Just a little experiment that I wanted to share with you guys. Unfortunately this does not mean Issue 7 will be in watercolor, but I did do this for a reason, one which you will learn eventually. (Are you excited?)

Well,  not really.  I never really defined the structure of Camul definitively,  and only a handful of words exist.  What I can offer you is the translations of the Camul phrases which appeared in Issue 4,  and if someone really wants to,  they can figure out the rest of the language themselves while I get back to work on Issue 6.

I’ve been planning this post for a while,  but I wanted to wait until Issue 4 was over.  Blog postings have been pretty infrequent around here  lately,  so now seems like a good time to throw out some Bonus Content.

Enjoy!

Okay,  we’ll start with Tela’s song.

Lapona ma copein

Ileza amusana

Ma padi copeiniya lapona

This is a fairly typical song sung by Camulian children.  I’m assuming that there are more verses,  but Tela’s pretty little and she mostly seems to stick to the first verse.  It translates to the following:

Lapona ma copein Rabbit my friend

Ileza amusana He-is funny

Ma padi copeiniya lapona My little friend+(diminutive) rabbit

Or,  translated less literally,  something like:

The rabbit is my friend

He’s very funny

My little friend,  the rabbit

How cute!  Note especially the word “ileza,”  which is a simple “to be” type word.   Also note the diminutive suffix -iya which attaches to copein (friend) in the last line.  So,  theoretically,  you could say laponiya for “bunny” or perhaps “little rabbit.”  The next time you meet someone from Camulia at the airport you can ask them if that’s grammatical or not.

A couple pages later Tela uses the exclamation Zut! which I simply nicked from French without changing it.  In Camul it’s pretty much equivalent to darn or drat. I don’t think Tela’s parents would have her wash her mouth out with soap if they heard her say this.

Now we jump ahead a bit to meet Tela’s parents.  When Miri first sees Raven,  she says:

Mada!  Arret!

Which translates literally as:

Mada!  Arret! (Exclamation of surprise)! Stop!

Or, to attempt to translate it into the vernacular:

Crap!  Stop right there!

Or something along those lines.

Okay,  a few panels later,  Geer is arguing with Miri:

Mayz la daije! Ileza tra! Jein ama.

Which is:

But the danger! It is much! I+(negation marker) like.

It’s too dangerous! I don’t like it.

Miri responds:

Ils nya nel. Civilein. Sais nya daije.

It’s not as-you-think. Civilian. Isn’t no danger.

It’s not like that.  [They're] civilians. There’s no danger.

Note that in Camul the double-negative is completely grammatical.

Jumping to the next page,  we find the last instance of Camul:

Nouz comp? Yev.

We comply? Yes.

Shall we do as they ask? Yes.

So,  we can form a few  new Camulian phrases with this knowledge.  For purposes of flexibility,  I’m going to say that we can form new adjectives by appending -na.  Therefore daige can become daigena,  “dangerous.”  (Also,  that would mean that amusana is actually derived from amusa,  which probably means “humor”).  Here are a few simple attempts:

Ileza lapona daijena.

He’s a dangerous rabbit. (Note that Camul does not use the indefinite article a.)

Nouz sais nya civileins.

We are not civilians.

Here are a few for you to try.  For convenience,  we will assume that Camul plurals are marked with an -s.  Good luck!

Ma copein ileza civileiniya.

Jei ama lapona.

Arret! La lapona tra daijena!

Nouz ama laponas? Mada!

Sais nya copeiniyas.

You are about to see what has only been seen by my immediate family before.

I speak of the fabled Zark comics.  The Zark comics were the predecessors of the Zark games which you may be familiar with.   The Zarks,  our fearless green protagonists,  first appeared in a comic called Space Kid which I will not be sharing with you.  In Space Kid they were the villains,  but they were just too cute for that line of work,  and by the time I began drawing Zirconius,  they had become the protagonists instead.

