225⎪New Adventures of Old Bruise

Hey everybody! It’s been a while since the last blog post, which doesn’t mean I haven’t been drawing, on the contrary ! Since the beginning of the year, I have a cool new contract that actually pays me a bunch of money to draw, which is really nice, but doesn’t give me much time to work on my own stuff.
And still, here’s - finally - the full third issue of Bruise !

Though it seems like it took a while to complete, it’s actually the Bruise story I’ve spent the least time working on. The third instalment was originally going to be a completely different story, having Bruise and Will take Yogi to steal some McGuffin on a cruise ship. I realised it wasn’t strong enough for a third episode, and it was too early in the narrative to have the characters galavant outside of New Arch City already. Thus, I had to come up with a completely new subplot to replace it, and that’s how i came up with this episode, “Scandal in the wind”. and not only do I think it’s way stronger than what I’d planned, I also really like the new character I created specifically for this story, Nola Del Rey. I had a lot of fun writing this episode and drawing the two action scenes, and I hope it’ll show.

Here a preview of the first four pages :

The online shop is now open so, if you’re interested, you can buy Issue #3 there, as well as all the other episodes, other comics and posters of some of the site’s artworks. (If you’re interested in purchasing any artwork that isn’t featured on the shop page, message me directly at contact@thekoneverse.com and tell me which one you wish to buy!)

Thanks for the support, and I’m really excited to hear what you think about it, so don’t hesitate to reach out !

Bruise #3 - Digital edition

€6.00

Add To Cart

Bruise #3 - Print Edition

€10.00

Bruise has a new mission : escorting the Costa Frican princess Nola Del Rey during her week in New Arch City. Unfortunately, neither the fact that Will tags along nor the men that are after the princess are going to make the task any easier…

Signed copy - COLORS - 40 PAGES

Age rating : TEENS - Mild violence, coarse language.

Add to Cart

222 | Back to Portwood

Hi everyone ! Hope you had a great summer, like I did ! (Weddings, Berlin, swimming in lakes in Switzerland...) But now it's time to go back to work, so celebrate Labor Day with a new addition to the American Freaks comic !

Click to read the chapter!

I finished drawing (H)Ex - part 1 in August of 2012, which means it took six years and a couple days for me to complete the story (which is a bit ludicrous since I literally drew this whole chapter in 3 days) ! Better late than never I guess. I renamed the two-part story "The Girlfriend", since it no longer has anything to do with witches, unlike previously planned.

Though I didn't draw any A-F comic in six years, I never abandoned the project ; I made a bunch of artworks and developed the story, which allowed me to improve the comic. I made a bunch of significant changes (like the name of the city). For example, Noah, who first appears physically in Part II, used to have a completely different name in Part I :

Anecdotally, Noah is actually an older character than all the other ones. I created him as a part of the cast of Deep, a supernatural action comic (you can read some of it here). I decided to re-use his design when I gave up on that first project, and he seemed like the perfect addition to the freaks roaming in Portwood.

As for Ned's ex, she was supposed to JUST be a nameless girl that would only appear in this episode as a means to introduce Noah (she was so inconsequential that I googled the term "Basic Bitch" to design her clothing and hairdo). I ended up really liking her design, so I decided to keep her in the cast, as she's kind of an asshole, which makes her a perfect addition.

But the biggest change is the character of Perry. Though he has the same personality, I completely remodeled him, going from this

to this :

Some of it has to do with evolution in my art style (which has become a little less manga over the years), a lot of it has to do with actually making him look mixed-race like he's supposed to be, instead of the indeterminate ambiguity of his previous looks :

Anyway, I hope you like the chapter ! I'm going to force myself to go back to comic-ing immediately, as I tend to take overlong breaks everytime I finish a comic. The script for Bruise's third episode is ready, I have a new short story project that i've been wanting to make for two years, and I already have plenty of other American Freaks stories planned, so, if all goes well, there won't be another six-years gap before Perry, Ned, Gunner and the Portwood gang are back!

