Recent Discussions on The Shadowbinders Forums

Crimson Rhen sets sail on May 13, 2013!

Kneon — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:55:39 -0400

As we've already stated before, we'll be previewing our new graphic novel (webcomic?) Crimson Rhen of the True North on Shadowbinders.com starting May 13th.

Ever wonder how Rhen became Crimson Rhen? Or where The True North came from? Or who "Alex" is? Or who Tristan's sister was?

It'll all be answered in this story, folks!

Don't worry -- after the preview, we'll return you to Shadowbinders: Chapter 9. And this one is a doozy.

So what’s it about?

Rhen’s origin, essentially. But it’s also more than that. This was
written to be a self-contained, stand-alone adventure story in the vein
of The Goonies, Tom Sawyer and Indiana Jones -- with no prior knowledge of the Shadowbinders webcomic required. Hopefully, it would the first in a series of stories.

Beyond that it’s simply about a gifted 12-year-old boy looking for stability... looking for home.

And it’s also about pirates. And treasure. And airships. And adventure. And humor.

And “the feels.”

It will remain steampunk... "steampunk for everyone." Even kids. But it’s a very different type of story than Shadowbinders is. It’s “pre-Mia”, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t another girl. Actually, there are two other girls.

What it isn’t?
A “webcomic" ... at this point.

Oh,
that’s not to say that we won’t serialize it on the web in the future,
just that it was written to be a stand-alone 250-275 page adventure as
opposed to an ongoing serial. But it could easily become a webcomic with
ongoing stories, compiled and printed into books.

How far along is this project?
The second draft of the script is in the can, and we’re working on art as we speak! Yes, this is the “secret project” we talked about a few months ago.

(And we can all but guarantee that it'll be completely drawn in Manga Studio 5, as we've fallen in love with the program!)

What are the publishing options?
Well, that’s the real issue. There are a lot of publishing options for comic book creators in 2013.

We could serialize it online, and then bundle it up ourselves for a Kickstarter campaign in a few years.

We could
approach a trade publisher like Simon & Schuster, Scholastic’s
Graphix imprint, First Second Books, HarperCollins, Abrams or Random
House.

We could approach a comic book publisher like Dark Horse Comics, IDW Publishing or Archaia Entertainment.

We could bypass all of the above, and release it as a digital exclusive on iVerse, comiXology or Kindle.

There are a lot of options, and we’re weighing them carefully before we proceed.

So here’s where Shadowbinders readers chime in!

We’re interested in hearing what you think about the possibility of this story actually happening.

We’re also interested in your thoughts on comic book publishing in 2013.

Feel free to sound off in the comments below, or even drop us a line via our contact form.

We’ll keep you all posted on the status of this story as things develop!

The Hobbit trailer is finally here!!!

Kneon — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:49:34 -0500

Looks epic!

Shadowbinders Chapter 8

Kneon — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:12:53 -0500

Alright, folks... Chapter 8 is under way!

Here's the place to discuss it outside of the comments.

So... no Rhen or Mia so far. What gives, huh? ;)

Commenting

SainaBelaire — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:47:59 -0500

Alright, every time I've tried to post a comment for the past few pages, I've been unable to due to possible spambot according to wordpress. I'm confused, and was wondering if anyone else had this happening to them.

Doctor Who Series 7

Kneon — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:25:01 -0500

So who's ready for Series 7? Looks like we'll have to wait until August, but I'm hoping it's worth it. Series 6 started off with a bang and sort of... fizzled out, IMHO. I liked River, but am getting tired of her constantly usurping the spotlight.

Blogtor Who is an excellent source for the latest Who news:
http://blogtorwho.blogspot.com/search/label/doctor who series 7 news

The Shadowbinders Kickstarter Thread

Kneon — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 10:34:01 -0500

Alright folks -- after a few week delay due to the California port strike, the books came in last week and Kam has been sending out packages like a mad woman. The vast majority of you should get your books by Christmas unless you're either a) international or b) requested a commission (which I'm working on as fast as I can -- we had A LOT of requests.)

If anybody want to talk about this Kickstarter in more detail, here's the place to do it.

If you got your package, and want to give a shout out, this is also the place to do it.

If you somehow missed this Kickstarter completely, you can still buy a copy of the book here. Depending on how this year goes, we may be doing another Kickstarter for Book Two in late 2013. We'll keep you posted!

