Timmy the Killer Robot

Slipped By

2009-05-25T21:55:00.001-04:00

Man, there's a few things that slipped by Tommy and I. First off, there's Tommy's other ongoing project Children of Light #2 which Tommy just released, and you can get here.

(Cover was done by yours truly!).

Well, I didn't have to put that in there. It's not like it's going to boost sales 10 fold right?

Tommy, I'll be looking for my check in the mail ;)

Then there's the matter of my 2008 Sketchbook, humbly called The Art of Eric Merced, which you can get a copy or two of here.

Why is the sketchbook important enough to mention here you ask?

Well, duh, it has a 5 page preview of Timmy The Killer Robot.

Well? What the heck are you waiting for? Go geet yours!

Real-life robot encounter!

2009-04-29T21:49:00.002-04:00

One day I was driving and saw what appeared to be 2 teenage boys chasing a runaway robot down the street. No lie. It might not have been a real robot, might have been a 3rd boy in a home-made cardboard robot costume. But it all happened so fast, I couldn't be too sure.

Just you try to sleep tonight!

Submissions continue

2009-04-27T15:59:00.001-04:00

We fired one off to Red 5 Comics, home of sweet comics like Atomic Robo & Neozoic.

Also thinking about Ape Entertainment. If anyone knows of a good company where Timmy would fit in, let us know!

Submitted!

2009-04-17T12:58:00.001-04:00

O yeah, forgot to mention, Timmy the killer comic submission is at Image somewheres now.

Hopefully not in Larsen's trash can!

Cover Boy: part 2

2009-03-23T08:40:00.007-04:00

Boy have we been neglecting this blog big time.

Well, truth be told, we have been busy getting Timmy ready to be shopped around to the big guns.
Everything is pretty much in place. As Tommy mentioned, we may have a treat for you all in the form of a small ashcan print to sell. So stay tuned for that.

I wanted to continue with my previous post about the Timmy mock up cover by posting the actual cover to the comic now that it's finally done. So, without any further delay, here's the cover we're going with.
Hope you like :)

....Wha? What did you say? Children of what?....

Oh, wait a minute, yeah, yeah. You're absolutely right. My bad. That's the cover to Tommy's other comic Children Of Light. Duh, stupid me. Ha ha ha.

Okay, okay. Let's try this again. So here's the cover to Timmy The Killer Robot.

Almost there!

2009-03-17T15:52:00.004-04:00

Woo! Need to blow the dust off this place!

We are at this moment minutes from having the submission finished. Maybe a lot of minutes. I don't know. But it's just about done.

Really!

At the last minute, Eric decided to color the pages, and they look great! Maybe he'll let you see them, or maybe he'll keep being a tease. We also thought it would be neato to have a few samples printed in comic form to send as submissions, with the page samples, full story in text form, and sketches and stuff. We thought it would be neato-er to make such a tome available to you sometime soon, as a reward for your patience. Minus the stuff that gives away the whole story, because then you wouldn't buy the comic when it comes out! See, we're always thinking here!

In the meantime let me entertain you with the return of Killer Robot of the Month!

Caveman Robot

I have nothing to say but this could be the best comic ever.

Cover Boy

2009-02-25T10:25:00.004-05:00

I'm excited to announce that pages 1 to 6 of Timmy The Killer Robot are finally, as they say, in the can.

Tommy and I decided it would be best to go with a black and white sample to the Publisher(s) we have in mind for the proposal submission. Basically, if the series gets picked up, I would find it a bit time consuming to pencil, ink, letter and color the comic all on my own. Especially with other freelance projects looming on the horizon.

Basically, if the comic gets picked up, and the Publisher insists on color, it will be much easier for Tommy and I to find a colorist to help with the coloring duties. And I already have some one in mind who would be a great addition to the already stellar team ;)

Well, the next step for the proposal package is a cover mock up which is a requirement of one specific Publisher we are submitting to. Actually, this is the first Publisher we are submitting to. And so we got to throwing ideas back and forth. After the second sketch we hit on an idea we both though cool. Bellow is the sketch. I'll post complete pencils or stage snap shots of the cover if I have the time.

'Till next post. Enjoy.

Sketchy Sketchy

2009-01-20T16:32:00.004-05:00

Page breakdown and Character study of Timmy's best Friend Nate.

Page shots

2009-01-16T12:12:00.008-05:00

And you thought we gave up on this didn't you?
Well, here you go. This is what you get for being such a doubter.

Reworking some of the pages I have already done since they felt rushed and did not meet my standard quality of work.
Enjoy.

AWWwww YEAH!

2008-12-08T15:00:00.003-05:00

Mr. Tommy Flick so mentioned in our previous Timmy post that we, unfortunately, lost a colorist for the comic. But hey, that happens in this industry. We, however, with the uttermost sincerity, wish the colorist all the best wishes. We know that the Artist became to busy to be able to commit to the book. That happens. It's happened to me before with Timmy.

Well, as much as I was trying to avoid it, because of the heavy work load it creates, I jumped back into coloring the comic myself.

Part of it had to do with the fact that I am very picky about how my work gets colored. So I figured instead of colorist hunting, let me just do this thing and get it over with :)

I successfully managed to squeeze a little bit of Photoshop embellishing Today to start the first page of the comic.

And because I am such a huge tease, I decided to post a before and after screen shot of the page.

Which way?

2008-12-06T21:31:00.002-05:00

Things are changing again here at Timmy central. We had a colorist, now we don't have a colorist. Again. No hard feelings to that person, I wish them the best!

