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Stephen Sharpe

Joined May 2015 Newark on Trent

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Hello, I'm Stephen, I'm obsessed with cartoons, gaming and cake. I write and illustrate comics in my spare time and 'work' as a freelance illustrator/designer, I graduated from the fantastic University of Lincoln, and have since moved back to my home town of Newark in Nottingham.

Tools

Photoshop, Cintiq 13HD
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Nov 10, 2021
A teensy-wee update, I'm in the process of updating and reuploading pdf versions of the comic to my new Ko-Fi page. So far Issues 1 and 2 are up to download for free. There's no major changes there, besides some rewriting, and alterations to the speech balloons (because gawd, they looked awful) but it's nothing that would effect the entire story. I'm just about to finish Issue 3 and there's a few updates to artwork in there, because looking back, a few choices I made were definitely cringeworthy. Check them out at: https://ko-fi.com/stephensharpe/shop and let me know what you think, it's definitely a walk down memory lane looking at what used to be.

Issue 9 has kind of stalled due to work commitments as expected, probably looking at early next year when I can finally start posting it. I just don't want large gaps between uploads like I have in previous years. Currently on page 8 with that one. Anyway, it's back to the shadow realm with me. Hope you're all well, and I'll hopefully see you all again soon.
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Sep 15, 2020
Bad news I'm afraid, my computer blew up earlier tonight. I've definitely lost some of the page I'm working on. Looking to get a professional to look at it before I start ordering new parts... So might be a while before I'll be updating. Annoying as I'm so closed to the end. Apologies everyone.
2 comments
Blue World Comics
Blue World Comics Sep 17, 2020
I forgive you!
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Aug 05, 2019
Rejoice! There's a very belated page going up today. As usual, work is getting in the way of being productive, and when I do get back from work, all I want to do is crash out.

That's not say I've not been busy though, I've taken up a little something on the side, you see, a certain character gives me a headache whenever I try to draw him, so my first instinct was to make a model of him I can draw from an angle... I just have to learn how to model first. Can you tell who it is yet? (because he looks nothing like he's supposed to yet!)
143785
143785 Aug 05, 2019
Well, the animal snout definitly is a hint.
Will that be Garret?
Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Aug 05, 2019
Ding ding ding, we have a winner! He definitely needs bulking out though, if anything, he's too snout-y!
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m_monk
m_monk Jul 08, 2019
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Mar 18, 2019
It's been a while huh? Sorry about that. I had started working on the next chapter mid February but then had a slight crisis of confidence 2 pages in. The path I was going down seemed like a straight up retelling of Issue 5 rather than any sort of continuation, so I've gone back to the drawing board, had a rethink and am hopefully on a better track now.

As ever, thanks for your patience, hopefully will return in full swing soon.

Also a quick shameless plug, right now on etsy I'm selling physical copies of the first 4 issues super cheap. I'm trying to clear some space at home, so if that's something you're interested in, please check those out.
143785
143785 Mar 19, 2019
nice seeing you again ^^
No worries about the break
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Oct 14, 2018
Quick update to say now that issue 7 is wrapped up, I finally (remembered) to convert it into a PDF file for you to download for free on gumtree if that's your thing.
https://gumroad.com/sharpedesign

For any UK readers, I'm actually tabling at Nottingham Comic Con this Saturday (20th October) so if your close by, pop along, say hello if you want to. I've got the first 4 issues of The Justice Guardians printed as well as unrelated postcards, posters and enamel pins.

Tickets are £9.21 I believe, I'm not entirely sure if you can buy them on the day? All I know is that there's some amazing talent going and that my wallet will be crying.
http://www.nottinghamcomiccon.co.uk

Oh, it's also Inktober/OCtober, I've been (trying) to keep up over on instagram/twitter/facebook/tumblr. It's justice Guardian themed this year, some interesting prompts I'm having some fun with like the 3 Reapers here...

