Wrench: A Preview

gredavin

I've been working on this comic project for a few years and am finally starting to see the fruits of my labour. Just wanted to share some of the progress and to get some feedback on the art itself. All artwork is created by Darren Yeow. Written by me.

No lettering is done, but hopefully you can still enjoy the panels.

Cover:



Panel 2: Inks

Blankspace

Wow, normally I trash these self-whoring projects.


But this looks really awesome.

gredavin

Sorry, not meant to be a whoring attempt, really honestly its not. I'm super pumped about the artwork finally coming in and really curious what others think/feel about the style.

Blankspace

Oh I understand, I mean if I had a comic I'd pimp the hell out of it.



and this really does look quite awesome, I love the cover especially.

Sars_Boy

While this is the comic forum, you'd probably get a better response at Artist's Corner.

Edit: looks good, though

Davoid

I think he did the writing, not the artwork.

But it does look good indeed.

Seraven

Awesome, gredavin!

I'm really enjoying the style, and I think it should mesh well with the overall theme and setting of the book. Can't wait to see more.

gredavin

The reason I posted it here, is because I am doing the writing and this forum is for people who love reading comics. I could post it in the art forum, but I'd be getting critiques that wouldn't really help me any. I'm just seeing whether this project catches the eye of big time fans of comics.

Thanks for all the comments already, I'm glad to see some positive reaction already.

Mai-Kero

That cover is really fucking good.

SalmonOfDoubt

I want to get a giant poster of that cover.

Caveman Paws

Because it has not been said enough:

That cover fucking rocks my socks.

\m/

muninn

Love it. Let me know where and when I can pick this up and i will get it.

The Lovely Bastard

What's the story of this book?

Grifter

Very cool stuff. Looks very interesting. Keep us posted on how this comes along.

gredavin

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! Currently, the artist, Darren Yeow, has just hunkered down into the first chunk of the story that we'll be submitting to various publishers (Dark Horse and Image, priority) sometime this summer. I'll keep people updated on the progress in this thread as anything develops.

Story Synopsis:

Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, somewhere in the near future, the story of Wrench follows the tortured life of a man named Vicente Botella Rodriguez. He is an individual who finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being the avenging hand of God.

Vicente was once a Roman Catholic priest, serving God at a small parish in Madrid, Spain. He was a peaceful man, a great lover of the scripture and charity. His resounding faith in the church was shattered when he discovered that the hierarchy, distinguished bishops and fellow priests, were involved in a smuggling ring that put the mafia to shame. Using several churches throughout Spain as a face, the corrupted elders moved illegal goods that ranged from drugs to child labour. Vicente exposed the corruption at its root, bringing the evidence straight to cardinals. They told him to forget it, let it be so that they could take care of the matter. He wasn’t to speak of it.

Nothing changed; he saw the fabric of his holy church fade and decay, unable to do anything to stop it. It grew darker, his church grew more rotten. God had abandoned Vicente and His holy church to their own fate.

Vicente created change.

It was all over the news the next day, six priests and two bishops murdered while they slept. They had paid for their sin in death, and even though the corruption went all the way to the top, Vicente had done what little he could with what little he had. And then he fled.

A friend in Rio de Janeiro, a fellow priest of the faith, offered Vicente refuge in his city away from the manhunt that sought to bring him to justice. Anyone could get lost in Brazil, and his identity was safe for the time being.

While he was physically safe from the law, Vicente was not safe from the ravaging guilt that encompassed his every waking hour. Vicious nightmares haunted his sleep; there was no escape from the blood splattered faces. While years had passed since his exile from Spain, Vicente was slowly becoming a broken, tortured man. He rarely went out, he distanced himself from the church, rarely praying or reading the Scriptures. How God could have let this vile act happen, why hadn’t He, in his infinite wisdom, put an end to the sin before Vicente was forced to?

In his hour of darkest need, God answered his cries: It was a trial of fire to prepare Vicente for his true purpose. An angel named Raguel appeared to Vicente with a message, a commandment from the one true God. Vicente was to be God’s instrument of vengeance. The world, alike the civilizations of the Old Testament, had need of purification, of trial by fire. It needed to be cleansed.

Raguel’s visitations were accompanied by new holy missions; his enemies were vile and evil men who had a deserved fate dealt by God. A fate delivered by the hand of vengeance; Vicente.

Something troubles Vicente, a foreboding feeling that lurks at the edges of his consciousness. Can he ever wash his hands clean of sin, when they are stained in the blood of his enemies?

Red or Alive

While I'd like a story with religious overtones that attempts to characterise God as something other than a genocidal maniac, I can't argue that it's not true to the Old Testament feel you're aiming for.

Just promise me it's not going to be anything like the Undead Punisher era and you've got yourself a sale.

And that linework: WOW. It's like an amazing mix of Sam Kieth and John Totleben. Kudos to your artist chappie.

gredavin

It is not that at all. There is a massively layered story that is happening in Brazil while the main story unfolds. Everything is not what it seems and I can promise that by the end of the first and second issue, you'll see this is nothin like Punisher. (other than him killing people with guns)

Edcrab

And for the record, gredavin can actually write, so there's a winning formula in the works here :P

Munch

The art looks pretty bitchin'. The story makes me a little wary, just because the whole, "I am a tortured hero who also happens to be 'the chosen one'," is a little bit played out, but setting it in Brazil intrigues me. Best of luck. Let us know when it's about to hit the shops.

gredavin

Munch, you have no idea how much I have struggled with leaning towards that cliche, but I've added way more depth to the story. Its not about the man being a chosen one, it's about a man struggling with his faith. That is the core of the story.

Oh yeah, and Brazil just happens to be be going into the shitter all around him.

What is written above in the story synopsis is barely a scratch on what is all happening in the story. That is simply the synopsis for the main character. There is a really awesome story that unfolds as he 'does his duty' that will really surprise the reader.

I'm trying very hard not to make him Batman, I hope I don't let you down/

The_Lightbringer

Well your character kills people, so he's not in much danger of being too similar to batman

gredavin

You bring up a good point. How about avoiding drawing too many parallels to Punisher? I will be doing that as well.

The Lovely Bastard

The easiest way to draw parallels away from the Punisher is to make him not be self righteous and actually feel some remorse for what he's doing.

The_Lightbringer

Adding to what lovely bastard has said, both characters have a personally crusade brought on by despair, and rage and are willing to cross the line to bring those responsible to "justice". I think the best way to showcase their divergence is that while punisher kills people like they were nothing, your character Vincente may descend into great personal strife and conflict as they question their methods and righteousness of their actions.

gredavin

That's exactly the story, his conflict about the acts he is committing. Glad to know that there IS a difference. Cheers!

Red or Alive

And he's a Christian minister: does he struggle with serving an Old Testament God pretty divorced from what's presented in the Gospels? Or is it "praise God and pass the ammunition"?

I'll certainly tune in for the first few issues. Who's publishing?

gredavin

Yes, he totally does, that is why he questions what he does actually. Interesting you brought that up, that theme is written into the submission synopsis but not the one I posted above.

No publisher as of yet, will be fishing for them this summer (Image and Dark Horse are my hopefuls)

Servo

this does look pretty cool, and i hope it goes well for you and all. if you haven't already, you might also want to check out the engine, warren ellis' comic book forum. there's areas for people looking to get into comic production, and a lot of professionals actually post there. it could be a good place to raise a little awareness for your book, although you might try lurking there a little since i'm not sure what their rules are on that sort of thing.