I received my comps from Image Comics and I'm very pleased. The grayscale really came through and it makes the art look very lavish for a black and white book. I have to say that I'm a bit nervous about what the reception will be. ZED: A Cosmic Tale is such a deeply uncompromised vision. A lot of people might be shocked when they read ZED. What appears to be a little children's tale (based on the art and writing style) is in fact an edgy dark sci fi comedy adventure.
ZED is dark, there's no denying that, but it is also a tale about overcoming obstacles and evolving from being victimized to empowerment and ultimate triumph of will. ZED very much echoes my own life in some ways. My childhood was filled with extreme hardships (growing up in a broken family with an abusive father; constantly being sick and in the hospital—coming very close to death quite a few times; being shot in the head at the age of twelve and loosing half my vision, etc). But like ZED, I came though and made a great life for myself. In many ways, ZED was my therapy. I almost took a sadistic pleasure at traumatizing him, because I knew that like myself, he could take it and that his triumph over adversity would be that much more remarkable.
When I created ZED, I never concerned myself with the commercial viability. I wanted to stick to my vision undiluted by public expectation. Like an underground comix, ZED is pure in its artistic integrity—for better or for worse. Who will enjoy ZED? I don't know. I know that I would have loved ZED as a kid, but then I'm hearing all over the place that ZED is not for kids. People who expect a cute little story might be disappointed but if they keep an open mind, they might discover that under all the trauma is a story, like mine, that is full of hope and wonder.
Here are a couple of advance reviews that have popped up on the web:
I applaud Image Comics for respecting the integrity of my work and feel very blessed to have them as a publisher. Here's a little video showing some of the inside pages of the book.
ZED: A Cosmic Tale can be purchased on Amazon.com for a fraction of the cost at this link.
My short film, Sensology, is part of an exhibition at the Montreal Science Centre called Musik: From Sound to Emotion. If you live in Montreal, you should definitely check it out, it looks spectacular! The Project Leader just sent me a picture (taken by Denis Farley) of the exhibition's first room where my film is playing on a loop. I wish I could go check it out in person!
The beginning of the year is an exciting period. I always try to use the occasion to make lifestyle changes that usually result in better health. I definitely need to loose some weight.
I'm excited about going full time on The Saga of Rex and getting set up with the production blog. But before I can get to that, I need to complete my comic story, LOAH, an undersea adventure I'm doing for Abrams Books and editor, Kazu Kibuishi. I'm hoping to be completely done with LOAH by the end of the month. I'm submitting the first batch of pages today so hopefully I'll get a good reaction.
