Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Power Hour Challege

Challenge Accepted. Complete a comission sketch in under 1 hr. I was motivated by Ali's Power Hour. I listened to her 1 hr CD and completed this promo drawing just as the last song was playing. Ali had a cool KickStarter so much so that it motivated me to start my own kickstarter. She had great perks and super cool videos. Plus she is from Pittsburgh too. Rock on Ali! for more power hour check out the link.   http://www.alispagnola.com/powerhour/ . Oh and I am still doing commissioned sketches, and no they wont be done in an hour! 

Monday, December 2, 2013

Soul of a Hero Web Comic Closer to LAUNCH!

I am working on final layout for the web comic. Sorry about the delays. It has been a learning experience, thanks you for your help, support, prayers and being a fan! This is gonna be GREAT! BTW thanks again to all those who supported the IndieGoGo campaign. I am waiting for the printed comics to come back from KaBlam! then I will be sending out ALL of the SOAH perks!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Corporal America... Avenger of Justice!



 still working on the commissions. They are coming along. Just a few more to do and all the IndieGoGo Group fundraising orders will be finished. 

This one is of my good friend Marty. He is a huge Captain America fan. I used to like visiting him in his office and looking at the neat Captain America Action figures he had on his desk. I kinda think that Marty is secretly a real life Steve Rogers. Those who know him know what I mean. This guy has a heart of gold and is always by the book! That is why those in his charge love him so much, because he truly leads from the front!

This one is for you Marty!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Prepare to Launch!







New Hope Space Port, New Hope TN. This is the fictional Space port from Raegan and RJ in space. I have been working in 3D for the past few months. Now its time to put all that training into practice. In this issue of R&RJ: Satellite Rescue you will see new 3D rendered objects and backgrounds like this one. I designed the star port in sketch up and took a cue from movie set design. The external and internal models are two different sets. The external model is mostly like a real miniature model, that's only a 3D representation. I can rotate the image to how ever I want, add nice perspectives and zoom in. So the building will look the same in every panel. As for the interior, I designed a pretty neat set with removable walls and objects so I can move the camera where I want it to set the scene. Look for some very interesting and creative backgrounds. This goes kinda against (or maybe for) what Chris Flick was talking about using backgrounds in comics. I have been picking on ol' Chris for the last few days about his Blog about do web-comics need backgrounds. R&RJ is not really a web comic but more of a comic that has a web format. But I am using it to explore the possibilities of #D rendered backgrounds. Expect some innovative things from this issue (due out around Christmas? hopefully?)


Please support R&RJ in Space. Its a cool Christian comic (thats free online) and for a nominal charge in print. It is published and produced solely by Richard Collins. He has a dream to make christian children's comics and is quickly accomplishing that goal. Read more and order today! http://www.raeganandrjinspace.com/page/page/8505622.htm

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

DeathShot for Ransom Comics

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This is a Commission for Ransom Comics. It features one of their characters DeathShot. The total project took about 2 hrs from start to finish. The challenge here was creating a steampunk character that looked cool, and deadly but not silly and dumpy. I created the logo to represent the steel and bronze associated with Steampunk and swiped a background of gears from google images and added a cool burned looking border. I had to rework the company logo because all they had was a low res JPEG. I recreated the logo in illustrator and its fully vector. The googles and bowler cap proved to be the most challenging. I designed them in sketch up and then added the scratches and knicks by hand in Manga Studio 4. (note this was one of my last MS4 projects because I am solely use Manga Studio 5 now). So if you need/want a commission or need cover art... I am in business!

Monday, October 7, 2013

The Incredible Fraziers

here is more commission art from the Soul of a Hero group funding campaign. My friend and supporter Niecy Frazier wanted a family comic book cover. I thought to go the movie poster route. Since she has a larger family I chose to make them the Incredibles. It came off well, I must say that Niecy's caricature is the most accurate one I believe that have drawn to date. 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

High School Friends! As super Heroes!

Here are some commissions that I did for some of my friends I went to High School with! 
 Kevin and Donna


Mike!

These guys were there for me from the beginning as some of my first fans. I am truly thankful and even more blessed to have people like them to help support my dream! Thanks again guys!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Back in ACTION!

