Dissident Priest http://dissidentpriest.com A webcomic from Velvet Rasputin about a priest turned hardened criminal. Sun, 11 Mar 2012 13:40:37 +0000 en hourly 1 Cover by Lupi And The Dissident Priest Preview Sneak Featuring Art by El Niño http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/cover-by-lupi-and-the-dissident-priest-preview-sneak-featuring-art-by-el-nino/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/cover-by-lupi-and-the-dissident-priest-preview-sneak-featuring-art-by-el-nino/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:27:09 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/?post_type=webcomic_post&p=909 …]]>

Sneak Preview Promo

Want to read the original version of the story?  Go here.  If want to see the expanded version of the story with incredible new art, or simply want to purchase the gorgeous black and white print graphic novel, come back in September.  You will not be disappointed. Want to be notified whenever the site updates? Sign-up for our mailing list below:

 


 

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]]> http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/cover-by-lupi-and-the-dissident-priest-preview-sneak-featuring-art-by-el-nino/feed/ 0 Hostage Negotiations http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/hostage-negotiations/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/hostage-negotiations/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/02/21/hostage-negotiations/ …]]>

That’s it!  The first chapter is done.

Please stop by this fall to see this webcomic the way I originally intended to look like, but didn’t have the patience to pull off — like a classic pulp comic book.  El Niño will be taking over lead artist duties and there will be a brand new cover by Lupi McGinty.  El Niño will be redrawing everything from the beginning as we work our way to the second chapter.  It’s going to look amazing.  Thank you for visiting and see you all in September!

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]]> http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/hostage-negotiations/feed/ 0 Getting Caught http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/getting-caught/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/getting-caught/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/02/14/getting-caught/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/getting-caught/feed/ 0 Why Tsar Is Not A Good Hire http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/why-tsar-is-not-a-good-hire/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/why-tsar-is-not-a-good-hire/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/02/07/why-tsar-is-not-a-good-hire/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/why-tsar-is-not-a-good-hire/feed/ 0 The Execution Of Vera http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/the-execution-of-vera/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/the-execution-of-vera/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/01/31/the-execution-of-vera/ …]]>

I would like to give a huge shout out to Tristan at http://backthatelfup.com/ for donating $42 in labor to Dissident Priest.  For being ever donor to Dissident Priest, she gets our first sponsor donor ad until the end of February!  You too can help out by using the “Donate” button on the sidebar.  When we get to $250, we’ll post a bonus comic and possibly get out of hiatus sooner.

Transcript: English

Single Frame
Vera’s fate is shown. She is blindfolded, wearing a dark women’s prisoner uniform, her once lustrous blonde hair is now drab and faded. Her body jerks forward as blood sprays from her back, a firing squads bullets ending her life. Her mouth is open as she cries out with her final breath.
Tsar In his letter The judge had hoped that by giving me the most degrading sentence possible, I would confess and betray my team. My principles are more important than my life, dignity or even morality, so his plan failed and his daughter was executed. I changed my identity and married Geni’s mother in a failed attempt at having a normal life. My wife dies of exhaustion at her factor job. Now, I’m the widowed father of Geni, and a hired-gun.
Vera As she is shot. DADDY!
Written by backthatelfup

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]]> http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/the-execution-of-vera/feed/ 0 Not Interested In Women http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/not-interested-in-women/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/not-interested-in-women/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/01/24/not-interested-in-women/ …]]>

Tristan J. Tarwater, the creator of Back That Elf Up, is helping me out with transcribing Dissident Priest.  Here’s what she has to say on the subject:

The transcribing is being done as part of Vas’ accessibility initiative, in an effort to get the comics out and available to as many people possible; in this case, specifically those with vision problems and have programs to read web content. This is a great project and I’m really so honored to be a part of it and to help out with Dissident Priest. Be sure to follow @velvetrasputin on Twitter to get updates regarding the comic and fun stuff in general!

Read more on Tristan’s contribution to the project, as well as some updates on her work at her website.

