Friends of the Dead--a vampire webcomic

Calling all self-proclaimed mangaka!

Friends of the Dead--a vampire webcomic

Postby Maledicte » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:45 pm

Friends of the Dead

Plot: It has Van Helsing, Dracula, vampires and other night things. Like the movie Van Helsing only not. I don't want to give away anymore. :brow: Still currently on the prologue, about 1/3 through.

Violence: 3, escalates to around 8-9 as the story progresses. Most of the violence will be implied if at all possible.

Language: 2 (I'm not sure how the language will go, but there's not going to be cursing left and right, I know that for sure.

Sexual Content: 1 now, around 5 later. No actual sex scenes shown, mostly sexual situations/lewd talk between adults.

Nudity (or skimpy outfits): 1 now, 5 later. Partial nudity, male and female.

Bad Religion: 3--Well, it has vampires. :lol: Christianity is mostly implied between the characters.

DeviantART link
Webcomicsnation link
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby Fish and Chips » Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:23 pm

I would just like to assert that it has been medically proven that people who keep up with Friends of the Dead on a regular basis win at life 15% harder than those who do not.
User avatar
Fish and Chips
 
Posts: 4415
Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere.

Postby Maledicte » Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:20 pm

That's the best endorsement of my work that I've ever heard. :D
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby kryptech » Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:52 am

I rather like vampires so this thread caught my eye. I read all the pages that have been posted so far -- very nice. I've bookmarked it and will be checking back for new pages.
"Everybody's weird in their own special way." - P.V.
"Never refuse a breath mint." - my dad
"The UAC is making safer worlds through superior firepower." - Doom 3
"This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

"I'm too cool to scroll. -- MOES."
User avatar
kryptech
 
Posts: 393
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: GTA

Postby Maledicte » Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:23 pm

A warning about the Webcomicsnation page: if you click "last" at the bottom of the page, it will take you right back to the beginning. It's a bug they have to work out.
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby uc pseudonym » Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:10 pm

SirThinks2Much wrote:Like the movie Van Helsing only not.

Huh. Interesting that you say that.
User avatar
uc pseudonym
 
Posts: 15506
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Tanzania

Postby Maledicte » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:47 pm

uc pseudonym (post: 1199470) wrote:Huh. Interesting that you say that.

Van Helsing was actually the reason why my friends and I came up with the story. We love the movie, but it's such a bad one as well. So we wanted to make something "literarily correct."

The prologue was something I came up with prior to working with them, but we managed to fit it in.
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby uc pseudonym » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:12 pm

SirThinks2Much wrote:Van Helsing was actually the reason why my friends and I came up with the story. We love the movie, but it's such a bad one as well. So we wanted to make something "literarily correct."

I think I have a much better sense for your intent in this comic now. There are so many ways people can go with vampires, and from the beginning I was expecting the more relaxed, less fantastic variety. My opinion of the Van Helsing film is somewhat low (saw it only as a social activity) but I'm interested to see what you develop.
User avatar
uc pseudonym
 
Posts: 15506
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
Location: Tanzania

Postby Maledicte » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:34 pm

I saw VH as a social activity, as well (and I thought it was the best movie ever after I came out of the theatre. It was only after later reflection that I realized just how corny it was).

It's not going to be evident in this comic, but I do plan on going pretty far with a different vampire mythos. I decided to tie this in with a future vampire story, which will open up the "universe" if you will...but that's a long ways ahead. You know, baskets and eggs and all that.
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby Blitzkrieg1701 » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:47 pm

Very nice!
Image Image

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Purple"]For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this: that one died for all, therefore all died; and he that died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. II Corinthians 5:14-15[/color][/font]
User avatar
Blitzkrieg1701
 
Posts: 1884
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:01 am
Location: Washington, DC (when I'm not in an alternate universe)

Postby Maledicte » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:33 pm

The vampires are coming soon! :D

The prologue was originally OVER by now! Now it's twice as long or more.
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby GhostontheNet » Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:45 pm

Remember this though: it is an absolute essential part of every vampyre story from earliest times to modern movies (and I've seen a good many) that the lead vampyre must offer his first victim wine (and also typically bread) but partake of none himself/herself. This is a timelessly haunting scene because it serves as an inverted communion, which suggests that the vampyre draws the source of his own eternal "life" from an equally inverted source to Christ's sacrificial death (represented in the communion). In practice, this turns out to be stealing the lifeblood and life from his own victims, which makes these dining scenes turn out to be a communion of death.
User avatar
GhostontheNet
 
