I haven't started scripting STRANGER yet, but I expect I will today. I've been spending the last few days figuring out which cons I want to attend this year, deleting some and adding others. It looks like Cincy is out because of a family conflict and lack of interest from anyone I'd need to commute with. But I'm adding a one-day con in the south suburbs called Dan Con that I've heard good things about. Justin Castaneda and @markstegbauer have attended and sing its praises. It's in the fall.
The St. Louis show in September is still on my radar if I can find someone from up here to drive down with. Although, the train is an option, too. Anyone?
Registered for Dan Con on Sept. 21. Struck St. Louis from my list -- it's the same weekend. Also registered for the first Appleseed Comic Con in Fort Wayne, which formerly went by another name. Trevor, Steve and I attended this year and I had a surprisingly big day, saleswise. I've juggled some family events and will attend again in 2013, if the organizer will have me back.
Since my con and store appearances are done for the year, I thought it'd be fun to total my book sales:
Strawberry Shortcake singles: 98 SS digests: 174 Batman Strikes: 12 Batman Allies:3 Reading With Pictures tpb: 33 RWP hc: 13 Hope tpb: 12 (most of these were to Trevor when he ran out, I think) Omega Comics Presents singles: 23 The Best of OCP trade: 17 Kagemono: 20 Criminal Element: 2 One Last Thing: 30 Daily Grind: 11
Back when I was actively pitching stories to the Big Two, I had an idea for an X-Men mini... and then they said no more mutants. I let it sit and then reworked it into an OGN concept called SHOUT... and then let it sit. It's been on my mind for the last few days, and I revised it again tonight. What do you guys think of this? It could be my next project if OLD WOUNDS is a hit. "SHOUT:" A PROPOSAL FOR AN ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL
The high concept: “Carrie” meets “X-Men.”
What it’s about: A super-powered – but emotionally wrecked – teen must find the courage to be a hero.
The story: Our protagonist is Josh Warren, a 14-year-old high school student who’s struggling through life. His mom doesn’t pay him much attention; the bullies at school constantly give him a rough time; there’s a girl he likes but has no luck with women at all. Frankly, he just wants to be left alone. Josh’s world take a turn for the surreal when, during a confrontation in the boys locker room, he discovers he has psychokinetic powers over living objects. In other words, through his thoughts and the power of speech, he can control anything that’s alive. Unlike the super-powered beings we’re used to reading about in comics, however, Josh doesn’t want to be a hero. And the situation gets worse when Josh, is unable to control these new skills. Like many bullied and troubled teens, he considers suicide but doesn’t have the guts to go through with it.
Just then, things get even weirder when Josh is visited by a team of mysterious people calling themselves Lifeguards who claim to be humanity’s protectors. Their leader, a man with incredible psychic abilities, sensed Josh’s awakening and can help him harness his power. He tests Josh’s powers and they’ve off the charts; the other team members are impressed and want him aboard so he can be properly trained. But Josh isn’t interested. Frankly, he thinks they’re nuts.
That changes, however, when Josh and the team are unexpectedly assaulted by the Lifeguards’ arch-foe: a gigantic, mecha-robotic hero-hunter who’s aware of Josh and wants to scratch him – and the Lifeguards -- off his to-do list. Initially cowardly and full of doubt, Josh eventually realizes he must act. He can’t control the gigantic robot because it’s not actually alive, so he turns himself into a living bomb, leaps to the murderous machine and with a single word – “BOOM” – blows it to bits. The effort, however, leaves Josh gravely wounded. Fortunately, the team’s teenage healer, who’s got a soft spot for Josh, is able to save him; in the denouement, we see Josh has joined the team and has finally found happiness and a purpose for his life.
*****
Josh is a character readers will identify with, one who’ll elicit laughs as well as sympathy. He’s an outcast who struggles in traditional society, a situation familiar to many readers. For Josh, his new powers are a curse, not a gift – a different spin on the “young man gets powers” tale. But eventually, Josh finds the inner strength to save the day – and in the end, he gains the self-confidence and maturity he’s lacked. He even gets the girl.
