JackMonkey Games

So we are still alive … but now we are building a budget to work on more creative projects

www.jackmonkeygames.com is now the parent company of Steampunk adventures (soon to be renamed) e

We have a few projects that we need to finish before we can get back to work on Steampunk adventures.  Besides I have grown as an artist and have learned so much that I almost cringe looking at my old work. So if you are still out there and following this blog … Let me know

Been busy!

Sorry folks I have not forgotten about you!! I have been busy rebuilding my other websites My bodypainting Art page . I have also been doing some research on Bjorne .

So there will be an update soon

About Red, some women just need a steam powered onothopter

Victoria “Red ” Redfern is perhaps the most complex and fun character in the webcomic. She has the clasic image of a woman in a aviators hat and goggles, Scarf who loves to move fast. Really FAST! As much as Alex gets the limelight (Because he is so easy for we to relate with) Red is the real hero of the comic and honestly the main character. She’s the Captain the voice of Authority on the ship. But like with all Steampunk and comic characters she has a flaw or two . And those flaws come up all the time.

If Red has a superpower it would be fearlessness! Nothing frightens her at all! Be it fast moving steam powered contraptions, cog driven mechanical monsters or just plain dark allies with thugs. Red’s backstory will eliminate why she became such a daredevil. Only a few things that really holds her back and that is she forward thinking in a backwards world when it comes to gender equality and her loyalty to Alexander.

I got the inspiration from my wife’s driving. It’s amazing she never gets a ticket. From there Red has formed to be a larger then life version of my wife in many ways. In fact my wife has started helping me write the comic and her own side project a novel about Red that will parallel the comic in many ways. We hope to use the novel to shed some light in to the inner workings of the character. (Novel is still in infancy stages and will not be out for some time …. lets finish the webcomic first)

We do have a love interest planned for Red .. but we are going to let that out some time in the second book

Steampunk Treasures. List of Great content!

Always looking for good steampunk content and stuff ! As you know I am also about tooting the horn for someone else. To say HEY this person is doing it .. why are you still sitting on your ass!  I have gathered a list of some great content!

Tales of the Brass Griffin . In a time that Might-Have-Been but Never Was, steam power and clockwork mechanisms commanded the might of science and harnessed nature. Fantastic creatures were common, myths were truth and airships crossed the skies. This is the story of one of those airships.

Tales of the Brass Griffin » About the Tales

The Halfway Port By Lynne Gryphon (Unrelated to the above Lynne is a podcasting buddy of mine and I know you will love her creative mind! )

A mother and a group of teens from earth get tangled in the threads of another planet. On that planet airships rule the sky and technology has evolved by different means. Day to day devices run on steam and biotechnology has been advanced to help a declining population known as the Dariel control genetically-programmed servants cloned from their own flesh.

http://www.lynnegryphon.com/

Tee Morris!

Now before you go to his link I warn you TOO MUCH AMAZING STUFF! You might have to read all of it. I have been a fan of his work for some time now. He always has something in the works.  http://teemorris.com/

•     Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel Finalist for the 2011 Airship Awards for Best Written Work ( I have not had a chance to read this one yet .. but if someone REALLY LOVES ME they will get me a copy! )
•     Morevi Finalist for the 2006 Parsec Award for Best Podcast Novel, 2003 Eppie Finalist for Best Fantasy (first Podiobook I listened to.. got hooked ever since)
•     The Case of the Singing Sword: A Billibub Baddings Mystery Winner of the 2008 Parsec for Best Audio Drama (Long Form), IPPY Finalist for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2005 (So far my Favorite of all his work)
•     Legacy of Morevi Finalist for Foreword Magazine’s 2005 Book of the Year Award: Fantasy*
•     The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery*

Who is your fav charature

So feedback is always important and fun .. I would like to see is the Star of Steampunk Adventures.!

Steampunk Adventures Comic Chapter #1 Free Download

So the comic free online as a webcomic .. but I wanted to offer the first chapter as a PDF for free as a download. Later I will have a new version of this same chapter with extra content, better art and special added features as download for a small fee.

