Nils-Petter Norlin and Nick Marino (that's me!) talk about how they began developing The Evil Life webcomic eight years ago, looking back at the early years of their long (and largely secret) collaboration that's finally being seen by the world!

Making Evil episode 001 [ 50:42 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A MODOK sketch by Nils from Nick's old blog series, Project Basement.

Along with recounting the beginning of their storytelling partnership, Nils and Nick tease their upcoming underwater koala graphic novel by comparing the way that they make comics nowadays to the organic and unexpected way that The Evil Life was developed and written years ago.

A 2011 concept sketch of Prince Gloom's bedroom by Nils.

You can follow The Evil Life webcomic here on this site or over on Webtoon. We've released three chapters so far (1: Take Care, 2: Royal Grumble, and 3: The Curse) and our fourth chapter will be out next week.

That's right. I rejected my own sketch.

See, I wouldn't normally do that... but the one you see above just didn't feel right. I mean, it's a fine cartoon and all. But to me, it doesn't embody what Project Basement is all about -- the raw energy of a sketch, no matter the quality.

There's not much energy to it. And to take that a step further, I didn't have much energy in me by the time I was drawing it. In fact, it was maybe my sixth or seventh stab at the concept and I was pretty drained.

Then I sucked even more life out of it with the colors. Even now, I'm not that happy with them. The halftone pattern looks to heavy to me, and all the colors are muted in a really ugly way.

That's why I ended up going with this sketch of Christian Bale movie Batman. So click that link and pop over to the AudioShocker to check the sketch and see what I have to say about the character!

I've been working hard on a TON of projects, including:

- the upcoming Time Log webcomic (only one more week to go!)

- the most recent (and final, for the time being) story arc on Super Haters

- a new opening theme for the Comic Book Pitt podcast (the song itself will be available on my next album, 7 Star Sky Flash Kick, due out whenever I have 13 original tracks mixed and mastered for release)

- Project Basement, a fan art collection of raw, energetic pieces

- coordinating the comics end of SPF 2010 (SPF as in Pittsburgh's Small Press Festival)

- contributing to the Sequential Underground Strip Club vol 1 (a rotating series of fast and fun comic strips)

- getting the Time Log one-shot into a ton of stores (shout outs to Dragon's Lair in San Antonio and Austin, Tribe in Austin, Atomic Comics in San Antonio, Alien Worlds in San Antonio, St. Mark's Comics in Manhattan NYC, Comicazi in Somerville MA, Hub Comics in Somerville, New England Comics in Cambridge, Copacetic Comics in Pittsburgh, and Phantom of the Attic Comics in Oakland/Pittsburgh -- all these shops picked up copies of Time Log to sell in their stores)

- and doing this Sleepwalker sketch for Ross because he took my Henry Poole is Here challenge: