Hey /co/ let's shift paced from the stuff I've been story timing lately for something a little lighter! All ages books are always good so here is Veda: Assembly Required!
>>77557327
How is everyone doing today?
Young red headed protagonists always make me think of Bandette for some reason.
>>77557617
>for some reason
I cannot fathom what that reason would be
>>77557652
I meant that more that I should be able to separate it better than that you know? Like this kid looks nothing like Bandette except the hair. I don't know it's always been weird to me.
>>77557327
I've never even heard of this. Did it just come out today? Is it a series?
>>77557748
It's a graphic novel that came out in like August or something like that. Not sure if they are gonna do more.
Hey guys! I’m the writer of VEDA: Assembly Required. (I’m @samuelteer on twitter, if you want to tweet at me to verify.)
I’m glad you folks are enjoying the book. Artist Hyeondo Park and colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick and myself worked incredibly hard on creating Veda: Assembly Required. Hyeondo and I have been working Veda in some form since 2008, so it’s been a long hard road just to get the book published.
I’m not here to admonish you for pirating the book or anything like that. I appreciate that some folks might not have extra money to try out new books especially with the comics market is FLOODED with amazing books vying for your dollars.
I would, however, like to make a request of you.
If you enjoying this story time and are financially able to, would you consider ordering a copy from Amazon? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616554975/ or your local comics retailer? Even if you don’t want a copy yourself, you could give it as a gift this holiday season, donate it to your local public library or local school district or local youth shelter.
If you enjoy the book but can’t afford support us, we want your help too! Just let people know that you read the book and liked it. Word-of-mouth is extremely helpful.
That’s it. No judgements, no admonishments, no hard sell. In the meantime, since I’m here, I guess I could answer questions if anyone has them?
>>77558897
Honest truth? I can't believe we got away with that poop symbol emoji. It's kinda my favorite thing, to the point where I want to make pins of it to sell at cons.
>>77558808
>>77558947
>a writer commenting on his own comic during a storytime
Wow, that's honestly something I wasn't expecting to see from this.
>>77558984
How badly this going to make Me cry?
>>77559032
Well maybe the creator can answer that better.
>>77557675
I grew up in a household where my Dad is deaf and wore hearing aides and my Mom was a first generation immigrant. So more often than not when my parents argued, it would be part in Spanish, part in American Sign Language and part in english.
That sort of informed what I wanted to do with Veda, to have her speak machine.
Plus, there's that whole thing where each successive generation of kids adapts to technology faster than the previous generation.
>>77557617
The red hair was last minute change actually. Originally, Veda was going to be blonde and wear a blue jumpsuit. But I was told to come up with coloring guidelines for colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick and when left to my own devices, I came up with this elaborate color-coding scheme. Basically all the machine-world stuff (the factory, the machines) are coded in cold colors and anything organic is coded in warm colors (Veda's hair, The Gremlin). If you look at the exterior design of the book, we followed the color coding into the title as well.
>>77557617
Also, my wife is a red head.
>>77559290
Seriously how bad will this make me cry?
>>77557981
These memos between chapters were another last minute addition. There was nothing on these pages and I wanted to make sure that we were using every page to move the story forward.
>>77558000
Sleepy Veda is my favorite Veda.
>>77559309
Less than We3.
>>77559381
I'm not liking that benchmark....
>>77559381
Well shit, might as well say less than I Kill Giants or less than Miss Don't Touch Me at that point Sam.
>>77558623
There was an art shift from Chapter 3 forward. Hyeondo had drawn the first two chapters digitally and with Chapter 3 he moved away from drawing digitally. You can definitely see the different in the level of detail he was able to put in.
>>77559456
>>77559472
At this point I'm being reminded of both Wake and Hugo Cabret.
This an intentional styling choice?
>>77559497
Not intentional. I've never read Wake and I've seen the Hugo movie.
For me, Aliens was more of an influence than either of those. But really, the main influences for me were The Jungle Book, The Graveyard Book and Calvin and Hobbes.
>>77559585
I only think of Cabret because of the way she lives here, doing her own thing, filling a niche role that she personally gets no recognition for, in this case doing the security worker's rounds.
