Bigfoot Character Reveal... (literally)

Bigfoot.

Broadsword.

Bigfoot design

We waited a little for the ultimate reveal on the design for the big guy (not including the page 2 preview) because we wanted to give you a brief snippet of the alien world.  We've already seen the bad guys, alien races and a possible ally, so we figured it was time.

So... this is the hero of our little barbarian, sci-fi comic book.

But he didn't always look this way.

When Andy first came on board, we talked a little about what we thought our sasquatch should look like. There's no denying that Bigfoot has a certain look about him, but we didn't want to go too "Harry and the Hendersons" or "Jack Links" and we certainly didn't want him to look similar to the representations of Riley Rossmo's interpretation in "Proof" (an excellent book, by the way) or what Richard Corben had done in Rob Zombie's "Bigfoot".

So the first thing Andy did was give a few sketches of Bigfoot's noggin.

Bigfoot noggin

Running the gamut of "ape-man" heads, we have a few great ape interpretations, chimp-ish looks, standard Bigfoot and even some more creative interpretations (check out the final "sloth bigfoot!")  We finally settled on a hybrid with a few twists (mutton-chops, not as predominant of a forehead and a strong jaw.)

We then started looking at what could quite possibly be Bigfoot's trademark...  His feet.

Taking a page from your standard superhero design, the first interpretation gave us a broad-chested barbarian... with what looked like a size 10 shoe.

Not a bad looking foot and it certainly kept with the "small feet = more super-heroic pose" look that all the big heroes have (Superman probably has a good size 10, Batman... 8.)  But we quickly realized, we just couldn't go with the standard.  We had to go with a size 22.

Boom

And that, my friends, was that.  We had our hero.

After that, we only needed one final addition.

Until next time...

Josh S. Henaman

Bigfoot of Mars

Kind of catchy isn't it?

It has that great pulp, throwback feel of an old dog-eared paperback.  Equal parts homage to the familiar yet something never seen before, it's the kind of title that all you have to do is hear it and you know exactly what the tone of the story will be.

Yeah, it's definitely catchy.

Back when I first had the idea for this little sasquatch graphic novel, I thought the same thing.  In fact, the entire six-issue arc was written with that title.

And then, of course, Disney had to go and greenlight a film adaptation of a book that was almost 100 years old.  A film adaptation that has been trying to get off the ground for the last 60 years.

Of course, I'm speaking of "John Carter... of Mars."

Prior to that, the title of our sci-fi barbarian comic was a play on a book that was virtually forgotten.  You'd have been hard-pressed to find someone other than the fanatical Edgar Rice Burroughs fan who knew where the "... of Mars" came from.  And just like that, it was gone.  With the Disney Machine pushing the making of "John Carter" into the multi-multi-millions, there was absolutely no way I could keep the title without someone thinking, "Oh, it's a parody of that Disney flick."

Bigfoot of Mars was destined to be forgotten.

And I couldn't be happier.

After weeks of going back and forth, declaring one title a hit, one a flop and another a possibility, I finally settled on the simplest of them all.

The book would simply be called...

"Bigfoot."

But, uh, wasn't there already a Rob Zombie comic book called, "Bigfoot"?

Well, yeah, so I guess that deserves some explaining.

Technically, the book is "Bigfoot", however, the title of the six-issue arc is, "Sword of the Earthman."  Bind all six-issues together and you have a nifty-looking, "Bigfoot - Sword of the Earthman" running along the spine.

It gives it that pulpy, adventurous tone that screams, "The further adventures of the mighty ape-man!"

And because of that name change, the possibilities for those further adventures are wide open.

In fact, the title of the next arc is, "Bigfoot - Wrath of the Lost God".

Or maybe, "Bigfoot - Souls of the Damned."

Or "Bigfoot... "  Well, you get the point.

You just can't do that with "Bigfoot of Mars".

So while I loved the original, I love the replacement even more.

And like Indiana Jones... The adventure's in the title.

Until next time...

Have a good one,

Josh S. Henaman

Bigfoot character reveals...

Alright, people...

You leave me no choice, but to tease...

But first, I must apologize.

This race doesn't appear until the second issue of our Bigfoot comic, but we feel we've talked enough business and updates for the time being.

So what is this guy?  Equal parts beast, moth, vampire and all around horror.  And he is one of thousands (my apologies to Andy, who literally has to draw all of them!)

So in the world of Bigfoot, what's a sasquatch to do when he faces a foe that knows no end?

Flee...

Up next... You know, we haven't really revealed any Bigfoot designs...

Have a good one,

Josh S. Henaman

Guerrilla Marketing? Bah! Try Bigfoot Marketing!

A day late and a dollar short, my friends.

What was originally going to be a post for Monday quickly turned into a Tuesday evening write-up.  Why the delay?  Well, as they say in every bad Vietnam flick out there... "We're in the $#@* now..."

Coffee... beer... Bigfoot marketing plan...

Meaning, we're deep into figuring out how to market this beast we call Bigfoot - Sword of the Earthman.

"Bigfoot with a broadsword..."

"Bigfoot the Barbarian..."

"Bigfoot of Mars..."

You'd think a marketing plan for a sasquatch fighting evildoers on a backwards alien planet would write itself.

Sadly, that was my first mistake.

Lesson #1... You know nothing about marketing.

