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Comic Creators Thread: Ways to Stay Motivated, Creative, and Productive?

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    GankGank Registered User regular
    Bah! Don't be needin' no college, just draw in between serving customers at a crappy job and viola, paid to draw! It's what I do. Been doing it a fair bit recently, managed to colour some of them too.

    IronFist.jpg

    BlueBeetle.jpg

    ParasiteII.jpg

    This is how boring my job is...

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Man, I kind of miss my old 3rd shift security guard job. Just watched movies and drew crap for twelve hours a night. And Gank, I'm digging that Iron Fist and Blue Beetle. A little rough in some spots, but I like the basic forms and structure.

    Here's something I just sent to TLB.

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    YOU WILL NOW BUY ALL CHUPACOMICS FOREVER

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    AriviaArivia I Like A Challenge Earth-1Registered User regular
    Munch I cannot for the life of me figure out what that tipped-over thing on the left-hand side is supposed to be. A tractor-trailer?

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    A bus. I've got some more noodling around to do with the page.

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    CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    I kiss Munch's ass plenty, but DMAC and Jyren your guys' art is just fantastic. I am thrilled.

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Since I'm kind of bummed about Thunderbolts ending, I wrote a little script today. It's probably the next time I'll be drawing, after I wrap up Chupacabra. Which is 1/3 of the way pencilled and inked, by the way.
    PAGE ONE

    Panel One

    A man sits at a table, blanketed in shadow.

    AVENGER: What am I doing here?

    FACT (off panel): You know exactly why you're here. That little stunt you pulled--

    AVENGER: Look, that was all a--

    FACT: Relax, we know. Still, what's done is done. The question is-- what are you going to do, to make it right?

    Panel Two

    Close-up of the man, still too dark to see.

    AVENGER: ... I'm listening.

    Panel Three

    FACT, standing.

    FACT: We're putting together a team. A group of people who might, for the first time in their lives, make a positive difference in the world.

    Panel Four

    Back to the shadowy AVENGER.

    AVENGER: And you want me to join them? Tried that. Pass.

    Panel Five

    Back to the FACT member.

    FACT: No. We want you to lead them.
    PAGE TWO

    Panel One

    A Kirby-style monster stands in the middle of a wrecked street, casually eating an apple.

    AVENGER (CAPTION): Lead who, exactly?

    KIRBY MONSTER: Hmph. Boring.

    Panel Two

    A laser blast strikes the Kirby Monster, causing a mild shock, and making him drop his apple.

    FACT (CAPTION): Well--

    KIRBY MOSNTER: Ack! Who dares--?

    Panel Three

    A man wearing a rounded face-plate, covered in TV static, stands holding a
    smoking laser rifle. It's positively Liefeldian.

    FACT (CAPTION):
    --we've got VIDEOMAN.

    INFO-CAPTION: VIDEOMAN | Real Name: Francis Byte | Powers and Abilities: Technopathy | Fun Fact: Currently holds the worldwide high score for the arcade game, Iron Mania.

    VIDEOMAN: -szzkt- Welcome to warp zone!

    AVENGER (CAPTION): Oh. Anyone I've actually heard of?

    Panel Four

    KIRBY MONSTER charges towards VIDEOMAN.

    KIRBY MONSTER: Tear your arms off, you little-- !!

    Panel Five (Inset)

    Several missles whistle through the air, looping this way and that.

    Panel Six

    KIRBY MONSTER is suddenly buffeted backwards by explosions, away from VIDEOMAN.

    KIRBY MONSTER: Yeaargh!
    PAGE THREE

    Panel One

    BLACKJACK O'HARE stands, holding a spent rocket launcher.

    FACT (CAPTION):
    There's Blackjack O'Hare, Rocket Raccoon's former archnemesis.

    BLACKJACK O'HARE: Tt.

    AVENGER (CAPTION):
    So, no, no one I've heard of. 'kay, continue.

    INFO-CAPTION: BLACKJACK O'HARE | Real Name: Blackjack O'Rabbit | Powers and Abilities: Enhanced agility, speed, and endurance. | Fun Fact: Still exchanges Christmas cards with Rocket Raccoon.

