This page is for Stefan, my former flaregames colleague. Stefan moved on to new challenges. He always pushed me to create more MAYA pages and I’m sure without his pushing some pages would have taken even more time to finish. Hey buddy… I’ll do the pushing myself from now on.
Best wishes,

Chris

Best wishes,

Chris

A new page and some words from Comicwatcher’s MAYA review:

Another minor snag in the approach that Chris Noeth has taken is that he chose to put the preview of his comic on the web.

The web!

Where the average surfer’s attention span is that of a mosquito on crack!!

His good work will suffer because his work requires an investment on the part of the reader. His work is more oriented to the OLD SCHOOL comics of the Sunday afternoon, the ones you pick up in print, and sit in your couch to read, and wind up having a rich experience thanks to the rich dialog and the character exposition.

Just a little background info: Maya always was planned and is produced as a comic for print. I’m doing my pages in CMYK colors and 600dpi, so the comics can be printed later down the road. Comicwatcher is right. This is for OLD SCHOOL comic readers. With putting the whole comic on the web for free I was hoping for more feedback from readers and more viral word spreading. There isn’t much of it… so maybe Comicwatcher is right… more surfer mosquitos than OLD SCHOOL readers maybe? I don’t know.

What do you think?

Best wishes,

Chris

aaaaand voila… a new page.

With the end of issue one not far away I really would appreciate some help with spreading the word about Maya. If you want to help spread the word please take a look at the banners and the press kit at http://www.mayacomic.com/webcomic/?page_id=49
Thank you!

- Chris

Known mainly for their line of bio comics, its a little known fact that Bluewater also does horror. It’s a littler known fact that the company has produced some hidden gems in horror in recent years including the book we’re looking at today; IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA…AGAIN! As the title would suggest, this is a tongue in cheek sequel to the 50’s film about a giant octopus created by the late great stop motion genius Ray Harryhausen. If you’re a fan of the original film, this sequel is going to be something worth seeking out.

Being a huge fan of all things horror, I have a special place in my black heart for the American giant monster films of the 50’s which was a reaction to the Atomic Bomb scares the public was facing at the time. The films are simple; don’t fuck with mother nature, she bites back. Here a giant octopus, much like the one from the original film, surfaces and destroys everything in its path. It’s up to a dorky scientist, a drunken fishing boat captain, and a hard as nails Marine chick to save the day. Everything about this story screams old school and if you’re a fan of the way movies used to be, then you have to pick up this homage to the classics. The Griffiths Clay and Susan do a great ob of capturing the tone of those old films where science was wonky and quips were lobbed back and forth like hand grenades. Here even though the feel is classic, the writers Griffiths do a great job of keeping the story punchy with some unexpected twists and turns including an invasion of baby man sized octopus that seemingly can crawl on land.

The art is pretty damn good too. Unfortunately, the duties are split between two artists. Though I read this in trade and am not sure who did what issue, there’s a pretty jarring shift in art style halfway through. Chapters One and Two are done with distinct lifework and crisp colors. The scene of the giant octopus wrapping itself around an ocean liner is truly monumental. Though the shift to soft tones and muted colors in the Third and Fourth Chapters are definitely different in comparison to the first chapters, the artist does do a good job of making the characters consistent throughout. I hate to see an artist switch midstream like that. It’s noticeable, but both are pretty competent artists, despite the fact that they have completely different styles.

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA…AGAIN! is a fun adventure throwback to an age of cinema that screams fun. There are plenty of laughs and chills to be had in these pages and the scenes of octopi wreaking carnage with tentacly glee were both terrifying and fun. Though films such as IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA are often remade in a disappointing manner these days, it’s apparent with the creators behind this comic book sequel that there is a love and respect for the original that can’t be duplicated in today’s Hollywood. Another reason why comics will always be cooler.

The new release date now is July 12 and you can order the book at amazon here:

Pre-Order IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA… AGAIN! at amazon.com

Pre-Order IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA… AGAIN! at amazon.de

A BIG Thank You! goes to Clay and Susan Griffith, who wrote a really fantastic script for this book and to Sven Strangmeyer who did a fantastic job, coloring my penciled pages!

Chris

Here is the next page as promised… just a few days after the last one and right on time for FCBD 2011

The end of issue #1 is getting closer… perfect time for you to write some comments (hint, hint!) and to help get the word out about Maya. I’m happy about every link or banner to the free comic. You the readers are the reason I’m doing this whole project for free and I’m very curious about who is reading MAYA, how you like it so far and of course why you like it.

I can’t talk to much about the ending of issue #1 yet but I can tell you that the ending will straighten out the direction for the upcoming issues.