Over the last three years or so, I have been working with the Make a Wish Foundation of Washington/Alaska on an epic project, dreamed up by a young man named Noah Ingram. The book is called Time Wreckers and is finally done. We are releasing it to Noah at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on March 4th. I will be part of a panel, presenting the book to Noah along with other artists who were involved. The panel will be from 5:30-6:30 on March 4th in WSCC 3B. I will also be at booth C14 all weekend.
Here's a video about the project (this is from when we were still trying to get more artists on board).
I knew I wouldn't be able to draw the whole book myself, so I decided to make it more like a collaborative art/story book. I called on all the artists I knew and had them call on their friends. Meanwhile, we needed a version of Noah's book that worked as a readable narrative. What he had completed was a massive 100 page wall of text that was basically stream-of-consciousness. He worked with some writers to turn it into a script, but they petered out at about the first 1/10th of the story. I really wanted to tell Noah's entire story, so I took over and decided to write the book based on the outline his dad and he made from his document, giving me all the main scenes which would refer back to his more dense original document.
I chose not to do this as a comic because it would have been hard to make it look consistent. Besides, the book really reads like a fairy tale. It's very fantastical and fun. It reads a lot like How to Train Your Dragon if the creators chugged Red Bull and had no restraints when it came to staying "on brand". This story traverses time and space in rapid fire. A graphic novel would have taken decades. The illustrated story book seemed like the ideal format.
So I got 50 artists to work on concept art and to do 50 full page, full color illustrations for the book. It's a gorgeous work and a lot of fun. I look forward to reading it to my kids. It's the kind of bonkers fairy tale they would love.
So please, come join me at the panel and see my at my booth. I will be at booth C14 selling art, books, prints and more. Time Wreckers will not be for sale, but to see a bunch of the art and hear more about the story, come to the panel. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Ethan