The Complete Works - Volume 2

[jamarmiller]

......................... I'll keep doing it too as long as my 'mouse wrist' doesn't get a permanent cramp! ......................

I cant tell you how happy I am to hear that !!!!

[SteveD]

Crimson Rage, Bart, Jamar, Baron - and all the other colourists - I really do think i speak for us all when i say we really do appreciate your efforts and work.

I guess we are all a bit crap about PM'ing with individual praise - whether it's wanted or not (guess we're too blokey and English sometimes!) but the "buzz" around here when a new volume is progressing nicely is clear evidence of this.

And after spending an fanstastic lunch hour drinking my Cup-a-Soup with my feet on my desk reading a few tales from Vol 2 rather than venturing out into the rain sodden scally-ness of Barnsley Town Centre I have to say my afternoon has seemed a lot less Bollocks than normal!

So thanks again. I just wish I had more computer skills and time in order to able to join the ranks of colourist myself!

[Crimson Rage]

Crimson Rage, Bart, Jamar, Baron - and all the other colourists - I really do think i speak for us all when i say we really do appreciate your efforts and work.

You're setting me up for a fall!! Nobody's seen my stuff so far (apart from Jamar and the Baron) so you don't know if you'll like it yet!!!!

Just kiddin', thanks!

[slippy]

Crimson Rage, Bart, Jamar, Baron - and all the other colourists - I really do think i speak for us all when i say we really do appreciate your efforts and work.

I guess we are all a bit crap about PM'ing with individual praise - whether it's wanted or not (guess we're too blokey and English sometimes!) but the "buzz" around here when a new volume is progressing nicely is clear evidence of this.

And after spending an fanstastic lunch hour drinking my Cup-a-Soup with my feet on my desk reading a few tales from Vol 2 rather than venturing out into the rain sodden scally-ness of Barnsley Town Centre I have to say my afternoon has seemed a lot less Bollocks than normal!

So thanks again. I just wish I had more computer skills and time in order to able to join the ranks of colourist myself!

Hear Hear.

You all do a great job and bring as much pleasure as a heterosexual male should legally receive from other guys' colouring and artistic efforts! So yep, I agree 100% with all that you say in your message dude. Apart from Barnsley town centre of course.

After a few years dodging around the place whilst lurking in Sheffield, Donny and Rotherham for my sins during a year's teaching practice (before seeing sense and returning to advertising/creative) I can safely say I never actually went to Barnsely. At least we know there are appreciative fans of Action Force and colourists who reside there. And Dickie Bird.


Anyhow I've digressed enough - thanks again to all the artistic peeps out there. Look forward to getting Volume II and III when it's ready.

Steve

[Red Laser]

I think the colouring project team is doing a very good job I definitely appreciate the work that goes into bringing our favourite characters to life in full colour.

[jamarmiller]

thanks guys I know everyone here really appreciates the hard work going into it, but unfortunetly over HALF of the colorist who have worked on these stories DONT even belong to these boards and probally have never even been to these forums LOLs

so they never ever see all the praise and appreciation that there is, thats why its really important to contact the people at the information posted with each story

[bart]

Or maybe they'd have moved on regardless. Who knows?

actually I do know LOL because more than one has commented on it when I asked them about it over the last 2 years and said had they heard something , anything, positive they would have done more but they heard nothing at all

Speaking purely for myself, I'm doing my colouring for the love of it, not kudos of any kind. I'll keep doing it too as long as my 'mouse wrist' doesn't get a permanent cramp! I certainly wouldn't stop because nobody had singled me out for 'praise'. Seeing these strips get posted here and printed up in a book is all the thanks I need, and even that is selfish of me as I'm getting joy from them too.

Obviously, if I'm producing a load of crap then I'd like to be told so I can do better, but otherwise I'm happy to remain 'anonymous'.

i use a track ball. best investment i have mad for my computers. i get alot more done with it. i dont have to always be lifting up my mouse and moving it around also with the ease of one finger i can fine tune any picture. the mouse always seems to hicup if the ball isnt always clean. the track ball can be covered in mud practically and not mess up. they even have them wireless now!

[bart]

Crimson Rage, Bart, Jamar, Baron - and all the other colourists - I really do think i speak for us all when i say we really do appreciate your efforts and work.

I guess we are all a bit crap about PM'ing with individual praise - whether it's wanted or not (guess we're too blokey and English sometimes!) but the "buzz" around here when a new volume is progressing nicely is clear evidence of this.