    Panel Two


    KIRBY MONSTER rises on shaky legs, debris rolling off him.

    KIRBY MONSTER: Was that.. a bunny rabbit?

    Panel Three

    LEAP-FROG suddenly bounces off KIRBY MONSTER's head and into the foreground, flattening the beast back to the ground.

    LEAP-FROG: Yeah! Ain't that just the coolest?!

    FACT (CAPTION): There's also LEAP-FROG.

    INFO-CAPTION:
    LEAPFROG | Real Name: Vincent Patilio | Powers and Abilities: Powered exo-suit. Genius inventor. | Fun Fact: Father of the Fantastic Frog-Man.

    AVENGER (CAPTION): You've gotta be kidding me.

    Panel Four

    Close-up on KIRBY MONSTER's face, enraged.

    KIRBY MONSTER:
    This -- this is ridiculous! An outrage! Do you know who I am?!

    Panel Five


    KIRBY MONSTER stands, bruised and battered, fists clenched.

    KIRBY MONSTER:
    I am MUUSHTAR! Princess of the Krimson Kingdoms! Heir to the mightiest army the surface world has never seen! And who do they send to face me? A frog, a rabbit, and a faceless fool! Enough! Where are your Avengers? Defenders? By the Mole-Man, I'll even take the Order at this point!

    ARMADILLO (OFF PANEL):
    Sorry, pal.
    PAGE FOUR

    Panel One


    Armadillo and Lady Stilt-Man stand back-to-back, ready to fight.

    ARMADILLO:
    Just us scrubs, here. Now, how's about you come along quietly?

    INFO-CAPTION: ARMADILLO | Real Name: Antonio Rodriguez | Powers and Abilities: Enhanced strength and durability. | Fun Fact: Has a net worth of $10,000,000.

    INFO-CAPTION: LADY STILT-MAN | Real Name: Emily Wood | Powers and Abilities: Powered exo-suit. | Fun Fact: Currently in litigation with the estate of Wilbur Day.

    Panel Two

    MUUSHTAR glowers at the team, holding a small whistle in her hand.

    MUUSHTAR: Hah! You think you are the only ones with allies?

    Panel Three

    MUUSHTAR blows into the whistle.

    Panel Four

    The assembled team stands unsure, as the ground begins to rumble, and split.

    LADY STILT-MAN: Aw, crap. This can't be good.
    PAGE FIVE

    Panel One

    Clawed hands shoot up from the ground, as the heroes frantically look about.

    Panel Two


    The heroes stand surrounded, as MUUSHTAR and her minions encircle them.

    MUUSHTAR: Now, would you prefer to meet your end through evisceration, or decaptitation?

    LEAP-FROG:
    Always been a fan of defenestration, myself..

    AVENGER (CAPTION): I don't get it. All these guys are..

    FACT (CAPTION): Supervillains? Yes.

    FACT (CAPTION): More importantly, they're losers. Idiots who have wasted their time, and their talents.

    FACT(CAPTION): Meatheads. Opportunists. Impostors. Amateurs.

    Panel Three

    The team stands at the ready, fists up, ready to go down fighting.

    FACT (CAPTION): But, they're also gifted. And what if we could channel those gifts, in a positive direction? Think about it. Low-risk losers become high-reward heroes. They just need a push. That's where you come in.

    AVENGER (CAPTION):
    I'm sorry, who are you with again?

    AVENGER (OFF-PANEL): Hey!

    FACT (CAPTION):
    I'm with FACT. The Federal Advisory Commission to the Thunderbolts.
    PAGE SIX

    Panel One

    D-MAN stands on a ruined street, one finger pointed at the viewer, one hand clenched into a fist.

    FACT (CAPTION): And we want you to lead them, Mr. Dunphy.

    D-MAN:
    We gonna stand here like Blunderbolts, or strike like Thunderbolts?!

    Panel Two

    The THUNDERBOLTS clash with MUUSHTAR's minions, in a crush of bodies, laser blasts, and punches, D-MAN wearing a huge grin as he slugs MUUSHTAR.

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    GankGank Registered User regular
    My god, I've been away so long, Chupacabra is 1/3 done...

