TEUTON vol.2, pages 44-45

Continuing from where we left off, our heroes are met by a band of Teutonic Knights...



Their leader, a scarred and hardened looking captain named Ritt (whom I don't believe is explicitly named in this scene. A note to Fred...), proclaims the woods are rampant with unspeakable dangers. This after stumbling upon a massacre of forest trolls. Thank you, captain obvious.

These two pages close the whole encounter with the trolls. Stayed tuned for Perkunas' earth-shattering meeting with his brother, Bangputys!

TEUTON vol.2, pages 42-43

Valentine's Day is upon us! While I have nothing interesting or poignant to say on the subject, I do recall a quote by my favourite author, Kurt Vonnegut, from his novel The Sirens of Titan:

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

So my babies, go forth and do just that. This "holiday" may be a trite load of guff, but I can't find anything wrong with a little gesture to make someone--anyone--feel nicer. There, that's my sermon. Now on to the blood and gore...

Here are two new pages of TEUTON Vol.2!

The troll battle has reached its bloody conclusion, but our weary heroes face yet another twist. How will Jadvyga and Asura fair when found face-to-face with a band of Teutonic Knights...?!

VICTORY!

The 3rd annual Everything To Do With Fred Show kicked off last night at The Sound Academy.

Boy, was it rad. That's saying a lot coming from me, because I spent the week prior panicking it was going to be terribly awkward selling and signing comics at a rock show. I mean, who would care when the likes of Monster Truck and USS were taking the stage? Wrong. Everyone who stopped by the table was extremely nice/drunk and super supportive.

In fact, now I get to eat my words because we totally sold all our stock!

A big, big thanks to all the fine people @ Stadium Comics for facilitating the good times. Thanks to everyone who dropped by. A special thanks goes out to the lovely Andrea, who brought a parched nerd some water.

And of course to Fred: Thanks for a great night! Also, I spent the cash from our sales on over-priced hot dogs out front--I'm sorry!

UPDATED: TEUTON vol.2, pages 37-41!

Update: Originally I wanted this post to include page 41, which caps off this action beat nicely. I just took a little longer laying that page out because, well, I'm still learning. Enjoy!

The battle rages on...






In other news...

I'll be attending the Toronto Comicon (March 10-11) with Fearless Fred and the ever-growing Big Sexy Comics team.

Mark it down, babies!


PS.

The official Big Sexy Comics website is undergoing some much needed maintenance. Right now, you can read all of Teuton Vol.1 and the first 21 pages of Volume 2 at higher resolutions!

Exciting, no?

Follow the link, faithful reader, to satisfy your medieval cravings!...

TEUTON vol.2, pages 32-36

ATTACK OF THE TROLLS!

After a heated argument between Maras and Jurate, the death goddess pulled rank and slapped Jurate silly. Thus a decision was made: Andrus, Asura, and Jadvyga must be killed swiftly before they can find Perkunas' axe.

With our heroes out of the way, Maras, Jurate, and Velinas believe they can rest assured their plot to unseat Perkunas will never be discovered... until it is too late.

The question remains: how does one kill three fine heroes hellbent on a quest?

How else? Forest Trolls--the perfect crime!

Velinas, the trickster devil, has an army of bastard troll children at his disposal, and now he has a special task for them to carry out...







Volume 2 has several big action set pieces, the Trolls being just the first of them. After flipping through my work in the first volume, I felt one of many things I need to improve upon is the staging of action. I took some time with 35 & 36 and for the most part I'm quite pleased with them. Here's a look at my roughs along the way...

What's Fred Got To Do With It?

SO THIS is happening...



On Friday, February 10th I'll be joining the man of the hour, Fearless Fred, at The Sound Academy for The Everything To Do With Fred Show!!

We'll be signing copies of our handsome graphic novel, TEUTON!

So if you like the musical stylings of Toronto's own, USS, and you love sword and sorcery comic books, then I don't even need to tell you where you need to be... but I am!

Enter to win tickets @ 102.1 theEdge.ca, or be extremely nice to me.


And another thing...

It's been a few days since I last posted new and exciting pages from TEUTON Vol.2

What could be happening?!

Here's a peek at things to come...

TEUTON vol.2, pages 29-31

HOOT!

When we last saw Maras, the goddess of death, she had resurrected the Teuton Komtur (Teuton Vol.1, 59-62) and instructed him to go out and find Perkunas' axe before anyone else.

Maras, along with fellow pagan deities Jurate and Velinas, conspires to steal the axe and change the status quo in the pantheon of gods for their own benefit. Each of the three have an agenda, but Jurate has something deeply personal at stake, and means to see their mission accomplished no matter the cost.

However, when Maras' spying owl reports that her nephew Vakaris was slain by Andrus (left), she suspects their plan is ruined. Knowing the death would bring Perkunas back to the mortal realm (Teuton Vol.2, 1-5), it would only be a matter of time before he tracked down his axe and uncovered their schemes to destroy him.

With Andrus and his trio in search of the axe on Perkunas' behalf (Teuton Vol.2, 14-15), Maras sees a shrinking window through which to back out with their lives, but has trouble convincing her two partners of their impending doom. A decision must quickly be made...





Page 31 proved a tricky one for me to get down. The last few pages were rife with exposition and talking heads. Maras' bitch slap is the biggest action beat to come before the big troll fight. I wanted it to have impact, not just for entertainment, but to show Maras as the one in charge of her cabal. Below are my roughs and multiple takes on Page 31: "Smack Down". The first draft of this page felt lazy. Aside from the last panel (which I kept), I felt it all needed to be changed.

TEUTON vol.2, pages 26-28

A moonlit ride through dark woods!

Jadvyga and Andrus bond over war stories (complete with homo-erotic subtext)!

Asura senses danger!

And an owl tells all!



Stay tuned for more of TEUTON Vol.2, as we near the epic and much-alluded to Troll Fight!

TEUTON vol.2, pages 24-25

So far in our story, a plot to steal the mighty axe of Perkunas has been revealed. Perkunas, a powerful deity of the Lithuanian pantheon of gods, is less than pleased to learn this. However, with the axe now missing, big questions loom: who conspires to wield it, and why?

Caught in the middle of all this intrigue is our hero, Andrus Tamm, a Teutonic knight captured by his pagan enemies. The axe is believed to be in Teuton territory, thus Perkunas dispatches Andrus to retrieve the weapon, along with two pagan escorts: the blunt and fearsome Jadvyga and the lady Asura.

Little do they know, their opposition is none other than Perkunas' own brother, Bangputys, god of the sea! Deep within his underwater palace, Bangputys secretly bargained with a demonic assassin named Ziburnis to both find the axe and kill Andrus.

As Andrus and company ride out across a snowy wilderness, Ziburnis sails in from the Baltic sea to meet them head on! But before he can, must teach one of Bangputys' spoiled sons a lesson in manners...

TEUTON vol.2, pages 20-23

2012 is here, and with a new year comes new pages from Teuton!

Enjoy: