Dravn to Succeed: Dave Elliott on A1, DRAVN and the lure of the anthology comic

Dave Elliott has more than 25 years of experience working in every aspect of the comic book industry from writer and artist to editor and publisher, and his latest project, the return of A1, is about to be launched, in partnership with Titan Comics. 

Dave created Sharky and Maximum Force and has worked on diverse titles such as A1, Deadline, Viz Comic, Heavy Metal magazine, Penthouse Comix, 2000AD, Justice League of America, Transformers, GI Joe and Doctor Who. He recently worked with the band Fall Out Boy, and with NASCAR/MMI to create and brand new intellectual properties which he cites as examples of new media integration for a more immersive entertainment experience.

In 2006, Dave co-founded Radical Studios, and, as both the co-publisher and Editor-In-Chief, was integral to the development and launch of Radical’s premiere comic book titles several of which have now begun development as film properties including Hercules (Starring Dwayne Johnson, directed by Brett Ratner and to be released by MGM), Freedom Formula (New Regency), Schrapnel, Caliber, Hotwire, Last Days of American Crime and Oblivion (starring Tom Cruise, directed by Joe Kosinski and released by Universal).

He's currently relaunching his company Atomeka, started with his partner Garry Leach, as an imprint of Titan Books. Atomeka’s titles include A1, Weirding Willows, and Monster Massacre, followed by Odyssey. 

downthetubes: The return of A1. Why now, after what, how many years?

Dave: I've been asked a few times over the years to bring it back but with the rise of creator owned material I really didn't see the point at the time. When Garry and myself started A1, doing creator owned material was pretty rare.  Most British creators never had the chance or the opportunity to do anything.

Then I did several projects with [US publisher] Image Comics. The approach seemed noble, giving creators all the rights and they'd just take a cut off the top. Seemed reasonable. But I saw many creators who were doing four to six issue mini-series that came out of it in debt. Their trade money already spent in paying back Image their piece of the pie. Creators quite naturally want to get their ideas out there. To seed them and hopefully get the chance to tell their story someday.

So what if you didn't need to do a six issue series? What if you could do a series of shorter stories where you wouldn't have to quit your day job? I'm offering some people the chance to do that.  To lay the ground work by seeding their ideas so when they do take the time out to do that four to six issue mini-series, the audience has had a taste for it. The creator has had a chance to get feedback and refine his (or her) ideas.

The upcoming A1 annual

downthetubes: What's the appeal of the anthology format for you - you seem to get drawn back with it, what with guest editing Heavy Metal and more?

Dave: Anthologies offer the chance for experimentation and exploration.  It's a tougher discipline as you have to tell a story in three to 12 pages, build a little character and hopefully see if the idea floats for you and the audience to want to see more. Text stories, art galleries, even articles shouldn't be off the table as well.

downthetubes:The anthology is a tough market, particularly in the United States - despite A1's amazing success in the past. Are you a glutton for punishment or one of life's optimists?
Dave: I think that needs clarification. The big A1 anthology, which will be out in October, will be more Mass Market. (The comic will just be the Direct Sales Market).

Anthologies in the comic book Direct Sales Market don't do that well. I think it is primarily down to motive for doing one.  is it just to get a bunch of characters that no one really cares much about into print to keep the copyright going? 

Now the mass market tends to react the other way. Every magazine available in the mass market is an anthology. TIME, People, Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, MAD, Heavy Metal and every bloody newspaper on the planet. The Direct Sales market has been programmed to function differently to the mass market. 

Can you imagine asking the mass market reader to have all their articles and reviews serialized over weeks or months? Recipes where you only get one or two of the ingredients per magazine? Publishing would die overnight. So why do comics do it?
The big A1 anthology, which will be out in October, will be more Mass Market. (The comic will just be the Direct Sales Market).

downthetubes: Do you have a long term "game plan" for the title beyond the initial stories?

Dave: By now, people will see I am launching A1 in two different formats with different content. First to be released will be the A1 six issue mini-series for Direct Sale. This format is to seed three projects that will be expanded upon next year with a series of graphic novels based off the properties.


This series is so people can take a test drive. I'm considering doing 6 issues a year of this so we can potentially launch two or three series a year.

The second A1, for the m,ass market, is kind of more like the old - self contained volumes, but bigger, more pages and even more experimental. Also I want to bring back some of the fun into comics (even if its only for those putting these books together).

Then there is Monster Massacre, the naughty little brother to A1. I think of it as the bastard step child of Heavy Metal and 2000AD. Very Sci-Fi and Fantasy led, but I don't want people thinking of it as a boys only comic. I've always been a big proponent of tough female characters who don't need to get raped to be kick-ass.