Good start. I think it needs some sort of twist or a bit of the unexpected, as the story seems to play out how you'd expect a story like this to play out. It's an OGN, so don't be afraid to kill him at the end.
How would control over living objects allow him to be able to destroy a robot in that way?
Could the protagonist be a girl and the healer a boy? How does his lack of control over his powers worsen his depression?
I could see a Todd Nauck or a Skottie Young type artist illustrating this.
In recent days, artist John Bivens and I have announced the future publication of OLD WOUNDS, our second project together and our first graphic novel. The book -- a mystery about a man who is not what he appears to be and the ghosts that have come back to haunt him -- will be published by PJ Perez as part of his Pop! Goes The Icon line of independent, creator-owned comics. It's the same company that puts out the OMEGA COMICS PRESENTS anthology that I've contributed to over the past two years. The book will come out in late 2013 or early 2014, and we're damned excited about it. You will be, too.
Next year, likely in the summertime, we're going to announce a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production of OLD WOUNDS. I've been part of two successful Kickstarter campaigns, and I've contributed to several others that made it and a few that didn't. I've got a pretty good handle on what makes a good campaign -- and part of that is reaching out to the fanbase early to get them excited about the project. And that's where you come in.
Our goal will be relatively low, probably in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. The money will help pay for things like: printing and distribution costs; quality paper and cover; shipping the books and rewards we sell through Kickstarter; and promotional materials that we'll give away to fans at cons and other appearances (bookmarks, for example). The highlight for you, I hope, will be a limited-edition hardcover that will ONLY be available through kickstarter, probably limited to 50 copies or fewer.
We're not going to do the Kickstarter now, because we want to get OLD WOUNDS substantially completed before we start taking pledges. That's important to us: OLD WOUNDS will happen with our without the Kickstarter; the Kickstarter campaign will make it better, and it well get special things (like the hc edition and bookmarks and sketches and autographed OLD WOUNDS scripts) into the hands of our fans, whom we adore.
We'll be counting on you to promote the campaign and OLD WOUNDS. That's an important part of a successful Kickstarter campaign. The best ones have a buzz created by supporters of the artists in question. If you see our notes and repost them in your own social media accounts, this can explode.
Another important part of a successful Kickstarter campaign is the list of rewards. So let me ask you: What would you want as a reward for pledging anywhere from $5 to $500 to help us make this project successful? Original commissions? Personally autographed scripts? Sketch cards? Naming rights to characters? Original art from previous projects? Art from friends of ours who support OLD WOUNDS? Visits to your LCS for signings? Visits to your school for presentations about making comics? Breakfast meetings at a con (a personal favorite of mine)? YOU TELL US. Seriously. Right now. Tell us what you'd like as a reward, we'll try to make it happen.
And that, dear readers, is it for now. Stay tuned to learn more about OLD WOUNDS as it develops, and let us know what you think.
Page one of STRANGER is done. Good to get the muscles working.
PAGE 1, panel one
(Horizontal, top row.) Exterior, space. Establishing shot of an enormous SPACE STATION in the vastness of space. It’s an intergalactic boarding school for privileged, multi-species youth from around the universe. (Dirk, design as you wish: Circular? Tower-like? A big ring? A Borg cube? Have fun.)
Our protagonist, Candy, narrates in a caption.
1. CAP (CANDY): A lot of people on Earth think space is a grand frontier -- a vast opportunity for exploration and adventure.
PAGE 1, panel two
(Thinner horizontal, second row.) Interior. With the camera at a soft angle, we’re outside Candy’s CLASSROOM. I’m imagining a pair of clear glass sliding doors that will withdraw, Star Trek-like, when someone approaches. Through the doors, we can see a HUMANOID TEACHER standing in front of a digital or holographic blackboard, giving a lesson.
The narration continues.
2. CAP (CANDY): It’s been three hundred years since mankind established relations with other worlds.
3. CAP (CANDY): In that time, humans have gone deeper and deeper into space, some spending their entire lives living far from our solar system in the name of interplanetary peace and harmony.