That's all for now, speak to you again soon-ish.
MLashinsky
MLashinsky Oct 14, 2018
New avatar!
Strontium
Strontium Oct 14, 2018
Charlie with Grim and Reaper from Overwatch! I love it!
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Apr 06, 2018
Just a quick heads up... there's a fair amount of stuff that's changed this issue...and 2 of the more drastic ones are coming up over the next few weeks. This week I seem to have my mid-comic crisis and decided this idea was dumb (https://tapas.io/episode/261341).

Hopefully this new look will make up for it. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got taxes to sort out. Until next time!
Suppe von der Katz
Suppe von der Katz Apr 06, 2018
Agreed, the new one looks way more practical. I personally would pick the left one~
Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Apr 06, 2018
For sure! I was just so worried about it being too drastic a change. Left is the one close friends have chosen too so far. Breaks up all that middle purple.
Suppe von der Katz
Suppe von der Katz Apr 06, 2018
It also gives a bit of contrast as well as the abillity to "store" some stuff. I also like the new mask, nothings better then some classics~
Mike Exner III
Mike Exner III Apr 09, 2018
Might be a tougher choice if it was a pick between option 1, and then maybe option 2 had just the belt. But between these two? Definitely option 1.
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Jan 27, 2018
Possible chance that there may be no comic next week as planned, my computer went kaput yesterday midway through a page, so I don't know if I've lost what progress I had. In the process of working out what to do. Sorry for the irregularity guys!
143785
143785 Jan 27, 2018
no worries about the update, but I hope your computer isn't too broken?
MLashinsky
MLashinsky Jan 28, 2018
Good luck with the 'puter. (I work in IT, and I tell people, "They're computers. They're not supposed to work. Once you accept that, it gets easier...")
Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Jan 29, 2018
It's in a workable condition, in so far as it works until it doesn't. I had 3 tabs open in Chrome the other day and it went kaput. Just deciding whether it's worth rebuilding from scratch, or messing about with what I've already got. which is a bit limited now that my motherboard is nearly 7 years old :/
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Jan 12, 2018
A rare treat, I found a whole bunch of artwork that I thought was lost to time today on some old CDs. YUP, this lot is from 2009, 4 years before starting work on the actual comic. There's still a few villains there I will be incorporating at some point in the future hopefully.

And hey! I promise new pages are in the works, after a strong start earlier this work with some minor fixes to previous pages, I hit a snag with my computer setup, but It's back up and raring to go!
Strontium
Strontium Jan 12, 2018
Gonna say, your art has gotten a lot better since you drew these guys XD Ivan's old design is so cliche! I'm glad you changed it!
143785
143785 Jan 12, 2018
Uh, cool!
I hope Miss Spikey gets a comeback :3
Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Jan 12, 2018
Oh for sure... taking a step back and simplifying characters (as in from the first comic) surprisingly helped. If I had carried on like this, I'd want to go back a redo the entire thing! (I mean, there's still wonky parts in those early comics I'd redo if time was available).

Not the one I had in mind, but always a possibility! There's a few people there that have already merged into other characters.
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Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Nov 18, 2017
Hello everyone! Long time no update.
SO... CHRISTMAS IS UPON US ONCE AGAIN.

As you may or may not noticed, the schedule has gone a bit slow recently, this is due to increasing hours at work and not being able to maintain a nice buffer.

While I will try to maintain the current fortnightly schedule, I would just ask if you could please bare with me if episodes don't go up at the usual time. I'd hate to put the series on a long hiatus again, but that may indeed be the case, at least until the madness of the holidays has passed.

Thanks for your understanding.

Stephen
143785
143785 Nov 18, 2017
Is okay, just take care of yourself first, dude ^^
Intense Inferno
Intense Inferno Nov 18, 2017
We totally get it. Take your time. We'd rather you be rested up and enjoying posting here than you starting to hate this because of all the pressure.
Stephen Sharpe
Stephen Sharpe creator Nov 30, 2017
Thanks ever so much for your understanding! It'll be nowhere near as long as last time!
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