I had been thinking lately about so many roadblocks and closing doors while trying to get this comic rolling. Most of it probably has to do with me not being able to pay anyone yet. Money is a better motivator than the hope of getting money! I was thinking if so many doors are being shut, maybe that's a sign. I kept feeling that wasn't right. Sometimes faith and perseverance is being tested. Eric helped me see that better. We're both Christians, and we believe the Lord rewards perseverance.

maybe we'll succeed, maybe we won't. But it'll be fun to try!

o yeah, and we do have a new colorist, it's the guy who was the best choice from the start!

What If? Part 2

2008-11-08T21:22:00.003-05:00

More miller style madness with Moses.

What If?

2008-11-07T10:07:00.003-05:00

I was into Frank Millers art with the arrival of Sin City. Before that, I could not care less about his art. But with Sin City, he broke out of the normal, and into something none of us (well, at least me), had seen before.

I had a period where everything I drew had to be drawn in the "miller-Sin-city" style. It was awesome. And i was a great learning experience.

One of our Characters in the Timmy The Killer Robot comic book project lends himself to the whole Miller look and feel quite well.

Yes, you guessed it. Moses.

In fact, Moses seems to be ripped out of the pages of one of many Sin City stories. Only, those pages would be a Kid friendly Sin-City, of course. Because you do know how we roll :)

So, for some strange reason, I was moved to draw Moses in that legendary Miller style, thus answering the question, What If Frank Miller Drew Moses?

The possibilities, my Friends, are just mind shattering.

Machine Teen

2008-11-01T15:27:00.003-04:00

Machine Teen was a mini-series published by Marvel a few years ago. I recently picked up the paperback copy to check it out, not to attempt to rip it off, but to see if my ideas were too close to this story. My gosh, I think Mark Sumerak ripped ME off! I'm mostly kidding, but some of the plot elements are almost exactly what I wrote! Hey, I wrote the plot for Timmy a few years before this comic came out, so I came up with it 1st!

Funny part is, I sat next to Mark at a local comic convention, after his book had come out, and mentioned my ideas to him, not in detail, as I remember, but in vaguely hoping he might still have some editorial connections to Marvel. Nice guy!

I hate to rip on anyone else's stuff, but I feel the Machine teen story was a watered down version of what we're doing with Timmy. The characters seemed uninteresting, and the art uninspired. The comic was supposed to be part of Marvel's "Tsunami" wave of Manga-inspired books, but the art looked pretty dull, and not manga at all. Sorry, guys.

There's always accusations that any new idea was ripped off from someone else. Like I said, I came up with it 1st. Maybe the idea isn't totally original, but the way we want to tell the story is. Hope you're liking it as we bring you bits and pieces!

You would be mad too!

2008-10-31T13:59:00.006-04:00

Timmy's had a really bad skin day.

Spider mode

2008-10-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

One of the very cool abilities that Moses posses, and that we have not really dwelt on much, is his ability to transform his body into an complete arsenal. He's basically a walking one man (excuse me, robot), machine. Designed with the sole purpose of killing. Destroying anything and everything in his path.

Thank God for something called conscience. And that's exactly what both Timmy and Moses have. The ability to tell from right and wrong. The human gift (and curse) of choice.

It's what drives Moses to flee from his Creators. It's what drives him to do no evil. Well, at least not to innocent People.

One of the scenes in the comics calls for something like this. And if you are asking how something like this is possible. The my answer to that is simple.

It's a comic book for crying out loud. You can do ANYTHING you want and get away with it ;)

I feel...Unworthy

2008-10-29T08:51:00.001-04:00

I am always stoked to see how other Artist interpret Characters I am working, or have worked, on.

This stems from my early years as a comic book fanatic, buying them by the bulk loads every week. I loved the fact that Todd would draw the Hulk totally different then Dale, and that Eric Larsen drew Spiderman different then Todd and so on.

So I am always honored to get emails with contributions of Artists interpretations of my work.

I was stoked this morning as I checked my RSS news reader to find this:
Josh Draws A Cool Fella

Josh is awesome Artist whom I have great respect for. So I would highly recommend you grab his RSS feed, or just keep your eyes on his work. He has a very cool Character of his own, Araknid Kid, which I dream of one day teaming up with Dog Saint, AND Timmy. Now that would be off the hook People. Hmmmm....

.....

.......

Okay. I'm back. Had a moment of inspiration there.

Anyways, it seems I am not the only one who really just loves this Moses Character.

Hey Tommy, maybe rework the title?

Moses The Homeless Killer Robot?

Snickers...

It's all about style

2008-10-28T10:35:00.006-04:00

Allot of sketching going on. Basically trying to get the style the comic will be drawn locked and ready. I want it to be consistent in the way it looks. One of the problems I have been having is making the change from my usual semi-realistic art to the toned down simple cartoon look. So when I sketch, I find myself thinking "Saturday Morning Cartoon" over and over again.

I like the Character of Timmy. But without a doubt, my favorite in the series has to be Moses the homeless robot. I don't think any other Character I have drawn has so much character, and potential, then this Guy.

I mean, even the name says it all. So I was talking to Tommy one day and we kind of bounced the idea os a Moses mini-serise or one shot, depending in what direction Timmy took us.

Still, I have so much fun when I draw him. It would seem the comic was based on him alone.

This was done traditionally. Meaning, I sketched it with a pencil in my sketch book.

This one was done digitally. Meaning, I sketched it with a Wacom tablet in my computer using Sketchbook Pro.

Something called process. part 2

2008-10-27T09:00:00.005-04:00

Continuing where I left off in my previous post, this is the final version of the pencils for TTKR pages 2 and 3, which will make up a splash page in the final comic book.

