A slight push for Birdwatching From Mars

I’ve previously mentioned how surprised I was at how much work goes into making a comic book.  I’ve also grumbled about the continuous delays in getting a title published by a team, including me, that is not yet getting paid for our efforts.  For a while there, there was slight dissension among the BFM team and for about a week or so, I became worried that the project was going to go belly up.

We eventually got stuff straightened out…contracts rewritten and relationships mended.  The work flow is smoother and the direction has been altered slightly.  One thing I learned about the comics process is that you need to have at least 3 issues completed before “officially” releasing Issue 1 to the public.  This means yet another set back…as it stands, Birdwatching From Mars Issue 1 will not be available for purchase until March 2010.

There IS some good news to come from this, though.  The penciler we have working on BFM, Luis Puig, was contacted by a certain company to work on a certain pet project a few weeks back.  Not only did it motivate him to no end, but it also gives BFM some added credibility.

What was the project, you ask?  Check it out…you may recognize it.

So we are obviously very excited..not only for Luis, but for the future of Birdwatching From Mars.  Stay tuned folks…we are all getting the feeling that good things may come from this little project.

A look inside Birdwatching From Mars

It’s been six years since the asteroid struck Earth.  It seemed to have come out of nowhere and by the time the scrambling defenses of the world even noticed it, there was nothing they could do.  This seemed odd, seeing as how the asteroid was roughly the size of California.

In the panic of the world, each nation handled things their own way.  In America, a lottery was held; 3,000 people were randomly selected to live in government operated military bunkers–one beneath Utah and one beneath Virginia.  These people survived the impact and, while still alive, are left to live their lives confined to these underground hideaways.

Over their heads, a few scattered survivors roam the landscape.  They are beaten, starving, half-mad.  A great deal of those that survived the impact became infected with…something…something that has turned them into ravenous monsters that hunt the uninfected.  And beyond this horror there is something else; a new creature walks the Earth, beasts that were not part of Earth prior to the impact.  The survivors have no idea what to think of these creatures or of the infected humans, but the leaders in the underground compounds are beginning to piece things together.

And they have started to look skyward, towards the heavens, towards our red neighboring planet.  Mars, it seems, shares a very similar history with Earth.  It is also a planet full of mystery and horrors that astronomers never dicovered.

It’s a shame that the secret operation to transport the world’s elite population to a secret base on Mars was not privy to that information.  Because as the survivors of Earth fight their own battles, there is a very bloody situation developing on Mars…one that will forever link the two planets in a gruesome inescapable history.

***

That, in a rather cracked nutshell, is the working synopsis for Birdwatching from Mars.  It seems that the release date may get pushed back yet again.  This does suck, but it’s to be expected; the team working on the project are all working regular jobs as well as putting time in on this.  As I have said before, it is a start-up company and I have the privilege (nervously, I may add) of being behind their first title.

Why the delay, you ask?  Well, Issue 1 is 22 pages long.  It is the first script I have ever written and that caused  a few headaches along the way.  Also, when you consider the amount of detail and talent going into each page, it can get rather time consuming.

See what I mean?

So there is a glimpse into Birdwatching from Mars. As the writer, I feel like I’m not doing my share.  I have written 2 scripts and meanwhile wait on the artists as they bust their butts to get this thing done.  I had no idea the amount of detail and dedication that went into getting a comic book put together, but now I have a whole new appreciation for the genre.

Sketchy characters

Shortly before I finished editing the final script for what I am hoping will be Issue #1 of Birdwatching From Mars, I received the first character sketches for a few of the main characters.  Having never experienced this process before, I was rather pleased and excited.  Still, there were a few corrections and suggestions I made to the characters and sent back to the studio and artists.  Here are the preliminary sketches that were sent to me.

 

Also, I hope to be able to clue everyone in as to the plot of Birdwatching From Mars in a few days.  I’m awaiting the okay to do so from the studio.  Granted, this is my idea but now that it’s in the hands of the comic compnay and artists, I don’t want to step on any toes by airing it all out.  But I’m sure I’ll be able to post the bare bones of it within a week or so.

Also, speaking of sketchy characters…at the risk of hurting people’s feelings, I will boldly state that I think Black Friday is the best example of how the majority of Americans are a) mindless retail sheep and b)obssessed with saving money on stupid gadgets (mind you, I am an American, so I am allowed to say such things).  And this article proves what we have become and makes me wonder just what in the hell is happening to our country.

I would also add the gluttony that is Thanksgiving to the list of complaints, but I ate a lot.  Like, you know that scene in Se7en where John Doe forces the fat guy to eat all of that spaghetti so that his stomach bursts?  Yeah, two days later, I still feel like that.

In the event that my head explodes…

Timing is everything.  And in my case, my timing is very much off.

I’ve had a work-related case of writer’s block for about a month.  I hoped that my NaNo project would cure that.  If nothing else, I looked forward to writing at a lunatic pace towards reaching the 50k mark within 30 days. 

Yet, in a cruel (but relatively cool) twist of fate, I suddenly find myself wanting to finish Broken Skies  And I don’t mean this in a passing fancy sort of way.  I really want to get to work on this.  Which leaves me with a decision: Do I drop my NaNo project and obey the calling of the first draft of this novel that I have been working on for about a year?  Let’s face it…at only barely over 10k, it’s not looking like I’ll get the NaNo project done anyway.  Yet I am stubborn and determined and refuse to give up.

On top this…by now, I’m sure most of you have figured out that I like to get my hands in as many projects as possible.  As a result, the last week and a half has found me in contact with several people that are starting up a comic book company.  I submitted a pitch to them a while back; the pitch was based on a story that I’ve been wanting to write for some time but never started because it was too complex and, in all honesty, is very much fit to be a comic book.  These fine folks (whom shall currently remain unnamed for now due too a possible company merger) requested character sketches and a draft of a first issue which I have written and sent off to them.

The current title of the project is one that I have been craving to stick to something for forever.  It was once the title of a very badly put together anti-pop-culture blog that I was writing.  I love the name and I even sort of love the simple artwork I did for it:

Of course, nothing has been signed or set in stone yet.  And I am hesitant to get hopeful over it due to the Big Project I mentioned several posts ago (concerning a TV pilot that, as each day passes, I think was my narrow escape from a scam).  But in writing this first issue, I now know without a doubt that even if things fall through with this comic book, I am definately going to pursue this project in the future.  I will obviously keep you all posted on this.

But for now, let me try to get back to my NaNo project.  If I can crack about 2-3,000 words today, the shit is about to hit the fan and I’m thinking the rest will all come out in a violent blur behind the keyboard.  We shall see.