You heard that right folks! We’re doing some dark science! Using the power of technology we’ve brought the dead back to life! Or at least have brought another Silverline Classic back to print with another Remix.
It’s not alone either. We are launching two brand spanking new titles at the same time. For a total of three, you head me right, THREE books in one Kickstarter campaign. Remember a Silverline Kickstarter is essentially just the preorder with a chance to get some extra goodies. Psssst, it also really helps the analytics so if you back it, that tells us you want more.
These are some truly dope titles, and I really can’t recommend them enough if you are fan of Sci-Fi.
From the far future of the year 1992, comes Krey!
When a band of mutant warriors attack a human tribe, a young human boy is taken alive. Given the name “Krey,” he is raised with the very mutants who killed his family. as the young boy grows, he desperately wants to be a warrior and join the men in war. When humans attack his village, he just might get that chance.
Krey #1 RemiX is science fiction/fantasy; full color, 25 pages. It is part 1 of a five issue mini-series. This comic is completely finished. Roland Mann – writer; Steven Butler – penciller; Ken Branch – inker; Jeremy Kahn – colorist; Nick McCalip – letterer.
Brand new, and from the brain of my friend Wes, and featuring art from my Tuesday co-host Aaron, The Obsoletes!
When a group of grizzled intergalactic prospectors are accidentally thrust 20 years into the future, they’re faced with a very different reality. The world they knew is unrecognizable and their profession has changed, becoming more deadly than ever. But rather than ride off into retirement, the crew of roughnecks sets out to prove that they’re still the best in the game… even if they are a little obsolete.
The Obsoletes #1 is science fiction/action, full color 22 pages, is the first of a four issue mini-series. The comic is completely finished! Wes Locher – writer/letterer; Aaron Humphres – penciller; Jose Fuentes – inker; Haley Martin – colorist.
If a space opera is more of your jam, than Beyond the Stars might be for you!
When a galactic spanning entity threatens the Empire of Man, Haven’s corp of Science-Warriors is called upon to save mankind. Led by Kal, a fearless servant of the All Mother, and Prof. Yonel Travane, an expert on lost alien races, their team will sacrifice all to challenge this unimaginable horror from beyond the stars.
Beyond The Stars #1 is science fiction/action; full color, 22 pages. It is the first of a six issue mini-series. The comic is completely finished. Ron Fortier – writer; Andrea Bormida – artist; Mike W. Belcher – letterer.
Again, I can’t recommend these books enough. If you like sci-fi you need these on your shelf. There is something for everyone and again, this is a rare occasion for Silverline with three books for offer at the same time.
Please check it out, (give our analytics team their data) and get yourself some dope comics.
Despite the fact that 2021 was still a Covid-year for many, it was a good year for Silverline Comics. We crowdfunded and shipped (on time!) 12 comics! Twilight Grimm #3 and White Devil #1 will ship in early January but funded in December…so I’m not sure which year to put them in.
The complete list is:
Teen Beetle #1 and Switchblade #1 ReMix, funded in January and shipped in March. Twilight Grimm #2 and Friar Rush #2, funded in March and shipped in May. Divinity #2 and Steam Patriots #1, funded in May and shipped in July, our biggest to date. Beah #1 and Silverline Team-Up #1, funded in July and shipped in September. Kayless #3 #4 and TPB, funded in September and shipped in November. Silverline Christmas Special, funded in October and shipped in December.
Twilight Grimm #3 and White Devil #1 (in Nov/Dec—will be shipping in a few weeks)
That is 13 total comics.
THIRTEEN TOTAL COMICS.
Whew!
Yeah, yeah, I get we could point to a lot of indy comic makers who do more than that, but considering we did seven in 2020 and two in 2019…well, color US impressed! I don’t expect us to do considerably more than that next year—but that’s for next week to talk about.
Streams grow to three weekly!
We started streaming in March of last year (2020) with the one stream. In a matter of months, we grew to two streams weekly, adding Sunday. Well, in 2021, we added a third weekly stream geared more for a west cost audience as it runs 8-10pm PST. THAT SILVERLINE SHOW ON TUESDAY is hosted by Tim TK (who does most of these weekly blog posts!). Tim is generally joined by Quinton Bedwell, Jose Fuentes, and Aaron Humphres (every other week).
You can find us Sundays 8-10p EST, Tuesdays 8-10p PST, and Wednesdays 8-10pm EST. It’s free to watch!