The lettering on the cover is reminiscent of Wake and there are some parallels between that and the main character. Only reason that springs to mind as well.
>>77558947
I would buy a lot of these machine language pins haha
>>77559244
>>77559254
Quite a few reviewers have said that The Gremlin is evil and villainous, but I think this scene sort of underscores that he has been hurt int he past and as result, he's become angry and mistrustful and lashes out and manipulates situations because he has a need for control.
It's possible that The Gremlin is much more like me than I care to admit.
>>77559652
Honestly? That's all I need to hear. I'm actually going to touch base with the company who makes the pins tomorrow.
>>77559321
'Twas a good call
>>77559297
We never designed Nask before Hyeondo started production on the book. As I mentioned earlier, Hyeondo and I have been working together since 2008, so I trust his instants and told him to design Nask on the page and we'd run with whatever he came up with.
I hope we get to do more Veda books because I want to bring Nask back.
Alright guys that is all! Thanks for reading thanks to Samif that's the real guyfor not yelling at me for stealing his shit and posting it.
>>77559640
>>77559659
We made certain that we only used ONE two-page spread in the entire book and we saved it for this moment.
Thank you writer for making this. I liked it and will tell people about it.
>>77559815
>Dan not using his "I just post other people's work on 4chan" line for once
:^)
>>77559789
Okay that was an acceptable amount of crying,And I apologize in advance for the porn people are going to make Of her.
>>77559833
I only say that when people thank me.
>>77559397
This page never fails to make me smile. Hyeondo made it so much funnier and endearing than I could've imagined.
>>77559424
Wait, Mr. Teer, is there an in-between step where she rips off her own arm? I mean, that ain't no glove
That was a cool story. Thank you Mr. Teer, and thank you Dan! I got a friend who'd like this, I think I know of an upcoming birthday present.
>>77559966
Veda's gremlin arm fits INSIDE of the machine arm.
>>77559496
Orginally, we were going to have a two year gap between each chapter but it became really difficult to show Veda's incremental physical growth so we opted to save it more for this chapter and to use her hair length to clue the reader into the fact that a significant amount of time has passed.
>>77559774
Again, I can't believe we got away with the poop symbol here too. Originally, it was a cow with a halo above it's head but we decided that the poop symbol was funnier.
>>77560049
LIES Also will definitely be getting this for my shelf. Any plans for future additions to this series? Would love to see her make like an arm backpack or something.
>>77559691
Why does the Gremlin sees his role as a protector of humanity when it's stated his life was ruined before by them. Though it is stated he was lying at his introduction he seems to genuinely believe at least part of it.Will there be more Veda at one point?
If you enjoy the book and you are able to financially support it, it would mean the world to the creative team behind Veda: Assembly Required - myself, Hyeondo Park and Kelly Fitzpatrick.
I want to do MORE Veda books. I’d be happy doing nothing but writing these characters for the rest of my life. But I’ve been told by Dark Horse that until the book is profitable, they can’t even think about publishing a second one — which makes perfect sense, comics are a business after all.
We’re probably about 1200 copies away from selling through our print run and making the book profitable enough that Dark Horse would be willing to greenlight a second book. So every sale really does count for us.
You can go here for a few links to buy the book http://www.crapcatch.com/purchase/ or you can ask your local comic retailer to order it for you.
>>77560380
The Gremlin sees himself as a protector of nature, not humanity. His opinion of humans is that they are dumb and awful and ruin everything.
I think I'll call it a night.
I appreciate you folks out there reading the book. You can follow me on twitter @samuelteer
I've got a website http://www.crapcatch.com/ You can find some other free Veda comics there. There's a 10 page instagram-style comic we did to promote the book http://www.crapcatch.com/#meet-veda
As well as an old black and white 4 page comic about Veda losing her first tooth. http://www.crapcatch.com/#vedababyteeth
And for those of you that like behind the scenes stuff here's a four part series of tumblr posts about my thought process in making the book.
http://crapcatch.tumblr.com/post/127491619009/veda-assembly-required-pt-1
http://crapcatch.tumblr.com/post/127570957774/veda-assembly-required-pt-2-lets-talk-about
http://crapcatch.tumblr.com/post/127640077804/veda-assembly-required-pt-3-the-machines
http://crapcatch.tumblr.com/post/127719696219/veda-assembly-required-pt-4-the-gremlin
>>77560783
Thanks for being cool about this and answering questions, actually ordered this which is rare and look forward to more. Or at least re reading this in print.
