Archive for ‘Issue 2’
22 items.
And that wraps up issue two. Another 22 pages in the can and issue 3 is..er..well..we’ll chat about that on Friday. My apologies about the lack of a colour page but this is being remedied ASAP so check back in the next 24/48 hours. UPDATE: COLOUR PAGE IS HERE! BASK IN ALL ITS GLORY!
And so, like a pheonix from the ashes, Bernadette emerges and she isn’t very pleased but then again if you had been pulled back into a burning building by a bloodied Talibob psychopath then you’d be pretty annoyed as well wouldn’t you?
The inspiration for this page came from when I was writing and Muse’s Space Dementia came on last.fm, the whole climatic scene just built in my head and the whole thing just wrote itself! Amazing how easy things were back then.
EDIT: Please remember to spare a thought for the tens of thousands of Iranians who will go out onto the streets today to protest against the reigime and campaign for a free Iran. They’re braver than I’ll ever be. If you know anyone who lives in Iran, please pass this message on.
Anyway, thanks once again for coming along and reading and please tune in on Friday when I’ll explain where Hard Graft will be going next!
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So here we are. Finally updated.
And not just a new page but every page which needed to be updated was updated.
We may have been delayed and we may have taken our time but we have acheived what we wanted to do and I am damn proud of that. We’re now up to date, up to standard and no longer looking like a bunch of Megatokyo wannabies (if theres such a subsection in webcomics) which is great.
The best will naturally be saved for last and you know that I am not one to renege on promises. The last page will be as promised.
After this, I will start to explain what we will do after issue 2 but it may well involve a 3 month lay off. Don’t fret, we still have 2 months worth of material left!
Alan doesn’t get along well with these locals very well to be honest , fuu 
Sorry for the extreme lateness of this strip but I was away from the flat all weekend and Monday. And guess where the page was? You’re right.
It hasn’t been all doom and gloom..well it has mostly with England losing to the old enemy. No, not syphilis but Australia. A disgraceful state of affairs! And to think we put this whole issue behind us when we won the Ashes earlier this year :-/
But on other fronts, things have been progressing well. I should have something nice to show you all at the end of the week and may well have something nice to give out..maybe. Stay tuned for that one.
Also, paradoxically, ANZAC biscuits are ace.
While we’re at it, can we all vote for Hard-Graft in best new webcomic in the WCRCAs? Cheers. Oh well..
And just when you thought she had gotten away too..fate can be fickle to some and plucky redheads are no exception!
Fourty-one pages in and I can’t believe we’ve come so far! But now is not the time for resting on our laurels! No, its time to get cracking and galvanise the fanbase into voting for Hard Graft in the 2009 Webcomic Readers Choice Awards!
The awards Hard Graft are nominated for are:
- Best Art (for German’s stellar black and white work)
- Best New Webcomic (for both of us really)
- Best Protagonist (Alan Corbett)
- Best Writing (for my writing work!)
Heres how to get involved:
- Go to www.webcomicplanet.com
- Either log in if you have an existing account or sign up here – http://webcomicplanet.com/wp-signup.php
- When you have logged in, navigate to the WCRCA voting area!
- Vote for your comic (or comics) in all categories!
- Celebrate and have a good pint of Theakstons Old Peculiar to celebrate. If you don’t drink “alcohol” then…then…stop generalising and start drinking!
Hiiii-guuuuuyys!
Sorry this took so long but there was a bit of confusion between me and German about what I wanted to do for the last 4 or 5 pages. That and he was being lazy or drunk in charge of a pencil in which case best results ever! We need to feed him more drink!
Basically what I want to do is show the sketchwork, then the inks and then the final version. Page 44 WILL be in colour come hell or high water and thats going to be especially exciting as you get to see the page over 4 iterations. This way we keep track of the final part of issue 2 but we also get to see how German does things with the art side and I think we’ll all be the better for it 
In other news ZOMBIELAND WAS AWESOME! Now, while I feel like the guy who got told that WW2 ended about two years late and charged into Piccadilly Circus in 1947 screaming “WOOO ITS OVER!” it really is absolutely superb even if it took me almost to the point where it was about to come to the end of its Cinema run for me to see it. Combining the best of Shaun of the Dead, Scrubs and other comedy into an awesome (yet educational) package about Zombies! Superb.
Yes well we all knew she had it coming after all that sleazy leather/spandex/PVC wearing…or is she? Tune in same bat time!
