MY GRAPHIC NOVEL in progress!


    



      


      What would you think of a comic book that will not only entertain you but will also further you on your journey toward spiritual enlightenment?

      Well, I'm working on it. Currently I have 42 pages of painted art completed and the full 120-page script completed.



      Below, my character in her outfit for the first 1/3 of the book. It took me a lot of searching
      and a lot of trial sketches and paintings to find the right costume. This cloak is inspired by
      folk costume of the Balearic Isles off the east coast of Spain.
      

     

      But, wait--what is a graphic novel? A graphic novel is a comic book--a visual novel, and much longer than the standard 24-page comic book. It is often meant for more sophisticated audiences because one can pack more story and in-depth ideas into it. Mine contains fully painted art and is meant for ages 16 to old-agers. I fully believe it will be a ground-breaking landmark in comics history. Nothing has been published like it before.


Here is the story one-liner:

Get ready to let go of your deepest fears about death, dying, and living as you take a fascinating, mind-bending walk through the landscapes of your own psyche with "Death" herself.

     You might think this sounds boring or morbid--but actually, it is neither. No Earth-bound religion is mentioned--it is grounded in Universal spiritual themes. It also assumes the highest level of intelligence in the reader, but is austere and simplified for maximum clarity and understanding. Eliminating the fear of death from your life is a cornerstone of all spiritual teachings, and the rewards in doing so are highly empowering.

      The story is quite simple: You take a walk through haunting, ethereal landscapes and interiors towards a mystical destination with a beautiful being called "Death." She takes you through your deepest fears, eventually revealing to you how to be happy through exploring your own personal fears of death. The landscapes and interiors you walk through symbolize your psyche and your emotional state of mind. The antagonist is your ego-self and your clinging to your preconceived ideas about what death and dying are. Death projects her thoughts to you and you move from a fearful mind-state to a love/awareness mind-state by the end of the book, leaving all your fears of death behind.

      It's like a metaphysical/spiritual self-help book about death, but with painted art. The effect of the book is felt deeply because the dialogue, the pictures, and the feelings you get are timed together with maximum storytelling impact. You will understand Death's revelations from many different levels.

                                  

     I originally thought of the story in Spring of 1993. At the time it was designed for DC Vertigo (comics publisher) and Neil Gaiman's character called Death, from the very popular DC/Vertigo Sandman comics series. Death is a goth teenager who is death personified. Eventually I decided since Sandman is a licensed property, and DC/Vertigo/Neil Gaiman rejected and wouldn't respond to my submissions, I made up my own death character, and now the book is far more compelling.

      I've submitted it to probably 10 different comic book publishers and I either got no answer or it was rejected. I believe it was rejected or ignored not because it's not good, but because something like this is not called for within the mainstream business. I almost hope I will have to self-publish it so I can make sure it's done my way. The drawback to self-publishing is it's taking me a very long time to complete it since I have to do it in my spare time, because no one is paying me for the work as I go along.

      There is much story to tell behind the makings of this graphic novel, even involving Neil Gaiman himself, and me hearing a voice and a tug on my shoulder when I was in Atlanta, Georgia for a horror convention to talk to Neil, but I will leave that for later when I get this blog more official and the book gets closer to finish.

For my website with 10 pages of art please click here:

   GRAPHIC NOVEL IN PROGRESS

 
Also, you can check this link here in my artist blog:

   GRAPHIC NOVEL SUBMISSION


Please do write me with your comments in the box at the bottom. Thanks for reading!



        



                             






Posted by Felipe Echevarria at Tuesday, June 06, 2006 5:08 PM
Categories: MY STUDIO, THOUGHT PROVOKING, SEQUENTIAL ART
 

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  • Sunday, March 23, 2008 2:28 PM Mikey H wrote:
    Very interesting, nice art. Good luck with it!

    Thanks, I appreciate it!

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  • Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:35 PM Niyah wrote:
    Beautiful images. I love what you are doing. I've been thinking of making a "spiritual graphic novel" and googled it and got to you. My take is entirely different, but I think you are presenting the truth that awaits us all.

    --------------------

    Thanks very much for your comment, Niyah. I attended the Spirituality in Comics seminar at the San Diego Comic Con this year and although the room was full, it was apparent to me that not very many people are interested in doing spiritual work in this business. This is nothing new, really, as few choose to awaken. But the genre is growing fast. Anyway, I'd love to see your entirely different take when you get enough work to show.

    Regards,
    Felipe

    Reply to this
  • Wednesday, March 10, 2010 7:32 PM Roger Whiting wrote:
    Hi Felipe,

    I checked out the pictures...beautiful painting on the comic pages. I think it's interesting as well that spirituality is not as prominent in the comic world (especially since there are ages-old traditions of spiritual art) Have you seen the Book of Mormon graphic novel series?


    Hi Roger, thanks for your comment. I also checked out your work, your murals, and enjoyed looking at all of them. Nice work! I did some murals in a hospital when I was in school in the kid's ward and found it gratifying to think that a child could look at it and may be inspired or influenced in some way by the work.

    I glanced over but didn't read the Book Of Mormon series when it came out, but my vision is to produce a book that differentiates between spiritual revelation and religious information, and has little or no attachment to earthbound methods of perceiving God. Maybe a book without method or one viewpoint will pave the way for more spirituality in comics.

    Felipe

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  • Friday, July 23, 2010 6:35 AM Kristina wrote:
    A blend of spirituality with comics..Awesome Felipe. I would suggest you to popularize your website better because this has some different ideas.

    Hi Kristina, thanks for your comment. I'm working on it, it'll be more popular as soon as I get more work out there. It's already starting to happen...
    Felipe

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