Matty Matters

Matty Matters

Greetings Dieselfunkateers!   Decades ago I embarked on the mission to produce a character that would embody the spirit of adventure, fun, and drama.  Well actually, I’ve always tried to do that with every character I do.  I grew up looking at Superman, Batman, Buck Rogers, Star Wars.  As a child of the 60s-70s I had my heroes that allowed me to wonder.  But I oftentimes wondered what those of my parents generation and earlier had as lighthouses of valor?  Did they have a Flash Gordon or a Rocketman?  Sadly, the answer was NO.  Representation of people of color was systemically depicted in the most stereotypical fashion; if at all.  When it came to genre’s such as Science Fiction and Action Adventure, there was literally no representation at all; with only obscure exceptions.  Black and Brown boys and girls, let alone men and women, could not see themselves in outer space.  Upon the arrival of the 1960-70s things would begin to slowly change.  There was Lt. Uhura and Lando Calrissian.  But they often seemed alone…literally the only black people in space.  In the remote chance they were present, they would die at the hands of the alien or monster…just before the credits rolled or our comic came to an end.  More regressive was the depiction of female characters in an over-sexualized state.  This is and still remains rampant in comics.  In a crazed yet equal way, the mysogyny of female characters are not bound by color or ethnicity.  Nothing more sobering and insidious than seeing our earth mother heroine wearing a thong.  There would be no escape for us.

But…Perhaps it didn’t have to be that way?

Matty’s Rocket is designed to go beyond such limitations while acknowledging our past history.  No doubt this story is designed specifically for women of color but the universality of the themes aspire to connect with everyone.

BIG NEWS coming up shortly.  Stand by!

2 Billion Eyeballs Dieselfunk Journal 1

2 Billion Eyeballs Dieselfunk Journal 1

2 BILLION EYEBALLS!: DIESELFUNK JOURNAL 1

Greetings Dieselfunkateers!  The last week was a MASSIVE WEEK for Dieselfunk Studios.  High John Conqueror and The Dieselfunk Show have now premiered.  We have now moved on to the intricate and long term work of building a brand, audience, and market for our content.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW THE BUTTON.  VIEW AND SUBSCRIBE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVXNZJ_0DSE&t=6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rSbqU1C8fE&t=1s

I’ve kept a Journal for decades and used to writing down the occasional thought towards processing events.  It’s been a very useful exercise.  To that end, I’ve decided to take some time to write down my ideas on comics, media, and the REALITY that is the INTERNET.  We’ll call it say; THE DIESELFUNK JOURNAL.  I’m sure there are far more knowledgable and experienced folks in this area than I.  So if what I’m stating is old hat or irrelevant then simply ignore me.

In REAL NUMBERS, the mainstream comic book readership maxes out at 100-200 thousand readers give or take a few thousand. Spread proportionally over the level of strength and size of each publisher, access becomes a matter of life..and more often…Death.

So how does the one man/woman or independent shop, like DIESELFUNK STUDIOS, get in the game?  Not just the comic game, but the game that goes beyond that.  Well that’s what this journal series will be about.  We will investigate a lot, learn a lot, make mistakes…A LOT, and hopefully have the occasional bout of SUCCESS, a LOT:-)

Lets begin with the Thesis:  IFYOUTUBE has over 1 Billion users,   INSTAGRAM is at 7 Million users (pushing to reach 1 Billion by the end of the year), Facebook is virtually at 2 BILLION USERS!, and other networks are massive as well, would it not make more sense to GO ALL IN ON COMICS EXCLUSIVELY IN SOCIAL MEDIA.  Completely different Paradigm Right?

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https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/

Of course,  there’s that sticky QUALITY, DISTRIBUTION, and MONETIZATION thingy…:-)

More thoughts to Come…

Studio Visceral

© 2010 - 2022 Dieselfunk Studios, LLC. | Website Design by DMLWORX | Web + Graphic DesignDMLWORX

Launching On Juneteenth High John Conqueror

Launching On Juneteenth High John Conqueror

Launching on Juneteenth.  HIGH JOHN CONQUEROR

 

Greetings Dieselfunkateers!  ANNOUNCING the newest Dieselfunk Studios Bang UP.  A FREE Social Media Graphic Novel…

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As stated in earlier posts, Dieselfunk Studios has been doing a from the ground up retooling of our operations.  Part of running a company is about doing a constant reassessment of opportunities and reality.  What does that mean?  Well it means that the tried and true, Matty’s Rocket, will continue and Issue 3 will be available for purchase any day now.  However, Matty is not all we’ve got in the arsenal.  Next up is HIGH JOHN CONQUEROR.

