Wow!
I'm 3 weeks away from launching A1, my first title through my deal with Titan Comics/Books. It's a journey that started in 1986 when Garry Leach and myself first started kicking around the idea of doing our own comic. We'd be able to do what we wanted, when we wanted and how we wanted. Bonus was owning it. Back then the thrill was not about owning the rights so you could make your own film deal, just doing something where you called the shots yourself was good enough and worth the effort of doing it yourself.
Only there was a hiccup. We shared our dream with others. Our little 32 page baby grew and grew. Not with our material but the material from our friends who all asked if they could do something for it. Often you say yes, because you're 90% certain that the other person won't deliver, that they'll back out at the last minute and leave you hanging.
That didn't happen very often.
32 pages became 48, then 64, 80 pages (like those old styled DC specials), but no. We finally capped the first issue at 96 pages (100 if you include the covers). Garry and myself had about 8 pages each of that. Issue 2 went up to 120 pages. We got even less of that. Issues 3-6? Forget about it. We were publishers, editors, designers, marketers, anything but creators.
And it's been that lopsided ratio since.
Well no more goddamn it! It took a while, but I finally feel the time is right to bring back A1. There will be two versions. First up, the mini-series. 6 32 page comics. Each issue with three strips. Two created and written by myself, the other one by my friends at Stellar Labs, an incredibly creative art studio based in Jakarta. They in turn were originally a satellite studio for the design, concept powerhouse, Imaginary Friends Studios. Both those companies are good friends of mine and we've been through a couple of tough times together. Sharing this opportunity with them is a pleasure.
So here are all 18 covers to the six issue series that kicks off in June, 2013.
If you're new to my page, those three strips are;
CARPEDIEM - The worlds greatest assassins on a single team. 7 agents only known but their code names given for the days of the week. Strange how no one likes Monday.
ODYSSEY - A major event happened one hundred years ago that sparked the beginnings of a war. The sides are building their armies and the battlefield is earth. How can one lone hero stop it when he doesn't even know what's happening? He just knows his country isn't the same place it was when he fought for it in World War 2. John Wilson hasn't aged a day since he died in 1942.
WEIRDING WILLOWS - Alice was once a little girl who went to Wonderland. She traveled back and forth several times. Then she discovered another doorway. A wonderous world called OZ. Then another that led to Mag Mell, home of the Great God Pan and Neverland. There are more that haven't been discovered yet, but nothing can prepare you for what else lies in the Wild Wood of the Weir.


















In part 2 I'll tell you about the other A1...
Let me know if your LCS (Local Comic Shop) hasn't ordered them and we'll figure out a way to get you copies.
Yours,
Dave
Ps. You can also find me through Facebook here:
[link]Carpediem is © Stellar Labs
Odyssey and Weirding Willows is © Dave Elliott