A New Direction
While zombies remain very popular, I think we can all agree that LEGO® is on it’s way out. That’s why I sold my entire collection two weeks ago on Craigslist and spent the profits on some old fashions art training: in Paint. I think the results speak for themselves (they are stunning). Doing the comic is Paint opens up a lot of opportunities for me. No longer will all my characters be the same height and build. Now, they’ll all have a sort of distinct, amorphus quality to them, which is something I’ve always found lacking. Another big plus is that I won’t have to spend time building sets and backgrounds, and worrying about exposure and shot compensation. Now I can just draw some vague colored shapes in the background, which should help the story immensely.
This is a big change, but don’t worry, all the characters you know and love will still be around, at least until my new cast is established and I can kill everyone else off. We’ll also see a lot more action: guns, bombs, tanks, ninja stars, lightsabers. The zombies don’t stand a chance.
About this Episode:
I spent a lot of time on this one capturing the characters we knew from Bricks of the Dead in their new forms, and I think I did a really good job. Murphy looks sort of like Hitler, but my drawing ability will get better as I go, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. Stewart and Scrimshaw look awesome. F’ing awesome.
Discussion Question: Why Did I Waste My Time with LEGO For So Long?
Coming to this decision was a really important moment in my life. I realized that I can totally make an awesome comic with Paint and about 15 minutes of spare time. So the big question is, why did I spent all that time, money, blood, sweat, and tears truing to build the whole thing out of a children’s toy?
Really diggin’ the new look, awesome Dave!
I hate to be a pain but you forgot to color some tiny parts of the background in panels 2 and 4 – I’m only saying so that you can improve your skills you know.
Thank you Greg. That was hard to hear, but you can’t improve without honest feedback.
“It’s Harpoonin’ time!” my new favorite catchphrase! Loving the new direction. Legos, what a waste of time and money right! The way they’re all awesome and stuff. Paint is an inspired choice. Heck! I net nobody has even thought of just drawing webcomics.
“Heck! I net nobody has even thought of just drawing webcomics.”
Exactly!
Dabbling in the recreational pharmaceuticals again I see…
No sir, this was just a sudden moment of clarity for me.
OH NOoo (Clasping face) No longer bricks of the dead? Is that Homestar Runner? This is way cleaner. What has taken you so long? LEGO is so last year.
I really don’t know what took me so long. In hindsight, the choice was obvious.
Awesome, can’t wait for more!
What day is it again…..
Don’t you worry, in Wednesday’s episode, I really make use of Paint’s features. It’s going to be amazing.
Lightsabers you say? I have zero complaints.
Nor should you, Phantom. Nor should you.
Dave are you forgeting to tell us something like you didn’t sell your LEGOs ?
You’d be amazed at how quickly you can get rid of stuff on Craigslist.
-_- Come on, not even Photoshop? Just Paint? Well, at least Scrimshaw’s getting facetime.
Photoshop is overrated. Layers? Non-destructive editing? All that masking and easing? No thanks. Paint is hardcore.
There is no cheating with paint.
Exactly! No saved actions, no history, no styles. Just you and a canvas.
Blasphemy!
So you would disagree that Paint is superior to Photoshop?
Yeah.. Lego is pretty crap, all the cool kids know that comics are all about paint now.
I have a complaint though, about Hitler in the third panel? He needs his mustache, and I’d appreciate it if you stopped offending the typical law maker by giving Hitler a badge. And who is this new samurai with the club in the second panel? Bad writing Dave! Bad writing.
Well he’s not supposed to be Hilter. That’s Murphy, I just need to work on my art style a bit more on him.
Also, that samurai? Cheryl. Can’t you tell?
Dave! As an expert of artistic value I’m offended that you dare correct me. Clearly this is a political representation of WW2 as the Japanese and Nazi’s worked together towards a similar fascist goal. While capitalist US attempts to make it’s money off of illegal whaling and is taken down by the mindless proggies of the era.
I’m sorry, I was out of line.
