Simon B.: Now here’s some facial expression practice sketches for… someone who seems oddly familiar. I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before…
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Archive for Gallery
10 results.
Simon B.: Meet Koji!
Koji is a stout, energetic tiger boy that goes to Bamboo Grove High School. While strong and athletic, he’s also a bit on the short and stout side which gives him a bit of an inferiority complex because of his family. His dad is a pro-Cuju player that spends most of his time travelling to other provinces competing. His older brother is also an athlete that’s going to be competing in the Sheng Xiao Power Competition that works kind of like the nation’s Olympics. They’re rather tall as opposed to Koji, which is why Koji works extra hard at his exercises and sports training to be able to keep up with them.
But as far as anyone else is concerned, only he thinks that he needs to work harder. He led the High School’s Cuju team to become Province champions last year, has won several medals and trophies in sports ever since he was a cub, and is quite strong and fast as he is.
His good friend Hanuma has known him for many years and the two grew up together in Bamboo Grove. Hanuma is always trying to get Koji to slow down and relax since Koji is constantly moving from one thing to another at near lightning speed. And unlike Hanuma, Koji is more focused on sports than he is on girls. That’s not to say that Koji isn’t completely disinterested in girls altogether; there is a girl that he likes. However, he believes that he’s got too much to do in his sports life to take time to go on dates or put in a lot of effort to get a girl’s attention.
What he doesn’t know is that the girl that likes him is not the girl that he has a crush on, but someone else completely.
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Simon B.: Meet Hanuma the monkey, and Chubi the mouse!
Hanuma is an easy-going, laid back, care-free aspiring monk. His parents run a temple dedicated to the Gods of the world, and Hanuma has picked up a few things from his devout parents. Although he has picked up a number of other things as well, namely an eye for the ladies.
While Hanuma may be a monk in training, he is a very lecherous monk in training. He has been known to hit on just about all the girls that go to school, and is rumored to have been rejected and shut down about 1,000 times if not more. Still, he is very calm, care-free, and takes things as they come.
Currently he has his eyes set on fellow monkey-girl, Nana, who is also Mui’s best friend. Nana, however, has absolutely no interest in him, and tries to keep him as far away from her as possible. Even so, Hanuma has yet to give on his pursuit of Nana (even though Nana’s father has made quite sure that Hanuma never gets close to her… ever!)
Despite Hanuma’s lecherous habits, he’s not that bad a guy, and does look out for people other than himself. He’s good friends with a tiger named Koji who tends to get worked up and stressed out every now and then. When that happens, Hanuma is usually there to offer some kind words to help Koji settle down.
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Chubi the mouse is an unfortunate soul at Bamboo Grove High School. Standing at around 4′ 4″ tall, Chubi is the smallest student at Bamboo Grove High. Furthermore, his short stature has made him a frequent target of the school bullies Buton and Kuton. They pick on him and have stolen his lunch money on an almost daily basis.
Due to the constant bullying that Chubi endures, Chubi has become very good at finding hiding spots, secret shortcuts, and various means to avoid being seen. His family runs a herbal foods and ingredients shop in town, which Mui’s mother visits regularly to pick up fresh grains, herbs, vegetables, and fruits for her cooking. However, his family’s real specialty is something much different that most people in the community aren’t aware of, but that’s another story…
Chubi is also a member of the school’s “Shuihu Zhuan” club. “Shuihu Zhuan” is a turn-based strategy board game that many of the “Nerdier” students in the school play. It can be played by 2 to 13 players, with each player controlling one of the many armies from the historical “Sheng Xiao War of 3,000 A.J.”. Since the roots of the game are based on historical events, the “Shuihu Zhuan” club is supervised by school history teacher: Mr. Ayes. (More on the game and Mr. Ayes later)
While Chubi’s main focus in school is keeping as far away from bullies as possible, he has unknowingly got the attention of one of the girls in school, but is completely unaware of it.
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Simon B.: Meet Sagegami!
Sagegami is a good friend of Bella’s and another student of Bamboo Grove High School that’s in the same class as Mui.
Sagegami is a pony girl whose trademark is her ponytail (although she does let her hair down when she’s at home). Sagegami enjoys shopping and fashion, and knows exactly how to find the right outfit and the right look for the right occassion. She hopes to some day become a veterinarian as her career choice due to her love for animals. However, her love for something else will likely lead her to change her career. She is good friends with Bella, even if the two seem like total opposites, but they get along well and compliment each other nicely (even if Bella is adamant to not let Sagegami give her a makeover).
While Sagegami is quite popular and well loved at the school, she still can’t seem to shake Hibiki from her throne as Queen of Bamboo Grove High. Sagegami has tried on more than a few occassions to topple the haughty Hibiki, but to no such luck. Sagegami suspects this might be because Hibiki’s family is rather well off. Sagegami’s family runs the clinic in town and both of her parents are respected doctors in the city, but even so, they still don’t make nearly enough as Hibiki’s family does.
Sagegami doesn’t care too much for Mui, but it’s very likely she may find a use for Mui if it means she can get at Hibiki and chip away at her popularity. But when Mui discovers something about Sagegami that no one else at school knows, it could change Sagegami’s life forever.
P.S. Sagegami’s look actually is based on her original appearance as a background character back in the old comic on Page 5. You can find it on Dew’s art pages, so check them out! Links for the authors will be coming soon!
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Simon B.: Meet Bella!
Bella is a student that goes to Bamboo Grove High School along with Mui and Hibiki. While a cow girl like Mui, Bella’s personality is quite different. She’s an avid reader whose parents run the town bookstore / library. She’s friends with another student named Sagegami, but seems to almost always have a book in front of her at all times. If not, odds are likely she is carrying the book she is currently reading somewhere on her.
