End Of an Era...
Hope Falls was once ...Of Vengeance, and was one of the first ideas I ever discussed with my mother, shortly before she passed away. At the time it was a western, and I just couldn't get it right.
After her death, I shelved it as it was incredibly personal to me - the subplot involving Helen (Then called Jessie)'s mother dying of a terminal illness was just too close, too raw to me at this point. But a year or so later, deciding that dammit, I would honour my mothers memory with this, I re-examined the concept.
And since then it's been a long and winding road, with a lot of people helping on the way. First off is Craig Andrews, housemate and friend extraordinaire who, while I battled with making this bloody western work just looked at me and said 'make it more Twin Peaks than Deadwood.' And with those words, we moved our Angel into the 21st Century. And of course I have to thank Helen Gane herself, one time housemate in the House of Geek who allowed me to write her into a comic where she was a man hating harridan of vengeance. Insert obvious punchline here.
But this would never have even hit scripting stage if it wasn't for two others - Rantz Hoseley and Lee 'Budgie' Barnett. In 2005/06 Rantz was the original artist for ...Of Vengeance, and he was more than just an art monkey, his ideas shaped many of the scenes - the death of Treadwell in issue #3 is very much touched with his fingerprints, and I was crushed when his commitments meant that he had to drop from the project. One day, Rantz. One day. And of course Budgie Barnett was my voice of reason, perched on my shoulder and shaking his head, tutting and reigning me back when my dialogue got a little too, well, out there. Without even realising he was one, he became one of the best editors I have ever worked with, and it's due to Lee and his saintly patience that this story became so compelling, so tight.
But then disaster struck and Rantz was pulled from the project by a prior commitment, and I felt broken. I really felt that this was a great story, but suddenly I was back at square one. Luckily for me, I have some of the greatest and coolest friends in the industry, and pretty much a week after I thought 'sod it, I'm going to write it as a novel', I found myself having a conversation with one time The Gloom conspirator, Two Drunk Guys In A Bar Productions partner and good friend Dan Boultwood, who offered to draw the book for me.
Now people don't realise what a massive sacrifice this was for Dan - it almost cost him his relationship, because he'd effectively agreed to do another 110 odd pages for free. A back end comic like this only makes money on the Trades, on the Movie options, and there was a chance that this could totally collapse. And after all, we'd only ever done one five parter before, The Gloom - and that had been cancelled on issue #2. It was a massive sacrifice and a gamble to even consider this. But Dan had faith and enthusiasm for the project, and if I speak honestly, he had even more than I did at this point. I'll owe Dan forever for standing back to back with me when the armies attacked. But even with Dan standing beside me, it was two publishers that brought me back to the project. Firstly, Larry Young, he of AiT/PlanetLar discussed ...Of Vengeance with me while we were discussing Dodge & Twist, and he made the one suggestion that kicked life back into the tale.
'Why don't you call it Hope Falls?' He asked. And in a second the story changed, and the story lived. The second publisher was Harry Markos, who, while I was discussing this asked 'why haven't you sent this to me?'
I'll be honest, after Midnight Kiss was cancelled on #4, I felt that Markosia probably would shun any new idea from me, especially one that was a tad 'controversial'. After all, we had rape, Angels killing people, terminal illness - it's not exactly a fun time Disney show here. But Harry was adamant and we sent him the concepts and the scripts. And within a day Harry not only greenlit the series, but gave us a personal guarantee that no matter what happened, all five issues would run. And run they have, each one on time, and each one better than the previous one.
Of course there is one more person to thank, without whom the covers would be blank and dull - and that's Szymon Kudranski. Szymon is one of the most underrated and incredible artists out there, and every single issue has been better than the last one. I can't wait to see what he does for the collected edition!
And so. The final issue is done. All that's left is to pre press it with the wonderful and talented Thomas Mauer who has had to deal with my half assed attempts at sorting the pages every month without complaining. Thomas really is the unknown hero of the book, and probably deserves more praise that he gets.
Of course, this is done, and immediately I'm on to new things. Dan and I are already hard at work on a weekly serial called The Prince Of Baghdad which we'll hopefully be able to announce properly soon - and I've got several other balls in the air.
But I'll miss Hope Falls, more than I did The Gloom, or Midnight Kiss. This was one of the most personal things I ever wrote, and I hope you enjoyed it.
Reviewers, Podcasters - keep an eye on this blog - because later in the week I'll be giving you an option to read all five issues in PDF format, before issue #4 even comes out...
Be one of the cool kids...
Want to show your love for us to the world?
Hope Falls 'Mike' T Shirt - only $16.99 from Cafe Press.
www.cafepress.com/hopefalls
Buy! Buy! Buy!...
Okay, Falling Angels, it's time to step up the sales patter. I need your help, and I need it right now.
The next couple of weeks are prime ordering times for comic retailers in this month's PREVIEWS. Which means that if they're going to order Hope Falls #1, they're going to do it now.
And this is where you come in. We can convince the readers to go in when it comes out, but the retailers must have the copies to sell them. So the retailers, the good ol' local comic shop is the first line of our attack.
