Many of you are probably getting sick of seeing me post everytime.

And the Black Jack Justice fans will have read and enjoyed several posts and comments by BJJ writer, Gregg Taylor and artist, Sami Kivelä.

But many of you Rookie fans will have noticed an strange absence of the otherwise VERY talkative half of the Addictive Comics team, Scott Sigler, during the opening weeks of the site. 

There’s been a very good – and very bad — reason for this.

On our opening day, December 16th, Scott received some very serious news about a family member and informed me that he could not take part in the opening.  

Unfortunately, everything was scheduled, planned and announced.  So we had to go forward with the opening — even though Scott could not be involved.  Scott gave his full support to me and the rest of the Addictive Team to speak for him (thus the “Scott and Mark” at the end of some posts.)

Out of respect for his and his family’s privacy, we did not even reveal the problem.

However, I are happy to report that the news now is all good!  Out of respect for him (and a fear of getting something wrong), I’m still not gonna go into it here — but you can read about it on Scott’s own site at http://www.scottsigler.com/ and leave some comments of support for him. 

As soon as this crisis is fully over I am sure that General Siglerisimo (is that how you spell it?  For crying out loud — who talks like this?!)  will be back and as active as ever.

See ya soon,

Mark   

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There was a small mistake in the text of yesterday’s page (Page 007) which reader RB was kind enough to point out in the comments –

Hey Mark,
Loving the new page. It’s looking great. I love how you can present the story in the panels and then hit it up with the dialogue we know from the book.

Can’t wait to get my hands on this in a printed format. I mean what better way to convert people to Siglerism than give them a graphic novel of the this stuff!

Also, Mark you need to edit the text in the second box in the second panel. “Means he’s only for four or five good years left”

Their are two possibilities:
“Means he’s only good for four or five more years.”
-OR-
“Means he only has four or five good years left.”

Thanks for working hard to bring us our fix Mark. You should talk to Scott about getting a your FDL Title (Future Dark Lieutenant, it’s like being knighted in Siglerism). 

Naturally I was apalled, agast and … well something else that starts with ”a-.”  Feel free to fill in a good word — I can’t think of anymore. 

“A MISTAKE!  How did this happen?” says I.

Well….
 
Check this out — 

“Zimmer’s getting old,” Stedmar said. “He’s 33. I know that’s not much to you, shamakath, but for a Human that means he’s only for four or five good years left. Barnes is only 19. Kollok figures that by the time Zimmer starts to fade, Barnes will be in his mid-twenties, just hitting the peak of his abilities.”

That’s straight from Sigler’s damned script. 

He may have corrected it in later editions (mine is from about 1503 AD.  It still has his Michigan address.  Why he sent me this one — I don’t know.  Could he have something to hide? Hmmmm?) 

Look at it good, folks.  THIS is the man you worship.  “FDO” my butt.  “TYPO” is more like it!

His sin is still there for everyone to see. (I won’t have a chance to update it until next week.)

Naturally you say that I should have caught this “minor” slip by the Great Man.  Hey, I adapt, draw, ink and letter the damn thing — you don’t expect me to actually read it!

Puh-LEEEEZE!

Mark 

PS - Just so everyone knows and there is no misunderstanding — here’s the little emoticon - ;) - that makes it all right.  

PPS - Happy New Year.

PPPS - There is no PPPS!  Why are you looking?

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Hey, again,

Here are the comments on Page 7 of The Rookie — Ours and Yours.

—————————

I really had fun drawing this page.  Anytime I can draw people just running or jumping around (and little or no backgrounds!) I am happy.

I am having a blast drawing the Quyth.  You’ll notice that the Quyth Warrior class makes a second appearance in the first panel.  I really wanted to include a full-body shot — but the need to highlight Quentin’s on-field heroics made that impossible.  Oh well, there will be plenty of time in the future pages.  

Don’t forget — if you love comic art and like talking about it, we are starting a new Blog devoted to the Art of Addictive Comics early in 2009.  It will be a place where the artists and the readers can really delve into the art and discuss all aspects of it and should be a load of fun. 

I’m really looking forward to it.

Until next time,

Peace,

Mark

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We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The Addictive Comics Gang.

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Hey, we’re glad you could make it. 

This is where you can comment on Page 6 and read the comments made by other readers and the creators.

To view the rest of the blog click The Rookie Blog Home link in the top left corner.

Thanks,

Scott & Mark

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Welcome.

We are VERY EXCITED.

We have quite a bit of ground to cover in this first post so let’s get started. 

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE ROOKIE BLOG?

Glad you asked.It might be a long time — maybe never — before webcomics rival the biggest offline comics in terms of readers and reach.  But one thing we have them beat on, hand’s down, is the ability to interact with the readers — almost real time.

