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Last Reveal: The Smoke!

Posted on by scott

Shay’s Story is already out, of course. But I had promised one more reveal. The Smoke!

Here’s Shay’s first view of it as she and her fellow runaways arrive:

Click here for a bigger version.

Of course, the smoke had to be smokey! After all, that’s the first thing Tally notices about it in the books. It’s the first thing any city kid would notice, so chimney smoke had to dominate this shot. (Also, look at David standing there looking back at the runaways. He’s all “tada!”)

One of the key themes of the Uglies series is the balance between the city and the wild. And one of the reasons I wanted to work with Steven Cummings was that he can render both architecture and nature as dramatic elements on the page.

The Smoke is a mix of nature and proto-city, and of futuristic and traditional technologies. So I like this shot of a work detail below, that has hoverboards and powerjacks juxtaposed with giant and imposing trees. The high technology is cool, but it’s literally in the shadow of nature.

Click here for the big version.

Anyway, I won’t show you any more, because as of today you can just go out and buy Uglies: Shay’s Story!

I just found out that there are two electronic versions available. Nook users can buy it at B&N.com. For iPad owners, here’s the Shay’s Story page on iTunes is right here. (It says you can read it on your iPhone, but you’d better have pretty good eyes, because it’s fixed width format. iPad is way better.)

And you can get physical copies at bookstores and comics store, of course, or online at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Australians wishing to shop online can get it pretty cheap from Fishpond.

Hope you enjoy it! I’ll put up the official spoiler thread tomorrow.

Uglies Manga Imminent

Posted on by scott

Several things:

1) Uglies: Shay’s Story comes out TODAY, March 6. (!!)

2) I don’t have the art for the Smoke reveal yet, but I will soon.

3) There is going to be a trailer for the graphic novel, also soon! (Not this one, a real one.)

4) I want to do a meet-up on the Forum soon, maybe a week after Shay’s Story comes out, so we can all talk about it. What time and day is good for you guys?

5) And finally, here’s a list my previous blog entries on Shay’s Story, just to whet your appetites.

Here’s how we worked together to create the manga.

An interview with Girls Read Comics Too.

A WesterForum meet-up in which I answer a LOT of questions.

And here are all the reveals:
Rusty Ruins
Dr. Cable
David
Tally
Zane
and Croy!

And here’s, you know, the cover:

Pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or buy it at a bookstore or comics store starting NOW!

Update
Nook owners can buy Shay’s Story by clicking here.

For iPad owners, the Shay’s Story page on iTunes is right here. It says you can read it on your iPhone, but you’d better have pretty good eyes, because it’s fixed width format. iPad is way better.

Australians wishing to shop online can get it pretty cheap from Fishpond.

Rusty Ruins Revealed!

Posted on by scott

When I was checking out artists for Uglies: Shay’s Story, aka the Uglies Manga, there were a few key things I was looking for. Most of them, of course, had to so with drawing humans—expressions, faces, and actions, especially the sort of flying action you get with hoverboard chase scenes.

But I also wanted Shay’s Story to have the right settings. In science fiction, of course, setting is often a character. How many times have you described a science fiction movie or book by starting with something like, “It’s on this planet where . . . ” or “It’s in this future where . . . “?

The word where always plays a big role when talking about SF.

There are two main settings in the Uglies series—cities and nature. Indeed, a lot of the Uglies saga is about the relationship between the city and the wild. All four of the books start in a city, then include a voyage into and across the wild, and then return to a city in the end. The city represents control as well as civilization; the wild is danger as well as freedom. These are the two poles of the Uglies universe.

At the intersection between the city and nature is, of course, the Rusty Ruins. It’s the city that nature has taken back. It’s also the warning of what happens when humanity gets out of control. So the Ruins have to rock.

I am here to assure you that thanks to the skillz of Steven Cummings, they do:

Click here for the BIGNESS! And make sure to zoom in.

As you can see, that’s the tallest tower just ahead, where so many scenes in all the books happen. And in the big version you can see our heroes headed there on their hoverboards, surrounded by a bit of supernatural lighting so that you can see them.

It’s just one of many awesome nature/city settings that Steven has done.

Anyway, Uglies: Shay’s Story comes out March 6, which is two weeks away! That means there will be only one more reveal. What do you guys think it should be?

Feel free to think outside the box. Do you want a random special? The Smoke? A hoverboard scene? A hole-in-the-wall? Something completely different?

