Tri-Boro Tales
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Other, Comedy
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Tri-Boro Tales is an urban soap opera that stands the traditional love triangle on its head. Gabe, a talented musician, is spinning over Sean, an ambitious career driven disc jockey. Suga, Gabe's best friend and confidante, is after a little more than his heart. Like most of us, Gabe finds himself racing through the forest without looking at the trees. When you do that you're bound to fly face forward into bark. Tri-Boro Tales boasts an eclectic cast with an equally eclectic aesthetic. Join Gabe, Suga, Sean, Ravon, Phatdawg, Tone, Stephen and Mary as they present their discourse on love, the current nature of relationships, social polemics and the pursuit of world peace. All fueled by alcohol, pop culture, comics and just plain isolated acts of geekery.
Congrats with your ranking. 5th place is not bad.
Wish you a beautiful career in the comic-world.
Hi guys,
...
Best of luck with your comic endeavors in 2009!
Happy New Year! You got a nice art style, I hope see you guys again in the Zuda trenches!
Hey Keith and Chuck, hope to see more of Tri-Boro Tales and have a great new year!
Best of luck to you guys in the new year!
Adam
Keith and Chuck, well done this month. All the best with Tri-Boro Tales. Here's to an excellent 2009! -Rob
http://zudafollower.blogspot.com/
I love the art very nice looking work . Personally I'm into and would be more apt to read something with a different story line . very good work I see a good future for the artist
Tyler you hit the nail on it's head. TriBoro is meant as a slow burn. As we meet the characters we discover the quirks that cement their friendship and the romantic entaglements they find themselves in.
Have a little faith. We're gonna try and work some magic and Chuck and I promise... you won't see it coming.
Congrats on getting into the December competition. I think the comic had a very strong, unique visual style that I enjoyed. I'm going to have to echo some of the crits you've received. The lettering was a bit small and difficult to read, and the script could have been tightened up with another editing pass. I think you may have put too much pressure on your characters to be really interesting with their dialogue, at the detriment of story. While your synopsis alluded to a love triangle, I didn't get that that was the central conflict of this story...in fact, I was looking for conflict or a problem and wasn't sure what this story was about from your 8 screens. The creepy flasher sequence was enjoyable, though. I look forward to seeing more from this creative team.
Congrats on getting into the December competition. I think the comic had a very strong, unique visual style that I enjoyed. I'm going to have to echo some of the crits you've received. The lettering was a bit small and difficult to read, and the script could have been tightened up with another editing pass. I think you may have put too much pressure on your characters to be really interesting with their dialogue, at the detriment of story. While your synopsis alluded to a love triangle, I didn't get that that was the central conflict of this story...in fact, I was looking for conflict or a problem and wasn't sure what this story was about from your 8 screens. The creepy flasher sequence was enjoyable, though. I look forward to seeing more from this creative team.
RKB and UnitDaGamer, thank yo so much for your response. Your input is invaluable.
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Tight! especially diggin' the art. keep up the good work guys!
First things first it's not really my genre of choice, but that being said I liked it, and I'm about as far away from urban as you can get.
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I enjoyed the art a lot, but I actually liked the backgrounds more, both both Chuck and Shawna did a fine job. Keith and leon, I also really enjoyed the words and colors, just the story isn't really my thing liked it, not loved it. 3/5 stars from me.
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SCREEN 1 It was cool to see a title page, space is tight with only 8 screens, but I liked seeing everyone's real names so i could know who to praise, assuming those are your real names ;)
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I enjoyed the composition of it, kind of a movie title card feel. Nice title logo.
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SCREEN 2 The font is kind of hard to read in small screen. I thought the backgrounds for this screen were great. The art was very nice, I esp. liked in panel 1 how the other characters were colored gray to put the focus on the lead, nice storytelling device, cool as hell to see it. It showed he wasn't thinking about any of the other people just lost in his own thoughts until he had to think about them in panel 2. Also, much praise from me for using real thought balloons for the character not text box imitations. I have this 'thing' about text boxes. The rest of the screen did a good job of putting us into Gabe's world.
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The thing I didn't like/get why all the black boarders around all the art??? i past Zuda comic did the same kind of thing, you have more space on the screen to play with, so why didn't you. The kind of letter-box look on Zuda doesn't thrill me.
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SCREEN 3 Again I loved the backgrounds. I also enjoyed in panel 2 how you used the fade-out images to show movement, good effect and not just for the flash or batman. I also enjoyed the school'ya lines, and seeing his interactions with other characters.
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SCREEN 4 We have the dirty old man in a trench coat! I thought this was a fairly funny screen, him being asleep then his "is that it" reaction, i laughed.