Discord
We’re still trying to push more social media content over to Discord…but haven’t had a lot of luck with that. If you’re already on Discord, here’s an invite link for you…come help us populate it!
For those of you who prefer just audio, we posted audio versions of our streams…a bit behind in schedule, but still you can get the content. You can find those on our website on Apple iTunes, Spotify, etc.
New Projects
We are absolutely not actively looking to grow the line…but sometimes, things just happen. We mentioned last year a project by scribe Ron Fortier. Well, it’s too early to talk about yet, but we’ve got a handshake for another one! But also, SIX OTHER mini-series! What are they?
Obsoletes, written by Wes Locher with pencils by Aaron Humphres (Friar Rush) and inks by newcomer to Silverline Jose Fuentes. The first issue is written and pencilled. Jose is busy inking! Haley Martin (Beah) is lined up to color it.Backers of the Silverline Christmas Special got a sneak peek at this one.
Knight Rise, written by Mackenzie Wertman, with art by Quinton Bedwell. Backers of the Silverline Christmas Special got a sneak peek at this one, too.
Shadow Ghost, is the brainchild of Silverline Creative Director Kurtis Fujita. Kurtis is writing, pencilling, inking–he’s doing it all. It’s a kung-fu comic by a kung-fu master!
Rochelle. Silverline has agreed to publish the 3rd volume of the tale about the teenage cockroach by creator John Crowther (Teen Beetle). Art will be by Teen Beetle artist Dell Barras!
Silver Blade, will be written and pencilled by Dean Zachary. Backers of the Silverline Christmas Special got a sneak peek at this one, too.
Sol Ascendant, will be written by Silverline Associate Editor Tim Tk. Art will be by Cem Dayioglu.
Project status
This is gonna be a long list. Basically, what we’ll do here is try to give you a status update of where the titles we’ve crowdfunded are production wise. Everything is current as of the writing of this blog (initially, mid December). (in alphabetical order)
Beah
Roland is putting the finishing touches on the script for #2. Feel free to chastise him for not having it ready!
Page from Cat & Mouse #4 pencilled by Wubba Fett
Cat & Mouse
Wubba has pencilled 9 pages for Cat & Mouse #4…we’re waiting on more pages from him as he completes a household move! The next issue (#1 of volume 3) is already pencilled!
Divinity
There are six pages of #3 complete. Alex is working on the pencils. #4 has been scripted and is ready!
A page from Divinity #3, pencils by Alex Sarabia with inks and colors by creator Barb Kaalberg.
Friar Rush
#3 is the final issue of the mini-series. It is completely pencilled and lettered and we’re waiting on the inks from John Martin.
Kayless
As all four issues of Vol 1 are now complete and in your hands, #1 for volume 2 is already in the works! The script is done and Luis has pencilled/inked about 6 pages!
Silverline Team-Up
Pete has pencilled about 10 pages of #2.
Steam Patriots
#2 script is still being written.
Teen Beetle
Script for #2 has just been delivered to Dell Barras.
Trumps
Both #3 and #4 are well into production. 16 pages of #3 are pencilled and inked by Quinton Bedwell. Peter Clinton has pencilled about 10 pages of #4.
Twilight Grimm
Issue #4, the final issue of the mini-series, has been pencilled and inked by Rob Davis and is off to Mickey Clausen for colors and Mike W. Belcher for letters!
White Devil
Issue #2 is in the hands of Phil Leon for color! #3 & #4 are also ready for color! #4 needs letters.
ReMix
Switchblade
Switchblade #2 and #3 are complete and ready for crowdfunding/printing.
Sirens
Some of you remember Sirens from the early 90s. Issue #1 and #2 are colored and ready for crowdfunding! Divinity creator Barb Kaalberg is busy coloring issue #3! Here’s a sneak peek at her color work on it!
Pendulum
We know you remember the classic series published by Malibu in the early 90s. Roberta Conroy is working magic on the pages pencilled by John Drury and inked by Ted Slampyak. Don’t believe us–take a peek below. Issues #1 and #2 are done and ready for crowdfunding!
Demon’s Tails
Three issues are colored and ready for crowdfunding! Dave Rios is working on issue #4!
SilverStorm
One issue is ready for crowdfunding! Scott Gordon is working on issue #2!
Whew! So see…2021 was a decent year for Silverline!
Next week we’ll talk about about 2022 has in store for Silverline.