I love it when a plan comes together!
check out how this piece developed!
 blue line compositions
 inks and color render compositions
Final layout

After (what may seem to you) a break I am back in action. I want to send out a special thanks to all the Family, Friends and Fans that helped support the Soul of a Hero group fundraising campaign. We were able to raise over $2000 and SOAH will be produced and posted as a FREE webcomic! As part of the guerrilla marketing strategy, I offered as a last minute perk at for Onyx Con fans as well as FaceBook fans custom comic book covers! Yup for only $25 I drew commissioned custom comic book spoof covers. The colors are provided by The Jedi Colorist (Don Armstrong).   This tactic proved to be profitable and fun. But I am up to my eyeballs in commissions. The $25 deal is over for now but, if you still want to order a commission they start at $50. Get yours today, these things make great Christmas and holiday presents. Plus they help fund my comic books, cause  you know the stuff is free to read on line!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Soul of a Hero Press Release

Press Release
The Soul of a Hero



The production Team of DPD&Y! , in association with independent comic publisher
 Red Handed Studios, is proud to announce the upcoming Graphic Novel, The Soul of a Hero. This project is a story arc branching from Red Handed Studio’s acclaimed title, Fallen Justice. The Soul of a Hero is a five issue limited graphic novel. It is written by Phil Knox and illustrated by D.L. Maffett, with Dony Armstrong providing colors and additional illustrations by Youmin Park.

Like all start-up projects, The Soul of a Hero will rely on the generous support of friends and fans of the comic. To make a donation or to learn more about the creative vision of the project visit the indieGoGo group fundraising campaign web site at http//:www.igg.me/at/soulofahero.com .

The Soul of a Hero will be available to read FOR FREE on line as a web graphic novel and available for purchase in print or in digital format.

The Soul of a Hero follows the adventures of Eldrige Cleaver Talbot, known by his moniker HellYeah!. He is a man on a path to find his true calling …to become a hero. Exploring issues deep soul shaping concepts of faith, redemption and destiny, The Soul of a Hero reminds us why we fell in love with comics in the first place and takes us to a place we’ve never been.

Set in the iconic 1970s and against the backdrop of fictional town, Steel City Pennsylvania, the struggle of good vs. evil plays out throughout the series. Characters from the Fallen Justice series HellYeah!, Blitz, Cruise, Smashing Johnson and Allison Wonderland cross paths with new characters Cobra Chung and Bombshell. Thick with 70s exploitation themes, satire, humor and non-stop The Soul of a Hero is sure to be an instant cult sensation.

The Soul of a Hero is now in current production and scheduled to release in on line Web graphic novel format the fall of 2013 and is sure to be one Hell of a Ride!

For more information and to experience this free dynamic web graphic novel, visit the website at www.thesoulofahero.com




About The production team


DPD&Y! is a team of comic creators spanning the globe from the United States to Canada to South Africa who specialize produce stunning comics. DPD&Y! is comprised of members of the Christian Comic Arts Society and have similar ideas that believers can make good comics without being preachy –the lesson should be caught and not simply taught.  The team members contracted to this project are D.L. Maffett, Phil Knox, Dony Armstrong and Youmin Park. Contact and portfolio information is listed below.




D.L. Maffett – Creative Director, Lead Illustrator, Co-Writer
(The Tactical Pencil)

D.L. Maffett fancies himself as a part-time crime fighter and full-time comic book artist. He tries to balances his duties as art director of The Tactical Pencil Creative Artistic Contractors and as a Deputy Sheriff in the greater Atlanta Area. His main passion is being husband Veronica and a dad to their two adult children. Kiarra and Debony. A graduate of Morehouse College a proud brother of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., D.L. has a strong background in graphic design and print but his first love is illustration and comics. Currently he is working on various comic projects including Raegan and RJ in Space, Evil Deeds and The Victorious Life. You can see more by visiting his blog, www.maffettart.blogspot.com.




Phil Knox –Producer, Writer, Letterer
(A monkey with a typewriter)

Hailing from the far side of the Galaxy . . . . Not Really, more like southern California; but hey, even Stan Lee had a great opener. Phil has been writing now for the better part of a decade after being published at the age of 22 years with his book,
Beneath the City's Shadows. His other works include: Resurrection Hero (due out this year), Grim City Stories (2010), and Light house (2008). Phil has shown no signs of slowing down as he is the current writer for Soul of a Hero and Co-Publisher of 8 bit Pulp.






Dony Armstrong – Color Artist, special digital effects, Assistant Creative Director
(Jedi Colorist)


Like most artists, Dony started early, always found with pencil in hand. As a kid he was always told there was no money in art and went to college for computing, receiving several certifications. After many years and a number of unfulfilling positions, he found his way back to his love of art, thanks to coloring with his daughter. Dony’s most recent endeavor has been in digital paint, where he finds great joy in the challenge.



Youmin Park – Cover & Splash Page Illustrator
(The SteamPunkPowerHouse!)

Youmin Park, a woman who born in South Korean but lives in South Africa now, is a graduate of the University of Pretoria with a BA in Information Design. She's currently working as a freelance illustrator and designer. She loves comics, manga, illustration and anything that challenges her creativity and imagination. She has been brought up with cultural experience by visiting and interacting with people in various countries, which this helped her to broaden her creativity and be respectful towards the ethnicity and culture.




