Sup Lords! It’s Cole Kerrigan here with another exploration on creativity in Lords & Legends. This time it’s about the graphic novelettes - probably the greatest idea that we’ve ever had.
Long before Lords & Legends, I embarked on a mission to create a multi-platform IP called Mega Galactic. The story is about a group of dinosaurs saving their species going on a daring mission back to their abandoned home planet, Earth. Muahaha!
The project would start with a series of graphic novels and eventually find its way to animation and video games. As of writing this blogpost, we’ve completed the first book and are at the end of Tablet 2 of 3. Very exciting.
After I wrote the scripts for the three books, I went around the world to some of the greatest artists I could find and I settled on a man named Tim Shinn. He had an impressive background as an artist - he was the personal colorist for Neal Adams and worked on hundreds of projects…but he never helmed anything big on his own. That didn’t phase me. Tim not only ‘got’ the vision with a drawing of Clutch Remington but he also emotionally understood the characters on a very deep level. At the end of the day, Mega Galactic is a very tender story; he loved that. While Tim doesn’t know this, he’s in the pantheon of great illustrators of our time. As such, we developed an amazing working relationship and it’s been a treat to work with him.
Now when I joined the Lords & Legends project, there were many cards created and a ton of Lords. It was obvious to me that these Lords all deserve stories of their own. So I pitched that each Starter Deck should receive its own graphic novelette, showing characters and bringing this universe to life. When we were kids, those were the types of supplemental pieces that we latched onto.
And who knows, someday we could have a compendium of Lord novelettes. Coolest coffee table book ever, right?
Even more so, it would allow us to get other artists on the project other than ourselves. This was always the goal. Dokken loved the idea - so I got to work, writing.
Of course, we had no money, so I had to make the tough call of making these novelettes four pages each in order to fund the idea. But ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ - so I actually welcomed the challenge of keeping things limited.
My first step was to write a script and create a look-book for Tim. From there, we could strategize how to block out the pages and make sure the story makes sense. We talked a lot about different art styles - what would be cool for this universe? What’s something we’ve always wanted to do? How does the art empower the established cards?
We uncovered a lot here and landed on a more loose and raw aesthetic, something that most folks might consider ‘concept’. This is one of my favorite parts of the creative process because it allows me to indulge in the vision - really hone in on what stories we want to tell.
Here’s an awesome example of script to rough. ‘Rough’ is what we call the first pass. Tim and I would discuss the layout of the page, the camera angles, the character designs and where to put the dialogue bubbles. At this point, Tim and I know what works best, so I don’t crowd his genius with endless notes or anything like that. We typically know what the other is thinking at all times. Sometimes he’ll test me to see if I’m paying attention by adding an angle or continuity element. Of course I notice. It’s important to remain playful in this process because if you’re really trying to make it in the world, you’re going to find yourself very serious at times.
An example of something that was talked about stylistically would be lasers versus muzzle flashes. Because this universe is grounded in realism, Tim and I agreed that we would feature very few lasers - think of a character shooting their gun, then the ‘bullet’ is a stylized line that reaches off-screen - that would be a laser. A muzzle flash would be a fireball from the barrel of the gun, then show the bad guy getting blown up. Our favorite example is Ghost in the Shell - bits and bobs flying outward as the bad guy gets shot up.
But remember: no design choice exists in a vacuum - now that the muzzle flashes were more realistic, that means that the combat should be realistic as well. We wanted the action to feel like current wars that we see in the media plus a cinematic twist to them. After all, we’re entertainers.
Another interesting anecdote is that Poncho’s comic featured a character named Oculan…who at the time was never drafted by Dokken. He was just this idea I had for a 4/4 for 8 Magica Legendary gunslinger. So, Tim’s depiction of the character is really the first ever. Pretty neat.
After we do a round of notes, incubate and improve the script + roughs, Tim goes into the ink stage. This is where the magic happens - just an artist with his brush, man. It’s a beautiful thing. Typically in the comic book industry, there’s a different person per job. Because the world has changed so much, you really have to be a Swiss Army knife and do all the jobs - Tim excels here.
The ink was very important for this project because it set the precedent for how the world should be interpreted by the audience. The L&L universe is cool, raw and different than mainstream content. Dokken and I want the fans in 30 years to say, ‘remember when Lords & Legends used to do those comic books!? Those inspired me when I was a kid.’ And I think we got there with these.
That sentiment really speaks to our mission here: we want to inspire the people. All of this is meant to give fans a great time and let them indulge in the universe of Lords & Legends. You might be called a fan, but trust me, we’re actually your biggest fan.
Ck
