Knights of Nine to Five - A Webcomic

New Book and New Website!

2010-02-23T22:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

The time has finally come... I want to let you all know that my first Knights of Nine to Five book has been released and is available for purchase! Go here to buy the book. I poured a lot of time and effort into this project, and I know you're going to love it. : )

Also, I created a new website for the comic at www.knightsofninetofive.com. This is where I'll be continuing to post future comics, news, updates, etc. So head on over and check things out! This also means that this blog has fully served its purpose and will no longer be updated. Thanks, Blogger! : ) Until I get to post them on the new website, this can be your secret place to find sketches and other behind-the-scenes art. : )

My new contact email is trevor (at) knightsofninetofive (dot) com. Send me a message and let me know how you're doing!

Thank you to everyone who has supported the strip!

Trevor

Gary on a Gourd!

2009-11-01T22:40:00.000-08:00

www.tweetphoto.com/pz7jadzy
www.tweetphoto.com/pz7jajbr

Brief Knights Hiatus

2009-10-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Now that I've recently finished the latest episode, I'm putting the comic on a brief hiatus and focusing on another project I've been splitting my time with: A Knights of Nine to Five book!

I've been working on the book for quite a while now at varying degrees of intensity, and I'm finally to the point where it's getting close to being finished. I've already received the first prototype - it looks AWESOME - and have been showing it to friends and family for feedback.

I'm currently working on the extra artwork that will be included in the final version of the book. The sketches look great and I'm in the beginning stages of inking. Once they're finished, I'll be sending away for a second prototype. I hope to have everything finished before the first of the year.

The book, with original front and back covers, will contain the first twenty three episodes that entail our first day spent with Gary, from start to finish. It will also contain eleven pieces of original artwork exclusive to the book that help to fill in gaps between some of the episodes. There's also another addition to the book...but you'll have to wait and see what that is when it comes out. : )

Thanks for all your support over these years, and I can't wait to share the final result of this exciting project with you!

-Trevor

Episode 030

2009-09-26T01:09:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to those taking the time to check out the new episode! :)

--T

QAADR Bird's Eye Sketch

2009-07-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here's the sketch I inked over for the bird's eye view of the QAADR offices.

After following the sketch for the building itself, I realized the building needed to be much larger to account for the amount of people employed and some of the interior shots I'd used early on. I also modified it to allow for a better view of the interior.

This is a good example of a detailed panel I never would have been able to pull off to my satisfaction using the method I employed before I switched to digital inking.

Episode 029

2009-06-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

I had to split this episode up into two parts - the scaling wasn't correct after I tried to put the smaller panels with the larger panel. This way is actually better since it allows both parts to display at a larger size.

Thanks for your patience and thanks for checking out the new episode! : )

Part one:

Part Two:

Episode 028

2009-04-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking out the new episode, friends! : )

Episode 027

2009-03-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks for taking the time to check out the new episode! : )

Everything is a bit small... I hope no one strains their eyes : (

Episode 026

2009-03-01T14:54:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to check out the new episode. It was a lot of fun to make and I hope you enjoy it! : )

- T

Episode 025 - Original Sketch Arrangement and Panel Commentary

2009-02-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of time with the details of Episode 025, so I thought I'd go back and detail (heh) some of the process. I've included the original sketches arranged in the same format as a finished episode, and plan to include details on each individual panel, should it warrant comment. :)

Currently, I've included the first and second panel with commentary and will add the rest over time, so be sure to check back periodically. (You can also subscribe to the RSS feed on the sidebar to the right!).

This episode had a lot of neat areas that I'm excited to share with you! :)

Hope you enjoy!

Trevor

---

Original Sketch Arrangement (click to enlarge):

Panel Commentary (click each separately to enlarge):

Panel One

Panel Two

Panel Three

Panel Four

Panel Five

Knights of Nine to Five Turns Two!!!