Okay, I know what this looks like but theres a reason why the FX is “RATATATA” and not “K-BOOM *KERCHACK*”. This is because the pages are done in batches and currently every time Bern shoots someone with the shotgun, the FX will be “RATATATA”, as I said before this WILL be changed.
This almost brings up page 40. I’m so close to that magical 50 pages I can almost taste it! Looking forward to doing the next 50 pages too!
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m going to do a very very small print run of the first two issues primarily to sell at the 2010 UK Webcomix Thing. If there are any left over, I’ll let you know but because of the small volumes availible there may not be any left to sell to you guys. Still though, if you do want one and want to tell me how much you’d pay for a 54 page, A5 B&W perfect bound book then let me know by voting below!
Oh, also, please do not forget to vote! This is crucial to keep Hard Graft in the public eye and to attract new readers which means a bigger HG community chatting and bickering about stuff and so on! So please vote and visit the links above!!!
EDIT: Forgot to say but please vote WebcomicZ and visit Webcomicplanet. Every vote & visit raises the profile of Hard Graft and pulls in more readers to enjoy this work. It is utterly important so please remember to do it each time you visit
If you ain’t got a shaped charge and you can’t get in via any other way you either blow the door off with a shotgun…or you shouldn’t even be going in that way in the first place. This introduces a nice bit of CQB (Close Quarter Battle) which I have gleamed off of various people. I had wanted to use a shaped frame charge al la Princes Gate in the 1980s but as there probably aren’t that many windows on this building that are intact, it wouldn’t have had the desired effect.
Thus, I used the next best thing which is removing a door via a shotgun. I’m a fan of it and so are the SAS so that is good enough for me.
Went to the Nottingham Beer Festival this weekend past and had a merry time of it. Lots and lots of different ales and ciders were around and there were a great selection of Porters and Milds which I really liked.
I’ll post more later, in the meantime, enjoy!
Alan loves a bit of DAKKA DAKKA (or to be more accurate BRAKKA BRAKKA or BRAAAAAAAAAAKA). Do you?
This marks the start of our third big action scene, this time showing how well two people can do if they make intelligent use of firepower and surprise. Note that Bern has already got herself in position as Alan mops up the rest of the guards!
In other news the WebComic Readers Choice Awards 2009 have started in earnest in the nominations stage! Its being hosted on webcomicplanet.com and as in previous years competition is stiff.
Me and German have been nominated in several categories:
- Best New Comic (Hard Graft)
- Best Writing (Peter Vine)
- Best Art (German Erramouspe)
- Best Protagonist (Alan Corbett)
If you want to nominate us again, please do, just go to webcomicplanet.com, sign up and simply nominate us! When the time comes, we’ll be demanding that you guys vote for us as well!
Also, was interviewed by the good chaps at TGT Webcomics podcast! It was a great interview and I was slightly tipsy though as I had been out previously drinking the safe return of one of my flatmates. Check it out anyway!
Finally, SARACENS 5 AND 0 AFTER BEATING NEWCASTLE!!!
Yeah, awfully sorry about this but I accidentally uploaded both pages 35 & 36. This is page 36.
More soon.
…here at Hard Graft, we’re very pro-choice. We belive that it is the choice of a woman on whether to throw another woman through a wall. Huzzah!
FINALLY! Hiatus is over! The webcomic shall now continue for the next four or five weeks until issue two is completed by which time I’ll have sketches of issue 3 to show you! Aren’t I fantastic, my planning skills are incredibly…rubbish.
I can only apologise for the month long delay and I can only hope that the next few pages can make it up for you guys. You’ve all been really loyal and I can’t buy that with gold, thanks for reading so far! If you like what you see, vote on WebcomicZ and visit the Webcomic Planet. Both boost my rankings, my rep and get more readers to this comic which in turn makes it even cooler for everyone!
EDIT: Also…SARACENS BEAT GLOUCESTER TO WIN 19 – 16! WIN STREAK NOW 4 out of 4!!!
Bit of a rubbish game but a win is a win, I’ll take lots of wins like that rather than crap losses! Allez au noir!!
This is the REAL page 35!
Okay, a bit of explanation, two pages were delivered to me yesterday by German and I wanted to upload page 35 and schedule page 36 for next week.
Now, what ACTUALLY happened was that I managed to schedule page 36 for TODAY and not schedule page 35 for ANYTHING at all. Result was you all saw page 36 and page 35 was left on its own in draft status and Albi the Racist Dragon
This situation has been rectified and huge apologies for everyone who has turned up and seen Page 36 mistaking it for page 35! Hopefully this double update should go a long way to cheer everyone up!
