The Concrete World

Wow! It has been a journey. Life, like the story in this webcomic has its ups and downs, left and rights, adventures and dramas… We’ve been offline for WAY TOO LONG. But I am happy to announce we are back as of this month.

You’ll notice some changes at THE CONCRETE WORLD. As of our return from hiatus you’ll see some new faces behind the art.

I’ve been joined by the very talented James Emmett for illustration. I feel like him and I have the comic book version of the band Postal Service going. He works out of NYC and I work out of LA. We’ve never met in the physical world just the cyber world. Perfect for a title like this, yes? James pencils and inks from the east coast and sends the files to… Joe Mac AKA Jose Macasocol Jr Timmar Jones.

Joe and Timmar have come on-board to color for THE CONCRETE WORLD. They work out of Los Angeles like myself. You may recognize Joe’s name from many a Tokyopop and many a Manga title here in the US. Timmar is an up-and-coming artist, illustrator and colorist. You may also find him where electronic music is beating loud and hard.

Behind the scenes, stitching this all together for the web you’ll still find Greg Hignight. Yes, we are of the same brood.

Super excited to be back with Paulie and Felix… We’re entering the final four chapters of this epic, tech laced noir. So glad to have all the readers we have, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH for keeping on our ass during the hiatus requesting we get back to work get more pages out and finish this story which is near and dear to me.

We have some super exciting guest art coming in the blog this year and you can look forward to regular page updates until this story completes itself.

Now… if only I can promise our characters will make it to the end and find what they are looking for in THE CONCRETE WORLD.

KICK ON YOUR DREAMtech and let’s SOAK IN!!

-Gavin Hignight
Creator and Writer, The Concrete World

Made a quick stop last night at QPOP in Little Tokyo for their fantastic Star Trek Art Show! What I liked best about the show was that it used characters from all eras of the Trek universe, and much of it were art styles I’ve never seen associated with Trek. It felt like a new generation… or next generation if you will paying tribute. I’ll let the pictures tell you the rest-

Enterprise in a bottle

Mugato

One of my favorite Starfleet Crew Members

OG tech!

Next Gen tech!

Tasha!

My FAVORITE piece in the show!!

They came from all over the galaxy

Classic Crew Coolness!

Spock Awesomeness!!

More Spock Awesomeness!

Busy night at QPOP!

an ode to Odo!

Sad news today. The creator of one of my favorite and most influential Sci Fi TV series SPACE 1999 has passed away. Mr. Anderson was 83 years old.

Known better to fans worldwide as the creator of Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson entertained and inspired generations of children with his signature puppet “Supermarionation” series.

For me, the series he made that had a major impact was Space 1999. It was a very important program in the evolution of the tastes and sensibilities of both my brother and myself. Just seeing images of an Eagle space transport makes me happy inside. His series fills me with inspiration and admiration.

With other series I’ve yet to see like UFO I’m glad to say I can continue to enjoy Mr. Anderson’s legacy.

RIP Gerry Anderson

Gerry Anderson and Moonbase Alpha Crew

An Eagle 1 Transport

Interior of an Eagle

Tony and Alan in Season 2 Control Room

The awesome spacesuits from the series

And who could forget Thunderbirds?! They are GO!

It’s an interesting thing Science Fiction. The bonds that are exist between creator and fan can be so intense and so heartfelt. Science Fiction and fantasy package human storytelling in a way that even the most fragile or sensitive persons can enjoy it, be enlightened by it, entertained and inspired. I believe that’s why when a creator passes that we respect and admire we are so moved. As fans we are thankful for that trip they provide us, that temporary escape from reality. You can’t help but be thankful to creators like Gerry Anderson (or Gene Roddenberry). You can’t help but marvel… This was an idea in their head, a fictional world that I can escape to… and they had the vision, luck and willpower to get it made into something in this world… and the result, I get an escape. I get a journey, a place where the things that are affecting me in my life don’t have to affect me.

The Guardian Article on Gerry Anderson

A previous post I wrote on the TOYS of SPACE 1999

Everyone who reads this blog knows I’m a sucker for TRON. I’m also a sucker for cyberpunk. But seriously… the folks behind Tron: Uprising have totally made something special. I haven’t enjoyed an American cartoon (that I didn’t work on) this much since Batman: The Animated Series. I am totally a fan of this show and look forward to more episodes.

Interestingly enough I’ve been watching it via iTunes. Yep, no cable for this guy. So glad I still have a way to see it. The $2.99 per episode I’ve been paying feels well worth it.

Now… where are the freaking toys?! I want action figures of all these great characters!

I enjoyed Tron: Legacy. I know others didn’t. I think this cartoon delivers what that audience may have been missing. Namely… TRON. It’s so fun to see Tron kicking ass and hear Bruce Boxleitner interacting with the other characters in this series. I’ll be curious to see how it all comes together.

Do yourself a favor and check it out. Bruce Boxleitner, Elijah Wood, Paul Reubens, Lance Henriksen doing voices… need I say more?

Gavin Hignight, creator and writer of The Concrete World has a new novel! THE FREAK TABLE is now available in stores. The book is available for most eReaders like Kindle, Nook, iPad, SonyReader as well as others! A print version is available at Amazon.com and at Indie bookstores, and a limited edition signed/stamped/numbered version is available from my website.

