Page 12

It was just about 1 year ago that the GZA graphic novel fell into my lap. The back and forth on that went on for a good 3-4 months.We FINALLY got a script locked around July, and I got started penciling last month. I had finished a rough draft (a page is featured below) of the entire 100 page book. This was to match the finished script along with a visual guide for approval. The publisher (Warner Books) was happy with the look of the book, which was a huge relief. GZA signed off a couple of weeks later (and it turns out his son is a huge Manga fan, and was really into it).

The look and feel of the book is a bit of a departure to what the other Wu-Tang books have done. I wanted to do something a little more straight, and, try and make more of a personal story out of it. The other books tended to be more Sci-Fi, bigger than life. I figured GZA was the brains of the outfit in Wu-Tang, so, I proposed a much more 'cerebral' story/plot. Lets hope it all comes together.

Below is an example of the rough page 12. What I'm in the middle of doing is transferring the rough/thumbnail versions of the 1st draft, to the comic board, and giving it a more finished look (though some of it is still pretty loose).


Rough Page 12

This is the more refined pencil version, without word bubbles. All inks will be done by hand on this, but, it's looking like word bubbles and text will be done on the ol' Mac. It should be interesting considering most of the other comics I've done have been hand lettered.


Semi-Finished Page 12

I'll reguarly post more pages as they come.

James