I'm working on a fantasy love story at the moment with Dave Wilkins. He may not quite think of it in those terms but that's where its core is going to be. Think about Lady Hawke with a twist.

So the game plan is to keep A1 and Monster Massacre going as ongoing series, each building up to hopefully a critical mass where the creators involved can see a respectable trickle of royalties coming in if they stick with it.

I am planning a third anthology that will be aimed at a more general audience that I hope to launch either late 2014 or early 2015.

downthetubes: You're writing some of these new stories, has it been good to get back to that side of the comics business after being "editor in chief" on several projects?

Dave: Hell, yes! Garry and myself started A1 so we could both do our own creator owned work and after the first issue we both had to take a back seat as the publishing stuff got in the way.  This time I am very much in the mix creatively and I hope to get Garry back in the mix when he gets a break. Wearing both hats certainly makes me a lot happier.

downthetubes: You're also working on DRAVN for Heavy Metal Magazine. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Dave: Heavy Metal Issue 262 is on sale now and serves as a great intro into the world of DRAVN. It's a big, rich, and complex story that will take at least three big graphic novels to tell.  It's sci-fi, fantasy, action/adventure, thriller, drama, all wrapped up in one big concept.  The creator is Jesse Negron, who is no stranger to working on big concepts (Google him on IMDB). What I bring to the table is partly my editor's hat and partly my writer hat. I love developing characters and their motivations. Jesse has this amazing story and I'm like the junction master on a train line, making sure the train stays on track and that the track is solid.

As it will be such a big undertaking I've agreed to co-write the graphic novels with Jesse.  We'll be working on these for the next few years.

downthetubes: From reading online interviews you seem to be pitching that as a concept that could reach a much wider audience than those who read, say HM or 2000AD?

Dave: I'd say both those audiences are perfect for DRAVN but it would also be perfect for readers of Harry Potter and the Hunger Games. I liken it to Star Wars in many respects: it 's a huge universe and timeline that we're going to be entering. The best way to do that is chose one character and come in through their point of view and expand out naturally, discovering the world with them.

downthetubes: Do you think that publishers are doing enough to try and secure the next generation of comic readers?

Dave: I think they're trying as best they know how. While some people may not like licensed books, doing TV and Film tie-ins bring a new audience in.  As long as the quality can be kept high I think this is good for the market.

I forget how spoilt I was growing up. I had artists like Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, Jesus Belasco, Mike Noble, Brian Lewis, John M. Burns, drawing comics for me to read. Syd Jordan on Jeff Hawke, Horak on James Bond, Jim Holdaway on Modesty Blaise. But I always have to remind myself, this is a different time with different tastes.

I think we are all guilty of pissing in our own bathwater and not doing enough to bring in a younger audience.  I'd love to do another VIZ kids comic again. The special I did while I was at John Brown Publishing did really well.  We need some more books like that.

downthetubes: Are you working with Titan on comics with a wider audience, too?
Dave: That's the main reason I'm doing this. Titan have great reach beyond just comic book stores and the books I am doing are focused on as wide a market as possible. I want to get comics back in the hands of lapsed readers, new readers, in an accessible form.  People who like multiple genres. That's a lot of people and we plan on tracking them down.

downthetubes: What one piece of advice do you most offer aspiring comic creators?
Dave: Don't do it.

I'm serious! This can be a shitty industry to work in. Hollywood's mentality is spreading into comics. Chewing creators up and spitting them out once they've lost their flavor.

But if you're stupid enough to ignore that advice, then I'd suggest focusing on your own stuff. Work on your own stuff and get it right.  If you're an artist learn to draw everything!  Google will get you an image of it quick enough but you have to make it convincing.

Start a DeviantART account!!! The community is wonderful for giving you feedback.  Post your own stories everywhere. DeviantART, Facebook, set your own website with your own comic on it and post your own stories. Tweet and Facebook links as often as you can.  Find some friendly creators that will retweet to their fans.

Be persistent.

• Dave is easily accessible on both Facebook and DeviantART or follow him on Twiter via: DeevElliott or ATOMEKA_Press

• Titan Comics is at: http://titan-comics.com

Jesse Negron's Dravn takes over latest Heavy Metal

British comic creator and Heavy Metal editor Dave Elliott -- who's a busy chap right now, as he's also currently working closely with Titan Comics on their upcoming launches -- is part of the creative team on Dravn, a new series launching in Heavy Metal Issue 262, on sale now.

