#sonsofyellowstone

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Fifth Post: It Was a Good Weekend

Saturday is an interesting day. No, not any holidays that would happen to fall on the seventh day of the week, the actual day-- every time it rolls through. You might say that I’m just looking for things to rant about. You’re right. But, in this case, my search for needless riffing has brought me to a wealth of valid points; for those of you who are familiar with mythology, Saturn was a Roman deity, and the father of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto.

 In the tale, Saturn’s fate was imprisonment. The word “saturnine” means slow and gloomy. Saturday takes its name from the Roman mythological figure. 

Everyone looks forward to Saturday. It’s a day of freedom, one when the average member of the American workforce isn’t restrained by employment. People can spend time with their families, further explore hobbies, or wallow in  laziness after a hard work week. None of that seems gloomy, and it doesn’t represent the fate of a Roman deity that is forever imprisoned. I don’t get it. But, I didn’t name the days of the week; I just conform to the typical American work calendar. Meaning, on the poorly-named last day of the week, I get to have fun. 

How was my Saturday, you ask? Well, just look at the picture beneath this post; I went to the Connecticut Comic Con at Mohegan Sun, and I spoke with Ming from Comic Book Men. I gave him a copy of Sons of Yellowstone Issue #1, and he seemed to dig the idea. He skimmed the artwork and showed legitimate interest in what I had to say. 

The other guys, Bryan and Steve, were also welcoming, and they were nice enough to take a photo. 

While talking with the Comic Book Men was the highlight of my con experience, I got to speak with multiple professionals, employed by Marvel, DC, and larger indie labels. I showed Sons of Yellowstone to all of them. They were encouraging, and those who offered criticism were constructive. They, moreover, punctuated their critique with strong urges to keep writing. 

Some exciting things are in development. And I can't wait to share them with you once they reach the point where an announcement is merited. For now, however, I must remain silent on the details. 

Until next time, cheers, 

Jeff, TMV 

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Fourth Post: Katherine

It’s been a while-- a week. Seven days isn’t a long time, but, if you take people’s constant need for instant gratification brought about by the information age, it’s an eternity. Put this into the context of workout DVDs, and it’s no wonder why Eight Minute Abs no longer exists; eight minutes might have been a short amount of time in the 90s, but in the era of 140 character tweets and instantly sent text messages, man’s concept brevity has been truncated even further. 

Did you read all that? Well, congratulations, you artifact from the twentieth century. Patience was a virtue, but then the iPhone was invented. 

What was I going to talk about, again? Right, Sons of Yellowstone-- my comic book. 

Katherine is the female lead of Sons of Yellowstone. She and her twin sister were infants living in St. Paul, Minnesota when Yellowstone erupted. As you know, the Sons of Yellowstone are people who absorbed Yellow Mercury, the previously unknown substance that the caldera ejected when it erupted. It enhanced their strength, speed, cognitive abilities, and senses. 

Ryne Mesman, known in the story as Odenki, found Katherine and her twin sister, Amanda, when they were infants in the ruins of St. Paul. Amanda was a Son of Yellowstone. Katherine wasn't. 

I first got the idea for Katherine in the second draft of Sons of Yellowstone. Olivia, Jake’s wife, was supposed to be the female lead. But I was dissatisfied with her arc. She was too reliant on Cedric, and fell into common tropes that make many female leads bland. I scrapped her as the lead. 

Retooling the story when its foundation is set is difficult. You have to change events and make your new character fit in the story. In Katherine’s case, however, it was seamless; Olivia is introduced as Jake’s wife. She journeyed west with Amanda when the latter mysteriously disappeared. This is still set. I wanted to, however, add depth to Amanda, so I gave her a twin sister with a massive inferiority complex. 

Katherine and Amanda were raised by Odenki, and he taught them both how to defend themselves. Amanda, given her superhuman abilities, was stronger than Katherine. This made Odenki protective of Katherine. He didn’t want her to get killed in the post-Yellowstone world. Katherine noticed she was being treated differently and grew resentful. 

The inspiration for Katherine came from Boromir and Faramir’s story from Lord of the Rings. Boromir, the favorite child, was sent on a journey to return his kingdom to prosperity. He failed, succumbing to the temptation of the ring. It was Faramir, the child who was seen as inferior, who succeeded. Parallels between Katherine and Faramir-- as well as Amanda and Boromir-- are throughout the story. 

Katherine and Amanda will be the lead characters in the Sons of Yellowstone mini-story in Headshrinkers Press Presents #3, coming soon. If you want to better understand their relationship, pick up a copy when it launches! 

Until next time, cheers. 

Jeff, TMV 

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Third Post: Origins of the Story

I’m sure you’re tired of listening to me vaguely reference nursery rhymes. I’m tired of writing them, and I’m out of nonsensical rants about the subject. Let’s move on. 

I’ve been told that my idea for the world of Sons of Yellowstone is “original.” Well, as much as I’m flattered by this, you know from my last post that it isn’t true. The idea for Sons of Yellowstone originated in 2012. I had just graduated college, and circumstances beyond my control altered my initial post-scholastic plans. 

During college, I liked The Walking Dead. Only the first two seasons aired during my time at UMass, but it was a fun show. This isn’t to say that it was the work of art most people claim it to be. It isn’t. But it was fun. That was until people started taking it too seriously; a zombie apocalypse started to be entertained as a plausible apocalypse scenario, every other movie was undead related, and science blogs started mining for hits by posting on the topic. 

I stopped watching the show due to zombie fatigue and a decline in quality. This didn’t allow me to escape this zombie fad. It was everywhere. I would go to local comic conventions, and indie creators would show me their zombie stories. I couldn’t take it anymore. I snapped. I don’t remember where I was at the time, but I remember that I said, “Can’t people write a story about an apocalypse scenario that could-- I don’t know-- actually happen?!” 

This made me brainstorm; what’s an apocalypse scenario that’s plausible, but is still unexplored in comics. After a half hour of thinking, I came up with my answer: The Yellowstone Caldera. I started rummaging through my old stories, and came across an old file titled “Steampunk 2099.” It was the story of a guy named Django with glowing yellow eyes who walked into a tavern in some dark, desolate future. 

I renamed Django. Now called Cedric, I linked the reason for his optic illumination to the Yellowstone Caldera. The story developed in such a way that it became less about surviving the apocalypse and more about the world after; there are lots of stories about surviving some cataclysmic event, but very little about the world after, and that’s a  flaw in modern comics. If you read old mythology books, much is written about the world after the apocalypse. In Norse literature, for instance, it is said that only two realms would survive Ragnarok-- the Viking apocalypse. Their names escape me, as do the nuances of what they would be like. Still, they were talking about it. We should too. 

I set Sons of Yellowstone 20 years after the eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera. This way, it gave me some space to write a story about the world and not about survival; everyone who is alive has survived the eruption-- now we can talk about the cultural changes, how creatures have adapted, all that stuff. 

The story, of course, still opens when Cedric walks into a tavern, and things quickly go awry for him. You will, however, have to read it to find out what happens next. 

Sons of Yellowstone Issue #1 is available in print and digital. Issue #2 is well into production, and will be out later this year. 

Thanks for reading. Until next time. 

Cheers, 

Jeff, TMV

[headshrinkers-press]

The 2015 Con season is officially underway! We are proud to say that this is our first official tour as a publisher, and we love it! Headshrinkers Press Just finished up an amazing con at Cherry Capital Comic con (C4) in Northern Michigan. Met so many great new friends and picked up a couple fans along the way. If you will be at any of the east coast cons we are attending this year, come over say hello, and grab a book, t-shirt or shrunken head!