Let me know in the comments below.

You can pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or buy it on March 6 at a proper bookstore or comics shop!

Dr. Cable Reveal

Posted on by scott

The voting was fierce and furious, and David won in the end. (I think so, anyway. Counting is hard.) And yet there is a prize for second place, Dr. Cable-lovers, and this is it!

So here in all her full-page glory is Dr. Cable from Shay’s Story, the manga adaptation of Uglies!

And don’t forget to click here for the BIG version!

Hope you like her. I think she’s the right mix of pretty, intimidating, and older than all the other characters. (She’s been around a while, after all.) Of course, it would be cool if we could hear her razor voice too . . .

Can you figure out where this scene is?

Fan Art Friday (Actually on Friday Edition)

Posted on by scott

It’s Friday (in the US, anyway), which means it’s time for excuses about why I don’t have Fan Art Friday up yet. But this week I thought I’d do something different, and put up some fan art!

Let us start with this fantastic video by The10thDecision, which is a sort of greatest hits of Leviathan fan art—plus some I haven’t seen before.

I quite enjoyed that. It’s a lovely reminder of how talented and wonderful you all are!

This is a pretty cool picture from one of my favorite settings in the Leviathan series—the ratlines! It’s by leaffystar19.

It’s cool to see a super-dramatic event like this that’s non-canonical. Because, you know, Alek could have slipped and almost fallen at some point while he was first getting used to the ratlines, and it wasn’t even worth mentioning in the novels.

Here’s a very . . . interesting picture of Volger from aieeetheygotfrank, who explains:

I’m not really used to drawing Volger, and there’s something very off about this… I think it’s because of the hair, but that’s the whole point of this so I don’t really know, lol. So anyway, this is kind of if Volger like lost his hair in the war or I don’t know? Like he had his scalp blown off? And now he has to wear a duck to cover it up? I don’t know? Question mark?

So I give you, Duck-Head Volger!

Can Duck-Head Volger fan fiction be far behind? (Thanks to our own Tobu for suggesting this.)

For you Uglies fans, here’s a cool Tally-wa triptych from totalimmortal220akasean:

These are pretty cool, especially because they remind me of the German covers of the Uglies trilogy, which looked like this:

See what I mean? Kind of like dolls, in the scary-doll sense.

And finally, here’s the obligatory Goliath Bonus Chapter fan art of the week, “Lad in a Dress,” from Caroline:

Alek has a sort of “Does this bustle make my butt look big?” vibe here. (YES, ALEK, IT DOES.)

Okay, that’s it for FAF. See you next Friday!

In the middle of next week, I’ll be revealing Dr. Cable from Uglies: Shay’s Story, aka the Uglies manga. I’m sure you’ll be TERRIFIED of her.

In the meantime, keep the fan art coming.

David Revealed

Posted on by scott

The voting for the next character reveal has swayed back and forth for the last week. It’s been so tight between David and Dr. Cable that I’m not even going to count the votes. I shall declare David the winner, and reveal Dr. Cable next week.

So without further ado, here is David:

Wouldn’t you love to see that dialog box on the left side? WOULDN’T YOU? Well, you’re not going to, because that would be wrong.

Shay’s Story begins about six months before Uglies, back when Shay and Zane are pals in an ugly gang known as the Crims. And, as related in the novels, Shay and Zane were going to run away to the Smoke with David’s help, but they “chickened out.” At least that’s what they told Tally.

Of course, the stories we tell about uncomfortable events in the past are often oversimplified. So I decided to come up with a more interesting reason for them to bail, resulting in Zane becoming pretty and Shay moping around until she meets Tally.

I won’t reveal here what really happened, but I can say without spoilage that Shay and David do spend a certain amount of time arguing . . .

Of course, as we all know from the novels, they do get together later in the Smoke.

There’s also some cavorting on the roller coaster . . .

One thing I liked about writing Shay’s Story (with Devin Grayson) was revisiting key locales from the original novels, like the roller coaster. Especially since we get to SEE them now. I love the way that artist Steven Cummings has made the Rusty Ruins come alive. (Well, it’s kind of dead. But you know what I mean.) In fact, I think I’ll do a whole reveal just for the Ruins.

Anyway, that’s it for this reveal. Next week it’s the deliciously evil Dr. Cable!

You can pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or buy it on March 6 at a proper bookstore.

