CONTENTS THE BEGINNING
1 NEXT PAGE OVER TO BE MORE SPECIFIC
TWO-PAGE SPREAD
6-7 IT'S AN AD!
SOME FUN CHARTS
11‑12 (YAWN)
THE END
14 YOU WON'T REGRET IT
BIB.
ORIGINALS
LAST PAGE OF THE COMIC
LAST LAST PAGES OF THE COMIC
ALIEN-COLOR- OR SPACE-ROCK BUSINESS!
SAVING TOPEKA FROM ANOTHER WALMART BY SAVING A KMART
STEVEN CROSS PRESENTS: STEVEN CROSS - WRITER STEVEN CROSS - LETTERER ORIGINAL COMIC THE AVENGERS VS. THE X-MEN #1, PUBLISHED BY MARVEL COMICS 1988
FRAGMENTS OF AN ALIEN SPACE-ROCK ARE ABOUT TO RAIN DOWN ON THE KMART OF SUBURBAN TOPEKA, KANSAS. THE AVENGERS HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED TO DEAL WITH THE THREAT. TWO MEMBERS ARE ON THE GROUND TO EVACUATE THE STORE.
HARVEY HALFTONE, (NEVER HEARD OF 'IM)
CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE FIRST AVENGER. OFFICER, WE NEED TO EVACUATE KMART AND THE ADJACENT AREA!
CAP’N ‘MERCA... WHAWHAWHA--?
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE® Vol. 1, No.1, May, 2016. Published by STEVEN CROSS GRAPHIC DESIGNER. Blah blah blah. Yada yada and all that jazz. What did you think of Captain America 3: Civil War? I think RDJ's TONY STARK® is getting a little testy. He's all serious now and not the care-free billionaire-philanthropist we first met. Guess you could say he's grown. Yeah whatever. The movie rocked still. It was way better than AVENGERS® 2, and that wasn't bad at all. Since we're on the topic of comic book related movies, let's tak about SUPERMAN® v BATMAN®. I think it was as good as anything MARVEL® has released. The issue I think DC® is having is playing catch-up to MARVEL®. I cannot understand all the whinning about how supposedly bad it was. They totally referenced the material and included a lot of iconic imagery from the comics. Maybe having DOOMSDAY® was a bit much but JESSE EISENBERG'S LEX LUTHOR® more than made up for things like that. Anyway, so...what's going on in your world? And uhm, why are you reading this? I mean really, are you that bored? I don't think even the biggest comic book fanboy has ever read this section. Ok, I did, once. But for reals. Read the comic. You'll learn stuff and things related to the halftone process of printing. Knowledge is POWER people. So turn the page and enjoy!
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
1
IT’S ALRIGHT, SON. GET IT TOGETHER.
C-DOG'S TAKE'N TOO LONG WITH ALL THAT JIBBAH-JABBAH. WE GOTSTA WORK FASTER. THINK I'LL USE MORE COERCIVE MEANS TO GET THESE PEEPS OUTTA DODGE.
ALL THIS IS ABOVE YOUR PAY-GRADE, BUT YOU NEED TO START GETTING THESE CIVILIANS OUT OF HERE. THE THREAT IS IMMINENT.
GET AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN ON YOUR BUS AND THEN GET OUT OF HERE! UNDERSTAND?
HALT!!!
WHA...???
NOW!!
ATTENTION KMART SHOPPERS! THERE'S A BLUE-LIGHT SPECIAL ON ME. I’M ‘BOUST TA THROW DOWN THE FUNK!
GIT YO BUTTS ON THE BUS PEOPLE! GIT YO BUTTS ON THE BUS!
GIT YO BUTTS ON THE BUS PEOPLE! AND DONT YOU STOP FOR LUNCH!
NOT MY BEST RAP, BUT IT'S ALLS I GOTS, ALLS CONSIDERING.
THINK WE GOOD HERE. HOPE THE OTHERS ARE HANDLING THE ROCKS.
2
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
BUT I GIT THE FEELING THESE ALIEN SPACE-ROCKS ARE MORE THAN JUST ALIEN. I FEELS SUMIN...
...SUMIN I HAVEN'T FELT IN A LONG TIME. A LONG TIME. NOW I'VE SEEN IT ALL. THESE ROCKS LOOK LIKE GIANT FRUITY PEBBLE BITS! AND THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM. THIS ISN'T RIGHT.