>>77560783
That 4 pager is fuckin' adorable.
Like I told Dan last time, these threads are the reason a 50 year old man come here. My wife is head librarian locally. She will love this book! I can see this being quite popular.
>>77561086
Piracy isn't going away. There's not much of a point in getting mad about it.
Plus, if someone isn't pirating your work then you probably aren't relevant.
>>77561161
Oh hey I remember you! How's it going?
>>77561161
Oh, do let me know if she enjoys the book and if she gets into the local library system. You can email me through my website crapcatch.com or on twitter.
this was cool
>>77561485
Will do, that said been married to her for 28 years, I am pretty sure I know how this will go. ;)
>>77561452
It goes well enough that I have no right to complain... Which makes me cranky!
>>77564596
What doesn't make you cranky?
Posting the 4 page short comic from the writer's website.
>>77570481
>>77570487
>>77570492
>>77570505
See? Fucking adorable!
Morning all! Writer of Veda: Assembly Required here.
I'm surprised to see that this thread is still up. Buuuuut since it is up, I'm open to taking questions about the book or comics in general.
hi dan! thanks for posting other peoples work on 4chan.
>>77570713
What is the future plan if there is more approved, will we see her outside of the factory?
>>77570713
havent finished reading the storytime but its pretty cute.
>>77570935
Without getting too much into spoiler territory...yes.
The second book would take Veda and Assembly outside of The Factory and have Veda meet/interact with other people.
I'd also love to more with The Gremlin. A prequel book delving into his history is something I'd really love to explore.
>>77558808
>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616554975
link saved for christmastime, anon
>>77559064
reminds me of an announcement that would be made on wallE
>>77570984
Nice, how large is the factory anyway and if it isn't too far into spoiler territory; what is the surrounding area like, is it like a self contained factory town?
Also what is in the vending machines that somehow manages to sustain a growing child and not rot their teeth out?
>>77571308
>how large is the factory anyway
It's pretty big. I've always considered The Factory to be one of these large factories that produces nearly every product imaginable.
>>and if it isn't too far into spoiler territory; what is the surrounding area like, is it like a self contained factory town?
There is a town of sorts that lives in The Factory's shadow but I can't get into it too much without spoilers. I can say this, this book was coded on cool colors to convey a cold feel. The next book will be coded in warmer tones (oranges, browns, drab olive green, etc).
>what is in the vending machines that somehow manages to sustain a growing child and not rot their teeth out?
There are some healthy options available. But mostly, the vending machines are full of junk food. That's sort of every kid's fantasy isn't it? To run around free and eat whatever garbage candy and snacks are available.
>>77558808
awesome
>>77570713
when writing comics, you use Final Draft or Word?
any tips for writing a comic book script?
>>77571590
I use Open Office (which is Word adjace) because I am a cheapskate and won't buy for OSX. I hand format all my scripts as I go because I don't like setting up templates and it gives me the opportunity to go back over the script and find typos or mistakes as I do a formatting pass.
>any tips for writing a comic book script?
A script is basically a letter from you to the artist. Tell them an engaging story while making sure you point out the things you need on the page. It's fine line between telling a story and dictating one to an artist, I think telling an artist a story allows them to be more involved in what's being put on a page.
Make sure that you cut your dialogue and captions down the bare minimum of what you need to tell the story. Writer's tend to overwrite. I cut about 50% - 60% of dialogue and captions from the early drafts of the first chapter of Veda: Assembly Required -- which shows you how much I overwrote.
And understand overwriting isn't a bad thing. It just means that you are too enthusiastic.
