Exclusive Interview: Writer JEFF HUGHES And Artist JASON DUBE Vs. Brian S

Writer Jeff Hughes from Comic Book Divas and Artist Jason Dube  from Scattered Comics Studios recently took a time out and let me pick their brains (because that's what zombies do). Jeff Hughes being the accomplished writer that he is has teamed up with Jason Dube who is one of the top notch artists in the comic book industry to create several really cool projects, some a little dark, a few slightly twisted and all with a little taste of sugar added, you'll see! I got to ask the guys some questions that range from how they got together and got their projects started to how they're brought to life (so to speak) to the very cool projects they are working on currently that are going to blow your minds and make your hearts beat a little crazy thanks to a few lovely ladies. Check out the latest Vs.....

Brian  S- Jeff, how did you come up with Comic Book Divas?

Jeff- Well Brian, I was working on another project with Jason Dube, and one day a new idea popped in my head called Scorpion Warrior, the thought occurred to me that it would be a bit unusual to feature models and actresses likenesses in the character design; this would bring more realism to the comic and the character and yes honestly a bit of sexiness.

Jason has always been supportive from day one of myself and my ideas and he helped me as I posted ads for the position, it read pretty much like "Wanted Female Model Needed For Scorpion Warrior Comic book".

At the time neither Jason or I thought we would receive much of a response, maybe 10 at the most; but I think in an hour we had ten responses, by the end of the day we had received 15 or 20, at the end of the process we received forty e-mails.

The e-mails were all positive and filled with excitement, models, actresses, professional NFL cheerleaders; women from all types of professions wanted to be in the comic.

Some even provided their phone numbers (I bring this up only to say to women; Please do not give out your phone number, be safe when responding to an ad).

At the end we approached Hilary Kennedy a Dallas/Fort Worth reporter and TV host (As the Scorpion Warrior) Jessica Castro (As The Scorpion Empress) a model and a member of the Big Apple Dancers dance group in New York and Kara Cagle (Priestess Shade) who is a model and also in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Jason Dube - Artist

Written by - Jeff Hughes

http://comicbookdivas.com/scorpionwarrior    

After that the rest is pretty much history, eight months later we are here talking and I'm in awe of the response.

Brian  S- Jeff, I'm really digging all that you have going on with Comic Book Divas right now. Tell us a little about this and what we can look forward to!

Jeff- We have so much going on with the help of Jason and his Scattered Comics artists;  We are about to debut “Kaci Hansen Presents…Hello Dollies” at the Texas Comic Con June 18^th-20^th in San Antonio, Texas with a limited variant cover just for the show.

“Kaci Hansen Presents…Hello Dollies” features the awesome Kaci Hansen as the hostess of the comic who pops up during the story to add some levity to the comic.

The comic tells the tales of four smart and intelligent college women that are given an assignment to investigate the “Island Of The Dolls” an island that is rumored to be haunted by a ghostly little girl who died on the island. Also there are rumors of the dolls that have been left by tourists coming to life at night.

I have to say this comic was literally brought to life by Scattered Comics Studios artist Josh Barker, he brought the creepiness to this comic, readers will really like his style, but they may throw their dolls and action figures away.

After that, the list is pretty long and this would be a really long interview, but some of the big projects on tap for the remainder of this year and next year are some pretty cool projects.

“FANGS” is about a band of female vampire that are in pursuit of a coven of female vampires who have kidnapped male friends and family members, that’s all I can say about “FANGS” because it has some really interesting twists and turns, but reader’s can look for Devanny Pinn featured as the Head vampire “Lily Le Sang” (Lily The Blood) Deneen Melody as “Raven” Lil’s Second-in-Command and Michelle Sheilds as “Sapphire” a ruthless and twisted Ninja Assassin type character.

We will be debuting a five page mini comic of “FANGS” at the SAC Horror Convention September 25^th-26^th in Sacramento California http://sachorror.com the cover will be a limited edition that will feature Devanny Pinn and Deneen Melody who will be on hand to sign the comic.  

Then we have the “A Life Behind The Mask” upcoming web comic; this series gives a comedic look at the everyday lives of super heroes and villains in and out of their costumes and features some terrific actresses.