As mentioned in my previous post, I sketched the entire page out in Sketchbook Pro.

Usually, after laying out a page in Sketchbook Pro, I will the import that page into Manga Studio and do all the ink lines there, adding tones as needed. But I'll save that process for another post. Right now I want to share another Timmy sketch with you Guys.

That's it for now.

More later.

Something called Process

2008-10-25T16:17:00.022-04:00

All of a sudden this blog has come alive. I wonder what may be happening behind the scenes.

I'l tell you what's happening.

I'm getting my butt moving on some sketches and pages here and there (Cue song: I like to move it move it. He likes to move it move it- MOVE IT!).

Ok. That was corny. But I could not help myself.

Anyhoo. Interestingly enough, I happened to be in the mood of snapping some shots of my screen to show that the project Timmy The Killer Robot is NOT dead, despite all the rumors you may have (or not) heard.

I know there have been allot of mind changing going on with this project and this blog has not pulled it's punches in exposing those changes of heart (thank you very much blogger), but we are still moving forward, if at times, we move a little bit backwards.
All thanks to me, of course.

But, ok, here is a little bit to move us forward.

I have been drawing everything in the computer lately. That means my whole work flow starts and ends with the computer. I have found myself to be a bit faster this way and it allows for very fast, none messy, last minute changes to my work.

So typically,
I will start out in Sketchbook Pro, laying out my page and sketching out the scene as I normally would in the traditional form. What's great about working this way is
1. Layers.

I can separate my entire sketch into layers. The face in one layer. the right arm in another, the T-shirt in another and so on. This makes it much easier to erase and change/correct any element within the composition.

and 2.
No mess of papers in my studio. (my Wife hates that).

Seen bellow is a template I created specifically for SBP using the standard comic book page guides.
It's blank now, but that's going to quickly change in a few :)

Now I start working in the sketch little by little. Making sure each element is in it's own layer.

A little closer now folks.

And.....

I think that will be all for Today.
Have to save some for 2morrow ;)

Timmy

2008-10-23T13:55:00.002-04:00

Moses

2008-10-23T12:12:00.004-04:00

POW!

2008-09-28T16:55:00.007-04:00

I spoke about in one of our many (many? yeah right!) posts about a decision I made to change the art style of the comic Timmy.
When Tommy approached me to work on the book, he initially had a vision of a more cartooned like art style. And, it was exactly what I was doing at the time. As a matter of fact, I kind of swore by it.

I was stoked to hear Tommy's desire for a more stylized approach to the art because every gig I was getting was geared towards realistic art. I was itching to do something that I could use my cartoon style in. And finally Mr. Flick gave me that opportunity.

Now, as you all well know (assuming you've been following this Blog-hint hint), it took a long time before we kicked this thing off and I got around to actually drawing some pages for the comic. A very long time.

But once I did, to be honest, I found myself unsatisfied with the five pages I drew for the sample. I let Tommy know how I felt and, well, he kind of wanted me to stay the course.

I don't blame him. Tommy is one of the most patient Person's I have had the honor of meeting, and befriending.
I should let you know, though, that he would highly disagree with me on the patience issue.

But he is.

Think about it.

The Guy dreams up this cool idea about a teenager who thinks everything is just normal everyday life. Then he gets banged up by a car that hits him on his way Home from School, only to find out that all this time, he was actually a Robot. And that's not all, when he confronts his "Dad", who is actually part of the team who created him, he finds out that he was originally made to become a merciless killing machine. Yikes!

So here we have Tommy with this amazing idea. He does not want to draw it himself. So he calls on a good and talented Friend of his who agrees to the project, but unfortunately, for personal reasons, has to bail out. Here comes plan B. So he contacts me. I agree. But it takes over a year or two before I actually commit to the project. When I finally decide to do something, he turns out I too have to bail out of the project. Then I come back to it about a year later (I think, my time table is all screwed up here).
Then I come up with these 5 pages in a style similar to what he wanted. But then I turn around and say, that's not working. I'm doing it all over again. In a style you originally did not want. I'm pulling out the guns. I'm going with a stylized realistic style on this sucker.

If I was Tommy, I would have lost it a loooooong time ago. But, on the contrary. He has, like Mr.Obama (sorry, I just had to throw that fact in there), kept his "cool" in the face of pressure.

And like Mr. Obama (again, I apologize), Tommy has, with his cool attitude, inspired me. So in my book, the man is cool. Really cool. And because of that, I have grown to love him as a Brother in Christ. It's hard for me to say that. There is only a handfull of People I feel this way about. But I respect him. And for me, it has been a blast to work with him to try to bring this thing together.

So what is this all about? I wanted to let some things out about my professional relationship with Tommy on this project. And I also wanted to introduce all our faithful readers to the art style I was talking about. I just hope all the changes I have decided to make will pay off in the end.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Timmy, like you've never seen him before.

The search is over!

2008-09-14T08:20:00.002-04:00

Eric & I had decided to find a colorist besides him to work on the comic, due to the extra work that's involved. We went through 3 or 4 "auditions" before deciding on a young lady named Sarah. This is the sample she sent us, and we loved it! Thing is, we're changing the art around again, so this isn't what the final work will look like. So re-work has begun again, and Sarah was going on vacation right after we found her, so it'll be a few weeks before we get any more color goodness!

But welcome aboard, Sarah! She sounded so excited to get to work with us, and I hope we can live up to her expectations!

Dino Boy "Rahh" Logo

2008-09-05T17:50:00.002-04:00

Isn't he just adorable.

