94269 RAA Progress R1 Proof lr

Hi, I’m Walker Young and here at front yard comics we do comics a little differently.

Sure, You can walk into any comics shop around the world and pick up the latest thing for a good read...

...but for people like me who are learning how to do that comic book thing that’s not very helpful .

This issue of the UNTiTLED WALKER YOUNG PROGRESS is all about the learning process.

With art from my friends: heavy hitters like BRANDON M C KiNNeY, the FilLBACH BROTHERS and MANNY BELLO, come not only great stories but lessons we can all learn from each.

Brandon’s pencils for SAFEGUARD give a perspective on detailing and how even just a private conversation between father and son in a park can be dynamic .

With the return of the

Bro? How did you not mention using the Nick derington family heirloom on the cover?

Fillbach brothers, they bring with them their story notes for GOiNG DARK which taught me a lot about page layout and pacing going into the stories this year.

Manny’s take on JACK FRY brings that dark and moody atmosphere to the noir world, and we’re proud of it all.

Now sit back, relax, and I hope we all learn a little something. Me? I just hope you’re entertained .

SAFEGUARD ANOTHER PLANET OF THE CAPES ADVENTURE WRITER: WALKER YOUNG ARTIST: BRANDONM C KINNEY

Look; | know it’s early and maybe you don't want to talk about it right now...

...but | think you need to have a plan for what you want to do after high school.

Oh, so we’re just going to jump right into it?

| don’t know.

| know now isn't the ideal time but you need to give me something to report back to your Mom.

| just want to enjoy my time now , y’know? School sucks and fun doesn’t so | don't see why | can't just have fun.

Heh. Because fun doesn't pay the bills, son.

It could. There are a lot of things that could be fun and pay well.

Okay. Let's not worry about the money.

If you had the choice.

what would be your dream job? The thing you could do day in and day out that would make you happy.

| want to be...

...a super hero.

About a year and a half, now.

What...?A superhero?

How long has this been going on?

| guess | wasn’t. | mean, there hasn’t been a super hero for what? Thirty years?

A year and a half! When were you going to tell me? Mom?

A hell of a long time before you were born, that’s for sure.

That’s why | was going to keep my training to myself.

Training?

Yeah. | kind of have been taking karate...

...boxing, MMA, muay thai,..

...and Krav maga lessons.

Along with the online detective courses, of course

And here | thought your grades were struggling because you were dumb.

Dad!

No, Dad. |’m

Here | come to find out my son wants to be the next Justice Hall. Or The Grand.

going to be better .

Love you so much, Franklin.

| love you, Dad.

This is going to be hard to explain to Mom.

That was when my journey really began.

| wasn’t training in secret anymore,; | had my family

and friends beside me.

My dad would help me train physically…

...my Mom helped with my detective training by night...

…and by day, my friends helped me with school. Balancing being a regular teenager and my superhero training was hard but it was all worth it.

So that | could become…

SAFEGUARD!

Holy crap, this is great.

Oh, | love how the suit looks.

Thank you!

It fits perfectly and | think it looks cool.

Yeah, | just thought it would be easier to do my thing without it.

| think the choice to get rid of the cape was the right idea.

Well, duty calls.

Time to hit the streets.

Be safe!

I will!

Excuse me, little girl. Is your cat lost?

LATER... IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD...

Sorry. Stupid question.

Yes, that’s why |'m hanging these posters.

| meant: is there anything | can do to help?

Who are you?

|’m SAFEGUARD . |’m a superhero .

Do you have powers?

Uh, not real--

How can you fight crime

without powers?

Because | trained to... various fighting techniques, but...

Do you think you could beat Justice Hall?

Look, do you want help finding your cat or not?

How much do you get paid?

Could you please help me find my cat?

Of course . It’s my job.

*sigh*

| found out that there were more missing cats throughout the city and | spent all day putting together clues until | found a commonality between all the cases.

w

W R

O

!

r

| triangulated a possible base of operations.

who disturbs me and my kitties?

Catnap, | assume. It has come to my attention that you have been stealing cats all around town.

And who exactly are you?

I’m SAFEGUARD . The man who’s going to get these cats safely back to their homes.

is that so? Well, seeing that you have found me out there's only one thing I can do.

Fifi! ATTACK!

oh crap

no one can take our kitties from us!!

