2013 is dead. Great. Even greater. Because 2014 will be better. And starting this february, readers from all across the globe* will be able to discover Richie Reese, the ONE HIT WONDER. But as if putting out a creator owned comic book wasn’t challenging enough, I decided to make it even more of a challenge.
On February 26th, the international version of ONE HIT WONDER will have a little bit more than expected. Of course, you’ll find 22 pages of exploding art from Ariel Olivetti, but I thought we could do better. So, starting with issue #1, each new episode will carry a bonus: Deleted scenes from the scripts. How surprising for a book that takes place in Hollywood?
These scenes were always in mind but were scrapped for a variety of reasons. Either they didn’t fit the pace or they took the action in a direction that would clearly not be appropriate. But I definitely loved those scenes. And they are relevant to the story. They kept running in my head and I didn’t know what to do with them. Until I did. Bam! Bonus scenes. Just like on a DVD/Blu-Ray.
It became clear in my mind that those Bonus beats would have to be drawn by different artists in a different style. I thought about it for a moment and realized that it would be a great way of introducing lots of established or new French artists I know and love but who didn’t have access to an international audience up to now.
The first artist to be featured (with OIW#1) is an old friend. His name is Jean-Marie Minguez. We’ve known each other for almost 15 years and I saw him grow as an artist. His work can be found here: http://www.jm-minguez.com/
Jean-Marie’s work is unlike any other artist I know. He published a handful of albums in France and he’s now ready for international. Plus, he absolutely adores American comics.
Jean-Marie agreed to tweak his style a little bit to fulfill my vision. I had a clear idea of what I wanted for those bonus scenes. I wanted them to look like unfinished art. Like rough art, but polished enough to make the characters recognizable, to do justice to the artists’ styles. And, of course, I wanted those pages to look and feel different from Ariel’s art.
I’ll announce each new deleted scenes artist as we get closer to the release dates.
With those extra pages, I hope the ONE HIT WONDER international experience will be even more irresistible.
Not to be overlooked! If you’re a retailer, it’s still time to order more copies. If you’re a reader, well, I’m counting on you to buy the book at your regular comic shop or digitally when you see it! ONLY from IMAGE COMICS.
Let’s give in to ONE HIT WONDER!
Cheers and Happy New Year.
Fabrice
*Except French speaking people who got a taste of Richie Reese’s adventures already in an album that was published in June. Still available from Indeez Urban Editions! Go buy it!