Tyrant #2

Special guest brown orc - my level 2 monk Hoc.  His regular color is the terrible teal color, but I found it easiest to change to the color I wanted... likely due to it's higher level of saturation compared to the other orc colors.

I'm going to try to get one more comic out this week, but I'm not sure I will be able to.  I have one more, but it's not completed yet, and it might not even be the next comic...  I haven't decided.  I have next week off from work, so I should be able to get some more story going.

A Guardians Special Report

The time estimated seems accurate.  This was about 3 hours into the queue.

I know the servers were suffering from a combination of player load and DDoS attacks, which turned into a perfect shit-storm of lag, connection issues, and frustration.  The only people I can really blame remain unknown and haven't even made clear their intentions for the attacks.  Probably someone along the lines of Burgermeister Meisterburger giving a big BAH-HUMBUG to our fun.  I hope it clears up in the next couple days so I can get my garrisons moving along and start heading toward level 100.

Preparations for War #2

I made this comic mostly because I really liked the visual concept of it.  I probably could have posted it without any of the internal dialogue and still gotten the same message across, but I enjoyed the RP value of it.

I meant to get this posted earlier today, but was playing through lag trying to get all of my level 90 characters to their Garrison.  I think I got all but 2 of them there before the servers crashed me and I ended up in a 5 hour queue.

Tyrant #1

"Tyrant" is the second series I'm running with at the moment.  In it we will explore Hankz a bit and follow the Horde group in their preparations for confronting the threat at the Dark Portal.

In the game I have done everything I set out to do before the launch of Warlords, and I'm very happy with my progress in this expansion.  I'm trying to work on a 10 year retrospective that goes through my experiences in the game.  I hope to post that on the 23rd to celebrate the anniversary.

I have 3 more comics done beyond this one, but I hope to stagger them with the hope that I can get caught up after the release of the expansion.  Look for "Preparations for War #2" this Thursday!

I won't be rushing to 100.  I have 13 level 90 characters that I want to get to cap before I start doing anything serious.  I will probably be an explorer and LFR hero for a good while as I get everything set up.

Preparations for War #1

I'm going to be posting smaller strip-style comics for a while.  With the release of WoD I don't think I'll have the time to dedicate to making the larger comics every week.

This allows me to fracture off the story and better manage different series that might deal with different topics.  It also lets me make one-off comics or light-hearted pieces without distracting from the more serious nature of the main story.

"Preparations for War" will follow the Alliance group between #12 and the point they go through the portal to Draenor.

The other series I'm planning is going to be called "Tyrant" and have a similar timeline to Preparations for War, but deal with the Horde characters.

GotG #12 - Between Iron and Ice

When we last saw our paladin and his team, they had been ambushed by an undead known and Hankz.  The fight thus far has been very one-sided with the Horde about to claim victory, and Hammerhandle's life.

You can find the full-res version HERE

I feel like I've gotten back on track with the comic this week.  The images turned out considerably better in my opinion.  Needing only to stitch together a few pictures helped quite a bit.  One thing I noticed last week was lacking...  shadow.  I completely forgot to add shadows to the stitched pictures.

This comic more or less concludes the arc set forth back in #3.  I will be changing the format moving forward and branching off stories into smaller strip style comics for a while.  With the quickly coming release of Warlords of Draenor I can't see myself having enough free time to make a full-size comic every week.

My goal over the next few months is to smooth out some of the characters and build them up a bit.  I have a good number of ideas where I want individual stories to go, but I'm not certain when these two groups will meet up again.

GotG #11 - A Clash of Clans

The continuation from last week's comic.  Paladin Hammerhandle tries to hold the line allowing Concealcarry and Huhot to make a swift retreat.  Unfortunately for them a group of bloodthirsty horde have taken notice to their struggle and have moved in for a swift kill.

I think I missed the mark this week with the comic.  I had a lot of ambition with this confrontation and I feel that it has fallen flat in several areas.  My editing skills (or lack thereof) really show here and I'm just not happy with the outcome.  I think my biggest problem is that all of these characters are on one account, so I have to get screen captures of each individually and edit them together to make a scene. Most of the action shots weren't even taken in the Blasted Lands.

