The Legend of the Fool King
The Legend of the Fool King is © Alexander Kanaris-Sotiriou
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The Fool King leaves our hero having uncovered the sinister underbelly of his world. Facing the uncomfortable truth, he faces a perilous quest to stay alive while hunted by witches who secretly pervert his land.
Who are the Witches? Where do they lurk? How deep does their evil plot run?
Left with so many questions unanswered, he is forced to plunge headlong unwillingly into a quest to save the land that deems him an embarrassing amusement. What can just a court jester do? He clings to hope, even if it is that of a fool. In a world where a jester can become king, anything can happen.
Hi Evil penguin,
never say never. I have a near finished script for the whole 60 pages but am comitted to other projects at present.
Thanks for the message!,
Cheers,
Alex
Is there any chance fool king will continue in another format?
Ace!!!
cheers for that guys, I appreciate it. it'll be interesting to see who goes into the Invitational.
I agree that this should really continue - it's got my vote for the invitational!
Another great comic, that gets another nom from me to be in the Zuda Invite.
That was really good. It should have been carried on.
Intriguing plot! Hope it updates soon.
I really dugg this. Cool idea.
Its all written, but I'm currently looking into a new story and a art style that is less time consuming. But hey never say never.
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I've set up a new mail account if anyone wants to make contact and keep informed of what I do next...when I work out what that is!
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alexkanarissotiriou[at]googlemail[dot]com
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Thanks for everyone who voted. Speak soon,
Alex
So... now that the comp's over- any chance we'll get to see more of the Fool elsewhere?
Hi, thanks for the comments everyone,
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Johnzakour,
Cheers John, best of luck to you in the closing stages, it looks really tight at the top, but you've got a great chance. Break a leg!
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thegrimace,
Thanks you very much indeed. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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sixtem,
Hi there. Yeah, I had to make some compromises due to the 8 page limit of the submission. I wanted to deliver readers a complete story segment that also set up the plot for the rest of the story.
I'm not sure what the way around that is. I have had other comments of a similar ilk so I'm aware that other people shared your view. But if I had the choice again, I'd do it the same way. I guess I feel it was more important to give a more complete taste of the story and world I had imagined, even if that meant the 8 page submission felt a bit 'choppy.
Yeah it seams quite a few people like that second page:)
Cheers for taking the time to read and post.
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Best of luck to all in the closing stages!
Still one of my favs on Zuda. Nice all around job.
i really liked this comic man, the art and writing worked well together.this has a really professional complete package presentation and while the story might not seem to be anything revolutionary its handled well and is quite enjoyable. kudos amigo.
I had mixed feelings about this comic.
The story was interesting and very reminiscent of old fantasy tales and stories.
Likewise, there were some visual things I loved about this comic. The second page where he's talking with his friend was nice.
I also love you backgrounds (something many comics lack).
Now for the critique.
There seemed to be far too much crammed into 8 pages and the pacing seemed rushed.
I didn't really end up feeling for the main character, and his mother's death contained in only one panel didn't really jerk any tears from me.
The story wasn't enough like an old fantasy story (where it's simply A to B story progression with no exposition or character development) to excuse the rushed story, so I felt the scenes that should've been moving but weren't were done poorly.
The art was unique, and you have a good sense of color. The character designs were strange, but I felt myself liking them more and more as the story progressed.
You also don't have the bad habit of trying to make everything look overly pretty, so that was refreshing.
All in all, this was a good comic, I just felt it was too rushed.
Cheers JFx,
I think it may be little late for the Fool King to win, but its been a really good experience and learning experience taking part.
Thanks for reading and I really appreciate the vote,
Many Thanks,
Alex
You got MY VOTE.
Nice work, I love how you have play on each page.
KEEP WORKING ON THE PROMOTION, JUST 3 DAYS LEFT TO THE END OF THIS COMPETITION.
I haf kome to klean your soul, Alex. Wis my brush. Of soul. Kleanink.
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Yeah, it's late, that's not as funny as it sounded in my head.
balls, that was meant to be sagebrush, not soulbrush, sorry
Cheers for the great comments guys.
I'll go and check out your stuff soulbrush, sounds interesting
Many thanks,
Alex
Nice expressive art, I especially love the layout of the second page. I'm glad the "fool" is not really a fool, a bit more more emotional than one would expect but I think that works well.
Do not like last section on last page. But, that is my only grudge. This is good. Not perfect, but very good. 4 stars
If I wasn't competing I think I'd vote for you. If you don't make a miraculous dark horse leap at the last moment and win, I hope to catch you on the internet with this or something like it somewhere. I'd link to it from Crowfeathers (historical stories FTW).
Hey Alex, Just thought I'd return the compliment. Very funny interview strip. Those things are a kick, eh?
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Y'know for some reason I keep picturing Tony Hale (Buster, from Arrested Development) as the Fool. Maybe it's 'cause he's so willing to go the extra mile for Mother. Something to think about when you make the big movie deal. :)
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Onwards and upwards, man!
Hi everyone, hope you all had a nice weekend.
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In order to celebrate the Knave interview and strip going up here's a link to the inks for my strip up on Flickr.
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To see them full size, hit 'all sizes' when viewing the image.
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I've also supplied new links to the layous and pencils as the link seems to be dynamic:(
Hope you find them interesting!
Cheers,
Alex
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Inks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22592413@N07/sets/72157603760776163/
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Pencils:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22592413@N07/sets/72157603658013836/
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Layouts:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22592413@N07/sets/72157603687958321/
Fans of the Fool, check out the text-based interview with the Fool King's creator AND the comic strip interview with the Fool King himself at The Knave's Log (http://knaveofkrypton.blogspot.com).
dude, i totally jinxed you. my bad...
ack deja vu, back to fourth!