Kit-Kat Portrayed by Kaylee Williams, PDQ Portrayed by Sara Barnett, Amazonia Portrayed by Tara She-Goblin Portrayed by Claire Fluff, Lady Weeds Portrayed by Kitsie Duncan, Jolly Portrayed by Rachel Grubb,  Mrs. Marvelous Portrayed by Michelle Shields,  Blackbird Portrayed by Deneen Melody, Spells-Bound Portrayed by Kaily Alissano, Miss Attraction Portrayed by Victoria Paege, Miss. Greene Portrayed by Victoria Floro, Luna Portrayed by Kara Cagle, Maddylne Scientist Portrayed by Raelynn Blaha; and just added Devanny Pinn as The GunSlinger and soon Kaci Hansen will also be added.

This will also be movie poster artist Dennis Willman’s first comic book project, he has done a terrific job in the character design with this being his first time designing comic book characters.

In addition to my own projects, Comic Book Divas and Scattered Comics Studios arists are also working with other creators on their projects and assisting them with bringin their comics to life.

We are working with Dennis Willman on his creation “Ginger Stein: Rise Of The Undead” comic bookthat I feel will be a and pardon the expression “MONSTER” of a series.

"Ginger-Stein”  is the story of an ordinary woman who is called upon to become extraordinary as the world is under siege by a zombie apocalypse. Stripped of her former life and transformed into the character she portrayed on film for so many years.

The names attached to this comic project are very impressive and keeps growing so keep your eyes peeled for updates and visit Comic Book Divas for more news and information http://comicbookdivas.com

Also we are working with Michael Allen Smith on his “DIABOLICAL” script and formatting it for a comic book, this is a very intense and eerie comic.

Vail Jessemerelli is a soon to be powerful witch is put to death, along with her parents by the ruthless Warlocks Xavier and the powerful and mysteries Mr. Franz  in order for the clan leader to retain power. Now as prophecy events dictate, Foretold by an ancient and powerful witch known only as the Lady in the Log, Vail has risen from the grave, along with another entity that dwells inside her.

The movie and comic will feature many outstanding actresses Kayla Perkins as The Lady In The Log, Deneen Melody as Ava Williams. Michelle Shields as Emily Marshal, Rachel Grubb as Audrey Quinn, Devanny Pinn as Vaishali Lefebvre.

Also we are working with Reyna Young on her comic book project entitled “Miss Misery: A Haunting Desire” ; the comic will feature Reyna Young’s character Miss Misery as she peruses her love interest in some very unconventional methods, who needs flowers, candy; “Say It With Love, Say It With Caring, Say It With  A Shovel And Kidnapping”

Brian this is just a bit that is going on a Comic Book Divas, the list keeps growing, I think by me saying that it makes Jason very nervous, “Sorry Jason if I made another hair fall out”

Brian  S- Who would you say your target audience/ clientele are? 

Jeff- Anyone that loves comics is our target, men and women comic book lovers will love the fact that are just fun comics and web comics, we are hoping to produce some nice stories with fantastic artwork; but I am really hoping women will want to read our comics and web comics because while all these women are very beautiful they are also very strong individuals.

These comics are not for kids, our age range is around 16 years old and up, there is no nudity (“I know a few of you just went, DAMN!”) but there is some exciting but violent panel scenes, there is also a bit of language in the comics because if you are in a fight for your life you probably would not say “Ouch that hurt, I’m going home now”

Brian  S- You and Jason have a very cool project in the works called Goldilocks in Zombie Land, what would you like to share about this?

Jeff- Oh yes, “Goldilocks In Zombie Land” this spawned from a current web comic that is fixing to begin called “WANTED: Red Riding” that Scattered Comics Studios artist Ryan Showers and Jason Dube are involved with, I thought of a storybook universe where in that universe are storybook worlds.

In WANTED: Red Riding (Red Riding portrayed by Jaimie Hilfiger) this storybook world (Storybook 222) is ruled by the evil “Queen Snow Whyte” (Portrayed by Michelle Shields) it’s so bad that the storybook characters want to escape into our world, one day Red Riding manages to escape and creates a new life for herself in our world as a model but soon the Queen sends after her #1 bounty hunter “The Big Bad Wolf”.

While writing this comic, the idea popped in my head “What is a storybook was overrun by zombies?” the more I thought about it, the more I started to map it out in my head and then I started character placement, and then there was two pieces missing “Who would be the main character and who would play her?”

I thought “Goldilocks!” this character had the nerve to go into essentially go into a bear’s cave and eat their food and take a nap, that takes some guts!; then I thought who would portray a believable Goldilocks, someone with the right personality, height and of course the hair. After researching I saw Scarlet Salem and I though there is Goldilocks!