    It's been that long?

    And yeah, a lot of the parts in those sketches up there were drawn lazily and really should have been redone completely. But I ended up rushing them just to finish something.

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Well, I haven't been working on it all that long, really. A few weeks, and I'm about halfway finished with the lineart. I actually knocked out a page yesterday, and one today, so I'm moving along. Each of these pages took me about four-to-six hours to finish, it's just a matter of having the time and energy to sit down and work on it.

    Anyhow, here's two panels from yesterday's page.

    JuanChupacabraGarou.png

    Everyone in this comic smokes, because smoking makes you look cool.

    Yeah, I said it.



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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    you're fuckin' right it does

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    JyrenBJyrenB St. AugustineRegistered User regular
    Not going to have one guy that doesn't smoke to show just how uncool he is by comparison?

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    XBL: JyrenB ; Steam: Jyren ; Twitter
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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    no one isn't cool in chupacomics

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    I actually chose what people were drinking/smoking, as a way to sort of define their characters.

    The Maryland Goatman's sort of a weekend eco-warrior guy, in my mind. The type of guy who has a few vaguely interesting hobbies, solely to pick up girls. He doesn't drink, but smokes mammoth amounts of pot.

    Juan and Jersey are blue-collar guys, who stick with cigarettes and beer.

    Dover Demon's a girl-drink-drunk.

    The Garou thinks he's cooler than he is, and is always puffing on a clove cigarette or cigarillo. I imagine he always has the stench of patchouli oil wafting around him.

    Loveland Frog's a fancy gentleman, and only drinks really expensive scotch, and cigarettes hand-rolled from sheets of uncut currency. That, or he's a guy who likes to look fancy, and drinks cheap scotch that's been poured into a fancy decanter, and cigarettes rolled in Monopoly money.

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    DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    that's all amazing

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    HenslerHensler Registered User regular
    Munch wrote: »
    I actually chose what people were drinking/smoking, as a way to sort of define their characters.

    The Maryland Goatman's sort of a weekend eco-warrior guy, in my mind. The type of guy who has a few vaguely interesting hobbies, solely to pick up girls. He doesn't drink, but smokes mammoth amounts of pot.

    Juan and Jersey are blue-collar guys, who stick with cigarettes and beer.

    Dover Demon's a girl-drink-drunk.

    The Garou thinks he's cooler than he is, and is always puffing on a clove cigarette or cigarillo. I imagine he always has the stench of patchouli oil wafting around him.

    Loveland Frog's a fancy gentleman, and only drinks really expensive scotch, and cigarettes hand-rolled from sheets of uncut currency. That, or he's a guy who likes to look fancy, and drinks cheap scotch that's been poured into a fancy decanter, and cigarettes rolled in Monopoly money.

    I was really worried about this project when I heard that Lovely Bastard guy was doing the writing, but it looks like you'll save it by pulling his weight, Munch. Bravo.

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    god damnit

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    in all seriousness, that post is why I wanted to work with @munch

    i'll write a character a certain way and it'll never be explicit, just a couple a lines and a charscter tic here or there, and munch'll pick up on it. he is really good at noticing character traits quickly and accuarately. even if the garou is so obviously an annoying tribute to gambit and not subtle at all. and that frat boy goatman was a later idea.

    point is, munch can read those words and pick up the subtext immediately. because, even if we fight all the time here over issues, when it gets down to it, munch and I just fuckin' get comics in the exact same way. and it's funny because munch is much more wordier about it than I am. I'm more about filling each page with something that is unfilmable. This is comics, son.

    also, even though the script was written a while ago, we still tweak things here or there. chupacomics are an ever evolving beast, and munch is the only dude I would want making my words come to life.

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    TLB, the loveliest bastard.

    So, I was suffering from some neck pain last week, that kept me from working on Chupacabra. But, I took the opportunity to do some sketches.
    Here's my Thunderbolts line-up, from the script I posted above.

    N7fvh.jpg

    I was drawing Lady Stilt-Man off the top of my head, so she's all kinds of off-model. I don't think I'd give her costume molded breasts, if I drew it again. Might redesign the helmet a bit, too.