Zirconius took the form of four-page issues drawn in pencil on sheets of 8.5 x 11 copy paper.  When I finished an issue,  I would leave it on the kitchen table and my family would read it,  then I would quietly file it away.  After a considerable number of issues were complete,  I would staple them together into an anthology,  which would then live on my bookshelf.  Zirconius ran in this form from 2003-2007.

Yesterday I pulled down these books and painstakingly removed the staples.  I pulled the issues apart and scanned them.  I cleaned up the pencil lines and added the spot blacks that the originals always sadly lacked.  Now the first two storylines of Zirconius are here for your enjoyment.

Premier storyline:  Reunion (zip file of pages)  For the most part this story was self-explanatory,  but I’ll say a few words about it.  Zirconius is the captain of the ship,  which is referred to only by its serial number,  Z-10D #2.  Zirconius is the Zark who wears a black band on his left arm.  In this story they experience a chance encounter with a race the Zarks would rather forget.  At the time I thought this was a pretty sophisticated story,  but in retrospect it’s kind of silly.

Storyline 2:  Side Effect (zip file of pages) This issue requires a bit more explaining because it refers to things you would only know if you’d read Space Kid first.  First and foremost,  the creatures you see on the first page are Blorks,  the series’s goofiest villains.  The Blorks are approximately the height of apartment buildings but have all the smarts of a cactus.  They prowl through space capturing creatures smaller than they are,  which they refer to as “vermin.”  The other thing you should know is the rectangular guy featured in this issue,  Tangle,  never speaks.  He is the Harpo Marx of the Zark comics.   Keep that in mind as you read this.

(Don’t worry about the page numbering in these Zip files.  I assure you there is nothing missing from the Side Effect storyline,  even though the first page is not Page 1.)

Altogether the Zirconius oeuvre is 142 pages long. That’s a lot of Zarks adventures!  If you found yourself wishing for more after this brief sampler,  worry not–I’m working on restoring the entire series,  and hopefully I will soon be able to put it into print.  Zarks forever!

I’m responsible for the existence of these characters,  and as such I try to treat them well.  I like all of them,  but that is not to say that I love them equally.  That’s right–I’m playing favorites.

There are a few characters I like better than others,  and there are a few that I like less than others.

Raven is one of the latter.  Raven is the one character for whom I’m beginning to develop an actual dislike.  I’m not even sure why I don’t like him.  I think he’s just not a very interesting character to me.   Sure,  he’s got a little bit of backstory,  he’s got a personality,  and I know how he’s going to react in most scenarios,  but there just seems to be less of him somehow.  He’s also the most archetypical of all the characters.  He’s your Jim Kirk,  he’s your Han Solo,  he’s that character who’s always ready to jump into action.  I’ve tried to break this mold somewhat by occasionally referencing his softer side,  but this has done little to help matters.  No matter how I cut it,  he’s still little better than being a typical Action Dude.  This wouldn’t be too bad,  except that Raven has a tendency of being an integral part of the storyline.  That’s how he’s managed to get onto the front cover of all four issues.  The Captain’s place is on the bridge,  so when something important needs to be done,  Raven does it.  As a result,  my ambivalence toward him has begun to evolve into some sort of antipathy simply because I have to work with him more than I’d like.  If he was a less important character,  I could just sideline him for awhile whenever I got tired of him.   I can’t do that,  though,  because he’s too important.  I wish I liked him better,  but he’s just not my favorite.  Sorry,  Raven.

So,  it follows that I must have favorite characters as well.  I do.  My favorite character right now is Candace Albee.  Why I’m not sure.   She hasn’t been a member of the cast for very long,  and yet I really like working with her.  I can’t say much without unearthing potential spoilers,  but she’s a complex character.  She’s conflicted in ways that even she herself doesn’t realize.  At some point I hope to work more of her backstory into the comic.  It’s been suggested that she had a hand in designing the ship,  even,  although the specifics have never been revealed.  (I also might like her just because she replaced Aaron Blanchard,  who was pretty depressing to work with because he was so miserable all the time.)  I have yet to work with Albee as much as I want to.  She fascinates me.

