Credits (where credits are due)
Line Art
Arc I
- Typing paper
- Staedtler(R) Mars-780 mechanical pencil
- Staedtler(R) Mars non-photo blue leads
- Canson (R) Vidalon Vellum, 55lb
- Sanford(R) Design Higgins waterproof drawing ink, Black India 4415
- Princeton Art & Brush Co. round synthetic brushes, sizes 10/0, 2/0, 0, 1, 2
- Strips 23-48 make partial use of Pentel's Penstix sizes .3mm and .7mm
- Strips 48+ are pencil-lined, predominantly with Lyra ArtDesign 2B pencils. I find them to be the absolute perfect balance of wax and graphite for my needs, they make a smooth line that smudges much less than most 2B pencils.
- Staedtler(R) Mars-780 mechanical pencil
- Staedtler(R) Mars non-photo blue leads
- Lyra(R) ArtDesign 2B pencils
- BlueLine Pro(R) Comic Book Art Board, Traditional Format. Find them at http://www.bluelinepro.com
Scanning
- HP Precision LTX ScanJet 4300 (arc 1)
- Mustek ScanExpress A3 -- a truly EXCELLENT piece of equipment
if you can get it.that has become popular and available, yay! - Corel PhotoHouse 5
Computer Colour
- Strips 1:1-3:43 were coloured with the GIMP 1.2.4 (available for free at www.gimp.org)
I cannot say enough good things about this older version of GIMP. It is fast, clean, agile, and as long as you learn its foibles, a beautiful program. There are issues with certain file formats depending on your configuration. Its tablet support is best on the Wacom tablet, which I started using on the highlights of strip 13, and swore by for years. It doesn't waste valuable processing on idiotic things like drop shadows for its tools, and the keystroke commands allow me to work at lightning speed by comparison to other drawing programs I've used. If you have to deal with older equipment, this is the best possible solution. - Strips 3:43+ were coloured and shaded with the GIMP 2.6.11, (available for free at www.gimp.org)
- Strips 1:14-3:43 are partially coloured with the Wacom Graphire 2 4"x5" tablet.
- Strips 3:43+ are coloured with the Wacom Bamboo and Bamboo Connect tablets.
- Strips 18+ are flat-coloured (pre-shading) by the Blue Zombie
Creative Inspiration
- B, on whose bed I sketched out some of the most important parts of this story while exiled to Florida in 2002. Nothing worked out from that year but this, but this worked really well.
- Viggo Mortensen, whose portrayal of the character Lucifer in The Prophecy finally crystalized the amorphous internal picture I had of the First Son. If I ever got the chance to do a movie of this world I would throw myself at his feet and beg him to take up the role.
- Eric Stoltz, whose portrayal of an angel felt so familiar that it made me watch that movie, which I had originally dismissed entirely.
- Gregory Widen, who wrote a trilogy of movies (originally titled "God's Army") that made me so aghast about the similarities to my own work that I dropped what I was writing (these were going to be books) for years worrying about looking like I'd ripped him off. This gave me long enough to work out many flaws in my particular story construction that are too embarassing to mention. Also gave me time to figure that I should stop beating my head on a wall trying to overcome lexical problems that are simply part of my brain structure, which is why I've pretty well given up on long-form writing except as a side hobby. As for Prophecy vs Malakhim: Some of the superficial similarities were the weirdest, such as the black nails, which for me just have sentimental value from school years, but we differ starkly on many points of view on the legends and characters themselves. Still, his movies were amazing and struck a very deep chord with me, especially visually.
- Peter S. Beagle, whose modern fairy tales, especially the famous one, captured the essence of what it's like to be trapped in your dreams and trapped in time. Read beyond the unicorns, you might not love it all but it's worth the look.
- Countless musicians that stirred the blood and riled up the imagination.
- RIAA Radar (http://www.riaaradar.com/) which helps me find cruelty-free music. What I feel are myriad abuses of musicians and music fans at the hands of RIAA have made me heartbroken about music. I believe in copyright and I believe RIAA abuses the concept for their own unspeakably vicious ends. This is a personal belief and as such should not be treated as fact. Find out more on your own, and I feel you will also support cruelty-free music when you're done.
- David Eyk, who I always thought I'd added to this credit page, and should have a long time ago. He's the best Christian I've ever encountered, and it generally takes a lot for me to get over the distrust built of past experiences. But beyond that, he's one of the best men I've ever known.
- C.H., the first "angel" I've ever met who's never disappointed me.
- Nancy Ahia, for whom there should have been better angels.
- George Leras, photographer extraordinaire, who first prompted me to really bend my mind around my own assumptions. I hope I've created better ones.
