midnightclubx

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 42 FINAL

Alfred here's getting the nap he deserves, and Val may or may not go to the next Konami Arcade Championship...once Japan opens their borders for Americans, anyway, but considering this is in a world where COVID doesn't exactly exist, forget what I just said. 8I

So, next week, I will be uploading pages 43 and 44 at the same day, since the last page is a simple one-shot to close out the chapter. Hopefully, by the time those are uploaded publicly, I will have my next artist chosen, and Cha...

ACES: Val ref sheet

And last but not least, here's Val's redesign for Chapter 2! Nothing too crazy has changed, outside her clothes, because how can one improve on perfection? ;)

With this ref sheet finished, Uma has fulfilled the contract we made for the first chapter of ACES, way back in January! I want to thank her so much with helping out when she did, because the comic was in a real rough patch before she offered her services!

Now, with the redesigns finished, hopefully finding the next artist w...

ACES: Val sketch page SKETCH

Have I mentioned how cute she looks with her hair down? :P

ACES: Alfred ref sheet FINAL

And before anyone says "Llllladies?", take note that he's not into them. ;P

ACES: Alfred ref sheet WIP

An exclusive sneak peek. ;D

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 42 SKETCH

Alfred? Smiling? That's a rare sight, indeed. 8I

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 41 FINAL

Why yes, I did take inspiration from The Simpsons when I wrote this page, why do you ask? : U

Anyone remember when Konami *didn't* make you pay a monthly fee to play their Bemani games at home? Those were good times. Anyways, you don't really see those types of jokes anymore, where the characters imply they're gonna do something dirty, but actually do something innocent... though to be fair, they probably used to live in the upper floors of their old apartment, so playing a dancing game...

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 41 SKETCH

What? You didn't think this comic was gonna go TV-MA, did you? :U

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 40 FINAL

Nice segue, Gordon.

I mean, we're talking about a guy who's able to hack (and revive) a walkie-talkie just to speak to his estranged son; he really could try to get people kidnapped if he wanted to. ;I

ACES: Page 40 WIP

I wonder what's making Val go "suuuure, uh-huh..."

Moonlit Brew: Chapter 5 Page 39 FINAL

And that's the end of the chapter!... j/k, obviously. 

If that was seriously the end, I'd probably have people knocking down my door til the end of time. XD 

But yeah, you didn't think Lydia was going to win so easily, did you? :P

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 40 SKETCH

I wonder what Gordon's saying here?... Hmm....

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 39 FINAL

5 pages left til the end of Chapter 1; it feels melancholic, because Uma will not be sticking around for Chapter 2 and beyond, but at the same time, I'm glad that we're finally going to be finished with this one, and we will now have a structure to build upon with the next artist, especially once Val and Alfred's ref sheets are finished. 

I was foolish in thinking starting ACES would be easier after learning what to expect/work on back when I started Moonlit Brew (there was still c...

Moonlit Brew: Chapter 5 Page 39 INKS

You didn't think Lydia was going to win easily, did you? :U

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 39 SKETCH

Frankie's got priorities, mang. :U

ACES: Frankie ref sheet

In retrospect, I should've commissioned this a long time ago, but we're doing it now!

As I mentioned a while ago, Uma despised Frankie's sweater from Chapter 1 (which dates back to the Tom Is A Force of Evil days), so now he has a jacket instead, which should be a lot easier for artists to draw, in comparison!

Outside of that, nothing else major has changed in his design, outside of the googly-eye on his eyepatch being nixed, since Uma insists that would be better suited for anima...

What To Expect: October 2020

We're finally in the homestretch of this... "year", and not only are we starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for that, but we're also inching closer to the end of Chapter 1 for ACES!

This month, we will be updating Moonlit Brew with Chapter 5 Page 39, and for ACES, we will be updating with Chapter 1 Pages 39-42!

Pending no delays, November will bring the first chapter of ACES to a close, and Uma will be leaving the project to work on her own comics. ...

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 38 FINAL

I'm gonna be honest: I'm a sucker for punchlines like these; you know, the ones where everyone gets lavish jobs except the main character, who gets this unsavory-sounding one. 

It was moreorless what I was going for with this scene, but I figured Alfred's dad wouldn't be like those other people giving the unsavory job in other cartoons; in this case, it's more of a "This is so you don't get hurt, because you're my son" type of thing, instead of the usual, "I don't trust/like you; y...

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 38 SKETCH

Looks like Alfred got the memo he's being sent to Gay Baby Jail. D:

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 37 FINAL

So, Uma made a slight tweak for the final panel to add in something interesting to her line of dialogue, and it's absolutely perfect! It's probably one of the pictures you could use to describe Val in 3 pictures. XP

Anyone wanna guess what Alfred's cover story is going to be? ;P

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 37 backgrounds

Man, that's one wide TV, but I think those actually exist. 8I

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 37 SKETCH

Sounds like Val's in... though her hair might be a bit bored, at the moment. >>

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 36 FINAL

This was one of those pages that I didn't know how to properly write until it just clicked towards the end. I really hope I didn't botch the Dutch cursing here, since I used Google translate. XD

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 36 SKETCH

That DJ looks like he came straight from the late-80's/early-90's, doesn't he? 

Moonlit Brew Chapter 3 Page 20 TOUCH-UP

Fun fact: this building was based off of this random bank I found when I was looking for locations for this place in Streetview; figured it would be better as its own little place rather than it being in downtown. ;)

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 35 FINAL

Eeeey, some more backstory hints. ;)

So, as I was writing this scene, I  wanted to find a hotel room that would seemingly be fitting as "living quarters" for a top secret agency, sorta like how Warehouse 13 had their agents sleep at a bed and breakfast when they weren't gathering at the titular warehouse filled with artifacts nearby. 

Since I was basing Circe's Gardens off of Caesar's Palace, I was obviously limited to finding rooms at that hotel, but thankfully, this pl...

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 35 SKETCH

This page will make more sense, once you see the dialogue! Anyone wanna guess what hotel room this reference pic at the bottom is from? ;)

BRB, gonna go play the new Tony Hawk game.

What To Expect: September 2020

We're finally going into the final three months of... "a year"; this wasn't "The Year" in the slightest for me, but at least we're hopefully close to a covid vaccine by now, and hopefully things will start going back to a slight semblance of normal!

On the Moonlit Brew side of things, we will be touching-up Chapter 3 Page 20! Script for the next new page for Chapter 5 will be worked on this month in preparation for October, as per usual. :)

As for ACES, I have a b...

ACES: Chapter 1 Page 34 FINAL

(UPDATED with the inverted background colors!)

Nothing super fancy with this page, but the next page will be pretty fun to see being made! I wonder what Gordon's got up his sleeve?...

ACES Chapter 1 Page 34 SKETCH

I wonder why Gordon's all smug? Hmmm....