Whoa! You’re gonna have to be quicker than that to—

U N NG GH!!

BAD fifi! THAT WAS A LOAD BEARinG WALL!

You made me look bad in front of Catnap.

Now |’m going to make you PAY!

No... no cash on me. Do you.. take Venmo?

WHY, YOU...

ack

Your turn.

,,,and, oh yeah, The police are on their way.

Me? I’m just a crazy old cat lady.

Problem is, none of these are your cats.

When you get out of jail | can recommend a few pet adoption places.

SAFEGUAAAARD !!!

Hi, Mom.

MY BABY! Are you okay?

Hi, Dad.

|’m gonna go take a shower; wash the night off of me.

Yeah, Mom; |’m fine.

What happened?

| had to fight some cat burglars.

How do you think he’s going to be able to keep this up? How can he manage being SAFEGUARD while doing school and sports? Hell, he’s not even going to be able to have a social life.

Honey, he’s going to be fine. | don’t know if he’s going to keep being a superhero but that’s for him to figure out.

“But |’m sure whatever he ends up doing, he’s going to be helping people.”

THE END

Nobody learns anything. Everybody dies.

The lesson there is what we learn even after everybody dies.

My dad and his friends did comics before I showed up, and I grew up hearing “Sorry, I’m never doing another Planet of the Capes story; that was the point of that one. I’ve said all there is to say about that.” Well, OK, but that’s not all there is to say. I pitched the idea for Safeguard: a story about a kid who, like me, grew up hearing stories of these giants who came before him and wanting to do what they did. Safeguard is the story about the next generation learn ing from the past and trying to do bet ter. Who better, thematically, to write it than the next generation of story tellers? When my dad told Brandon I was working on Safeguard as an experiment he jumped at the opportunity to draw it and I’m so glad he did. The art is phe nomenal and he was a joy to work with. Now there won’t be another Planet of the Capes story. (wink)

What more can I say about the Fillbach Brothers? I mentioned in last year’s Untitled Walker Young Project #1 that when they did all of the art for Going Dark they sent me their notes on it as well and when I say it helped me when writing this issue’s stories it really helped. On the next page you get to see what they gave me. This progress book is about showing people the bones and muscles and what’s under the skin of comics from script to inks and the Fillbachs’ notes to each other are an essential part of that. Reading what they wrote to each other when drawing was a masterclass on visual storytelling and I could not be more grateful.

AHOY! We have known Walker since he was a “Youngling” (yes, pun intended). It was fan tastic having the opportunity and honor to work with him on his amazing short story GOING DARK . We also believe it will not be the last time our collective brains will unite! It’s been so great to see how he has picked up the aesthetic flame from his father, the indelible Larry Young. Being able to carry the torch of creativity from your father can be a heavy burden to try and accomplish… But we gotta tell you that we think Walker is doin’ it right!

–Matty and Shawn Fillbach

Here he is, Jack Fry, back again. I had the thought: what is a classic monster that Jack could fight? I landed on werewolves. I spent a while working the idea over and bouncing some endings around until I sat down and wrote the whole thing one morning on vacation up at Sea Ranch, where my Pop-Pop lives, a couple hours north of San Francisco on the Mendonoma coast. |t was really fun to do a story where Jack had to fight someone that he had spent the whole story trying to protect. Dealing with a problem he can’t shoot his way out of? Read the story, it’s right there. This sneak peek will be another pol ished gemstone in next year’s Calm, Cool, and Collected: Jack Fry Volume One featuring “The Missing,” “Night Shift,” and the long-awaited, untold origin of... Jack Fry. Jack Fry:Night Shift

kwok

fuckin’ gargoyles .

Excuse me...?

are you mister fry? I need to speak with him. My name is...

I am.

Yes, mister fry, I know . I went to your office but you weren’t there .

any business you think you have with me, tell me while I walk. I’m late for work.

I got your address after looking through your window and I came straight--

jasper.

And your name is...?

jasper Stanley.

please call me jasper.

Mister Stanley was my father... and I didn’t like him very much.

What can I help you with, Mister Stanley?

I’m an astronomer, which means I look at stars all through the night.

Have you talked

Why do you need Me, Jasper?

to the cops?

They said it was a wild animal, but...

Where’s your office?

LOOK AT THiS! I’ve been falling asleep and

in the middle

waking up with these cuts.

of Byer woods...

