4 Seconds Is Here!
It has been a long and winding road, but my original comics story 4 Seconds has been published at last!
4 Seconds is a noir thriller about a petty thief who discovers she can see four seconds into the future. That’s just enough precognition to get into trouble, but not nearly enough time to pull off the heist that will save her sister’s life.
4 Seconds is published by Mark Waid’s Thrillbent. It is a digital comic that takes full advantage of the online storytelling medium — it is not a “motion comic” or a conventional comic placed online, but instead a new way of telling comic book stories. It is a complete story and it is 100% FREE to read RIGHT NOW at Thrillbent.com!
I will have plenty more to say about the production of 4 Seconds in later posts — from the book’s origin as a fifteen second pitch that won Mark Waid’s open story competition at San Diego Comic-Con, through the research I did into the comics storytelling form, to the concept art we developed to show you exactly what it is like to see four seconds into the future … but for now, please mouse on over to Thrillbent and read 4 Seconds!
(And then come back here and tell me what you think!)
My heartfelt thanks go out to publisher Mark Waid, my artistic partner Karl Kesel, visual designer Billy King, and the entire 4 Seconds team for busting their asses bringing this story to life! It has been the “thrill” of a lifetime working on this project … so go read it, already!
The creative team:
- Writer: Paul O’Connor
Homepage, Instagram, Twitter - Artist: Karl Kesel
Homepage, Twitter - Colorist: Grace Allison
Homepage, Twitter - Letterer: Troy Peteri
Twitter - Designer: Billy King
Homepage, Instagram, Twitter - Editor: Mark Waid
Homepage, Twitter, Twitter
Posted on February 10, 2016, in 4 Seconds and tagged 4 Seconds, 4 Seconds, Billy King, Karl Kesel, Mark Waid. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
dangvozden
Paul O'Connor
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
Longbox Graveyard 
Paul,
“4 Seconds” is just wonderful. The art is certainly excellent – the characters and settings are very believable and dynamic. Cassie’s hair, in particular, is great.
The story was amazing, of course. At the beginning, the little progress meter at the bottom told me I had 177 “pages” to enjoy of this work. At first I thought “Holy crap, that is a long piece of work”. Quickly though, I realized that “paper comic” concepts like page or panel had less meaning here; an increment of progress through this work was often more fine grained: a balloon, pause, an effect. Really cool. As I continued reading my worry became running out of content — Noooo, I want more of this.
This story does not sit still, it pivots in an unexpected way midstream, and delivers a gut-punch conclusion. I admit to getting a little misty-eyed at one point, when Cassie reveals her feelings. I care about Cassie and Tyson, which makes me sad because I worry about how likely we are to get a sequel? Honestly, producing a comic in this form seems like a ton of extra planning, design, and work. I can’t wait to read your notes about the process of creation.
I am proud of you for this excellent work! I really enjoyed “4 Seconds” and hope that you abandon the dead-end field of app development (these “smart” phones will never catch on, pfeh) and drop back into the lucrative career of comic book author.
John
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Thanks so much, John, for the attentive read and the very kind words … it was indeed a load of work to create this story, but I think the results are proving that effort worthwhile. I would certainly love to continue this story, but it also stands complete as-is; ultimately it is up to the market to decide if Cassie’s story warrants another chapter.
I worried over that “177 pages” thing, too … I hope it doesn’t lose us too many readers. We set this story free to make distribution as frictionless as possible, and that intimidating page count is the kind of classic last mile problem that could undo our work. I’ll see if we can hide it!
Nothing would please me more than to do this kind of work full-time, though nothing would please my accountant less! We will see what, if anything, happens next … that the story is connecting with readers already makes the whole endeavor a success. Thank you for reading and commenting, and please tell your friends about 4 Seconds!
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https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js
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You’re welcome! I’ve tweeted out the announcement of 4 Seconds in my personal account and my “Webcomics Now” persona as well. I’ve also echoed my comment on the thrillbent site.
Say, did you apply for Pro membership for Comic-Con?
One technical note: On some transitions in the story I experienced some “flashes” as the graphics updated. It was jarring and I had to get used to it. Maybe it is just my environment (laptop, browser, etc) but I thought I’d mention it.
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Can’t tell for the writer but the art looks nice and the story promising… Congrats!
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Thanks, Krackles! Give it a read and let me know what you think.
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