Transcript: English

Frame 1
Tsar resumes telling his tale, recalling the whole reason he was brought to the Russian Authorities' attention in the first place. A beautiful woman is shown, smiling. Blonde hair, blue eyed and clad in bright red, this is the judge's daughter, Vera.
Tsar In his letter to Camello's boss After my release, I learned that the judge's daughter never went to Vietnam. Our accomplices' identities remained unknown.
Frame 2
In the flashback, Tsar is seen, wearing his Russian Orthodox robes, his face not yet marred by the hideous scar given to him in prison. He is speaking into a radio in accented English.
Tsar In his letter to Camello's boss The Commission caught her gathering intelligence.
Tsar, in accented English Into the radio Ze base ees lokateed near...Estonia border.
Frame 3
The reason for Vera's betrayal is shown. She stands there, half naked and facing Tsar, her long blonde hair trailing down her smooth back, the curve of her full breasts peeking out behind her crossed arms. Instead of looking at her with desire, Tsar looks completely enraged.
Tsar, speaking in Russian To Vera Oh my God! Dress, woman! I am a priest!
Vera, speaking in Russian To Tsar I don't care.
Frame 4
Tsar sits in front of the radio, his face twisted with anger.
Tsar In his letter to Camello's boss My former friend never forgave me for spurning her advances. Knowing that I had vital information, she sold me out to save herself.
Voice on the Radio, speaking in English To Tsar You are speaking Russian, Tsar
Tsar, in accented English Into the Radio Yes. Nozink important.
Written by Tristan Tarwater

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Comics are a hard gig. I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen, so I know how hard it is. This industry has very little to do with luck, and everything with constancy, heavy promotion and good word of mouth. Right now, I am dealing with the issue of Dissident Priest, a title that I really believe in, not inspiring the kind of word of mouth it requires to be self-sufficient.  My guess is that it’s because the packaging is all wrong.  The current style has never felt right. When I unsuccessfully did try selling it in graphic novel form, people generally overlooked it and put it down after the third page. My webstats more or less confirm that phenomenon for the webcomic version.

When people have read all the way through, the response has always been, “I didn’t expect the story to be this good” and often became fans. Unfortunately, if people aren’t expecting the story to meet their expectations based upon glancing at a few pages of the art, I feel that’s a major problem. I am guessing folks expected something funny from loose and cartoony art, only to stop when they found out it wasn’t.  What worked incredibly well from a stylistic perspective on Rasputin Barxotka just did not translate well here.  Dissident Priest was a spin-off and it still feels like one.  It’s time to give this piece its own voice.

I care about this graphic novel a lot. I am a bit obsessed with (Former) Soviet Bloc crime history in the 80′s and 90′s. Fear of the nuclear arms race tainted my childhood with constant nightmares. The fall of the Soviet Union was a major turning point in my life.  I always wanted to understand why the “Evil Empire” that President Reagan railed against collapsed so spectacularly.  The Velvet Rasputin project as a whole has given the motivation to understand how internal corruption tore a once powerful country apart.  It helped me understand a people and a nation I once feared. It helped me learn powerful historical lessons, that the United States is failing to heed. It’s been an amazingly cathartic metaphorical outlet.   I recently hired a research assistant to help me get the historical stuff right. I spent forty dollars in books this month alone to make sure this comic has the proper tone.  The three core projects of Velvet Rasputin, Rasputin Catamite, Rasputin Barxotka and Dissident Priest are that important to me as an artist and a human being.

Part of the reason I hired Mandarr, Paul, El Niño and Ram Lama to help me create my art had to do with me being already burnt out from doing webcomics.  Yet, I am too passionate about the craft to stop. Last year I was juggling eleven webcomics.  I ended up cancelling, concluding or putting most of them into hiatus. Rasputin Barxotka remains in my style and Mandarr’s, because it is absolutely perfect for the story, and will not go into hiatus.  Rasputin Catamite is already being redrawn from beginning to end.  Dissident Priest is my favorite piece out of the set of three, and it’s about time I gave it the art it deserves.

The chance that this will become expensive hobby thing is a painful possibility I have to deal with.  In case that happens, I already have an ending planned, so my fans will not be left out in the lurch. Having said that, it’s impossible to effectively sell a product that I do not believe in fully — and I feel Dissident Priest is subpar in terms of its art communicating the message I need to covey. I will have the funding to make the hobby possible, but it will be a waiting game and a gamble as to whether it succeeds or not as a business. I intend to leave my original art archived on this site; my artwork is the genesis of this piece, after all.  Having said that, as an artist I believe art needs a strong voice and that it needs to be true to my vision.  I do not expect El Niño to redraw the entire graphic novel every time he improves.  I just want my comic to have a consistent look that works with the story.  Nothing more and nothing less.  I want to do justice to my vision, and this exceptional artist has the ability to make it possible.

