Year 2 Summer project

I decided to write the poster about a topic I’ve been interested in for a while and that would help me with my major project as well. I wanted to research how to create a graphic novel, because even though I have been reading comics and graphic novels for a while I’ve never thought about how to create one. 

Since this is an option for the major project this year and I wanted to enhance my drawing skills, I decided to go for it and try to create my own graphic novel. 

When i got the idea for it i jumped straight for designs and started on some panels, even though i didn’t have a fully thought out storyline or any thumbnails. After i did my research, I realised that i need to take a step back and it really helped show me where to start.

To understand the layout of graphic novels i chose a few ones to dive into.

The first one is the sad ghost club. This story is about a person who feels like they are all alone and suffer from severe anxiety. They go to a party and find someone like them and they connect. 

This story talked about depression and anxiety in a way that made the characters extremely relatable and they showed fears that most people will have experienced in their lives.

Not only was the story amazing but the art was simple yet gorgeous. It was all in grey tones and when negative emotions where shown the panels darkened and made me understand how the character felt.

After doing my research for the poster i was hoping i could understand the theoretical things about graphic novels more and reading this made me notice what was impacting my mood and the speed i was reading at and even how much i looked at different panels.

The layout was quite simple, being six square panels on a page, but most of the time one or more panels were larger and made me stop to look at the environment or text. The bigger panels where used to express the feelings of loneliness or to enhance the characters feelings telling their stories. 

At one point the main character SG was talking about the future and started panicking. This was shown by a darker Background and the focus shifted from SG and socks sitting on the bench to being only SG surrounded by darkness.

It used to be called multiple personality disorder.

The patient may feel uncertain about their identity and they feel the presence of their other identities.

Each identity will have their own, names, voices, personal histories and mannerisms.

Dissociative amnesia causes periods when they cannot remember information about themselves or past events in their lives. They may even forget a learned skill or talent.

The gaps in their memory are more severe than normal forgetfulness and can cause them to find themselves in strange places without knowing how they got there.

It is possible to have depersonalisation or derealisation or even both and can last a few moments or come and go over many years.

Dissociative disorders are a range of conditions that cause physical and psychological disorders, some are shortlived, following traumatic events and resolve on their own, others last longer.

Symptoms may include:

feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you

forgetting about certain time periods, events and personal information

feeling uncertain about who you are

having multiple distinct identities

feeling little or no physical pain

Dissociation is a way for the mind to cope with too much stress, can last either for a relatively short time (hours or days) or for much longer (weeks or months) and can be caused by a traumatic event during childhood.

The types are:

Depersonalisation-derealisation disorder

Dissociative amnesia

Dissociative identity disorder

Many conditions can be associated with dissociative disorders, such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, self-harm, OCD and eating disorders.

This series will be a detective show based in the 1950′s. The main character is one of the best detectives in the city, who rose to fame by solving a massive murder case. This case was about a serial killer, who terrorised the entire city, brutally killing young women in a brutal and bloody way, including the main characters niece. Once MC figured out who it was, the police cornered the murderer and he died by cop. 

New cases arose every week, each one resembling the other case, but the victim pool had changed. Every gender and age was affected by this and that’s when the police knew they had a copy cat on their hands. 

Since MC was the hero of the city and solved the last case, they put him in charge of the investigation. 

The series follows him going through the crime scenes, gathering evidence and overall investigating crime, but each episode something weirder happens. It follows the detective through these crimes and shows him slowly going insane. It starts out with him waking up with blood on his hands, and ends with him being the serial killer he has been searching for. 

My third idea is also a graphic novel. With this one I want to go the traditional way and create my own superhuman.

The main character starts off as a normal human. She is a singer who struggles to get famous. One day whilst she sings in a bar a woman comes into the bar and starts filming her, it turns out she is the daughter of a big time producer and was helping him look for new talent. She sends the video to her father and approaches MC after her set with an offer. MC accepts the offer and drives home. On the drive she calls her mother and starts telling her about the exciting offer. Next thing she knows she's in hospital.

Turns out she was hit by a truck full of toxic materials. Luckily she managed to escape the accident with only a few injuries. Once released she heads home and calls the producers daughter saying what has happened. She asks her to come in to perform live for her father, so MC realises she has to practice to make sure she hasn't damaged her voice in the accident. She starts singing and glass explodes around her. She tries again in a lower octave and the floor starts trembling. She believes its an earthquake and stops trying to hide under her table, but it instantly stops. She starts realising it's her voice and tries singing over and over again, things breaking around her.