There are a lot of you who read this. I'm also putting this on my facebook, column and myspace, so although there's a lot of crossover, we should still have a goodly number of people who like Hope Falls and want it to succeed.
I don't ask much. It's actually very simple.
Firstly - create a 'ghost' network. You have ten friends who love comics? Then email them. Tell them about Hope Falls. Ask them to contact their stores for you as a personal favour. Yeah, I'm all about making you owe people for me. Ask them to check out www.hope-falls.com and see for themselves why it is a great deal. But if only a hundred of you do this, then we have almost a thousand people contacting stores. And that's where we start to do great.
(I'm ignoring the fact that the hundred who do this will all know the same people, so we'll end up with a hundred and ten, or something like that)
But if we get that ten to contact another ten, then we should, theoretically be able to cover the globe by Thursday.
So - you've emailed your mates - what do you do then? Well, I'm betting that all of you have one, maybe two comic stores that you visit regurally. So, this week do me a favour and call them. Pop in and speak to them. The conversation only needs to be as follows...
"Hi, can you tell me if you've done your ordering from this month's PREVIEWS yet? No? Great - there's a comic I really think you should order a couple of copies of. It's called Hope Falls, it's in the M section under Markosia, and it's getting a ton of internet buzz. Could you order me one and maybe one for the shelf? It's code is SEP073850."
Of course you can vary this, use the cut out order form that is available on www.hope-falls.com and take it in, phone them up, get all your friends to call en masse - all I ask is that the comic stores get a call. Get a visit. Learn that there is this cool new book called Hope Falls and if they want to get it, they should right now.
Feel free to offer them treats - tell them that I make a statement here that any comic store that emails me with their details on mrtonylee@gmail.com will get sent the first two issues as PDFs so that they can make their own minds up. If you're friends with them, ask them what else could be used to sell copies? Would they be interested in a signing?
And don't be worried that 'oh, well loads of people who read your blog go to my comic store - I won't bother because someone will have done it' - I'd rather they had multiple enquiries. Really. And if you're worried about that, check your yellow pages and find another store. Phone them up and ask them! I called over a hundred stores in the U.S last week and every one of them was positive. Retailers need to know what comics are popular. You're telling them.
So go to it, my eager minions. And let me know by replying here how you got on. Let's give Hope Falls pre-orders one last big push.
Facebooks
Hope Falls has a new Facebook group, as they seem to be the new trendy thing. If you have an account, and you want to know more, go to the Hope Falls Facebook Page and add yourself!
On a side note, one of the things on there is the new cover to issue #3 by Szymon Kudranski...
HOPE FALLS - SEP073850
Well, in case you don't know what that little load o' letters and numbers are, let me explain.
Every month retailers receive a book called PREVIEWS. It's from Diamond Distributors, and it tells them what's coming out in a couple of months. So, for example the SEPTEMBER issue (which comes out at the start of the month) will advertise the following NOVEMBER's issues and comics. And so the retailer can look through the publishers and decide what they want on their shelves.
Now - this is where the fun part starts. You see, if you want a comic that's out in November, and you walk into that shop IN November - unless, they ordered it, it's unlikely to be there. If we're talking a Marvel or DC Comics comic, the chances are that it'll be there regardless, but if it's an indy comic? Probably not.
So. To ensure the comic you want is in, you have to PRE-ORDER.
And, if you decide to buy Hope Falls (which of course you DO want to...) you can do it one of two ways.
Firstly, take this number - SEP073850 - to a comic store RIGHT NOW and ask them to order the comic for you.
Secondly, print this form and fill it out -
- and take it to the shop.
And remember, forgetting to pre order is not an excuse. The more pre-orders we can raise, the better numbers we'll do. William West of Diamond is already such a fan of the book that he's given us the order code a week earlier than we should have, so let's make this week work for us, eh?
Spread the word. make banners. Link people to www.hope-falls.com. If you're a retailer, email me at mrtonylee@gmail.com and I'll send you a PDF of issue #1. And, if you want - issue #2 as well.
If you're a reviewer, email me as well - and we'll sort you a review copy.
This really is a great book, and we want to make sure that it gets out there. because numbers mean sales, and sales means a lack of cancellation threats...
So...
(And yes, that's a panel from issue #2...)
Go. Spread the word. Let's start this ball rolling, finally.
Hope Falls Launch Party...
I know, I know - we've been slack. But as the book starts to gain momentyum, we'll start posting more!
This is a heads up for everyone in Birmingham / going to the Birmingham International Comic Show on the week of the 12th/14th of October.
As you know, me and Dan will be unveiling Hope Falls at the show, but we've decided to go one better.
Markosia have teamed up with the BICS to provide a Launch Party on the Friday night at the Cotton Club, Birmingham, from 7.30pm until incredibly late.
Events during the night include the launch of the convention, the launch of the book and Michael Wright and Nachie Castro's (that's right, the two DC Editors attending) band SKELTER will be performing, plus a very special set by a Mystery Celebrity Band..