While shy and not terribly outgoing, Bella is still very interested in the world beyond Bamboo Grove, and has an encyclopedia of knowledge inside her head. She also has a crush on a boy in school, but only Sagegami knows who it is, and even then, can’t understand why him of all people.
Bella is going to be one of the 16 students in Mui’s class (And that’s 16 counting Mui) She’ll also have a very important role in the story later down the road, so keep your eyes peeled for her.
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Simon B.: Dew and I are VERY sorry for the lack of comic updates. We’ve got a page in progress right now, but it’s taking longer than expected to finish due to various roadblocks. It’s got a lot of new characters that didn’t have their designs finalized before going into the new page, new sets that we hadn’t flushed out or blueprinted, and required more practice and attention that originally expected.
The sketching for the page is finished, and it should be ready to go by this Saturday. However, after it goes up, we’re taking a week-long break to work on finalizing character designs, location layouts and sets, and scripts for the next 10-20 pages or so. This should allow us to get a proper head start so we can eventually go into two pages a week like we want to. However, there’s still lots of work to do, and that’s why we’re taking the week off and giving you bonus material as a way to say thanks for all your patience.
Each day, we’ll be posting behind the scenes sketches and references for characters you have seen, as well as characters you may not have seen. This will give you a glimpse on who you can expect to appear in upcoming pages. I know it may not be moving the story forward, but these sketches will also be moved to the gallery too once they’re added!
Again, Dew and I both are very sorry for the delay, and hope to make it up to you as best as we can.
Thank you again for reading, and we’ll be getting the new pages up as soon as we can! 🙂
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Simon B.: MUI! Mui I know you’re celebrating the Chinese New Year’s but we got a comic story line to continue! Get down here!
*Sigh* It looks like Mui is a bit busy having too much fun celebrating the Year of the Water Dragon here in 2o12. So it looks like we’re going to have to delay the progressing story just a tad. But that’s alright since now we can initiate:
“OPERATION: TWO COMICS A WEEK!”
Dew and I are going to use this opportunity to try and get a leg up on the comic’s story progression and see if we can’t get a buffer going. That way, we won’t be late on future comics, and if we hit any roadblocks, then we won’t be too waylaid.
So come back this Saturday to see Page 13 which will continue the story, and then visit again on Wednesday for Page 14! Dew and I are gonna work hard to meet these goals, and I got to admit, it has been a bit tricky.
We’re adding new characters, new subplots, and new elements in the next few pages, some for characters that haven’t appeared in ANY of Dew’s posted artwork before! So you’ll see some new faces, some familiar looking ones, and some who’ve been updated a bit.
See you guys on Wednesday, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Dew: Umm, Simon, the Chinese New Year was last Monday on the 23rd.
Simon B.: …YOU MEAN SHE’S BEEN UP THERE FOR TWO DAYS STRAIGHT?!
MUI! MUI, I WILL COME UP THERE AND GET YOU MYSELF IF I HAVE TO! DON’T MAKE ME DO IT!!!
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Simon B.: “I made it! I survived another Christmas!”
Dew: “Me too! Who knew making Christmas happen would be so much work?!”
Simon B.: “Tell me about it! I just hope we didn’t forget anything…”
Dew: “You mean like the Christmas comic for this week?”
Simon B.: “Yeah, like the Christmas co… WE DON’T HAVE A CHRISTMAS COMIC FOR THIS WEEK?!”
Dew: “Eh heh heh… well, there’s my little Christmas pic on my art pages with Mui and her friend.”
Simon B.: “Yes, but it’s not really finished and we need something special! Something to thank the fans for sticking with us through the holiday season!”
Dew: “Like a New Year’s pic?”
Simon B.: “That’s a GREAT idea! What year is it next year?”
Dew: “Year of the Dragon. And actually, I think I have an idea of what to draw…”
Simon B.: “Make it so! We don’t have much time! I’m sure whatever you come up with will be clever and special!”
*Later, after seeing the art*
Simon B.: “…I see what you did there and I approve.”
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December 6th, 2011
Simon B.: “Hey Dew! Got the new comic page ready for today?”
Dew: “Oof… I’m sorry. I didn’t finish it in time.”
Simon B.: “You didn’t?! What happened? Is everything okay?”
Dew: “Well… I’ve been trying to tone myself up a bit, and my brother suggested doing arm curls.”
Simon B.: “Yuh huh.”
Dew: “Now my arms are so soring that I just couldn’t finish the page! I’m sorry!”
Simon B.: “Oh man! I’m sorry your arms hurt so much. Think you’ll feel better soon?”
Dew: “I think so. I’m hoping they’ll feel better soon enough so I can get the page finished for this Friday or Saturday.”
Simon B.: “Okay, but we need to give our readers something special to make up for it so we don’t lose them. Maybe a four-panel funny comic?”
Dew: “That sounds pretty good.”
Simon B.: “I’ll get writing on it right away! You rest those arms and try not to over-exert yourself next time!”
*Looks at everyone*
Simon B.: “Hey, sorry folks. Looks like we’re gonna be just a little bit delayed this week, but don’t worry. Things will be back to ship shape soon. Come back again soon for the REAL new update!”
*begins to walk away and then stops*
Simon B.: “Wait… “Soring” isn’t a word…”
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Simon B.: Welcome to “Year of the Cow”! I’m Simon Byrne, and I’m the writer who will be most likely doing the bulk of these comment boxes because… well… I’m the writer!
Right now we’re still getting the feel for all of this since this is my and Dew’s first webcomic in the history of ever. So relax, sit back, and enjoy the show!
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