I used to have dreams where I was Spiderman. I actually judged my mental state depending on how my nocturnal web slinging activities were going. If I was kicking arse, smacking my enemies around with ease, it was usually a sign that things in real life were going well for me. Then I'd have the occasional dream where I'd be swinging blithely through the city, and my webs would suddenly vanish and I'd plummet and splat on the pavement. Sadly, I no longer have Spiderman dreams.
Spiderman 3 killed them. Bastard Maguire!
Considering my interest in comics, it would be no surprise to know that I've always dreamed of being involved in the making of a superhero movie.
The short film I wrote a while back seemed to be taking me one step closer to that dream. But four years on, the damn thing still hasn't been released. I'm sure it'll be great when it's finally completed, but still...it's frustrating.
The good news is that it's inspired me to take action and start telling my own stories that don't depend a single other soul. No editors, no visual effects guys, no compositors and certainly no actors. I've taken some of my written screenplays and treatments and started transforming them into my own graphic novels. Click the images to enlarge.
The funny thing is that I don’t seem to be working alone at all. I've discovered that the drawings themselves seem to dictate the lines that the characters say. I do cringe a little as I write that as it sounds super lame.
But a certain surly expression that materialises on screen will practically scream a line at me that was never in the original script. Although it's a little spooky to have my own characters telling me what they want to say, I'd rather have them doing that than have to listen to stroppy actors messing with their lines.
Here are a couple of pics from a larger piece called 'The Exile' which I'm developing right now.
It's a semi mystical, urban, kungfu, Chinese magic, gang war story. I love the old Chinese myths about monkey gods and dragon lords, and I just despise the way Hollywood treats these stories, usually by inserting a spunky American teenage time traveller so as not to alienate the US market. Urgh!
You might notice I kind of like drawing rain. It's a Bladerunner thing.
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