Among The Silver Stars
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Josh Carson had a childhood secret. While other kids pretended at being heroes or adventurers, Josh actually lived it. For four years, he was taken randomly by alien scientists, grown up and given amazing abilities. His mentors would send him out to save their galaxy from all manner of threat, and usually got their young hero home in time for dinner.
It was an amazing life, right up until the day it stopped. Where once only days would pass between missions, months passed with no word from his mentors. On his 13th birthday, Josh faced the truth: he would never be The Defender again, and he was stuck as a fat little misfit loser for the rest of his life. A 10-year spiral into madness and squalor leads to slow recovery and a life Josh wants to live again. He gets sober, gets a job and falls in love with a woman named Eileen. Soon after their wedding, with a baby on the way, the alien scientists finally return.
And that's when Josh learns the true horrors of being a defender.
I'm not sure why some people are so negative; this is an artistic creation that has taken hard work and deserves appreciation if for nothing else than to honor the effort. Sorry about those bad ones. I thoroughly enjoyed your comic and am excited to read more. Thanks.
great comic! congratulations, i really would like to read more!
Very, very nice.
8 page limits are horrible when it's a story like this one where I wanna see where it goes. GREAT writing, I'll be checking out your site to see if I can find more...
Super!
Oh poop. Why didn't I put THIS in my list for the July Invitationals!?
Interesting! Though, the name of the aliens strikes me as 50's B movie style, and that;s often hit-and-miss. In this case, I'd say it was a miss.
Thanks again to everyone for all the kind words, votes and encouragement! We will be continuing this story over at www.hemispherestudios.com and I will make it known there when exactly the comic will resume. We haven't worked out the exact date yet, but it will be very soon.
One more time: Thanks everybody! :)
I was thrown by the last panel it seemed out of order...other wise, fine entry, tough competition was otherwise your only downfall...keep at it!
Like the art style!
Labour impressive. The best.!!!
Amazing Job, I love it.
Usually I don't like the black and white histories, but this one has a great potential.
great story! hope you can still win, i'd like to read it all.
voted for you,
good luck!
I dig this. The art is slick and the story is intriguing. I think the plotting might need a little work. To me, that last page doesn't fit well with the first seven (almost like the same story is starting up again). But anyway, that's a minor complaint, it's one of the best entries this month.
I created my account for the sole purpose of voting for this comic. Usually i'm happy to sit back and read but to see this lose to something like the black cherrys is just a shame.
I want to see more of this! It was poignant and well-acted, and the clean-yet-descriptive artwork really made the piece a (heartbreaking) joy to read. Hope you win, for completely selfish reasons!
Well done this is a fantastic story and the art is really amazing. Would love to see more of this. Gets my vote.
The 8 pages were probably a bit of a difficulty when writing this piece and it was good. but honestly it could've been better. anyway I'm new at this.
really well writen and I love the concept, the "what happens now that I'm done saving the universe" very original so far and I was pleasently surprised.
I think you did a really good use of the 8 pages, it works as a good introduction and it makes you want to know what happens next. Also, the art goes well with the story, I would leave it in B&W, as it is. Well done!
Thanks everybody, for the votes and the supportive words. It really means a lot! :)
I think this has a lot going for it. Nothing about it is entirely perfect, but it has good art, a bit of style and it reads well. Not the most original concept either, but still interesting enough that if it did win the creator could probably go places with it. It has potential and I'd like to read more for sure.
The synopsis and the story don't quite match up as others have pointed out, but that's a problem for a lot of competitors. You can't fit everything in, but you can at least give a flavour and in that respect you've done well!
this is a really good comic.
I like the art style and the
writing is nice as well.
My favorite for this month.
Hope you win.
I had a hard time choosing which comic to vote for this month, but after much thought, you have earned my vote! Out of all of these, this is the one I would most likely come back to so I can find out where the story goes. Good luck!
Hey! This comic rule! This is too good!! A classic Sci-fi/superhero scheme! I love it! Ariaxy's work is fantastic! What an artist!
Damn! I want more!
Keith, you make a good point, but I can see the need for a limit and 8 pages is usually the standard submission package, so I get why they went with that. Still, I would have liked to have had 12.
Ring, thanks! I'm glad you found the nostalgia endearing rather than cloying. :)
And beng, that's quite a compliment. I can't speak too much for Ariel, but I can say that it's been a pleasure watching the evolution of his art style on this comic.
back 2 classical black and white is a good concept - i wrote something acting in space 2 - but in french - i'll share it soon - about the story, well, i'll look at it more ... later - thanks.
marvel
You know, I like this. I like it a lot. It's got a very retro vibe to the art, and the story caught my interest. Nostalgia pretty much sums it up. Reminds me (of course) of Adam Strange, Nova, Captain Marvel, but also of an old series of novels that probably no one here has read called Photon (based on the laser-tag type game of the same name). But instead of all those similarities and comparisons turning me off, I find them fun and interesting. Good work here!
