Hitler and Grandfather English

I 'm working on a graphic novel about war and how it in all its forms effects a family over many generations.

My Grandfather English is part of this story. A mix of fiction and real life stories (As most of my writing is) this tale at it's midpoint is about two men in World War One.

Both my Grandfather and Hitler were Runners in the first world war.

My Grandfather loved the land and being a farmer was his only dream.

Hitler was a failed artist that twisted politics into his own brand of hell.

My Grandfather was the last man to return home from Germany to his home of Sweet Springs Missouri. He was the only veteran returning from that war that didn't have a band playing for him at the train station.

My Grandfather died in a little house in Kingsville Missouri in 1959. That day he relived every battle of World War One that he had been part of. My mother was alone with him when he took his final breath. I was the only other person in the house. I was a little boy learning to walk with a baby bottle in my mouth.

Hitler wanted the world but my Grandfather English had five grandchildren and seven Great Grandchildren in the web of human life. In the River of Time power is the cowards path.

Living for your family and the power of nature is always the better path.

All through the war my Grandfather carried a pistol but he never fired it. He never killed anyone in that war. When he was issued the gun by the the army he was to test fire it. For what ever reason he didn't get around to test firing the gun until the day he returned it to the army after the war was over.

The gun wouldn't fire. The gun was defective. Through seven battles of world war one my Grandfather English carried a gun that wouldn't fire.

500th Post

I wanted to have 12 pages started by this post but I ran out of time.
These pages were inspired by the blog Beyond Words.

The lady in the last page is Cynthia Loss my only time at love at first sight.

Personal photos sometimes make it into my collages.

The next step is over painting these backgrounds.

Bug Bar

This is the start of the first page of the Bug Bar scene of my very silly science fantasy graphic novel.

Starbirds and Friends

Rail Castle Post 7

In the back of the first chamber were hundreds of small booths that we were told to enter.

Inside the booth I entered, I found the death of my imagination.

I didn't care because I was happy.

I became a citizen of the Rail Castle in that booth.

Rail Castle Post Six

When we got to the Rail Castle we off loaded at a huge chamber. I was disappointed there was no outside to the Rail Castle. It was a series of chambers carved out of solid rock.

Rail Castle Post Five

The rumors were true, the Dragon Trains ran underground. The atomic-electric-steam hybrids leaned into the turns in a way that went against logic. Some kind of gyro was in the train but why?

Star Birds 8

Getting closer to a finished page. Need to tie together all the spacesuit elements and add stars.

Star Birds 7

Power tools and a battery cable have been added.

Star Birds 6

A golf club, heart valve and a vacuum sweeper have become part of the picture.

Rail Castle Post Four

After boarding the Dragon Train I looked out my cabin window to see a 1AW robot.
The slang for these mechanical creatures was 'One Arm Wonders" as these robots made the second age of steam possible. Without these robots labor costs would be too high to keep the trains running.

Star Birds 5

Fishing lures, jewelry, and the tops of perfume bottles are shaping out the space suits.
Chicken feathers, Humming bird feathers, two satellite photos and a false color biological slide make up the parrots head so far.

Star Birds 4

The head is taking shape and chrome elements are added to the space suit outlines.

Rail Castle Post Three

At 18 years of age I won the Rail Castle lottery and the best working class job you could get.
As I boarded the Dragon Train I saw it wasn't the train of my dreams but a old train with years of wear. A Chinese princess stood at the boarding gate and I was careful not to make eye contact with her. Her family owned the train line and had paid good money for her princess-hood.
One wrong look and I would never see the Rail Castle.

Star Birds 3

While I'm struggling to get the third post of Rail Castle done here's the progress of the Star Bird page.

Star Birds 2

Starting to add more elements to the picture and some yellow to the beak.

Rail Castle Post Two

As a teenager I would dream of the massive Dragon Train. I stood before it ready to go to the Rail Castle and start my new life. Somehow I would beat the odds of the over populated Earth and win the Rail Castle Lottery. Both my parents had died of black lung from our choking air.
I had no ties to this world. When I turned 18, I would win a job in the Rail Castle and spend the rest of my life there.

Rail Castle Post One

I was born in the second age of steam in the year 2058. In 2073 I saw my first illegal picture of of the interior of the Rail Castle. Only the rich could ride the Dragon Trains and none in my family had seen the Rail Castle with our own eyes.

Star Birds

I was working on a comic called Star Birds many years ago and I plan to recycle some of the art into my Sci -Fi graphic novel. As I rework this page I'll post the new versions of it in this blog.

gRAFFITI MANTIs and the search for a graphic novel

Here is the logo for my graphic novel company. I have hundreds of pages done but no finished story. I've tried to do a true story about my life, (Forklift Bully) but am still six pages from finishing it. Too many irons in the fire. I need to decide what I really want to do and focus on one thing. I'm going to finish a graphic novel by my 50 birthday, July 25th. I've got to push myself to do this. Cynthia is moving to South Dakota and I feel our friendship is coming to an end. We were working on a children's book and now I'll have to push on without her. The children's book and everything else will wait. I've got to get one graphic novel done!