PAGE 1, panel three
(Horizontal, third row.) Cut to inside the classroom. HUMANOID ALIENS and few HUMAN BOYS, all pre-teens, sit at desks or workstations, listening to the teacher. CANDY is prominently at the center of the shot, in the front (although not actually the front row of the class, if you know what I mean). She is the only human girl. Make the aliens as alien as you want, as long as they’re intelligent humanoids. (Think DS9, B5, the Star Wars cantina, etc.)
4. CAP (CANDY): Take me. I was born on Earth, but I’ve pretty much lived my entire life out among the stars.
5. CAP (CANDY): Pretty cool, right?
PAGE 1, panel four
(Horizontal, left.) Change POV so the kids are in the foreground and the teacher is in the background, looking at Candy and asking a question.
6. CAP (CANDY): Think again.
7. TEACHER: -- and the name of the Meltzarian scientist who designed the first faster-than-light speed engines was… Candy?
PAGE 1, panel five
(Horizontal, right.) Tight on Candy as she fumbles the response. Her eyes shift; she scrunches in her chair. She’s visibly uncomfortable as she tries to come up with the answer.
Two pages written now, and they really establish the frustration the protagonist feels being the only human girl at this boarding-school-in-space. I'm onto something, here.
Four pages of STRANGER written -- one fifth of the story! Anyone want to sponsor a character? I have an alien gym teacher, three alien preteen students, the alien inventor of faster-than-light travel and the name of his race so far, all in need of names.
Seven pages of STRANGER written. At this rate, it could be done by the time we leave for Florida (Friday), which will let me edit on the plane. The second act began on page 7, and the chief female supporting character is being introduced. All is proceeding nicely.
With STRANGER written, there are a bunch of characters whose names I'll open up for sponsorship. If you ever wanted to be a comic book character or to have your child/husband/friend be a character, now's your chance. They are: 1. A female humanoid alien teenager, one of several antagonists in the story. 2. Two make humanoid alien teens, also antagonists 3. A female humanoid gym teacher (think Jane Lynch in Glee) 4. A female humanoid science teacher 5. A male, human (!) teacher 6. A male, humanoid teen (a good guy) 7. The inventor of faster-than-light travel 8. That inventor's alien species 9. The alien species of Nikka, one of the protagonists of the story. If you're interested, email or PM me.
As I mentioned on Facebook, I'm noodling with something new: a zombie story called SIEGE, that focuses on a small band of survivors holed up in a warehouse store like Costco. It will be narrated by a WWZ survivor who was a child during this experience and possibly the sole survivor, like Newt in Aiens. I don't think that's been done before. Meredith wants to cowrite with me, which brings a fresh perspective, too.
Comments
I haven't started scripting STRANGER yet, but I expect I will today. I've been spending the last few days figuring out which cons I want to attend this year, deleting some and adding others. It looks like Cincy is out because of a family conflict and lack of interest from anyone I'd need to commute with. But I'm adding a one-day con in the south suburbs called Dan Con that I've heard good things about. Justin Castaneda and @markstegbauer have attended and sing its praises. It's in the fall.
The St. Louis show in September is still on my radar if I can find someone from up here to drive down with. Although, the train is an option, too. Anyone?
Strawberry Shortcake singles: 98
SS digests: 174
Batman Strikes: 12
Batman Allies:3
Reading With Pictures tpb: 33
RWP hc: 13
Hope tpb: 12 (most of these were to Trevor when he ran out, I think)
Omega Comics Presents singles: 23
The Best of OCP trade: 17
Kagemono: 20
Criminal Element: 2
One Last Thing: 30
Daily Grind: 11
Pretty good year.
Back when I was actively pitching stories to the Big Two, I had an idea for an X-Men mini... and then they said no more mutants. I let it sit and then reworked it into an OGN concept called SHOUT... and then let it sit. It's been on my mind for the last few days, and I revised it again tonight. What do you guys think of this? It could be my next project if OLD WOUNDS is a hit.
"SHOUT:" A PROPOSAL
FOR AN ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL
The high concept: “Carrie” meets “X-Men.”
What it’s about: A super-powered – but emotionally
wrecked – teen must find the courage to be a hero.