Practical Inspiration
- Syl, who kicks my ass when I want to give up, and regularly demands T-shirts.
- W.B-W., who would have been in the credits a long time ago if I weren't overprotective and somewhat irrational. I can't in good conscience not thank somebody who's been such an encouragement on every level when I'm thanking so many people who've done so much less for me. You are a wonderful person, and I consider myself selfishly lucky to have met you. That we struggle does not diminish us, that we meet our struggles bravely is all the glory any of us will ever need.
- A. Sie, who has totally shocked me with her level of support. And hear that on every level.
- Christy, who deserves a room full of giant teddy bears for being the best and purest example of a human being I've seen struggling in a world stacked hard against a tender spirit. (And I'd like to add, FUCK YOU, idiotic people who have nothing better to do than try to convince someone they're a loser for stepping outside your little chalk lines and having unfashionable tenderness).
- Dr. Steph, of whom I am fairly terrified, who was extremely nice to my overenthusiastic blue zombie and whose advice was responsible for the first wave of strangers to hit our little page.
- Jaaaaaaaason, who made me feel like I could draw again when I felt used up and ruined. I hope you're out there somewhere, still drawing, and believing in yourself too.
- Dr. Paul Ekman, whose work with micro-expressions helped me decode some of the amorphous 'universally understood' things people could never explain to me. It can't make up for my PDD, but it helps me analyze things in retrospect. Pick up one of his books sometime if you want to understand social interactions most people take for granted.
- Chris from Borderwalker, who made me pay attention to my line weight. I'm still struggling with it.
- N. M.-E., who taught me to swear in a prolific and sometimes creative manner, and more importantly, gave me the strength to accept the unacceptable. This is for you, wherever you are and however you are reborn. If you find yourself in a new skin, and remember why La Marseillaise cracks us up, look me up and let me get to know the new you. The first pack of Luckies is on me.
- Ben Edlund, I've been a fan since I first ran across the Tick as a kid, but NEC never sent me the books I ordered, or they got swiped when they arrived. My building manager did hate my guts at the time. Boo! A million zillion ninjas weep for the missed opportunity.
- Tim, who was the first actual stranger to leave us a comment. w00t!
- All the folks who helped me deal with stalker issues, which I should be used to by now, but am not. Mostly because I still don't believe I'm all that fascinating, and have a hard time understanding why anyone wastes their time following me around.
- Vincent D'Onofrio, who puts unbelievable dedication into a character. I watched a lot of Criminal Intent reruns while laid up with heart failure, and he has never disappointed me. Syl showed me what he's said out of character, though, and that's what really made me feel so much less alone. I wish our paths had crossed.
- Mandy Patinkin, who hung on to his humanity. The best words I can use to express my admiration are: Thank you.
- Matthew Gray Gubler, a delightful spirit out there in the world making sure our top-hats are humanely mined and properly refined. A sustainable alternative to blood baseball-caps, for certain. In all seriousness though, it's just delightful to know some people exist in the world, and he is one of those people.
- Carver Edlund, the only writer I ever appreciated for knocking on the fourth wall. (Sorry, Mr. Trout, but it didn't work for me.)
- Scarecrow, who kept us safe. Sometimes it's a little hard to live with, but no one can argue with the results. Thank you.
- Haley, who I hope grew into a strong and independant young woman. It was never my intention to reject you. I will always have a special place in my heart for you, and I still believe in you. I hope you're still sketching. Look me up any time.
All rights are reserved on the Malakhim comic, which was begun in 2002, began posting in 2003, and has been fully written out from beginning to end for years now. This is mostly to protect our characters from being taken out of our control or exploited. We do not give consent to any 'slash' fanfic, nor to any sort of derivative work using our characters, language, or mythology. This is because we've worked very hard to construct something special here, and seeing it warped against its design hurts us terribly. We will do anything in our power and within the law to protect our characters, we love them as though they were our own family.
That said, if you do find something in the story or artwork inspiring, and decide to make your own work based on it, it would be nice of you to let us know. If you were going to use a visual from the strip, for example, and let's say alter it enough that it's fair use... perhaps you intend to flip it horizontally and add some lockers *cough* *cough*... it would be encouraging for us to receive some sort of thumbs-up from you even if you don't intend to credit us in any way. If nothing else, it lifts morale, and thus guarantees that there will be more free ideas posted for you to thumb through. As long as you're abiding by copyright law, there's really nothing we can do but resent you for it anyhow, so you might as well not be a jerk in the process. But please, try to tack that sort of thing onto an actually GOOD project. Thanks.
