Hey people. So Brian and I figure we’re gonna get a lot of crap from people about this week’s page. Now, I understand the use of the word ‘retard’ is considered rude and offensive by some, and I kinda fall into that group. Allow me to explain why Brian and I are went there.
This week’s page is meant to be a homage to one of the great comic book creators of our time, Mr. Frank Miller. If you don’t know who he is (and I’m thinking this is more for my older female family members), Mr. Miller is credited with helping bring about the modern age of comics as we know it. He helped introduce adult storylines to an industry that typically pandered to the under-12 crowd, and he brought a level of sophistication to graphic storytelling that is still revolutionary. Some of his groundbreaking works include: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again, Sin City, and 300. If you haven’t read any of this man’s stories, I suggest you get to it.
Anyway, most comic fans get the reference in this weeks strip. The “Goddamn Batman” meme has been going around since Frank introduced it in the pages of “All-Star Batman and Robin, The Boy Wonder” in 2005.
Who knew Batman was such a pottymouth?
Yes he is.
Oh. Hello there. It’s been so long since we posted I had forgotten what you looked like. Sorry for the super long delay between pages. We’ll try to do better in the future. In the meantime, enjoy the newest page. I would just like to add that my wife really isn’t a crazy, jealous person. She’s very sweet and accommodating of my nerd tendencies. MWAH! That’s for my lady.
Until next time, I remain,
Ray
As accommodating as my wife is, I don't think she'd let me do that...
Hey again. It’s a brand new year, and a brand new DR page! Hope you enjoy Brian’s take on the stylings of Sir William Shatner. I know I do.
I’m stoked that DarkRaven has made it to the fabled “Year we make contact”. 2010. Wow. We’ve been doing this little comic since in one form or another since early 2007, and I’m still loving it. And while there’s not a huge number of pages completed in those three years (87 is still a respectable number), each and every one of them has been crafted with love by Brian and I.
So here’s to the next three years (or more!) and hopefully many, many more pages of DarkRaven and Blue Tit fun!
BTW, I wanted to share with you a Christmas gift I received. My friend John Ragone is builds model cars as a hobby, and he created the ultimate DarkRaven-inspired vehicle.
It started with me receiving a nicely wrapped gift box addressed to DarkRaven.\
The title The Silver Scarab-The Blackbird teases as I open the package.
After removing the title board, I'm treated to a custom comic announcing The Blackbird Hatches!
The comic details the creation of this, a custom-built display featuring the Silver Scarab as it appears in the comic, and the new Blackbird design.
Here's a close-up of the Silver Scarab. Brian called it anti-climatic in the comic, but the craftsmanship of this model is suberb!
And here's the first shot of the Blackbird. It's a combination Batmobile/Ecto-1/VW crime-fightin' machine.
Side view of the Blackbird. Notice the dream set-up of Apple Laptops in the dashboard. Squee!
The back side. Notice the anti-pursuit oil dispenser under the foil. It's affectionately called The Poo Shooter.
A close-up on the two models side-by-side.
The total package.
Hey people!
I realize that it’s been over a month since our last post and for that I want to apologize. Life and work have sucked up all the free time Brian and I would have otherwise dedicated to the comic, and updates have suffered as a result. We’ll try to do better in the future. Hope you enjoy the new page. See you soon!
-Ray
Link and Ganon from The Legend of Zelda. Totally bad-ass.
Hey again. I hope all of our US service members are having a good Veterans Day! I had to work today but Brian, with his cushy government job, did not. Jerk.
I’m a little bummed that I missed the Astronomicon sci-fi convention held in Rochester this past weekend. A friend was on a panel discussing vampires vs. werewolves, and that sounds like it would be totally awesome, but I was too busy painting my kitchen. I should hand in my geek card.
BTW, if anyone wants to buy me a Christmas gift early, the new Justice League Complete Series on DVD came out yesterday. It’s only $67 bucks at Amazon. Don’t I have a rich uncle out there who can make this happen for me?
Okay, enough shameless begging. See ya next week.
-R
I've heard they're making movies out of video games these days, but come on!
Hello again! This week’s page is a fill-in by yours truly. Go easy on the critiques, as this is my first attempt at actually penciling a page. I’m nowhere near the penciler that Brian is, but who is?
This week’s comic is especially comic-geeky, so don’t worry if you don’t know what the Blackest Night is, or why there’s a zombie Superman up in the top right panel (a quick primer can be found here). Just enjoy this brief glimpse of what it would be like if the DarkRaven existed in a world full of real superheroes.
See ya next week (hopefully).
-Ray
The real dangers of facebook...
Today’s strip is a little shout-out to Brian and Alison’s cat Maddy. I thought it would be funny to include her because she has the most enormous eyes I’ve ever seen on a cat. Seriously. We’re talking freakishly big. Anyway, we found a fun way to get her in the strip and I spent a good part of the day making sure I got her fur colored just right. (That, and those damn brick walls in every frickin’ panel.)
So what’s everyone doing for Halloween? The wife and I will be kid-less, so maybe a night out on the town is in order. I might even bust out the DarkRaven costume if we end up going to a costume party.
Later,
-R
Just in time for Halloween, a creepy Snow White! By Jeffrey Thomas.
Hey friends,
I know it’s been about a month since we had a new story page, and I apologize for that. I lost my grandmother two weeks ago and was out of town for about a week, so the page you see now would have went up last week. I still need to fully render the art on this page, but I didn’t want to wait any longer before posting. I’ll get the final rendered page up soon.
Until next week,
-R
The drawing Brian sent me the day he heard I lost my Grandma. What a good guy!
Hey friends,
In case you missed it, we have a guest artist for this week’s episode! My good friend Adam West (not the one you’re thinking of, the other one) offered to help us out with this special page. The strip doesn’t take place in the current “Tales of the DarkRaven” continuity (and really shouldn’t take place in any continuity). This imaginary tale shows what would happen if DarkRaven and the Blue Tit existed in the Marvel Comics universe. Good times.
Hope you enjoy, and we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled story soon.
-Ray
PS. If the page is too small for you to read up, just click on the link below it to show a bigger image.
Hey friends. I didn’t get this week’s script to Brian before his anniversary dinner last night, so the page will be a day late. But I didn’t want our fans to go without anything this Wednesday, so I’m unveiling my coveted picture of Bruce Campbell that I got at the 2009 FanExpo in Toronto.
If you don’t know who this fine gentleman is, he’s a master thespian who has appeared in a number of movies and television series. He’s played a range of characters from Elvis to The King of Thieves. He chopped off his own hand and replaced it with a chain-saw in “Army of Darkness,” and he sang “Hungry Like a Wolf” while playing piano in an Old Spice commercial.
He’s The Man.
When we took the photo, the sum total of what Bruce said to me was, “Let’s do an action-hero-y pose.” It was like he looked inside of me and knew I was a closet action hero. He just knew.
Best day ever.
See ya tomorrow.
-R
The Bruce.
Best Cowboy Ever.
The King.
From Hercules and Xena.
The Chin.
Ash from "Army of Darkness"