Timmy Page 5

2008-08-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Timmy Page 4

2008-08-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Timmy Page 3

2008-08-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Timmy Page 1 & 2 Splash page

2008-08-12T21:46:00.005-04:00

Okay, here we go. I finished working on the 5 pages needed for submitting to the Publisher we have in mind. As Tommy mentioned, he's busy working out the last minute details on the story pitch. And to top it all, we are hunting for a colorist to handle the color dutys. So this is a call out of sorts, if you're responsible, and can meet deadlines, skilled in Photoshop, and want to work with us, contact me or Tommy ASAP and we'll give you the details from there on.

Here's page 1 and 2 of the Timmy comic.

Killer Robot of the Week- Homeless Robot

2008-08-11T12:07:00.002-04:00

Never trust a homeless robot. That's what I've always been told, and with good reason. "Edward", the briefs-wearing bum, resorts to stealing hot dogs to survive. Hot dogs? What kinda robot runs on hot dogs? He has a plug, so I assume he runs on electricity like every other robot. He must be so evil he would steal just for the joy of it. Stay away!

Threat level- 4 -looks like he can't do much, or he wouldn't be a bum.

Moving right along

2008-08-11T12:02:00.002-04:00

As you might have guessed from Eric's tease, he is back as the artist for Timmy. How it happened, I'm still not sure. It all happened so fast! He did the remaining pages in 1 weekend, (he'll show you when he's in the mood, and no sooner!) and we're currently trying out colorists. I'm putting the finishing touches on the written pitch, and we could have this baby wrapped up in just a few weeks!

Yay!

Take 2

2008-08-02T17:29:00.002-04:00

Nuff said.

Battle Unit

2008-07-29T12:14:00.004-04:00

The story of Timmy called for allot of Robot slug feast. So imagine, at least 50 or so robots coming at poor little Timmy. Actually, I feel sorry for the robots, Not Timmy!

This design was for one of the many battle units Timmy would have to encounter in his quest for the truth, and in Mr. Smiths quest to get Timmy back.

These lesser battle units are not very smart. They just do what they are told to do. Nothing more. And basically, as their name implies, they are designed for battle. Taking on the cues that Tommy left through out his script, I designed this one version of the battle robots. I gave him a cyclops look. His face and head is his eye. They are thin, light weight, so they can move very fast. They can jump high like grasshoppers or something. And of course, no battle machine would be complete without something to shoot with right?
So I changed his left forearm into a built in mounted machine gun unit. Just to give Timmy allot of bullets to dodge.

My drawing process

2008-07-14T15:07:00.002-04:00

Finally managed to squeeze in some Timmy work today. I'm re-doing a panel we wanted to change from page 1, so I thought I'd show how I work from start to finish.

I used my 9-year old boy, Sam as a model. Sometimes he overacts in his poses! I told him to look surprised as he jumps out of bed. Something funny is my 3-year old is right next to me here with her toy camera.

Here I used the photo of Sam the ham to sketch out the pose over the original I had drawn. You can probably see the original partially erased.

Finally, I secured a piece of vellum paper over the sketch, and drew the final version. Drawing on vellum is nice and smooth, and you leave all erasing behind!

This little guy is off to Eric! Hope you enjoyed the show!

Nothing new yet.

2008-07-07T19:54:00.002-04:00

Hey! How've you been? I've been taking a short break from working on the Timmy pages the past few weeks, but I do hope to get back into it soon.

My wife and I went to Wizard World Chicago last week, had a blast, especially since we went with no kids or puppies! I took my portfolio of pages I've worked on so far, to get a review from a few artists I admire, Adam Withers & Comfort Love, creators of the Uniques. A & C were great to talk to, and gave me tons of honest criticism & advice. My biggest problem is I felt I was doing good enough, and that bubble was burst.

Once we got home, things got kinda busy with selling our house, cleaning, dealing with offers, and beginning to look for a new home for us. This week I hope to get back into the art, and you'll see it first here!

Timmy: Page 2 (or is it 4?)

2008-06-24T23:02:00.004-04:00

All in all, I still believe Timmy is a fun project. I am excited to get to work on Tommy's pages as he sends them in. I hope I can do justice though. It's always hard when you are working over someone else's foundation.

It was a hard thing to have to let my duty as penciler/inker on Timmy go. Believe me, I struggled with it. But I know it will all work out for the best. Seen here is the last page I did for the comic. To be honest, and in comparison with my current freelance gigs, I know I could do much better. But alas, I have to let go.

For so long I have gotten used to basically taking control of the whole art process. From penciling to inking to coloring. But now I am faced with the challenge of enhancing someone else's pencils via Photoshop with color. Something I have never done before. But I like challenges. They are the ones that make me grow as an Artist. They are the ones that get my blood pumping through my vains. So Mr. Flick, bring it on!
;)

Killer Robot(s) of the Week: We the Robots

2008-06-11T16:05:00.003-04:00

We the Robots is a comic strip by Chris Harding, chroniciling the daily existence of robot Bob, and his family. The story takes place on a Earth where robots are the dominant species, so these guys have obviously already taken over their world, used the humans for energy, and mock our humanity by pretending to be human. We could be next!