Awesome. I'd really like to see more of this.
I'm increasingly thinking that the 8 page limit counts against exactly the deeper and more interesting comics that people would like most.
Ignore DShide, he is a man who knows what he likes, and what he likes very little.
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I just thought I'd add that I love that you were able to do this story in black and white, and make it look better for it, rather than just looking like you don't know how to color.
ptimony, thank you so much. You responded to the concept exactly the way I hoped people would. I'm so glad it moved you in some way, though I'm sad for whatever it is you lost.
NOD, when I read frequentcontributor's comment, my first thought was, "oops". That definitely hammered home the idea that page 8 probably wasn't the way to end this one. :)
And, um, thanks, DShide. I'll take that under advisement.
Uhhh..... that was shite. Why did you bother to write this? All I read was an 8 page synopsis of something that should have been canned at the start. The art( is quite good, but the story yeesh (read sin city to understand this reference). How old are you? This is so lame it couldn't compete in a potato sack race with 12 people. By the way are you or were you a fat kid? I don't care how much you develop this character, he is shite. Stupid DC fan-boy concept. Not thought out, not thought through. Yes this might be original, but the reason is every one else knew it was to lame to continue thinking about. Zuda must have picked this to fill out the comp. You have no hope of winning. I'm not trying to be mean, but this just lacks..... everything, but art.
frequentcontributor: Nooooooooo! Read the synopsis! This is why page 8 should have advanced the plot more.
*Pounds fists against monitor in impotent rage*
Oh the humanity!!
You're probably going to lose without color. If you return, I think you should demonstrate an ability with color, both to draw the punters and give yourself enhanced credibility. I would like to do the colors myself on a couple of panels. Neat-o on the art.
Great art and a good read, but there's nothing that makes me want to keep reading. The story seems over, which is fine for a short, but what if this gets picked up into a series?
Also, I'd like to add that this one kind of moved me on a personal level, which I didn't even realize at first. Without going into details, something really awesome happened to my brother and I when we were kids, then it kinda fell apart, and the realization that we might never get a chance to do something that awesome ever again came a few years later.
I feel this started off good, but around page seven, when the realization that he would never be a superhero again kinda sunk in, that's when it got very interesting. To me, that's what elevated it from a standard super-hero story to something a little bit more. It reminded me a little of "Flowers for Algernon", the part where Charlie realizes he's getting stupider, and might never be a genius again.
Great Work!!! Great Artist!!! I hope you win, you really deserve this.
This is by far my favorite. Absolutely loved every panel and every page. Great character study, great style. Hopefully it will get an instant win.
Done well Ariel, good luck!
This is very good actually. I enjoyed the set up story, and am curious why he wasn't chosen again. Maybe something happened to the Aliens? Looking forward to reading more. This work is much lighter than Ariel's work on the first 3 issues of "Eye of The Keeper", but equally effective in telling a story. Love the black and white contrast. Best of Luck!
Interesting set up. I love the art style.
Great art and solid story, but I think the B&W art with the color text balloons doesn't quietly fit. I like how you play with the concept of how much this kid miss having superpowers and start to loose hope, is like a Captain Marvel story a la Vertigo style. I really would to see what happens next.
Nice work here. Too bad there can't be more than one winner each month.
@k8 starr -your going to have to type that out,or better yet start a thread on the Zuda message board. links don't work in the comment section as fas as I know.
Nice art and design. Black and white. High contrast. You could of added another layer with color verses black and white. For example, have the art in full color when Josh Carson is the superhero, and black and white when he is not. This could add to the psychological drama. I think the point of view of the writing is interesting and raises some questions. Whom is Josh Carson talking to? Obviously it is the audience, but are we a psychologist or a reporter or a diary perhaps? Also, why the did the scientists stop calling on Josh? The main issue for Josh Carson is how has he resolved losing, without reason, his amazing life being a defender, and being a normal person. How could someone be "normal" after losing superpowers? This comic has raised a lot of questions which is a very good thing. I hope to see more.
Hey all you Zuda readers, CHECK THIS ONE OUT!!
Another impressive story by Chris, and the art is fantastic as well!
This one should win by a landslide.
I like the title too!! :)
Wonderful! You have my vote - I really want to see more of this! :)
I liked this better when I blew it up and read it the second time. I think this one's biggest drawback is it's too big of a story to tell in 8 pages.