I’m considering replacing my Lego with Megablucks, I hear they’re great.
Not a bad idea, Greg. They’re much cheaper too.
Okay, now you’ve gone too far.
Hah!
After his whaling comic got canceled because of silly LEGO, this new style finally allowed Scrimshaw to obtain the main character role! Now we have a true, relatable protagonist!
Absolutely. Scrimshaw’s day in the sun has finally arrived.
a whale harpoon zombie kill would definitely be a sight to behold…
I think that’s where the benefit of doing the comic in paint is really going to come through. A zombie whale made out of LEGO? No way. But in paint? Yes please.
On second thought.. a whale harpoon may not be such a practical weapon in a zombie apocalypse. You need a whaler to begin with, and the reload time is terrible.
A backup weapon would be very important.
Zombie whale? I bet nobody ever thought of that!
They’ll never see it coming.
Well, to be completely honest they probably would… and from a distance. But they would certainly freeze in terror.
Surprise whale attack!
I did read a short story with an undead giant squid once.
I think Scrimshaw would take on that beast as well.
On a serious note, do you recall what story? I’m fairly certain I read that one too, but I’m completely blanking on it.
The name of the collection was “The Undead (Zombie Anthology) the name of the story was “Chuy and the Fish” by David Wellington. The collection was edited by D.L. Snell and Elija Hall. Snell also wrote “Pavlovs Dogs”
That’s the one. If I’m not mistaken, isn’t “Chuy and the Fish” the first story in the collection?
Yep. What I really liked about that story was that when (spoiler alert) Chuy finally gets pulled under he sees all the undead that have kind of qued up against the seawall on the bottom of the bay trying to claw their way back up onto land. Its kind of a neat concept…zombies that have fallen into bodies of water just wondering along on the seafloor trying to find their way back up onto land. Kind of shoots holes into the whole idea of an island sanctuary from the ZA.
Quite an incredible image that conjures up too.
The problem with the whole “Zombies walk under water” thing is that… well… bodies float. Dead ones even more so, I think.
Can someone please tell me if this is an April fools joke, or do you REALLY mean he sold his legos?!?!?!?
You’d be amazed how quickly LEGO goes on Craigslist. It’s insane.
So fast I’ve never even seen it.
I’ve seen some on the other local online classifieds. If it’s bulk it goes in minutes to hours. Sets can hang out long, especially if the price is a bit too high.
I don’t think you could find LEGO to buy on Craigslist unless you lived on there. It just goes so quickly it’s crazy. I think of all my years of looking I managed to buy one time, and that was pure luck and the fact that they were incomplete sets.
Judging from the way you are treating this new style you would be happy to know that you lost one of your readers GOOD BY, AND GOOD RIDINS!!!!
It’s going to take some getting used to, Captain, but I think we’ll all be happy with the change in a few weeks.
Looks like a Simpsons parody done by an aficionado of crystal meth
PS: YOU ARE THE WORST DRAWER I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!! YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE ANY DEPTH PERCEPTION!!!!
My skills will improve as I go, but I think this is a really good start for someone without any formal training or talent.
Sorry damage I was trying to respond to my own message.
No worries Capn’ You carried along my point perfectly
I’m going to take that as a compliment, Damage.
Yeah….um…..you go ahead and do that Dave. lol
I shall.
Probably because LEGO is a freakin’ MONEY PIT! I can see why you’d want to get out of it.
I’m with you. I am holding off on any more LEGO. I’ll let the kids keep what they’ve got; but I am not buying any more.
I’m getting out of the prep business, too. It’s too much heartache fighting with legislators, executives, and unelected bureaucrats. I am going to see if I can go back and take the blue pill (not sildenafil, the other blue pill) and live a life of peaceful, dependent bliss.
Good thinking here Bo. Less stress. Enjoy life one day at a time.
It’s about time! The LEGO was getting a bit boring. I sold all mine on Craigslist as well. I got a lot of money from it! Anyways, I’m very interested to see how much better the comics will do now that they are in paint. Super excited Dave 😀
I’m glad to see you’re on board, C4 Guy.
