So among the many projects I’ve been working on is my eternally “coming soon” comic about a loose affiliation of chaotic mercenaries called The Bill Collectors: Someone Must Pay.
Except this time it really is coming. For reals.
I finally just accepted that I wasn’t going to do a whole 3D comic and decided to find an artist to work with.
To that end I searched for quite awhile and found Leonardo Romanelli to do the art chores. I really liked the stark black and white style and the use of the blacks to build the scene. It fit with exactly how I meant to portray these guys.
A while back I had him draw up a two page script I did as a proof of concept, and I thought I’d show this here.
Initially I was going to color this in, but I wasn’t really liking my coloring on it, and hiring the level of colorist I think this project deserves is a bit out of my budget for now.
However, it works out, because again, I actually love the black and white feel of Leonardo’s work. I think it works great here for the style.
I figured if black and white is good enough for The Walking Dead comic, then it’s good enough for The Bill Collectors.
Besides, The Walking Dead is now being re-printed each month in color as The Walking Dead Deluxe, so if it sells and makes a decent return then I can re-invest it in a color version.
Most times, after writing it, I would need a penciller, an inker, then a colorist and a letterer to make up the comic. But as Leonardo does all the inking as part of his style I’m coming out ahead there.
Then the only other thing I do is the lettering, which is easy enough for me as I do graphic design and such for a living. So luckily I’m able to absorb some of the cost of this thing.
Even as I write this, Leonardo has just got started on the 36 page debut one-shot comic of The Bill Collectors. My hope is it can come out this year, but I told him not to rush it, so it could be as late as next year before it hits.
So with all that said, please enjoy the comic below.