Cheers for the comments everyone. I'll be posting up a link to my inks over the weekend and after my knave interview is posted I'll post a link to the pencils for the interview strip.
Cheers everyone.
Woohoo!! Glad people are starting to come to their sences, hehe. 3rd ain't no place for a fool. Congrats mate. hope i see you in the top 2 soon.
There's something really nice in the simplicity of this.
Good fun.
You got to love cultural exchanges. :)
Reminds me of that line: the Americans and the English two peoples separated by a common language. ;)
luvverly jubberly? Geez, man... baby steps first.
Hi,
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fanboy d ,Cheers pal
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ptimony, haha, congrats on the correct use of 'chuffed'. I think you may be ready to move onto 'luvverly jubberly'
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cheers,
Alex
I'm chuffed that this is climbing!
(Did I do that correctly?)
congrats on the well deserved climb, the only way is up! or, y'know, the other direction...but that's not gonna happen.
Wow, up to 3rd. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who voted.
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SamLittle,
Thank Sam appreciate that. I doth my cap to thee sir.
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InVinoVeritas,
Brilliant thanks very much for your kind words. There's only one of me though!
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JFx,
Top Stuff, glad you enjoyed reading it. Seems that the colouring seems to have gone down quite well.
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Cheers,
Alex
Aaaargh! From the depths of fourth place I shake my fist at thee! Usurper!
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Congrats on the bump up, man! :)
Oh, boy, oh, boy.
It´s a very nice tale, exceptionally well drawn. And the collors are pretty and well tought of. My favorite, for sure. Hope to see you guys winning the competition this month. I would like to know how this story ends.
Congrats.
Great Work, You must be on the top, for sure.
I love the pace, I love the art (your colour specially).
You have my temporal vote. (I have a couple of entries for check)
Hi everyone,
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Illinest,
Hey no worries, glad its growing on you. I'm aware the visual style is not everyones cup of tea.
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mpd57,
haha, thats good, really good. You're right I need to look at my balloons, they are a bit rigid.
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Ninth Doctor,
Cheers appreciate that.
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RKB,
that'll be my next comic then, Ye Olde Minstel 2040!
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see ya
I owe you a better response than the one I gave before, and since I've had a few days to think about it without coming up with anything I'd like to only offer an endorsement.
I think that it only misses with me due to your rendering style, not one that I'm fond of, and the way you chose to structure your plot as I tried to discuss before.
In neither case do I believe that there is a weakness, rather a failure to connect with me personally.
Good job, in other words. My respect for your work has grown with repeated viewing.
I REALLY thought I was going to HATE this one! But no. Great pace, a self contained little story, nothing mediocre about the artwork, some subtle humour, sympathetic characters, no 'ye olde' speak. I can only really criticise it for a little awkwardness in the layouts here and there, and the word balloons are a bit stiff. Overall though any creator who can take my least favourite story elements and yet still hold my interest and sympathy deserves something out of this competition! Best of luck for the future!
You know, to try to please everyone: You could have some character talk in Half arse Old English style (doing a rip on something the bard wrote in Hamlet), and have The Fool King, and everyone else look at him/her like they don't know what the hell they are talking about. That way everyone wins! :)
Two criticisms I've read about that I want to give my opinion on: 1) Olde English. Honestly, using Old English would have drawn the reader out of the story, made it a chore to read, and would have severely damaged the flow. 2)Balance of comedy I think is just perfect. It's serious while not being serious, so that I'm not laughing at the story, but smiling amusedly while be sucked in. If any of that makes sense.
Hi,
Thanks for your feedback everyone.
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russ & atemi,
thanks you very much for the high praise. I think it would've been nice to get a bit more humour in, but I had alot I wanted to get into the 8 pages:(
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RKB,
you trickster you! glad you liked the behind the scenes stuff, I'll post up the inks later in the comp
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Spider Zero,
sorry you didn't like it, any...of it by the sounds of thing! But I guess you can't please all the people all the time. Thanks for taking the time to read and give feedback.
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Alex
I find this to be something of a re-tread of half a dozen sword & sorcery type stories done for years. The artwork is mediocre, although there are a few bright spots panel-wise and the dialogue is too highschool for my tastes. This strip needs lots of polish art-wise before it'll get off the ground.
Good job on the comic, you got my vote : ) One thing I was expecting to see was a little more comedy/slapstick...he is a jester after all hehe. I would love it if you incorporated some of that in the story. It might be a nice contrast to some of the darker themes you got going on.
Just my two cents though
I was just pulling your leg, or taking the mickie out of you, I am a Judge Dredd fan after all. Nice behind the scenes stuff by the way.
Hey Alex. Great job on the strip man. The colouring work really brings it together. Definitley got my vote. I wanna see more fat old ogres with man boobs. Fingers crossed for the results!
Morning Everyone,
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RKB,
Cheers mate,I just looked it up, here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences
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Mikespit12000,
Awesome, glad you liked it many thanks,
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Plastic Soul,
Groovy, wasn't sure wether they'd be much interest in the 'making of' stuff but thought it couldn't do any harm, I'll post the digital inks up later in the comp.
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fanboy d,
Wow thanks for your vote, you've made my day! Rest assured I won't be changing the dialogue style if it goes forward.
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robtlsnyder,
Thank you very much diggin' you right back!
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thanks everyone, Bye
Here's an odd-ball question: Why do you nice folks from across the pond spell c-o-l-o-r wrong?
Just thought I'd ask. ;)
Congrats on your rank by the way, I figure you will go up in the standings.