Joseph Szejk – Creative Editing Consultant.
(The Quiet Partner Behind the Scenes)

Joe Szejk has a long background in writing, editing, marketing and project management.  A 16-time World Heavyweight Champion, he is known as Polish Apocalypse by some and El Guapo by others.  Along with saving the Earth on numerous occasions, he has won a multitude of Blue Ribbons for his Pittsburgh Spit barbeque sauce. During his graduate studies, he won the American Scholastic Press Association’s coveted award, “Best Literary and Art Magazine in the Nation.” This former Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing has spoken nationally and won a number marketing industry awards from the PRSA, AMA, Higher Education Marketing Report, the Telly's, CASE, and more. His work has been highlighted in USA Today. A devoted husband and father, Szejk is married with two children.   


About the Publisher

Red Handed Studios
Red Handed Studios is a small Indy comics publisher specializing in high quality story and art. The studio places a high price on quality over quantity, and yet still manages to put out a nice steady stream of product for folks enjoying a wide range of genre and style. For the entire Fallen Justice webcomic check http://comicrelated.com/wp_fallenjustice/

Cary Kelley

Cary Kelley is the founder and owner of Red Handed Studios and does most of the writing chores, all the production and design work, and a great deal of the lettering on the books the studio produces. He created the Fallen Justice universe along with Harold Edge and Steven Forbes and Dead Reckoning with Scottie Ray Watson, as well as creating 48, Totem, The Kansas Hit, and several other forthcoming titles. He also lettered the first two issues of Sky Pirates, wrote three issues of the Nifty comic The Cadre, and did letters on the Zuda winning web comic Extra Curricular Activities. Cary is also the principle writer and letterer for the Dynagirl series, so he stays busy. Cary wanders the Earth a lot, but makes his home in the Texas Hill Country with his wife Victoria and their baby boy Logan!
See more of Cary’s work at http://www.dynagirlonline.com/






For more information on The Soul of a Hero Graphic Novel, please contact


D.L. Maffett
404-207-8599


###

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Get Ready for Kick off!

GET READY FOR KICK OFF!
I am asking that 51 people be ready to donate $51 to the Soul of a Hero IndieGoGo group fund raising campaign! Our need is $3000! (but would love to surpass that goal with $3500) I have some committed backers already but we need YOU! You will be greatly rewarded with so of the best donation gifts and perks EVER! So remember donate to Soul of a Hero's Indie GoGo campaign and TELL A FRIEND!








Friday, June 28, 2013

Paging Dr. Werner... Dr. Warner you are needed STAT!

Dr. Emily Werner as she will appear in the Soul of Hero Web comic. She is the leading medical source of Ultra Human physiology. In SOAH she is in her final year of residency at Steel City Medical University at the prestigious Steel City Hospital.  Her colleague, sorority sister and best friend Soffee (aka Bombshell) offers her advice and real world research materials. She is outspoke and all about the civil rights, to a point to where is gets her in difficult situations. But having a sexy sultry 70s vibe and the main squeeze of Justice Theta has gotten her out of more than one jam from time to time. For more on Dr. Werner visit  click here

Friday, June 21, 2013

Lets Get Ready to RUMBLEEEEEE !


Ok fans... a sneak peak of the project that you all have been waiting for HELLYEAH! well not really HY! anymore but its SOUL OF A HERO! These are some blue line pencils for the fundraising perk poster. As I sit listening to the music that inspired SOAH (in particular OmegaMan SuperHiFiFunk!). The Community fundraising campaign starts in a week. So get your pay pal accounts current and donate! Why? The web graphic novel is gonna be the FUNK! and its gonna be free to read online. So help a brotha in his first steps to  reach his dream and become a indie web comic KING!


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The United

The UNITED! This is cool concept that Mel Todd came up with. He made a unique, unrelated and non canon to any of the related characters. Each character is from a Christian comic of a Christian created comic. The pens and inks are by me and the colors by Mel Todd. My character Jericho Justice is in the front to the right with the goatee.


Sunday, June 9, 2013

Back on the "GO!"


here is a work in progress. This is the latest R&RJ cover. Included was Rich's Original and my revamp. I think I have met my match in production tempo. Rich puts out books as fast as I can draw covers. (not tooting my own horn, but I am pretty fast!) But Rich is even faster at creating kids books. Must be because he is a RANGER! 

Friday, June 7, 2013

The Prospect

Concept art for our newest character, The Prospect. Well she is not really so new, she is actually a character that was previously designed called Sister Bad Habit. The Prospect, is Bad Habit prior to her finding Christ and becoming a nun. Phil Knox took a liking to the concept and is writing and drawing the Graphic Novel. You should see the finished portions as interludes, flashbacks, and part of a possible issue #0 in the HellYeah! Soul of a Hero web graphic novel. 

