About
Webcomic tales of the surreal, fantastic, & macabre.
The contributing elements for this project have been brewing in my noggin for many years. I’ve kept a fat spiral notebook for the past thirteen years or so. I’ve deposited many maniacal story outlines, abstract doodles, & dream nightmare transcripts in the book’s pages. The tattered beast’s appearance begs for retirement. And now I’ve discovered the perfect vehicle for some of the darker festering concepts to be made manifest: a horror webcomic anthology.
This isn’t for everybody. I plan to have fun doing something different. I plan to experiment with the art and test various narrative approaches. Some stories might fail. If I’m doing things right, some folks will hate it. But, maybe a few people out there will dig what I’m doing and share in the fun.
False Positive is a short story, webcomic anthology, but I like to think of it as more of a stew. I am not following a measured recipe for this dish, but rather am cooking from the gut. I plan on throwing many of my peculiar passions into this strange mulligan with a heaping scoop of horror, a pinch of science-fiction, a dash of fantasy, and a bit of (To Be Determined).
Bon Appétit!
– Big Mike (a.k.a. quasilucid) – September 30, 2011
Follow False Positive twitter: @fpcomic
P.S.
This crude collage offers a simulated peek inside my cabeza at some of the most influential sources of inspiration as this project materialized. But I’m a pop-culture junky, constantly being inspired or uninspired by video games, movies, comics, television shows, etc.
See Also: The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales From The Darkside, Tales From the Crypt, Creepshow, The Vault of Horror, Eerie, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Guillermo Del Toro…
READ SOME NICE THINGS GOOD FOLKS HAVE SAID ABOUT FALSE POSITIVE
Mike, I just read all of your pages and I was very impressed. You have great storytelling technique and all of your images have perfect proportions and exquisite rounding. If I may ask, what technique do you use to make your pictures?
Thanks for the thoughtful and supportive feedback.
Currently, I’m using a digital process for creating all the sequential comic art. I prefer using Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop for my process. I posted a brief blog post about my methods here: PROCESS.
Just discovered your work and I really like what I’ve seen. Weird tales are the best tales I always say…
Consider me a subscriber.
Great! Welcome aboard. I too am a fan of the weird.
Wow, you had me at the title page <3! Have only had time to read concoction so far, and I so impressed with the style of story telling and the art, I will be coming back for more more more. Awesome!
While many of my friends read several webcomics on a weekly basis, I think 99% of them are garbage. The art may be catching, but the subject matter is not funny or not interesting. This thing you’ve got here, this breaks all the preconceived notions I had about webcomics. While Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits are way before my time, I love watching the reruns and holiday marathons. In my High School years I read a great deal of DC’s Vertigo imprint. Your work reminds me so much of all that great writing and those fantastic characters. I’m going to share this with everyone I know!
Awesome. Thanks so much. I have my own fond memories of those watching those marathons I’m glad this project can evoke some similar sentiment. Thanks for your enthusiasm.
Mike, the comic conventions blur together, but I met you at one in…April? You gave me a copy of False Positive #2 and I finally got around to reading it. Wow! I can’t get “Ache” out of my mind. Good creepy story, excellent pacing and a satisfying ending. Best to you and the False Positive team. –SWJ
It must have been at WonderCon. And if you walked away with a mini-comic, I can only assume it was a pleasure to meet you.* Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment and offer well wishes.
(*Now I’ve put 2 & 2 together, our encounter left me with an issue of Seething with Joy, your funny collection of sardonic comicstrips. My kind of humor: American Splendor meets The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Let me know when issue #2 comes out so we might swap comics again.)
Mike, this is an amazing story and im so glad i stumbled across this. When you make some hard copies i will certainly buy. All the way from Adelaide, Australia i thank you for your awesome art.
Very cool. Thanks. I will be sure to spread the word when anything goes to print.
Nice comic series .. 🙂
it reminds me of p.h.dick short stories ..
Love from Poland…
Happy to have the slightest comparison.
Thanks.
Here via Warren Ellis. Not disappointed. This is great stuff; I’m a huge fan of the macabre & these chapters certainly pack a punch! I also really like your judicious use of colour accents. Looking forward to more!
N
Sweet! Thanks for taking time to comment. I’m always glad to learn someone is newly sharing in the fun.
Just finished your entire run + the old and new 31 days of Halloween galleries in one sitting. VERY captivating. The art and the story content are amazing and terrifying (well written/drawn). Great work! You’ve got me hooked!
Sweet!
Amazing work. I stumbled here accidentally and it has been worth it. Forever a fan now !
Love your work. Your artistic style is both well-crafted and unique, and the weird fiction elements are definitely my cup of tea. Subscribed.
Much appreciated.
Man, I am sold. This is exactly what I have been looking for all these years that I’v trawled the net for Webcomics. I’v read my share of regular comics, but this is extraordinary. You know what, art matters but the storyline, something that u’ve got going here, exquisite.
