Dark Lunas
2019
After the mad dash that was the Jack Titan Webtoon project, I was ready for something different. A new character and a new way of working.
I’d first conceived of this project in 2014 or 15 while thinking about Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. Those books are among some of my favorites, divisive as they are in the later installments. No matter. For my money, they’re masterpieces and deserving of all praise they (should) receive.
Anyhow, I wanted a crack at my own stoic protagonist who wanders in from the vast desert, searching for an all-important macguffin, only to find trouble in a weird, eery, broken world. I decided to revisit this unformed universe that had existed in my imagination as not much more than a King ripoff and give it some legs of its own.
I dusted off these old images from around that time (again, about 2014) and set out to make something new.
I love the look of the world and the character, and nicknamed him “The Wanderer".” That’s the only name I’ve ever known him by, and I think it’s fitting. I was intrigued by these images because of his suit, his cloak, and the clunky technology. I wasn’t sure what it all meant, but I dug it. The final image above is from 2016, so I must have revisited the character again, and also introduced a logo into the mix.
The following three pages were my attempt to try something fresh. I banged these out on typing paper with a marker—no pencils—to see how it felt. It didn’t work, and I abandoned it quickly, but the exercise was interesting enough to share. Where was he coming from? What happened to him? Where is he going? These questions intrigued me.
Shortly after completing the pages above, I drew the picture below of Anya, a teenager who would accompany The Wanderer on his quest. For some unknown reason, she was missing her right hand and carrying a mechanical arm. Again, I wasn’t questioning where this stuff was coming from. I just wanted to get it out.
I started taking my time. I switched back to a nib and ink, adding some heavily diluted ink wash for tone. I finished it in Photoshop with color and digital texture.
I like this image a lot.
This is The Dark Lunas in its latest form.
Once I started in earnest, I felt consumed by it. It was very different than Jack Titan, and it spoke to me in different ways. The plan was to treat this book in a manga-like fashion—mostly meaning that I wanted to take time to develop scenes over several pages and allow things to unfold a bit more organically. Like The Wanderer’s approach to the Mek Temple. I wanted to see what I could do by allowing myself a little room to breathe. It sort of works, but needs some finesse.
In the end, I was only able to complete a handful of pages, but more on that after you take a look at the work below.
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A note on the design for this series.
The logo itself was inspired after the title design on the original paperback version of The Dark Tower, which is the version I took from my dad when I was a teen, and still have on my shelf today. Sorry, Dad.
You might also notice I developed my own company logo called ATTIC. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to sell, distribute, or showcase my comics work, but I wanted this to feel like the genuine article, so a cover needed to be designed.
I intended to produce three issues, 48 pages each, all slightly oversized like The Savage Sword of Conan books which printed at 7.5” x 11” (approximately).
Overall, I’m extremely pleased with where this project landed. I retained my initial vision of The Wanderer coming in from the vast, alien desert, wounded and staggering, but introduced a real destination by way of the “Mek Temple.”
I still like the opening double page spreads (3 of them!), but things get a little tedious watching him walk through the open space. If I ever revisit this, I’d rethink that bit. However, I’m proud of the action sequences when our hero is attacked by the sentry bots. Those three or four pages are among my personal favorites.
The big bad then shows up and steals The Wanderer’s arm. The double-pager bathed in red is another that turned out well. Portraying an arm being removed while the victim is waking from unconsciousness was a fun challenge. That spread was great to work on. I got to play with typography and sound effects, was able to draw the most intense, screaming face I could muster (as an homage to my favorite 90s superhero comics where everyone screams everything at each other all the time), and I splattered ink and white paint all over the place. Really, really fun.
For the covers to each of the three planned issues, I wanted to utilize wraparound artwork that would aid in the storytelling of the stories. This was as far as I got for the first installment.
I was putting the finishing touches on this in November of 2019, and it was at that point in time that the company I was working for let go a significant potion of their marketing department. It was the first time in my life that I’d experienced this kind of setback, and it was devastating.
I immediately put my comics work aside and began looking for new employment. I had to update my portfolio, reach out to colleagues, and start the application process. Looking for a job is a full-time job, and I wasn’t able to focus on comics at all. It felt indulgent. I felt guilty for still wanting it, but for the time being, it needed to be put on the back burner.
So, The Dark Lunas was the pitch that got away. I was close to submitting this to publishers, but it never happened.
However, the calendar was flipping to 2020, and having lost my job would soon be the least of my worries. And the coronavirus was even lower on the list.
