by Gary Scott Beatty, Owner and Production Manager, Aazurn Publishing
When we last left our heroes, they were just beginning with the first issues of the Aazurn Publishing line of comics. Since I began with the announcement that Bill Bryan of Oz fame said, "Yes!" to illustrating "Seductions," respected illustrator James E. Lyle agreed to draw and ink pages for the second Aazurn Publishing one-shot, "Adam Among the Gods."
James is working in a Lyle-retro style, since the one-shot comic is a traditional science fiction short story similar to those from the golden age of science fiction, the '50s and '60s (Hmm, maybe I should add that to my "Brief History of Illustrated Stores" Comic Artists Direct article). The new twist to "Adam Among the Gods" is, of course, the science. Genetic engineering was in its infancy 50 years ago, but is now coming into its own as a force for the future. We're all looking forward to disease elimination and the end of birth defects, but who makes the value judgements on what is acceptable genetic tampering? Scientists? What kind of choices will they make? Do they really know what kind of forces they're dealing with?
James had some issues with the language and he was right. Although I wrote the script thinking of Vertigo comics as a template for quality writing, I always intended Aazurn books to be okay for a wide range of readers. I'm not describing the line as all-ages, since the concepts are adult and there will be story-related violence. The closest example I can think of to a like vision is the aforementioned golden age of science fiction. The ideas behind Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and even the older H.G. Wells stories are frightening and disturbing by themselves. There is no reason to pound the reader with graphic violence and language. I believe Alfred Hitchcock had the right idea. With proper buildup, it's the unseen that is most frightening, because a filmmaker (or artist) can never exceed the twisted graphics creative people invent in their own heads.
So, to make a long explaination short, the bits of unneeded cursing were removed. I'm not above constructive criticism from other creatives on projects. In fact, I welcome it. I can't think of everything.
James is now working on characters and even sent a 3D rendering of Adam, the "hero" of Adam among the gods. As elements develop, solidify and congeal I will be posting some amazing artwork here on Comic Artists Direct!
SEDUCTIONS IN PROGRESS - Meanwhile, old friend Bill Bryan went above and beyond in his character designs, sending sketches of nearly every speaking character in "Seductions." As I pointed out in chapter one of the Aazurn Publishing saga, "Seductions" involves plenty of jumping around between time periods and Bill knew costuming and set decoration will help readers know where they are in history. The script was pretty detailed, but Bill came up with some decade "hints" I hadn't considered. He has obviously been more observant of women's fashions over the last 50 years (I should have known him to be a bit of a girl watcher).
His "roughs" for page layouts were nearly perfect. I had to keep myself from being too blown away so I could look for mistakes. I communicated a couple of character redraws, sent some reference art for a '60s splash page and (Yes, this is unusual) pasted up word balloons and caption boxes so we could both study page flow. Hey, I already had them set up while waiting for artists to do their thing, so why not make sure there's room for all my literary ramblings? Aazurn books are reader's books and I knew Bill wasn't used to wordy writers. The goal was to okay roughs so Bill can take off with finished pencils. Neither of us want to correct his beautiful, finished pencils!
THE KIND OF BOOKS I WANT TO READ - Whenever I hear creative people talk about their best projects, their works I consider their masterpieces, they always (Yes, always) mention creating the kind of thing they, themselves, would enjoy experiencing. Who can forget that, after two decades at Timely (Marvel) comics, Stan Lee decided to write the kind of comic book stories he would also enjoy reading and the Fantastic Four was born, the comic that ushered in the Marvel Age of Comics in 1961? That's what I'm doing. I'm producing the kind of comics I enjoy reading, with thoughtful, insightful writing heavy on excitement and short on gore, and excellent illustrations boosted by top production values.
Hey, they're my comics and I know what I like.
Yes, Comic Artists Direct readers, you will be with us every step of the way on this publishing journey. Check back for blow-by-blow updates, appearing either here, in my Gary's article section, or at the page called Aazurn Publishing. As pages come in, different artists are signed up, pages are colored and lettered, distribution is explored and other projects begin, you'll be there.
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