2009-02-10T20:57:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? Two years ago today, I posted the first episode of Knights of Nine to Five! Thanks to everyone for all your excellent support along the way! Enjoy the cake! : )

Recommended Sites

2009-02-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some sites I recommend if you're interested in learning about or making webcomics:

webcomics.com - A webcomics news/how-to website started by Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Kris Straub, and Brad Guigar - four webcartoonists that I've been learning A LOT from since starting Knights of Nine to Five. Besides some helpful posts, this site is home to the excellent Webcomics Weekly Podcast, recorded by Scott, Dave, Kris, and Brad. This podcast has helped me out a ton. Pretty much every aspect from every stage of independent webcomic development is covered, and the guys are pretty entertaining to listen to. Back when I was getting started and trying to find out more about webcomics, I stumbled upon this podcast and have since learned an incredible amount of information.

seqalab.com - Home of a podcast produced by the students, faculty, and alumni of the sequential art department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The format (for the newer ones, at least) is basically a bunch of sequntial art (comic) students sitting around and talking about comics news, comics they like, and their own personal projects. I've been listening to a bunch of these for the past month, and they're pretty entertaining. Like the Webcomics Weekly podcast, I usually listen to this one in the background while I ink on the computer.

Is It Funny Today? - A rating site for webcomics created by two college students that I recently found out about. Basically, you're shown a list of comics that you can click, read, and vote "yes" or "no" on whether it was funny. The webcomics are then ranked in a numbered list based on user ratings. It's a great way to find some webcomics you might like if you're new to the scene, or a great way to support the strips you already like. It's still being developed, but I think it's pretty neat and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

Episode 025

2009-02-03T23:18:00.000-08:00

Episode 025 is finally here! Thanks for all your patience, everyone! I hope you enjoy it! : ) Let me know what you think, if you get a chance. : ) I'll post some sketches of this episode later in the week.

Also, be sure to check out the detailed panel at the bottom of this post...

The detail of the following panel didn't show up too well in the full comic, so click on the image below if you'd like to see it in more detail:

Episode 024

2009-01-04T21:09:00.001-08:00

Episode 024 is complete! But, sadly, it comes with instructions. : (

But first of all, thanks for checking out the new episode! Did you have a good New Year? I hope so. Mine was spent mainly in front of the computer. Go to the bottom of this post for details on that... : )

Ok, back to the episode... I had to split it up into two parts because my blog service was displaying the whole thing too small, and some key elements were too hard to see. (Some of you may remember that I've had this problem a few times before). So, unfortunately, you'll have to click twice as much to view the episode. Sorry! One of my goals this year is to get an actual website up and running, so problems like this won't occur.

Part One:

Part Two:

And here's the whole thing in the form I originally planned for it, except that it's too small to catch some key details:

Now I'll let you in on a little secret...something that makes this episode of Knights very noteworthy...

This episode was digitally inked entirely on my computer!

This new method allowed me to quickly correct mistakes and make changes with ease. Things that would have taken hours before now take only a few minutes.

Awesome, right?

However, the learning curve for this new method is quite steep, so I spent a large amount of time in front of the computer over the past two weeks working on this episode, making mistakes and slowly learning the ropes. So, while I didn't really see a savings in time for this episode, I'm confident that future episodes will begin to come out at a faster rate. Exciting. : )

Good luck in the New Year, everyone!

Trevor

Episode 023

2008-11-30T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here it is, everyone! Thanks for your patience!

I am very excited to present this episode to you. Not only does it complete our first day with Gary, but it also completes a very satisfying personal effort that took just shy of two years (22 months) to complete! Whew...

I'm going to dedicate myself to getting future episodes out at a faster pace, and I've made some new changes (and purchases) to help me reach that goal. It will likely take me a while to implement these new changes, but I'm confident they'll pay off soon. More on that later, maybe. : )

(And, no, these changes didn't involve acquiring a perfect immune system or an adamantium skeleton, though that would be nice...). : )

But, for now, thank you so much for taking the time to read Knights, no matter where you came in along the way, and for sharing your comments and support! I look forward to the future of this project and hope you're there to experience it all with me!

- Trevor

(More) Some Not So Great News

2008-10-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

While at the doctor's getting a follow-up x-ray this morning, it was discovered that I had actually cracked the radius in my right wrist - a totally different bone than they originally believed to be broken.

So, I will now have a cast (blue) on my right wrist/forearm for the next three weeks! Hooray!

