Hiddenfolk - a story of bullies and trolls

[Deadbyxmas]

Hello all,

recently I've been working on a project with a novelist, Kris, I often collaborate with.
Although we're both published authors in our own respective fields (me as Graphic Novel artist, Kris as novelist), and there has been interest for the project, we've decided to go down the web-comic route.
This is mainly because of the potential of the story, as we believe that the audience could go well beyond the comic/GN one, and really cross boundaries.
And moreover, here we have total control and we're calling the shots on when and how this should be published.

The topic is bullying, including cyber-bullying, but with a twist...I'll leave it to you to discover! I tried to go with a quite a simple but effective style, both for storytelling reasons (I wanted to privilege readability above all - many people say it reads "as a film"), and practical, as it's in daily strip format and two weekly pages recaps (on Thursdays and Sundays).

The website is　http://hiddenfolk.net, and the Facebook page (where the two weekly pages are published) is https://www.facebook.com/hiddenfolkofficial .... so please like it if you do , the FB page will be used to update with the full pages, news, sketches and other info.
Ah, we've tried to add a bit more also for the website, as it is intended to be a world we'd really like the readers to be immersed in.
But if you want to jump directly to the two formats, we have the daily strips here (from the beginning)
http://hiddenfolk.net/comic/?p=641
and the full pages here (from the beginning)
http://hiddenfolk.net/full/?p=119

It's a project I believe in, and I really think might be worth a look (not only because I'm involved!). So if anybody out there would like to take a look (and maybe tell me what they think), please do.
Of course I'll be more than happy to answer any question you may have, and elaborate more on the creative process, sketches etc. I can tell you that it takes quite a few reviewing sessions to get to the finished pages - so as to get something that both reads well and is entertaining (beyond the sensitive topic!).

Now with the pages....the project was launched a few weeks ago, so now I'll share with you the first 5 pages, which act as a good intro between two of the main characters of the story, and I'll be happy to share more soon.

thank you for looking
r.

[Deadbyxmas]

Now it's also on Tapastic: http://tapastic.com/series/Hiddenfolk
And this is the official description of the story:

Lester Selman stands on a bridge, hundreds of feet above the raging river below. He is fifteen years-old. He won’t be the first kid from Hiddenfolk to jump – five have died in the last 18 months. But when Lester steps off that bridge, what happens next throws him into a world that unlocks the secrets to the bullies and trolls that make his life hell in the hallways, in the locker rooms, and on the Internet.

Lester finds out what’s on the other side. And it gets stranger by the minute

These are the next 5 pages, Thank you for looking.

[Newt]

I like it! The simple linework and colors are really working.

I must admit, when you said it was about bullying, I was expecting some after-school-special kind of stuff, but you seem to be avoiding that route. Keep up the good work!

[Deadbyxmas]

Originally Posted by Newt

I like it! The simple linework and colors are really working.

I must admit, when you said it was about bullying, I was expecting some after-school-special kind of stuff, but you seem to be avoiding that route. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Newt, yes hopefully this will be an interesting read. It will probably take ages to get a decent number of viewers, but we'll push on regardless.

Here are a few more pages....

[crognus]

I really like it, the simplicitiy of the stylized art and the panels makes me feel like i'm being taken to another world. The monotone art and atmospheric images really captures depression well. I know a lot of western comic artists are against "wasting" panels on clips of scenery, but as someone who is actually bipolar, I can really relate to those panels.

The main thing I think that could use some work is the lettering. It doesn't fit in with the art and looks very slapped on. The words are not properly centered in the bubbles. There is no proper butting against the side of the panel, and the overall style doesn't fit with the art. It's very distracting.

It's a great idea and definitely deserves more care. You already spent so much time on the art, why ruin it with sloppy lettering?

[Deadbyxmas]

Originally Posted by crognus

I really like it, the simplicitiy of the stylized art and the panels makes me feel like i'm being taken to another world. The monotone art and atmospheric images really captures depression well. I know a lot of western comic artists are against "wasting" panels on clips of scenery, but as someone who is actually bipolar, I can really relate to those panels.

The main thing I think that could use some work is the lettering. It doesn't fit in with the art and looks very slapped on. The words are not properly centered in the bubbles. There is no proper butting against the side of the panel, and the overall style doesn't fit with the art. It's very distracting.

It's a great idea and definitely deserves more care. You already spent so much time on the art, why ruin it with sloppy lettering?

Hi Crognus, sorry for my late reply.
Thank you very back for your feedback, I'm very glad you like the idea - and the moody scenery, sometimes I like to indulge in scene setting.
And of course thank you for your feedback on the lettering, I must say I agree I need to work more on it and take care. Unfortunately the first pages suffered a lot from script changes, size changes etc. And generally getting the hand of the lettering-bubble making (as I'm using a different way to realize it). Hopefully it will improve as I go along (although I realize I'll never be a letterer as much as I'm a comic artist!!!).

Thank you again for your feedback, every little helps (as a supermarket says in the UK)

cheers
r.

[crognus]

Originally Posted by Deadbyxmas

Hopefully it will improve as I go along (although I realize I'll never be a letterer as much as I'm a comic artist!!!).

I would strongly suggest hiring a letterer instead of doing it yourself. Lettering is what ties everything together in the end and guides how your eyes move across the page. It's going to control how your readers view your art.

It's the cheapest sort of commissioned work you could have someone do for you. I think you can find some really decent letterers on this site for about $5-7 a page.