KJF

204 | Miniversary

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Yeah, so, the blog is 4-year-old (and the Collection is 3-year-old) today ! So I'm celebrating with this poster featuring some of the characters from all the illustrations !

Alors, le blog a 4 ans aujourd'hui,  et je célèbre ça avec un petit poster rétrospectif des personnages de la Collection, cette série d'illustrations qui elle fête ces 3 ans.

Thumbs up to you if you can recognize from which drawing each character is (some should be easy, but others, like #5 or #18, should be harder !)

Pouce en l'air si vous arrivez à reconnaître chaque personnage et de quelle illustration il provient!

I might draw more Minis (you can already check the Facebook page and on Twitter where I posted two other ones).

Je referai peut-être d'autres Minis, ils sont plutôt marrants à dessiner ! (Vous pouvez dès à présent en voir deux inédits sur les pages Facebook et Twitter)

As for the fun, I made some statistics out of the data I gathered when drawing this and, among the 130+ characters there's :

- an unhealthy amount of general redheadness (1/4 of the characters, NOT surprising)

- beards (36% of the male characters)

- a lot of guns (something like 15, more surprising)

- more [partial] nudity than I would have thought (count yourself)

- 21 non-humans / supernatural characters (including two wolves and two female vampires)

- very little underage characters (10 out of 130 - I guess I really don't like children) and

- 15 animal sidekicks. Enfin, si vous avez toujours des suggestions de sujet pour les prochaines illustrations de la collection, lancez les moi !

***

In other news, n'oubliez pas de checker le nouveau blog/webcomics collaboratif de Elosterv:

à surveiller de près ! ;)

188 | American Freaks 2 !!

American Freaks' second episode starts today, drawn especially for the new website !

Click and enjoy !
I'm not going to post something on here to announce every new publication on the other blog, so you should subscribe to it for new pages of American Freaks, Bruise and Breslyn New Arch !

Une nouvelle histoire de American Freaks commence aujourd'hui, dessinée spécialement pour le nouveau site. Bonne lecture !
Par contre, je ne vais pas toujours annoncer les nouvelles publications de l'autre blog ici, donc abonnez-vous y pour les nouvelles pages de American Freaks, Bruise et Breslyn New Arch !

187 | American Bruise City

Several months ago, I started posting pages of Breslyn, New Arch, a graphic novel I've been working on for quite a while, on the comics online publishing site Manolosanctis. But following its death, there was no way for readers to have access to it, as I didn't publish it anywhere else. So I decided to create a new blog, New Arch City, in which I was to publish the story and the next chapters when I'll draw them. Then, I had the idea to just use it to publish all my ongoing projects, Bruise (yes, no, Bruise isn't over !) and American Freaks (whose intro is already on this blog).
So, from now on, check New Arch City for new comics and go (re)read the 100 pages + that are already on there, including a new chapter of Bresly, New Arch ! Soon ; the next pages of Bruise, and a new chapter of American Freaks !

Il y a quelques mois, j'ai publié sur Manolosanctis les premières pages de Breslyn, New Arch, le roman graphique sur lequel je bossais depuis un bout de temps. Mais, à la suite de la mort du site, il n'y avait plus aucun moyen d'accéder aux planches que je n'avais publié nulle part ailleurs. J'ai donc décidé d'ouvrir un nouveau blog, New Arch City pour les y republier, et dans la foulée, j'ai décidé d'y mettre les autres séries que je dessine e ce moment, soit Bruise (oui, Bruise va revenir !) et American Freaks. Elles seront donc tout trois publiées sur ce site à partir de maintenant, et en attendant la suite, vous pouvez dès maintenant aller (re)lire les 100 pages et plus qui s'y trouvent déjà, incluant un nouveau chapitre de Breslyn ! Bientôt ; la suite de Bruise, et une nouvelle histoire de American Freaks !