Transcript: English

Frame 1
Camello looks to Mikhail coyly, the newest part of Tsar's report cementing him in at least one part of Cam's mind.
Camello To Mikhail Can we hire him? He's kind of cute and he doesn't seem too revulsed by gay sex.
Frame 2
Now Mikhail seems to have his doubts, shrugging from behind his dark sunglasses.
Mikhail To Camello I'm not so sure.
Frame 3
Cam puts Mikhail in something that is a combination hug and a headlock, placing a finger on his associate's cheek. Cam's eyes are wide, making him look slightly crazed as he lays out a few more legitimate reasons to hire Tsar. Mikhail is shaking, obviously nervous.
Camello To Mikhail C'mon, Mikhail. He's organized. He's got connections. He's smart.
Mikhail To Camello I have a policy to never make important decisions when I'm drunk or horny. Follow my example please.
Written by Tristan Tarwater

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]]> http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/interested-in-men-2/feed/ 0 New Ultimate Sex Fantasy http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/new-ultimate-sex-fantasy/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/new-ultimate-sex-fantasy/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/01/10/new-ultimate-sex-fantasy/ …]]> …]]> http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/new-ultimate-sex-fantasy/feed/ 0 Corrupting Influences http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/corrupting-influences/ http://dissidentpriest.com/archive/corrupting-influences/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:01:00 +0000 Vas http://dissidentpriest.com/2012/01/03/corrupting-influences/ …]]>

Many apologies!  In the process of writing scripts for the next chapter of Dissident Priest, I forgot to upload this week’s  page in a timely manner.  Sorry about that.

Transcript: English

Frame 1
Tsar continues to tell his tale. He stands there, eyes wide in disbelief as he is offered something he is not at all expecting.
Tsar In his letter to Cam's Boss I convinced everyone that I was really a nice guy who happened to be a child rapist, and not a spy.
Prison Guard To Tsar We arrested a couple of horny fag punks. They look young. Do you want them?
Frame 2
Tsar tilts his head to the side, seeing the obvious hypocrisy in the offer. Is it a trap?
Tsar To the Prison Guard Am I not in prison for exploiting a young male?
Prison Guard To Tsar If we put these idiots in the general prison population, they'll be raped to death. We figured that you needed assistants anyway.
Frame 3
Tsar is in bed with two young, blond men. One of them is shirtless and is gazing at Tsar fawningly. The other just looks happy to be there. Tsar is grinning uncomfortably.
Youth #1 To Tsar Love the scar, you hot older priest guy!
Tsar To the two young men How about we just pray?
Youth #2 To Youth #1 This dude is obviously in the slammer on trumped up charges. Let's corrupt him.
Written by Tristan Tarwater

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Dissident Priest Lead Artist Update

 

The competition for the new lead artist for Dissident Priest was brutal, to say the least.  Over sixty artists were vying for the position.  There was a huge diversity of styles and  I had a group of six people helping me out with the selection process.  It was a very difficult choice.  Here’s the artists who made the top of the heap.

The Finalists

 

Seth Frail
http://sethfrail.daportfolio.com/

I had already stopped taking applicants when I received Seth’s portfolio, but I made an exception for him.  Great art speaks for itself, and Seth’s work proved too engaging to ignore. Sterling professionalism, a sincere interest in the Dissident Priest story and top notch draftsmanship made Mr. Frail an instant favorite with the selection committee.  His exceptional communication skills and integrity make Seth great choice for any publisher or editor looking for a superb illustrator.  I cannot recommend this gentleman enough.

Gabo
http://yogabogabo.com

If you enjoy working with an outgoing artist backed by an incredible resume, a good sense of humor and upbeat enthusiasm, then you’ll love dealing with Gabo.  He was very eager to work on the Dissident Priest project and was able to detail a very clear strategy on how he would tackle the webcomic. His cheerfulness did not detract from his fantastic customer service skills either.  In addition, to being an Eisner award winning colorist, Gabo does drawing for the completely irreverent and really damn cool webcomic, Jesus Christ: In the Name of the Gun.  The refreshingly distinct character design served as my primary motivation for selecting Gabo as one of the final candidates.