Fans are in for another themed-issue treat as Dravn is unleashed for a full-issue saga of inter-related tales where dizzying heights of storytelling mastery cross paths with unadulterated science-fantasy.

What if super-powered heroes and villains have always existed, buried somewhere under our mythology and folklore? We're not talking about capes and tights, we're talking about the real demi-gods that walked and pounded the Earth!

Created by filmmaker Jesse Negron (American Fighter Pilot, Pop & Me) and written by Negron with Dave Elliott (ATOMEKA, Monster Massacre), Dravn features characters designed exclusively by Hollywood concept artist Keith Thompson (Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark, Pacific Rim), and brought to life by artists from around the globe, including members of Imaginary Friends Studios and STELLAR Labs, to name a few.

In this epic story, history and legend get a bit twisted with characters as diverse as Camelot knights and Romanian impalers and Nazi stormtroopers all getting connected by greater forces, as super-beings stand revealed as the decision-makers and the rest of humanity left struggling with the pieces of a cosmic gambit more screwy than a primetime news headline.

Said Heavy Metal editor Dave Elliott, "I have always felt fiction is escape. Anything that takes you from where you are to someplace else is by definition escape. I think the metaphor is the most effective way of achieving that escape. By creating something that feels familiar and resonates with you it's easier to believe in and therefore a more immersive experience can be achieved.

"With Dravn we're taking you to places that you've heard of and are familiar with and subverting them. Not much different from doing an "Elseworlds" or a "What If" story but with history and myth."

Featuring an iconic choice of hyper-gorgeous covers by Kow Yokoyama, Kendrick Lim, Rob Prior, and Stanley Lau, the king-sized issue is on sale now at finer books and comics shops everywhere, as well as directly from Heavy Metal.

Art: Camilla d'Errico

Dravn is set to dive across mediums, across platforms, and it all starts in the pages of Heavy Metal.

For more info, check out the official Dravn website and stalk the team at the Heavy Metal site, your home away from hell...

• Official Dravn website: www.dravn.com
• Heavy Metal: www.heavymetal.com

Heavy Metal launches "Four Horsemen" Art Contest

Heavy Metal Magazine has launched a second art competition tying in with its Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse project. This time titled “What is your Vision of War?” - and this competition is open to anyone in the world - and artwork by Simon Bisley is just part of the top prize.

The fantastic apocalyptic submissions from the first Four Horsemen contest (“What is your vision of Pestilence”) drew fans from all over the US. “What is your vision of War?” is open to fans all over the world, with a grand prize that includes an original Simon Bisley painting of War and a prominent placement of winning artwork in Heavy Metal Magazine; plus runners up prizes that include winning artwork in Heavy Metal Magazine, a signed edition of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Book 2: The Chosen, out later this month and free one-year digital subscriptions to Heavy Metal Magazine.

Founded in 1977, Heavy Metal (www.HeavyMetal.com) has become an iconic American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine known world-wide for its incredible blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, purchased the world renowned title in 1990 and serves as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief.

In Four Horsemen, Adam Cahill is a warrior bound by bloodline to guard the Seven Holy Seals that contain the End of Days. But sinister forces strike against him and send him into Hell itself. There, he must find three corrupt souls, chosen by Divinity, to join him in battle against the Four Horsemen to not only save their own souls, but to decide the very fate of Humanity. This title was created and co written by video game mastermind Michael Mendheim.

In addition to the works of Simon Bisley, the series will feature additional art by the late Stan Winston, Tim Bradstreet, Chad Fidler, and Dave DeVries, and script written by co-writers Mike Kennedy and Sean Jaffe.

Seven finalists in the art competition, which closes 13th August 2012, will be chosen by Simon Bisley, Kevin Eastman and Michael Mendheim (Four Horsemen creator and writer), and fan voting will open 15th August 2012 and close 31st August 2012.

• All entries MUST be posted by the end of day 13th August 2012. Fans can submit their entries by posting their artwork at https://www.facebook.com/Thefourhorsemenoftheapocalypse/app_182300495191195

• Visit the contest webpage at http://www.fourhorsemen.heavymetal.com/WarArtContest-id-73.html

• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book One: Helldiver is available here on Amazon.com

• Full Terms and conditions of the contest can be found at http://fourhorsemen.heavymetal.com/contest_agreement.html

• Follow Heavy Metal Magazine on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeavyMetalInk

In Memoriam: Jean Giraud

Image via Le Blog de Mister Jacq

downthetubes was sorry to hear about the passing of one of the world's greatest comics artists, Jean Giraud (aka Moebius, or, simply, 'Gir').