I can hopefully finish up this part of the story next week and move back to comics that don't rely so heavily on editing.

GotG #10 - The Fate of Worlds

Another long patch this week, so here is a comic!

You can find the full-res version HERE

I haven't formally introduced my Horde characters very well yet, but plan to in the comics in the near future.  For now I can give you a short rundown of who they are.

Hankz - Undead Mage
Staticprofit - Goblin Shaman
Stankfunk - Troll Druid
Broxeph - Orc Warrior

Since this story features some internal dialogue for my mage, Hankz, I'll expand on him a bit.  Hankz is the leader of this small unit and a little on the crazy side.  Years of being undead hasn't gone well for him.  He is still a master tactitian, but his hatred for the Alliance and the slow onset of dementia sometimes clouds his view.

I'm hoping to get another comic out this week, but I'm not sure how that will pan out.  Between trying to get that elusive Headless Horseman mount, and as many Garrosh heirlooms as possible, my free time is pretty busy for a change.

GotG #9 - To The Portal!

Happy 6.0.2 day!

The Paladin Hammerhandle and his team have made it to the Blasted Lands to lend aid in dealing with the invasion force coming through the Dark Portal.

Without the help of their priest, Charyou, they've come up against some fairly staggering odds.  It looks like the Horde has also made their way to the portal.

There is definitely some bad blood between these two groups, but that will be explored sometime later.

I'm looking forward to the patch today, so I can start capturing these images on the liver servers rather than needing to log on to the beta to get them.  I have plenty to carry me through the next several issues, but I find that there are always one or two frames I don't have quite right.  6.0.2 will make my whole process considerably easier moving forward.

GotG #8 - The Beast's Burden

After nearly a year of separation, Hammerhandle finds his second in command, Priest Charyou, alone in an abandoned church in Gilneas.  Will he be able to convince Charyou to once again take up arms against an unknown threat?

You can find the full-res version HERE

In the next episode the team gathers in the Blasted Lands to confront the invasion force head-on, but there are more threats to worry about than what is coming through the Dark Portal.

Who is Ahxanna?  The back-story has covered a good deal of ground in my own mind, but I'm not sure when or how I will be able to interject it into the comic. I should be able to cover all of the questions at some point while there are content lulls in the in-game story.  I also think it's good to build some mystery into stories, especially stories like this one that have a familiar theme.

GotG #7 - The Sniper

Hammerhandle continues his journey to bring his team back together to confront the threat at the Dark Portal.  Specialist Concealcarry is the right guy for the job when it comes to tracking and infiltration.

I've started to use a filter on the images to make them pop a bit more and bring a more comic book feel to the whole thing.

You can find the full-res version HERE

GotG #6 - The Brewmaster

Hammerhandle continues his quest to bring his elite task force back together for another mission.  His first stop is in Ironforge to rouse Brewmaster Huhot and convince him to fight once more for the Alliance.

You can find the full-res version HERE

GotG #5 - A Call to Arms

Field Marshal Hammerhandle is summoned to see King Varian Wrynn.  Reports have been coming in about a new invasion force coming through the Dark Portal.  King Wrynn charges Hammerhandle with gathering his elite task force to confront the invaders and put an end to the threat.

You can find the full-res version HERE

GotG #4 - The Sneeze of Orgrimmar

The story continues where issue 3 left off.  Enraged warrior Broxeph pursues young troll hunter Brujeria into Orgrimmar intent on bringing her to Orc Justice.

You can find the full-res version HERE

GotG #3 - You Killed BunBun

This is a good place to start.  By this point I had worked out most of the kinks and am starting on an actual story that should carry us into Warlords of Draenor.

You can find the full-res version HERE

There have been a few questions about the first two comics, since the posts here start at #3.  I didn't initially post them to the blog because while making those two I was still figuring a lot of things out.  The image quality on them is poor, the resolution is enormous, and they don't really deal with much as far as a continuing story.

For the sake of having them available, here are some direct links to them on imgur

GotG #0 This was a test run to see what I could and couldn't do.
GotG #1: Lexicon Artist
GotG #2: Holy Resolution Beardman!

The best place to start is still #3.