Gather around, fellow comic book fans, and prepare yourself for the latest entry in my saga of creating comics. And like a lot of stories these days, we’re going to start at the end (got to have a good Frame Story to see where this is all going). Today I’ll take you on a journey through the genesis of my latest comic, The Immortal Resurrected. Make sure your oxygen tank is full, because we’re about to embark on a space odyssey that spans my entire comic artist career.
The Immortal
The Immortal Resurrected is the epic tale of Z, an alien-hunting bounty hunter and the last human in existence. Deja Vu is the first installment, a 64-page spectacle that weaves black and white art with vibrant bursts of color, all while capturing the sardonic wit and adrenaline-pumping escapades of our hero. The story unfolds as Z awakens from dying in his Regeneration Chamber. He soon stumbles down a twisted journey of danger and confusion until he discovers who had killed him. But that’s not all, it’s only the first part of his journey across galaxies, fighting hideous monsters, showing down against fellow hunters, and revealing the most deadly danger to humanity. Sounds great, huh? Well, today we’re INSTEAD going to tell the tale of how it got made.
But let’s rewind the clock a bit, over 12 years back, to 2011, to the humble beginnings of The Immortal Resurrected. The embryo of the whole shebang was a sketchy 10-pager I whipped up called The Many Deaths of Z. Intrigued? I’ll go into the details in a juicy blog entry down the line, but for now feast your eyes on a cringe-worthy single page from that comic (see pic). I guess it’s a testament to how far I’ve come at drawing. Boy-oh-boy, it is hard for me to look at now. Well, that little comic was where The Immortal began. And it all started as an ode to my favorite comic publication, Heavy Metal Magazine.
Becoming a Comic Artist
So, how did I end up on this comic crusade to Heavy Metal Magazine? Well, let’s rewind a bit further. A few years earlier. I had just slammed into a brick wall. Not a real one, mind you, but a metaphorical one. A brick wall in making my at-that-time latest film (more on that drama later). In other words, that film wasn’t happening. Undeterred, I started to explore other ways to make stories. So I decided to dip my toes into the vast sea of different types storytelling, and guess where I washed up? Yep, you guessed it—good old comics, my childhood love.
One problem though—I’d outgrown superhero comics (or so I thought). And while some manga tickled my fancy, I wasn’t vibing with the mainstream manga scene. That’s when fate threw me a graphic novel-shaped lifeline, and in stepped Moebius. Now, for the uninitiated, Moebius, aka Jean Giraud, was the French comic maestro of the ’70s and ’80s. He was a bande dessinée artist, or as the cool kids say, BD. His particular style was a very cool Franco-Belgian style of comics. Lots of beautiful line work, with no fill or black spots. If you’re scratching your head trying to picture it, just imagine Tintin. Now, Moebius, along with some other masters of comic art (Druillet, Bilal, and others), kickstarted the French version of Heavy Metal Magazine (which was the original version btw). And guess who stumbled upon this treasure trove while I was exploring comics once more? Yours truly!
I snagged a few copies of those vintage issues, and let me tell you, it was like discovering a time capsule of comic gold. But here’s the twist—I didn’t just fall in love; I did a full-on swan dive into Moebius’s version of this comic style. The linework? Oh, baby, it was like visual poetry. And don’t even get me started on the jaw-dropping juxatoposition (yep, I’m throwing in fancy words because it’s that good).
I’ll spare you the mushy details, but let’s just say, I fell hard for Moebius’s magic. It was the kind of art that whispered, “Hey, I’m exactly what you’ve been looking for.” And that, my friends, was the spark that set the creative fireworks ablaze.
And thus, Z, the main character for The Immortal Resurrected, was born. A character tailored for the pages of Heavy Metal—a crazy bounty hunter in a world of aliens— but also drawing inspiration from the old Aeon Flux animation (which so could have been in Heavy Metal)— someone who died over and over again. It started as a creative outlet, but later down the line, when the time came to give comic making a serious shot, The Immortal was waiting, ready to be developed into a full-fledged story.
So in 2016, after I decided to go through with making my first full comic (the named of which had changed to The Immortal), I started scribbling away like a mad man, outlining not just one, not two, but a whopping eight comics for this epic series. Now, here’s where the plot thickens—I took matters into my own hands and decided to self-publish this bad boy. And guess what? It snagged some seriously cool reviews, got a thumbs-up from a couple of review sites, and even scored a spot on the “Best of 2016” list by the comic connoisseurs over at Comic Bastards. Cue the confetti, right?
Finding a Publisher
But here’s the twist—I peeked around and noticed The Immortal wasn’t exactly hitting the big leagues in terms of readership. In actuality, it was like The Immortal was hosting a party, and no one got the invite. Sad, right?
So in 2018, enter stage left: 215 Ink, a bunch of awesome folks who decided to take this comic under their wing and publish it. We tinkered, we tweaked, and we even gave the comic a fresh 64-page makeover (that story to come). But as fantastic as the 215 Ink crew was, they were a bit like a hidden gem in the world of publishing—small and amazing, but hard to find. Despite their best efforts, The Immortal still played hide and seek with the readers.
