Well I've been incredibly patient but this month hopefully the Soldier comic will see print for the lead up to the conventions this year. The original print run in October/November ended up being only a handful for hand in purposes at uni, but that was fortunatley a success with the project, along with the deveolpment book and theory thesis "Marvel in the 60's" landing me a great result for my honours course.
I'm pleased as the result gave me such a positive mark that I have been able to apply for a doctorate postgrad position, for which my studio practices will incorporate a short film (animated) based on "the Soldier Legacy", and a several part comic book story arc which can be repackages at the conclusion into a graphic novel. Basically, the idea is to research the marketability of Australian stories using the comic book/animation medium- a small scale look at the current trend in mainstream comic companies that "licience" their characters across several mediums for maximum exposure (particularly in the superhero/action genre).
I guess there is a number of different elements to the research, such as:
> The concept of "hero" in Australia (story elements: this elemnt will allow comparisons to not only America (superhero genre origin), but also other western (e.g.: UK) and non-western country (e.g.: maybe Japan? undecided as yet)
>The Comic book Industry in Australia and posssiblities (this will take some researching, discussion and interviews)
> Character developments and cross media: perhaps featuring artists such as Todd McFarlane (spawn), Mike Mignola (Hellboy), Eric Larsen (Savage Dragon) (?), John Higgins (Razorjack)(?), comparsions to Kirby and Ditko? Image comics. (Will need some definition), methodology such as adaptations of comic book characters to animation, examples etc.
I'm looking forward to continuing the work with the characters from the Soldier Legacy, but I guess the main test in determining whether the future works will be feasible will be the reception of the idea at the conventions this year. Fingers crossed.
Anyways,
Gotta run.
