Monday, June 24, 2013

Danny and Aleksei, Comic Style

I've been a fan of Heather Holden's work ever since I discovered Echo Effect, her webcomic based on Greek mythology. So when I was catching up on the comic a few weeks ago I got the idea to commission Heather to create pictures of my Polar Night characters Danny and Aleksei.

It was a lot of fun to work with Heather and see my guys brought to life in her style. So let me introduce you to the main character and protagonist of Polar Night, Detective Danny Fitzpatrick.


He's a mess, isn't he?  Danny is overwhelmed by grief and depression when we meet him and he's run as far away from his old life as he could get by moving to Fairbanks, Alaska. He's working a dead-end job in cold cases and his primary coping mechanism for getting through the day is alcohol.

Danny doesn't seem like a good candidate to challenge Aleksei Nechayev, the book's antagonist. Arrogant, cold, and ruthless, Aleksei views people as little more than playthings for his own amusement.

 

Aleksei sees Danny as a minor nuisance and doesn't think the drunken detective is a real threat to his plans. He may be surprised.

Thanks again to Heather for working on this fun project with me! If you don't already follow the Echo Effect, check it out here

34 comments:

  1. Those look very cool and it must be exciting to see your characters 'come to life', artwise :)

    Danny does look a mess, though :)

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  2. That's really cool! They do look like polar opposites. Pun intended.

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  3. Love the cartoons. It did a great job reflecting who your characters are.

    Sir Poops and Hair Ball will post their interview with Clancy on Friday.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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  4. What an awesome project, Julie! Glad we get to see them after you teased us. :) They came out great.

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  5. What a neat idea! The visual always intrigues me. Thanks for sharing the art.

    Mary Montague Sikes

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  6. Aleksei sounds like a sociopath. Heather does some cool art and yes Danny really looks a mess. Stand up straight and get a shave man! This was fun, thanks for sharing Julie.

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  7. This was so fun, Julie! What a great way to talk about your book -- very creative.

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  8. Oh, cool! Those are awesome. I always wished I had artistic talent and could draw what my characters look like, but alas I was skipped over when they passed out that artistic gene.

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  9. @Mark, he does, doesn't he? Poor Danny.

    @Alex, thanks! :)

    @Shelly, oh, that's awesome, thank you. Clancy and I are very excited.

    @Mary, thanks! It was fun to work with Heather.

    @Mary, thank you!

    @Sheena, LOL, you tell him. :D

    @Melissa, thanks!

    @Julie, thank you, so glad you liked it.

    @LG, I was skipped over too LOL. I am hopeless at drawing anything.

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  10. I love Heather's comics too!

    That is way cool. I may have to do that with mine some day...

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  11. They have very expressive faces, one gets the idea very well! I love comics. :D

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  12. @Samantha, thanks!

    @Al, I love the expressions Heather drew. Thanks!

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  13. What a great idea! Love collaboration like this.

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  14. Ooo, maybe she could turn POLAR NIGHT into a graphic novel/comic? Or maybe you could write a prequel or a short story based on one of the characters and she could turn that into a... Okay, I'll stop now. :)

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  15. No, no, no. I already have a mental image for Danny and Aleksei and I don't want you messing with it.

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  16. So cool! I love the pics. What fun :) And Heather is an amazing artist.

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  17. @Lee, it was a lot of fun.

    @Madeline, oh, I love your ideas! LOL, don't stop. :D

    @LD, LOL, I'm sorry!

    @Rebecca, it was fun, thanks!

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  18. Perfect facial expressions.
    Danny looks down-and-out. Aleksei is smirking.
    Writer In Transit

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  19. Like Heather's rendition's of Danny and Aleksei. It really is neat to see your characters come to life.

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  20. Heather does awesome work! It's so cool to see the pictures she drew of Danny and Aleksei!

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  21. That's so cool. I'd love to see my characters brought to life like that, mostly because I have no idea what they look like myself :-)

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  22. @Michelle, Aleksei's smirk was my favorite LOL.

    @Cathrina, it was, thanks!

    @Cherie, I agree, she's awesome.

    @Annalisa, LOL, thanks!

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  23. So glad you ended up liking what I came up with! I had a lot of fun working with you, too. Now I'll already know how to visualize these characters once I have the chance to read my own copy of Polar Night. ;)

    Also, thanks for the shout-out to my webcomic--I really appreciate it! :)

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  24. @Heather, oh, thanks, I hope you will enjoy the book! And you're welcome for the shout-out, my pleasure. :)

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  25. How fun!! And they DO look like polar opposites! lol

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  26. I love seeing characters brought to life via art. I try to do the same thing on my own by drawing pictures of my characters.

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  27. @Carolyn, thanks! :)

    @Michael, oh, I didn't realize you did your own drawings. I'm impressed! I think they're great.

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  28. Heather did a good job on drawing your characters!
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  29. @Nutschell, I think so too, thanks! :)

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  30. These are so cool, Julie! How fun to see your characters come to life.

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  31. Such a cool idea to commission these works. :) I have a friend who's awesome at art and I should get her to do some pics for my characters, too. I do art myself, but have never been all that great at drawing dudes.

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  32. This was such a creative idea, and you chose a wonderful artist! I haven't even started reading Polar Night yet, and I'm already rooting for Danny!

    Julie

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  33. @Gwen, it really was fun. Thank you!

    @Trisha, LOL, you are up on me because I can't draw anything or anyone. Thanks!

    @Julie, Danny is the one to root for, no doubt. Thanks so much. :)

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