Keep up the good work man, we need stimulus like these to survive the mundane. Also a request: i have not gone through all, i just started about and hour ago, but if you haven’t already done it, do you thing you could do something Lovecraftian like with ctlhulhu or Yog-soggoth….
Thanks
Roy
Thanks for reading and offering support.
You’ll find references to Lovecraft, but so far, I’ve tried to avoid.directly incorporating overtly specific creations by other authors.
You will find a single illustration renditions of Cthulhu on a sketch blog, here, and near the bottom of the 2011 Halloween inspired sketches, here.
Mike,
I loved your comic Duel on Zuda.
Your art has a very distinct style that is your own,very organic and beautiful.
I also find the storytelling intriguing. I wish you the best as artists like you
are talents worth rooting for.
Thanks. I appreciate the support and hardy encouragement.
Part of my motivation for launching FP was a desire to overcome the withdrawal I felt when the awesome Zuda community was shut down. I’m giving out the last few Dual hats at Wondercon to those who mention it at the booth.
FALSO POSITIVO? ok, you’ve gone all the way now XD. BigMike, I just want to alert you that in spanish those words have the same exact pronuncioation and in my country, Colombia they are the name of an actual atrocity commited by our army, under the command of our formerly acclaimed ex-president Alvaro Uribe.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB266/
The short version is we’ve been at war with guerrillas for over 45 years now, and as a measure to win the war, a murder incentive policy was implemented in the army. They would get bonuses for killing as many guerrilleros as possible, so when army officials didnt have enough bodycount to buy the things they needed, they went to poor sections of the population, capture them and take them away to remote locations, muder them, then dress them up as guerrilla and get their bonuses. When shit hit the fan they said those were “Falsos Positivos” since they were reported as guierrilla casualties but werent.
I thought you should know since this is an actual thing that happened that is very much fitting for the horror theme of the site, and you might be able to comment on it now that you have a version of your comic titled exactly like it, and I would hope some day people in Colombia know about your excellent comic =)
I was not previously aware of the cultural significance of the term in that context.
Mike,
For what it’s worth you are one damn good citizen! You have helped enrich the society & community of intriguing, surreal, fantastic & macabre comics & stories!
That’s how my letter to you would start, I’m truly thankful & grateful to have found your comic short stories. It has once again triggered in me the dormant giant I have always carried on my back since I was a child, the passion for comics. As a child I have always loved comics, but nowadays the content of comics are somewhat degrading. Boring plots, predictable twists, the cliches of characters, it’s common & dull products have left my tongue stale & unsatisfied, it no longer satiates my hunger for a good story that I have turned my back on it. But you my friend, you have opened up the gateway for me to be able to get back on comics. The receptive nature of your comics just astounds! Your stories offer a great mix of thrill, suspense, horror, fantasy, reality, & my personal favorite, macabre that it engages your readers, such as myself into a perceptive form of mantra, speculating, assuming, predicting, the next thing that’s going to happen. In short, you keep us at the edge of our seats. Thank you so much Mike, for sharing your sheer gift of talent. Because of you, I am now inspired to write again, for in every time I read your comics, a story, a theme, or a poem comes to my mind. Keep it up Mike, I’m on your side! 🙂
The best compliment I could receive is that my work inspires others. I’ve always enjoyed comics and sharing them with others.
Your work speaks to all the things I love. Thank you.
Glad to hear it. We would probably get along smashingly well in the analog world.
Just stumbled onto this site today, amazing work! I’m a huge fan of your inspirations as well, and have an original copy of the Eerie comic with Frank Frazetta’s werewolf cover, gotta say I’m impressed by your short story telling and art style! They fit perfectly with this genre! Keep it up I’m going to share this with my friends!
Very cool! It is always a pleasure to make contact with a fellow fan of the genre. I’m big a fan of Eerie & Frazetta– I actually saw a show of his work at SDCC 2011 which helped inspire the launch of FP.
Love your stories! and your art style is extremely memorable!
Much appreciated. Cheers!
Mike, I just want to say that I’ve really been enjoying this site. By far the best of horror anthology webcomic I’ve found.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Just happened to stumble across your website and I’m now hooked! Please have more merch! I would love to have a print T shirt.
Cool! Sorry for the lack of merch.
Hey, I dig your new front page. Just wanted to give you a heads up. The banner for Detained just links to the jpg, not the first page of the story. As far as I can tell, the rest are working.
Thanks for the assist.
Great Stuff Mike!
Strangely I happened upon it by accident. This is exactly the kind of stuff I would do. Eerily close to my style. Hoping you’re not a time traveler. ~Mike Walton
I’m not at liberty to commit to any declarations about my potential status as time traveler one way or another.
C. J. Cherryth wouldn’t normally fit the bill for your inspiration … but, aside from Heroes in Hell, which is a bit to heroic for you, she does have a collection of short stories built around cities that would serve even better than the world of Cloud’s Rider (psychic, carnivorous horses adopt human settlers to try and be apex predators in a world dominated by psychic beasts that like to eat folks and can drive us … and each other, quite mad).