>>77571683
thank you for that
I agree about the dialogue and that's why I think I enjoyed your book so much. having symbols in some panels was a neat touch and refreshing to read. the whole thing had a good pace to it and was your hints of narration hit all the right beats and never became overbearing like some of the comic books today which are a sea of caption at times lol
>And understand overwriting isn't a bad thing. It just means that you are too enthusiastic.
loved this sentiment. my screenwriting professor always said overwrite on the first draft because you want to lay it all out there and then take away and shift things around in the rewrites
thank you for the hard work in crafting this story. big fan now I'll be recommending this to everyone (cue the Gary Oldman line) it's a good read for any age and of any interests even if they never read a comic
>>77571683
>Open Office
A man after my heart.
Regarding the corporation, how much of a role would it play as the story progresses? I love the vibe of an omnipresent yet varyingly competent super corporation.
Will Nask come back?I have a soft spot for bungling oafs, don't judge me
>>77571982
>having symbols in some panels was a neat touch and refreshing to read.
I want to expound on this for a moment. The symbols (I call them machine-speak but reviewers seem to refer to them as emojis) were something that came to us early on. Hyeondo has/is currently working on a webcomic called Sam & Lilah http://activatecomix.com/42.comic and it was something he did in that strip. I would be completely up my own ass, if I didn't credit Hyeondo for sowing that seed in my mind in the first place.
I really wanted to make sure that if I was going to do a comic, that it it was something that used the medium to it's advantage. I also knew I didn't want the machines to be humanoid robots with facial expressions, because frankly we've seen enough of that. So the visual nature of the machine's dialogue evolved from those two things.
(And in case y'all are wondering why I'm willing to go on and on like this, it's because no one will interview me about the book. Believe me, I've asked.)
> big fan now I'll be recommending this to everyone (cue the Gary Oldman line) it's a good read for any age and of any interests even if they never read a comic
Thank you. It's much appreciated!
>>77572029
>Regarding the corporation, how much of a role would it play as the story progresses?
The Factory will still play a large role in future books but we're not going to like, meet upper management or anything like that. At best, we might see the factory manager.
But the second book would be very much about the oppressive nature of the factory and the worker's discomfort with being under that sort of repressive thumb.
>Will Nask come back?
I want to bring him back. I also have a soft spot for oafishness. And all of that oafishness? That's all Hyeondo's doing.
>>77558623
>>77559489
This is what this page looks like with just the inks. It's one of my favorite pages in the entire book. I've expressed a desire in the past to make a print of it...I think if I want to do that, it's going to come out of my pocket.
>>77572099
>because no one will interview me about the book
;_; Shit taste, the lot.
This is a stupid question but the assembly robots communicate through gesture while Veda does the dial up thing, right?
Thanks for the recommendation on Sam & Lilah by the way, it's fun spotting pictogram commonality between them. There's something oddly satisfying in them, feels like a solid click everytime I pass by them.
>>77572099
How many robots have the heart chip and is it related to adherence to the Laws?
Unrelated but will the gremlin scales keep advancing or did it stop when she decided to reject gremlin things? How much of a role will magic or things like it play into the story in the future? The storybook feeling is nice.
>>77559721
PATCHES TOO. They already sell poop patches but I'd love a... whatever company that is patch.It looks a lot like Weyland Yutani is it derivative of it?
>>77572588
>>because no one will interview me about the book
>;_; Shit taste, the lot.
It's more that there are a million books coming out every week and if you have to prioritize interviews, you are going to go with Skottie Young (or someone else well-known) rather than someone that no one has ever heard of and a book that no one has heard of.
>This is a stupid question but the assembly robots communicate through gesture while Veda does the dial up thing, right?
In my personal headcannon, the machines make noises but the reader sees those noises as symbols. But I think it's open to interpretation.
Here's the thing I've learned since the book has come out -- my intent doesn't actually matter. Readers bring their own intent to the book and it's fascinating to see how folks will ascribe their intent to me.
>How many robots have the heart chip and is it related to adherence to the Laws?
All of the machines have the heart-shaped gear and adhere to the 3 Laws (except Weld). It's just the rest of the machines are dicks and Assembly isn't -- that's the only thing special about Assembly, he's not a jerk.
>Unrelated but will the gremlin scales keep advancing or did it stop when she decided to reject gremlin things?