And after spending an fanstastic lunch hour drinking my Cup-a-Soup with my feet on my desk reading a few tales from Vol 2 rather than venturing out into the rain sodden scally-ness of Barnsley Town Centre I have to say my afternoon has seemed a lot less Bollocks than normal!

So thanks again. I just wish I had more computer skills and time in order to able to join the ranks of colourist myself!

dude you would not believe how easy it is to color one of these pages. you almost cant mess up. jamar has some notes he can send you just as he did me for the best way to do them in photo shop. its no more then like 4 steps?! the black lines stay put no matter how much you go over them so you dont have to worry about "coloring in the lines". you just splatter color all over the place. now how crazy you want to get with blur's and shading is up to you. but just basic "color" is super simple. if you have photoshop or a boot leg of it i say give it a try. you can do 1 or 20, the choice is yours. depending on the detail of the page and the action going on in it depends on coloring time. i have done a page in 30 min before, others a day and 1/2. just depends on how fast you work that mosue and how much time a day you have to spend on it lol

give it a try! if all else fails email one of us who have done it and ask for tips. id be more then glad to give you my email if you need help! once you do one page you will be hooked! plus you get to see something you did in print! oh and your name in the credits on the back, how cool is that!!

[The Baron]

I just invested in a pen and tablet, I shall let you know how I progress. Thinking about what you were saying about templates, Bart, I always use the original centre-page spreads and covers for reference. I have a nerdopaedic knowledge of every comic, so I think the best thing to do is just ask me.

If you want a story with Flash in full colour, I know to tell you to get the spread from second episode of Revenge of the Red Shadows. I know that if you want a Jungle background to check out Jungle of Doom, for Desert you need Operation Stubborn, for swamp Operation Snakebite and so on. I too like to keep the strips looking as authentic as possible, especially when the centre spreads are already coloured, such as on Bloodhound. I guess the best thing to do is just drop me a PM.

Regarding colourists who work on the BFTB project, but can't be bothered to join the BFTB forum, and then get pissed off when nobody from BFTB says hi, I don't think there's much we can do with that mindset. I really appreciate the efforts involved in bringing this project together, but I'm not into pandering to people's egos (not that this is always the case!). For me it's all about doing it for the love of it, anything else is a bonus.

The project was definitely a slow burner, there was even a bit of resistance at first - fuelled in part by my replacing the B&W strips at the time, I've learned to keep the two archives separate now - not to mention hardcore fans being annoyed at seeing Scarlett, Stalker and Gung-Ho being reinvented as Quarrel, Jammer and Gaucho but I think we've weathered it well.

These days there isn't a weekly instalment that goes by without some chat on the boards, and with the release of the books themselves, well you can see for yourself each thread is ten pages long. Granted some of it strays off-topic but the buzz is most definitely there. I think the distinction is that when we were started Jamar worked like a dog seeking out colourists for the project, and these days we have Action Force fans seeking us out wanting to be a part of it. That in itself speaks volumes as to the success of the project!

So let's not recriminate over what could have had happened. I think it's worked out spectacularly, it's certainly exceeded my expectations. Sure, it would be nice to see some of our lost sheep return to the fold, but let's not hang around waiting for them, eh? If they no longer want to do it then let's just respect that and move on.

If anybody wants to try their hand at a spot of colouring, they are more than welcome, but do please co-ordinate with either Jamar or myself first. That said, I think the best trial pages would be the second set of Datafiles.

[SteveD]

Apart from Barnsley town centre of course.

After a few years dodging around the place whilst lurking in Sheffield, Donny and Rotherham for my sins during a year's teaching practice (before seeing sense and returning to advertising/creative) I can safely say I never actually went to Barnsely. At least we know there are appreciative fans of Action Force and colourists who reside there. And Dickie Bird.

Steve

Whoa whoa whoa! In my defence I only work here! I live in Sheffield, and originally hail from Darlington. Not that I'm trying to distance myself...well... actually, yes, I am! Sorry! (to any local folk, like)

I once went to a Funeral where Dickie Bird was! He comes across as a bit of a prima donna to me. Got his Jag stuck when he parked it on a grass verge, and then sprayed mud all over half of the mourners as he wheelspun his way off the grass (with a push from other mourners). Hilarious stuff, and every bit as funny as the image it creates in your head, although unfortunately he was not wearing several white jumpers around his neck at the time! That just would have made the bizarreness of the situation totally complete! I could barely keep a straight face, and had a hearty chuckle once I got away from everyone! It just wasn't cricket!!!!

Anyway, this may now qualify as one of the biggest deviations off topic of all time - we've gone from Vol 2 discussions to retired cricket umpires doing wheelspins at funerals in the space of five posts!