What if I wrote and drew a Z comic?

[mikedoeslife]

Sooo tempted to write and draw a car comic, but it would be so much work! Especially with drawing so many cars, urgh!

 

I did this sketch of what I'd love to do. The reason I thought of it is because I'm sick of waiting for the next chapter of the scanned/translated Wangan Midnight manga to come out (which is a manga comic about a dude with a 240Z, for those who don't know), so I'd just make my own alternate reality version of the story.

 

Basically, in my alternate version of the story, the dude in Wangan would crash the car once again, and decide that it's too much for him. He puts it up for sale, and a dude here in Melbourne Australia imports it, and continues the legacy.

 

 

Whatcha think? I'm very far from being a pro, that's for sure haha. My inking sucks! I also traced the photo of Austin Hoke's Z, because it was way too hard to draw. So I'm a cheating bastard, but ah well.

[luke_mcmahon85]

that's hot...do it

 

also, how did you do it, it looks amazing?

[Toecutter]

Van, thats awsome mate. Geez, you can draw really well! I'm sure all here would be very very interested in what you could come up with and we'd be very happy to commit a section if the site to your ongoing Z comic!

 

My only concern would be copyright and some legalities re using Wangan Midnight story line as a spin off, but your work is good enough to start your own Melbourne story anyhow.

 

Man I've gotta say it again thats really impressive, good work!

 

Cheers

Sulio

[mikedoeslife]

Luke: The car itself is traced from this photo of Austin Hoke's 240Z. Personally I do think I have the ability to draw it freehand, but frankly I just can't be bothered. It's a lot harder to do it freehand, and the amount of work involved would turn me off the idea of doing a comic. I'd rather trace the cars and get the comic done, than try to draw them freehand, get frustrated, and toss the whole thing in the bin!

 

After that, I drew the guy and the background in myself, completely freehand. That said, I will probably use photo reference for some frames, as I like to have realistic poses and photos are the best way for me, as I don't yet have the life-drawing experience to pull off a good pose every time.

 

I then inked the drawing with a brush pen, scanned it in to my PC with my A3 scanner (oh how I love my A3 scanner), and cleaned it up in Photoshop. The shading (known as "screentones" in manga) were added in Photoshop.

 

Toecutter: Thanks man, I appreciate the encouragement! I was sitting around sooking over the fact that with all my financial commitments at the moment, there's just no way I can afford my dream car - the classic Fairlady S30Z, our 240Z - so I'd do the next best thing: draw a comic about it!

 

Having a section here dedicated to the comic would be unreal! I'll make sure that I've got enough work done on it before I go accepting that sort of generosity, so that I don't go wasting anyone's time hehe.

 

You know my main fear? That the comic becomes popular among the Australian car enthusiast scene, and - just like Initial D did to the AE86 Corolla/Trueno/Levin - the value of the S30Z goes through the roof and I'll never be able to afford one! Hehe.

 

As far as copyrights go, look, it's a great point that you've made. I have thought about it, and I've decided to take the risk at the moment. Right now, Wangan Midnight isn't a massive property. There hasn't been a new game developed since 2000, and the manga has never been licenced or published in the west. If the game's distributor or - and this seems very unlikely to me - the original Japanese copyright owner for the manga itself - sends me a letter, then I'll gladly remove all references to Wangan Midnight from the comic.

 

In fact, my hope is that this comic will stir so much interest in Wangan Midnight, that someone will licence the manga and release it here! Imagine if Madman got a hold of it? Heck yeah!

 

The comic isn't going to reference the Wangan Midnight manga directly. It'll sort of be a tongue-in-cheek reference, you know? When he talks about his car, it'll be like "Yeah, some guy in Japan used to race it on the Wangan Highway in Tokyo, but he crashed it 3 times and decided it was too much for him, so I got a really good price for it because of the crash history. Too good to resist! Luckily the chassis is straight, so my dad and I stripped it back to bare metal and rebuilt it from the ground up". Or, you know, something like that.

 

My hope is that it will be a cross between Wangan (simply by the fact that it's based around a frighteningly high powered and mysterious S30Z shipped from Japan) and Initial D (because he'll be reluctant/uninterested initially to enter any races, but eventually becomes known as an amazing driver). There'll be references to other car manga as well, such as Over Rev and whatever else I think of. It'll be like one big homage to the Japanese love for car manga, but with Australian and Melbourne cultural elements mixed in.

 

Anyway, stay tuned for more info!

[Toecutter]

I, as I'm sure many others will eagerly await your next contribution. The story line sounds cool. The post is quote fresh, I think your gonna turn some heads with this one!

 

Very exciting!

[JP240z]

I'e never been 1 for comics, dont think ive ever read 1.

But with drawings that good of a zed i would definately give it a read.

Great idea van, super sketch, keep us informed about the progress.

Look forward to seeing it on the site in the future, could attract more zed enthusiasts.

Cheers,

JP.

[mikedoeslife]

Thanks guys! I'm pretty pumped about this, so I'm glad to see such an enthusiastic response!

[dave_hl]

as long as you dont make the driver an emo, his hair is getting a bit emo-ish.

but otherwise nice sketch!

[mikedoeslife]

Haha! I'm pretty sure he'll have short cropped hair. The story starts out in the past, and he'll have longer hair then, but by the time we get to the present, he'll have short hair.

[Azon]

Wow some great talent right here I would love an aussie 240z dedicated comic book Man seriously do it!!! The sketch looks awesome!!!

[Mr Camouflage]

Then you'd get sued by the wangan people.

 

whats an emo?