The story: Our protagonist is Josh Warren, a
14-year-old high school student who’s struggling through life. His mom doesn’t
pay him much attention; the bullies at school constantly give him a rough time;
there’s a girl he likes but has no luck with women at all. Frankly, he just
wants to be left alone. Josh’s world take a turn for the surreal when, during a
confrontation in the boys locker room, he discovers he has psychokinetic powers
over living objects. In other words, through his thoughts and the power of
speech, he can control anything that’s alive. Unlike the super-powered beings
we’re used to reading about in comics, however, Josh doesn’t want to be a hero.
And the situation gets worse when Josh, is unable to control these new skills.
Like many bullied and troubled teens, he considers suicide but doesn’t have the
guts to go through with it.
Just then, things get even weirder when Josh is visited by a
team of mysterious people calling themselves Lifeguards who claim to be
humanity’s protectors. Their leader, a man with incredible psychic abilities,
sensed Josh’s awakening and can help him harness his power. He tests Josh’s
powers and they’ve off the charts; the other team members are impressed and
want him aboard so he can be properly trained. But Josh isn’t interested.
Frankly, he thinks they’re nuts.
That changes, however, when Josh and the team are
unexpectedly assaulted by the Lifeguards’ arch-foe: a gigantic, mecha-robotic
hero-hunter who’s aware of Josh and wants to scratch him – and the Lifeguards
-- off his to-do list. Initially cowardly and full of doubt, Josh eventually
realizes he must act. He can’t control the gigantic robot because it’s not
actually alive, so he turns himself into a living bomb, leaps to the murderous
machine and with a single word – “BOOM” – blows it to bits. The effort,
however, leaves Josh gravely wounded. Fortunately, the team’s teenage healer,
who’s got a soft spot for Josh, is able to save him; in the denouement, we see
Josh has joined the team and has finally found happiness and a purpose for his
life.
*****
Josh is a character readers will identify with, one who’ll
elicit laughs as well as sympathy. He’s an outcast who struggles in traditional
society, a situation familiar to many readers. For Josh, his new powers are a
curse, not a gift – a different spin on the “young man gets powers” tale. But
eventually, Josh finds the inner strength to save the day – and in the end, he
gains the self-confidence and maturity he’s lacked. He even gets the girl.
-30-
As for the robot issue, that's the big POW: he has to blow himself up to destroy it. Sacrifice.
Could be a girl... But it started out autobiographical so I saw it as a boy.
From social media:
Hello, friends!
In recent days, artist John Bivens and I have announced the future publication of OLD WOUNDS, our second project together and our first graphic novel. The book -- a mystery about a man who is not what he appears to be and the ghosts that have come back to haunt him -- will be published by PJ Perez as part of his Pop! Goes The Icon line of independent, creator-owned comics. It's the same company that puts out the OMEGA COMICS PRESENTS anthology that I've contributed to over the past two years. The book will come out in late 2013 or early 2014, and we're damned excited about it. You will be, too.
Next year, likely in the summertime, we're going to announce a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the production of OLD WOUNDS. I've been part of two successful Kickstarter campaigns, and I've contributed to several others that made it and a few that didn't. I've got a pretty good handle on what makes a good campaign -- and part of that is reaching out to the fanbase early to get them excited about the project. And that's where you come in.
Our goal will be relatively low, probably in the $5,000 to $10,000 range. The money will help pay for things like: printing and distribution costs; quality paper and cover; shipping the books and rewards we sell through Kickstarter; and promotional materials that we'll give away to fans at cons and other appearances (bookmarks, for example). The highlight for you, I hope, will be a limited-edition hardcover that will ONLY be available through kickstarter, probably limited to 50 copies or fewer.
We're not going to do the Kickstarter now, because we want to get OLD WOUNDS substantially completed before we start taking pledges. That's important to us: OLD WOUNDS will happen with our without the Kickstarter; the Kickstarter campaign will make it better, and it well get special things (like the hc edition and bookmarks and sketches and autographed OLD WOUNDS scripts) into the hands of our fans, whom we adore.
We'll be counting on you to promote the campaign and OLD WOUNDS. That's an important part of a successful Kickstarter campaign. The best ones have a buzz created by supporters of the artists in question. If you see our notes and repost them in your own social media accounts, this can explode.