NO TIME TO WORRY WHY THESE THINGS ARE COLORED. MOST WILL BURN UP IN THE ATMOSPHERE... ...BUT I STILL NEED TO CUT SOME DOWN TO SIZE...
SHE THEN TAKES AIM ON A LARGE ONE, THE SIZE OF A CITY BLOCK, AND UNLEASHES A HUGE DESTRUCTIVE BLAST OF CONCUSSIVE ENERGY. IT EXPLODES IN A HAIL OF BODY-SIZED BITS.
CHANGING HER LIVING ENERGY INTO INTENSE HEAT, CAPTAIN MARVEL IS ABLE TO BURN OFF A SCORE OF THE FESTIVE COLORED FRAGMENTS. IT'S NEVERENDING! I NEED HELP. IF I LET UP FOR EVEN A SECOND...
NEVER FEAR M'LADY!
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
3
DOST THOU FANCY THE NEW DIGS?* DRINKETH ME IN!
THE MIGHTY THOR HAS ARRIVED, MS. MARVEL, READY TO ASSIST THEE.
EGADS, BUT THESE ROCKS ARE SO COLORFUL. LET ME SMITE THIS ONE I HAVE ACQUIRED AS A STAND-IN STEED.
*COSTUME
...LIKE TWIRLING MJOLNIR AND REENACTING THE HUMAN GAME OF BALL-OF-BASE.
ALAS, IT HAD NO EFFECT! I SHALL HAVE TO TRY SOMETHING NEW...
MEANWHILE, IN THE QUINJET...
SHE-HULK, YOU NEED TO FLY STRAIGHT AND ALSO DODGE THESE ROCKS SO I CAN SHOOT THEM.
?!REALLY!? THAT ALMOST DIDN'T NOT MAKE SENSE.
'BOUT TIME YOU GOT ONE.
LOCKING ON TARGET...FIRE!
4
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
WELL, AS I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED, IF YOU COULD...
SEE!?! I F*@$!! TOLD YOU! WE'RE HIT! NOW WE'RE GONNA DIE! WHY DID I LET YOU DRIVE?!?!
YOU REALLY NEED TO STOP AND THINK ABOUT YOUR NEXT WORDS. WHY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
BECAUSE IF THOSE WORDS ARE WHAT I THINK THEY ARE, IT WOULD MAKE ME ANGRY. AND YOU KNOW THAT'S NEVER GOOD!
BLACK KNIGHT... THOR!!!
...ARE YOU A MAN?
I SEE IT, MY CHOCOLATE-MOCHA GODDESS. WE MUST ACT IN HASTE.
YOU HELP THEM. I'LL MAKE SURE THERE'S A PLACE THEY CAN "LAND". ...NOT THAT IT MATTERS! WE'RE GONNA DIE! IN A BALL OF FLAMES! AT KMART!
WE'VE LOST ENGINES ,NAV, HELM, LIFE SUPPORT...
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
5
KNIGHT, YOU REALLY NEED TO PULL YOUR CRAP TOGETHER BEFORE I PULL YOU APART!
COLOR TALK WITH NO Y O JORE NG N E MXCITI OR ! E
L A O C IVI TR
HAVING A LIMITED COLOR PALETTE MEANT HAVING TO GET CREATIVE WITH WHAT COLORS YOU DID HAVE. NOTICE THAT ALL THE VILLANS IN THE BACKROUND OF THE MAIN PICTURE ARE DIFFERENT VALUES OF ONE COLOR, MAGENTA. THIS GIVES THE EFFECT OF DISTANCE, AND ALSO ALLOWS THE HEROES TO "POP". THE MAGENTA ALSO REFERENCES MAGNETO'S COSTUME COLOR.
BROWN: 38,58,62,20
SKIN1:
13,20,27,0
BLUE:
80,58,24,4
LT. BRN:
15,23,80,0
SKIN2:
44,34,34,1
RED:
14,75,68,2
SKIN:
13,37,51,0
HAIR:
38,58,62,20
OH, THE DAYS OF CHEAP NEWSPRINT! IF YOU'VE NOTICED, THE COLOR OF THE PAPER IN THIS SPREAD IS DARKER THAN THE REST OF THE PAGES THAT MAKE UP THIS COMIC. THAT'S BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL AD OF THIS SPREAD IS FROM AN X-MEN COMIC THAT USED A CHEAP PAPER, COMPARED TO THE WHITER PAPER USED IN THE AVENGERS VS. THE X-MEN. WHY WAS THIS DONE, CONSIDERING THE ISSUE THIS AD CAME FROM WAS X-MEN #1, 1991, WHAT IS NOW
O ONE IN PARTICULAR
THESE ARE THE CMYK PERCENTAGES FOR EACH OF OUR FINE HEROES. NOTICE HOW SOME OF THE COLORS ARE MATCHES TO EACH OTHER, SUCH AS SKIN. THIS HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THE COSTS OF COLORING BACK THEN. YOU'LL NOTICE HOW BANSHEE'S HAIR AND THE LIGHT BROWN IN WOLVERINE'S COSTUME ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME COLOR. EVEN CYCLOPS'S HAIR IS THE SAME COLOR AS THE DARK BROWN IN WOLVERIN'E'S COSTUME.
