive from your subconscious remembering something.

People stick to what’s familiar.

That’s what I learned when I saw that my first Team Fortress 2 comic, Speech Problems, was met with positive reception and garnered more reaction than any of my original stories for Servers. It makes sense since established properties already have its own fanbase while it’s difficult to raise through my own series.

While it’s a struggle to keep up with the continuing adventures of the Bravo team in both story and wait, having a self-contained comic with its own pre-established cast of characters was a slightly less challenging for the audience and I. The target audience are those who already know the characters and world.

In that when I approached making these fanfics, I stick very close to the source material without devolving into coming up with these larger ideas for the characters and world everyone know and love.

To use TraceCast as an example, I don’t want to go out of my way to further establish Tracer’s past by showcasing any personal background. Thus I have to keep the plot both self-contained and simple by having her on a usual mission for Overwatch. This simplicity allows for a wide approach to the Overwatch fanbase and anyone else who would want to know what type of person Tracer is.

Sometimes I DO go out of my way to escalate personal backgrounds, like the Pyro getting a bear or the Scout having a sister. Despite that I may alienate some readers, the introduction to such new characters would be a monumental challenge if a lot of other people aren’t doing this already.

If you look up fanart of the Female Scout, you’ll find photos of her being the Scout’s girlfriend or sister.

For me, the initial focus was to keep the characters intact while also having the secondary new cast provide some support to the madness of the Team Fortress 2 world.

While I do enjoy creating these comics and seeing the support audiences provide, I also can’t feel but have to adhere to constraints. Hence, why Servers is continually being developed despite that it isn’t as popular in comparison. I believe providing diversity in my creativity can help me in the long run. Being constrained to a pre-established world and another world that is evolving everyday have shown a set of its own challenges, which the solutions have been utilized back and forth between the different comics.

As long as there is an audience for these fanfic comics and the reception is highly positive and motivating, then I’ll continue to make these.