Fan Art Friday (Actual Friday Edition!)

Posted on by scott

So David and Dr. Cable are pretty much tied in the voting for next week’s character reveal, and I’m missing some final images for them, so I thought I’d do an actual Fan Art Friday while the election continues!

Without further ado . . .

Here are three pieces from kikane on DeviantArt, showing Deryn and Alek in a semi-chibi mode:

They are so sweet! And I love all version of chibi-flying-whale.

From Savannah comes the unlikely genre of Legend Zelda/Goliath crossover!

I kind of like steampunk in its cute-comic form.

From Abigail, another in the new genre of Goliath Bonus Chapter art, aka Alek in a dress!

Of course, if they’re going up to Scotland to visit Deryn’s mom one day, we might get something like this scene from from Camille, featuring Deryn and Alek in kilts:

And here’s some cross-dressing cosplay from Lauren:

And from McKenna, a drawing of Deryn on a Huxley, looking down at the ground with a pensive expression:

From Ashley-wa, an entry into the classic put-yourself-in-the-ugies-cover genre:

And from Sophie, an Uglies cover collage:

I also got a huge PDF of Clanker and Darwinist designs from a class in Edwards, Colorado. Here’s one of them by “BBA”:

I’ll be featuring more of these works in future FAFs.

And finally, I don’t know who this is from. Identify yourself!

Okay, that’s it for today’s FAF.

Don’t forget to keep voting between David and Dr. Cable, and remember that Shay’s Story now comes out March 6. That’s in

Everything Is Late

Posted on by scott

Fan Art Friday is super late now, so I’m just waiting till . . . Friday. #isuck

But as you can see, I’ve made up for it below.

But first, shall we vote on the next character reveal? Here are your choices:

David
Astrix
Ho
Ryde
Dr. Cable
Random Special

Hmm. This one might be a bit easy. In any case, use this comments thread to vote, argue, and otherwise inveigle!

In the meantime, please enjoy this entire PAGE of art from Shay’s Story. It’s from early in the books, when Shay, Zane, and the other Crims are sneaking into New Pretty Town.

But what you really want to see is the BIGGER and ZOOMABLE version!
So click here for that.

And now to repeat the annoying news: The release date for Shay’s Story has been delayed a week due to paper shortages. (Because we decided to make it bigger, so you can see all the art better!) It now comes out March 6, 2012.

Pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or buy it on March 6 at a proper bookstore.

Tally Revealed!

Posted on by scott

I was all ready to reveal the manga version of Tally this week, and then realized that I didn’t have the final versions of the right pages. Oops. Then there was a bit of miscommunication, but now at last I have them!

So we are delaying Fan Art Friday (often known as Fan Art Sunday) for the Tally character reveal.

Remember that Shay’s Story (AKA “The Uglies Manga”) is all from Shay’s POV, and therefore starts about six months before the events of Uglies, back when Shay and Zane are pals. So Tally doesn’t enter until Zane and Shay have planned to run away and then “chickened out.” (That’s what they told Tally in Pretties, but it’s more complicated than that in reality.)

But when Tally appears, we are fully into the same events as Uglies, so some of the scenes below will be familiar. It’s kind of interesting, duplicating some Uglies scenes almost exactly, but in an entirely new context and from a different point of view.

Of course, there are some times when Devin and I decided to skip over a lot of the scenes in Uglies, using the wonder of montage! You may recognize these flashes from the book, when Tally and Shay are getting to be friends.

Here’s a close-up of a familiar scene in Uglies that gets swept past in this montage:

This scene is also directly from the book, but here only lasts one frame. It’s quite illuminating to see Steven’s vision of it:

What’s interesting is, when you read the book, Tally is the protagonist and is therefore the center of attention in this scene. But in the version above, you can see that Shay is the featured character. She’s literally foregrounded.

And finally, here’s an argument between Tally and Shay at a certain key point in the story:

Click here for a bigger version of this one.

The dialog is directly from the book, but as you can see, Tally has her back to us and we see Shay’s expression.

I didn’t realize any of this (at least, the visual aspect of it) until I started to look for shots of Tally, and realized that there were very few of her. Most of the time, she’s in the background and Shay’s doing something. Because the comic is all about Shay.

But there is a great shot of Tally from near the end of the book, when they’re in the Smoke. So here’s frizzy-haired, not very confident, under-suspicion Tally:

Hope you like her.