When we last left off with the Eclipse Saga Part II, I was getting good feedback from the editor at Eclipse Comics about “Night Watchman”. So, while I continued to work on that, I started sending him proposals for all the other series ideas I had. I don’t have the scripts for all of them, but they included several that eventually became novels, as well as others that remain on the shelf in my mind gathering dust.
The proposals I sent include:
- “Tales From The Dragon”, which eventually became Dragon Stones.
- “Television Man”, which eventually became, um, Television Man, a novel that has not yet gotten the Lulu treatment.
- Something called “Masquerade”, which Eclipse really seemed to like but which, unfortunately, I don’t remember anything about.
- “Cyberhawk” and “The Battalion”, two straight-up superhero comics
- “Afterlife”, the story of what happens to a man after he dies
- “Future Cops”, about a team of time-traveling law enforcement officers trying to bring temporal criminals to justice. Note that this was before the famous Jean-Claude Van Damme film “Timecop” (which I still haven’t seen), based on a comic by Dark Horse that came out in 1994, was released. I offer no conspiracy theories about the genesis of “Timecop”.
But enough with the scribbling; here’s what everyone is waiting for: The letters.
I really wish I could remember what “Masquerade” was about … Anyway, after this, the editor at Eclipse sent me a handy guide for how to format scripts. (Bear in mind that in 1992-1993, we couldn’t just hop on the Internet and find this information on Google. It was a dark age.)
Now that I had a template to work from, I was ready to get down to serious business. I found myself a very talented, albeit rejection-fearing, local artist, and we started cranking out storyboards for “Night Watchman” and other series. However, you may have noticed something in that last letter from Graeme — a minor aside, really — mentioning that he will be leaving Eclipse in a couple of weeks. But they know me there now, and surely his replacement will want to keep working with me, right? Tune in next week for the final installment of The Eclipse Comics Saga.
Don’t forget to vote for the next scene of the month! Will Glenn get eaten by the werewolf, as some have suggested? Only time will tell!
Viscosity 
Dear Jim,
This piece has great potential. Graeme is an interesting character. I like the plot so far. I could see fame and fortune in your future (or at least, bound books)… and then there was Graeme’s comment about leaving. He’s so calm and casual about it, yet there’s a sinister feel to it. With this dark piece of foreshadowing, I feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck. I can see how you’re setting up the reader for the despair to come. Did you ever consider writing a horror story based on these letters?
Anyway, I like where you’re going with this. My only objection is that there aren’t enough characters. There’s just that one guy with an unpronounceable name. (Grame? Gram? Groem?) May I suggest more zombies? Vampires would be an acceptable alternative. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
P.S. We may have to retitle it. “Random Rejection: The Eclipse Comics Saga Part III” seems misleading. I mean, if it’s Part III, it’s not really random, is it?
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Isn’t it funny how after years of learning to ‘show don’t tell’ you pretty much have to learn to reverse it to write for the comics…I would have had trouble getting my mind around that!
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