GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Bryan Pierce Guest Post: The Creation of a Graphic Novel: Indigo Dax + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Bryan Pierce Guest Post: The Creation of a Graphic Novel: Indigo Dax + giveaway

Hi everyone! My name is Bryan Pierce, I’m the author and creator of the Indigo Dax Graphic Novel. So a little about myself: Last year I quit my job to devote myself to this project full time. I had the idea for the story floating around in my head for a while. I would sit and think to myself, what would happen if a huge alien spaceship crashed into Earth? It would be a huge day for humanity, and would possibly be our last. So after a while of thinking about it, I thought, how could that alien spaceship prevent the total destruction of the planet? I figured the logical choice would be to send the ship back in time. Then I thought, what if the ship was really the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. Once I had that idea, I started creating the Indigo Dax universe.
I envisioned an angelic like species to be the main heroes of the story. They would be a species that only knew perfection. I found a NASA article on the Heart and Soul nebulae located in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This would be the location of their homeworld. I called this alien species the Casserians that I got from the name Cassiopeia. Angels don’t have wings to fly, the wings on an angel are a sign of their status. The Casserian shield would be angel wings. When I started drawing the wings on my computer, I realized that the shape looked like a dove, which I thought was perfect. Since a dove is a universal sign of peace. I wrote up a backstory to the Casserians and gave them lots of powers. They would be like gods amongst other species.

Giving the Casserians such amazing powers was a bit of a gamble, because you have to give them an enemy who can be just as powerful with the potential to actually conquer the good guys. That was the basis for creating the Scorpion Empire. They would be the exact opposite of the Casserians. They would be powerful, but they were pure evil. Their mission would be to take over other worlds and expand their empire as much as they could. Their own power would increase, the more they conquered the galaxy.

The backstory I created for the Casserians and the Scorpion Empire was so complex, I realized I wouldn’t be able to fit it all into the graphic novel. So I created a Facebook Game that you can play, to uncover the story. It’s a fun game with 25 levels. You can play with your friends, and uncover the story of the Indigo Dax Universe for free on Facebook.




Back to the graphic novel. I’m not at all gifted with drawing. So you may wonder why I created a graphic novel. To tell the truth, it’s because when I would think of this story, it was visual for me. I had all these scenes in my head that played out like a movie. So I hired several artists to help me create the concept art for the characters, illustrate the graphic novel, etc. I then started drafting the panels for the graphic novel within photoshop and would send those to my artists to fill in the graphics. For each panel I had to think about how the scene would look, the perspective it would show, what the background would look like, how did the characters move, what their facial expressions look liked. There is truth to the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I probably wrote as many words writing out the descriptions in those panels.
It took me 2.5 years to complete the novel. I met Sharon Stogner, when I was looking for someone who could proofread my graphic novel. Google sent me right to her page. I remember thinking, “I hope she likes it.” Even though I didn’t know her well, it was really important for me to get another person’s perspective. Not only that, I wanted to get another female's perspective on the graphic novel. The graphic novel is a great fantasy/scifi novel on it’s own, but there is a twist. The main characters are gay. As a gay man, having gay characters in media is such an important thing for me. Gay characters in the media are gaining some mainstream acceptance, but not really enough. Gay characters are often relegated to being part of an ensemble cast, which is fine until you realize you have to watch 10 episodes before you find out that person is gay, they deal with the issue for 15 min, and you have to wait another season for them to bring it up again. Seeing other gay characters in the media helps me see how other gay people act, how they behave. I guess I’m looking for that moment where I can look at another person and be like, “That’s how I feel too!”, “I’m glad I’m not the only one…”, etc.

It was important to me that Sharon liked my graphic novel, because I didn’t just write this story for other gay men. I wrote this story with the realization that there are other women out there who like to read about gay men. These are the women in every gay man’s life that we turn to as our best friends. These are the women we confide in, and come out to for the first time. As a gay man, I love and appreciate all of those women who have been in my life. So this story is for all the girls who love boys who love boys. Knowing that Sharon, a stranger to me, actually like my story was validation that this was a story that everyone could love.



Indigo Dax - The Graphic Novel
The Scorpion Empire is about to invade Earth. Supreme Lord Kesarex needs to take over a world that will enable him to expand his empire. But why would an insignificant, outer world like Earth have any impact on the Empire? Travel back in time with Dax, while Supreme Lord Kesarex tries to take over Earth in the present.

Over 105 full color pages tells the story about the beginning of The War for Earth. Graphic novel delivered as a downloadable digital PDF. PC, Mac, iOS and Android compatible.

SOME EVENTS ARE ALWAYS DESTINED TO HAPPEN.




Facebook Fan Page
My name is Bryan Pierce and I’m the creator of the Indigo Dax graphic novel and Indigo Dax Game. I’ve always been a fan of science fiction and fantasy, but I never felt like the gay community was well represented in that genre.




To celebrate the launch of the Indigo Dax Graphic Novel, I’m giving away $25,000 worth of free graphic novels. That’s 1000 winners over the next five weeks. 



I hope lots of you enter and win! Most importantly, I hope you enjoy the story.


Indigo Dax Graphic Novel 1000 Copies Giveaway

3 comments:

  1. Looks good! the graphic novel looks really nice. I'm not really into video games, though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was really proud to be a part of this :) The comic is rated PG, there is no sex...just some kissing and hugging and some alien violence! Gotta kill those bad guys.

      Delete
  2. I just love this story line! So fascinating :) And as far as the game goes I'm not big on games but I could totally see me playing it after I read the graphic novel for a fix to keep me until the next novel comes out lol. Congrats on your 2 1/2 year journey being realized!

    ReplyDelete