Shadowtumblr

Kneon — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:05:25 -0500

Just FYI, we're on tumblr now. We're just not too terribly familiar with it yet. Pointers welcome. ;)

Let's commence the tumblin' at http://crimsonrhen.tumblr.com

Who's Rhen Kissing?

Kneon — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 23:58:39 -0500

For those of you who missed them, here's some of our past voting incentives from the "Who's Rhen Kissing?" series of doodles.

Digital Comics: Shadowbinders on iPad, Android

Kneon — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 15:45:46 -0500

Yep, in case you've been living under rock, Shadowbinders is available for download via the iVerse Comics+ app for iOS and Android. Now you can have an offline, hi-res version of Chapters 1 through 6 at your fingertips... ad free!

Shadowbinders Vol. 1 [Download Link]

Shadowbinders Vol. 2 [Download Link]

What do YOU draw with?

Kneon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 11:35:05 -0400

Inquiring minds want to know: What do you draw with?

Pencils? PCs?

Right now I'm using a 19" Yiynova tablet with a combination of Painter and Photoshop. Early Shadowbinders pages were drawn by hand on 11x14" bristol, then colored digitally in Photoshop. After that, I switched to a Lenovo Thinkpad tablet (that died a horrific death earlier this year) which was good to speed up production, but the small screen and slow processor speed meant I couldn't draw the pages as detailed as I'd have liked. (There was also a learning curve, going from hand drawn to digital, as early digital pages looked rougher than the newer ones.)

So what do you use?

The Cool Music Video Thread

Kneon — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:34:28 -0500

See any cool music videos on Youtube lately? Post them here!

Videos will automatically embed if you just post the Youtube URL (the full URL in your browser bar... not the yout.be short url)

Commence the posting!

Pie or Cake?

Kneon — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:46:04 -0500

So which is better?

(Just testing out the Q&A feature here)

The STAR WARS Episode VII Thread

Kneon — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:26:10 -0500

Yes. It's actually happening.

Here's the place to discuss the upcoming Star Wars sequel.

How is everyone's Christmas shopping going?

desert_starr_57 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:45:11 -0500

We are doing well. I would say 95% done.

Anyone find any great deals this holiday??

Steampunk Motorcycle

Fara — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:39:19 -0500

I'm building a motorcycle from the frame up. It's powered by explosions, but I'd like to make it look like a neo-Vic steam-powered transportation "device" - unfortunately such things aren't common, and while I have all the ideas for the goggles, old-school helmet, vintage aviation style stuff to wear, I'm kinda struggling for inspiration when it comes to the machine itself. I like the True North, and would kinda like to incorporate some of the feel of it, if not any specific features.
So far on the list I have brass-plated handlebars, and the gear lever replacing with a small steam valve tap wheel (like a smaller version of the wheels you get on submarine doors) but other than that, I have no major set direction coming together in my head. Can't visualise.

So any ideas or suggestions would be very useful.

Shadowbinders Mixtape Project: Chapter 1

Kneon — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:50:25 -0400

Welcome to the official discussion thread for The Shadowbinders Mixtape Project (or SMTP)!

What is the SMTP? It's pretty simple, really. We're looking to start work on bonus content for the second graphic novel, due in late 2013 or early 2014. As such, we want you -- yes YOU -- the readers to help us decide on a quasi-official "soundtrack" for the comic! That is -- what is the ideal "mixtape" to listen to while reading Shadowbinders?

How does it work?
1) Register for the Shadowbinders forums [link]. You can use Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, G+, etc. to sign in.
2) Each chapter of the comic will be broken down into "scenes." Each scene needs a song to accompany it.
3) Readers will suggest a song for each scene. This can be *any* genre.
4) Kam and Kneon will weigh these suggestions and narrow them down to 3 choices for each scene.
5) A poll will be created at the end of the discussion period to vote on the final song for each scene.
6) The winning songs will be announced, and the tracklist will become part of the Shadowbinders Book Two bonus content.
7) The process will be repeated for all chapters leading up to and included in Shadowbinders Book Two. (If successful, we may continue this until the end of the series - who knows?)

So let's discuss SHADOWBINDERS CHAPTER 1! [link]

Scenes that need songs:
1) Dream Battle
2) Rude Awakening / Almost Late!
3) Daydreaming / Brianna
4) A Gift From Grandma
5) Transported?!