Threat level: 12 (especially the farting robots)

Timmy Page

2008-06-04T17:07:00.003-04:00

I never started with page one. So I think this is page 2, or 3. Anyhoo, Manga influence somewhere in there ;)

2008-06-01T16:42:00.001-04:00

By now most of you have read from Tommy's posts of how I have had to back out of drawing Timmy The Killer Robot due to my freelance work. Actually, to clarify a bit, I CAN continue to draw Timmy pages, but the decision to hand over that duty over to Tommy was a mutual one. The reason I handed over the penciling choirs to Tommy, despite the fact I can still draw the project, is because I was moving at a snails pace. Not that I am that slow mind you. But Freelance work was taking up the bulk of my time and I found myself with little or no time to continue to draw Timmy in a pace that would get enough material out. So Tommy and I talked, or rather, emailed each other back and forth and I gave him the option. But it was mutual. It was something already in the air. I would still like to say, that I am not by any means abandoning ship. Heck no! I'm still on this baby like butter on bread. Tommy is going to do the pencils, but I am going to handle corrections, inks, color and lettering! And we still have to see if Mr. Dave Contreras will agree to the covers, if any. So Timmy The Killer Robot is not out for the count. In the mean time, I am coming back for another post in where I will show you the two pages I managed to do.
Later!

Taking hold

2008-05-28T15:55:00.003-04:00

Last time I talked about how hard it was to let go of my creation into more capable hands. When those hands became too busy, I felt I had to make another decision. All along I had lamented not being able to draw Timmy, I just felt it was beyond my ability, pretty much a laziness issue. I believe that the only way to grow is to continually challenge yourself. The question is, am I up to the challenge?

I was talking with a friend about this, and he helped me realize that I should have been doing the drawing from the start. God gave me a passion and some talent to create comics, if I choose to not develop it to the best of my ability, what good am I? Every effort I've made to have someone else do the art has been met with delay and frustration. Don't get me wrong, Eric & Dave gave it their all, and I love and appreciate them more than they can know.

So Eric & I talked, and I've begun to do final pencils on the pages I posted way back sometime. It'll be a challenge, because I ususlly pencil sketchy, and then do a poor job of inking over it. We're going to try a tight pencil style, with color by Eric directly over the pencils. I'm glad Eric still wants to stay on! And if I can talk Dave into doing covers...awesomeness!

Leting go

2008-05-26T08:31:00.002-04:00

I had a dream...or something like that. When I came up with the concept for Timmy, I felt my art style wouldn't suit the project (Maybe I've covered all this before, so bear with me). I knew a super cool artist, Dave Contreras, who did some super-cool robot comics, and I thought, "He is the artist for Timmy". I had never worked with someone before, and it was hard to give up some control of the story, but the work he gave me was great, and made letting go worth it!

I had always wanted to be a comics artist. I just never applied myself, and worked as hard as I should have, so I felt inadequate to do the job. Still it was hard letting go of something I always wanted to do. But I felt I could be happy as a writer only.

Sadly, life got in the way, as it does, and Dave couldn't commit to getting the work done, no problem, no hard feelings, Dave still remains one of my favorites. So the search began anew. Eric Merced had a style what I was looking for, so I thought, "He is the artist for Timmy". He accepted, and turned out some equally great work. Sadly, life got in the way, as it does (am I repeating myself?), and Eric couldn't commit a the time. No problem, we remain brothers!

So a year or so ago, I told myself, "I can do this, I'm good enough", and got to work on some of the best work I've done, but it was still just pretty good. I began to doubt my ability to complete the work at a professional level, and somehow talked Eric into giving it another shot. Again, he gave me some great work, but sadly, life got in the way (I'm seeing a pattern here), and Eric wanted to commit, but had to take a paying job, which I couldn't offer at the time.

I'm not putting down these guys in any way, they're both professionals, and do awesome work. The problem was I couldn't pay anything, and the guys had to make the wise choice to do paying work to support their families. I would do the same thing. They remain my brothers who I love.

So again, Timmy remains stalled in the mud. Or does it?

To be continued.

Killer Robot of the Week: Atomic Robo

2008-05-07T21:27:00.004-04:00

Ok, TomTom didn't count, I didn't know anything about him. I got the Free Comic Book Day edition of Atomic Robo from Red 5 Comics. Very cool book! Reminds me of Hellboy except not as creepy, and he wears cool pants. I'll definitely be picking more of these up!

Threat level: 7 Robo seems pretty smart & tough. I wouldn't put a "kick me" magnet on his back.

Killer Robot of the week: TomTom

2008-05-05T15:36:00.003-04:00

I just liked the name!

Timmy's 1st comic appearance

2008-04-25T20:46:00.005-04:00

I almost forgot about this 1-page comic I did for Megazeen like 10 years ago, someday to be published in the "One-page-issue". I think I even forgot to tell Eric about this one. This is Timmy's 1st actual comic appearance, teaming with Bible Monkey, righteously intolerant and prone to fits of simian rage defender of the faith.

Killer Robot of the week: Bender

2008-04-25T20:31:00.002-04:00

Well, the words say it all. Bender (full name Bender Bending Rodríguez, designated Bending Unit 22) is an alcoholic, whore-mongering, chain-smoking gambler and describes himself as possessing a "swarthy Latin charm".He...know what? I can't really write anything funnier than his true origin. here's the Wikipedia link.

Threat level: 3 (sober)

Easter Egg!

2008-04-15T21:20:00.003-04:00

Okay. So you wanna get a glimpse at one of the Timmy The Killer Robot pages? Are you sure?
Okay then. It's somewhere in here. Go have thee a look and see if you can find it.

Hint: It's not the colored Timmy promo poster I blogged about here a few Months back ;)

Killer Robot of the week: Robot

2008-04-12T16:29:00.003-04:00

This robot, uncaringly named "Robot" was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Robot, undisputed star of the show Lost in Space, was the protector of the Robinson family, and to it's regret, Dr. Smith. He could state obvious warnings and shoot cool electric bolts from his slinky-toy arms. To defeat him, all you had to do is skeak up behind him and pull out his power pack.
In the Lost in Space movie from teh late 90's, we were treated to a different version of Robot, reprogrammed to destroy the Robinsons in true killer robot style! He failed to kill anyone, but did manage to damage the ship and throw them off course. Under his armor was the original-looking version of Robot, which was a nice touch.

