Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE

Media Credit: Bryan Kelly

Media Credit: Bo Joplin William Walsh and Kevin Cook stop by the local store, "More Fun Comics" to get inspired for their own comic book release.

Media Credit: Bo Joplin Kevin Cook and William Walsh read comic books at the local store 'More Fun Comics.' Soon their own comic book will be released.

Media Credit: Bo Joplin Lauren Maxwell, Kevin Cook, and William Walsh are preparing for their comic book release.

While many comic book heroes are known for their extraordinary superhuman abilities, two NT students have challenged convention by creating a character whose weakness is not kryptonite or yellow rings, but his own clumsiness, self-deprecation and na'veté.

Garland junior William Walsh and Brooklyn, NY, senior Kevin Cook, began writing the comic book adventures of George Reagan, alias Citizen XII, in 2008 and posting the scripts online at their Web site, starlightanddanger.com,

"The comic is, at once, starkly funny and darkly dramatic," Walsh said. Both authors said they jokingly refer to their work as "the first manic-depressive hero."

Character George Reagan is both a cliché and goes against normal comic book stereotypes.

Walsh and Cook developed the idea of a hero who has almost every superpower imaginable, but extremely weak versions of them.

"The plot is kind of clichéd," Cook said. "The failed super soldier thing is way over-done, so we're trying to make the story darker and more noir-ish, but funny. Imagine if 'Sin City' was written by Monty Python."

Walsh said his inspiration for the comic was his love of writing and willingness to experiment in a new genre.

"I haven't ever read many comic books, but I love writing them," he said.

Walsh has been a playwright since seventh grade and has produced many plays over the years.

He contributes some of the humor and wit in the story to his stand-up comedy that he actively presents both on and off campus.

Cook, on the other hand, grew up with a passion for comics and is very familiar with the genre.

His motivation for writing the comic is to not have to work after college.

"I just want to be able to afford my crappy one room apartment and diet of Ramen and Spaghetti O's," Cook said.

Cook and Walsh freely admit much of the main character and his best friend Cylus, a libertarian vampire hunter, are based on versions of themselves and many of their conversations are "just the things we argue with each other about," Walsh said.

"In a lot of ways the main character, George, is kind of like an idealized version of me and Kevin," he said.

The pair said they spend most of their time bickering, but the more they argue the better it turns out.

Cook said he has tried to make a comic book before, but his lack of follow-through interfered, which is why he's glad to work with Walsh.

Some of his ideas from the past made it into the current issues, but "a lot of it is just spur of the moment things that come up and give it a lot of fluidity," he said.

After an exhaustive search, the two finally found an artist they both liked.

"We've only known Maxwell for a few weeks, and she works out very well with the group," said Walsh.

Van junior Mary Lauren Maxwell has been drawing and illustrating for about five to six years. She researches particular aspects of the characters and draws from real life encounters with all types of people.

"It definitely helps to have a good script like Citizen XII, you get a good general idea about what goes on in each frame, which makes my job a lot easier," Maxwell said.

The group also received help from Walsh's good friend Imran Jivani. He was starting a company called Jivani & Pham, LLC and offered Walsh a blog.

Jivani & Pham is a company based out of Austin that aims to capitalize on affiliate marketing opportunities via the Internet, according to its Web site www.jivanipham.com.

Walsh said that he was originally going to use it for his stand-up comedy, but when Jivani mistyped the name of the website, "starlight" and "anger" became "starlight" and "danger."

The accidental name will inspire a scene in either the third or fourth issue, and Walsh said he hopes readers will enjoy the esoteric reference.

At this time, the comic has not been produced. They have currently written one issue in full, are almost done writing the second issue and are writing up storyboards for the third issue, the pair said.

The final debut date depends mainly on Maxwell.

"She does so much more work than we do," said Cook, "and we were thrilled with the concept art."

Because of printing costs, it won't be in full color.

Even though his dream is to not have to work after college, Cook said he's not really worried about the finances, but Walsh said they "are trying to do it as low budget as possible."

Cook said he will hand out copies to his friends free of charge and drop it off at the comic book store Talon Comics and Games store to see if they will sell it.

"We post on a lot of nerdy forums to get our name out there," Walsh said.

Their methods of advertisement consist of the usual word of mouth, Facebook and their Web site, he said.

The students also plan to promote their soon to be released comic at the Dallas Comic-Con April 5-6.



The graphics used within the story are original artwork by Mary Lauren Maxwell.

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