YELLOW: 19,38,81,1 SKIN:
13,37,51,0
HAIR:
15,23,80,0
THE NUMBERS HERE AREN'T INDICATIVE OF HOW THEY LABELED COLORS FOR COMICS BACK IN THE DAY. ACTUALLY, THE COLORIST OF THE COMIC WOULD PENCIL IN CODES LIKE R50Y50, MEANING THE COLOR TO BE USED CONSISTED OF 50% RED AND 50% YELLOW. THEY USED THE NAMES RED AND BLUE FOR MAGENTA AND CYAN, RESPECTIVELY.
SEND ME YOUR MONEY AND I WILL SEND YOU ONE OF THESE FOUR PRINTS THAT YOU CAN COLOR YOURSELF. SEND $50 TO: ME B&W POSTER OFFER 360 RIPEDOFF LN. PO BOX WD40 YOOGOTEKEN, KA 01134-WD40 ALLOW FOREVER FOR DELIVERY. NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN DUE TO ANYTHING. POSTERS ARE SHOWN ACTUAL SIZE.
CONSIDERED THE BEST-SELLING COMIC BOOK OF ALL TIME? I DON'T REALLY KNOW. THEY DID A LARGE RUN OF X-MEN #1, POSSIBLY ANTICIPATNG THE HIGH SALES. THE CHEAP PAPER MAY HAVE BEEN A WAY TO KEEP COSTS DOWN IN CASE THE ANTICIPATED SALES WERE NOTHING MORE THAN A PIPE-DREAM. ANYWAY, MY COMIC AGED AND THE PAPER DARKENED. MY SCANNER IS AWESOME AND CAPTURED ALL THIS DETAIL FOR YOU TO GAZE AND WONDER UPON.
CAPTAIN, WE NEED THE AREA CLEARED!
DUH, IT'S WHAT I'M DOING, MS. MARVEL!
THE ROCKS AREN'T AN ISSUE NOW, BUT THE QUINJET WAS HIT. IT'S COMING IN HOT! TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.
I SEE THE MART-OF-K IS CLEAR. ONLY MY COMRADES LINGER NEAR. STAND YE ASIDE, MORTALS! THANKS GOLDILOCKS! ANY LANDING YOU CAN WALK AWAY FROM IS A GOOD LANDING.
BY WIELDING THE POWER OF THE WIND I SHALL CREATE A REVERSE-VORTEX * TO SLOW MY COMRADES ASCENT. TIMING IS CRUCIAL, FOR I DO NOT WISH TO BECOME A CAKE-OF-THE-PAN. LO, BUT 'TIS GOOD TO BE A DIETY!
(WHIMPER) E AR E W D E AD ?
*PSUEDO-SCIENCE JARGON
8
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
THEN...
WHO DAT? WHO DER?
WHAT'S SHE DOING?
THIS THING, IT'S LIKE ITS GLUED TO THE QUINJET. I NEED TO DIG DEEP, FIND SOMETHING, A THOUGHT, TO MOTIVATE ME...
TA-DAH!
...BLACK KNIGHT!
WHAT'S THE DEAL?
TOTS AWESOME! CHUCK IT OVER THERE.
THE ROCKS, YOU AND THOR HANDLED THEM?
NO PROBLEM!
GOOD WORK. YOU SAVED THIS LOCAL KMART.
YES, WE DID. AND THANK YOU, SIR. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SAVE THIS STORE. WE WOULDN'T WANT WALMART COMING IN TO TAKE ITS PLACE.
THIS ROCK'S COLORING IS MAGENTA, WITH SLIGHT VARIATIONS IN THE DOT SIZES AND FREQUENCY TO CREATE THE DIFFERENT TINTS.
YES. IT'S STRANGE THAT THIS IS THE ROCK'S ENTIRE COMPOSITION.