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SCREEN 5 I liked the way you showed the movement between panels of him throwing that man out, and the coat. I liked the dialogue you gave tone too, some good character interaction. The smiley face with headphones was a funny graphic.
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SCREEN 6 I liked the way you had the story move along on these screens, and the way you used color to show it off. Who was that one other background character not colored gray in panels 1 and 2, some stalker? More good character interaction, but still not my type of strip, it's not my fan-fav genre so it can't really grab me as a reader.
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SCREEN 7 "Not that chillin!", another funny screen. Interesting choice to not see Gabe's eyes in the last panel, and again thanks for the thought balloons, it made for a nice gag on this page.
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SCREEN 8 Keeping the less important characters in gray to let the others shine was a good choice, it really framed these interactions well. I enjoyed the conversations, and the well done expressions of the characters on this screen. I also think you chose a good point to end on for a cliff-hanger style ending.
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Like I said before: you did everything well, its just not my type of comic read.
Dear Zuda Competitors/Creators,
I’m the creator of the Zuda fan blog, and I would love to interview all of this month’s creators. If you would be willing to answer 5-10 questions, to be posted on the Zudafan blog, please contact me at: zudafan@gmail.com.
Feel free to check out the blog: zudafan.blogspot.com
Thanks!
~Liz
Thanks for the comment FrequentContributor.
Your comments are very constructive and helpful. In terms of aesthetics, while the book features African-Americans, it is meant as a slice of New York life. The voice of the characters are very much authentic and reflect the way they speak. Age notwithstanding.
As for plot and story development, you have a sharp eye. Alex Robinson and Craig Thompson are influences as well as Jim Mahfood.
First off: this comic looks GREAT!!! I wish that the backgrounds were by the character artist for reasons of consistancy, but otherwise no art complaints (I do like the backgrounds; they remind me of David Choe drawings, but they don't really gel with the slickness of the characters and they only really seem to be featured on the first few pages... Just my opinion.) Also, the Kirby panels are genius. As for the story, it reads like someone in their 30's (or older) trying really hard to sound like someone in their 20's, and it just isn't working for me. I mean, this strip certainly packed in a lot of plot; tons of stuff happened, just not very interestingly. I would have forgiven more development of fewer scenarios (I assume the flasher and the old chess-guy were setups for later, but that doesn't do anything for me if you don't win...). Basically, it seemed like it was trying to be a black spin on an indy slice-of-life comic (Box Office Poison comes to mind.) mixed with a black spin on Clerks. I get it, but not, I guess, my first choice.
THIS IS THE BEST COMIC BOOK I EVER READ IN MY LIFE...I LOVE THE ILLUSTRATIONS AND THE WORDS REALLY BRINGS OUT THE PICTURES...AND I LOVE THE GENRE OF THE STORY...THIS IS THE BEST STRIPT I EVER READ...
Chuck and I just had an awesome podcast experience and as soon as it's posted we'll throw up the link.
Hot Chix Make Comix Fun. As a person here on Zuda pointed out earlier, not all artists capture their beauty. You do. Well done. Throw in some sickos, mild violence, & good characters & you have a good Job well Done!
Hey folks. It seems like a very tight race thus far. The Accountants and Bleed have the lead and the TriBoro camp is the equatorial line. Chuck and I are hoping to be on the upside rather than the downside. Aesthetic preferences aside there are some fine comics being posted. I'm enjoying a lot of what I read. For the guys in the lead, watch your backs, you've got us keeping steady in this marathon. For the guys behind, have heart, it ain't over till it's over.
Stay tuned, Chuck and I are doing a podcast interview and will send the link as soon as its ready. Also, we've got some goodies coming up soon and will "throw-up" some more original art on our respective blogs.
I hope you guys are having as much fun as we are. Kepe reading and we'll keep producing.
Not exactly my cup o' tea in terms of story, but very well done. I like the differing style of art between the characters and background. Your characters also seem to be well planned they seem like real people. I only had 8 pages with them but feel I have some insight into their lives. 4/5 stars. Could have been a bit funnier for a comedy though.
nice! the art was really good but the edges and borders maybe not so consistent. either way, nice work and i hope you do well!
Steady wins the race, right. It's really cool to read your comments and feel the support. I recognize that the story Chuck and I are telling is uncommon in a medium dominated by men-in-tight. Don't get me wrong, Batman has his place. But I like what Craig Thompson, Alex Robinson, Jim Mahfood and their ilk are doing and have to say.
The first season has been written, chuck's in the lab cook'in up some serious visuals. Sometime soon we'll hit you off with an infomercial.
The art was mostly good, but I felt distracted by some parts of the presentation-- the border break on page 7 (lower left panel) and the constant spelling errors really took me out of the story. The sudden introduction of Japanese was completely unnecessary. You're writing for a primarily English speaking audience, right? There's not enough of a story here to make me want to read any more. Best of luck to you, though.
