Get it! Got it!! Good!!!
Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa- Last Chances page 08
Kim is troubled.
A new page of our epic story, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances is up now on our web comics page. See how the Toshigawa saga started in full color for the first time.
For those of you that don’t know, Jetta: Last Chances was our first graphic novel published in 2004. Now, we are releasing this epic story online for our readers in full color for the first time. You don’t want to miss this story as it unfolds every Friday right here on toshigawa.com.
For long time readers, this will be a treat to see the book you have in your collection in full color. For new readers, this is your opportunity to read our very first comic and become a part of this martial arts adventure. This is the perfect chance to get in on the start of an adventurous ninja ride which continues into our graphic novel series you can find in our store!
JETTA: TALES OF THE TOSHIGAWA – LAST CHANCES
Vol.0 The Toshigawa clan has long guarded and ruled Japan from the shadows. Now, one of the clan’s former members has become emperor of Japan and wants to destroy the remaining members of the Toshigawa clan, including his own daughter, Shianndrea! But before she can flee to America, she has to deal with the formidable Desai – and rumors that her sensei is a traitor! Don’t miss this hard to find 80 page first issue of the TOSHIGAWA SAGA.
“Last Chances” is an 80 page graphic novel.
Written by: Martheus Wade
Inks by: Janet Wade
Illustrations by: Martheus Wade
Colors by: Gareth Melvin
Editor: Kevin Williams
Last Chances page 6 is online now!
Shianndrea Toshigawa ©
The Epic Continues!!! Page 6 of Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances is up today! For those of you that don’t know, we are putting up this graphic novel in FULL COLOR one page at a time. Join in for the ride every Friday for some exciting ninja action! Join us here today to watch the story unfold and see how a warrior was born.
JETTA: TALES OF THE TOSHIGAWA – LAST CHANCES Vol.0
The Toshigawa clan has long guarded and ruled Japan from the shadows. Now, one of the clan’s former members has become emperor of Japan and wants to destroy the remaining members of the Toshigawa clan, including his own daughter, Shianndrea! But before she can flee to America, she has to deal with the formidable Desai – and rumors that her sensei is a traitor! Don’t miss this hard to find 80 page first issue of the TOSHIGAWA SAGA. “Last Chances” is an 80 page graphic novel.
Written by: Martheus Wade
Inks by: Janet Wade
Illustrations by: Martheus Wade
Colors by: Gareth Melvin
Editor: Kevin Williams
Page 5 is Live!
Read my story or else.
The Epic Continues!!! Page 5 of Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances is up today! For those of you that don’t know, we are putting up this graphic novel in FULL COLOR one page at a time. Join in for the ride every Friday for some exciting ninja action! Join us here today to watch the story unfold and see how a warrior was born.
JETTA: TALES OF THE TOSHIGAWA – LAST CHANCES Vol.0
The Toshigawa clan has long guarded and ruled Japan from the shadows. Now, one of the clan’s former members has become emperor of Japan and wants to destroy the remaining members of the Toshigawa clan, including his own daughter, Shianndrea! But before she can flee to America, she has to deal with the formidable Desai – and rumors that her sensei is a traitor! Don’t miss this hard to find 80 page first issue of the TOSHIGAWA SAGA. “Last Chances” is an 80 page graphic novel. Written by: Martheus Wade Inks by: Janet Wade Illustrations by: Martheus Wade Colors by: Gareth Melvin Editor: Kevin Williams
Meet the Artist: GARETH MELVIN!
Everyone knows that we have released Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances as an online web comic, now in FULL COLOR, as the answer to the online piracy of our book that is only in black and white. Now, you know all about Martheus Wade, creator/writer/artist, and Janet Wade, writer/artist, and Kevin L. Williams, editor/interviewer; but, you don’t know about one of our most important team members on this project, the one making it all possible to have a colorized version of the book, and here he is, ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together (as if anyone would hear it) and welcome Gareth Melvin!
Toshigawa.com: So, Gareth, tell us a little about yourself.
Gareth Melvin: A little about me? Well, born Gareth Melvin, March 28, 1983 in the good ol’ RS of A (South Africa). As a kid, I was very much a loner, preferring to be left to my own devices. My folks worked full-time jobs, so my younger sister and I were majority raised by our grandparents.
I always enjoyed drawing, inking and colouring as a kid (though I was terrible at it)
In high school, I got very involved in drama and the theatre and took drama as a seventh subject.
The graduating class of 2001, as well as my teachers thought, ‘This is it, this boy is headed for Hollywood’. Because I was never really academic and school was 12 long, painful years, I needed a gap year.
In this time, I did some work for my mom, learned to play drums and partied my butt off!
February of the next year, I started at the South African Film and Drama Academy and three years later, I graduated with a BA in film editing.
