BATMAN: DEAD END Director Sandy Collora Launches Kickstarter for an Original Epic Graphic Novel THE CIRCLE
I’ve been following the career of artist and director Sandy Collora for years, ever since I first saw his incredible short film Batman: Dead End. He’s one hell of a talented individual and he’s been producing some incredibly cool stuff over the years including the feature-length sci-fi film Hunter Prey and the creature-feature horror short film Shallow Water.
Well, there’s one story that he’s been wanting to tell for a long time. It’s titled The Circle, and it follows “a lone, lost warrior who helps an alien tribe fighting for freedom in a futuristic gladiatorial arena.”
This is a project that he’s been working on for years, and he originally developed it as a feature film. But, you know how Hollywood can be when someone is trying to pitch an original epic fantasy movie. Most studios see stuff like this as a risk and aren’t willing to make the leap.
So, Collora set out on a journey to bring this story to life as a graphic novel, but it’s done in a very cool and unique way as he is incorporating different art styles. This is certainly unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before and I’m totally digging it!
Collora recently launched a Kickstarter for the project and he’s looking to raise $58,000 for the project. As for the story that is being told, the creator expains:
I've always loved comics. The characters. The stories. The art. The way they could transport you to another world or make you believe you could fly. Comic books lit my imagination on fire when I was a kid and inspired me to be creative. To dream... which has now brought me here, to THE CIRCLE:
A futuristic landscape on the planet Thykos, where life and death revolves around an intergalactic gladiatorial arena.
In the not too distant future, the Earth wars are over and we've migrated to other planets, some of which were deemed "hostile". Military men, basically warriors with no wars left to fight, found a place to thrive in these environments. Our main character is one such mercenary; sent off to planets in every corner of the galaxy, capturing alien races and creatures to do battle in the arena and work off his debt to the evil emperor; LOBROS. Until-- I'm gonna stop here, I don't want to give away too much!
He then offers information on how the story will be brought to life through various art techniques:
Throughout the actual script for THE CIRCLE, I will incorporate three different types of art to enhance and illustrate the story. This will create a very unique and different approach to this type of book. Intricately spaced in between the script pages, there will be traditional comic book style art, action figures and maquettes, and storyboards.
You can see an example of some of that beautiful artwork below! If you like what you see, you can support the project and learn more about it on Kickstarter. I’m totally in!