Thankfully, as we get closer and closer to announcing a release date, I had the good sense to listen to a business-minded cousin of mine (thanks, Nate!)  His words to me, "Any business book will tell you how to research a marketing plan... you just have read up on it and start doing it."

Fair enough, but... um... where to start?  The last time I checked, Barnes & Noble had an entire section devoted to marketing and business and every time I searched "marketing plan" in Amazon I get a different set of books.  I write comics, I don't know how to sell 'em!

Lesson #2... They're not going to sell themselves.

Finally, after clicking and stumbling my way through numerous sites hyping their wares and spreadsheets, I stumbled upon an ebook by Mat Nastos for a whopping $4.99, "Comic Book Marketing 101".  At this stage, five bucks is a worthy investment when compared to the cost of printing.

Do I envision it will be the Rosetta Stone into the elusive world of profits?  Not at all, but at least it's a start.  And hey, now I know what a S.W.O.T. Analysis chart is...

Marketing 101... we'll keep you posted.

Or we can always fall back to the tactics outlined here...

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12/19/afterwards-they-will-explode-comic-book-marketing-strategies/

Until next time...

Josh S. Henaman

When Worlds Collide...

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to take in Monsterpalooza out in Burbank, CA.  Since the only conventions I had ever attended were this years Wondercon and the Long Beach Comicon a few years back, I had decided that it would be in the best interest of the book to check out one of the many non-comic book related conventions out there.  I was a monster fanatic long before I fell in love with comic books, so needless to say, I was excited.  

After standing in line for two hours because I didn’t have the foresight to purchase tickets in advance (Rule #1… ALWAYS buy tickets in advance), I made it into the venue and discovered a few things…

1) Comic books are great, but you can’t beat the visual stimuli of a special FX guru hard at work. 

 

2)  Cosplayers tend to run a little… darker.

3)  The crossover potential is tremendous.  Horror, sci-fi and fantasy… Whatever your genre, if it sparks the imagination, you can showcase it here. 

No joke.  There’s a reason why a lot of the gaming industry sends some of their designers to scope out some inspiration. 

Let's curb-stomp someone!

And finally, this was probably the most important thing I learned…

4) Bigfoot is sorely underrepresented. 

Seriously, I found one bust of Harry from Harry and the Hendersons and that was squirreled away in a booth where the guy was making horror related soap (don’t laugh, I bought a hockey mask-shaped bar.)  So where was our hominid brethren?  Did I take a wrong turn and miss the elaborate display of all horror/sci-fi/fantasy related Sasquatchian goodness?

Unfortunately, I don't think so.  

But after attending both Wondercon and now Monsterpalooza, I’ve come away with the reality that we would be right at home at both.   Nothing says sci-fi fantasy more than a sword wielding sasquatch.

So take note everybody.   Monsterpalooza is on our radar now and I vow to you all… Next year, Bigfoot will be making an appearance…

Now I just need to look up when the next Bigfoot conference is.

Until next time…

Josh S. Henaman

Enter... Lord Jeoffa

“I have broken bread with great men.  Felled giants, kings and a congress of men you couldn’t possibly understand.  I have united barbarians, thieves and cutthroats.  Birthed armies… And you fear one simple desert whore?”

-Lord Jeoffa 

Pound for pound, if Korovan Muspin can match our hero in the physical department, Lord Jeoffa far surpasses them in the intellectual realm.  He has no equal.  As Prometheus brought fire to man, Lord Jeoffa promised the one thing the world needed more than anything… Peace.  And then he corrupted it… 

He is Lord Jeoffa.

He doesn’t want our hero dead…

He wants him broken. 

Until next time…

Josh S. Henaman

Inspiration and what-not

Hey everybody,

This week is a little short on updates and character reveals, so I thought I'd post a few images of inspiration.  Last week we mentioned some of the TBS favorites that inspired Bigfoot - Sword of the Earthman and what better way to emphasize the point than to show some brain candy.

First off, before Conan, before anything Mars related... I was all about Thundarr...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhAobPugvsk

Between this and the original Land of the Lost, a childhood bereft of dinosaurs, broadswords and half-naked women was never in the cards.

Next up... Tanya Roberts... <cough>, I mean... The Beastmaster.

 Creepy eye-rings, bat-like vampire dudes with no mouths and Rip Torn.  This movie had it all.  Outside of V, Marc Singer never had it so good.  And no, I'm not counting the sequel(s).

Finally, there was a little film called Yor - The Hunter from the Future.  Looking back on it, this movie was utter garbage... but one eight-year-old absolutely fell in love with it.  And who wouldn't?  It had barbarians, sorcery and if I'm remembering correctly, there may have been a triceratops somewhere in there.  Come to think of it, I blame Thundarr for my love of Yor.

This Italian poster is cooler than the movie has any right to be.

And just so you know where I'm coming from... here's the U.S. poster...

Throw in some Flash Gordon, The Barbarians and the granddaddy of them all, Heavy Metal, and you have enough stimulation to blow any adolescent's mind.

And there you have it.  If you haven't seen any of these gems, shame on you.  If you've actually seen Yor..., well, welcome to the Reb Brown fan club.

That's all for this week.

Until next time,

Josh "Wanted to put 'Sheena' up here, but realized he had enough Tanya Roberts for one post" Henaman