Got my vote, tight stuff, guys! good luck
Chuck you are kill em man. I can't wait for the comic book to come out.
Nice Work! The characters and the story line will keep me coming back for me. I really like the background scenes. My favorites are the train and record shop, fresh!! Look forward to the continuation.
WOW THIS IS TRULY AMAZING, BEST I'VE SEEN YET!! GOOD JOB GUYS KEEP IT UP!!
Hmmmm, not enough intrigue, pain, conflict, politics, thousand year old old-world banking institutions and oppressive governments manipulating people through propaganda nationalizing every free market business institutions through tax-payer bailouts. Oh and satellite guided weapons, lasers, hackers, the F22 raptor, somewhere a woman using a .50 calibre sniper rifle while being scantily clad, dwindling global resources, moral tones about ethnic cleansing, over-population, pollution, using words like "Photo-voltaic cell reactors" and "Micro-fusion grenades".
Other than that, it was cool. Great work! Keep it up and you can count on my support! Until then i'll be dreaming of the sci-fi world "we've all seen before". I want to see how the date ends up.
Wow, this is fantastic. They should make this a series!
Good luck!!!
I love it! The copy is very readable and smooth. And the artwork is on point - colors, layout and all.
Can't wait to read more!
Hey guys,
Great first viewing. It's got the feel of MTV's old cartoon DOWNTOWN thanks to the nicely defined characters and sketchy background which I really like. So Chuck, the artwork looks great, and Kieth nicely done on the writing. it feels like a conversation. Please make the flasher a recurring background character he is comic gold in the making.
It's awesome! I love its vividness.
You guys are awesome. You keep reading we'll keep pumping the work out.
Bryy, an interview would be cool. I'll email you later, as of now, I'm late for the wage slave.
Hi. You may of read my mini-reviews on my blog, but I'd like to conduct interviews with all of this month's Zuda creators through a series of e-mails (as so it wouldn't be the same interviews over and over again, I don't want to step on Zuda Fan's shtick or anything) over a course of time. Ultimately to be put up on my blog. If you are interested: bryymiller@gmail.com
I really enjoyed the strip... I think every guy's "been there" at some point... and the artwork is bold yet not overdone. I have to agree with the other reviewer about how well the "sketchy" backgrounds work with the more detailed foreground objects.
I think there's plenty of room to tell some very wackadoo city stories within a realistic and compelling context like this... plus, we need to find out what REALLY happened to Gabe that night! Did nothing happen because he's never crossed that line with her, or is he simply protecting her from the riff-raff of the neighborhood?
I would like give a very special shout out to Shawna Mills and Leon Allen. They contributed a lot to the aesthetics.
Keep the comments coming people. I'm loving the amp. All things considered we have some interesting stories to share.
Great reading! I enjoyed it and this is still new and finding it's flow. I can't wait for the next chapter.
Hey everyone! I'm Chuck Collins the artist on TriBoro. First off i want to say thanks for everyone's feedback. I've enjoyed reading all the comments for this first chapter. Its a weird transition for me because most of my experience is in animation. This was extremely fun to work on, Keith is also a great writer and captures the personality of the characters so well. I look forward to reading more comments on TriBoro. ptimony i see what you mean about the space. That was a small production snafu on my part. It will be fixed for the next chapter.
Peace and Blessings everyone.
-Chuck
The art is good, the story is amusing. It seems like you waste some valuable space with that large black border, though.
Nice work! love the graphic style! the story line is captivating and will wait for the next pages... keep up the good work.
great job ;)
Solid style. Best of luck!
Love the Kirby panels. It really contrasts the pop/anime feel of the other stuff. Really great- contemporary comics from guys who obviously love comics.
" It's True URBAN life ... ILLUSTRATED" -
says Brian K. Austin - jnfe/binarykollective
You look at the art, it is an urban, true to life comic that we can connect to. Both with the vision and the imagery of the artist and writer, Id say they were a dynamic duo trying to recreate good ol NewYork Blues...
From the drama to the comic relief of our friends and every day craziness that we experience when we are on the grind.
I give this a Solid high 5!~
-aeRo mc
The art style and story line are a much needed breath of fresh air - looking forward to more!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MAN DUDE THIS IS THE BEST DAMN STRIP I'VE SEEN IN FOR EVER....GREAT JOB!!
I love the contrast of background art to fore ground figures. Like a play when the actors stand out, but you enjoy the back drops as design elements. Colors are just right, like baby porridge. I want to see where this is going. I love the female character design. :) And feel this may be a nice change from the horror or super-hero genre. The characters aren't cookie cutter, or predictable. I feel like I've met these people before.
More, more, more Triboro.