My fingers are free enough so that I might be able to draw, but nowhere near the level of quality I want for Knights. Maybe I'll post some of my attempts. : )

So...don't forget about me over the next month or so, alright? I'll be back soon... : )

-Trevor

Episode 022 Thumbnail Script

2008-10-05T12:29:00.001-07:00

Not that great news

2008-10-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well..I injured my drawing hand while playing indoor soccer earlier this week. As a result, I have to wear a splint\brace on that hand until October 15th. : (

So, it'll be a while longer before I'm able to resume work on the next episode.

Episode 022

2008-09-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking out the new episode! Hope you enjoy! : )

Just one episode left until the conclusion of our first day with Gary...

(Oh, and be sure to check out the birthday cake below!)

Happy Birthday, From Gary

2008-09-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share with you the awesome way my Dad personalized my birthday cake last week. Neat, eh? (It can't be copyright infringement if it tastes good, right?) :)

Later, I'll show you something MORE AWESOME my Dad made for me that's helping out with the strip...

Episode 021

2008-08-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

If you took the time check out the new episode: Thanks very much! I hope you enjoy it! : )
If not: You are already here, so...might as well?

Episode 020

2008-08-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking out the new episode! Hope you all enjoy! : )

In Limbo

2008-07-31T23:30:00.001-07:00

Episode 019

2008-07-07T01:02:00.001-07:00

OK. You may have heard me complain about blogger shrinking the size of episodes that are larger than 18 or so panels. Well, episode 019 is 22 panels long...and blogger displays it at a size in which the dialog is unreadable. So, I've used a file storage site to temporarily store episode 019 until I can figure out what to do with really long episodes. : )

So, I ask that you please click here and download (bottom of the page) the episode to view it at a readable size.

Sorry for the inconvenience! I'll look into a better solution as soon as possible. (Or, please let me know if you already have a better idea!).

Thanks for checking out the new episode! I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think! : )

-Trevor

Episode 008 Thumbnail Script

2008-06-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here's an example of a script with thumbnail sketches I put together for Episode 008. These give me a better idea of character placement and help me break up the dialog and associate it with individual panels. I try to do these for every episode, but I usually end up with sketches for each panel scattered around my notebook. : )

Episode 018

2008-06-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! There are a few comments I have for you, so be sure to read on below the strip after you're done:

First of all, thanks for reading the episode! I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think! :)

Also, please take note of the Twitter feed I added to the side bar. If you're ever interested in my progress on the current strip or want to see what I'm up to, check it out for updates.

And finally, I'm always excited when I have the chance to expand on my artistic abilities, and I try to stretch myself with something new in each episode. With that said, I am proud to share with you that I've finally managed the upper hand in a battle with one of the more devious facets of "real world" artistry: the mysterious physics of MIRROR TECHNOLOGY. Quite obviously, as you may have noticed, I had no such knowledge of this new technology prior to this episode. What a buffoon, was I! Such ham-fisted hackery! Frankly, I'm surprised you're still here... Yet thankfully, after many hours spent pouring over tomes of scientific knowledge, I am now able to present, I hope, a more pleasing rendering of this exciting new phenomenon.

Many thanks,

Trevor

Twitter

2008-05-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

I'm trying out a Twitter feed on my sidebar. I'll be using it primarily to update on my progress on the current strip throughout the week(s). I'm hoping it will keep me from letting a day go by without working on the comic in some manner... :)

Episode 017

2008-05-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a challenge it was to get this episode out! Thanks so much for your patience, and please let me know what you think!

-Trevor

Episode 017 out this week

2008-05-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

I had a busier weekend than expected and this episode is taking longer than I planned. I hope to have it out this week.

Stumptown Comics 2008

2008-04-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

I wanted to tell you about my trip last Saturday to the 2008 Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, Oregon. From their website:

"The Stumptown Comics Fest was started almost on a whim in 2004 by a small group of Portland-area cartoonists lamenting the lack of local convention-style outlets. While there were certainly other comic book shows in town, there weren't any that gave much attention to the artists themselves. The dream was to design a festival with the creators as its focus, rather than dealers and work-for-hire publishers."

So, most of the people sitting behind the booths were the creators themselves, which I thought was really cool. There were a wide range of talents displayed, as well as many different levels of production. (I saw several people that had simply photocopied pages and stapled them together to make a comic book!).

Besides meandering through the convention hall, I attended three "spotlight" talks given by some of the special guests invited to the convention:

*Nicholas Gurewitch of The Perry Bible Fellowship showed off a fancy "robot" that created comic strips for him when he was in a creative slump. If only I had one of those. :)

*Comics theorist Scott McCloud, whose books I've learned much from, was also there with some interesting things to say.