I HEARD SHE-HULK SAY YOU SCREAM LIKE A LITTLE GIRL.
EXCELLENT! I'M LAWRENCE HERBERT. ...AND I DON'T SCREAM LIKE A LITTLE GIRL...
PMS REPRESENTATIVE TO S.H.I.E.L.D. WE'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE AVENGERS.
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
9
WELL SHE'S THE ONE.... WHAT'S WRONG?
SOMETHING WEIRD HERE ...
WITH A MIGHTY SWING OF HIS SWORD, THE BLACK KNIGHT MANAGES TO CUT OFF A PIECE OF THE ALIEN ROCK. IT SPEEDS OFF TOWARDS THE DISABLED QUINJET.
GIRL, EH?
INTERESTING...
I GET IT! THE ROCK IS ATTRACTED TO WHITE.
LOOK AT WHAT'S BENEATH THE ROCK SURFACE. IT'S WHITE BUT SOMETHING MORE...OR LESS. UHM, LET ME TAKE A LOOK...
SPECIFICALLY THE ABSENCE OF COLOR. IT'S A GOOD THING WE ALREADY HAVE COLOR, OR WHO KNOWS WHAT WE WOULD LOOK LIKE?
CONFUSED YET? YOU'RE NOT ALONE. OUR HEROES SEEM JUST AS BEWILDERED. WILL THEY MAKE SENSE OF THE WEAK COLOR PLOT-POINTS IN TIME? MORE IMPORTANTLY, WILL YOU?
LET THIS ILLUSTRATION SERVE AS A METAPHOR FOR THIS COMIC.
10
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
A QUICK WORD WITH...
" FR
EE
"
TO FAKE US ALL OUT THE FOOLS USE ANGLES WITH EACH COLOR WHEN THEY'RE STACKED. THIS IS DONE SO A PATTERN ISN'T CREATED, OR MOIRÉ, THAT WOULD BE NOTICABLE AND TAKE AWAY FROM THE COLOR EFFECT. HERE'S A TABLE SHOWING THE MOST COMMONLY USED ANGLES FOR EACH COLOR.
CYAN
15°
INTERESTED IN RECEIVING A " FREE" PICTURE OF THE DOT PATTERN? SEND US YOUR ◊ NAME: ◊ ADDRESS: ◊ EMAIL:
MAGENTA
75°
◊ CELL: ◊ DOB: ◊ SSN: ◊ BLOOD TYPE: ◊ MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME:
YELLOW
0°
◊ COMPUTER PASSWORD: ◊ CATS OR DOGS:
SEND A SASE WITH $50 M.O. TO:
BLACK WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
45° 11
POSTER OFFER 360 RIPEDOFF LN. PO BOX WD40 YOOGOTEKEN, KA 01134-WD40 TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILED DELIVERY OF "FREE" POSTER. MONEY NON-REFUNDABLE FOR ANY REASON.
TOTALLY
RANDOM FACTS ABOUT MY COMIC BOOK COLLECTION MARVEL
DC
12
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE LIKE AREA 51 WITHOUT BEING AREA 51 OK, LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT...
YOU FORGOT TO MENTION THAT RUBYLITH IS USED TO CREATE THE OUTLINES OF WHERE THE COLOR WOULD GO, ON THE SEPERATE LAYERS..
WHERE THE FILM ISN'T CUT CREATES A NEGATIVE SPACE, AND NO COLOR PRINTS THERE. DOT PATTERNS ARE USED TO CREATE THE PERCENTAGES. *SIGH*
...ALL OUR COLORS ARE MADE UP OF THREE COLORS; CYAN, MAGENTA AND YELLOW, USING SEPERATE LAYERS FOR EACH AND THOSE AT 25%, 50% OR 75%? WITH ALL THAT WE GET REDS AND GREEN AND BLUES,PINKS AND BROWNS, ETC? YES, AND THE COLORING IS DONE FOR EACH PAGE TRANSLATED, A SINGLE VERSION OF EACH PAGE IS THEN CREATED.
THESE INCLUDE THE PERCENTAGES AND SOLIDS.
A FOURTH FILM OF THE CLEAN ART IS USED TO CREATE THE BLACK PLATE.
LO, 'TIS MUCH WORK TO MAKE A COMIC BOOK. I PRAY THE YOUNG READERS APPRECIATE THE WORK.
WE COULD SEND OUT FLYERS, TELLING EVERYONE TO STAY AWAY FROM ANY COLOREDROGUESPACEROCKS.
