Into The Ecto @ EltonPruitt.com

Descartes the Zombie production blog

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Mon, 08 May 2006 05:44:06 GMT

The official Descartes the Zombie production blog is now alive and kicking (pun intended) at IntelligentZombie.com.

Give it a click and check it out. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, except for a couple of others I can think of, to follow the birth of a comic book from inception to that glorious Wednesday when it lands on the shelves of your local comic book store.

As time permits in the near future, most of the DTZ-related stuff will be moved from this site, to make more room here for other items of interest, such as:

What the heck is going on with my Romance Comic submission?

When will I finish my other top-secret submission for

the absolutely coolest anthology project in the world?

And most tantalizing of all,

how will I find the time to write my Trailer Park of Terror submission
anytime in the forseeable future,
without calling in sick to my programmer job
and possibly getting fired as a result?

Check back early and often for the answers to these, and other equally tantalizing and/or pestilential questions.

Oh, and did I mention, IntelligentZombie.com? Just checking...

Looking good, Dierdre!

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 16:53:06 GMT

The evolution of Dierdre continues...

First look at Derek, aka Descartes

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 05:24:44 GMT

ITAWNICR (Incredibly Talented Artist Whose Name I Can't Reveal) sent me this first look at Derek tonight. And like the incredibly talented artist he is, he nailed it in one take!

Say hello to everyone's favorite intelligent zombie, Derek Hart (aka Descartes).

What? He doesn't look like a zombie? Just a good-looking kid from the Valley, ready for a night on the town?

You ain't seen nothin' yet...

Mike and Dierdre, sittin' in a tree...

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 05:00:31 GMT

And we're off...

UTSAG (Ultra Top Secret Artist Guy) sent me these first takes on character design for Mike and Dierdre, who are 2/3 of the core cast of Descartes the Zombie. Which, by the way, will probably be henceforth referred to on this blog as DTZ.

I'm loving this:

You go, UTSAG!

I have an artist, and he rocks!

epruitt@aristotle.net (Elton Pruitt) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:18:56 GMT

My ultra-top-secret artist is on board now for what is shaping up to be a pitch to Dark Horse's New Recruits program. All I am at liberty to say about this artist right now is that he absolutely rocks.

(And that, dear reader, is an understatement along the lines of "The Beatles? They had a couple of good songs.")

Okay, I lied. Thanks to Samantha at Dark Horse, I learned that New Recruits is not the way to go for this project. So, we'll be submitting via the regular Dark Horse submission process.

In the interest of helping any other aspiring creators who may find themselves in a similar position of reading Dark Horse's submission guidelines and then reading about the New Recruits program and saying to themselves, "Wha-- huh? Where am I? What day is it? Do I submit through New Recruits or the regular way?", here is an excerpt from the Dark Horse Creating Comics message board in which Samantha very kindly helped me make sense of this (and I quote):

New Recruits is the place to submit completed projects - projects for which you have completed most, if not all, of the work. It is better suited for one-shot projects, like single volume graphic novels or short stories. New Recruits submissions are reviewed annually... with the best submission(s) earning publication. Last year, we published the best of the best in an anthology called New Recruits, vol. 1.

Regular submissions, on the other hand, cover a much wider territory - writing samples, art samples, comic series pitches...etc. They are evaluated year-round, rather than at one point during the year. Use our regular submissions process if you want to submit work from a project that is unfinished, any kind of 'sample' of your work, or something you don't want to wait that long to have reviewed.

Please note that Dark Horse does not review unsolicited scripts, story ideas, or proposals pertaining to properties currently published by Dark Horse or any property not owned by the submitter. Such material will be destroyed without review.

So, there you go. If you want to pitch a limited series, as I do, you should use the normal submission channels.

Thanks to Samantha at Dark Horse for letting me quote her on this.