Posts: 1963
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Aurora, CO

Postby mechana2015 » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:04 pm

GhostontheNet (post: 1204240) wrote:Remember this though: it is an absolute essential part of every vampyre story from earliest times to modern movies (and I've seen a good many) that the lead vampyre must offer his first victim wine (and also typically bread) but partake of none himself/herself. This is a timelessly haunting scene because it serves as an inverted communion, which suggests that the vampyre draws the source of his own eternal "life" from an equally inverted source to Christ's sacrificial death (represented in the communion). In practice, this turns out to be stealing the lifeblood and life from his own victims, which makes these dining scenes turn out to be a communion of death.


Where on earth did you get this... I can name a ton of stories where this doesn't happen.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby Shao Feng-Li » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:24 pm

It was kinda like that in Dracula I think...

Anyways, really enjoying the comic :D
User avatar
Shao Feng-Li
 
Posts: 5187
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2003 12:00 pm
Location: Idaho

Postby GhostontheNet » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:15 pm

mechana2015 (post: 1204799) wrote:Where on earth did you get this... I can name a ton of stories where this doesn't happen.
And frankly, most of the vampyre stories where this does not occur tend to be written by authors that are not very well versed in Catholic imagery, or wish to downplay this aspect of the vampyre myth. The connection is so strong that Thomas D. Foster, in his influential How To Read Literature Like a Professor lists back to back chapters titled "Nice To Eat With You.... Acts of Communion" and "Nice To Eat You.... Acts of Vampires" that make significant connections between the two. Many of the methods that are useful in interpreting literature are also useful in interpreting cinema. Just a couple of examples of this motif in influential vampyre movies are as follows.

Nosferatu (1921)

Jonathan Harker has just reached the castle of Count Dracula to find a pasty-faced noble that looks suspiciously rat-faced. Dracula seats Harker down to a rich feast that prominently includes bread and wine. Harker feasts while Dracula remains superficially occupied with the details of his contract to move from Transylvania to Bremen. Then, after an especially skelletal clock strikes the midnight hour (the hour of death), Harker cuts his finger while slicing the bread and an especially tense standoff occurs between the two that makes Harker begin to suspect that Dracula is not as he seems.

Dracula (1931)

Renfield has arrived at Castle Dracula, but the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the ruined castle makes him suspect that it has been abandoned. Then, in a classic scene of film history, Renfield unexpectedly encounters the handsome and charismatic Count Dracula on a long staircase filled with enormous spider webs. After waxing poetic about predatory animals like wolves and spiders, Dracula leads Renfield into a well lit dining hall, and prepares a feast of bread and wine. Renfield cuts his finger while slicing the bread, and Dracula's bloodlust is triggered, but Renfield is obliviously saved by the crucifix (symbolic of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection) around his neck. Dracula offers Renfield wine after he places the crucifix in his pocket (symbolic of his personal rejection of Christ's sacrifice). When Renfield asks Dracula whether he will join him in drinking wine, Dracula responds with the classic line "I never drink.... wine." So influential was this line that when the theatrical production of Dracula was being revived, the directors had to add this line to the script because audiences everywhere demanded it.

If you wish, I can keep this list going for at least a dozen vampyre movies up to the present.
User avatar
GhostontheNet
 
Posts: 1963
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Aurora, CO

Postby Maledicte » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:03 pm

For that, I'll endeavor to *NOT* put in a scene like that. I can forget it if I wish. It is not essential in the least, and there is a heck of a lot going on in my story other than vampires (I suppose you haven't seen the movie Van Helsing, on which I said this comic was inspired by). I'm avoiding religious overtones for the most part, and working with historical/literary context instead. Keep in mind that there have been myths about vampires in areas where Catholicism had not yet spread, even predating Catholicism. Therefore, this sort of scene is not an inbred part of the myth. Someone could become a vampire by being a seventh son, committing suicide, or being born with red hair. As far as I know, none of these aspects have been included in any vampire movies, and certainly not Bram Stoker's novel. Neither of those movies you mentioned follow the novel that closely, either.

I don't suppose there's an influential book out there called "How To Read Literature Like a WRITER."