Genius….
Utter genius
I like to think so.
I hope this is a joke…
What’s there to joke about?
Is this what we get to look forward too now that you sold your collection? FINALLY some good art on the web!
“FINALLY some good art on the web!”
Exactly what I was thinking!
Love the use of the different shades of blue available on Paint to represent the passing of time. The shade change between panels 1 and 2 looks to be about half an hour of realtime.
Loving the new 2d approach as well………is that a really small zombie up close or a tall one far away…..the suspense!
Hope everyone has had a good Monday 😀
Thank you, DexScotland. Always nice to see someone who appreciates my work.
Is this some kind of joke?
Minifigs don’t have shoes!
Sometimes they do. The skeletons from Ninjago, for instance.
Yay! It’s Scrimshaw.
Don’t see enough of him 🙂
We really don’t.
Sometimes it makes me sad that everyone’s favorite character isn’t actually in the comic. Then I think about Scrimshaw and I’m happy again.
APRIL FOOLS!!!
Good day to you as well.
Please tell me you’re joking Dave!:)
Would I joke about something like this?
An I missing something here because its that or your all playing a prank on me and I’m not in the mood
Have I ever played a prank before?
Why do I feel as if this is a really big April Fool’s Joke?
I dunno…
It probably is an April Fools Joke
You guys are so quick to assume.
Yay!
Scrimshaw is back. I love that crazy old geezer.
And Cheryl…. looks a little bit like a yellow ninja turtle in the face shape, is this intentional Dave? Or still got your paint program training wheels on? 🙂
Oh and I found this on The Brothers Brick… it has Daves face in one of the shots, and is zombie related… 🙂
http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/357339?bcsi_scan_99c1d9f2221334df=hvuyv2Pmlibuh8CHuIIOJMCyqec5AAAAi+78Rg==
Yeah, Cheryl needs a bit of work, I’ll admin that.
And that MOC is fantastically done.
I thought of when I heard talk about lightsabers… As Luke Skywalker would say “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo.” I’m gonna miss the legos a little bit.
Hah, you’ll adapt, Sir, you’ll adapt.
I think I finally figured this out
“I think we can all agree that LEGO® is on it’s way out. That’s why I sold my entire collection two weeks ago on Craigslist and spent the profits on some old fashions art training: in Paint”
Is old married guy code for
“My, up until recently, infinitely patient wife got sick of seeing me eschewing my domestic responsibilities in order to spend endless hours messing around with (lets be honest with ourselves here guys) kids toys and conversing with a bunch of nare-do-wells on the internet about their hypothetical preparations for the zombie apocalypse. She therefore dropped off all my lego stuff at the Salvation Army while I was at work and I am reduced to doodling on public domain software.”
Love this!
hehe… either Damage works at your local Salvation army office or that man can see right through you!
Indeed.
Luckily, my wife is a pretty patient woman.
Man, don’t let my wife see this. She doesn’t need the help.
Hah!
HAHAHAHA Well said!
NO. *checks the date* Just. NO. Tell me you are joining with Romero on the NOTLD remake and searching with Google Nose. Please!
I can’t wait for Gmail Blue personally.
Thank GOD. When will the torment end?
Do you mean the torment of having non-blue gmail?
I love Stewie’s machete. It came out looking like a bolo in that frame. Very nice.
Oh, and Murphy reminds me of Adolph Hitler in that frame, for some reason. I think it’s the hair and the frown. All he needs is the mustache.
I, for one, am looking forward to more BotD crudely drawn in MS Paint.
Crudely drawn Paint does have a certain charm to it, doesn’t it?
Dave if you did sell your LEGOs, how much did you sell them for? Hmm…….
I think that cat’s out of the bag now, but I didn’t sell my LEGO. If I had, I would have put a pretty hefty price tag on them. After all, they’re clean, organized, and numerous. That’s worth something, right?