Please feel free to download copy and distribute this comic as long as it is for free  Bittorrent, File share.. Not only do I not care if you pirate this PDF I am begging you to!! Please help spread the word about my comic.

Download HERE!!

About Alex

Alexander Townsend that lovable coward hits home more then you think. Alex is an amalgamation of the worst part of myself with a bit of amplification for better story line. Alex is what would have happened if I never grew a spine or developed a sense of ethics. Alex is still in the hero category because his involvement with Red keeps him from running away or doing really dastardly crimes.

Read the Comic

Really Alex keep it in your pants

Click here To Read the whole comic

Alexander Townsend was my name in the SCA during my early twenties. The whole womanizing scoundrel yah that was accurately me. Though I worked very hard not to be “the other man”. Alex has no problems being a home wrecker (he would rather not get caught for safety reasons)

Alex tends to only be brave when there is a woman present to awe of his feats of bravery! I was such a coward as a kid. So many fears so many things I was afraid of movie theaters , heights ,talk to more then two people at a time, wolves, dark (when I was 15). Alex is my way of poking fun at myself.

Later on Alex’s issues are going to become a major plot line. This is something that is going to be similar to events that happened in my life. I am of corse going to change the plot change events to make the story more fun. You will have to read the comic to get the full story.

Alex like any hero in steampunk is not without his good points. He is an accomplished fencer (he is not aware of how good he is. That would require courage. ) he is very loyal to Red and his crew and sometimes this loyalty will actually override his overall fear. As much as he is a womanizer he does not feel women are inferior this has a large part to do with the various bumps and bruises he has received over the years working alongside Red. Alex is also the master of most social situations as long as it involves charm.

Like most steampunk adventurers Alex likes gadgets. Alex had Reginald install a revolver into hilt of is sword to eliminate anyone who might be able to best Alex in a sword duel. Alex has actually won more fights with the revolver then the blade (this is more due to lack of bravery then skill in fencing)

What I learned from George Lucas

Before we get started I’m going to tell you why this article relates to steampunk. It does not. I even have a hard time relating it to steampunk fett. But it is related to writing a good story and that is exactly what I am trying to do!

I have always been a fan of George Lucas. I remember as most geeks growing up Star Wars. Was my obsession so much so my father would not allow me to own the toys because I would “Daydream in school”. Ha! I day dreamed in school because I was 9 (shows what he knows)

With that said I took a long time thinking of why I liked the first three movies so much (as in Star Wars ,Empire strikes back and Return of the Jedi) and even with my obsession felt the last three were almost unworthy of the ticket price. So I have collected my thoughts and compiled a list of things I learned.

– creating for the love to create Always makes a better product then creating something for the money.

– Some mysteries should never be answered (metacolians !!?!?!?) keep the veil on. The mystery is so much better. Allow the audience to draw their own conclusions it will at least make sense to them

-with special effects being a dime a dozen and story and original ideas on the endangered species list in Hollywood. go for the story when was the last time you went to the zoo to discover only house cats and mutts??

– special effects and pretty pictures will amaze people but witty banter will create catch phrases that will live for generations (“laugh it up fuzzball” ” I have a bad feeling about this ” “who you calling scruffy” “use the force luke” “Stay on target …. Stay on target…. They came… from behind!!….. Boom!! ) Having a hard time remembering anything from the last three films there is a reason for that!

-Take the time to have your audience invest into your characters after all it’s all about them.

-If the Wookies are going to defeat the empire on a forest planet stick with that. Do not replace them with ewoks because you can sell teddybears.

-let your antiheroes be antiheros Han shot first!

– if you make a bad ass villain like Boba fett don’t have him go out like a bitch come on jetpack malfunction? Because the blind guy bumped into him. Darth maul died while fighting two Jedi at the same time, and he even killed one! Now that is badass!