    I wanted Armadillo to look a little more like a guy in a suit, as well as beefing up his build, making him the team's Juggernaut.

    Videoman got a total redesign, with a Daft Punkish helmet, and a retro spacesuit, complete with a d-pad on the chest. I'd also give him sort of a glitchy effect with the colors and lineart, similar to what KC Green did in this strip. The opaque helmet, as well as his tendency to only speak in videogame quotes, would let me play him as funny, mysterious, or threatening, depending on the situation.

    As the team's requisite old-timer, Leap-Frog would intentionally look like a goofy throwback, in a cheap rubber costume, with only his bestubbled chin visible through his hood. I'd play him as the guy who lulls everyone into a false sense of security, before reminding them that he's been at the supervillain thing for a really long time, has gone toe-to-toe with Spider-Man, and will beat seven shades of shit out of anyone who makes the mistake of underestimating him.

    8A9Nn.jpg

    I was thinking about Red Tornado too, and how I'd make him an interesting character. I threw an off-handed mention of him into my big Adam Strange pitch, so I thought I'd elaborate on that.

    I'd skip all the tired nonsense about the robot who develops humanity, and draw upon the idea of the malevolent tornado spirit, imprisoned in a robotic shell. I'd cast him as a strange, alien force, who for decades only wanted to protect the area he'd claimed as his own. But, after being tricked into inhabiting a rusted robot, brought to Rannagar by the Khund, he decides to venture out into the world, disguising himself as a Rannian, in a suit of armor.

    It'd basically be the story of an isolationist supervillain, struggling to understand people, and decide whether to protect them, or crush them under his heel. He'd probably make friends with a little kid at some point, because that's a story that has timeless appeal, and would tie into the adoption of his daughter, in the old DCU.

    The design's pretty lazy, but I like the idea of making him covered in rust, which leads to the whole Red Tornado name. I figure that, if he ever got to Earth, he could get a new body, more reminiscent of his old one.

    bs7Dy.jpg

    Finally, here's an old sketchbook page. I'm posting this because I was going through my old sketchbooks this week, and man. I used to have just the right combination of manic energy, and craziness.

    On this page alone I have designs for characters from my proposed take on the Atom, a design of Damian Wayne as Batboy (he has the big ears, to look taller), a sketch of Madman for my ideal Blue Beetle run, a story idea for Marvel's Stingray character, an idea for an original street-level superhero story I still want to do, and a shopping list of assorted comics.

    I've got ten sketchbooks, each around 70 pages long, with the vast majority of them filled with this kind of stuff. Not coincidentally, I stopped filling pages like this, around the time I took a college art class, and my enthusiasm for art was systematically ground out of me.

    Still, it's interesting to have these, and look back at what I was into, and thinking of, at that particular time in my life.

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    AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    Videoman got a total redesign, with a Daft Punkish helmet, and a retro spacesuit, complete with a d-pad on the chest. I'd also give him sort of a glitchy effect with the colors and lineart, similar to what KC Green did in this strip. The opaque helmet, as well as his tendency to only speak in videogame quotes, would let me play him as funny, mysterious, or threatening, depending on the situation.
    yes hi hello you rang?

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    THAT'S NOT CHUPACOMICS AT ALL

    I TAKE BACK ALL COMPLIMENTS

    SUCK IT, MUNCH

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Well, at least I've got Anti onboard.

    ALSO HEY TLB, LET'S SHOW EVERYONE THE PAGE YOU'RE MAKING ME REDRAW, YOU DICK

    hXESS.png

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    AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    you know what, i don't feel bad about posting this
    http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr204/antimatter_photos/old art/
    this is all stuff i drew in middle and high school and a lot of it is stuff i'm planning on revisiting in stories now that i'm older

    monsters, heroes, machines, concepts, and other things that I can refine and improve now that I know more about writing

    gonna

    gonna have to find an actual artist some day, though

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    you know what I love when we post full pages, @munch ?

    without the dialogue they look and feel exactly like this:

    fw114a.jpg

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    AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    that's a good comparison

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Antimatter wrote: »
    you know what, i don't feel bad about posting this
    http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr204/antimatter_photos/old art/
    this is all stuff i drew in middle and high school and a lot of it is stuff i'm planning on revisiting in stories now that i'm older

    monsters, heroes, machines, concepts, and other things that I can refine and improve now that I know more about writing

    gonna

    gonna have to find an actual artist some day, though

    Man, I love looking at art I made as a kid. It's the best.