Born in 1938, Giraud's comics work may have had sporadic publication in the UK but in the US and as far as many British comic creators are concerned his body of work - which includes strips for Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal) magazine and stories such as Arzach, the Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius, The Incal and the western adventure, Blueberry - is without equal.

He also worked on both computer game and film design, working on storyboards for films such as Alien, Willow, adaptations of his own Blueberry character and Thru the Moebius Strip, and his work influenced many film makers, including George Lucas.

A painting inspired by Jean Giraud's story, Arzach.

"I consider him more important than Doré," said Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. "He’s a unique talent endowed with an extraordinary visionary imagination that’s constantly renewed and never vulgar. Moebius disturbs and consoles. He has the ability to transport us into unknown worlds where we encounter unsettling characters.

"My admiration for him is total. I consider him a great artist, as great as Picasso and Matisse."

"It seems only a few years ago that we collaborated under the tutorship of Alejandro Jodorowsky on the initial version of Dune in Paris," recalls veteran SF illustrator Chris Foss. "Many, many happy memories come flooding back of our time together. It is fair to say that the firm basis of our relationship was a mutual admiration of each others work.

"... I fortunately spoke at length with Jean last year and the years just fell away. He was bright and cheerful and talked enthusiastically of his various projects. It did not occur to me that such a talented life would end so abruptly."

Above: Moebius at work on Telerama in 2010

There's no doubt his work was a strong influence on many and he was and will ever be, one of the best known artists of bandes dessinées outside France.

"Those that know me know what this man meant to me," says artist Dave Taylor, who make no secret of the impact Moebius' work had on his own art. "He was, at the beginning of my comic book career, my inspiration, my master and my guide. He continues to be all these things, he always will be.

"... Jean was, in a way, a father figure to me. I became aware of his work only a few years before my Father passed away. His work spoke to me as only a father can. He once told me that we were brothers. I guess this explains my mixed emotions right now. I've lost another Father and a brother all in one day."

"This has hit me hard like a thump to the heart," agrees artist Jon Haward."...  have loved this man's work for almost all my life.

"He showed me magical worlds beautiful people incredible creatures and inspired me on so many levels -- one being you don't have to draw only in one style. Jean was successful at what ever he drew, be it westerns, sci-fi, fantasy."

"I met Jean Giraud on a couple of occasions over the years," remembers writer Neil Gaiman. "He was sweet and gentle and really... I don't know. Spiritual is not a word I use much, mostly because it feels so very misused these days, but I'd go with it for him. I liked him enormously, and felt humbled around him. And in my 20s and 30s I didn't do humbled very much or very well."

Brazilian author Paulo Coelho (whose work Moebius once illustrated) paid tribute on Twitter this weekend, stating: "The great Moebius died today, but the great Moebius is still alive. Your body died today, your work is more alive than ever."

"France has lost one of its best known artists in the world," commented Benoit Mouchart, artistic director at France's Angouleme International Comics Festival. "In Japan, Italy, in the United States he is an incredible star who influenced world comics.

"Moebius will remain part of the history of drawing, in the same right as Dürer or Ingres. He was an incredible producer, he said he wanted to show what eyes do not always see".

While here at downthetubes we'll remember him for his amazing work on Arzach and Incal, and strips for Heavy Metal - but his many credits in comics, film and illustration mean that he will never be remembered across the globe for just one of his creations alone.

Ride on, sir - and live on in my minds and hearts.

• Moebius: Official website (French)

Liam Sharp Turns Director for Fistful of Blood

• Hearty congratulations to Gears of War and MamTor publisher Liam Sharp, who has landed himself the job of a lifetime. "I'm art directing a movie, and not just any movie," he reveals. "It's Fistful of Blood, the movie based on the cult graphic (and I mean graphic) novel by Kevin Eastman and Simon Bisley, great friends both."

The film is being directed by Digger T. Mesch, who created Art Asylum, with a cast that includes Peter (Chewbacca) Mayhew. It's being designed by Tom Muller, who talks about his initial work here, and who has set up a Flickr set which will include more design work as it becomes available. Right now, that's mainly the promtional work, including the poster, above.

"I'm only just taking it in," says Liam on his deviantart journal. "For the last few years this is the job I've dreamt of doing - production design/art directing. But in an extremely aggressive marketplace that seemed highly unlikely. And yet - here I am."

I've known Liam for many years, right back to Marvel UK when he was drawing Death's Head II, and I can't think of a more deserving case for someone whose hard work and dedication to his craft has finally paid off in a way he always wanted. Great news.