*Mike Richardson, president and founder of Dark Horse Comics, gave a fascinating talk about the history of the company and their central goal: to create the best publishing environment for creative artists, and, most importantly, let them keep the rights to their work! How awesome is that?!? I've been a fan of the Hellboy series and thought I'd attend just to hear more about the company, but I never thought it would be the best "spotlight" talk of the three!

After giving their talks, all three guests graciously fielded questions from the audience (and Nicholas even answered one of mine!).

The whole experience was very fun and informative, and I came away with one realization: I know very little about comics. I'm encouraged by this fact, though, and am looking forward to learning much more about the world I caught a brief glimpse of over the weekend.

I'll definitely be attending next year...and maybe even exhibit this time? Who knows? :)

-Trevor

Oh, and also, my friend and I saw a bearded lady. He says he saw three altogether. Apparently I wasn't as attentive. :)

Episode 016

2008-04-21T23:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking out the episode and please enjoy! -TK

P.S. You may notice I'm really not doing a good job of remembering to sign my work! This episode and at least one other haven't been signed since I started... *Sigh* Mayhaps the forgetfulness of today will become the easter egg of tomorrow?

Episode 015

2008-04-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

Here it is! (A week and a half hour late, I know :)) Thanks so much for your patience! Enjoy!

Episode 015 Update

2008-04-07T01:37:00.000-07:00

Episode 015 will be up tonight, so in the meantime...

Episode 015 Delayed

2008-03-31T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Episode 015 is going to be delayed, probably until next Monday. :( I think you’ll really like this episode, so the delay will be worth it. In the meantime, I’ll try to put something else up for you to look at…

Thanks,

Trevor

Episode 014

2008-03-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been two weeks...and it's still Monday...technically. :)

My goal is to get the strip out on Sunday night or Monday morning so it's viewable by more than just night owls during the last few moments of Monday. Thanks, and please, enjoy!

Episode 013

2008-03-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for your patience!

Battling the Corpse Worm

2008-02-25T01:22:00.001-08:00

Well, today is two weeks since my last post...and Episode 013 is still not done.

Turns out, I underestimated the amount of work needed to draw, ink, and finalize the new panels. This is mainly because the battle with the corpse worm is requiring very detailed and action heavy panels, more so than in the past. Ugh. Fun, and rewarding, but still ugh. There was a point on Sunday morning where I felt like I was back in college, studying for a final the next day and suddenly realizing I only knew 60% of the material. It's been almost two years since I've been out of college, but boy was that an uncomfortably haunting feeling*.

Rather than rush to get it out and fail, I'm going to take an extra week to make sure the episode is done right. So, in the meantime, I present to you an intimate overview of our special guest: the corpse worm. Below you'll find nine pages of sketches I did of the jerk. Since he's the victor this week, I think it's the least he deserves.

Turns out Gary isn't the only one fighting this thing!

Thanks for your patience!

Trevor

*As opposed to a comfortably haunting feeling.

Knights of Nine to Five is One Year Old!

2008-02-10T22:55:00.000-08:00

Quite coincidentally, my posting of episode 12.5 tonight comes exactly one year after I posted the first episode of Knights of Nine to Five! In the year that followed that first post, I went through some trying times, both in my personal life and artistic life, but overall I have undergone tremendous growth in all areas and am a better, happier person because of it!

So...after twelve months I have completed just over twelve strips. One strip a month is not that bad, in my own opinion...save for the fact that poor Gary is little more than halfway through his day! My plan this year is to adapt to a regular schedule that gets a new episode out every two weeks. I think this schedule is definitely doable, and over the past month I have been making some good steps to help me achieve this goal.

All that's left to do at this point is to give my thanks to all of you that have supported this strip (especially through the spotty updates!). Thank you!

I have lots in store for Knights in the coming year, and I hope you choose to stick around and see what happens!

Trevor

Episode 012.5

2008-02-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

Signature Significance

2008-02-04T03:18:00.000-08:00

Beginning with episode 11, I've started to sign my strips for a personal reason. The unique signature I'm using comes from my grandfather, who likes to work with wood and create all sorts of things with it. Whenever he finishes a piece, he signs it on the bottom. I've always admired his signature, and have decided to start using it in my work as a way of carrying on the Kellogg creative name.

