The team behind the warmly-received Electric Man film have just launched an Indiegogo campaign to publish a tie-in comic, with the aim of inventing 80 years of fictional comic history for the character.
“How many times can they re-boot Batman?” challenges the film’s writer Scott McKay. “How many times can they tell the same story? And why don’t new superheroes (forgive the pun) take off? Because they aren’t steeped in the culture – that’s why.
“In 2011 we made a movie about a comic books and the people who love them. It’s a film about a rare and valuable first issue that gets stolen and is pursued by various characters who all want it for their own reasons. Of course, we would have liked to have used Action Comics #1, the iconic first appearance of Superman from 1938 but since we were working on a micro budget it just wasn’t an option. So we invented Electric Man, a superhero we cast as a timeless icon whose debut comic appeared in 1937, the year before the Man of Steel (yes, cheeky, we know).”
Electric Man Movie Poster © 2013 Electric Man Movie
The success of the film and interest in the character has prompted this campaign to raise $10,000 to create a comic featuring the character, comprising $5000 to pay creators, $3000 for the intial printing and $2000 for administration and promotion.
“Even though he was only ever supposed to be created for the film, ever since then people have been drawing him and asking about a ‘real’ Electric Man comic,” says Scott. “Pop over to our Facebook page or our website and you’ll see what we mean. Electric Man has taken on a life of his own – and we don’t want to stop him.”
The aim is to create a comic that essentiually has 80 years of comic history to cover, creating stories and supporting characters – literally inventing a past for the Electric Man character of today.
“There’s a lot of back story to fill up – more than we could do in a lifetime,” says Scott, who is aiming to create a new, ongoing comic – one of the first crowd sourced superheroes.
“As soon as Electric Man Issue #1 is launched we will open it up to everyone,” says Scott. “What do we mean? We mean that Electric Man will be the first crowd sourced superhero. After issue 1 we will source the material from the tens of thousands of comic book artists and writers that we know are out there. You download the history, pick an age (Golden Age, Silver Age whatever) and you produce the content. When you are ready then send it to us, We will have it judged by comic book professionals from across the globe and the very best will go out as part of the Electric Man canon.
“Everyone always says they just need a chance so… what are you waiting for? Jump aboard, catch the buzz!”
• View the campaign: www.indiegogo.com/projects/create-the-legend
• More about the Electric Man film: www.electricmanmovie.com
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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.
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