Updates!

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Mike Isenberg

Oliver and I have been pretty busy lately. Whenever we’ve got something to share with folks, it always feels like it’s quicker to throw it up on our Facebook page, rather than put together a blog update. Laziness on our part; not good! We’re going to try harder to keep this blog up-to-date and interesting. In the meantime, here’s a few things that should have been here a while ago:

Issue #3 cover, from the ever-talented Jamie Noguchi! The rest of the issue is almost done. I just need to finish the lettering.

Here’s a sneak peek at issue #4. These are Daniel’s pencils for page 1.

FUBAR: Empire of the Rising Dead made the New York Times Bestseller list! Oliver and I wrote two of the stories in this book, so I think that means we’re allowed to call ourselves “New York Times Bestselling writers” now. Seriously, though, congrats to everyone who worked on the book!

Here’s an email interview we gave just after Intervention Con in Maryland last year.

Here’s a new review of First Law, from a few weeks ago.

I think that’s it for now. As I said, we’re going to make an effort to be better about updating this blog in the future. Right now, though, I need to get back to work on lettering Issue #3!

Mad Science Round-Up!

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Mike Isenberg

When we started this blog it was about half First Law related posts, and half posts full of mad science, crazy robots, and random musings on how we’re all living in a science fiction novel but haven’t realized it yet. I guess we’ve had a lot more First Law news to report on lately, which is definitely a good thing, but I miss the mad science!

With that in mind, here’s a whole bunch of madness that’s been littering my desktop, crying out to be shared: Continue reading →

Status update, and more preview art

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

Hey guys. We’re at 77% on the grayscale pages. ”Late November” has come and gone, so we’re a wee bit behind schedule (mostly due to a miscommunication), but it shouldn’t make too much of a difference with the overall time-frame. Just six pages left, and Issue #1 will be ready to send to the printer! The status page has been updated to reflect the slight delay.

In the meantime, here’s another sample page of art to whet your appetite. This is page 19 of the first issue:

Sneak a peak at some art as we finish production on Issue #1

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

Has it really been a week since my last blog post? Sorry for the silence, folks. Things have been pretty quiet in terms of First Law related news, and I’d rather this blog wasn’t entirely me rambling on about cool internet links I stumble across.

As quiet as it’s been, things are moving forward, and I’ve been updating the status page as Jeff turns in grayscale pages. It’s so exciting when he does; not only do I get to see the awesome work he’s been doing, I also get to adjust that completion number near the bottom of the status page another notch closer to 100%. Right now we’re past the halfway mark for graytones, which means that production should be totally finished for issue one within the next two weeks! Woo-hoo!

Anyways, we’re excited, and we hope you don’t take our lack of blogging for a sign that we’re anything but pumped to get this book to you. In fact, to apologize for our dropping off the face of the internet this last week, here’s a sneak peak at one of the finished pages of art:

This will be page nine of the first issue, and features Emma being interviewed as we introduce the Antarctic excavation site. Anyone with the New York Comic Con edition may notice a slight change in one of the characters. To you folks: Shhh! Don’t tell anyone else; it’ll be our little secret!

Issue #1 Preview

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

Click on the cover image below to begin an 8-page preview of First Law Of Mad Science #1. Once in the preview, use the navigation links below the image, or click directly on the image, to proceed to the next page.

Help Us Get To First Place In The “Weekly Rumble!”

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

Pages 3 and 4 went up on WEvolt today with the new grayscaling.

Something about entering First Law in their “Weekly Rumble” has gotten me wicked competitive. I’m normally a very laid-back dude, but for some reason this week I feel like I’m out for blood.

By my count, we are currently in second place with 81 votes. First place has 203, but that isn’t actually an insurmountable lead. Since it counts the votes on your five highest-voted pages, we could catch up with just 25 more people “liking” our cover and pages 1-4.

If you haven’t already, please head over to WEvolt and hit the Facebook “LIKE” button at the bottom of each comic page. This isn’t the same as “liking” a Facebook page (though if you’d like to do that, our link is on the sidebar to the right), so your Facebook feed isn’t going to get flooded with a bunch of updates. It’ll just publish one line saying “so-and-so likes First Law Of Mad Science” on your wall for each click you make, which will eventually get pushed away by your normal Facebook activity.

Thanks very much to everyone who’s already clicked! Second place isn’t anything to sneeze at, considering we’re up against comics that already have a following right on WEvolt, and we really appreciate the support.

First place sure would be nice, though….

Graytoned Preview Pages Available At WEvolt!

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

At this point we’re happy to officially announce that illustrator Jeff McComsey will be adding his awesome digital gray-toning skills to the art for issue #1. We just got in the first batch of updated pages for the book, and man, they look great!

As part of our experimentation (hey, we are dedicated to Mad Science, after all) with multiple distribution channels (okay, maybe not that Mad… or Science-y), we’re going to be posting the updated preview pages over on webcomics portal WEvolt. All seven of the pages currently on the site here will be featured with the new gray-tones there, plus at least one more page of story, by the end of the week. If this experiment turns out to be a success, we may keep going and post the rest of issue #1 as Jeff turns in pages. (No promises, though!)

The pages on WEvolt are part of their “Weekly Rumble” competition, so if you like what you see, please hit the “like” button at the bottom of each page. Whichever comic collects the most “likes” by the end of the week receives a cash prize, which will help Oliver and me pay our hard-working artists and still be able to afford luxurious things like food and shelter. It’s also just a great publicity opportunity for us and we’d love your help spreading the word!

Grayscale Sneak Preview

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

Heading down the home stretch with production on Issue #1. Inking is now 81% finished, as Daniel wraps up the last few pages. And here’s a sneak preview of something else we’re working on adding to the mix: graytones! Details to come!

(Click for larger version)

EyeWriter – Cyberpunk Tech For Disabled Artists

Posted on October 12, 2010 by Mike Isenberg

New York Comic Con was pretty amazing. To all the new folks visiting this site after discovering us at the convention: welcome! If you picked up the comic, drop us a line (by leaving a comment below, or via email) and let us know what you thought! Or—if you didn’t get a copy of the NYCC edition this weekend—check out the preview pages and stay tuned to this blog: we’ll update with info on ordering issue #1 as soon as it’s finished.

We’ll also be posting our thoughts, photos, and videos from our experience at the convention, as soon as we’ve had a chance to decompress and sort through everything. In the meantime, check out this awesome bit of technology I found via Kickstarter. Old-school L.A. graffiti artist TEMPT1 suffers from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which has left him paralyzed. Now with the help of the EyeWriter system, he can paint by simply moving his eyes. (Video and thoughts under the jump.)

Continue reading →