She starts freaking out and doesn't know what to do. She tells the producers daughter that she won't make it and then starts falling into a big depressive episode because she has realised her dreams are crushed.

The producers daughter comes by to check why MC hasn't rescheduled and finds the mess created. MC decides to tell her what happened, producers daughter doesn't believe her at first until MC shows her.

PD (producers daughter) starts rambling about having heard of a superhero who used sound waves to save people years ago, and says MC can be a superhero.

Comic strips have been around for thousands of years, but didn't gain popularity until the 20th century.

According to Britannica, the first graphic novel wasn't published until 1978 in the US, being "A contract with god and other tenement stories" by Will Eisner. It is considered as such, due to the use of the term graphic novel when describing it. But contrary to that belief, the term has actually been used since December 1971.

The boom of the graphic novel movement started thanks to three graphic novels: "The dark Knight returns" by Frank Miller (1986), "Watchmen" by Alan Moore (1986-87) and "Maus" by Art Spiegelman (1986-87). They brought formal control, as well as artistic innovation and literary quality. The new graphics shown in the, seemed unique and distinct from the mainstream comics.

Many people think graphic novels and comic books are the same, and they're not quite wrong. They are both very similar but have a few distinguishing elements.

They both have a similar writing process, format and they use pictures to narrate a story. They both contain complex characters with detailed backstories and inner conflict, but that already where the similarities end.

Comic books are excerpts of serialised narratives that are published regularly, making them sometimes difficult to read if you haven't read the previous ones. They are often published weekly or monthly.

Whereas graphic novels are book length stories, containing complete narratives, whether or not they are part of a larger series. They cover a wide array of genres and subject matters.

Comic books may as well, but the subjects are often associated with or explained through the lens of superheroes or heightened realities.

Orcs are seen as chaotic evil, wanting to destroy elves, humans and dwarves. They are savage, fearless, hate civilised races and their need to satisfy the demands of deities. They believe fighting well brings glory to their tribe.

They have a powerful build, standing at over 6 ft tall and weighing between 230 to 280 pounds. They have stooped postures piggish faces and prominent teeth, that resemble tusks.

These savage humanoids are very aggressive and have vision in dim lighting. They are able to speak common and orc.

Dwarves are skilled warriors, miners, workers of stone and metal with a burning hatred towards goblins and orcs. They are described as broad and compact and have a lot courage and endurance. They respect their traditions deeply, including their devotion to the gods of dwarves, who uphold their ideals of industrious labour, skill in battle and devotion to the forge. They are determined, loyal, true to their word, decisive, stubborn and have a strong sense of justice.

Dwarves are typically under 5 feet tall and weigh approximately 150 pounds. Their skin tone ranges from deep brown to a paler hue tinged with red, but the most common is light brown or deep tan. Their hair is worn long, in simple styles and the men value their beards, grooming them well. They can live more than 400 years and have their kingdoms that stretch beneath mountains, that are open to trustworthy members of other races.

Even though they love precious metals, jewellery ad sharing their craft, they strongly dislike boats and get humans and halflings to trade their goods along water routes. They are often driven to adventuring for treasures or inspiration of a deity and whilst on their travels they always cherish their clan identities and affiliations.

They can see in dark and dim conditions and have resistance to poison. They usually use battleaxes, handaxes, lighthammers and war hammers. On top of common, they are also able to speak dwarvish.

There are two types of dwarves:

Hill Dwarf: They have keen senses, a deep intuition and remarkable resiliance.

Humans are the youngest amongst the common races and due to their short lifespans compared to others. They strive to achieve as much as they can, wanting to leave a lasting legacy, preserve traditions that are remembered far beyond the reach of a single human memory, making them live in the present but plan for the future.

They are more physically divers ranging between 5 and over 6 feet, 125 to 250 pounds and having a wide range of skin tones, hair colours and eye colours. Most humans have a dash of non-human blood, like hints of elf, orc, etc. Their tastes, morals and customs depend on the different lands where they've settled.

Not only are they the most physically divers race, but also the most adaptable and ambitious, making them adaptable opportunists, innovators, achievers and pioneers. Their societies are very inclusive and humans speak common and one language of their choosing.

There are 9 different types of humans, a few being:

Calishite: They are shorter, have a slighter build and dusky brown skin, hair and eyes.

Chondathan: They are slender, tall and tawny-skinned. They have brown hair, that ranges from almost blonde to almost black, and green or brown eyes.