++++++++++++

The fiction coming-of-age novel is based on many real experiences I had growing up in the post-punk, pre-alternative, skateboard scene in Denver in the late 80s and early 90s.

+++++++++++

For many who were there, it is a time that has not been documented. A story of an entire counterculture that has not been told. I wrote it for everyone who was there. But I also wrote it for those who want to be transported into a world and underground culture they may have never known existed.

Official Website
Print Edition
Kindle

What can I say? Somehow I survived another one. Comic-Con is a monster. It is a love/hate experience. I go for both work and play, and both are pretty hard. You work hard down there, in my case I worked hard the two months leading up to it, so by the time I even got there I was exhausted. It’s hard work planning anything that your company will do there because the competition is TOUGH. This year we did it. We had a hit down there and I was pleased.

(Godzilla doing what I often felt like doing)

Now playing hard… that happens too. Anything you want to do has a line. Anything you want to buy has a line. Any biological function your body has, you probably have to wait in a line to get it done. It is a test of nerd stamina.

San Diego Comic-Con is brutal. And yet we keep coming back. We keep doing it, even after we say we won’t.

We work hard there, we play hard, we punish our bodies with little food, sleep, rest… all in the name of the pop culture arts we love. We suffer for our love of art down at San Diego Comic-Con.

Having gone for years and most importantly having worked down there as much as I have, I’ve become very selective of what makes a picture. Most cosplay’s, costumes, booths, promotions don’t catch my attention any more. Only the best of the best will motivate me to pull out the camera and ask someone to say cheese.

That being said, here are my favorite things of SDCC 2012.

My favorite encounter on the streets of the Gas Lamp District… Casey Jones

My favorite boothbabe, Kali Chung for The Walking Dead. The COMIC BOOK Walking Dead, yeah folks, it’s a comic book.

My favorite booth decoration… The Lego Hulk!

My favorite street promotion… Red Ranger Graffiti Style Anniversary Mural! Go Go Power Rangers!

My favorite promotion in the convention center… The new Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!! The panel was GREAT too!

My favorite costume… this guy who TOTALLY looked like Tom Baker Doctor Who. He was the 4th Doctor!

My favorite party… Con of the Dead!!! DJ Amanda Jones, over 300 zombies, monsters jumping out at people, and some of my most favorite people from the industry all crammed into one drunken dance party.

So that’s it folks, my humble recap of the 2012 Comic-Con. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m recovering.

New Pages for The Concrete World are being created now!! We’ll be back online soon, can’t wait to Soak In with you.

Hey True Believers! (okay, okay I borrowed that catchphrase) just a heads up that for the next couple months the episode I wrote “Rage of the Hulk” for Iron Man: Armored Adventures is streaming for free on Nicktoons!

If you like Iron Man and you like The Hulk… and I know you do, I think you’ll enjoy it.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

While on my way to dinner last weekend in theJapanese area of west Los Angeles on Sawtelle I had the good fortune to come across a Giant Robot opening for Game Over. Art inspired by video games. It was a fun and crowded little show. My favorite piece from the evening being Parappa the Rapper!

Here are images of other art in the show. If you’re around in the next week or so, get down there and check this show out! GAME OVER

John Carter.

I really enjoyed this movie. Sadly I think it suffered from Waterworld syndrome. This is a condition where tech savvy troll-like nerds get so caught up bashing something before they can see it, that word of mouth kills the momentum of what could be a successful film.

Of course even more to blame than the fanboy backlash is whoever was hired to market the film to North America. A terrible ad campaign. Poster, TV Spots, Movie trailers that didn’t do the film justice. Especially the outdoor campaign. Despite the poor marketing I went to see it (I was craving some classic sci fi and have had my fill of star wars pop culture).
I was pleasantly surprised. I hope this film gets the audience it deserves once it hits home video.

Now there were some amazing pieces of art made to promote the movie. We didn’t get to see any of it here in the states, but here is a peek.

(above is a gorgeous classic Sci Fi poster that never saw the light of day.)

Here is an amazing Russian Theatrical Poster for the film. (I may have to start collecting Russian movie posters)

To our awesome readers:
I am proud to say we’ve kept The Concrete World live on the net for over two years with virtually no interruption in updates. That’s 6 pages a month, 9 chapters, 144 pages of true cyberpunk. Our readership couldn’t be better right now… which pains me to bring the next bit of news.

We are going on a temporary hiatus for a period of time in 2012 while I focus on the release and promotion of two other projects. A film I wrote and directed called HEAVEN SENT is about to start making the film festival circuit and I will be traveling along with it, as much as possible.

In addition, and I am very EXCITED to announce, my novel THE FREAK TABLE will be released in a few more months. Since this is my first novel to be published and a project that is very near and dear to my heart I will be putting the majority of my time and creative focus promoting it.

Sorry to leave everyone on such a cliffhanger… But I assure you The Concrete World won’t be offline for long, and soon, just like Paule, Felix… and maybe Sera you’ll be soaking back in.

We’ll continue to update the blog for CW, and we have a couple of fun mini comics that will go live during our hiatus. Please stay tuned, and I hope you also take the time to check out The Freak Table.

Sincerely
Gavin Hignight