Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, B, A, Select, End 2012 10 31
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Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, B, A, Select, End

by on October 31, 2012 at 2:21 pm
Chapter:

Queue music.

After two years and 116 comics we’re shutting UUDD down. This will be our final weekly comic. Holiday comics were always special for us, so we decided to do our send-off as one final Halloween party with all our characters. It’s as much a celebration of our body of work as it is a thank you to fans who have been reading from the beginning. You can check out a larger version of it here.

You all made the journey worthwhile and we can’t thank you enough.

Back when UUDD started it was a group of friends who wanted to work together. Sopes wanted to get better at illustration, and automaton and I needed outlets to write.

And we did those things. We grew. Scripts got tighter and art soared. But after awhile you have to reassess what your goals are. We realized we’ve accomplished some of our primary goals. As for our secondary goals, we can still continue those together on a different project.

More on that later.

There’s a lot going on behind the panels. A delicate juggling act of talent, timetables, and people involved.

You probably didn’t notice the day the site went down because we had too much traffic. You don’t know about the kind people at InMotion who kept reactivating our domain because I told them it was, "raining on our wedding day."

Or see how automaton took to writing on paper with blank panels. How quickly he can structure our conversation into the panels once he has an idea.

Or know about the awe-struck comments automaton and I exchanged after each comic post day when we saw Sopes’s final product. Each and every single week Sopes dazzled us with something else.

Or saw how giddy we were when we made our first Halloween comic together. I remember I met Sopes while he was drawing it, and he casually said, "So I’m doing the finishes touches on Cock Me." I remember the praise we got from all our friends who were reading the comic out of love, but hadn’t really belly-laughed yet.

Or that run of comics where we went from 20,000 people a month to 100,000. It was a thrilling run. We were only just starting and so excited about how far the comic could go.

Or just how many of these comics had no buffer between them, and every Wednesday comics were finished at 9:00 AM and went up at 10:00 AM.

We never missed a single day.

As we grew, we learned from other webcomics creators. We interviewed each and every one of them here: Up Up Down Down Associates.

Ronnie over at Whomp! Comic has had a link to our site since way back when. He even drew a guest comic for us that is the best individual video game comic I’ve ever seen – it holds a mirror up to nature.

He gave us Internet followers like Fren who read every single comic and commented on half of them. Sometimes I would email Ronnie just to say I love him.

Vitaly Alexius is the guy we all looked at and said, "I wish we’d thought of that." In the webcomic world being different is perhaps the only commodity worth having, and Romantically Apocalyptic has it in abundance. The first time I met him in person he shook my hand and said, "you guys should get your prints done with us. We always have extra at the ends of our print runs and you could tag on." We’d only just met.

Josh Mecouch from Formal Sweatpants is the guy I cheer for in webcomics. He’s doing everything right. Watching him was like learning what we SHOULD do and consider directions we ought to try. I’m a lifetime supporter.

Eoin Ryan of Space Avalanche and I talked about more than comics, we talked about life. I remember talking to him on Skype and being surprised to hear he had some of the same concerns about webcomics as we did. Recently he told me, "think about what you want to be and then work towards it every single day." I look forward to our future conversations.

Brian Russell from The Underfold is as part of this comic as any of the three of us. He helped us with with script writing, marketing, and growing pains. He comforted us when we were down, and cheered with us when we were up. He’s more than a friend, he’s my mentor.

But our real life friends helped too.

Our friends Riyad and John support us every single week. They never miss a comic and are never afraid to tell us how they feel, which gives us TONS of invaluable perspective on how people think and how people read. Much love.

Friends and family who read our comic we love you. Webcomics are easy to ignore, especially if they are about things you don’t understand. Thanks for sticking with us this long. Every compliment you gave brightened our post days. Every comment you gave helped us understand. Running with a comic every week can get tiring, but friends and family asking about it and encouraging us helped raise us up.

Ray Hunter? One day I will hug you. Septicor – your support has been phenomenal. Evan you’re why people make webcomics. And Mike. Loyal, day one fan Mike. You’re a Godsend. Shaha. I wish nothing but Ron Swanson birthdays for you. *chest thump*. Stacie – everyone needs a guardian angel like you. Krylon you son of a bitch I love you. Team Stratford we love you! And Rob. I know you’re there. You’re always there. Thank you. Jimmy! You’re always part of the family.

