When a valuable organ is stolen from under their noses, a cyborg duo find themselves on the run with a feisty alien, Val, and a reluctant boxing champion, Bojangles, addicted to a drug that’s like a high-octane PCP called Z. Will they find the organ in question?
That’s the pitch for Organ Bros, a TV series-turned comic available from Comixology, written by the Canadian-UK TV show’s award-winning producer Ben Sainsbury with art by Doctor Who artist Brian Williamson, coloured by Matt Soffe.
Directed by Anthony Baird, whose credits also include work for Star Trek: Discovery, the TV series itself is being produced in part at Pinewood Studios as well as Ottawa, Canada, by 3D virtualised operation experts Turnspit Productions, who are developing Organ Bros as a VR narrative series using the Unreal Game Engine.
The comic, released earlier this year, is very much a pilot for the project, with scenes utilising Brian’s visuals as a storyboard.
Set in a post-pandemic Manchester in the future where healthy organs are the new currency, the two Canadian cyborg transplant surgeons must save an alien race from a hate-mongering priest behind a sinister get-rich-quick scheme.
Film maker and producer Ben Sainsbury is enthused about the results of Turnspit’s work, feeling the cost savings mean many other productions are likely to follow a similar route.
The voice cast also includes actors from Britain’s highest-rated soap.
“I got a bunch of actors in the UK that were on Coronation Street“, Ben told My Parry Sound earlier this year, “and we’re doing something interesting where they’re giving me their voice and we are recording some of their actions on zoom and then I’m having motion-capture actors redo their body performance.”
Brian Williamson should need no introduction to many downthetubes readers. A London- based comic book artist and illustrator, he specialises in comics, graphic novels, and licensed character design, working for clients such as Marvel, DC Comics, Warner Bros, Dreamworks, Aardman and has completed many Doctor Who projects for the BBC and Titan Comics.
• Buy Organ Bros. Volume One – Pilot here
• Check out Organ Bros at www.organbros.com – where you can sign up for updates on the show | Follow Organ Bros on Twitter
• Turnspit Productions is online at turnspit.uk
• Ben Sainsbury is online at www.bensainsbury.org
• Brian Williamson is online at brianwilliamson.co.uk
• Matt Soffe is online at mattsoffe.weebly.com
Organ Bros © 2020 Turnspit Productions. All rights reserved.
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Digital Comics, Digital Media, Other Worlds, Television
In Review: Werewolf by Night