After the previous post on Special Missions 8, I decided to do a little tribute to the book that started my comics obsession. Symbolic in a sense that despite delays, setbacks and sidetracks in my comics-making endeavours, the mission must go on!

Working directly over the art by Mike Zeck (pencils) and Bob McLeod (inks), I redrew the cover partly for fun and partly as a study of how Mike Zeck constructs his drawing. You can see the final printed cover in my previous post, but here’s Mike Zeck’s pencils:

Here’s my version, inking over the top of the original cover:

Plus the black and white art:

Digitally inking this in Procreate, I think my inks stayed pretty faithful to the original drawing. The main departure is obviously colour, halftones, and a custom title. I do love a limited colour palette, I find the restriction of using 3–4 colours freeing. It forces me into making quicker decisions rather than being held up by choosing the perfect colour. On the other hand though, I still don’t feel confident in using a broader colour range in my work yet. So a limited palette is my safe space right now.

What stands out the most for me in recreating this piece is how Zeck uses shapes to compose and frame his drawing. The use of triangles is prominent. There’s more to be found than what I’ve shown, but these are the foundational ones. Check it out:

Sure, my observation here is nothing groundbreaking. However, I love the way Zeck uses these shapes to place characters, compose the action and create clear definition between foreground, middle ground and background. The drawing also uses horizontal thirds, with the main action of the image sitting within a square area, leaving the top third for the masthead.

Mike Zeck’s run of covers on Special Missions for me, are classic. They have drama, intrigue and most of all, tell a story—something that seems to be somewhat of a lost art. I’ll point the finger back at myself though and accept the challenge to lift my game with my own covers on Fortress. Thanks Mike for the inspiration!

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I’m often intrigued by people’s comics origin stories. What was the book that lit the flame? What was the issue that got the synapses firing and really connected with you

For me, it was G.I. Joe Special Missions 8. This is where my comics obsession really begins.

I’d read and had comics before… Tintin, Asterix & Obelix, Garfield. But these US format monthly comics suddenly got my attention. The G.I. Joe toys had already won me over, so discovering there were G.I. Joe comics blew my 9 year old mind. It was January 1988, summer holidays in Australia, I bought this book with left-over Christmas money at a second-hand bookstore in the seaside town of Victor Harbour. They had 4—5 boxes packed with comics and I took a mental note that I needed to return with more money. (the store is still there but only has a handful of comics now). In the moment though, I had to be discerning in my choice of being able to afford only one comic.

The story is titled “Ambush”. The Joe team is sent by a manipulative CIA agent to capture a traitor who has defected over the border with a secret computer chip. It featured Leatherneck, Wet-Suit, Footloose, Flint, Beach-Head and Low-Light as the main cast. Gotta love those codenames. Here’s the book credits roll call:

Larry Hama (writer), Herb Trimpe (artist), Phil Felix (letterer), Bob Sharen (colourist), Bob Harris (editor), Tom De Falco (editor in chief). Names that were foreign to me back in ‘88, but people that would feature prominently in my comics collecting in the years to come.

The one-and-done story got me hooked. I wanted more. But for the moment this is all I had, so I poured over every detail, devoured every page. The costumes (I looooved Low-Light and Beachhead in particular), the military mission details (burying the parachutes and putting the grass back, page 5), the banter (“Still can’t say the ‘k” word, huh, Anderson?”). Plus there were things I couldn’t explain at the time that stayed with me. Like the mood of a panel (the burning sun panel progression on page 11), or the interplay of halftone dot colouring against black inks (page 5 again).

I still love the simple, punchy, get in, get out storytelling of this comic. For many it would be throwaway material, but for me, it’s masterful. The set up, location, tension, characters and payoff are all there. Sure, nostalgia probably fogs my lens, but Hama and Trimpe know what they’re doing and for my money it still holds up.

Reading this issue again, I can see what’s stuck with me all these years and influenced how I do comics now. There’s a lot I could unpack in terms of storytelling techniques (maybe another time), but for now these are things that stand out:

Quiet, scenery moments that ground the story, create breathing space, but also build tension. This panel is from page 9.

The use of arrows to dictate panel flow and reading. Without the arrow directing the eye, page 19 is potentially confusing. I wonder if this was an edit made back in the Marvel bullpen? I’m using a similar technique in an upcoming issue of Fortress, connecting word balloons with arrows to help guide the readers eye.

Character wearing a balaclava/ski mask… I have to have a character with a mask as part of their costume.

Title typography is something that has always stood out to me. It’s not something many modern comics do in terms of putting the title on the splash or first page. I love seeing the title, credits and story all integrated. This is a pretty straightforward example (as opposed to what someone like Will Eisner would do), but I love the simple design and layout that is centred around the bold, hand-drawn typography of “Ambush”.

All the images are taken from my copy. Here’s the full cover—well loved as you can see! Note the punch holes next to the spine. At one stage I had this comic in a ring binder folder along with my collection of Joe figure bio cards and catalogues that would come with the toy vehicles, plus some drawings too. It was light on content, but this folder was my G.I. Joe bible at the time and this book was the centrepiece.

So, here I am, back at it. Comics. Fortress. Take two. The return… welcome!

If you’ve followed my sci-fi action comic thus far, you’ll know it’s been a case study in inconsistency. Plenty of valid reasons—aaaaand plenty of excuses too. The mission though for 2025 is to drag this comic, kicking and screaming, back on track. Because I love it. Love making it, love the characters, love putting it out into the world.

Why this blog though? I kinda see it as a way to keep myself accountable. Keep a schedule, document the process, stay excited and on edge. It’ll also be a place for sharing inspiration, general comics thoughts, and release news. I’m keen to hear any thoughts or feedback as I continue to build this thing.

So on that note, what’s coming up? Well, I’ve been stockpiling Fortress pages, getting ahead so I can finally release these books on a consistent schedule. The big news is that from August, Fortress will be available in comic shops everywhere—orders are now live through Lunar Distribution. Shipping monthly, I’ll be going back to print with issues 1-3, with 4-6 following straight after. If you’ve previously bought issues 1-3, I’ve included a bunch of extras to hopefully tempt you to dive in again!

I gotta give a huge shoutout to Eddie at Strangers Publishing for helping me get Fortress out to the masses. Strangers is one of the best indie publishers around, so if you’re not familiar, go check out their books.

More info to come, but for now, tell your LCS, tell your friends, your mum, your cat. A big thanks if you’ve followed along with my passion project so far. Much more to come!