HIGH JOHN CONQUEROR is a Retro-Afrofuturistic tale by TIm Fielder of Dieselfunk Studios. The concept is loosely based on the African American folk myth of John The Conqueror.  Have you ever wanted to see a brother throwing down in a genre mashup like Doc Savage?!  Blending the genres of Sword and Soul, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Alternative History and Steampunk/Steamfunk; High John Conqueror is a homage to the works of Charles Saunders (IMARO), Richard Corben (DEN) Robert E Howard (CONAN), Alex Simmons’ (BLACKJACK), George Lucas (STAR WARS), Will Eisner (THE SPIRIT) and many other Pulp Heroes of yesteryear.  

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Take a Western, Jules Verne, Star Wars and Glory, mix them together and you’ve got HIGH JOHN CONQUEROR!

Further, High John Conqueror is a Social Media Graphic Novel.  This is an experiment to see if the present 3-4 Billion users of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter WILL GET INTO A FREE COMIC THAT COMES TO THEM, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. (More on that as we go along!:-)

Additionally, expect to see a more modern delivery of content via our in the works vlog, presently being constructed printing operation and of course, our soon to air Youtube program’ The Dieselfunk Show.  Standby for further news and announcements!

BACK TO IT with an AXE to Grind!

Studio Visceral

© 2010 - 2022 Dieselfunk Studios, LLC. | Website Design by DMLWORX | Web + Graphic DesignDMLWORX

Blackjack on Fire and Ice

Blackjack on Fire and Ice

Blackjack ON FIRE AND ICE

 

Greetings Dieselfunkateers!  Alex Simmons’ BLACKJACK is back in two upcoming side by side adventures, Blackjack: Trial by Ice & Blackjack: Trial by Fire.  My long collaboration, this time in the form of cover art, continues with writers Alex Simmons (Creator of Blackjack) and Chris Ryan (Creator of City of Pain, City of Woe, City of Sin). Blackjack, aka’ man of action Arron Day,  is featured in stories that defy the imagination, yet put him within a definable time and place.

This began as an over the phone description by Alex of the basic cover design. But in this case I took it further by wanting to do a double cover.  So the sketch was literally done in five minutes.

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From a personal point of view, I’ve taken to doing the character as a way of imprinting my take of classic pulp covers while hopefully adding something new.  This can often appear in the form of a homage.  I’ve always loved the Greg and Tim Hildebrandt cover of Blackjack.  I decided this would be my inspirational starting point

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I’m not the most accurate of artists.  But after spending time with an illustration, I take a break and go back to an image with fresh eyes.  This can be repeated over and over again until I end up with an acceptable design.  In this case, while the initial idea was fine, the cross handling of Arron’s colt handguns obscured his face.

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I tried different poses.  Admittedly, this was a fun diversion but I knew the asymmetry would not work for a double cover.

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Ultimately, the decision was made to go back to the original idea but have Arron hold the colts side to side allowing the emotion in his face to communicate properly.  I preferred this as it took the spirit of the original homage and went in a slightly different direction.  I collected reference for lighting and design.  Each job is different.  The deadline was tight because the stories were being written as I was working.  Thusly, the basic composition of Arron dominating the double image yet being off to the side in the split images was the direction.  I would fill in the background later.  I began with a relatively tight pencil rendering.

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Then work proceeded towards doing a tight rendering of Arron.  Taking the fire and ice motif would suggest light and shadow.  This was further aided by making sure I had ample reference.

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At this point Alex and Chris had provided story elements so I could go into filling out the background space.  One of the stories takes place at the Olympics with Russian elements.  The other story takes place in the snowscapes in Europe.  So a google search run was most definitely in the cards.  Several hours, photo shoots, and layer blending later I had a finished image.

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Standby for more information on these new stories.  Very proud to have provided cover art.

Also, It’s been a good long while since I’ve posted an update.  Please know that MAJOR CHANGES are afoot in the way and mode that Dieselfunk Studios does business.  Standby for further news.

Back to it!

Studio Visceral

© 2010 - 2022 Dieselfunk Studios, LLC. | Website Design by DMLWORX | Web + Graphic DesignDMLWORX