I went to the Texas Frightmare Weekend, I met with Scarlet and Joe Knetter and just spoke to them both, they were very nice and kinda got the feel of Scarlet’s personality a bit; and the next weekend I started writing and filling in the blanks to the story.

After I was done I contacted Scarlet asked her to read the script and she really liked it; so I had my dream Goldilocks!

This is going to be a very twisted but fun web comic, the basic premise of the story is that in Storybook World 2012 the Three Blind Mice get a hold of some bad cheese and are infected with a zombie virus, they of course spread the virus throughout this storybook world, among the chaos Goldilocks will arise as the character that will take care of business.

There are going to be a lot of twists and turns in the comic along with some pretty messed up storybook zombies, some you see and go “Wow, that is just messed up” and I know a few of you may look at gingerbread men carefully before you eat one again.

We have gotten some really generous people to be in “Goldilocks In Zombie Land”  Scarlet Salem (Goldilocks) Joe Knetter (The Woodsman) Bianca Barnett (Bo Peep) Dai Green (Queen Rapunzel) Asa Hope (Dingy The Pixie) and Cari Thompson as (Miss Muffett).

We are also going to have very special zombie killers guests (You know who you are) but we are keeping our hats on that; we also had a great response from people who answered the call for cameo zombies thanks to you Brian and also Deneen Melody.

Brian  S- Same question with you Jason?

Jason- This project is very exciting to me because I love the idea of crossing such well-known genres and putting a new slant on them. I've done the storybook adventure comics before (WANTED: RED RIDING), and I have done a few comics with zombie hordes in them (GILETTES FAMILY BUSINESS), but this will be fun to mix them. When you get to work on a fun storyline, it really shows up in the artwork.

 

Brian  S- I'd like for my zombie character to have a love interest! Who's with me?

Jason- Well, this will be up to JEFF, but if he leaves it up to me, I'd be willing to draw in anyone you wanted me to. We can have her clinging to your leg, nawing on you or something.

Jeff- Does it matter?  You’re just going to eat her brains anyway!

Brian  S- I see a movie in the making with some of your projects. Would you guys be ok with this?

Jeff- I am always open to any new projects, I think for any comic book creator it is always cool to see your characters come to life, so yes it would be great.

Brian  S- What other projects do you have going on Jason?  

Jason- With Comic Book Dovas I am working on "WANTED:RED RIDING", "SCORPION WARRIOR", and "HAND OF JUSTICE".

I also self publish a number of titles through my own company called Scattered Comics. I am preparing to release the final issue in my comedy series, "CAFFEINE POISONED". Other titles due out later this year are, "SCATTERED" (A supernatural adventure), "PANDA DAYS" (A light-hearted comedy), and "WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN" (A dark comedy in the vein of American Splendor). 

People can find me and my titles at...www.scatteredcomicsstudios.com

Brian  S- Is there anything you want to say to the artists and the Comic Book Divas models?

Jeff- In the past this has been said to Jason and a few of the Comic Book Divas models.

I am only the guy behind the scenes, the great artists and colorists at Scattered Comics Studios bring these stories to life and Jason Dube keeps everything moving smoothly and keeps me sane even while I’m driving him crazy; Jason is not only a great artist, a great art director, but a great friend.

Jason’s studio of artists and colorists work tirelessly to ensure that not only my comics but all their clients projects are done with professionalism and with great care because they know how  precious their comic is to the creator; Jason and his studio have gone above and beyond the call of duty more than once for me and to them I thank them all.

If I could, I would name and thank each and every one of the actresses and models that are part of Comic Book Divas in some capacity, they have all been gracious to allow me to work with them on these comic book projects, they have done so much for myself and Comic Book Divas.

These are some of the most outstanding women I have had the pleasure of working with and meeting they have all given their trust to Comic Book Divas and Scattered Comics Studios artists and we know that is a very precious gift, they have also encouraged and promoted both unselfishly Comic Book Divas and Scattered Comics Studios and again thank you all.

You are all greatly treasured.  

Brian  S- What would you two like to say to the fans out there? Jeff and Jason

Jeff- Well to fans, I hope you really like what is going on at Comic Book Divas, we come up with the ideas but we do it all for you, because we read comics and know the enjoyment of reading a fun and entertaining comic.

Jason- I would just love to say that I am having a blast on the titles I've done for the CBD universe, and I look forward to working on many more future titles.