Artesia graphic novels...busted??

What is going on with Artesia "Book of Dooms" graphic novels?? It's been 2 years since Besieged part 2 . Is this series canceled?

01.24.08 Artesia Besieged returns April 2008!
With the growth of Archaia Studios Press as a publishing house, the time for its author to devote to the Besieged series evaporated during much of 2007. But we are happy to announce that work has finally recommenced on the series, with previews of some of the first finished interior pages below. Artesia Besieged #3 is now expected to hit stores in April.

Preview Artesia Besieged #3 Pages 1-3:




Source: Artesia Online

This is fabuluos news. I can't wait for the next issue. But is there any news about the time interval the next issues will be coming out??

From Mark Smylie on the ASP Board (Posted March 3, 2008)

"...BESIEGED #3 was resolicited for February but will probably be out in late April or early May; I'm going to delay soliciting for BESIEGED #4 until I can be sure that everything is going smoothly at the company and with my work schedule, but I very much hope to have BESIEGED finished up by December of this year.

Thanks very much for your patience; I hope that you will not have much longer to wait for the new issues to be in the pipeline."

Hm, that means issues will be coming out at 2 - 2 1/2 month intervals. While I'm happy to actualy get the continuation of this series, the wait is going to be a really dull affair. Like waiting for the next SOIAF book.

No way!

I thought I was, like, the ONLY person who followed Artesia. I had almost forgotten that it was in the middle of a story arc, it's been so long now.

Weird that I should stumble upon this good news on a Transformers forum, of all places!

zmog

I don't know if it is still going on but the last time I talked with Mark he was working on a movie as well so that could lead to some delays.

Originally Posted by seeker311 insecurity leads to resentfulness, resentfulness leads to self pity, self pity leads to dumbass.

I stumbled upon this series of graphic novels by pure chance last year, and I was blown away after reading the first one. I was somewhat dumbfounded at the beginning, because I was expecting your regular comic schtick, not a story with a tolkienesqe history and a late medieval setting. I also fell prey to the usual things first time readers do, like having a dificulty following who's who of the characters, couldn't remember all the names of the characters and gods, etc. That's why I couldn't make a judgement imediately.

But after reading it again, which I did promptly, I realised how awesome the first graphic novel was. The graphic style was also a refreshing thing to me at the time. I like the way Smylie portraits men and women, armoured and armed, and otherwise (you know what I mean). There are no your usual comic body proportions, with muscles dear Governator would kill for, or chest "protrusions" as big as Dolly Parton. The arms and harnesses are based on your real life counterparts, the depictions of the siege warfare, pike warfare, etc. are great. You can clearly see that Smylie did some pretty big research on the medieval culture and warfare, so he could make his world seem as real as posible.




There were talks of the Artesia prequel movie since last summer. This news is new, pardon the pun.

And I like that they will be doing a prequel. It would be a shame to wait years for the movie about Artesia herself, as it would be a long wait for the comic series to come to an end.

And considering the richness of the world Mark Smylie created, we can have several movies about the Known World, parallel to the Artesia series. Just think on it, we can have a movie concerning the Hunt for the Worm Kings, mainly one about Githwaine, or how about the Usurper and his war against the Lokhites.

Yeah... I LOVE this series.

I confess that sometimes the style Smylie uses for drawing faces gets a bit forced. I mean, clearly the guy can draw, but he's still drawing faces like blocks of wood. On the one hand, I like the stylization (it works for manga after all), but on the other, I find a lot of the characters look too much alike.

Also, I can say that I like the series almost EXCLUSIVELY based on the artwork and depth of development in the authentic-feeling fantasy world... because frankly the actual character of Artesia is, like, the HUGEST Mary-Sue fanwank character in the history of Mary-Sues. I say that with all due respect, but it's sadly true.

But enough with the negativity. It's good stuff. I adore the raw, sketchy, handmade drawing and watercolours... a quality that sets it aside in a field full of almost excessive refinement in the euro-fantasy comic genre. I find the approach to magic fascinating and resonant... it "works". I also admire the way that he's managed to present a very gender-equal medieval world without it seeming too forced, fanciful, or unlikely. That's quite a feat!

Glad to hear the series is still trucking... slowly... along. I have to admit that I'm skeptical of the path to an Artesia related movie. I'm far too cynical of such things, and more than likely we'll get some direct-to-video low-budget exploitation fantasy film with Kristanna Loken headlining a cast of nobodies in plastic armour. I can't see the scope of Artesia's world being translated well on a tight budget.

But I'm happy to be proven wrong!

zmog

I apologize for raising this thread from the dead, though I suppose our local zombiecon ZMOG won't mind.

It has been almost a year since the people in charge announced that Artesia Besieged will hit store in April '08, and still nothing. The ASP forums are off limits to me (403 error) so I have no idea what is going on with this series.

I am really disappointed in the way Smylie is treating the whole affair with Artesia. He's doing almost the exact thing G.R.R. Martin is doing with "A Dance with Dragons", except G.R.R.M still has some balls to write to the fans about his new book and the way it's (not) progressing.

I will not be calling quits on this series, because IT IS THAT GOOD, but I don't hold hopes high about it any more.