    By the by, once upon a time I was thinking of doing a whole anthology project, with members of the forum, where I'd just draw the whole thing. But, I don't know if my sanity could withstand it, nowadays.

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    oh when it comes to comics writing, my five influences are:

    Denny O'Neil
    Richars E. Hughes
    Bill Mantlo
    Greg Pak
    Paul Tobin

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    CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    A malevolent tornado spirit would be awesome. It reminds me of an X-Files novel I read because it was set in Albuquerque (there was a Kachina wind/tornado spirit of some sort).

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    Antimatter wrote: »
    you know what, i don't feel bad about posting this
    http://s484.photobucket.com/albums/rr204/antimatter_photos/old art/
    this is all stuff i drew in middle and high school and a lot of it is stuff i'm planning on revisiting in stories now that i'm older

    monsters, heroes, machines, concepts, and other things that I can refine and improve now that I know more about writing

    gonna

    gonna have to find an actual artist some day, though

    I really, really like the basic design of that purple monster.

    It looks like an interdimensional terror dr. strange would battle

    or would show up in the jms run real ghostbusters

    7656367.jpg
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    AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    thank you


    i actually mentioned the basic story from where that guy is from in this thread quite a while ago, the college kids having a beach party wherein they get empowered by a space rock

    dude's an asshole that likes changing his shape in disturbing, unnatural ways, and messing with minds

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    that's actually pretty dang rad

    like I think you should seriously develop it

    make it like a spoof of fifties surf/beach movies and go nuts

    it'd be awesome

    maybe even throw in a HERO OF THE BEACH gag

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    AntimatterAntimatter Devo Was Right Gates of SteelRegistered User regular
    that's


    that's a way different direction than what i considered for it at first, but something i'll keep in mind and might actually use

    thank you

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    no problem

    it's what I do

    i'm an idea factory

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    liquiddarkliquiddark Odd magpie St. John's, NLRegistered User regular
    Working on a translation of a short story. Been meaning to do it for a while. One of the things I need to create is a full-page pointillistic collage. What I mean is a large image built out of a whole whack (I'm guessing 64) of small ones. I realize really this is a task for an artist, but let's just pretend I'm gonna do it myself. Any tips?

    Current project: Contension, a realtime tactics game for mobile
    @oldmanhero .programming .web comic .everything
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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited June 2012
    Did this last night, because I was tired of staring at a computer screen, and wanted to do some real inking. Of course, then I wound up futzing about with it digitally, anyway.

    Joust.png

    Munch on
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    HenslerHensler Registered User regular
    I like it a lot, but I think it looks like the rider is sitting IN the bird, not on it.

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Yeah, I struggled with that. Putting the rider's leg under the bird's wing, rather than over it, makes it a little visually confusing.

    I also shortened his legs after scanning it, which looking at it now, made him a little too stumpy. I'm going to fiddle with it some more, before I color it.

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    DelduwathDelduwath Registered User regular
    That warrior-on-a-bird image made me want to see a Munch tribute to Moebius's Arzach, but I can't ask for such a thing, because then TLB will have my kneecaps.

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Funny enough, I actually got the urge to do the drawing last night, after listening to Kevin Eastman talk about Heavy Metal and Moebius, on the Inkstuds podcast.

    It got me in the mood to do some kooky sci-fi stuff.

    It also caused me to browse the Heavy Metal website, and man, they've got some neat-looking stuff on there. Unfortunately, every time I've actually bought an issue of Heavy Metal, it's been a major let-down.

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    The Lovely BastardThe Lovely Bastard Registered User regular
    muuuuuuuuunch

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    MunchMunch Registered User regular
    Look, it's a short rest, or a full-on psychotic break, whereupon you'll only receive pages drawn in crayons, and covered in tears.

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