My tertiary education was not without difficulty: during my second year, I fought a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse. At the beginning of my third year, sober and clean, I came into a relationship with Christ. Some people would say I’ve lived a lot, or lived through a lot. I would say, I haven’t lived enough!
TC: We’re glad you overcame all that! We might otherwise still have Last Chances in black and white otherwise. Tell 
us, what are all your interests?
GM: Interests would be art, naturally. Writing poetry and novels. A lot of Playstation, loving the Guitar Hero at the moment, but my favourite game series would definitely be the Final Fantasy series – Kingdom Hearts rocks!
A regular at the local metal nightclub, some light internet stalking – joking.
Sports and me, we never really saw eye-to-eye, but I do enjoy watching a rugby game – Go Sharks!
TC: Sharks? There is a rugby team of attorney’s there? What got you interested in comics?
GM: That would be my cousin, Ryan. Never really thought much about comics. Yes, I knew Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but that was about it. Then my cousin comes along with Gen 13, Green Lantern, Spawn, Lobo, Witchblade and then life had meaning.
TC: We understand. We found our life’s meaning in pie. What prior projects have you worked on?
GM: Oh, prior projects, loads, list longer than my arm…I wish! I only got involved in comic colouring about 2 years ago. I decided to paint a piece for my girlfriend and I was hooked after that. Endless amounts of time in Photoshop painting and surfing for images to work on. A very big turning point was ZurdoM, favoring my colour work of his original Daredevil and Elektra and that confidence boost kept me going to the point where my skills were starting to 
look more professional. It was only earlier this year that I received my first collaboration thanks to a near and dear deviantArt friend, who had posted a lined work of a sci-fi piece and had asked me to please colour it. I think I spent a week just researching colour templates and ideas to get this piece right. After I finished and uploaded the sci-fi piece, there was just a flood of people wanting to work with me or commission me.
While I’ve painted line work by cartoonists, illustrators, professional comic artists, people who just want a splash of colour put on their work, there are a few artists who I absolutely love working on their pieces and with them.
TC: What kind of projects are you working on now?
GM: Projects now, I’m sure you mean art-wise. I ask, cause I’m rebuilding a pub at the moment as well.
I’m feeling very good about the projects I’ve currently got on my desk. Starting with Jetta, I’m working on Chapter 1 of ‘Last Chances’ – loving the story, great line work. Martheus, as always, he’s an absolute champion to work with, or work for. Kevin (the editor) has given me so much room to play around artistically, the pressure is on and I’m just loving every panel of it.
I’m hoping that this isn’t like anything you’ve seen before.
TC: Anything else planned?
GM: Away from Jetta, I’m working on an avatar collaboration, I’ve also got an amazing rendition of Dungeons & Dragons I’m working on that will be pretty wicked.
I’ve joined up with the ‘Unstoppable’ contest, which is going slow, but will be good, contest closes 1 April, so must make that quick and right.
One project that I’m really happy with, a line work by J. Gonzalez of Wolverine that I had coloured and together, we’re submitting for the Pat Carlucci Auction on e-bay. He’s an incredible artist and usually a great source of inspiration for me. This was a very personal piece and one that just came together in the 11th hour.
TC: Tell about getting involved with Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances.
GM: Well, I had watched Martheus on deviantArt for a number of months and just kept shrugging off a journal entry he had written. One night, I thought ‘Let’s read it.’
He was looking for a new web colourist and I just thought, ‘Why not?’ I sent him the link to my gallery and I was amazed when he replied saying, ‘If you want an audition piece, let me know.’
I didn’t realize at the time that he had sent me the page for page 2 of ‘TURRA: BLACK SHEEP.’
So, I coloured it as I saw fit and because I didn’t know Turra’s colours, I gave her a deep blue latex suit and blonde hair. Martheus did inform that I had screwed up her colour pallet, but my background work was enough to save my audition. About a week later, he sent me the hi-res pages for ‘TURRA: BLACK SHEEP’ and said: make with the colour!
So at present, that is my only published Jetta work before “Last Chances” went online.
TC: Martheus knows talent! Other than Jetta, who is your favorite character and why?
GM: It’s a toss up between Turra and Kim.
Turra, because she’s that sexy, sassy, ‘outcast’, the black sheep. I see her as a character who cares about her loved ones, but is usually looking to work some kind of angle for her own means and I love that aspect about her that, you never really know what she’s going to do next and for me, that’s a fantastic page turner.
Kim in that, he strikes me as the ‘heart-break kid’. He’s torn within himself between wanting to be a man, who is with Jetta, married with kids, a simple life. But that he also has responsibilities to the clan and that his loyalties to the clan are far above his own wants.
TC: And now, for the “Kevin” questions–the kind of things you don’t even want your mama to know the answers to:
Paper or plastic?
Depends, usually plastic, but canvas preferably.