Episode 012

2008-02-04T03:07:00.000-08:00

I don't know why the longer strips (2, 5, and 12) are displaying at a smaller size when opened fully. I'll split them up and repost them soon...

Episode 011

2008-02-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

Episode 010

2008-01-09T00:58:00.000-08:00

(What in the world is a familiar?)

Episode 009

2007-12-13T01:40:00.000-08:00

Episode 008

2007-10-15T00:10:00.001-07:00

Episode 008 Update

2007-10-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Episode 008 will be up by Monday.

Episode 007

2007-08-20T00:49:00.000-07:00

Here it finally is, everyone. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

Proof!

2007-07-30T22:06:00.001-07:00

Proof that I have gotten at least one panel completely done... drawing-wise.

Can You Believe It?

2007-07-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

I've started to work on the strip again.

Unused Frame

2007-06-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here's an unused frame from Episode 003. I wanted to introduce this character (who most certainly will be, in the future) during Gary's walkthrough, but there was one problem. The frame was going to go right in the middle of the episode, and it was going to have dialogue bubbles. Problem was, none of the other frames in the episode had dialogue, save for the last one. So, it really wasn't going to fit in the middle of all the other silent frames, and I decided to pull it. It was pretty hard to pull, especially since I had drawn and inked it already, but I was very happy with how much cleaner the episode turned out because of it.

Ooo! Ooo! Contest! Who can guess what kind of mythical creature this character is?

---

Correct Answer: Ghoul

Coolest Answer: Undead broom-monkey

Helmet Sketches

2007-06-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

While I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, I thought I'd post some sketches and other things of interest to keep you guys entertained. So, here's a page of helmet sketches I did for Gary's coworkers around the office. You'll notice that I picked each of Gary's three cubemates from it.

I wanted to use helmets that hinted at each of the character's traits. Boar's helmet has excessive spikes to match his over-the-top violence, and face slits that give a dull expression to go with the fact that he never says much. I picked Lenny's helmet because it looked like it was smiling a big, cheesy smile -- so big that it couldn't be trusted. And finally, I wanted Eric's helmet to be plain like Gary's since he's similar to Gary in that he really doesn't have any obvious quirks like the other cubemates. He's one of the few "sane" people in the office.

You also may notice that I used a modified version of one of the helmets for the "Abyssal Account" guy. I had to make it look a little meaner.

More to come later...

More Hospital Fun

2007-05-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, looks like I spoke to quickly in my last post. I ended up spending another small stint in the hospital and am currently having a tough time dealing with the antibiotics they have me on. So, no new strip...yesterday.

Since I'm still having health issues, I don't currently know when I'll be getting back into a consistent schedule (or getting back at all). I plan on putting some other "fun" stuff up during this downtime, so check back every once in a while for that.

Email me at knightsof9to5@hotmail.com if you'd like to be notified when something new is posted.

I love doing this strip and don't plan on staying out for longer than my body makes me.

Thanks for your patience,

TK

Hospital Fun and Episode 007

2007-05-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well, the reason Episode 006 was delayed this long was that I was in the hospital for most of Monday, all of Tuesday, and most of Wednesday. But everything's fine now and I feel great!

Next week, my wife and I will be moving into our new house! Since we'll be very busy with this, Episode 007 won't be out until May 28.

Thanks for your patience!

Episode 006

2007-05-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

Episode 006 Slightly Delayed

2007-05-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

I was sick yesterday and didn't work on the strip, so hopefully the next episode will be out tonight or possibly tomorrow morning.

Episode 005

2007-05-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

Exactly What Does Gary Do?

2007-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

Post your guesses here about what you think Gary's job is (unless I've already told you!).

Slight Change to Ep 001

2007-04-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Along with Episode 004, I've posted a version of Episode 001 with fonts to match the other episodes.

Episode 004

2007-04-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Episode 003

2007-04-23T08:55:00.001-07:00

III

2007-04-16T13:05:00.001-07:00

Third strip should be up a week from now.

Episode 002

2007-04-14T15:29:00.001-07:00

Episode 001

2007-02-10T22:29:00.000-08:00