Threat level-5 Smart and powerful, but pretty easy to defeat. Plus he was commandeered by a 10-year old.

Killer Robot of the Week- Twiki

2008-04-09T12:20:00.004-04:00

Things are slowing down on production, so I thought I'd start a new feature making the public aware of various robot threats. First up: Twiki, the robot midget companion of Buck Rogers. Not only did he have a stuttering problem, but he seemed to serve no purpose besides carrying around a much smarter computer, Dr. Theopolis. Why not just make Dr. Theo the robot?

Threat level-0- Ha! You could kick him over!

Am I being a bad boy?

2008-03-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

I know I know. You hate to be teased. But I can't help myself to having a little fun once in awhile.
So yeah, I think I am being a bad Boy!
:)

Well, work continues on the Timmy pages, but at a snails pace. Other commission work keeps getting in the way. But we are much closer now then when we started. So hopefully I will have more to show in later post's.

More Dino-Boy madness!

2008-03-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

Here is a tighter more detailed version of cute little Dino-Boy.
I basically took Tommy's drawing of Dino-Boy and made my version of it. :)

What's in a name.

2008-03-24T21:20:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago I approached Tommy with the idea of forming a Banner together. Keep in mind that Tommy was already using Lightbulb Comics for his Children of Light comic and I was about to begin using Unleashed Comics for my Dog Saint comic. But I felt Tommy and I have so much in common, especially in the matter of Comics and what our goals are, that it only felt right to join forces in one way or the other, apart from Timmy The Killer Robot.

A few years back I can remember when a few of my favorite Artist's banded together to do something similar under the banner of "Legend". Those Artist's were Mike Mignola, Arthur Adams, Dave Gibbons and Frank Miller. I think there were a few more in there. But they came together under the Legend banner with one mind and focus to put out quality comics such as Monkey Man and O'Brian.

Timmy The Killer Robot may be the only comic Tommy and I ever collaborate in. It may just be the first of many. But it just only seems right to join forces under one banner. A banner that puts a seal of approval on our work, as a team, and individuals. I hope to publish Dog Saint under this banner. But first, I hope we get Timmy The Killer Robot going, as the flagship title, under this banner.

Tommy did not give me an immediate reply. He promised he would think about it. That was perfectly fine with me. A few days later I get his email in my inbox. It contained a picture of a very cute and irresistible character that quickly found his place in my heart called Dino-Boy. I instantly knew that was the right character and name for our banner. It spoke in volumes what we are about. Fun, family oriented comics that show our passion for this incredible and awesome genre of comics.

I promised Tommy I would do a more tight rendering of the character to use as a logo. This may change over time, it may not, but here is what I got for the moment.

Dino-Boy! Rraah!

2008-03-21T21:32:00.003-04:00

Eric & I were talking about the possibility of having to self-publish, and should we create a label, or imprint for our comic. At first, I thought, "Nah. If we only have one title, why do we need a label?". But i agreed to think about it, and filed it in the back of my head somewhere.

While working yesterday, I was letting my mind wander (good thing I don't operate heavy machinery!), and into my head popped an image of a littke kid dressed in a dinosaur costume, brandishing a homemade cardboard sword. I think I was influenced by the new comic book, Tiny Titans, from DC Comics.

After thinking what a neat little comic I could make with him and his partner, Monkey-Boy, I thought that was it! That's our imprint! Either Eric would love it, or think I had lost it, and try to leave quietly. Turns out he loved it! Good thing, 'cause I was gonna beat him (in a loving Christian way) with his wacom until he agreed to it.

It might seem silly or childish at first glance, but we both felt it embodied what we love about comics. you pick up a fun, great comic and feel like a kid again, running in the backyard, fighting monsters and saving the world while on a Kool-Aid high!

Eric says he'll do a finished version of Dino-Boy for us! I'll treasure it forever! Rraah!

Progress

2008-03-13T10:02:00.008-04:00

Well, I am somewhat happy to announce that work on the actual Timmy the Killer Robot pages has finally begun!!!

Whoot!

Tommy and I plan to punch out 6 pages to shop around to potential Publishers. These pages are going to be full color, which only means more night shifts for me :)

But what happens if no one picks it up for publication, you ask?
What, are you nuts?! Did you fall off of bed and knocked your noggin a bit too hard Today?

What a question. The nerves...

(Tommy, we need to talk).

;)

Friends

2008-03-12T12:44:00.002-04:00

Eric did these sketches of Timmy and his friends. Well, Nate is his friend, kinda. Nate is the guy you didn't really want to hang around, but couldn't get rid of. Sally is Timmy's dream girl, who he's too shy to talk to in school.

Nate think's he's all that, but he's...a turd. He hits on every girl he sees with corny one-liners, but he's never gotten a date. Timmy and Nate are pretty much each others' only friends.

Sally is a popular, pretty girl. Timmy feels queasy every time he gets near her, and is so nervous, he says something stupid. She secretly thinks he's sweet and likes him!

Eric claims to be working hard on pages, so hopefully we'll have something awesome to show soon!

Moses

2008-03-06T19:42:00.003-05:00

I didn't want us to do 2 posts in a day, (that sneaky bugger Eric posted before me) But i work late on Friday, and I get lazy on Saturday. This'll be worth it!

