Broken Voice Comics 'Shades' jumps from digital to print edition

Comics creator David Berner has been publishing pages from his graphic novel Shades for some time as a webcomic, both at his own Broken Voice Comics website and at a number of other hosting sites.

Last year, the artists, who include Harsho Mohan Chatoraj, finally put the finishing touches to the final chapter (well, technically, the epilogue!) and, since then, David's been busy adapting all the pages for print. 

The book is now available from IndyPlanet, and I'm hoping we'll have chance to run our review of it soon.

In this, the first of two volumes, retired tailor Stanley Miller wants only to heal the rift in his relationship with his daughter. However, as shadowy forces from the past gather, he finds himself instead trying to reunite a motley band of one-time heroes against the growing threat to the nation. Heroes that include a First Century warrior queen, a World War 2 fighter pilot and a prehistoric shaman!

In an action-fuelled story spanning 5000 years of British history, this two-volume graphic novel asks the question "What makes a hero?" and examines the characteristics and traits that have come to define the British national psyche.

"There were many times when it seemed this project might never reach the end," says David, "but, I'm delighted to say, Volume 1 is finally ready and printed and looking all shiny, just waiting for people to buy it!

"It's very British (dealing as it does with the traits which have come to define our national character) and, because I happen to think 'high concept' graphic novels should also be entertaining, it's also packed to the gills with colourful characters indulging in fisticuffs and explosions - what's not to like?!"

David is a master at promoting his work online, but seems ready to take drastic steps to get the print edition under people's noses.

"Personally, I now propose to spend my days sitting outside a tube station with a copy of the book in my hand, and a cap on the pavement on front of me," he jokes.

Either way, check out the book and the Broken Voice Comics website and take a look at Shades.


• Shades Volume 2 should be available in just over a month.  Volume 1 can be purchased now either from Indy Planet or, for all of us Brits and other non-US types, from me via the Broken Voice Comics forum (which - due to the high international shipping costs from the US) is probably going to be slightly cheaper.

BVC's Shades Enters Spirit World

British Web comic publisher Broken Voice Comics has just released Chapter 12 of its flagship title, the online graphic novel Shades online, plus some of the first pages of Chapter 13 have just been launched at its website. For the first time, the new chapters allow readers a glimpse of the story's mysterious spirit world.

Written by David A J Berner (whose adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Oval Portrait” was included in the Self Made Hero anthology Nevermore in 2007) and illustrated in full colour by E.C. Nickel, Shades is both a timely examination of the characteristics and traits that have come to define the British national character and an appreciation of the super hero genre, from a particularly UK perspective.

Until now, most of the action in Shades has taken place in a very real-world version of the UK, but the spirit world has always been hugely important to the story.

"We learn very early on that the Shaman (a prehistoric mystic) relies on the spirits for his knowledge, and that the energies of that world are the source of many of the characters’ unique abilities," reveals Berner. "From this point in the story, however, events in the physical world and the spirit world start becoming increasingly intertwined."

In Chapter 12 a demon spirit known as Thrawn manifests itself in the physical world. Able to twist and manipulate a person’s self-doubts and insecurities, the demon finds plenty of material to prey upon in the troubled minds of the British heroes who people Shades.

In Chapter 13, readers are finally given their first glimpse of what the spirit world is actually like.

"Technically," Berner elaborates, "we only make it as far as the Fringes – a kind of buffer zone between the physical and spirit worlds. But then, it’s not the most inviting of places so perhaps that’s as close as we want to get!"

"The art team has done a fantastic job of rendering the nightmare landscape of the Fringes," David enthuses. "E.C. Nickel has really been able to demonstrate his love of surreal detail in these sequences, and the sombre, brooding colours by Muamal Khairi add a dimension that wouldn’t be out of place in an H.P. Lovecraft novel!”

Formerly the Senior Editor of webcomics studio Midnite Comics, David formed Broken Voice Comics in February 2006. Since its launch, Broken Voice Comics has been home to Berner’s own comic projects including Shades and his two four-part fantasy mini-series, The Spires and Hunted along with Guest Titles such as recent arrival G.A.A.K. by Darryl Hughes and Monique McNaughton.

Behind the scenes on the project, Berner informs us that work on this graphic novel is now nearing completion. "The script for Shades was written back in 2003,” he says, “so it’s been a long haul, but the end is finally in sight. The art team is already working on the last two full-length chapters (15 and 16) and then we just have a short epilogue to do, before we have to start looking at the options for putting together a collected print edition!”

• For more on Broken Voice Comics and its titles visit: www.brokenvoice.co.uk

New art team tackles villains for BVC's Shades

Briitsh onlince comics publisher Broken Voice Comics has just published Chapters 9 and 10 of its flagship title Shades on its website (www.brokenvoice.co.uk).

Written by David A J Berner, the new chapters of the comic continue BVC's timely examination of the characteristics and traits that have come to define the British national character and are the first to be illustrated by the new art team of E.C. Nickel and Muamal Khairi.

“The fact that its story is set in the UK means that Shades is able to re-examine the super hero genre in a way that US comics usually don't,” suggests Berner. “The conventions and norms of the genre are so well-established in the US mainstream that they often seem to be taken for granted or self-consciously spoofed.”

The first half of Shades (Chapters 1 - 8) was illustrated by Harsho Mohan Chattoraj and is available to read in its entirety online. It tells the story of retired tailor Stanley Miller as he attempts to reunite a group of faded British heroes - a group which includes a prehistoric shaman, a World War 2 fighter pilot and the First Century warrior queen Boudicca!

Covering some five centuries of British history, these opening chapters pitch this motley group against an evil mystic, a giant experimental super-bomber and a demonic serpent.

In the second half of the story (Chapters 9 - 16), the stakes are due to be raised even further, as our heroes are forced to confront a threefold threat to the nation.

The new art team for this part of the story comprises Brazilian artist E.C. Nickel (pencils and inks) and Indonesian colourist Muamal Khairi. The challenge for them was to retain something of the distinctive style set by Chattoraj while bringing something of their own to the title.

“Nickel and Qoiri are already doing a fantastic job,” says Berner. “Anyone familiar with their work will know they each have a distinctive style of their own but that they both share Harsho's love of detail and character.”

As for the future plot, Berner explains that readers can expect the action levels to increase significantly from here on in. “Shades was always designed to be a single-story graphic novel,” he says. “And so Chapters 9 - 16 will essentially be building towards the climax of that story.

“Without giving too much away, I can reveal that we'll be seeing a lot more of the bad guys in the new chapters. We'll be getting to understand just how they became the people they are and, as their evil plans unfold, you can be sure the action will start ratcheting up through the gears!”

Broken Voice Comics was founded in February 2006 by David Berner, formerly the Senior Editor of webcomic studio Midnite Comics which ceased operations at the end of 2005.

Since its official launch in March 2006, BVC has been the new home of Berner's own comic projects, notably his online graphic novel Shades and his two four-part fantasy mini-series, The Spires and Hunted. In addition, the site also hosts a small number of Guest Titles which initially comprised three titles previously featured at Midnite Comics (Rob Jones's Perfect Storm and two titles by E.C. Nickel, Immortality and The Long Vigil). More recently, the site has added Lee Munday's The Lumbering Dead to its line-up, as well as Thy Will Be Done, another title by E.C. Nickel, created in collaboration with Alexandre Lobao.

Established fan favourite G.A.A.K. by Darryl Hughes and Monique McNaughton is the most recent addition to the line-up.

• Shades is updated every Monday on the BVC web site. It is also serialised at the Graphic Smash (www.graphicsmash.com) and Drunk Duck (www.drunkduck.com) websites.