Years down the line I got the rights back for The Immortal. And my initial plan for it? Tuck it away, label it as a “lesson learned,” and move on. You see, The Immortal was my comic initiation, a sort of crash course in the wild world of comics creation. I figured that maybe that is all it was ever meant to be. But then, 2023 rolled in like a rockstar.
Back from the Dead
Let me tell you, 2023 was the year of my comic extravaganza! I dropped a whopping 12 comics—both digital and physical—like it was nobody’s business. I’d been hustling to build this creative momentum for ages, trying to get my comics out there, drawing for years, and finally, the stars aligned and they all came out at once. Now, in the midst of my comic frenzy, I hit a little lull in the production time for the comic I’m currently doing with Curt Pires, Simulation Theory. Not one to twiddle my thumbs, I figured I should always be working on something. So I decided I needed a side project, something to doodle in my free time while waiting for the next Simulation Theory issue to drop.
So, what did I do? I cracked open the dusty pages of The Immortal and gave it a read. Lo and behold, I thought, “Hey, not too shabby. Not my current style of writing, but still pretty darn good.” Unfortunately the art was not up to snuff with what I could do today. Lightbulb moment: why not use some of that spare time and give The Immortal a facelift?
So I rolled up my sleeves, grabbed my trusty (digital) pencils, and dove headfirst into a sea of redraws. I kept the framing and pics pretty close to the original, but gave them a facelift that’d make any comic proud. Z’s armor got a snazzy upgrade, and a few other characters got a makeover too. Oh, and guess who joined the party? None other than the fantastic wordsmith Eric Palicki (the genius behind Black’s Myth and No Angel), who sprinkled his editorial magic on my old writing.
I managed to whip up this comic transformation in just about a month and a half. That’s how much I’ve progressed over these 12 years. 64 pages that took me 3+ months to do in the past, took me only a month an half now. Plus it looks prettier to boot (sorry for the self-pat-on-the-back. You take what you can get). But that’s not all I had to do, my creative comrades. The original The Immortal had a little hiccup in the formatting department. The pages were drawn at a manga sized page (a little more of a square page than a comic page), which, let’s be real, made them look like tiny booklets sitting next to normal sized comics. And that might’ve been a strike against it when it was out on comic shelves (at 64 pages they looked tiny compared to the 240+ pages most manga have). So, as I was redrawing, I decided to fix the aspect ratio, expanding it to the correct comic page dimensions (6.875”x10.438”). Boom, problem solved.
After all the fun part of comic creation came to an end, I came to place that I hate most with comics. Distribution. It’s such a battle trying to find an audience and one that I’ve constantly lost at. That doesn’t mean you give up, however! Because losing the battle doesn’t mean you lose the war! But this time I decided to skip the whole traditional publisher dance for a couple of awesome reasons.
Self Publishing...Again
Firstly, I’ve had a few not-so-great experiences with publishers recently, and I thought, “Hey, why not take matters into my own creative hands?” But here’s the real reason (brace yourselves because it’s a biggie): I wanted to dive headfirst into Amazon’s Kindle/Comixology universe. Why, you ask? I see so much potential in it. First, my friends, the Guided View they’ve got going on is the bee’s knees. Picture this: you can zoom into a panel, seamlessly transition to the next, and some of the transitions can even add dramatic effect (zoom, fade out, etc). Back in the day, during my initial self-publishing stint with The Immortal, I dipped my toes into Comixology, but the guided view was a bit meh at the time. Fast forward to now, and it’s like they’ve cracked the code of cool.
Second in my reason to try Amazon —many indie book authors are striking gold there, building their own readership empires. Especially those with a series of books, which, drumroll please, aligns perfectly with The Immortal Resurrected. I mean, we’re talking about a series of eight 64-page graphic novels here, folks.
But hold onto your bookmarks, there’s one more reason! The way you can advertise your comic / book / etc on Amazon caught my eye. It’s like having a billboard to a possible reader. It’s a tangible way of promotion (the one huge part of comic creation I’ve struggled with).
So, now I’ve unleashed The Immortal Resurrected into the wild. It’s roaming the jungles of Amazon. And guess what? As of the writing of this chapter of the comic making saga, we’ve got a whopping two sales! Yep, you heard it right, two whole copies. Now, before you start thinking, “What’s going on?” let me spill the beans.
Truth be told, I’ve been a bit hush-hush about the release. It’s all part of a grand experiment to test the waters of Amazon advertising. Spoiler alert: I might not be winning any marketing awards just yet. But fear not, my comic comrades, because next year, I’m cooking up something special. Drumroll, please—I’m planning a physical release of The Immortal Resurrected, possibly even hitting up Diamond to sprinkle it in shops. The details are still swirling in the creative cauldron, but rest assured, it’s going to be epic.
So here’s where you come in! If you’re itching to get your hands on The Immortal Resurrected (and who wouldn’t be?), here’s a little insider tip: head over to Dreamforge Comics and sign up for the newsletter. Not only will you be in the loop for all the comic shenanigans, but you might just score yourself a sweet discount on the up coming physical release. Or if you’re really anxious to see what all the fuss is about, head over to Amazon, grab a copy, and dive into the adventure. Let’s make The Immortal Resurrected the talk of the comic town!
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*I don’t use AI for my artwork. All artwork on this page (other than the Moebius examples) I drew and colored myself. No AI was used.
I really like seeing your “before” and “after” drawings side by side!