Season 2 Starts In… THREE Weeks!
Very much still a work in progress, I am nevertheless moving forward at an acceptable pace with Chapter 4. That is to say, I finished the first page, which was a total blockbuster and took me positively forever. But I’ll just leave that for October. It’s done, leave it at that – and a month early. Or so.
Anyhow, I must apologize for being remiss in answering all the really kind posts and emails I got last week – I very quickly got snowed under at work and in comics-land, and I’m afraid I failed to keep up. But suffice it to say that public opinion, with about two vocal but very polite exceptions, has run very strongly in favor of the redirection of effort towards a quick launch of Season 2 and, although it means an effectively indefinite delay to printing the book, it means more good stuff every week, and that’s what I’m going for. I’m already feeling enthusiastic about the next chapter, and drawing it has been tough but very rewarding. I’m picking up the pace a bit, but I’ll say right now that, if necessary, I’ll reserve the right to go “irregular” on the schedule every once in a while to keep the quality at a standard I’m comfortable with. That’s my best compromise. I do promise however that I will be shooting for the weekly schedule, and at present, I feel very amply capable of it.
So anyhow. That’s my hedgey and á propos of nothing post for this week. Just to let you know that things are moving forward, and it’s all falling into place!
All the best, folks!
A Lada!
Yes indeed! 😀
–M
Vladivostok Vice, Tonight on FSRTV
Hah! “NKVD Blue!”
😀
–M
And now I try to imagine a “high speed” chase with Ladas.
Hey, man, I’ve seen good drivers get a lot of performance out of some pretty surprising cars. And who knows what they put under the hood of a Militsiya Lada.
“She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”
–M
Actually there was quite an interesnig car series released…
It was Volg variation. It had it’s hull thikened about twice to a normal car’s hull… Was hell of a heavy car and devoured lots of fuel, but it was next to impossible to damage it.
One time when such car (that lived long enoug – the story happened in present days) had a traffic accident, the Police refused to belive that it had. Because the other car got pretty much smashed, and that volga was virtually undamaged.
And if you wat to see some crazy driving – just watch Moscow’s public cabs in the peak hours… It’ almost like they are driving on walls at times… in those Gazelle minibuses…
Fair point. And now I can’t help but think of the Blues Brothers and their car.
I can see a couple of wrong things on this picture… byt I still Like it. 🙂
The wrong things are:
1) The flashlight on the car. This wide blue/red flash appeared quite recently on Russian police cars. Just a decate or one and a half ago. And it came there to copy the US police. I hardly see how that will happen in your universe. Co there more likely be a single blue flashilft. Like a smal bucket on car top.
2) he emblem on the militaman is too big. It would just not fit there this way…
3) There bound to be a car handle visible on the door/ Just above the railing.
Somewhat like that.
Good catch on all three! I appreciate it!
I actually had a lot of trouble finding source material on Soviet era police (Militsiya) forces. I don’t know why. In the U.S. we have tons of different police forces because every state is independent, so it runs its own law enforcement, with lots of unusual areas where jurisdiction isn’t very clear, especially since we have no national police force (the FBI is only allowed to pursue criminals who have violated a Federal law). As to the cars, our police have been using bar lights since about the 1970s – it never occurred to me that might not have been the case elsewhere. I’ll definitely make that change.
By the way, are police dramas as popular on Russian television as they are in the USA? I’ve always wondered if there we’re Soviet-era “cop dramas.” I think it might have been kind of brilliant, to come at the conservative, law-and-order type of drama from a socialist perspective, in the Cold War. I’ve seen many such shows and movies from Britain, France and Italy. But really I have very little understanding of how Russians view the law and the police as compared to Americans. I’d be very interested to know.
Citizen X?
Not sure I understand you?
–N
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112681/
Oh, right on!
–M
Police dramas? Hm… Let me think a little.
There are some films about police that were release in 90-th… But just like 90% of films made in that time they are trash or worse…
There is a classic film named “Место встречи изменить нельзя” (I really do not know how to translate it without killing all the meaning) That is worth watching… But it shows not the soviet police… not the late one at least.
And beside this, I can not think of any. (Unles you count soviet films about Sherlok Holmes as well)
Military dramas were a lot more popular.
Or just “Life” dramas, about ordinary people.
Well in fairness, the vast majority of American police drama is garbage as well. And you know I mean no offense when I state, simply as a point of fact, that at present the “go-to” bad guys in American cinema are usually Russians. It’s a really silly and transparent stereotype, like the modern version of the old standby “high octane” villains in the 1980s, who we’re usually British actors pretending to be Germans.
It’s kind of a shame, too, be cause there has been some excellent Russian cinema. Tarkovsky’s Solaris is a beautiful science fiction art film. And of course, there’s The Ninth Company, another really excellent film in the class with American Vietnam epics.
I’ve seen the Sherlock Holmes ones, too, from the Soviet period. Though I have to admit, I prefer Jeremy Brett.
–M
Two very notable US polcie dramas worth watching:
The Wire and Third Watch (alas not fully released on DVD).
You know, there was a guy who I used to work with who was positively obsessed with The Wire. It is a pretty good show. I also recommend Homicide: Life on the Street. Most of the modern police dramas’ filming conventions come from that show.
–M
Soviet era SciFi (especially novels) is a very intriguing matter. It’s virtually unknown today, but it is out there. Even some very decent movies. The Soviet Union knew how to make decent cinema.
Since SciFi is utopian anyway, the [hidden] pro-socialist agenda and message doesn’t matter too much, but it is interesting to see how “the other side” depicted future and SciFi.
There is also a rather well-know SciFi series from Germany (weekly 60 pages novels) called Perry Rhodan which goes on for about 50 years by now.
It could make a decent source for social sciences studies, since all art and culture is always influenced by the issues at the time and the series changed a lot in those years from a rather [American] “lets conquer space and kick ass”-theme to more esoteric and ethical or even philosophical themes.
For details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
Has some cool and cheesy artwork as well.
I know a little bit about Soviet era sci-fi, mostly through the silent movie Aelita, made shortly after the Russian Revolution. A scientist builds a rocket and travels to mars, along with a slightly inept police detective who is following the scientist in the beleif he is a murderer.
On Mars, they find a highly advanced but socially unjust civilisation, with vast numbers of oppressed workers toiling away for the elite Preist caste. The movie’s title refers to the Queen of Mars, with whom the scientist falls in love, but of course, she’s just using him as they start a socialist uprising against the preists, so she can rule alone without sharing power with them, immediately turning on the workers, as soon as the preists are defeated.
I’d describe it as Edgar Rice Buroughs, through the lense of Communism
Sounds like you’re getting revved up again Mathieu. Can’t wait to see more of your great art work. I love how you draw vehicles.
Thanks, Denny! It’s good to be moving ahead, though it took great force of will to put the revisions on hold. I do like drawing machines, and there are quite a good number of them yet to come!
–M