Writing vampire with a "y" doesn't make it any more valid than writing it with an "i." If that were the case, we'd be writing our "s'" as "f's".
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby Fish and Chips » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:10 pm

SirThinks2Much (post: 1205171) wrote:For that, I'll endeavor to *NOT* put in a scene like that. I can forget it if I wish. It is not essential in the least, and there is a heck of a lot going on in my story other than vampires (I suppose you haven't seen the movie Van Helsing, on which I said this comic was inspired by). I'm avoiding religious overtones for the most part, and working with historical/literary context instead. Keep in mind that there have been myths about vampires in areas where Catholicism had not yet spread, even predating Catholicism. Therefore, this sort of scene is not an inbred part of the myth. Someone could become a vampire by being a seventh son, committing suicide, or being born with red hair. As far as I know, none of these aspects have been included in any vampire movies, and certainly not Bram Stoker's novel. Neither of those movies you mentioned follow the novel that closely, either.

I don't suppose there's an influential book out there called "How To Read Literature Like a WRITER."

Writing vampire with a "y" doesn't make it any more valid than writing it with an "i." If that were the case, we'd be writing our "s'" as "f's".

This post is the most epic win ever to be won.
User avatar
Fish and Chips
 
Posts: 4415
Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere.

Postby Radical Dreamer » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:12 pm

That post is so awesome, I don't even know what to do with myself.

I have been keeping up with your story when I can, and I'll definitely continue to do so! 8D
[color="DeepSkyBlue"]4 8 15 16 23[/color] 42
[color="PaleGreen"]Rushia: YOU ARE MY FAVORITE IGNORANT AMERICAN OF IRISH DECENT. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR POTATOES.[/color]
[color="Orange"]WELCOME TO MOES[/color]

Image

User avatar
Radical Dreamer
 
Posts: 7950
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 9:00 am
Location: Some place where I can think up witty things to say under the "Location" category.

Postby mechana2015 » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:58 pm

GhostontheNet (post: 1205135) wrote:And frankly, most of the vampyre stories where this does not occur tend to be written by authors that are not very well versed in Catholic imagery, or wish to downplay this aspect of the vampyre myth. The connection is so strong that Thomas D. Foster, in his influential How To Read Literature Like a Professor lists back to back chapters titled "Nice To Eat With You.... Acts of Communion" and "Nice To Eat You.... Acts of Vampires" that make significant connections between the two. Many of the methods that are useful in interpreting literature are also useful in interpreting cinema. Just a couple of examples of this motif in influential vampyre movies are as follows.

If you wish, I can keep this list going for at least a dozen vampyre movies up to the present.


How about a little counter list of vampire movies, books and TV shows that me and a friend have seen where this dosn't happen, many which are very well versed in many of the vampire mythologies or created their own:

Literature:
Dresden Files Novels
I Am Legend
Traveling Vampire Show
Anno Dracula
Those Who Hunt the Night
Traveling with the Dead
The Dark Angel
Companions of the Night
Vamped
The Vampyre
Carmilla
The Priest of the Blood
Vampire Hunter D
Night Watch
Day Watch
Second Sunrise
The Vampire Tapestry
Blood is the New Black
Bite Me
The Historian

Movies:
Blade (I II or 3)
30 Days of Night
The Lost Boys
Interview With a Vampire
Love at First Bite
Blood the Last Vampire
Van Helsing
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Queen of the Damned

TV:
Ultraviolet
Hellsing

As you can see its hardly a requirement.
Image

My Deviantart
"MOES. I can has Sane Sig now?"
User avatar
mechana2015
 
Posts: 5025
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 12:33 am
Location: Orange County

Postby GhostontheNet » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:54 am

SirThinks2Much (post: 1205171) wrote:For that, I'll endeavor to *NOT* put in a scene like that.
FishandChips wrote:This post is the most epic win ever to be won.
RadicalDreamer wrote:That post is so awesome, I don't even know what to do with myself.
Its nice to know I am so widely loved. We'll see if I ever bother to share ideas with the likes of you again.
User avatar
GhostontheNet
 
Posts: 1963
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: Aurora, CO

Postby Maledicte » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:34 am

Remember this though: it is an absolute essential part of every vampyre story from earliest times to modern movies (and I've seen a good many) that the lead vampyre must offer his first victim wine (and also typically bread) but partake of none himself/herself.


