Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

As a follow up from the last post, artist Frankie Washington and writer James Biggie provided some additional follow up to their work Robot God Akamatsu (RGA).

For sample issues check out :
http://issuu.com/robotgodakamatsu

What was the original inspiration for RGA?

Frankie :
The Marvel Comic series Shogun Warriors was the main inspiration for me. I remember getting the issue #1 comic as a pre-teen and just falling love with Doug Moench’s storytelling & Herb Trimpe’s stellar artwork. The weekly Jim Terry show called Force Five also enhanced my desire to illustrate “super robots”.

Who came up with the original idea?

Frankie :
After bouncing ideas around for a “super robot” comic way back in 2009. James came up with the name Robot God Akamatsu and I began designing the character from there.

What was your original design?

Frankie :
I knew from the beginning that I wanted RGA to be a combiner robot. In my mind, characters like Combattra, Voltus V, Dancouga, Godmars & Dairugger XV to name a few were powerful because of their component units. The Robot God moniker is way to place Akamatsu above other super robots in our universe.

About the story, how far along has it been planned?

Frankie :
I think James can supply the answer to this one.

James :
Frankie and I have had high level discussions on the larger story arcs early on before I launched into writing the scripts. But in a nutshell, we have the major arcs planned for the next three volumes.

Sounds great!
What is the current major arc?

James :
For volume one, the major arc was really showing the reader how Aka-Mat’Xu has affected our world especially those around him. We also wanted to set up the main characters as being flawed individuals. No one in our book is 100% good or 100% bad and some folks are more easily swayed by negative influences than others.

It can be difficult to take a concept and build get it to the market. How long did it take to get the first volume?

Frankie :
Surprisingly, it’s taken us three years from the conception of RGA to actually find an amazing publishing house like Zetabella. Who is 100% behind the material and really believes in what we’re doing. I truly believe that universe made us wait because we needed to go thru some trials & tribulations to prove that we have a place in the business.

What steps did it take to get it published?

Frankie :
Zetabella actually posted a notice on Facebook asking creators to submit for possible publication. We technically already had a chunk of the series online at ISSUU and so the publisher was able to read it. I think that this is the best way for new creators to help pitch to potential publishers. There was the nervous waiting period of course but we were finally accepted and James was able to take some copies to G-Fest 2013.

Thanks again for your time and wish you all the best on this project!

For more information about RGA, please check out the below links :

Amazon
Twitter
FaceBook