Wounds , really.

How long has this been going on?

it started last month, went away, and now it’s come back .

Do you have anywhere else you can study? your home, a second office, a tent ...?

No.

it’s gonna cost you but I’ll find you somewhere you can work. Pack only the essentials for living and working.

Come by my office later today and I’ll take you there tonight.

where are you gonna find

a safe house?

I have friends who know how to accessorize.

I’m sorry, Jack; I can’t just give out police safe houses to civilians.

You Have been... for the last four years.

|’m not a civilian.

AlL right; Look.

if you need it for a week or two, it’s yours.

we went through it together, Jack. I can’t

let you leave...

Me and Beth?We gotta vacation house on Lake Mai. The address and

empty handed.

code to the lock box is on here.

Not again.

Thank you, Chip.

That’s my number at the bottom. Give me a call, you know?

...when you have a chance.

Yeah. Real nice guy.

I can set up my telescope on the porch there; my camera will be able to take the best pictures of this moon. I can get those published.

if you don’t mind, Mr.Fry, could you please stay the night?

no.

They attack me at night. Please .

Just for tonight.

I’LL PAY DOUBLE .

dammit.

Sorry I shot you,

Awww; You’re just a puppy dog, huh?

Jasper. You might want to get that checked in the morning.

stay outta trouble.

Find me when you’re normal. I’ll explain everything.

Special Thanks Nick Derington, cover. First off: many thanks to Nick for letting us use this piece of art as the cover. My dad collects movie and TV spacesuits and he knows Nick Daring from the old days through costumes and props and just a general appreciation for awesome. I don’t know how this was arranged but I know my dad has loved Nick’s work since before he was a pro and they made the swap. I think it’s amazing, but that’s little-kid me and my not-so-old dad chasing pop-ups on the moon. That’s got a proud spot in The Chill Zone down stairs and I’ve walked by it every day since I learned how to walk and love it so much , I wanted everyone else to see it. Just amazing. Thanks so much, Nick. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate that piece, forever. You rock. Brandon McKinney. What can I say?I hope that everyone gets to work with their actual heroes on a story about their fictional heroes. I could not believe I wrote a story to prove something to my dad about his characters and he said, well, they’re Brandon’s, too, let’s see what he thinks, and then you did all this. Thank you so much for drawing the hell out of Safeguard and making him truly the kind of hero I want to see in comics. When you sent the initial character design I left class and called my dad gushing about it. The teacher didn’t care but it would have been worth it to get into trouble. Matty and Shawn Thank you for teaching me about visual storytelling and giving Going Dark the dire atmosphere it needed. I love you guys read my stuff and thought WEKNOWHOWTODRAWTHIS. My comic book brothers. Manny Bello The way Manny got Jack Fry immediately and turned him into the gritty noir detective that I always saw him as is just so satisfying. The shades and folds and character designs are just right there. Thank you for taking a stab at this and we’ll see it all toned up and finished next year at SDCC in the Jack Fry case file collection. a fantastic selection, a welcoming attitude, incredible events, and getting me my comics every week. Not to mention Invisible Jet has the best logo for a store I have ever seen. Diego Ordenana Hey, man, thank you for hanging out with me in math and listening to me pitch story ideas when we were supposed to be doing algebra. Do you need a photo credit for the inside front cover?Here it is: |NSIDE FRONT COVER SELF|E BY D|EGO ORDENANA Derek McCaw |t sure was a pleasure meeting you at SDCC ‘23 and I gotta thank you for giving me my first interview, it was a crazy experience. You never forget your first experience with the media, and you were awesome. Mark and Steve I thanked you guys last year and I have to thank you again. I’ll thank you all the time, every time. You guys are always there supporting my storytelling and any other avenue I choose to venture. Also, it’s a pleasure talking with you guys on DORK COURT. That’s the podcast we do at four pm Pacific time on Thursdays. A lot of the time on Fridays, and not uncommonly on Wednesdays. Kris at |nvisible Jet |nvisible Jet Comics in West Portal is such a great store with

Adios!

WALKER YOUNG PROGRESS

DERINGTON • M C KINNEY • FILLBACH BROS • BELLO • FIVE BUCKS FRONT YARD COMICS • SAN FRANCISCO • INFO@DORKCOURT.COM

UNTITLED