An Unexpected Tweet

 An Unexpected Tweet

This came out of nowhere.

A fan of my work named Michelle Dunning posted a tweet this morning, with a photo.





I still have that book sitting beside me everyday when I'm drawing in the studios, to remind me of two things:


i) Remember my roots as an indy comic artist

ii) Never go back to the amateur storytelling that came with it.


The experience of self-publishing my graphic novel GRAND HUNTER back in 2010 was invaluable. I worked on the project more so as an experiment - to test myself on what I can create and what my limits were at the time. And for those who may ask: "Did you make money out it?", I'd say: "Not really, and it was never my intent to make a profit".

Despite all the achievement I still cringe at the sight of my old work - I don't feel any real satisfaction if I'm being honest. I've had friends who told me not to discredit myself too much over it. Still I cringe. Why?

Even if it was an experiment, even if I did it for a hobby, I know one thing for sure - the story sucked.


I read it just now (and believe me, revisiting those cheesy moments made me cringe even more). 

Sure it had some good moments, you can definitely tell the fun I put into each page, but at the end of the day it's an unfinished story and it carries itself as predictable. This book was an over-the-top cliche' of how "One should never give up on their dreams"~esque story. Combine that with ONE PIECE and a bunch of "Sonic-look-alike characters" and you got GRAND HUNTER. 


Anyways the point I'm making here is that I'm surprised to see that my story is still being appreciated by people. And it's because of these little reminders that make me feel satisfied that someone enjoyed the thing you've made for them to read. So thank you Michelle.


In fact, Michelle reminded me why making comics was an awesome thing to do. I got to travel.

I had adventures travelling half-way across the world to promote my story to readers in person. The interaction with the readership was probably the best part out of the whole experience. I sold a little over 400 books in the two years I've attended the Summer of Sonic conventions in the UK. 


 

Elson at the Summer of Sonic convention in 2010

That feeling I got when people were lining up to get a copy of my book was extremely gratifying. Among the crowd I was greeted by the familiar and the new. Friendships were made along with some awesome memories. It was my first time doing the convention thing with a table set up of my own. Extremely gratifying.

I posted the photos above because if you were one of those people who lined up, paid good money and had the book signed, I want to first and foremost say: "Thank you". Secondly I want to say this: "If you happen to see this, please post a reply here because I want to thank you personally once again for your support that day - it was a magical time".

Speaking of Sonic, I know I've fallen away from the fandom, but I have to pay my respect where it is due. After all, "Sonic the Hedgehog" was what got me started into drawing. So to my friends from the Sonic UK community and abroad, Sonic Team, and Sonic the Hedgehog himself - Happy 25th Anniversary!



Moving into the present, I'm truly excited about the future of ASHWORTH, more than ever.

This month I've announced that I'm getting back into web-comics and have found a writer named Gabriel (aka ) to help me work on a completely new story that will featured the title character. He's actually followed my work since the beginning so he comes equipped, plus he has stories of his own to share too. Naturally we shared a common interest and a common goal - to make the best possible story and thus the collaboration began.


But before I continue I've got more of my origin story to share.

Six years had passed... What ever happened to the GRAND HUNTER series? 


Well I took a break. In fact I cancelled the project.


The story wasn't really going anywhere. So I decided on a reboot of the series when I'm ready.

At the time I knew I lacked the tools - fundamentals that will help me make a story worth telling. I also knew that I would rather have someone write the story for me if I were to reach the next level (my writing as you can tell in the book - if you happen to own a copy - ain't flash hot, just basics). But I mentioned earlier that Gabriel approached me and we began our epic partnership. So that's one part of the problem solved, but it's just not enough to just hire someone to help me write the story - I too need to understand how to tell stories that resonate with an audience. I had to find that answer on my own.

I mentioned about David of many times before but really he's the turning point of my storytelling journey.

David and his wife Liz at Cedar Point in 2011

I will remind you again that GRAND HUNTER was created on a whim. I thought that perhaps with gut instinct and after reading several of my favourite stories from amazing authors and comic artists that I can illustrate something worth investing my time and energy into... I did a decent job, but I'm no-where near to a story that one can resonate with hence my lack of real satisfaction from the project.

So David one day told me to read on a couple of books (read answer to Q.12 for his list) that helped him in his storytelling. 


I read them.



Then, I read them again. And again.


In fact this week I passed on a particular book in David's list to Gabriel to read - making sure he's on the same page with me on this new project. He's two-thirds of the way, as we speak, and he's already telling me how amazing it is to have digested the contents of that book.


David and Liz a few weeks ago hosted a live stream chat featuring a bunch of amazing and talented authors/comic artists/Youtubers in the mix. One of those guys I remembered him for was his brutally honest and energy-charged critiques on web-comics. He was passionate in story telling just as much as David. His name is Riiser.





Last week I managed to invite him over for a chat on my Picarto livestream (to tell him about our project), watched almost all of his videos on his Youtube channel: The Webcomic Relief and give him my feedback on his shows over on twitter.

For the record I've made a personal request to Riiser last month, and one Gabriel and I plan to stick to.





Have I told how excited I am of the new ASHWORTH web-comic series? I sure did.

I written this journal entry down to serve itself as a story to share with all of you. My point?


I feel that now, more than ever, I am equipped with the tools needed to tell a potentially amazing story.

I know my weaknesses, and was humble to get help. 

And the stakes are higher than ever because I have people who know how to tell a great story not to disappoint.


It's like the theme in my graphic novel GRAND HUNTER - "never give up on your dreams of doing something you want to do in life, despite all the hardships that come with it". Being patient and making the effort to do all that research has taught me alot, and I feel that my patience is about to pay off in profound ways in the coming years.


I hope you guys who have been following my journey to tell Ashworth's story to stick with me and Gabriel, and to those who are new, come tag along with us. We'll do our best to rock your world.