Bonne lecture !

158 | Busy Boy

I'm still on vacation...
Je suis toujours en vacances...

and I've never had that much (comics related) work !! So I'm ultra-busy these days - which is a good thing - obviously - but I don't have much time to post anything original for the blog, so just be patient !! Until I do, here are excerpts from the things I'm working on at the moment ; the first page of the next Trout & Salmon's episode (out this week !),
et pourtant, je n'ai jamais eu autant de boulot (en rapport avec le dessin) !! Donc je suis super occupé, ce qui est super, mais je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps pour faire quelque chose spécialement pour le blog. En attendant, voici des extraits de ce que je fais en ce moment ; la première page du prochain Truite & Saumon (dans le courant de la semaine),

and panels from a comic I was commissioned to draw but I don't want say what it is for yet (I wouldn't want to jinx it !). Just know that you'll normally soon be able to read them online - but not on this blog !
et des extraits d'une "bédé" qu'on m'a commandé !! Je ne veux pas dire de quoi il s'agit tout de suite, mais normalement, vous devriez pouvoir la lire bientôt - mais pas sur ce blog !

So, don't worry, I'll come back next month with other artworks for the Collection, and I've got a bunch of new ideas popping in my head for some comics, so stay tuned !! Have a nice vacation !!
Donc, ne vous inquiétez pas, je serais de retour le mois prochain avec de nouvelles illustrations et j'ai quelques idées en tête pour de nouvelles bédés. Passez de bonnes vacances !!

***

(Appropriate) Music stage !!

155 | Breslyn, New Arch

So, here's a sample of what I've been working on lately. To be short, it's a series about several characters who live in Breslyn, a fictional borough of New Arch City (that you all know thanks to that comics). It will be made up of short chapters focusing on one particular character or event and, even though it's a linear story, there will be numerous going back and forth in time, for various reasons.
It's different from my other comics as it's more anchored in reality as it focuses on the lives (and loves, sexuality, worklife, friendships, families) of "normal" people (who are no wizards or secret agents) even though, being who I am, there are some little fantasy elements here and there in the backgrounds.


Alors, voici quelques échantillons de ce sur quoi je bosse cet été. Au fond, il s'agit d'une série sur les vies de plusieurs personnages (cinq principaux et tout leur entourage) qui vivent à Breslyn, un arrondissement de la ville de New Arch City (que vous connaissez grâce à cette bédé). Elle sera composée de courts chapitres se concentrant sur un personnage ou un évènement en particulier et de retours dans le passé pour expliquer la viecertains personnages.
Elle sera plus ancrée dans la réalité que mes autres bédés car elle se concentrera vraiment sur la vie (et les amours, la sexualité, la vie professionnelle, les amitiés et les familles) de personnes "normales" (et non pas des sorciers ou des agents secrets) même si bien sur, étant ce que je suis, il y aura quelques petits éléments fantaisistes an arrière plan de l'histoire.

***

Music stage !!

152 | Ça commence aujourd'hui !

Alors, on vous l'a teasé à mort et c'est passé par pas mal de chemins, mais le nouveau blog de Elosterv et moi commence dès aujourd'hui !! Allez, cliquez !!

143 | A night on the road

136 | Welcome back to New Arch (2)

I've (over)announced it like EVERYWHERE, the second episode of Bruise has now begun so don't hesitate to tell me what you think about the design changes ! And, OK, I promise the next post will be something original that has nothing to do with Bruise. :p
Je l'ai (sur)annoncé PARTOUT, le deuxième épisode de Bruise vient de commencer (la version française arrive lundi prochain sur Webcomics.fr et Manolosanctis), alors n'hésitez pas à me dire ce que vous pensez de l'évolution graphique ! Et OK, je promets que le prochain post sera quelque chose d'original qui n'aura rien à voir avec Bruise. :p