I’d like to thank Sopes for his tireless, heroic efforts. All our lives I’ve been astonished by his art, but there were weeks where seeing a comic froze me place, staring in quiet awe as I felt privileged to look at something so special.

One time when we were kids I showed up to his house to walk to school with him, only to find him dead asleep, head right next to a blaring alarm. He’d gone to sleep fifteen minutes prior because he’d been working late on a school project. That we never missed a post date is because of him. To see him grow, adapt to schedules, and plan ahead makes me (at the risk of sounding condescending) proud.

And I’d like to thank automaton for doing the impossible and finding a way to co-write with me. I didn’t make it easy. What you don’t know about automaton is that he’s extremely competent and strong willed. He likes to think for himself and prides himself on his decisions and ideas. But he shared. He helped make it work. Our writing shorthand is now so slick that I doubt I’ll find that kind of creative partnership again.

This isn’t the end for all of us. We’ll likely do some mini comics, sell some commissions, and God willing, a t-shirt or two. We’ll move onto other projects, but Up Up Down Down will still be here. Our ideas – like our characters at this party in this final strip – go on.

Thanks for the ride everyone.

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Free Game Give-Away – UPDATE: We Have a Winner!

by on December 7, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Posted In: Posts

I just noticed that I have a free copy of Half-Life 2 (+ Lost Coast) sitting in the Gifts section of my Steam account. Since I already bought and played Half-Life 2 (including all the expansions to date), I’ve decided to give it away to a loyal UUDD reader, as a token of my appreciation. If you haven’t played Half-Life 2 before, I urge you to reply in the comments section. A random commenter will be selected by the end of the month to receive the prize (make sure you have an account on Steam!)

 

UPDATE! DECEMBER 21, 2012 – And the Prize Goes to…

Lapper! My copy of Half-Life 2 awaits you, to be re-gifted to a worthy recipient. Be sure to reply with your Steam account so that I can send it to you. Or, send a message to my Steam account “j1w0n” and we’ll take it from there.

Respond no later than December 31st, lest I am forced to pick a new winner.

To everyone else, thanks for participating. If anyone is curious about the selection process–which, I can assure you, was completely random–check out the screenshot below. It should be self-explanatory.

A Look into the Selection Process

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Our Favourite Comics

by on November 23, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Posted In: Posts

To give us all a chance to reflect and have a say about Up Up Down Down, we each wrote a post and talked about our favourite comic. It was a rewarding task – we’re proud of the work we’ve done.

If you have a favourite please feel free to post in the comments below :)

Sopes’s Favourite Comic

This post should have happened weeks ago, but I was stuck in what seemed to be an endless loop of indecision. 2D and Automaton already had their favourite comics picked out, and submitted their write-up within a week of the final one. Myself, on the other hand, had only just begun the selection process. I felt that every comic was great in its own way, but I didn’t want to take the easy way out and just randomly pick one. Where do I even begin?! It seemed hopeless. Thankfully, 2D and Automaton were patient, and gave me the opportunity to really reflect on each comic. So after weeks of looking long and hard at our entire gallery, my choice for favourite comic goes to…

…{ cue drum roll }…

…Pokemon Park!

This comic is a brilliant and clever mash-up of Jurassic Park, Pokemon and our main UUDD characters. I remember being very excited to draw this one, but it wasn’t going to be easy: the script called for a bunch of sub-panels, and there were no repeating frames! Not only that, there’s practically no dialog, so it was really up to me to make this one shine. One badly composed panel could make the whole thing confusing or dilute the awesomeness of the idea. It was quite a mountain to climb, but of course, it all came together wonderfully in the end. I can truly say that I was able to do Pokemon Park justice, and give it the art it deserves.

automaton’s Favourite Comic

It’s extremely hard to pick one favourite; I love them all. Many of the comics we did are direct expressions of things that have come out of my life, things that need to be voiced. For every comic written, I can remember the meetings I had and the conversations that led to the script. Although I am sad that the days of laughing over beer and stupid ideas that eventually become incredible works of art are over, I am happy that I had the opportunity to have done all we have.