Jesus Christ In The Name of The Gun

Lupi

http://lupiloops.com/

An Excerpt from Lupi's Test Page

I actually squealed with delight when my friend and fellow Fallcon veteran, Lupi, sent me an email telling me that she would try out for the position of lead artist for Dissident Priest.  I’ve collaborated with Lupi on a few occasions before, and she is always so easy to work with.  The fact that she is one of the biggest history and language geeks I know, made her an especially appealing candidate for the Dissident Priest lead artist position.  Lupi navigates through violence and unpleasant topics with an almost disarming ease.  As can be seen in this sample frame from Lupi’s test page, she truly excels at visual storytelling and is quite capable of infusing personality into every detail of a drawing. Although Lupi did not get the lead artist position, she did create a sensational cover for the next chapter of Dissident Priest.  If you want a peek, scroll to the bottom of the page and check out the VelvetRasput.Info banner.  If you dig this critically-acclaimed Minneapolis artist’s work, don’t miss Germ Warfare, her blog or False Witness: The Michele Bachmann Story.

Walter Rodriguez
www.walterrodriguez.com.ar

I was impressed with Walter from the very beginning.  His stylistic range and dynamic character poses caught my eye right away.  Walter showed genuine interest in the source material, and he actually follows Dissident Priest. He’s also a truly nice guy. As an art director, being able to work with an illustrator who is easy to get along with, and who understands my vision, makes my job a hell of a lot easier.  Walter is an efficient and speedy artist who is willing to take creative risks.  Walter’s superbly lettered test page was exquisitely colored and rich in detail.  His non-traditional character design exposed a winning sense of humor and a keen ability to render expressive illustrations that tell clear stories without using any words.

 

Meet the New Lead Artist for Dissident Priest

El Niño
http://elnino22.deviantart.com/

 

El Nino Page Fragment

My Operations Manager, Skaja Wills, was highly impressed with El Niño long before seeing his art.  His painter’s vocabulary captured her fancy right away and she let me know that she had a good feeling about him.  When I first saw El Niño’s artwork, my jaw dropped at its attention to anatomy, crisp inks and lovely brushstrokes.  This gentleman is absolutely a no-nonsense artist who gets the job done.  I asked El Niño how he would handle the test page and how fast would finish it.  He did it faster than quoted and the quality of his work went far beyond my expectations.  With the most minimal direction, El Niño was capable of reading the script and rendering my vision in an uncannily accurate fashion.  His stylistic approach for the page combined the stark simplicity of a Russian propaganda poster with a classic American comic book style.  El Niño described Dissident Priest, as “visceral,” and his creative approach to the script very much reflected this.  The selection committee and I were quite pleased with his willingness to accept the job.  Working with an artist of his caliber is a rare honor and a great treat.

When El Niño isn’t drawing comics, he is an art director and chief of design for  a Mardi Gras parade production company.  Be sure to check out the website for his upcoming book Iconic Volume 1 to see more of his excellent illustrations.

I would like to thank all of the artists who tried out for the lead position and I truly look forward to Dissident Priest Chapter 2 this spring, as I hope all of you are.

 

Transcript: English

Frame 1
Tsar continues to narrate and the newest incarnation of Tsar is very different from those we have seen. While he still has the ragged scar on his face from his first brutal beating suffered in prison, he now wears a trim, black two piece suit, his dark hair cut and styled like that of a businessman. From behind bars another inmate glares at him, while Tsar considers the prisoner coolly. He obviously is not afraid.
Tsar In his letter to Cam's boss Although my status as a prisoner remained at the very bottom...
Frame 2
A red headed man in a suit almost identical to Tsar's stands with him. Tsar smiles as the man speaks to him.
Tsar In his letter to Camello's boss The authorities felt I was too valuable to lose.
Red headed Business Man To Tsar Thank you for your help, Sarkos.
Frame 3
Tsar is shown sleeping on a bed, smiling happily as he slumbers uninhibited by social standing or the wants or hate of other inmates.
Tsar In his letter to Cam's boss I was removed from the general prisoner population and given a utility closet to sleep in.
Frame 4
Tsar stands with a sky blue and red clad prison guard. Tsar is wearing a suit. They are both smiling, Tsar's status as a prisoner seemingly incidental.
Tsar In his letter to Cam's boss I was still technically serving my sentence, but my situation improved.
Written by Tristan Tarwater

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