Ultra - Cleaning up my act (and the art)

Apparently, cleaning up 30-year old artwork is harder than I expected. It seems like the old pencil lines are just embedded in the art board. And when erased, old ink is prone to crack and flake off in tiny pieces, leaving small gaps in once-pristine black lines.

So, I'm using Photoshop to carefully clean and tidy up the artwork for Fanzine Flashback: Ultra #1. And it's going a lot slower than I expected.

Nevertheless, it is progressing. I'm more than 80% finished and the material that is finished looks great. I think it's really going to be everything I had hoped for when I started working to bring this comic book to life.

Those of you who have scanned old artwork before may be wondering what I'm talking about. Most people I know just use Photoshop and adjust the levels to get rid of yellowing artboard and drop out the pencil marks.

And most people sacrifice a LOT of detail when they do this.

I like the detail and want to keep it. I'd rather plod along at a slow pace and make sure I'm giving you the best version of the art I can. To this end, I am cleaning up lines, removing pencils marks, scooping out the bowls and holes in the lettering, and applying a lot of touch-up to make sure the solid blacks are, in fact, solid. I don't want brush lines or streaks when this is printed.

In other words, I'm printing this comic the way I would have back then, not preserving it for posterity. This is not an "Artist's Edition" that will show all the warts and blemishes.

Step One: Scooping out the Gunk

Fanzine Flashback: Ultra #1, Page 7,
in progress of being cleaned.

The first step in this process is to "scoop out the gunk" on the pages. That is, clear out the large areas of white space in the page layout, including the gaps between panels. I do this because the process of using the Levels adjustment in Photoshop darkens the blacks and makes the light areas turn pure white. In this process, little blemishes in the paper (I wonder if they have increased with age due to acid in the paper?) turn gray or black, leaving lots of little spots all over the page.

I could wait until after the levels tool is applied to do the scooping, but I actually found out that it's a little faster to do it beforehand.

As an aid to track what has and has not been scooped, I change the background color to a light pastel. This increased contrast really speeds up my work. In the example I'm providing here, I've just started cleaning out the bottom. I will complete separating all the panels (and sharpening their edges), as well as cleaning out some of the edges of the inked lines.

Step Two: Digitally Erasing Pencil Lines
After this, I will actually go in and clean out more detailed areas and remove heavy pencil lines. In general, Steve Addlesee did complete pencils with heavy lines for the inker to follow. However, there are also a lot of lighter lines where he started to place a shoulder or collar and then changed his mind. Andrew Pepoy followed them closely, but sometimes he added additional touches and interpretations to put his own stamp on the book.

Close up of panel 1, with problem areas indicated.
NOTE: This is a big scan, so click on the image to see it in detail.

That included using zip-a-tone on characters to indicate they are Black. Shading film like this is tricky to adjust; it's easy to let it clog up and hide details of the inking underneath. There are times I have had to go in and scoop out gunk between individual dots. Tedious? You bet. But sometimes it's worth it, particularly around the eyes and mouth.

Here's a sample of what the page looks like after adjusting the Levels and duplicating the layer with the blending mode set to Multiply (if that sounds like gibberish to you, I apologize, but it's the sort of detail that Photoshop users will appreciate). This gives me two identical copies of the layer, one on top of the other, so that thin lines become darker.

Panel 1 after Levels & duplicating the layer and setting the top copy's
blending mode to Multiply. Again, click on this to see it in detail.
Red zones show places that need more work.

By the way, as you'll notice, this process really messes up the lettering. That's why I remove the lettering and process it differently on a separate layer. This method is slow, but it gives me solid results that I'm pleased with.

I also have to retrace the word balloons because, as you'll notice in the first example, Steve used a felt pen for those lines, and the ink actually turned purple over time. Using the Levels tool just turns these lines into a spotty mess (and the Threshold Adjustment isn't any better -- it just makes spotty lines everything).

The process is slow and steady, but as I said, I'm mostly pleased with the results and think it will be worth all the effort when it finally sees print at the end of this year.

I'll post more updates soon!

