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Letter from EB Dojo Pixelated Magazine is an underground publication from the online community. What you see here is an unprecedented project that aims to help everyday artists and writers who just need a chance to show the world what they can do. Someday, Pixelated Magazine will be filled with the works of aspiring artists everywhere along with exclusive articles, in-depth story reviews, and creative writing -- all created by everyday people with extraordinary talent. We believe that we can change the way the world works - with your help. If you support this cause, all you have to do is tell a friend about us. This magazine is in the alpha stages of publication and distribution. EB Dojo has 12 Liaison-Distributors around the country who are testing the waters for mass publication. Without these people the project wouldn’t be able to move forward, so I’d like to take the time and this space to thank you, Liaisons and Distributors. Through the Liaison’s hard work on Pixelated Magazine Alpha, there are already hundreds of people interested in the ‘Beta’ stage, when EB Dojo partners with the best artists, comics, and writers on the web to publish works that might otherwise go unnoticed. The Beta release of Pixelated Magazine will give you access to the works and minds of its contributors, with much of the content made available long before it appears on the web. If you have any questions about us or Pixelated Magazine, we’d be happy to open a dialogue with you. Visit any one of our websites to get in contact with the staff: http://www.ebdojo.com http://www.edgeofdecember.com Or you can contact me directly by sending an email to: [email protected] We’re still growing and still looking for the fans and dedicated creators to help this project flourish. Thank you for your support. You’re an integral part of something completely new and fantastic. - Glenn 3 In This Issue... April 2008 Pixelated Magazine, Alpha - Issue 01 “100% True” page Featured Article 5 by Gray Ross “Edge of December” by Kitchell, Ross, Cohen Chapter 05: “All Life’s a Stage” page 7 Chapter 06: “Rescue Choppah” page 20 “Character Designs - Before and After” page 36 Artist Freespeak by Glenn Kitchell Parody Channel page Share yours online at: http://www.edgeofdecember.com/forums 4 40 EB Dojo © 2008. All Rights Reserved. “100% True” by Gray Ross Featured Article This comic is 100% pure, fresh-squeezed comic genius. No, seriously. We take great pride in our comic genius product, hand tailored to fit your unique sense of entertainment. Still skeptical? Well, let me take you on an exclusive, once in a lifetime, all-expense paid tour of our wonderful distraction factory, hell-bent on providing you with wonderful little divertissements for your everyday life. As you enter, you may notice our state-of-the-art security system. The device you have just stepped through is not the typical metal detector you may have thought it to be. The contraption actually scans for two things; first for your overall amusement level, and second for any low quality “entertainment” sources, such as bulbous red noses, water wielding flowers, noisemakers, and Jerry Seinfeld. The guards you see are armed with pistols equipped with “BAM!” signs to scare off any clowns that try to get in and contaminate the facility. As you all managed to get through without setting off the device, you must be amused enough to carry on. Let us continue. To your right, you’ll see the Paper Creation Room. That is correct; we even make our own paper here. A few years ago, we found that ordinary paper was far too limiting a medium for the levels of genius we produce. Our handmade paper is massaged daily by three beautiful virgins for 60 days, yielding a 17% increase in potential genius per comic, and a 32% increase in capacity for said genius per page. As you may have guessed, this is also the break room. On our left, you may see what appears to be a junkyard crusher. I’ve nicknamed this little joy The Juicer. We stick any science fiction writers, Asians, and low-pay interns in this device, and out pops unadulterated genius. The handling of pure genius is a rather delicate and dangerous task, as you might imagine. One false step could turn the entire batch into insanity, a useless and frustrating byproduct to deal with that appears in this facility all too often, unfortunately. If you’ll be so kind as to put on these black-out goggles, we can continue 5 into the next room: Genius Storage. After creation in The Juicer, we have to deal with storage of the genius until it is put into the comic. This is where we accomplish this task. You may be wondering why the room is so bright. Well, have you ever seen a character create a light bulb above their head when they have an idea? The notion is actually rooted in reality. Every bright idea adds up, and the end product is this radiant room. The final room we will be visiting features the patented Combine-o-matic. This handy device takes everything that we’ve seen and combines it with some ink and an ethernet cable to create the comic we all know and love. You stick the pure genius in this compartment, the ink and paper go here, and the ethernet cable attaches to this part. Finally, one pulls the lever... and presto! A fresh comic. Sadly, no one is entirely sure how this device operates any longer. The inventor was stuck in The Juicer, and the plans were lost long ago in a tragic clown raid. They thought the whole maneuver was hilarious. Anyway, this concludes our tour. I hope you all enjoyed the tour of the facility. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. We’re here 24-7 to provide you with all your diversion needs. - Gray Edge of December Profile 6 Genre: Action / Humor Creators: Glenn Kitchell, Gray Ross, Ryan Cohen Website: http://www.edgeofdecember.com Teaser: Trife runs amok. Baron provides acerbic commentary. And Kieron tries to hold it all together. This time in Edge of December, Trife and Kieron are doing everything they can to start their dojo -- even if it means counting coup against a dangerous and powerful gang boss. Working in the pocket and on behalf of the Borgia Group, can the boys survive long enough to fulfill their dream? “Character Designs” by Glenn Kitchell Artist Freespeak I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters of the Naccisti Saga from Edge of December. Strangely enough, even though we created an entire Prologue Saga before it, this – or at least a version quite similar to it – was the original beginning for Edge of December. Way back in yesteryear, I wrote up a playful banter between Trife and Kieron that occurred while they were being chased from a city by angry mobsters after Trife hit on the boss’ daughter, “Because she was hot.” Like the Prologue Saga, it was designed to be an introductory, throw-away story that caught Trife and Kieron near the beginning of their quest to create their dojo. Well, Ryan got ahold of it, pounded out the details into a full-fledged story – created a name and an amazing backstory for the “hot” mob-daughter, and landed the new beginning of Edge of December. However, all that amazing detail made the one-chapter “run away from the mob” + “crap they have a helicopter” + “hey, who just threw that grenade…” into something not-so-throw-away. Well, in the spirit of this transformation, I bring you character designs: before and after. This ragged wanderer is the original design for Baron. Before he was somewhat the child prodigy, Baron was going to be Kieron and Trife’s mentor in the stead of Kieron’s late father, Master Alsmith. Very world36 ly, profound, and well-traveled, Baron would be the guidance that the boys needed to land on their own two feet in the world after their own Pilgrimage across the country. Well, we kept most of the description and changed the age. Now, Baron is a striking character in that he’s so young, but is still the balancing act between Trife’s impulsiveness and Kieron’s perfectionism. 37 In the next before and after, we have a complete change in a character’s personality. Jennebelle Ellenora Nacci was originally simply the boss’ hot daughter that was the catalyst in a gun-toting, grenadeslinging reaction. But in the reworking of the story, she became the hot-headed, ambitious, only daughter that was denied the next-in-line for leading her family’s deadly gang, the Naccisti. So in the ‘before,’ she’s a care-free, overprotected girl. As you can see both in the comic and here, in the ‘after’ she becomes a little… angrier. Designing this world with the three creators that we have on the Edge of December staff makes everything just a bit harder, but we hope when a chapter hits paper that it has a refinement and quality, both, that reflect our efforts. 39 Parody Channel You and your friends can try writing your own hilarious parodies! The formula we used in “Unholy” was: observation -> reflection/response -> introspection -> final words/punchline Try it out on the next page. And, if your idea follows a different forumla, use these blanks to script it like a pro! Share your favorites at http://www. edgeofdecember.com/forums/ on the online Parody Channel -- the best might end up in the next issue of Pixelated Magazine! “Unholy” by Gray and Glenn Trife: I think my laundry was moving last night. It ended up... 40 41 Postscript This issue of EB Dojo’s Pixelated Magazine may end, but the story and ideas go on. Bookmark EB Dojo’s website (www.ebdojo.com) -- it’s there that you’ll be able to learn about the latest Pixelated Magazine releases and EB Dojo’s webcomic partnerships. If you loved the comic, check out Edge of December’s website (www.edgeofdecember.com) to see the latest and find out if Trife, Kieron, and even Baron can escape the predicaments that they keep finding themselves in. The next issue of Pixelated Magazine will include: - Edge of December, ch 07 - More behind-the-scenes coverage of EB Dojo ...and maybe even some never before seen works by the aspiring authors and artists that deserve the opportunity to tell their story. Thank you for reading! This project exists for you and for every new artist and writer that just needs a chance to show the world what they’re made of. If you support this cause, tell a friend about us. Give the magazine to someone you trust with the message. Be a “waypoint” on this magazine’s journey around the globe. By simply helping this message spread, you can change the way the world works. We look forward to seeing you in the next issue of EB Dojo’s Pixelated Magazine. EB Dojo © 2008. All Rights Reserved.