JARAN STUDIOS JOURNAL

Not much notice, I know, but Jaran Studios will be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, which is just hours away, as well as Wizard World Chicago next week, June 26th - 29th, to be exact.  We’ll have new artwork and previews to check out, so make plans to stop by the booth if you’re going to be attending.  Everything is coming along nicely, and we should finally be making an official announcement regarding our publisher at Chicago, so be on the lookout for that. 

 If you look around the site, you’ll see that we’ve recently made some updates and additions, so be sure to browse around and take everything in, and we’ll post more art and news very shortly.  Talk to you soon…

Kurt Hathaway here–writer and letterer on DOTDF.  Porfiria asked me to jump in here and say a few words.  I looked in the dictionary for inspiration, but there were just too many.  So, I made up my own.  Anyway, I was never given passwords to this site so I just hacked my way in with the aid of my own 100-foot tall robotic warrior.  You’d like him–he’s nice–I mean, he’ll melt your face in an instant!  Anyway–You may have read that I made an appearance at the Wizard World Los Angeles show a few weeks ago.  We–the Dawn of the Dread Force booth and I–got a great reception.  Lots of enthusiastic fans stopped by to say hello, ask about the upcoming book and buy t-shirts and posters.  Be sure to get yours at a show near you–or from here.  In addition to fans, I talked to writers, artists, colorists, looked at portfolios, signed a few autographs <blush> and chatted up our project to anyone within earshot.  It’s a wonder I didn’t get tossed out!  Not only that, Mecha-fans, but I met the guy who will be publishing our robo-venture and bring our books to your oil-stained hands in the near future.  I hesitate to make the announcement myself, if it’s still an industry secret, so I will say no more.  Suffice it to say I met with several folks who were interested in bringing our adventure story to you–the greedy reader!  After all, isn’t that why I stay up late making sure all the words in my scripts are spelled right?  Why I greet every morning bleary-eyed after making sure every comma has a purpose?  The answer, mecha-heads, is YES!  So I put together an official schedule (I used to be an editor at Image comics, so I know how to make a schedule) and put everyone on the fast track.  I have to tell you, watching the new pages come in from Gerardo Sandoval is a real treat.  Although I give him a “full script” it’s still a pretty loose affair.  I like to take the art pages and re-tool the dialogue and captions a bit to make my story fit G’s art even better than it did when he drew it.  Talk about masocism–I mean, total dedication on my part!  Whew!  The effort is definitely worth it.  G’s work is terrific!

The DOTDF booth is now in Philadelphia, I think, so stop by and say hi and buy a poster or 12.

Also, I guess I should mention I’ll be appearing at the San Diego Comic-Con this summer!  So stop by the booth and say hi before heading out into the sunshine and to the parking lot of Seaworld.  Being in Southern California, I get to the SD show almost every year, and it just seems to get bigger and bigger.  One year I got lost in the aisles of merchandise and comic books and had to call in the FBI to get me out.  If you’ve never been, this is the year to make the plans.

Back to deadlines for me.  DOTDF isn’t the only project I work on.  Too many to mention here and now, so keep your eyes peeled!

Best,

Kurt Hathaway
Cartoon Balloons Studios

Scripts / Lettering / Logos / Fonts

Only 6 more days!!! Just giving everyone a reminder that Jaran Studios will be making its first public appearance, with a debut of Dawn of the Dread Force, at MegaCon in Orlando next weekend! We’ll be unveiling the latest full-color artwork and have lots of cool stuff to check out. If they’re ready in time, we might even have some Dawn of the Dread Force t-shirts for sale and ashcans to give out! Cross your fingers on that one. Either way, we’ll definitely have plenty of these tight NeoKhan posters for sale, pencilled by the great Gerardo Sandoval, and beautifully-colored by Simon “Seed” Bork. If you can’t make it, though, you can still order them from us. Just send an email to info@dreadforce.com (they’re only $7.95 + S & H and sales tax if you’re in North Carolina), and we’ll hook you up!

It’s only a few more weeks until MegaCon, and not only will Jaran Studios be there, but we’re going to be representing at Wizard World LA and NY Comic Con as well!  Kurt Hathaway, writer of Dawn of the Dread Force will be at Wizard World from March 14th - 16th, so make sure to check him out if you’re planning on going.  NY Comic Con will be happening April 18th - 20th, and Danimation is going to be there, so you don’t want to miss out on that one, either.  Anyway, to give you a little taste of the mecha madness that on it’s way, here are a couple of Dread Force pieces by Gerardo Sandoval to get things rolling.