And of course there will be the opportunity to buy a Hope Falls 'goodie bag' before ANYONE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD as this will be the first time that the comic has ever been seen in it's finished format!
We also have a free buffet, by the way.
How can you come to this? Well, the party is by invite only - all registered professionals and exhibitors will get an invite by default, and, depending on numbers, pre-registered attendees will be receiving invites on a first come basis. So book your tickets now!
And of course Dan and I have an entourage allowance :-)
This is a party in line with the old Graphiti parties of San Diego, with a setting straight out of the 1930's. A great way to start the convention, with a dance floor, lounge, smoking terrace and a VIP room, and room for over five hundred people.
CLICK HERE for more information on the event, how to book and of course more information on Hope Falls...
More teasers...
As last time, just right-click and 'View Image' for the full size.
Issue #1 is done now. Issue #2 will be finished by SDCC. November has never seemed closer...
Hope Falls... The PREVIEW...
So this weekend I was showing a few people the raw pages from Hope Falls issue #1, and pretty much everyone was surprised at the fact that Dan Boultwood could produce something so stylish yet at the same time have such a hint of darkness.
And, when I got back, I decided that comic professionals shouldn't be the only people who can see this.
So, under the following link, are the first seven pages of Hope Falls.
That's right. Lettered and done, bar a few last minute tweaks before publication.
In six months, this comes out - November 2007 from AAM/Markosia. It's time to spread the word.
Don't f**k with an Angel.
CLICK HERE...
Cover #1...
And Dan Boultwood on Hope Falls - Jesus! I can't believe how great and yet at the same time how dark his pages have been - I swear to god there's one panel - I might put it up when it's painted - that creeps the hell out me - just the way it's supposed to.
But as I said, I love to post art, so here for your enjoyment is Szymon Kudranski's art for the cover of issue #1 of Hope Falls - out in November. It's reduced in size, so to see it in it's glory, right click and 'view image'.
I think it says it all, really. Don't you? Let me know what you think....
Welcome!
Well, a big hello to everyone who overheard about Hope Falls on yesterday's Fanboy Radio.
Feel free to have a look around, and remember to turn the lights off when you leave!
Over the next few weeks we'll start to get a few more things online - we'll have some concept art and some preview pages, ways to help us spread the word and merchandise.
So welcome to the show!
Teething Stages...
Currently this is primarily covered by sorting out this blog (and associated backmatter) - we still need to put up some bios, the reviews/interviews page will be bare for a few months until the issues start to come out / pre promotion gains momentum, the downloads / media will start to appear as we go on - we're thinking that this will be the page where we put up things like shelf talkers for retailers, computer wallpaper, posters, prints etc. Also this will be where the previews get posted.
We also have a myspace, so friend it! We'll have bulletins go up as we progress.
Anyway, this wouldn't be an announcement unless we had some tasty treats for you, would it? So have a sneak preview of Daniel Boultwood's concept designs for Helen and Mike. As you can see he's kept the stylish design of his earlier work like The Gloom, etc - but at the same time he's maturing it a lot. Personally, I love it. Click on them for a bigger version. You'll have recognised the Helen one before - It's the one we're using at the top in the logo.
So put the date in your calenders, kiddies - November 2007. It's Judgement Day for Hope Falls.
And you get to watch.
First post -
And so it begins. A story written almost two years ago finally comes to light with the most unlikely of teams.
Hi. I'm Tony Lee, and I'm one half of the creative team of this book. The other half is the obscenely talented and stylish Daniel Boultwood. Actually. technically I'm about a third, as we also have the brilliant Szymon Kudranski on drums - I mean covers.
Dan and I have a long history together - we wrote The Gloom for APC comics (soon, and finally to be released Fall '07 as a Graphic Novel), we adapted The Tizzle Sisters & Erik for Markosia and we're writing the OGN Dashing Tales - For Young Chaps for them, due out summer 2008. We're also known as 'Two Drunk Guys In a Bar', partly due to our column on Silver Bullet Comic Books, but also because at conventions we, well - we are pretty much what it says on the tin.
One think we're definately not (in the public eye) is horror creators. We write parody, we giggle like schoolboys in the corner and we guffaw mightily at the pratfalls we endure our heroes through. I admit this to be true.
But Hope Falls is different. For a start, I wrote it alone. Dan is a brilliant artist, but he's also in demand off comics, so for the last few months I've had to work around his schedule. And not only that, but I've had to wait while he worked out a new style for this, a new style that matures his creations, makes them grittier, edgier. And he's not disappointed us.
Added to that, we have Szymon Kudranski. Szymon is a terribly underrated artist, an amazing cover visionary - and his covers for each issue will really make them stand out. Watch the flames on the right - they'll update as we get each cover.
The links along the top again do what they say on the tin - click on each to get more info on the books, characters, creators etc - and as we get closer to release we'll also provide you with downloadable goodness, promotional stuff and shit you can buy, T Shirts and stuff like that.
It's going to be a hell of a ride. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
