Friday, May 23, 2008

Apama - The Comic Book!

The seed for this idea came when we were first talking to publishers about showing their work in the Hero Tomorrow store scenes. We were asked if we were interested in creating a comic version of the Hero Tomorrow movie.  At first we were somewhat indifferent to the idea.  In our experience comic adaptations of films don't really seem to work all that well.   But once we started thinking about it, we realized that we have a unique situation with Hero Tomorrow as it's partially about David trying to get his Apama comic book published, and it might be really fun to present the actual comic David's trying to create.

The notion stayed on the back burner for a couple years as we produced and finished the film. The big stumbling block was figuring out the logistics of time and finding the right artist. Enter Eddy Newell.

Eddy is best known for his work on Black Lightening and Werewolf of the Apocalypse among many others. His work is very diverse, and he often employs a painterly style that feels very film noir-esque. Gary Hermann set up meeting and showing of Hero Tomorrow for Eddy, and after a few brainstorming sessions Eddy joined the team. We're truly honored to have him.
Apama the superhero is based on an animal that has never been discovered, so one of the first challenges was to create the animal. Eddy, keeping in mind the costume, crossed a possum with a werewolf to create the concept art above.

Gary Hermann will be handling the editing chores, and Milo and I will be scribing the piece. As anyone who knows us knows... we are first and foremost comic book fans. There would be no Hero Tomorrow without the love we have for those countless boxes in the attic. That said, we're doing this because we truly believe that we have a very fresh and original character with a story that hasn't been told before.

We've been doing tons of backstory and foundation work for what we hope will be an ongoing series. I've even been doing location scouting around Cleveland for neighborhoods and buildings. This is so much fun. We're aiming for September with the first online issue.

That's what I should have said...!

So I'm sitting in the Crown Plaza Hotel for breakfast at Motor City Con, and who enters but the Margot Kidder. She looks at the buffet and asks the host, "Is it possible to get a banana or just some fruit?" I looked up at her, straightened my tie and said, "Ahem, wouldn't you rather have orange juice - freshly squeezed?" at which point the entire crowd fell out of their chairs in laughter.

Okay, maybe I didn't actually say those exact words. Nor was I wearing a tie. Maybe, in fact, all I did was tell the guy next to me, "Um... I think that's Lois Lane." picking my chin up from the floor.

Highlights from Motor City Con included Gary Hermann showing up with a broken nose; Jocelyn Wrzosek beating some kid bloody all over the convention floor; me purchasing the long coveted Bowens Mysterio statue (Diane was so impressed she asked if I still had the sales receipt); Gary introducing us to Mr. Lou Ferigno; Knocking down many drinks with the guys from The Bastard Squad; Jocelyn tearing down the house down with her Karaoke version of "White Rabbit, and myself subsequently clearing the room with a gag-reflex version of The Lady is a Tramp; Margot Kidder actually stopping at the Hero Tomorrow table complimenting us on our trailer; And all those fantastic costumes!





Sunday, May 04, 2008

Motor City Con

Hero Tomorrow's next screening will be Friday May 16th at 4:30 PM at Motor City Con. The Con is one of the largest in the midwest region of the U.S., and it looks like its shaping up to be major fun with oodles of creators and media guests on hand. Thanks to Gary Herrmann for getting us on board.

Milo, Jocelyn, and myself will be heading out for this one, and we'll be making a pretty cool announcement about a new HT project which has all of us at camp Apama very excited. ;-l

Host of the Motor City Comic Con is the Rock Financial Showplace.

46100 Grand River Ave.,
Novi, MI 48374.
Novi is a suburb of Detroit in Oakland county.

By the power of Greyskull....