Ultra Update: The project in a nutshell

I realize that I haven't been exactly clear about what's going on here. So here it is:

• About 30 years ago (among other things), I created a superhero called ULTRA.
• I sent rough sketches to Steve Addlesee, who refined my initial costume ideas and did some concept art for me (check the last post for two of the images from the character design phase).
• I then wrote a 20-page story and Steve penciled and lettered it. I may or may not have done some layouts/breakdowns for this story.
• I then had some trouble finding someone to ink it. Ken Holden, Jr. inked the first 5 pages, then dropped the project due to other commitments.
• Andrew Peopy (who was a teenager at the time and has since gone on to become an award-winning artist) inked the first 11 pages before dropping it (it's also possible that he never got the second half of the story -- I'm not sure).
• I then got distracted with other things -- being the president of the Collectors' Club, going to college, dating, etc. All the usual things encountered by guys in their early 20s.
• So I dropped the project. It's been sitting in my files, unfinished and unseen for about 30 years.
• I recently went through my files and found a LOT of cool stuff.
• So, I've decided to reactivate my old fanzine label, MELEE PUBLICATIONS, and print/reprint some of this old material.
• I've contacted both Steve and Andrew, and they both gave me their blessings on this project. And they will receive royalties from each issue sold.

In future updates, I'll fill you in on the clean-up process for the artwork, and some of the other zines I'll be printing.

Ultra Busts Out in COLOR!

This may sound odd, but when I created Ultra 30+ years ago, I never really thought of her in color. I was pretty sure she was a redhead, but since I was working in b&w line art, I designed the costume to look good in b&w. Back then, color was prohibitively expensive for a small press publisher to use, so it really didn't cross my mind.

Of course, nowadays we have cheap Print On Demand color, and the Web is a cornucopia of color. It's everywhere. In fact, the only people using black and white on the Web are doing so to be artsy (and even then, most of them use pops of color for emphasis and drama).

But I digress.

Now that I'm going to reprint ULTRA in this modern era, that means I need to figure out what she looks like in color. And, I must admit, that's proving to be a challenge.  You see, I really like the idea of gold boots and wrist bands. I also know she's a redhead. So, of course, that moves me toward green as her costume color. Um... high yellow boots and a green outfit? Sound like anyone's favorite female mutant with a fiery bird motif? Yup. It would be very easy to have her look like Phoenix.

Which is something I don't want.

So, Right now I'm taking suggestions (my old buddy Eric C. suggested I glam her up with metallic colors and some greens, purples, and so forth. I like it, but I'm not sure it's exactly the look I'm going for.  

Ultra Color Concepts. If you have any suggestions, send 'em in!

 I also took Eric's advice about making the trunks and vest purple. I actually kind of like that (as you can see above, I extended that to the trim on the boots). I'm considering adding it to the wrist bands. I like the orange, but it reminds me a bit too much of when Nova Kane had super powers in the old E-Man comics. It's also a little too Aquaman for me. But -- well -- it does kind of work. 

If you have any suggestions for her costume colors, send 'em in. If I use your idea, I'll send you a free PDF of the comic when it comes out.

Ultra will soon appear in a full-size comic book, FANZINE FLASHBACK: ULTRA #1. It features a 20 page story penciled by Steven R. Addlesee and the first 11 pages were inked by a teenaged Andrew Pepoy. For project and ordering info, visit us at: www.meleepublications.com

Ultra is Coming!

Illustration by Steven R. Addlesee, created Sept. 1982
Copyright 1982, 2014 Mike Mitchell

Here's a little glimpse at what I'm working on next! If you blow this up to full size, you'll see that I did NOT draw this. It was created based on original sketches and ideas that I sent to the incomperable Steven R. Addlesee waaaaay back in 1982! Yup.

I was just out of high school, and must stop before I call myself a "fresh-faced kid," because, if I recall correctly, I was rocking a serious boy-stache back them. Yup. That bit of under-nose hair all guys think makes them look older when they're at that age. And, of course, it really just looks silly.

But I digress.

Back then, and for several years after, I self published comic books and magazines. I created this superhero and sent the very rough concepts to Steve (we knew each other through the auspices of the Collectors' Club, which is a group of people who collect & enjoy comics) and he created the stunning b&w inked illustration you see above.

I added the color to make her "pop" in this image.

Stay tuned for a big announcement next week!