If sequential storytelling is the invisible art, then comic book lettering is an invisible-invisible art, viewable only through the MacGyver-esque day-saving bomb-thwarting tinkering involving lemon juice and a lighter.
For many fans, the “what” of comic book lettering is limited to the placing of dialogue, captions, and word balloons on the comic book page. However, in reality, it is so much more than that. For instance, it also involves placing sound effects.
But wait, there’s more!
Lettering is an art form in itself that requires not only a keen design eye but also a mastery of the language of comics. Letterers must view a comic book page as a whole, choosing where to place those word balloons and captions in order to successfully lead the reader’s eye across the page from the first panel to the last.
Think for a moment about the last comic you read. Did you have trouble knowing which word balloon to read next? If not, then you were blessed with professional comic book lettering. If you were lost on the page and had to take a wild guess, then you were a victim of amateur work.
In fact, a comic book can have PEN/Faulker-worthy writing and the most imaginative, beautiful art since Kirby, but it can quickly be destroyed by shoddy, unprofessional lettering.
Once all dialogue and captions are on the page the letterer is also responsible for adding in the sound effects that will breathe life into the title’s action sequences.
This doesn’t simply block letters thrown onto the page—oh no!—a letterer must ensure the sound effect sits appropriately with the art and visually represents the actual sound. The punch to the gut of the protagonist’s enemy might be called out as “Whud” in the script, but no matter the variation (thud, fwump, whumph, fud, tup, et al), the letterer must represent this hit so the reader both feels it and hears the sound in their mind’s eye.
This is known as onomatopoeia (which only took me six attempts to spell correctly) and indicates a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.
These sound effects provide a soundtrack to the book and allow a letterer to show their creativity. Most letterers develop their own “signature” style for sound effects, using it as a way to differentiate themselves. After all, word balloons and caption boxes generally all look the same, and sound effects are crucial to adding a dash of fun to the letterer’s workload.
Next time you read a comic, ask yourself: “How was the lettering?” if you can’t think of anything negative, then you were treated to the best that the industry has to offer. And often, having nothing negative to say is the biggest compliment one can give a pro letterer.
It’s my hope that this brief overview provides you with a bit more information and understanding when it comes to the role and responsibilities of a comic book letterer. Perhaps you’ll even gain a bit of respect for the work once you’ve closed the back cover on your issue. Though it’s more likely, you’ll probably think, “Oh, yeah, someone placed the dialogues, captions, and word balloons on the comic book page. Neat.”
The kickstarter for the Silverline Double Feature of Divinity #1 and Twilight Grimm #1 is close to making goal as I write this up. Currently, there are 134 backers pledging $5,576 making 92% of goal. If you’re reading this and haven’t backed, remember that the comics are done, we just need the funding to print and ship them to you! And of course, we know you’re going to love them. So get on over and pledge if you can: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rolandmann/silverlinedoublefeature1
Silverline Live now 3 times a week!
Yep, it’s true, and that’s our big news this week. Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 3), longtime Silverline creator Sidney Williams will be talking with a good bit of the creative teams behind Divinity and Twilight Grimm. We have it on good authority that even R.A. Jones will be joining the group via phone! https://www.facebook.com/events/2660675587554560/
Then, Sunday night (June 7), Roland will talk with a host of those who weren’t part of the Wednesday chat. They’ll talk about crowdfunding in general. Then, on Monday night, the first Silverline Live: 1on1 will debut as Roland sits down to talk with Thomas Florimonte (who will be inking at the same while he talks!).
So, if you’ve got questions, post them on the Silverline FB group page. We’ve created event pages on FB as we’re going to try them out, see if they work to help generate questions before we go live.
Next Kickstarter
Kickstarter Exclusive cover by Steven Butler
We know the current one isn’t over yet, but we wanted to let you know that we already know what we’ll be kickstarting in July, after we’ve got fulfillment (or at least most of it) for the Silverline Double Feature #1 done. July will see two Sidney Williams written comics: the first is Bloodline, an adaptation of the short story written by Sid and Robert Pettit. Bloodline is penciled by Rob Sacchetto, inked by Terry Pallot, and colored by Jeremy Kahn. The other is Friar Rush #1, the first of a three issue mini-series. It’s penciled by Aaron Humphres, inked by John Martin, and colored by Rebecca Winslow. And oh—guess what, BOTH of these are already finished. RIGHT? Two months before we even crowdfund, these are done!
Don’t forget to like us, follow us, heart us, favor us, subscribe to us, and all those social media things! As always, thanks for your support!