I also like Kindler and Ritchie.  I like them because they’re both just plain fun to work with.  Kindler’s fun because he’s so abrasive and because he flies off the handle so easily.  He’s fun to draw when he’s angry,  and I like playing off his prejudices (which are many).  Ritchie I like for similar reasons.  He’s an idiot but he doesn’t know it.  He’s despised but he doesn’t know it.  He thinks everyone loves him.  He’s fun to work with for those reasons.  I love to insert him into scenarios where he thinks he’s in charge,  but in reality everyone is studiously ignoring him.  He’s kind of an archetype,  too,  in a way,  but I like him anyway.  I know I would hate Ritchie in real life–and that’s why I have so much fun working with him,  I think.

And there’s that one character who I simply haven’t had time to explore yet:  Nigel Kuruschov.  It’s a shame,  too,  because I think I’d like him.  He’s a fun guy.  The trouble is that there hasn’t been a storyline so far that’s really needed a doctor.  I still hope to incorporate him eventually,  though…so stay tuned!

So anyway,  this is all to say that I have a new mini-comic which I wrote in response to this trend.  >>> Read it. <<<

It’s also worth noting that this is my “fast and loose” style,  which I don’t think I’ve ever posted here before.  I kind of like working this way (though I don’t intend to change Sunrise),  and I hope to use it further in a project I’m planning for the summer.

Edit: Link fixed.  That was dumb.

Here’s my pencil rough for Page Three of the current issue.  I draw these out in pencil first,  then scan them in at 300 DPI and ink them digitally in Photoshop.  The page is then lettered digitally in Illustrator.  I work from a loose script which states basically what is supposed to happen on each page (although it tends to change over the course of the issue),  but all dialog is written at the drafting table.

Here’s my complete working script for Yucateca:

