Joe Catholic

Page 10: Before and After

Fr. Chris Decker — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:02:28 +0000

There’s an awful lot that can take place between the pencils and drawing over those blue lines with my WACOM tablet. For example, look at the determination on Joe’s face and Giovanni’s consternation (he’s about to be drafted!). If you missed page 10 and you’d like to see this colored and shaded, check out the page here.

A Real Frenchman…Honest!

Fr. Chris Decker — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:23:29 +0000

We’re just introducing characters like crazy. Here Geo meets our antagonist. You’ll find out just how antagonistic he is as the story unfolds. Don’t be fooled by his welcome!

Ready For His Papal Closeup

Fr. Chris Decker — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:11:30 +0000

Since the story takes place at the turn of the millenium, I placed a picture of the reigning pope on the wall of the coffee shop. Of course, Blessed Pope John Paul II still adorns most coffee bars in Rome! Here’s a close-up of the little “painting” I did for panel one of page 10. Click to enlarge it!

A Cunning Plan!

Fr. Chris Decker — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:13:34 +0000

With page 10 comes the introduction of a new regular character to Joe Catholic, his name Giovanni DeLuce. Gio is Joe’s jet-setting sidekick who is on loan from The University of St. Thomas the Apostle (where Joe and Gio are students) to the Vatican. We’ll see a good bit more of him!

The Process: Restaurants with paper tablecloths

Fr. Chris Decker — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:18:27 +0000

Here’s a pic of how comics also come to be. When the napkins are cloth, chances are the tables are covered with butcher paper, which is perfect for sketching out several pages! Here were some of the first few pages of JC: Ep2 sketched out on a pizzeria tablecloth: (Click for a larger image!)

Where The Best Ideas Sprout.

Fr. Chris Decker — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:07:39 +0000

I often wonder why when I’m trying to hammer out an idea or a layout with a fresh, clean, piece of copy paper, it almost never happens. Put a napkin in front of me and the words and images just come a-flowin’. I wonder if it could be all the “recycling” fumes from these 40% post-consumer waste (or something like that)… This is a thumbnail layout of page 5. Incidentally, this is usually what I do when trying to figure out how a page should look….it either takes place on a napkin or the margins of the script.

Now That You Mention It…

Fr. Chris Decker — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:14:14 +0000

Here’s the next page! How ya been? Unfortunately, since it’s been about a year (and a parish move) since the last update, I managed to lose some of my originals. The keen eye will notice some sketch lines still visible. This final rendering was taken from some sketches that I was able to salvage. At long last! The story rolls on…

Page 8

Fr. Chris Decker — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0000

Can You Spot What’s Missing?

Fr. Chris Decker — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 03:40:24 +0000

Joe finds himself inside the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel which doesn’t actually exist in real life. But, for the sake of the story, I’ve added one to St. Anselmo, the International Abbey of Benedictines in Rome. St. Anselmo is a college as well, boasting students from all over the world. Take a look.

Do You Really Wear a Purple Cape?

Fr. Chris Decker — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:15:24 +0000

[odd...I had a big beautiful blog post here yesterday...stay tuned]