This week, Studio 407's Editor-in-Chief Chad Jones contributes a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming comic Netherworld. Here's Chad:My name is Chad Jones and I work in funny books. There's a lot I'm excited about at Studio 407. I mean a lot. A lot a lot. When the Managing Director, Alex Leung, asked me to join as Creative Director and Editor-In-Chief, the question was barely out of his mouth when I said, "I'm in." All in. You see, my background is advertising. I've written commercials for lawnmowers, generators, healthcare, blah, blah blah. And the opportunity to tell stories in a medium I love instead of selling products in 30 seconds... Seriously? Robots, monsters, ninjas, vampires, capes, cowls and everything in between? For a living? Of course, I'm in.
So, the first thing I'm going to tell you about is totally self-serving. I mean, I could go on about how Tiger & Crane and Hybrid are unfolding, or drop hints about the upcoming twists and turns in Night & Fog, but... this blog is about me, so here we go. I want to tell you about a little upcoming project called Netherworld. First off, I loves me some science fiction. And I've been writing genre for as long as I can remember. So, I was kicking around a novel idea and was trying to describe the creature concept in the story to a friend and made the off-hand comment, "well it's not like they're alien zombies or anything..."
And I stopped. And I thought, hmm.... that would be kind of awesome. Alien zombies. Hell, I gotta write that! And what came out is an all-out, action-packed gorefest with nods to old-school, sci-fi from the fifties. When I started the project, the first thing I had to do was design the aliens themselves. I knew I didn't want anything humanoid with a bumply forehead. I knew I wanted them to be monstrous and I knew I wanted them on page one. So phase one, design super-cool alien. And what our artist came up with is some kind of reptilian insect or an insectile reptile (I can't really decide which), treading on three legs with a single, mantis-like claw. Meet the Thanati, an alien race locked in an interstellar Cold War with humanity.
The pencils for Issue One are complete and we're about to get ramped up for Issue Two. I can't wait for you guys to see it. Should be a lot of fun. A lot a lot.
I'll keep you posted. By posting blogs.
Talk to you soon.
Thanks,
Chad
So, the first thing I'm going to tell you about is totally self-serving. I mean, I could go on about how Tiger & Crane and Hybrid are unfolding, or drop hints about the upcoming twists and turns in Night & Fog, but... this blog is about me, so here we go. I want to tell you about a little upcoming project called Netherworld. First off, I loves me some science fiction. And I've been writing genre for as long as I can remember. So, I was kicking around a novel idea and was trying to describe the creature concept in the story to a friend and made the off-hand comment, "well it's not like they're alien zombies or anything..."
And I stopped. And I thought, hmm.... that would be kind of awesome. Alien zombies. Hell, I gotta write that! And what came out is an all-out, action-packed gorefest with nods to old-school, sci-fi from the fifties. When I started the project, the first thing I had to do was design the aliens themselves. I knew I didn't want anything humanoid with a bumply forehead. I knew I wanted them to be monstrous and I knew I wanted them on page one. So phase one, design super-cool alien. And what our artist came up with is some kind of reptilian insect or an insectile reptile (I can't really decide which), treading on three legs with a single, mantis-like claw. Meet the Thanati, an alien race locked in an interstellar Cold War with humanity.
The pencils for Issue One are complete and we're about to get ramped up for Issue Two. I can't wait for you guys to see it. Should be a lot of fun. A lot a lot.
I'll keep you posted. By posting blogs.
Talk to you soon.
Thanks,
Chad
1 comment:
Hey guys. I just became aware of your work while doing the MySpace rounds. I'm glad I did. I'll definitely be keeping up with you guys and your future efforts.
Cheers,
BH
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