-comedy relief does not required to be annoying. Jar Jar

-Keep the rights to the merchandizing. One word “Legos”

-Hero need not get the girl… Granted it was his sister

-billions can ruin a good thing

-Women can kick ass too. Or at least strangle a hut with chain while wearing the worlds most famous slave girl outfit. (Jabba obviously did not know the safe word)

– taking the time to have a back story even if it’s not in that film can really flesh out the characters . Obi
Wan is my Fav charter ever. I actually liked him in both films. Because he was the most developed charature.

– don’t stretch to tie connections. Anican Building C3PO really?

-Make awesome villains Darth Vader & Darth Maul. Count Duku was only frightening in a creepy uncle kind of way. A villain should strike fear into the audience at the thought of their fav hero meeting them.

-Take the time with all the details. As everything in the films looked used. Like they did not just out of the prop makers workshop. This wad groundbreaking for the time.

-action is the space between two points of character development. (first three films)

-awesome music is a must. A new example is “Game of Thrones” the music is amazing. Good music will set the mood for everything else.

-spreading the story into all your other products and leaving gaping holes in the plot line does make it so people do want to purchase those products. But it alienates other preventing them from becoming die hard fans.

Muppets. No amount of computer animation will ever replace Jim Hensions/ Frank Oz version of Yoda. Muppets there is just so much heart and craftsmanship put into every puppet.

How sexy is too sexy! #webcomic

How sexy is too sexy!?!?

So I find myself getting to parts of the story where things can get graphically sexy. Let’s face it Alexander is a “man slut”. His pursuit of the latest steampunk bimbo would surely raise an eyebrow. The polyamorous air pirates and their non-monogamous ways and a touch of BDSM would also make it so readers under the age of 18 should never read my comic.

Here is my question. How much is too much? How much skin turns my story into comic porn? I am writing a story not providing excuses for nudity and sex. I have seen a few online comics that have some plot but it almost seems that somebody is getting laid every other page.

Looking at other great stories like Game of thrones , true blood, and Australia’s Underbelly (just to be clear i have a lot of writing before i could get that good at story telling) the sex and the nudity seem to fit the story. I have noted that there is more nudity towards the early part of the season. I really can’t think of a time where the sex was purely gratuitous. Sure there could have been a way to suggest what happened but let’s face it it’s fun to watch. (you know you love it) the point is that the nudity is such a part of the story it does not seem to be a boobie flick. Unless you are one of those people who find anything other then the missionary position offensive.

So here are my options
Option one : Go all out!! All kinds of nudity!! No fig leafing just draw the story as I see it.
Pros : readership will surely go up! Look nakid people!!!
Cons: alienate those who are more moderate in their thinking

Option two : Make two versions. Everything that I am doing is going to be story based so nudity need not be needed to tell the overall story. Then sell both the edited and adult versions making the adult version available only through paid subscription or print version (also keeps kids from reading it)
Pros : more revenue options
Cons: holes in story & extra work

Option three : do best to still tell the story but try to keep it clean.
Pros : wider audience
Cons : is it really what story I am trying to tell.

So tell me what you think! Email me artofpaint@gmail.com

Extra content for printed steampunk comic!!!

Nothing like a Financal pitfall to get you motivated in making money. Even more so when you realize your day job will never get you out of the Financal ditch you are in to add that extra rocket fuel to your personal projects if it might mean that someday you can cut free from the 9 to 5 and get some real work done!

So steampunk adventures was always intended to be a print book. I use the web media to promote and offer something for free. I have been a fan of lulu Self publishing. Why not start now. I could publish chapter one and see what happens.

So I had chapter one exported to PDF and started a horrendous upload to lulu . Took several hours to finally get everything uploaded (by the way I am in Australia so Internet is metered.. So it used up a portion of my bandwidth ) and guess what ???? Not enough pages!!

I am not the kind of guy to get upset for no reason. Ok I wanted to upload . Ok not enough pages . Let’s think about this for a second. This is the same stuff that is loaded on the website. Why would someone want to buy it? Then I started thinking. Let’s reward those folks who buy the printed version with something extra!!!

So here is where your feedback is going to shape how I do this! What do you want to see in extra content.

I don’t know the price of the book will be yet. But I want to make it worth it!