Message in a Moth though holds a special place, in my heart, as it was the first time I truly felt we had nailed a parody of a beloved movie. For this comic, I spoke to 2D about how Gandalf spoke to that moth in The Fellowship of the Ring. How did he know moth? Why is everyone okay with him smoking long bottom leaf? What would happen if he smoked so much that he passed out and didn’t save Helm’s Deep? Would he send a moth to tell them he’s going to be late? These are the kind of details that people overlook. The kind of details that need to be heard.

On top of that, the art style Sopes used here is amazing. I love it, and it looks way better than what it looked like in my mind. It’s a prime example of everything coming together, in an amazing and memorable comic.

2D’s Favourite Comic

Star Trek Masks is definitely my favourite comic. It’s the one I show people first when I talk about the comic. It’s the one I chose as the header of our Twitter profile.

When you work on a comic with three people there’s a lot of voices and a lot of talent that could potentially crash against each other. But I think our comics were best when a bit of each of us left a unique handprint on the final product – when it wouldn’t have been as good as it was without all three of us.

From the origination of the script idea, to the revision process, to Sopes’s hilarious decision to make the bean bag chair look like a captain’s chair. I remember how hard we laughed when automaton shouted, “GET OFF OF MY BRIDGE!” And how pleased I was when Sopes said, “this is one of those scripts that is so good it doesn’t matter how I draw it.”

It’s the comic I think of every time I write a script, and the comic I will remember for every script I write hereafter.

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Space Avalanche Comic Interview – Eoin Ryan

by on August 3, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Posted In: Posts

This interview is part of Up Up Down Down’s Associates series. There are a lot of awesome webcomics out there and these are some of the ones we love. You’ve probably seen their banners on our site. Check out the full list of comics in our Associates tab. The next webcomic in our series is Space Avalanche by Eoin Ryan.

Eoin Ryan is my webcomic hero. I’ve talked before about how his style directly inspired a few of our comics. But truthfully it’s more than that — reading Space Avalanche has changed the way I think about comic script creation in general. There’s a subtle patience and presentation in his panels that I like to attribute to his skill at storyboarding. He’s done everything from illustrating children’s books to writing and directing short films.

You can can see his ability for yourself by reading Space Avalanche. Click any of the thumbnails above for some of my favourite Space Avalanche comics, then keep up with his comics by liking his Facebook page.

Where do your ideas for comics come from? If you have multiple drafts, how do you pick? How do you know a comic is “done?”

I like to kind of ‘farm’ ideas, like have a few ideas to mull over – work on them for a bit then move on to the next because I have no attention span. The best technique for this stuff is really two things: one, just to walk away for a bit and then come back and see it with fresh eyes – or two, just as good, get a pair or a few pairs of fresh eyes to look at it for you. I have a mates, family that I often run ideas or rough strips past, it’s actually essential to have this outside feedback for the comic. You can very easily disappear up your own ass.

How do you draw your comics? Tell us a bit about the process and what tools you use to create.

Lots of really really rough thumbnails in the beginning, then draft it up on photoshop, it’s easier on photoshop to move panels around and experiment with the pacing – though I like to resolve as much as possible on the thumbnails – I don’t like spending too much time at a computer, it’s not healthy … But there’s no way to perfectly plan a strip – it’s impossible – as the panels become more detailed, new problems and new solutions present themselves so you’re constantly reworking – which is why I like photoshop – because I’m a terrible (painfully slow) draftsman. And it’s easy to scale and copy things. The part I enjoy most is colouring. All the hard work is done and you get to make it look shiny and get all cinematic with it :)

I heard a previous interview with you and laughed and laughed at your crude comic ideas from your youth. Do you think webcomic creators or comedians have a moral responsibility?

:) I don’t think so. Maybe in so far as good comedy is honest comedy. I think good comedy in of itself performs an important function in society in that it pushes boundaries, pisses on stupid conventions – maybe that’s its essential function. But at the end of the day you just want to make people laugh – and there are different paths to that goal – some are about psychology, morality or philosophy – others are just great dick jokes. It’s really just the end result that matters – Laughter.