Here’s some designs Eric did for Moses, a character Timmy encounters in the story. I originally designed Moses to help Timmy out at a point in the story, and give him some encouragement. I at first didn't realize what an original and complex character he was becoming. Moses is a homeless Christian former killer robot. How about that!

Moses used to be what Timmy is. They were both designed for destruction. Somehow Moses escaped his creators, and created a life for himself. He found a Bible at a homeless shelter, and read from beginning to end in1 hour. He came to the logical conclusion that there must be a creator (knowing that he himself is a created being), and became a believer in Jesus Christ. He felt that with God, he had everything he needed, and has no material possessions, remaining homeless. And that’s the way he likes it!

At one point in the story, Timmy is hiding form enemies, and Moses finds him shelter. Timmy has discovered he’s a robot, and feels lost. Everything he thought he was is wrong. Moses helps Timmy realize it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. What matters is who you are inside.

The Worst Of The Worst

2008-03-06T15:56:00.011-05:00

Being an Artist is not easy. Some people think it's a matter of just putting down a line here and there and whammo. You have a completely accurate and professional looking picture. But there is much more to it then that. The other day, I was with my Son in the Arts and Crafts store and we began to talk about my work as a comic book Artist. He was under the impression that drawing for me was something easy. That it did not take as much effort. I began to explain what an Artist, especially a comic book Artist was required to do. Everything from Anatomy to perspective. I began to explain that, unlike an Artist who paints nature scenes or portraits, a Comic Book Artist had to have the ability to draw everything and anything a script called for. That isn't an easy thing to accomplish, say, if you've never drawn guns before and now you are required to do so. Or say, if you never drew a car. And now you have to draw a scene with two or three of them.

He was surprised. Not realizing how much work his Dad was doing when he was sitting in the chair in front of his art table. It can be a frustrating thing. Especially when you have a scene or even a pose that's just kicking you in the bum.

Another thing that makes it tough to do what I do is, well...Me.
I tend to be too critical of my work and often times the work others find to be my best, are the ones where I crtic' myself the most.

But I have found out that this is far from being a weakness, but a strength I posses.
And for that I am thankful to the Lord. It is that second guessing yourself that pushes me to give the best I can of myself. My greatest accomplishment, when a client turns around and thanks me for the incredible work I did for him. That is priceless. Even if I don't like what I was working on, just hearing those words is fulfilling On its own.

A few weeks ago I finished what I thought would be the first completed page of Timmy The Killer Robot. But then it happened. After I emailed it to Tommy, I emailed him again saying I was going to scrap the page and start all over. Tommy had originally wanted a cartoonsih style for the book and that is what I wanted to bring to the table. But after doing so, I thought to myself, how horrible the whole thing looked. It is by far, in my opinion, the worst I have done. Seeing this page and feeling such huge dissatisfaction inspired me to push my art to the next level with the intentions of making it better. And I am glad I spent so much time on this page even though it will never be a part of the comic. Because through it, I pushed myself to give better results.

The dreaded page that started it all. Adelante:

Nate being Nate

2008-03-04T10:17:00.003-05:00

Quick sketch I want to share. Just goofing around!

Mad scientists!

2008-03-01T09:27:00.004-05:00

Here's some sketches, courtesy of Eric! These guys are Timmy's creators. They worked together several years ago on top-secret robotics projects!

First up is Dr Goodweed, creator of Timmy's A.I. "brain". I had imagined him as a hippied-out, tie-dye wearing guy, like Tommy Chong (no disrespect to Mr. Chong. Loved your movies, man!). Eric gave me this version, which I thought might be his current look. Timmy wants to find out who this guy is, since he's his other "father".

This is Dr. Thompson, who Timmy believes to be his dad. Thompson grew upset with the way his creations were being handled, and stole Timmy away from the project. He finished his work on Timmy in secret, giving him a believably human appearance. He programmed Timmy to believe he's just a normal kid.

*Cue sinister music* Lastly we have Mr. Smith, the funder of the robotics operation. He has plans to decieve his partners and sell the robots for military use, not for saving lives as they planned. After Thompson disappears with Timmy, Smith becomes obesessed with finding them.

Timmy promo poster!

2008-02-26T12:14:00.003-05:00

I admit to being a jaded comic fan. Not a lot of new art impresses me, and a lot of the stories seem boring. But man, Eric really blew me away with this one, guys! He keeps getting better and better! Not that he stunk to begin with, you know what I mean!

Timmy Avatar-Colored

2008-02-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

As I said, I finished the Timmy Avatar. I colored it in Photoshop. And despite my efforts to keep the coloring simple, I overdid it. A natural weakness I have. These are ofcourse drawings I am doing not only for promotional purposes but also to get a solid grasp on effectivly drawing the Timmy and Robot Characters for the book. More to come soon.

Timmy Avatar-inked

2008-02-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

One of the things Tommy made clear in his script for Timmy The Killer Robot was that Timmy was this Peter Parker like Character. Only not as nerdy as Peter was when he first appeared. As a matter of fact, there is supposed to be a scene that implies that both Timmy and Peter may have "crossed" paths. But, you know how it goes. Thus we use the word "Implies" as to make clear that in no way are we actually using the property of Marvel without thier concent.

**Ahem**

Okay. Well, I decided it would be cool to play with those old Marvel covers where they would show the face of Peter on one half and the face of Spiderman on the other half. Come on, you know which ones I'm talking about don't you?

============================I suddenly feel old===============================

Well, they did the same thing with the Hulk if my failing memory serves me right. So, here is my little tribute to those great covers.
Timmy style ofcourse.