HOMIES, WE NEED TO GIT WORD TO THE PEEPS THAT THESE SPACE-ROCKS BOUTSTA WRECK HAVOC ON ALL PIGMENTATION.
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
THESE THREE FILMS ARE USED TO CREATE PRINTING PLATES,
13
YEAH WE COULD USE A FUN FONT LIKE COMIC SANS; THE BEST THING TO COME OUT OF REDMOND. EVER!
WHY NOT? WHAT’S THE WORSE THAT COULD HAPPEN?
YO DOG, ONE DON’T SIMPLY USE COMIC SANS, YO.
DOG, THERE WAS THIS CAT, MAGENTO, AND HE WAS ALL ‘BOUTS COMIC SANS. HE STARTED A GD* WAR! CITIES BURNED! HE WAS LOLZ !
*GD, AS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN... A DESIGNER'S TABOO. WHO KNEW OF SUCH A THING? WELL, WE COULD TRY PAPYRUS*.
LOOK! WE NEED TO GET BACK ON TRACK AND FIGURE THIS HALFTONE BUSINESS OUT.
YEAH DUDE, LIKE YOUR NAME AND ALL...
FOR ONCE I AGREE WITH CAPTAIN OBVIOUS. WE'RE DEALING WITH COLOR, ...AND ALL HARVEY HAS DONE IS A BUNCH OF JIBBAH -JABBAH HERE AND THERE.
HARVEY, YOU'RE NO HELP AT ALL!
*NOOOOOOO!!!!!!! 'BOUT TIME SOMEONE SPOKE UP!
TO BE HONEST, I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS. HE GOT OFF THE QUINJET WITH ME AT KMART, I FIGURED HE WAS WITH ONE OF YOU. IT SEEMS WE'VE LAXED IN OUR SECURITY.
BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS; WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE? YOU'D THINK HARVEY HALFTONE WOULD HAVE SOME INSIGHT TO THIS ALIEN-COLOR-SPACE-ROCK BUSINESS, BUT NOTHING!
14
NEXT ISSUE: (THERE'S A NEXT ISSUE?)
WHO IS HARVEY HALFTONE?
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BEATTY, GARY SCOTT. “COLORING COMIC BOOKS BEFORE COMPUTERS.” COMIC ARTISTS DIRECT. N.P., N.D. WEB. 07 SEPT. 2015. <HTTP://WWW.COMICARTISTSDIRECT.COM/ARTICLES/COLORING. HTML>. GRAIS, STUART. “COMICS COLOR.” COMICS COLOR. DEPAUL UNIVERSITY, N.D. WEB. 07 SEPT. 2015. <HTTP://FACWEB.CS.DEPAUL. EDU/SGRAIS/COMICS_COLOR.HTM>. PRITCHARD, GORDON. “HALFTONE SCREEN ANGLES.” THE PRINT GUIDE: HALFTONE SCREEN ANGLES. BLOGGER, 24 MAY 2009. WEB. 8 SEPT. 2015. <HTTP://THE-PRINT-GUIDE.BLOGSPOT.COM/2009/05/ HALFTONE-SCREEN-ANGLES.HTML>. STERN, ROGER, MARC SILVESTRI, TOM DEFALCO, KEITH POLLARD, AND JOSEF RUBINSTEIN. THE X-MEN VS. THE AVENGERS. VOL. 1. NEW YORK, NY: MARVEL COMICS, 1987. PRINT. "SDCC 2010: MARVEL BREAKS WORLD RECORD." SDCC 2010: MARVEL BREAKS WORLD RECORD. MARVEL, 08 AUG. 2010. WEB. 19 SEPT. 2015. <HTTP://MARVEL.COM/NEWS/COMICS/13598/SDCC_2010_MARVEL_ BREAKS_WORLD_RECORD>.
ORIGINAL
ORIGINAL
S T N WA HE T N O IN
DC LOOK O U T M A R V EL !
You may be wondering why toy Superman is knocking ol' Luthor back a step. You could say it's because Superman likes his legs squeezed together now and then. But for all that is sacred and holy, it's because Lex messed with the design on this page! He went all CMY on the main title and then put red and green together in the sub. What a rookie. Don't get me started on kearning, leading, tracking and font pairing. I mean, good lord Lex! And what's that NEW about? Anyone, anyone? Bueller? New what? New DC action figures from 1984? New ways to crap on design, perhaps? DC, late to the party again.