Reply to this thread with your suggestions for each scene. Limit one song per scene per user. Feel free to link to lyrics, videos, clips, whatever to help make your case. Discussion is encouraged -- but no flaming.

Suggestions will be accepted until November 7, 2012 with voting to take place the following week.

And... go!

What 80's videos do you think would be "spoof" worthy?

desert_starr_57 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:17:41 -0500

We are going to spoof some 80's videos (with a Shadowbinders twist.) Video Suggestions?

We are starting with the "Safety Dance" Let us know what you think.

Steampunk Cons

Kneon — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:13:10 -0400

I admit it. I've never been to a steampunk convention.

So, in a nutshell, what can you guys tell me about them? Which ones are the "must dos" and how do they differ from a comic con? Or anime con?

Inquiring minds want to know!

What do YOU think a Shadowbinder is?

CCRogers3D — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:32:41 -0500

It's kind of funny that the first volume is out and we STILL don't know what a Shadowbinder is! So let's speculate.

It was fun re-reading the print volume because the pacing is so different than reading installments over weeks. I noticed for the first time that Sarah, the wanderer, is supposed to have started talking about the wind and the shadow again about the same time that Mia first appears in her world.

Given the difference in the time progression between the two worlds, it seems reasonable that the disappearances (like Sarah's brother) were happening when Mia's grandfather had the magical ring.

So... does using the ring to go between the worlds cause some kind of rift? Are Rhen and Mia hearing voices from said rift? Or are the Shadows some kind of creatures and they are hearing their voices?

Right now, my wild guess is that Mia is a Shadowbinder (and maybe Rhen, too), and whatever the Shadows turn out to be, they'll be able to stop/bind them.

Shadowbinders Gaming

dracone — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:50:02 -0400

Where we can talk about Shadowbinder in terms of games we are playing and possibly start writing up the rules for the Showbinderverse when playing games like D&D and GURPS. well not GURPS, that game litterally has rules for everything. We could however draw up character sheets for what we think the characters would look like and post them, talk about how we made someone like one characters of Shadowbinders showed up in one of our games and other geeky stuff like that.

Downton Abbey

Kneon — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:47:04 -0500

So who's watching this? And if you're not... why the heck not?! It's excellent!

The Mrs. and I are in the middle of the first season -- so hide those spoilers! ;)

But I've heard it only gets better.

Sandbox

Captain Video — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:34:19 -0500

I'm new here and I need to test some settings, and there wasn't a place for that, so I'll just make one.

Motion trails

CCRogers3D — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:02:10 -0500

I've tried numerous ways of drawing motion trails in my comic, and I haven't found any way that I really like.

Anyone have tips for indicating fast motions in a color comic?

"Rhen Faire"

Kneon — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:15:41 -0500

Here's the place to discuss our short story "Rhen Faire." In case you're not familiar with it, "Rhen Faire" is a short story we've been updating once a week on TopWebcomics.com. It's a side story that spoofs that 1980s video classic, "Safety Dance."

Here's some more info > [link]

We had some feedback from a reader concerned about the content in the comments section of this thread.

Her concern being that "Rhen Faire" isn't as family-friendly as the Shadowbinders comic itself.

Thoughts?

Chick Flicks that are awesome!

desert_starr_57 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:39:50 -0500

Okay...I HAVE to do a chick flick thread!

My personal favorites

Pride and Prejudice

Lost in Austen

Bridget Jones

Stardust (well not exactly a chick flick but I LOVE it)

The Lake House

I am sure there are more, but I am too tired to think right now.

What do you love?

Howl's Moving Castle

desert_starr_57 — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:43:17 -0500

This is my favorite book ever. I have read it several times (and I did base part of Rhen on Howl.) I have read all three books in this series a few times each, but this is my favorite one.

I like the anime if you look at it as a different story, but it is not nearly as good as the book. IMHO.

Anyone else?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Kneon — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:04:08 -0500

My take in a nutshell: Best of the three "Bayformers" movies, but I'm still not a fan of the movie-verse. Anyone?

Making Webcomics

Kneon — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:15:30 -0500

Here we go... let's talk about making webcomics. What tools do y'all use? What advice what you give to someone who wants to make a webcomic, but hasn't taken the plunge yet? Let's discuss anything and everything about the webcomic makin' process.

And... go!