As for the art on this one. I have a lot of work to do on hands. they are still a weak point in my drawing. I am still working on my cell coloring technique. I also wanted the tattoos to look cool also. I imported the tattoo art into Manga Studio from a collage i created from clip art and swiped clips from google images. I used the mess tool in MS to try to give the tatts some volume and organic look. Tatts are not flat and wrap around the flesh. Lastly I created the BrothazGrimM logo and prospect patch in MicroMedia FreeHand (doom on adobe illustrator!). I think I found the best way to import vector images into MS now. Thanks to some tips and tricks from the VERY TALENTED GURU Byron Wilkons (of 1977 the Comic).  I am pleased with the way this one came out. Let me know what  you think, please be brutal if you have too because its the only way I can learn and become better.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

BombShell's Back!

working pencils and inks for a pin up of BombShell. I am trying to get as good as my buddy Yomin Park. She did some kick but concept sketches of Bombshell. I used Jazun's stock image from DeviantArt as a photo reference. The knives are going to be from 3D models I am getting together later tonight. I am pleased how this is coming about so I decided to post the WIP.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Enter the Cobra!

Jimmy "Cobra" Chung and one of his slaves. Cobra Chung is the main protagonist in The HellYeah! Webcomic do to come out soon. He proves to be fun to draw and it gets challenging sometimes. I want him to look consistent in on each page, so I have two face references. One is an actor and the other is a co-worker that looks just like the actor I based Chung off of. I plan to do a photo reference shoot of my coworker so I have the reference materials I need and dont have to depend on the same internet head shots of the actor. I could do screen captures from his TV show but I dont have the time or patients. This photo could not have been possible without the very cool photo reference from Veyga on www.deviantart.com. here is a link to more of his stuff. This guy rocks with cool photo references. 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013


This is the layout and design that my son and I came up with for his Marine Corps Junior ROTC unit's raider team. The guys really liked the patch and my son took it upon himself to go get t-shirts and sweats made. He did the illustration for the back of the T-Shirts and what was cool is that it had the look and feel of a similar design I did form my Marine Corps NROTC unit when I was in college.  


Sunday, May 12, 2013

Missions to the 3 Suns Review: Go Raegan and RJ in Spaaaaace!


Get your copy today on Kindle click here for the link

Book Review by Steven Daws for Readers' Favorite


In "Raegan and RJ in Space", Alpha Centauri Mini-Adventure, we discover that after recently colonizing the planet New Bethlehem in the Alpha Centauri star system three months ago, this group of intrepid explorers prepare to travel on a mission to the planets three suns in order to release satellites to monitor the solar flares. This graphic novel is one of a series of books written by Richard Collins and deals with the events of this group, all of whom are Christian. There is a pastor on the team, who leads the group in prayer and blesses the missions. Will they make it and deploy the satellites?

These stories are aimed at children and it pitches it very well, being informative but not overly complicated. There are elements of sharing, teamwork and healthy eating, along with a description of the star system and the colony. The artwork and illustrations throughout are very good with vibrant colours and a good level of detail. The main characters are well-developed and will be easy for children to relate to, especially as Christianity is shown as part of their lives but not the main point of the story. Children are part of the crew, and you get the feeling that there is no danger of them coming to any harm. The stories are mini-adventures and are only approximately thirty pages in length. That is enough to complete a well-rounded story without the reader losing interest. Overall, a very good story, well-written and illustrated.

another Get Well card in the making


The SWAT Drive-On-Girl. She is the base model for a (yet another) get well card for a buddy. She is also going to be the first Pin Up for a series of Morale Patch Line that I am creating. Serious lessons learned in sketchup while doing this one. This is going to be a KICK A$$ piece when its done! GO TEAM TACTICAL PENCIL!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

an Act of Faith!

here is my pin up fan art of the Jessica Stern, of An Act of Faith. This indie comic is a Christian Super Hero Comic done right! Al Nickerson's free flowing and cartoon pencil style combined bullet proof inks and a story line that is unique make a recipe for a dynamic comic book. Get your copy today, and you might just be able to see this piece in its complete form as a pin up in one of the issues! http://www.anactoffaithcomic.com/ and for information on Al click here

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Juggernaut Rises!



Some logo designs for my man Juggernaut James over at Juggernaut Cylces. James is the man if you want to get the ol' Hog worked on. Plus he does some mean leather work custom leather work on the side. The first one is going to be for his company t-shirts. I think these came out BA!  Juggernaut has an eye for coming up with cool visual designs. He described what he wanted me to draw an I sketched it out, then finished up and the knuckheadzombiegasmask design was born.  Also Juggernaut's bike is the illustration reference for HellYeah!'s hog that will appear in the web comic! For more info check out his website at www.juggernautcycles.com