A famous archaeologist,  Frances Lenard,  comes aboard to travel to the Yucatan to explore a rumored new ruin.  Upon arriving in the general vicinity of the ruin,  they happen upon Gregor Lokennor,  a man stranded in the jungle,  claiming to be a missionary.  When questioned about the logic of doing missionary work in a deserted jungle,  he is evasive and insists that he has simply lost his way.  Blanchard experiences a flare-up.  The crew tracks down what seems to be part of a deserted temple and Frances Lenard sets to work with her investigations,  Aaron volunteering as an assistant while simultaneously nursing his father to the best of his abilities.  His desire for adventure and his reluctant devotion to his father causes stress.  Meanwhile Gregor is spending a lot of time examining the canopy with a telescope and poring over charts,  but refusing to to explain his motives.  Robinson catches him in the act of attempting to rob one of the ship’s (empty) ammunition depots.  Growing suspicious,  Robinson pressures him into giving a sermon,  which he botches absolutely.  Sensing the crew’s growing distrust,  Gregor seeks out Aaron alone and reveals to him his true intent:  he is not a missionary at all,  but rather a private treasure-seeker who desires to find immense amounts of Maya gold which he imagines to exist in the area.  Unable to resist this siren call of adventure,  Aaron readily agrees to accompany him,  abandoning the ship by night and providing Gregor with a weapon (personally owned).  They parachute-jump into the canopy,   but the drop was too short and the parachutes are not really effective.  Both are somewhat injured by the incident.  On the ship,  Blanchard grows worse,  and there is no one on board with the knowledge of how to care for him.  Desperate,  the crew begins a search for Aaron,  who has been having adventures of his own with Gregor,  who is obviously extremely unethical and untrustworthy,  and is clearly using Aaron to his own ends.  Finally they are able to track him down with Frances Lenard’s help,  leading to an uncomfortable climax:  Raven and Frances Lenard confront Aaron,  telling him that his father is dying and he has to return to the ship.  Gregor threatens to shoot him if he attempts to leave.  Aaron strikes him across the chin and they escape,  abandoning Gregor to the jungle.  Later,  Blanchard is feeling better with his son’s aid,  and Frances Lenard tells Aaron that her research has clearly shown that the area possesses no treasures.  She gives him a small Maya dagger from their excavations,  though,  and encourages him to consider a career in legitimate archaeology.
1. Raven is cooking breakfast for everyone (terrible as usual).  Blanchard is walking with a cane again.  Aaron talks excitedly about the mission and the (presumed male) archaeologist.
2. Frances arrives on board.
3. Title.  Plans to explore the jungle commence.
4. Aaron and Frances begin exploring the jungle.
5. Aaron wanders off by himself a little and happens upon Gregor.
6. Gregor is brought back to the ship and the crew attempt to glean information about him.
7. Gregor tries to help Frances but appears careless.   Frances orders him off the site.
8. Gregor begins to spend a lot of time using a telescope.  Robinson requests that Aaron try to spend a little more time on board the ship.
9. Gregor again tries to gain access to the archaeological sites.  Robinson orders him to stay on board the ship.
10. Up late one night,  Robinson discovers Gregor trying to break into the ammunition depot.  Growing suspicious,  he goads him into giving a sermon.
11. Gregor attempts his sermon.
12. Gregor pulls Aaron aside for a little talk.
13. Blanchard isn’t looking good.  Aaron wants to help Frances,  but he needs to stay in the engine room and run an adjustment procedure.
14. Aaron and Gregor join forces.
15. Aaron and Gregor crash-land in the jungle.
16. Robinson is searching for Aaron when he discovers the unconscious Blanchard.
17. Robinson and Frances attempt to help Robinson without success.   Aaron and Gregor are confirmed missing.  Ship cannot be started because Aaron shut down and disassembled the engines during the checkup.
18. A meeting is called to discuss the predicament.  Only Aaron and Blanchard understand the Akhenaten-class.  Blanchard is dying and needs medical attention,  which he can only get if they can find Aaron to fix the ship.  Frances volunteers to head the search,  since she knows the jungle and Aaron.  Raven accompanies her.
19. Aaron and Gregor in the jungle.
20. The away team progresses toward Aaron
21. Climax–The away team finds Aaron and tells him that he’s needed back on the ship.  Gregor threatens to shoot him if he attempts to leave.  Aaron punches him and runs.
22. Return to the ship.  Aaron administers medicines to Blanchard,  who becomes visibly better.  Aaron goes to bed.
23.  Robinson sits Aaron down for a chat,  intending to severely chastise him,  but Aaron instead reveals his intention to resign.  Robinson sees that he is making the correct decision and congratulates him.
24. Aaron,  in civilian clothes,  meets Frances at the dig site.  She explains the truth about Gregor’s delusion.  Aaron asks her if he could join her on her expeditions (possibly not shown?).
25.  Back in the US,  the mission is finally over.  Aaron and H. Blanchard part,  Aaron and Frances leaving together.

First,  as you can see here,  I write a synopsis of the story as a fat block of text.  Then I break it down page-by-page.  As you can also see,  after a point I stop revising the original block-of-text version.  This one has my original ending,  in which Aaron does not leave,  and Gregor’s original meaningless surname,  Lokennor.  Another fun fact:  Frances Lenard was originally going to be a male character.

So these should give you some idea of my process.

Calvin and Hobbes  The famous theologian and political-scientist duo go on a thrilling downhill wagon ride. We all miss you, Bill Watterson.

The Adventures of Danny the Dancing Robot Guide Danny the Dancing Robot’s misadventures through a McCloudian choose-your-path comic. This is a really big one with lots of options.

You can also check out the full list of my online comics unrelated to Sunrise,  but I’ll warn you that it’s not especially long.

One of you mentioned Mr. Nutcracker,  a computer game I made a long time ago.  In the spirit of Christmas,  I’m posting it here for you guys.  It’s a Windows installer,  3.3 MB.  To put it simply,  you’re an evil nutcracker who wreaks havoc in a festively-decorated house.  Also he can fly.  It’s undoubtedly one of the most destructive Christmas-related things in existence.

Click ye here

If you’re wondering about the 2,  it’s technically the sequel to a game called Mr. Nutcracker that I made a long time ago.  I’m not going to post that one.

(A hint for those who can’t escape from the attic:  first you have to go up into the rafters and get your first box of Christmas lights.  Then use them on the  ladder.)