That doesn't sound like "sharing", more like a commandment.

This statement implied that I *had* to put such a scene in this story. And I am not, for two main reasons: One, this story is not just my story. It's something written by two friends and myself. I'm not going to switch around what the three of us laid out just to shove in a scene that is supposedly "essential." It would not make sense given our characters, how we wrote them, and would be a needless scene that would bog down the story and would have no bearings on the story as a whole.

Secondly, my friends gave me permission to work this story into my own vampire storyline, which runs on a broader set of rules than just those given in the Dracula novel. Since they are set in the same universe, it makes no sense for me to limit this story to Catholic imagery only and then suddenly burst out with ideas that make the old "rules" obsolete.

Again, I don't see why Catholic imagery is a requirement, seeing as vampire myths predate the Church, and variations occur in different cultures worldwide. If anything, that sort of angle is overdone, at least in Western literature.

(The whole Communion scene in Dracula doesn't follow those requirements, by the way. Jonathan is not Dracula's first victim.)
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby Radical Dreamer » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:04 am

GhostontheNet (post: 1205258) wrote:Its nice to know I am so widely loved. We'll see if I ever bother to share ideas with the likes of you again.


Ghost, whether you were aware of it or not, the tone in your previous two posts sounded very condescending, as though you "knew everything" about vampires, and ST2M's story simply had to follow the rules with which you were familiar. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but realize that you should respect the fact that it's her story, not yours, to write. Think twice about what you're saying and how it's going to come across next time.
[color="DeepSkyBlue"]4 8 15 16 23[/color] 42
[color="PaleGreen"]Rushia: YOU ARE MY FAVORITE IGNORANT AMERICAN OF IRISH DECENT. I LOVE YOU AND YOUR POTATOES.[/color]
[color="Orange"]WELCOME TO MOES[/color]

Image

User avatar
Radical Dreamer
 
Posts: 7950
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 9:00 am
Location: Some place where I can think up witty things to say under the "Location" category.

Postby Shao Feng-Li » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:25 pm

(The whole Communion scene in Dracula doesn't follow those requirements, by the way. Jonathan is not Dracula's first victim.)


Oh yeah. Been a long while since I've read that book.

And...

D:; Sheesh...
User avatar
Shao Feng-Li
 
Posts: 5187
Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2003 12:00 pm
Location: Idaho

Postby Maledicte » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:45 pm

Uh...happy post! I am currently pencilling the latest page! :grin:
User avatar
Maledicte
 
Posts: 2078
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:39 pm

Postby Warrior 4 Jesus » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:00 am

Yayness, keep them coming Rachel! It's a fine effort.
User avatar
Warrior 4 Jesus
 
Posts: 4844
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2004 10:52 pm
Location: The driest continent that isn't Antarctica.



Postby kryptech » Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:40 am

Ooh, new page! Good to see the next step in the tale.
"Everybody's weird in their own special way." - P.V.
"Never refuse a breath mint." - my dad
"The UAC is making safer worlds through superior firepower." - Doom 3
"This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

"I'm too cool to scroll. -- MOES."
User avatar
kryptech
 
Posts: 393
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 1:18 pm
Location: GTA

Postby Doubleshadow » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:39 pm

Wow, good stuff. I look forward to more.
[color="Red"]As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. - Proverbs 23:7[/color]

The Sundries
Robin: "If we close our eyes, we can't see anything."
Batman: "A sound observation, Robin."
User avatar
Doubleshadow
 
Posts: 2102
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:04 pm
Location: ... What's burning?

Postby bakura_fan » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:48 pm

:D Me loves this story!! More more! MORE I SAY! XD
:angel:

[color=DeepSkyBlue] "He lives in you. He lives in me. [/color]He watches over everything we see.
Into the water. Into the truth. [color=Yellow][color=DeepSkyBlue]In your reflection, He lives in you." - He lives in you chorus[/color][/color]
"Slow, love, slow. Time's so fast. Now goes quickly, see Now it's past!
Soon will come, Soon will last. Wait." [color=Yellow]- Wait (sweeney todd) [/color]

[align=center]My art page.

[align=center]Married to swordguy
:hug:



[/align]
[/align]
User avatar
bakura_fan
 
Posts: 1289
Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2004 12:00 pm
Location: @ the mother-in-laws. ^_^

Next

Return to Webmanga/comics

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 63 guests