Illuskan: They are tall and fair skinned, have a range of hair colour, mostly raven-black or blonde, red or light brown, and have blue or steely grey eyes.

For this research I've added the class to the race, due to it being a typical combination and it being the type of goliath that I was planning on having in the series.

Goliath barbarians place a lot of importance on self-sufficiency and individual skill. They have a compulsion to keep scores of their deeds and accomplishments and are constantly driven to improve their past efforts, using a defeat as a push to improve their skills. Most die of attempting to surpass their past accomplishments, hardly ever reaching old age.

Goliaths don't mind relying on magic, but tend to be wary, since it can be a recipe for disaster in the mountains. They also mock societal structures and rules and expel any adult who cannot contribute to their tribe. To them civilisation is a sign of weakness, instead they thrive in the wild

Their lifespan is comparable to humans, but are much taller, reaching 7 to 8 feet and tend to weigh 280 to 340 pounds. They are natural athletes, resistant to cold damage and speak common and giant. They have a powerful build, giving them the ability to occasionally shrug off any injury. Due to living in the mountains they are acclimated to high altitudes.

Barbarians are uncommon and skilled fighters, having rage that gives them superhuman strength and resilience. They are only able to draw from their rage reservoir a few times without rest, but it is usually sufficient to defeat threats. They have courage in the face of danger and because of these abilities they are the protectors of people. They easily form bonds with members of their adventuring parties.

Most halflings have a common goal: to find a place to settle in peace far from any danger.

They tend to live in remote agricultural communities or form nomadic bands and travel constantly. They are able to avoid larger creatures by going unnoticed and avoiding any offenses.

Halflings are about 3 feet tall, weigh between 40 and 45 pounds and appear harmless. Their skin tone ranges from tan to pale and they have either brown or sandy brown hair, that tends to be wavy, and often have brown or hazel eyes. Halfling men usually have long sideburns but other facial hair, like moustaches or beards are rare. They wear simple, comfortable, practical clothes, often favouring bright colours.

They cherish bonds of family and friendship, love discovering new things, are often moved by pity and hate seeing any living being suffer. They work well with others, are loyal and remarkably ferocious when friends, family or their community are threatened. They easily fit in with humans, dwarves, and elves, making themselves valuable and welcome in other communities. They are also able to speak common and halfling.

As with elves there are different kinds of halflings the most common being:

Lightfoot Halfling: They can easily hide, are the most common halfling and more prone to wanderlust than others.

Stout Halfling: They are hardier than the average halfling and have a resistance to poison.

Elves are usually described as magical people of otherworldly grace, that seem like they're not quite part of this world. They appear hauntingly beautiful to most other races, like humans. They're usually between 5 and 6 feet, 100 to 245 pounds, but male elves tend to be heavier than female ones. Their skin colour can be in the normal human range but also copper, bronze or a blueish-white, with blonde, brown, black, green or blue hair. Their eyes often being similar to humans but can also include gold or silver. They don't have facial hair and favour elegant clothing in bright colours with simple jewellery. Elves can live over 700 years, often slow at making friends and enemies, but are also slow to forget them. They don't sleep like other races, instead they meditate deeply for about 4 hours each day.

They are skilled with swords and bows and can see in dark and dim conditions. In these situation they can only see in greyscale. They are able to speak common and elvish.

They live in places of ethereal beauty, such as majestic forests or ocean shallows, in small, hidden villages. They love nature, magic, art, music and poetry.

There are a few different types of Elves including:

High elves: They have keen minds and master at least basic magic. There are two types of high Elf, one being haughty and reclusive, believes to be superior to non-elves and other elves, the other being more common and more friendly, often being amongst other races. They are proficient with longswords, shortswords, shortbows and longbows.

Wood elves: They have keen senses and a great intuition, are quick and stealthy and tend to have copperish or greenish skin.

Dark elves: They have superior Dark vision, are sensitive to sunlight and have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords and handcrossbows.

Sea elves: They live in small, hidden communities in the ocean shallows, have proficiency with spears, tridents, light crossbows and nets. They can breathe underwater as well as above water, have increased swimming speed, can speak aquan and can also communicate simple ideas with any beasts that have innate swimming speed.

To get a further idea of what kind of characters I wanted for this idea I looked into a few different races in the DnD world. Since I'm taking some inspiration from the campaign I'm currently playing, I stuck with some of the races my friends and I had decided on but also extend it a bit.

The races I've researched are Elves, Halflings, Goliaths, Humans, Dwarves and orcs.