Addictive Comics plans to take full advantage of this!

That’s the main reason we have created this blog — and similar blogs for each of our comics.  At first we envisioned having a comment area below the artwork on the actual comic pages.  But experiments with this proved that it was far too limiting for what we wanted to do.

We want, encourage and NEED the readers to comment on anything and everything.

And the Wide-Open nature of a Blog is PERFECT for this.

IS THAT ALL – JUST COMMENTS?

Heck no!  Although comments from you ARE the MOST important part of every blog, we also love the blog as a place to present some of our other work and air some of our thoughts. Expect to see extra artwork and writing by the creators, more of our thoughts on the pages and much more.

ONE LAST IMPORTANT NOTE

The comics are on a Page-a-Week Schedule (for many reasons), but we have no such constraints on the blog.  We plan to post more frequently — whenever the mood hits us.

Possibly daily.

We’ll always start a new post for each new Comic Page but there may be several posts between them.Plus the comments are always available and we hope that you will use them frequently.  So be sure to hit The Rookie Blog often between Tuesdays (the update day for The Rookie Comic) to check out what’s new and to read the comments left by other readers.

——————————————————

Before we get to your comments — here are a couple of added bonuses for you from The Rookie Creators, Scott and Mark – Up first is a small introduction to The Rookie novel which never made it onto the podcast.  It gives a bit more insight into the mind of Quintin Barnes – and is worth a look.

Some of you may have seem this on the “leaked” sample pages Scott and Mark were using to experiment with the webcomic idea — but for most of you this will be brand new.

SOCIAL LIFE? HE HAS NO FRIENDS AT ALL? NO ONE TO SAY GOODBYE TO? NO ONE TO MISS WHEN HE’S GONE, TO FEEL HOMESICK FOR?

 

Chapter One: The Game

Teammates walked around the locker room, sat on the bench next to him, all preparing for the game. Muscular men in their physical prime, their bodies covered with religious tattoos, their eyes wide with and nostrils flaring from subdued pre-game thoughts.

He didn’t see them.

They talked strategy. Talked about what they needed to do on the field, who they wanted to smash, who they wanted to shut down. Low conversations and barking boasts, alpha-male sounds droning through the room like audible adrenaline.

He didn’t hear them.

A silent holocast played in the center of the locker room: the Purist Nation Army Devout squaring off against the Stewart’s Landing Chosen. The translucent image sparkled colorful and vibrant as a red-clad Devout free safety blitzed and sacked the orange-jersied Chosen quarterback.

He didn’t even know the game was on.

His vision, his entire world, narrowed down to one small patch of mud-stained floor. On that patch, he laid his jersey. The block number “10” was a slash of silver-grey against the jersey’s black Kevlar-bead fabric.

He then laid the leg armor, flexible black fabric covered with thick silver-grey alloy plates, curved to match the contours of his hips and his muscular thighs. The jersey’s bottom touched the top edge of the leg armor, as if someone fully dressed had lain down, then vanished, leaving only the clothes behind.

He saw himself in that uniform, on the field, destroying the enemy, crushing their will, turning their carefully planed strategy into frustration and shame. He set one shoe down in front of each leg. Half-inch long mud cleats jutted from the bottom in orderly rows, the teeth that would eat up the field already gnawed with a season’s worth of games.

The Corsairs. His enemy, who the hell were they? Who were they, to think that they could stop him?

He put a sock in each shoe.

They would get theirs, oh yes they would, the fucking Corsairs would get theirs.

Finally he picked up the helmet. Silver-grey, with a black stripe down the middle and a black anti-shock facemask. He looked into the empty shell for a moment, then set it gently down atop the jersey, completing the vanished-man’s uniform.

Neat.

Orderly.

He rolled his shoulders a few times. Joints cracked and popped, loosening up. He shook his head. BLINK … the locker room seemed to reappear around him. He heard his teammates, saw them preparing, some of them with their own little pre-game rituals that were just as strange as his.

He began to dress, starting with the socks – always the socks first – and felt the controlled anger and biting anticipation swelling inside his soul.

It was Sunday.

Game day.

His day.

Pretty cool, huh?

And here’s something else that’s pretty cool that all you Sigler fans may enjoy from The Rookie artist, Mark Hester –

Again a few of you may have seen this already — but we wanted everyone to have the chance……and to know — THEY’RE COMING!——————————————————That’s all for now.  We open the first comment area for your comments on –

• The first five pages of The Rookie Comic
• The Rookie Blog
• Quentin, Stedmar and the Quyth
• Mark’s Artwork
• Scott’s Story
• Addictive Comics
• ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT

Thank you for joining us and PLEASE participate,

Scott, Mark the whole Addictive Comics Gang

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