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Spotlight on Comrade James

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Comrade Hero Project 2010-2011 (Work In Progress)
www.talenthouse.com/comradeher…

James Hansard. Aspiring Hack, Creative Dissident, and Native Son from Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Comrade Hero is the nom de plume and namesake of my superhero creation and vision that I've been actively working on for the past two years in the Manuscript Mentoring program of the Diploma of Creative Writing through Waiariki Polytechnic in New Zealand.

I completed the Diploma of Creative Writing in December, 2010 and decided to push forward with my self-publishing business project - my Comrade Hero Project.

The Maori Business Facilitation Service of Te Puni Kokiri (Ministry of Maori Development) approved of my Project and thanks to Te Puni Kokiri I have been provided with services of private sector business mentors for the next six months.

In 2011, I aim to self-publish both printed works and digital media content in both the English and Maori language, merging the established sequential page format of comic books with audio-visual features. A mixed-media approach for education as well as entertainment, promoting literacy skills development and language exposure.

Currently I am the stage of having my initial script in the final stages of completion, character design sheets and sample pages well underway, and the refinement of my business plan, budget, proposal and pitch. And the promotion of Comrade Hero doesn't stop while I'm working on the creative and business parts of my Proposal!

From February, 2011 I will be actively involved in pursing funding through Government and private sector agencies and bodies here in New Zealand to establish the foundations of my self-publishing business.

My vision is to create, produce, and publish traditional print and multimedia enhanced digital Comic Books and Graphic Novels intended for use on a variety of electronic devices, from computers, laptops and notebooks, through to portable tablet devices, gaming, consoles and smart phones.

The Comic Books and Graphic Novels are intended to promote Literacy Skills development and Te Reo Maori exposure through an engaging, entertaining and non-threatening interactive reading and listening experience. The Comic Books and Graphic Novels will initially be in English and Te Reo Maori, but will have the capability to have other languages added to them.

Merging traditional sequential art with multimedia functions such as voice acting, narration, music and sound effects to create an enhanced audio-visual Comic Book and Graphic Novel suitable for literacy skills and Maori language exposure.

The traditional Comic Book and Graphic Novel employs a highly cinematic approach to storytelling, using a combination of words (text) and images (sequential art) to tell a story.

I intend to create Digital Comics and Graphic Novels that move beyond static words and images and incorporate interactive multimedia features voice acting, narration, music, sound effects and animation/movement.

The aim is to create high-quality digital content in Te Reo Maori and English that is visually appealing, entertaining and easily accessible.

The reader will be able to display the words and listen to the story solely in English or Maori, or decide to display the words in Maori, but listen to the story in English (and vice versa).



The genesis of Comrade Hero began almost twenty years ago as a collection of notes, word documents, and character sheets inspired by the Marvel Superheroes (MSHRPG) role playing game designed by Jeff Grubb, written by Steve Winter, and published by under license from Marvel Comics by TSR, Inc. (the publishing company most famous for publishing 'Dungeons and Dragons)

In 2002 I picked a copy of the computer game Freedom Force, developed by Irrational Games and published by Electronic Arts and Crave Entertainment.

What set Freedom Force apart from other real-time, tactical role playing games was you got to step into the buccaneer-styled leather boots of Golden Age era heroes from the 1940's and 1950's, complete with hokey dialog, flamboyant costumes, and dastardly Cold War shenanigans!

Freedom Force worked and it was a lot of fun! And as a bonus you could create your very own avatar of justice, complete with custom physique, costume, and powers. Freedom Force was in an essence, fantastic!

In 2004, City of Heroes developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft, burst onto the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) scene and was clearly different from the sword and sorcery fantasy epics, and war themed online games on the market. Like Freedom Force, City of Heroes was based on the superhero comic genre but set in a contemporary (though fictional) late twentieth century, and early twenty-first century American setting. Until City of Heroes came along my experience with multiplayer online games had been limited to Meridan 59, Asheron's Call and the original Medal of Honor series.

Just like Freedom Force, City of Heroes gave you the ability to craft your own heroic avatar from a wealth of character customization options. The level of customization and the options available to players has increased over the past six years, as has the wealth of game content in the form of nineteen free Issues (to date), and two expansions, City of Villains, City of Heroes: Going Rogue.

While newer online multiplayer games over the years have all boasted superior graphics, improved combat systems, and innovative features, I've always found myself coming back to City of Heroes . There have been other online multiplayer games that I have tried, but none have kept my interest for longer than six months, or held the appeal of City of Heroes does. That simple premise - be your own hero (or villain) - is one that kept me coming back for more.

With my heroes regularly foiling the nefarious schemes of villains, and keeping the City of Heroes safe for decent virtual non-player characters, I found myself coming full circle with my interest in the superhero genre.

I began pulling out all that material I had made years before for the Marvel Superheroes roleplaying game, and attempting to recreate those old treasured heroes in City of Heroes. Some adaptations were quite successful... and others weren't. But by recreating a virtual avatar in City of Heroes my own creative imagination started to fire once again. What If? Two of the greatest words for any aspiring writer.

Comrade Hero was not the first hero I recreated in City of Heroes, and in fact Comrade Hero wasn't even the first choice of name. (I'll keep that tidbit for another future reveal!) But Comrade Hero has become the creation that I most people associate me with, first in City of Heroes, then through  deviantART.com, and finally as part of my Diploma in Creative Writing.

From notes and sketches, to virtual avatar, to commissioned artworks, to academic writing...

And now I bring Comrade Hero to you, dear followers and supporters.

For Comrade Hero's next great adventure will be the transition to the established comic book print medium where the exploits of heroes have inspired and thrilled generations of readers for the better part of the twentieth century; to the twenty-first evolution of digital comics and interactive reading content on multiple computing, communication, and gaming platforms.

Urah!

James Hansard aka Comrade Hero.


Comrade Hero: Project Scripts

Comrade Hero: Part I - bit.ly/glrHWw
Comrade Hero: Part II - bit.ly/hRyDIl
Comrade Hero: Part III - bit.ly/fwI0Nu
Comrade Hero: Part IV - bit.ly/fw4CcQ

Comrade Hero: Project Material

Comrade Hero: Reference Guide - bit.ly/9iukWp
Comrade Hero: Project Overview - bit.ly/hq2WBG
Comrade Hero: Five Page Sampler - bit.ly/flLAT3
Spotlight on Comrade James

Part of the promotional spiel... I mean stirring words I've penned to help spotlight me :D

Always a work in progress... tinker and review, edit and rewrite.

A lot of people find it easy to talk and write about fiction than non-fiction, and I'm no exception. But if you can't learn to be upbeat (and modest) to your yourself about your own goals, ideas, and ambitions then how are you going to convince others?

Ingame information and images of Comrade Hero can be found here: [link]

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SunGryphon's avatar
I'll just say again how excited I am that you're going to do enhanced English/Maori format books. One of my lifelong goals is to become a polyglot, and Maori is one of the languages I want to learn. I will be at the top of the list whenever the books become reality :D