I’m a little late, but here’s the first official Dawn of the Dread Force completed artwork.  Gerardo Sandoval pencilled it and Simon “Seed” Bork colored it.  Let us know what you think.  More coming soon!

I know, it’s been a while since I’ve had time to post on here, but I’m working on changing that, so thanks for the patience.  Spectacular colorist Simon “Seed” Bork is now onboard with us for Dawn of the Dread Force.  For those of you that don’t already know, he’s the colorist from the beautifully colored Lullaby and Leviticus Cross, among others.  If he can make people look that good, just imagine what he can do on a mecha comic book.  If you’re not already a fan of his, here’s some of his work that shows how talented he truly is:

We’ve had an exciting new addition to the Dawn of the Dread Force in the last few days that I want to share with you!  The amazingly talented penciller Gerardo Sandoval will be joining James Raiz to handle the pencilling for all 3 issues!  He has worked on several titles for Top Cow, Image and Chaos comics, and I’ve already seen some of his first pencils for Dawn of the Dread Force…and I’m speechless.  If you haven’t seen this guy’s artwork yet, check out some of his pencils below and tell us what you think.  Until next time…

Just wanted to let everyone know (if you haven’t figured it out already) that the new and improved Jaran Studios website (www.jaranstudios.com, www.dreadforce.com) is now online.  The new Myspace page (www.myspace.com/dawnofthedreadforce) is up, too, so make sure to check them out and let us know what you think.  We’ll be adding more mecha and comic artwork from James Raiz, Rob Armstrong,  Danimation and others, soon, as well as the latest news updates, so be sure to keep checking in.

We’ve got an amazing new addition to the website in the works, as well.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise yet, but we’ve enlisted the help of SV2 Studios to create a Flash intro for the site that will blow you away!  They’re currently producing an IMAX movie entirely from still images, if you can believe it.  Interesting site, you should check it out.  We’ll keep you posted, but I promise you, it’s tight.  That’s it for now.  Happy Holidays!

Well, it’s official, Jaran Studios‘ first comic-con of 2008 will be MegaCon in Orlando, Florida from March 7th - 9th.  In case you don’t already know, MegaCon is the largest comic book convention in the southeast and I can’t wait to check it out since it’ll be my first time there.  We’ll have t-shirts and plenty of free stuff, so if you’re a fan of mechas, Transformers, any of our creators‘ work or just comics in general, feel free to stop by and say what’s up. 

Speaking of our creators, we should have some new artwork from James Raiz up on the website soon, so I’ll let you know when it happens.  Unfortunately, I’m not feeling very inspired today, so until next time, hold it down.

I can’t believe it, but I’m finally writing Jaran Studios‘ first official blog entry.  If I were to explain to you what a difficult, expensive and time consuming adventure this has been up until now…I’m sure you’d find something better to do with your time, so I won’t.  I think I’ll just start with a clean slate from today forward, so to summarize:

Jaran Studios is the creative force behind the new mecha comic book mini-series Dawn of the Dread Force, which is scheduled for a late fall 2008 release.  The amazing duo of James Raiz and Rob Armstrong of Dreamwave/Transformers fame are pencilling and inking all three issues.  Talented veteran Kurt Hathaway is handling the writing duties and super-colorist Danimation will be doing the cover colors.  The interior colorist hasn’t been decided on yet, but we’ll be making an announcement soon.  SV2 Studios is doing a great job designing the website, which should be completed within the next couple of weeks, and it’s gonna be tight!  If you haven’t figured it out already, the web address is www.jaranstudios.com, so make sure to check it out often…after December 10th or so.

Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way, I’M EXCITED!!!  The creators working on this project are some of the most talented pros in comics, and we’re gonna be representing at all of the big comic-cons in 2008!  We’ll fill you in on each of those after everything’s official though.  Well, you might not be brainwashed yet, but keep checking back and I’ll try to keep you interested.  Hey, it’s not every day that you get to hear the behind-the-scenes process of a blockbuster comic taking shape, so if you wanna know more, stay tuned, and thanks for all the support!