Another important part of a successful Kickstarter campaign is the list of rewards. So let me ask you: What would you want as a reward for pledging anywhere from $5 to $500 to help us make this project successful? Original commissions? Personally autographed scripts? Sketch cards? Naming rights to characters? Original art from previous projects? Art from friends of ours who support OLD WOUNDS? Visits to your LCS for signings? Visits to your school for presentations about making comics? Breakfast meetings at a con (a personal favorite of mine)? YOU TELL US. Seriously. Right now. Tell us what you'd like as a reward, we'll try to make it happen.
And that, dear readers, is it for now. Stay tuned to learn more about OLD WOUNDS as it develops, and let us know what you think.
Happy holidays,
Russell Lissau
www.facebook.com/russell.lissau
Page one of STRANGER is done. Good to get the muscles working.
PAGE 1, panel
one
(Horizontal,
top row.) Exterior, space. Establishing shot of an enormous SPACE STATION in the
vastness of space. It’s an intergalactic boarding school for privileged,
multi-species youth from around the universe. (Dirk, design as you wish:
Circular? Tower-like? A big ring? A Borg cube? Have fun.)
Our
protagonist, Candy, narrates in a caption.
1. CAP
(CANDY): A lot of people on Earth think space is a grand frontier -- a vast
opportunity for exploration and adventure.
PAGE 1, panel
two
(Thinner
horizontal, second row.) Interior. With the camera at a soft angle, we’re
outside Candy’s CLASSROOM. I’m imagining a pair of clear glass sliding doors
that will withdraw, Star Trek-like, when someone approaches. Through the doors,
we can see a HUMANOID TEACHER standing in front of a digital or holographic
blackboard, giving a lesson.
The narration
continues.
2. CAP
(CANDY): It’s been three hundred years since mankind established relations with
other worlds.
3. CAP
(CANDY): In that time, humans have gone deeper and deeper into space, some
spending their entire lives living far from our solar system in the name of
interplanetary peace and harmony.
PAGE 1, panel
three
(Horizontal,
third row.) Cut to inside the classroom. HUMANOID ALIENS and few HUMAN BOYS, all
pre-teens, sit at desks or workstations, listening to the teacher. CANDY is
prominently at the center of the shot, in the front (although not actually the
front row of the class, if you know what I mean). She is the only human girl.
Make the aliens as alien as you want, as long as they’re intelligent humanoids.
(Think DS9, B5, the Star Wars cantina, etc.)
4. CAP
(CANDY): Take me. I was born on Earth, but I’ve pretty much lived my entire life
out among the stars.
5. CAP
(CANDY): Pretty cool, right?
PAGE 1, panel
four
(Horizontal,
left.) Change POV so the kids are in the foreground and the teacher is in the
background, looking at Candy and asking a question.
6. CAP
(CANDY): Think again.
7. TEACHER:
-- and the name of the Meltzarian scientist who designed the first
faster-than-light speed engines was… Candy?
PAGE 1, panel
five
(Horizontal,
right.) Tight on Candy as she fumbles the response. Her eyes shift; she
scrunches in her chair. She’s visibly uncomfortable as she tries to come up with
the answer.
8. CANDY:
Um….
9. CAP
(CANDY): It stinks.
10. TITLE AND
CREDITS:
STRANGER
Story:
Russell Lissau
Art
and Letters: Dirk Tiede
Anyone want to sponsor a character? I have an alien gym teacher, three alien preteen students, the alien inventor of faster-than-light travel and the name of his race so far, all in need of names.
Regardless, it's 1/3 done.
1. A female humanoid alien teenager, one of several antagonists in the story.
2. Two make humanoid alien teens, also antagonists
3. A female humanoid gym teacher (think Jane Lynch in Glee)
4. A female humanoid science teacher
5. A male, human (!) teacher
6. A male, humanoid teen (a good guy)
7. The inventor of faster-than-light travel
8. That inventor's alien species
9. The alien species of Nikka, one of the protagonists of the story.
If you're interested, email or PM me.
"CLEANUP IN AISLE Z" Really hits a tone.
I like it.