You’re a gifted storyteller. Where did that skill begin?

Thanks. I guess just watching loads and loads and loads of movies. And some books. And some comics. And practicing my own storytelling from a youngish age. I’m a frustrated film-maker and have storyboarded lots of movie ideas that will never come to exist (well maybe one or two still can).

Steven Spielberg thinks all directors should be animators first because you really can take the imagination and make it something tangible. How has storyboarding helped your work?

Hmm, I’m not sure I’d like to see all movies made in this way – but I appreciate what he’s saying. It’s maybe a nerdy controlling way of making a film. There are a lot of directors like Nicolas Winding Refn who abhor storyboarding. And these days I’m kinda loving this style of directing. I guess it’s like preferring photography to drawing – and I’m more into photography in terms of what I gravitate towards visually. But obviously the strips are completely about storyboarding and it’s a medium I love. But there’s something more attractive visually about discovering and building from found reality rather than building it from scratch – the real world and the chances it provides will always be outside the limits of what you can make up. Hmm, that sounds kind of wanky …

There’s often a medium where creators fit best. How does a creator know, “this is it?”

This is a question that really interests me, something I ask myself a lot. Half the battle for the artist is finding their right medium and by medium I mean a specific style that they are best suited to. Bukowski didn’t start writing poetry ’til he was 35 and he was a lot older when he started performing it. Nobody can tell you how to do your own thing or recognize this, you’re on your own always.

Most webcomics don’t pay the bills, but for all the time creators invest, eventually “value” is going to run into “monetary value.” How does one navigate that journey?

Wish I knew! I’m getting a tiny bit of money now for each new strip that people respond to – but nothing even approaching a minimum wage for the time I invest. But I am at least getting something. It’s taken a while to get to this point. Maybe it’ll pay off in the long term. I think the main thing is just keep the quality as high as you can – otherwise people tune out and forget to come back. There’s a lot of stuff out there in the internet.

Who inspires you, either creators or just in your life? (or both)

Right now it’s Bukowski, but I’m trying not to read too much of his stuff – it’s so fucking good, but such a bad inspiring influence – a guy who works shitty menial jobs by day and drinks & writes by night. I love his prolific work ethic, it makes me feel ashamed …

What advice would you give an up and coming webcomic creator?

Try to keep it really good and enjoyable and don’t expect to make any money.

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What Brian Russell Remembers About Dinosaurs

by on June 1, 2012 at 7:28 pm
Posted In: Posts

One day Brian Russell and I got in a heated argument about the Brontosaurus and Pluto. We began the argument as a joke, but somehow I was upset that he called the Brontosaurus fake, and he was upset that I called Pluto fake. His response was to draw a quick sketch:

It was the most peaceable solution to an argument I’d ever encountered. Even though we were kidding around I learned a lesson from his “apology sketch” because it brought two points of view to the same level. I’ve spoken about this before, but I see Brian as my webcomic conciliary. When I have problems with webcomic promotion or scripts I ask him for advice or inspiration.

Now Brian has a baby girl who will look to him for advice on everything. While considering this, Brian realized his daughter would never learn about the Brontosaurus and all those other things we’d learned about dinosaurs as kids that scientists have now disproved. So Brian (as he states in his Kickstarter video) has decided to “to share [his] love for dinosaurs and hopefully inspire a new generation to learn all about these creatures that have captivated the hearts and minds of millions of people.” So he compiled a humourous book of those facts that retells the dinosaur history as we learned it.

I’ve watched Brian progress on this project bit by bit for months. I’ve seen the sketches, read the full PDF version, and each time I see a page I’m reminded of the warmth of that Brontosaurus and Pluto sitting together at a bar. And I’m in. I’ve supported the Kickstarter, I’m excited about my perks, and I can’t wait to purchase a copy for my nieces and nephews so they can learn all about the Brontosaurus too.

I don’t care what scientists say, the Brontosaurus was awesome. Please check out Brian’s Kickstarter project here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brianrussell/what-i-remember-about-dinosaurs.

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