The most dangerous game

An edition about a casting of comic-book characters, Mickey Rourke's evolution and hunting humans for sport.

WELCOME TO A NEW EDITION OF MY NEWSLETTER

This month and due to the crowdfunding campaign of my book MOON EATERS I am updating my newsletter WEEKLY, and using the chance to talk about different subjects.

MOON EATERS: THE INSPIRATIONAL CASTING

You know the story: Moon Eaters is my newest crime/supernatural OGN funded via crowdfunding, using the international platform spacemanproject.com

The book is available in two languages, Spanish and English, and it doesn’t matter where in the world you live. We can send it to you. It’s going to be a beautiful oversized hardcover with a gorgeous paper with a cover prize of 23€ ($27). And if you buy the book you receive a signed print and a sketchbook with all the storyboard of the graphic novel for free!

In English: https://www.spacemanproject.com/es/proyecto/moon-eaters/81
In Spanish: https://www.spacemanproject.com/es/proyecto/moon-eaters/81

TODAY’S STORY:

Sometimes I use actors and actresses as references in my character design. But don’t be wrong: I am not one of these artists capable of making faithful portraits of the actors, like the talented J.G. Jones did with Eminem in Wanted. I have not that skill, but I also find (sometimes) this practice really boring as a reader. Actors are actors, and comic characters are comic characters. I hate when the book seems like a series of famous people's portraits (and I say it again, it’s a personal taste). But I like the idea of capturing gestures or attitudes I find interesting. And of course hairstyles, fashion, appearances but the main idea is having some kind of “visual beacon”. Surely if I tell you “this character of mine is based on XXX” you could perfectly answer: “Are you nuts? Your character doesn’t look anything like XXX!”

I think when this “capture” is well done you really don't notice, like the well-known Julio Iglesias inspiration for the Watchmen character Ozymandias. Well, or maybe my drawings are crap. Both opinions are respectable.

But I enjoy doing these “castings”. I did it in my Polar books and it’s a tool I use sometimes when I work as a writer with other artists. Some examples from Moon Eaters:

For TOMMY BLACKFOOT, my general idea was based on my beloved Scott Adkins. I wanted somebody strong but with some level of nobility. But he is a character with a tragic past, something in his eyes reveals it. I also took inspiration from the Joseph Gordon Lewitt’s glance.

For JUNE I have two inspirations, actresses Chloë Moretz and Natalie Alyn Lind. June's appearance is pure Lynd, she looks like a short gorgeous girl and the other characters think she is a collateral damage, a damsel in distress trapped between this personal revenge plot between men. How wrong they are! I wanted to add some of the Moretz’s attitude to June, she can show a boldness and bad-ass face like a female version of a young Clint Eastwood.

For CHARLES ROUGE, the bad guy, the main reference was Mickey Rourke. I have a weird obsession with Rourke. I was a fan of his career in his youth, with Year of the Dragon or Angel Heart (I prefer to forget 9 ½ Weeks or Wild Orchid). And I find his physical evolution to The Wrestler or Sin City fascinating. Yeah, it’s awful too (with all this cosmetic surgery) but the transformation of this body into that kind of massive thing… I really can't explain it but his style of dress, his attitude and body language… Something between a nightclub thug and a sad fallen star. I am not able to stop looking at him.

And for TWICE PETE, Rouge’s sicario, I was thinking of Frank Grillo. Well, a loser version of Grillo because he’s totally bad-ass. Twice Pete is his dumb brother. Don’´t you think Grillo is a totally underestimated actor? I am seeing him in a lot of crappy C-movies… And he is a guy with a wonderful vis comica, directors should exploit this. His character in the recent Boss Level movie proves that he can perform a bad-ass and at the same time funny main role.

And that’s all about MOON EATERS this week. Only 4 days left. Share and recommend, my friends. Even if we don’t get all the cash, maybe we could fix something with the publisher/platform and you will have your books with your exclusive gifts. But the more we get, you know… Easier to fix. And THANK YOU SO MUCH for your attention and support!

A RECOMMENDATION AND SOME BOILING IDEAS

This past weekend I watched The most dangerous game in Prime Video. I am a fan of this sub-genre, the “human hunt”, and I even made my own tribute in my graphic novel Against Hope.

I have read Richard Connell’s original story, I love the 1930 RKO version, and Hard Target is one of my favorite Van Damme’s movies. One of the recent additions to this trope is the enjoyable The Hunt with a wonderful Betty Gilpin.

This new version doesn’t add anything new but it’s pure entertainment. I am not a big fan of Liam Hemsworth but I love the bad guys. Christoph Waltz is as good as ever and the Hunters are great. Well, I found them great because they are stereotypes so over-the-top (they seem like Street Fighter characters: a fancy cold-blooded British businessman, an American swamp-redneck, a female Asian martial artist) that the result is hilarious… Because the story tries to be realistic in some way! So the result is weird but fascinating in its contrast.

But the most interesting thing about this movie is that I didn't know it was originally a series of 8-minutes episodes for a deceased streaming platform for smartphones called Quibi.
I think the idea was good, mini-shows you can enjoy going to work or waiting for the bus. Surely the platform failed due to a number of different reasons but I think the concept rocks!
I found its structure interesting because at the end you have a movie and a TV show at the same time. I have been thinking about doing a comic included this newsletter, a serialized story but with an episodic structure and a cliffhanger in the last panel… Something I could publish later as a comic-book or a short graphic novel. Something you can read during a very short trip (I read newsletters during subway travels). Like Japanese Shonen Jump or the 2000AD magazine.
Let me think about it…

And that’s all, guys!
See you very soon!
Victor

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