Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Kickstarter Link :
http://drorangecomic.com

Joseph Duis has written some graphic horror novellas including Bless the Children and The Order of Dracula. I was provided a preview copy of Doctor Orange to review. Dr Orange is a classic horror story with a sense of terror that builds until the final act. You’ll never look at a pumpkin the same way again.

The Kickstarter for Dr Orange is set to run on the 14-Aug-18. Joseph was also kind enough to provide some of his time to answer some questions about his work.

All you works have elements of horror. What draws you to write in this genre?

As far as what draws me to this type of story, I used to write only comedy but a field trip in middle school inspired a horror plot but I had no idea how to write a horror story. So I started studying up on the genre. I had actually been exposed to universal monsters at a young age in a colouring book of all things but the tone was lost on me. I went back and watched all of those, moved on to Godzilla, King Kong, reading Lovecraft and really started to deconstruct the genre.

When I decided to focus on comics I wanted to focus more on building mood than building a world so I naturally thought of things like Twilight Zone and Tales from the Dark Side. Horror works best when you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

What was your insipiration for Dr Orange?

I wrote the original story in 2011 while I was carving a pumpkin on my porch with a huge kitchen knife. My wife was away at med school at the time and wasn’t going to be home for several hours. It struck me that if I accidentally cut myself that I’d bleed out and die with no one the wiser.

I was all alone, just me and the Jack o’lantern. But if the Jack o’lantern was there, I wasn’t really alone, right? Then it hit me . . . what if the Jack o’lantern was the one who stabbed me? Everyone would think it was an accident but that would be crazy.

Colour is thematically important in Dr Orange. How did you find the colouring process for this work?

The process is more expensive and more time-consuming, but I’m glad we had colours in this particular book. I couldn’t name it Dr. Orange and have it be in black & white! I told our colourist, Maulana Faris, to do it in a fall palette and he went even further and made nearly everything orange, which turned out great. I actually had to talk him out of making the dog orange.

Thanks for your time and good luck with the Kickstarter.

Kickstarter Link :
http://drorangecomic.com

BIG NEWS!
BIG NEWS!
BIG NEWS!

The Terralympus Kickstarter now has a launch date on the 19th August 10pm (Australian EST). More details will be released in the next few weeks but I’m extremely excited to be able to share this science fiction graphic novel with everyone. Terralympus is the first collaboration with Comics2Movies!

Leichhardt Library (as part of Comic Con-Versation 2018 where Sydney based libraries run a host of events about all things comic related!) exhibited various artwork including 2 pages of Word Smith. It’s incredible to see your creation on the wall. (Thanks P.R. and Peyton for bringing life to my story!)

On some 5 Seconds Volume 2 news, the Wall of Fame for 5 Seconds Volume 2 is now done! Thank you to everyone who help support this project. I can imagine all those graphic novel parcels making their way around the world.

Link :
http://sigmatestudio.com/wall-of-fame-6/

What’s coming up for Sigmate Studio? I am working on 5 Seconds Volume 3 (ETA 2019) as well as the next instalment of Word Smith (No ETA). However I’m hoping to launch a new science fiction graphic novel Terralympus in the next few months. I do hope you will check it out when the Kickstarter is out.

The prints for 5 Seconds Volume 2 prints are now done! The physical rewards have started going out now. There is a postal delay with the unique sketches but I’m hoping that gets resolved soon.

It’s here!! Holding the printed copy (even a draft) is in an incredible feeling. Another amazing print job from Comic Books On Demand. (Thanks Doug!) Some minor tweaks and adjustments before getting set for a full print run.

A lot can happen in a few weeks. It’s definitely been a crazy time. 5 Seconds Volume 2 has been edited and almost ready to print. I love this point of a project where everything is falling into place and I’m excited for everyone to finally be able to read the story.

5 Seconds is a “slice of life” story with a little time twist. It’s interesting to craft a tale with flashbacks and future sight and mould it into a cohesive story. (There were a lot of rewrites involved!)

The completed drawn in page for 5 Seconds Volume 2! I’m so happy to be able to include so many supporters into this page. There’s a good mix of new faces and some familiar faces.

More sketch rewards from 5 Seconds Volume 2 Kickstarter have been finished by P.R. Dedelis! The works are still being lettered. After that, it will be to the graphic designer to lay it out ready for printing.

Things are progressing nicely on after the 5 Seconds Volume 2 Kickstarter finished. The monies from the Kickstarter has come through which will be used for paying for the first print run. Still doing some tidy up on the script before lettering powers ahead. In mean time, this is one the rewards sketches that one of the backers will receive!

5 Seconds Volume 2 Kickstarter is NOW finished at 160 backers and $3920 raised! I was planning to do this update over the weekend but decided after a long campaign, some rest was in order. A Kickstarter is a lot more effort to run that you would anticipate!

So what happens now? I’ll get the requests in for the background characters, finalise some of the dialogue and then it’s getting ready for the first print run. I’m really looking forward to getting the second volume out of the door. This is the first sequel to any of my works. Can’t wait to get the final volume of the 5 Seconds trilogy done as well.

Although we didn’t break the $4000 stretch goal (so so close), I’m still going to get this amazing print for FREE for all backers on $50+ or more. I had to use Eric Gravel‘s artwork for this project!