The gremlin scales have NOT stopped progressing and it's something to be dealt with in a future book.
>How much of a role will magic or things like it play into the story in the future?
I've always thought of the series as a science fiction/fantasy story. But as for out and out magic, we won't see like wizards and whatnot or other people with the same abilities that Veda has but I think that takes away from Veda's uniqueness.
>>77572826
Actually, I just got off the phone with the company hat makes the pins. I'm looking at making two, one is the poop word balloon and the other is the factory logo.
>It looks a lot like Weyland Yutani is it derivative of it?
I don't think it's a derivative of the Weyland-Yutani logo, or at least not intentionally so. I believe that Hyeondo's original intent was to make something similar to the LG logo.
I'll keep patches in mind. The idea with the pins is to make something that kids would also like to have. Otherwise, I'd just make t-shirts and coffee mugs and things like that.
>>77572417
wow the inking is on point looks gorgeous
>>77572949
>All of the machines have the heart-shaped gear and adhere to the 3 Laws (except Weld)
I forgot to ask but what made Weld special in it's ability to disregard the laws? Is it possible for other machines to disregard them?
>>77559865
>Thanks Dan for the reading, is good see others indie histories and graphic novels and not only Megacorporatives media cape comics of always
>>77572417
You should publish a version only in black and white, or at least a version where you include the best parts that do not require the use of color to highlight
>>77573074
>I forgot to ask but what made Weld special in it's ability to disregard the laws?
Other than the fact that he's the oldest machine in the factory. There was nothing special about Weld. He's just one of those types that believes that he enforces rules but that they don't apply to him.
>Is it possible for other machines to disregard them?
Yes, all of the machines can disregard TheThree Laws but doing that puts them in The Gremlin's sights. And if you are a machine, that's not really someplace you want to be. Better to keep you head down and stay assembled.
>>77573144
>You should publish a version only in black and white
I'd love to see an b/w oversized Artist's Edition of the book, I think Hyeondo's art absolutely deserves it, but I think that format reserved for books that sell well.
>>77573152
Ah, got it. So now he's gone should the workers be worried? Or would they not remember anything after Veda reassembles them and assume he still lurks?
>>77573209
Answering that would spoil what I have planned for the next book, I'm afraid.
>>77573233
Understand, so are new gremlins formed by turning people or are gremlin/people things diffrent?
I am going to bail for a couple of hours to take my dogs to the park and get some lunch in me. If this thread is still around, I’ll check back in. Otherwise, it was lovely chatting with you folks. You can find me on Twitter @samuelteer or at my website crapcatch.com
I’ll leave you with this reminder:
If you enjoyed the book, please consider purchasing it. Neither myself, Hyeondo, nor colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick are making anything off sales until Dark Horse makes back what it spent on production and printing. But actual sales are the only way Dark Horse will approve another Veda book.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1616554975/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/veda-samuel-teer/1119947545
You can purchase it on comixology or via the Dark Horse Comics app, if you want a digital version or from your local comic shop.
>>77573433
>so are new gremlins formed by turning people
Yes.
>are gremlin/people things diffrent?
To answer that would spoil The Gremlin's backstory.
>>77573504
Thanks for answering questions, already bought a book and may buy another copy to donate to the library. Look forward to more.
>>77573152
Will we see Weld again? I know he's all dismantled in shit but his gear thing is still in the gremlin right? Do I see a team up happening here?
>>77576698
>Will we see Weld again?
There are no plans. I'm of the mind that since we brought back Assembly at the end of the book, both Weld and 0439 need to remain dismantled. If the machines are always able to come back, it lessens the impact the dismantling them.
>>77558808
You've got my money once Christmas comes!
Oh man this is still up, very cool.
>>77577475
Didn't most of the machines get disassembled though? I figured, ok, that's fine, she'll just put them back together again, but if she can't, then shouldn't she be a bit more upset about the horrible massacre?
comic thread
>>77580906
I think he means in a way that takes away their heart gears, they're still there in the piles and piles of parts so it'll just be a matter of reassembling them.
>>77582564
What the hell are you doing?
>>77580535
It is good, yah?
>>77571683
>Open Office
DancingRMS.gif