How do you like your eggs cooked?
In the kitchen!
Where do you squeeze your toothpaste tube?
From the bottom! People who squeeze from the top have a special place reserved for them in that ‘very warm place in the very deep south’, right next to those people who talk during movies.
Toilet paper: roll over or under?
It could go from side to side for all I care, as long as it’s there and there’s enough when you need it.
Favorite color?
Bicycle…that failing, black, white and blue.
If you had a girl’s name, what would it be?
Catherine
TC: Thanks for the hard work, Catherine. Erm, Gareth!! Everyone can see his hard work at work in the current online release of Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances in our web comics section.
Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Full Circle Cover!!
Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa - Full Circle Coming Soon!!
Here it is.
The cover (finally) to our next book, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Full Circle. I had fun coming up with this cover and it explains a lot about what’s going to happen inside of this book. There will be a lot of surprises as we begin to wrap up this major story line in the Toshigawa universe.
Hope you guys like it and pick it up when it hits our site.
Synopsis:
After the revelation of betrayal told by her mortal enemy, Terminus, Jetta must now decide whether to fight beside the Toshigawa or not and her decision may rest on the shoulders of the one she loves most, Kim. However, there is something moving in the darkness that threatens all she holds dear as friends become enemies and loved ones pay the ultimate sacrifice. For Jetta, nothing will ever be the same again.
Don’t miss this exciting chapter of the Jetta series.
Please visit our store here to find the rest of the Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa saga. As well, you can find our books at Discount Comic Book Services, Heroes Corner, Lulu.com, Haven Distributors, Amazon.com, or fine comic book shops near you. Just ask them for Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa!
Boobie Watchers and being a Role Model
Special Edition Role Models DVD!
I got my hands on the UK Special “Boobie Watcher” edition of the movie Role Models this past week and was happy to see that the comic book that I illustrated (Adventures of the Boobie Watcher) did get to see the light of day. It was packaged inside the DVD! How cool is that!
The story follows the character Ronnie (as his alter ego, The Boobie Watcher) as he sets his community ablaze doing what he does best. Boobie Watcher was written by Chris Ryall and illustrated by Martheus Wade.
If you haven’t seen the movie, you need to check it out.
Last Chances for Pirates
See how it all began in April!
I’ve always believed that you know that you are doing something right when your work is copied by multiple sources. Well, it seems that our first graphic novel, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Last Chances has been pirated and distributed on the web without our permission.
At first, we were pretty upset. However, we decided to get something out of it while rewarding our readers. So, starting in April, we will be releasing Jetta: Last Chances on the web in one page at a time. This time, in full color.
For long time readers, this will be a treat to see the book you have in your collection in full color. For new readers, this is your opportunity to read our very first comic. This is the perfect chance to get in on the start of an adventurous ninja ride. For the “Pirates” out there, you’ve now got official competition.
So, let the adventure begin.
JETTA: TALES OF THE TOSHIGAWA – LAST CHANCES
vol.0 The Toshigawa clan has long guarded and ruled Japan from the shadows. Now, one of the clan’s former members has become emperor of Japan and wants to destroy the remaining members of the Toshigawa clan, including his own daughter, Shianndrea! But before she can flee to America, she has to deal with the formidable Desai – and rumors that her sensei is a traitor! Don’t miss this hard to find 80 page first issue of the TOSHIGAWA SAGA.
“Last Chances” is an 80 page graphic novel, perfect bound with full-color cover and black-and-white interior.
Written by: Martheus Wade
Inks by: Janet Wade
Illustrations by: Martheus Wade
Colors by: Gareth Melvin
Editor: Kevin Williams
Portfolio Book looks great!!
Coming Soon!
We just got the Martheus Wade portfolio book back and it looks Great! I, for one, can’t wait to be able to share the book with you guys. We have awesome illustrations in there from works that I’ve done for IDW, Paramount Pictures, and Hasbro. As well as a 4 page preview of art from our next graphic novel, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Full Circle. We will have it up for grabs at The CGS Super Show in March. Once we get back, this piece will be going up on our site in the store. Grab a copy and enjoy the comic goodness.
Rhythm and Reason: The Portfolio of Martheus Wade
16 pages
Full Color Cover
Color and Black and White Interior
Coming Soon!
Rhythm and Reason
Coming Soon!
Rhythm and Reason is a portfolio book that I have been working on for a long time. This is a body of my work that I am most proud of and we will be publishing it just in time for CGS Super Show in March. It will include work that I have done for Paramount Pictures and IDW as well as various illustrations from properties such as JLA and Star Wars. As an added bonus, the book will feature a sneak preview of pages of art from the next Jetta graphic novel titled, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa – Full Circle. Keep your eyes posted here for the release date. Also, look for it to be sold here at toshigawa.com as well as Heroes Corner and DCBS. More details shortly!
