"Logue's Patrol" by Josh Flanagan and Kalle Malloy
Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 2:15PM Here's the story some of you have been waiting for. This is a short spec story written by me, and drawn by Kalle Malloy, an artist, and now a friend, with whom I'll be doing more comic work in the future.
This is a spec story, which is a fancy way of saying "fan fiction" I guess, to see if Kalle and I could work together, and I think we can. It would be a while before Marvel offers me a chance to really write Captain America, or any superhero work for that matter, so I wanted to see if I could do it. Could I write a superhero? Could I write action sequences? Could I work out an ending? This is the product of those thoughts. This will never be published, since it uses Marvel characters, but it was a great exercise, and there are some bits in here I'm very proud of. This will be the last time I do work like this that I can't actually get published.
What do you need to know to get started? Well, the first page takes place shortly after Captain America's death, Bucky is Steve Rogers' (Captain America) partner from World War 2. Clint Barton is Hawkeye, Cap's close friend for years in the Avengers. That's about all you need.
I hope you like it, and please feel free to offer your thoughts and criticisms. I do this to get better, not get compliments. Also, I hope you enjoy it!
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Reader Comments (33)
I like this a lot. You have a pretty unique take on that whole era and superheroes' place in it. The art felt a little indie for a superhero book, but I guess if Jamie McKelvie can do Cable, who am I to complain?
Great work, Josh. When will we see Flanagan & Malloy under the Marvel logo?
That was awesome, Josh. I loved the style of the art and that was a really great story. It's a shame this one can't be published because it's great side-story to the death of Captain America arc. I'd buy it :). Good job, man! Hope we can see more of your stuff!
I really liked it, there were only a couple things that stuck out to me could use improvement in my opinion. 1) In page 5, panel 3 it was too wordy and the 4th caption box I had to read it a couple times to understand it. 2) This is just an aesthetic thing but in the Command Post box you could add the name of an editor to give it that marvel feel. I don't know if that's something you'd want to go with in this, it could off set the tone but it's something to think about.
Also on page 5, the last panel is fantastic.
Over-all you really grab the voices of Cap and Bucky well and you really tapped into that time period. Also you brought in a perspective I never thought about with the Superhero’s in WWII, that right there could be a spin off.
Thanks Dan!
Pages 3 and 4 are indeed very wordy. You should have seen the original draft! I tried to make up for it later by having more action-y pages, such as page 5 (the Gibbons page).
I think I'm gonna get to work on a superheroes in WW2 (non-marvel) proposal. Could be pretty cool!
@Vincent - No, it's not typical Marvel art style, and I like that. It's like Darwyn Cooke couldn't get work at the majors for years, but now things are more open to interpretation. Wait till you see what Kalle is drawing next.
Very cool stuff! I like the bit about the army not knowing what to do with the early costumed heroes. The only crit I can think of off the top of my head is Page 5 Panel 3 is a bit of a weight. With all that text in one panel and on an image that isn't particularly striking, some readers may feel compelled to jump to the next panel right around the third caption box. I couldn't say what a more successful execution would be, but thought I would offer up the crit.
dude, you rock.
Josh,
Very well done, buddy! Pass my compliments along to the artist.
Keith
Great war comic! Good to see the critic can write ;) The only change that I thing would be awesome is if Logue had a cigarette in the end. He doesn't seem like the type to quit anything. It would add a little character there.
Great job man, how did you do the lettering? it's awesome :)
Lettering was all done in Illustrator, the most awful program ever. Well, it's not awful, but it takes a while to master, or even understand. The good part about me doing the lettering is that I can edit, add, and subtract as I go, and control all the dialog pacing exactly as I like it.
I've still got a ways to go though, and couldn't do some of the things I'd have liked with lettering.
Also, whoever wrote this put in way too many words, and that is a pain to letter! ;-)
nice job Josh....serious, nice job
Josh, very well done! I can honestly say that I could dig you on Captain America as a writer :) This seemed more professionally done that a lot of the books I read week to week, no word of a lie. It's clear you put a lot into this, and it shows.
I agree that some pages were very wordy, but hey, we've all read Bendis books and look how much work that guy gets :) Not saying he doesn't deserve, the work of course.
Kalle, awesome job with the art, too. Seems to compliment Josh's writing very well.
This is good i really enjoyed the story and the art as well the two of make a good team
will you ever repost that "Flight of Albert" script? and did you ever find an artist for that?
Just one critique: the word is "sergeant."
Otherwise, I enjoyed it!
Alright, "sergeant." I'll fix that. Damn your eagle eyes!
No one actually drew that whole "Flight of Albert" script. I got some roughs, but I think they were posted in the original thread on the Rev3 forums. I don't think the script is actually there anymore, but there are still some pages up there. No one actually finished it. THAT is the hardest part of getting started doing comics. It's really hard to get people to follow through. For that, if nothing else, Kalle should be commended.
That was a nice piece of work you guys. Nicely paced, nicely drawn. Excelent job gents.
I hope mine'll turn out this good (when I can get off my ass).
This is great, Josh. I loved the early pages and I'm glad you've posted the whole thing. Should have known Clint would wind up being in it!
Congratulations, Josh, on getting it done! Not bad for a first time letterer, either. The most important thing you'll learn as a letterer is that artists are selfish people who never leave enough room at the tops of panels for you. ;-)
That said, Kalle did a great job in leaving room for the lettering here.
Kalle was a smart guy, and without prompting, did all the layouts with temp lettering. That's love right there.
Thanks Augie!
This came out really *really* great. Congrats Josh and Kalle!
Tight effort, Josh. Other than Vito's spelling catch, I liked the script -- the sentimentality was in the right place, the beginning and the end. However, I would've loved to see more dynamic panel layouts from Kalle, rather than some of the static side two-shots he used to illustrate people talking. I have to say, his figures are not what I would have expected to work in a WWII story, but his work just looks so smooth.
I'd love to see this duo a take on a story from the villain's POV. Preferable A.I.M. agents, dudes.
Great work, both of you.
You guys are totally on my pull list when you start publishing. Great work. Loved seeing a different take on superheroes in the war.
Thanks for all the kind words everybody. Josh kicked some serious butt on the story and the lettering. He had the hard part.