I'm trying to reshape the way I draw for this, and future,comic(s). Basically, I am doing a little less of the digital thing and making a full fledged return to traditional inking. Making sure I add some nice solid blacks in there along the way, with a little bit of some smooth solid thick outlines. Two of my biggest all time insperitations in the field of comics are without a doubt, Arthur Adams and Mike Mignola. So I have purposed myself to go after these two Legends, incorparating little things here and there that make me go head crazy about thier artstyles.

I a nutshell:
Art Adams Big hands and Big feet, along with his attention to detail.
Mike Mignola's Dark solid blacks and edgy lines.

Lastnight I finished the coloring on the avatar, so I will post a final colored version later on.
Peace!

More character studies

2008-02-20T09:59:00.006-05:00

Still getting the hang of drawing Timmy in both his Human and Robotic form. Here are some quick studies from my own personal sketch book.

More to come soonish!

Tommy's Timmy pages

2008-02-02T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here's my attempt at drawing the Timmy comic by myself. I had approached a few other artists to draw the comic a few years ago. The first was Dave Contreras, a super-cool Californian. (I think being from Cali automatically makes you cool). He had a comic about a kid with a pet robot I fell in love with, and I knew he would be awesome to work with. I couldn't find that comic online, but here's another great one he did.

Sadly, things with Dave didn't work out, but we're still friends! I'm gonna squeeze some Timmy covers or a pin-up out of him when we get this book published!

So I approached Eric about working on the comic a year or so ago. At first, we came up with some sketches and ideas, but pretty soon Eric's schedule made him unable to keep drawing the Timmy comic. So around this time last year, I decided to make a go of drawing it myself. I asked Eric if he could help me out with design and general advice, which he agreed to.

The result is some of my best work I've ever done. I worked harder on these pages than anything I've ever done. But I know I've still got a lot to learn.

The real you inside...

2008-01-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here are the final designs for Timmy, Nate, Timmy's love interest, and of course, Timmy's robotic form as they will appear in the final comic.

More old sketches

2008-01-22T11:51:00.000-05:00

Tommy and I are just in the same spirit here. He has a bit more to show as far as "old" art work is concerned. This being the last batch of old sketches I have laying around. And it's not much. But worth sharing with you all.
Basically, the first sketch is more character studies I was doing at the time of Timmy's Robotic form. Although he seems more like an older Robot here, this is where the actual design for the Robot begins to take its form. I will show you some of the final designs for the Robot in a later post.

Some of the scenes in Tommy's script call for a few shots of Timmy's Bedroom. So, I went ahead and got all Interior Designery-ish and began to arrange and re arrange his room. The goal was to capture Tommy's vision of a young average everyday Teens room. Hmmm... Now that I think about it, I really need to make that room messy!

More to come Later!

Timmy flashback: 1st sketch

2008-01-21T21:46:00.000-05:00

Hey, Tommy here! What we have here is the very first drawing I did of Timmy. I remember coming up with the concept, and being excited about it, and told my wife. She thought it sounded like it wouldn't work (she's all for it now!), so I shelved it in my head for a while. After a few months, I got the bug to try to develop this character again, and out came this sketch.

I gave him a "Terminator"-style arm, which we've canned for the more finished model of Timmy.

For his appearance, I wanted a young guy to model him after. At the time, the band The Calling was popular, so I modeled Timmy after their singer. Probably doesn't even look like him!

Eric showed me some cool sketches today, hopefully you'll see them soon!

Some old sketches.

2008-01-21T00:54:00.000-05:00

Well, Tommy and I have been trying to get this project fired up and going for over a year or more already. So I decided it would be cool to post some old sketches I came up with of Character designs I began to do. Now, keep in mind, these sketches are old. My mind set was drawing in a semi realistic look. But Tommy originally wanted a more stylized cartoon look. Which is perfectly fine with me, because this is the style I love to work in. So the sketches you are going to see bellow are geared more towards a semi realistic look. They are of a more intense and serious Timmy. And a more scarier Robot. Also, Timmy kept coming out older in these sketches. That was a problem because he is only a Teenager. Well, enjoy.

Timmy Teaser Trailer

2008-01-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

Hey Guys. It's great to be here and a part of this project and blog. Basically, for those of you who do not know me. My name is Eric Merced. I'm the fortunate Artist of Timmy The Robot Killer. It's a very fun project which I'm sure you will enjoy. As Tommy mentioned in his opening post, we are going to be bringing some behind the scene material including sketches and actual pages from the project. And once the project gets a publisher, you'll find out here. To kick things off, I want to redirect everyone to this. It's sort of our version of a Hollywood movie teaser trailer. Like the ones they release a year before the movie is supposed to come out. Boy, I hate those. They don't call them teasers in vain.
I hope you enjoy the small glimpse into this project. And don't forget to mark the RSS address so you can keep up to date when we post to this blog!
Blessings!!!

Welcome!

2008-01-19T08:51:00.000-05:00

Hey! Thanks for reading our blog! We'll be showing you the progress as we make our comic book we hope to submit to some major comics publishers.

Here's the concept: Timmy is an average high-school kid. He’s too shy to talk to Sally, the girl of his dreams, and only his best friend Nate understands him. Pretty normal, or so he thought! One day he is in a terrible accident, and discovers he’s a killer robot! This life-changing moment begins a journey of self-discovery. “Who am I? Why am I here?” These are questions we all ask ourselves, but now Timmy is on a mission to find out!

Right now, we're in the design phase. Tommy completed scripting issue 1, and have the rest of the 1st story plotted out. Eric is currentlt working on characrer designs which he'll post here pretty soon!

If you want to check out some of our other work, Eric's done a great comic called Dog Saint, and Tommy has done Children of Light, which you can read at Megazeen.