After-After Shocks...

Back in 2008, Ian and I created Shock Effect, an 8-page comic that competed on DC Comics' ZUDA web imprint. Ultimately, Shock Effect placed 3rd, and Ian and I moved on to other projects.

Ian's new book, Freelance Blues, which he writes with Michael Leone with art by Vicky Tierney, just released it's third issue. I'm currently finishing up work on Lone Hawk, a biography of Canadian war hero and WWI fighter pilot Billy Bishop, which I've written and illustrated for Penguin Canada (to be released Fall, 2011).

Until recently, anyone interested in reading all eight pages of Shock Effect could do so on the ZUDA website. However, the ZUDA imprint was recently retired by DC Comics, and the site no longer exists. In light of this, I've uploaded the full 8-page comic to my website, where it can be read in its entirety.

Click HERE to enjoy Alice and Liza's brief but awesome adventure!

Best,
John

After Shocks!

Well Shock Effect has wrapped up it's run on Zuda but that doesn't mean it's the end. We came in 3rd in the competition, which was won by the admirable team behind Gulch.

Thanks Gulch, Vic Boone, Harvest War, and all the other incredibly hard-working creative teams who were with us in this competition. I know what a challenge it is to put your work out there at all (let alone subject it to an open tournament!) so I know what you all must have gone through this past month. It was great playing with you and hope to see you around comics soon.

Thank you to each and everyone of our supporters, fans, family and friends who got behind our story and brought it as far as it did. And thanks to all the new readers who had just become acquainted with our work, and let us know that you thought what we were doing was worthwhile.

And finally thank you to Ron, Kwanza, Dave and Nika from Zuda for selecting Shock Effect as an entry for the competition for the month of August. You gave us a fantastic opportunity to show what we're capable of as storytellers, connect with thousands of readers, and learn a hell of a lot about the world of online comics and promotion. Even with as far as it's come over this past year, there's still much potential in Zuda, so I look forward to keeping up with it's development.

In the meantime, Shock Effect continues to make press even after the close of the competition. You can check out a review on Broken Frontier and a nod from The Scienteers as well. Thanks for both those fine organziations for giving us a look.

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And if you're wondering what to do next, why not take a trip to the home of my new online project: Freelance Blues! It's a bit of a departure from the tone of Shock Effect to be sure. Horror. Comedy. And Office Supplies.

For the better part of his twenties, Lance Bunkman has been busting his ass in Boston, trying to keep a roof over the head of himself and his twin sisters, since the mysterious disappearance of his parents. However his working life has been anything but typical.

Every new employer he gets hired by has turned out to be a front for a sinister organization,
monstrous cult, or alien intelligence. At the end of the day, when others turn and run, Lance is the one who stays behind to help.

Lance has been too busy working (not to mention dodging fireballs, chainsaws or poison arrows) to ever ask "Why me?" Now events have been set in motion to force the question. He’s about to learn more about himself, and the secrets of his sketchy employment, than he ever imagined. Check it out for yourself! Updating every Thursday at Freelance Blues!

Shock Effect @ FanExpo!

Hey we're in the final three days of the competition and it's been a wild and woolly. You've only got until AUGUST 28th to get on there and vote and help make Shock Effect an ongoing series!

Also thanks to everyone who helped us out at the FanExpo comic convention ( a great set of links for which you can find here.) Special thanks to Michael Leone, my co-writer on Freelance Blues, for his incredible pitching skills, Sara aka Magookin for holding the fort, and the wonderful Willow Dawson for sharing a table with us and getting the word out.Image courtesy of Allan Olley

Shock Effect: The Documentary

Ian and I took some time to put together a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Shock Effect. You can check out our documentary video filmed live! On location! In my studio! Learn the secrets of my artwork and where the story might be going next.

And again, thanks everybody for checking out our comic and letting us know how much you like it.

- John & Ian

Shock Effect in the LA Times

This month's Zuda competition was featured on the LA Times' Hero Complex blog, with an special focus on Shock Effect!

Christie St. Martin
"Each panel makes me want to make out with my monitor. That sounded strange, didn't it? Yeah, well, I do, as strange and awkward as it may be. Competitor John Lang's artwork is truly gorgeous. Beautiful, clean and all around solid. Alongside its beauty is its equally enchanting writer, competitor Ian Daffern, whose storytelling brings each panel to life flawlessly. I'm dying to know what happens next and yes, I hope it's picked for truly selfish reasons." (Read More)

Thanks to Ian for his promotional prowess in scoring us this article!

Design Work

I thought I'd post some of the design work that went into creating Shock Effect. These were the final, colour character designs I used before starting the finished pages. As you may notice, I still made some slight changes afterwards, mostly with regards to colour, as I produced the pages.

This is some of the work that went into designing "the others." You don't get to see much of the adults in the first 8 pages, but the hatchlings are pretty much miniature adults - the just move differently.

Here I plotting out how these things would attack, or walk, since they only have tentacles. I figured that since they're so powerful, they could lift themselves up, but it the tentacles would bend awkwardly at the ground, reinforcing that they wouldn't move this way naturally.

I'll have more "behind the scenes" drawings to post later on, so make sure to check back!

Cheers -John

The Comic is LIVE!!!

Shock Effect is now live on ZUDA.com ... check it out here:

SHOCK EFFECT ON ZUDA.COM!

-John