In this episode we discuss;
Webtoon Wednesday – Brothers Bond with Ryan Benjamin and Kevin Grevioux
The Comic Source Podcast
Episode #805
Check out Brothers Bond on Webtoon
Jace chats with the creators for Brothers Bond, an Eisner Nominated Digital series from Webtoon.
- Intro
- Growing up reading comics
- Path to becoming a pro
- Brothers Bond
- Tell us what the story is about
- So many layers to the story of Yoshi, honor, loyalty, duty redemption, justice, was it always your plan to have such a rich story? Or did it happen organically in terms of themes?
- Has there been anything about Yoshi’s journey so far that you’ve changed over time? Or has it all gone according to plan?
- I know you’ve said before that the idea of blind Samurai are just cool, and they are, but give us some insight on how you built out Sato and Tanaka in terms of their characterization
- How about Yoshi, was he the most challenging to characterize since he was first, or did that make it easier and then you built around him?
- I would say that reading Brothers Bond is more than just reading a webcomic, it is really an experience with the motion, the music and the vertical scroll combing to make something unique, can you talk a little bit about the decisions you made in the planning stages to create such a unique comic?
- Can you talk a little about who you are collaborating with on the book and what that process has been like?
- Webtoon
- Let’s talk about working with Webtoon, why was this the place for Brothers Bond?
- What has the fan community been like for Brothers Bond
- Have you had a chance to meet and interact with other Webtoon creators?
- Do you think it is important to bridge the gap between digital creators and creators who work in the more traditional format?
- Is the future of comics digital distribution?
- Giving Back
- Tell us about your Comic Creator Boot Camp
- Approximate Cost
- Where to get more information
- Wrap up
- Anything else to share
BIOS
Ryan Benjamin
Ryan Benjamin began his professional comic book art career with Image Comics in 1994 which branched off into Wildstorm Comics and continued working with Marvel, DC, DarkHorse, Acclaim, and Valiant Comics. Many years of working with Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio and Marc Silvestri, his path as a professional comic artist lead him to work on top-selling comics like Brothers Bond (2018 Eisner nominated), WildCats, Grifter, Uncanny Xmen, Star Wars, Spawn, Captain America, Iron Man, Grifter/Midnighter, Batman, Batman Beyond(#1 in the NY Times), Wonder Woman, and many more. Ryan eventually became a video game 3D artist for 16+ years, with 11 of those years as a senior artist at Sony Entertainment. A variety of his work as an artist/designer can be seen in video games like DC Universe (DCUO), Marvel MOBA games, and Television shows/movies ThunderCats, Ultimate Spiderman, Little Man, Pacific Rim 2, Megaman, and Mech X4.
Kevin Grevioux
As an actor, he has been seen in such films as The Mask, Steel, Congo, Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, and the 2003 vampire vs. werewolf film, Underworld.
Underworld was Grevioux’s first produced writing credit. He came up with the original concept/premise and wrote the original screenplay along with director Len Wiseman, launching the Underworld franchise. He appears in the film himself as a lycan, Raze, and returned as the character in the Underworld prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which he will also be adapting into a comic book mini-series. He also expressed an interest in telling more Underworld stories in comic form if this proves successful.
Using Romeo and Juliet as an archetype, Grevioux based Underworld on his experiences with interracial dating and the tension that it often causes. He also brought a scientific element to the world of vampires and werewolves by basing vampirism and lycanthropy on a viral mutagen rather than the mysticism typically associated with these two mythic creatures. This idea has been used before Underworld, for example in I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, written in 1954, as well as in the Blade franchise.
Early 2006 saw Grevioux form two comic book imprints, Astounding Studios and DarkStorm Studios. Grevioux’s Astounding Studios imprint was to focus on all-ages titles such as Valkyries, Guardian Heroes and The Hammer Kid. The Darkstorm Studios imprint was a more mature line, including the books Alivs Rex,Skull and Guns and Uzan, The Mighty.
Grevioux’s voice is distinctively deep. In the commentary track of Underworld, he relates that during the promotion and launch of the film, many fans asked him if his voice had been altered by computer, and were surprised to learn that it had not been.
Grevioux wrote Marvel Comics’ New Warriors volume 4. Grevioux also wrote Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel, a character he created years ago as a young teenage comic book fan. The mini series was drawn by Mat Broome and Roberto Castro. He is also in the process of writing a story featuring Lee Falk’s characters The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, co-written with Mike Bullock. He will also be writing ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction for Red 5 Comics.
On December 2, 2009, Grevioux hosted a pilot episode for a concept series, Monster Tracker, on Discovery Channel.
He sold the script for the film adaptation of his Darkstorm Studios graphic novel, I, Frankenstein, to Lakeshore Entertainment, which also produced the Underworld films. The story follows the original monster of Victor Frankenstein who is the only force that stands between the human race and an uprising of supernatural creatures determined to overthrow the world. Filming began on February 27, 2012
WEBTOONS
Webtoon is the #1 digital comics app, averaging more than 50 million monthly active users, with north of 10 million daily readers – more people read webtoons in one day than watch most television shows. Founded by NAVER Webtoon in 2004, Webtoon became a cultural phenomenon and pioneered the distribution and consumption of web-based comics – webtoons. Launched stateside in 2014, Webtoon has thousands of creator-owned titles with episodes updating daily. Webtoon features a broad and diverse catalog of content – including fantasy, romance, sci-fi, LGBTQ, and more. The Webtoon app is free to download on Android and iOS devices. The content is free and downloadable, for reading when offline. Webtoons take advantage of smartphone user scroll behavior as a benefit to the method of storytelling. Webtoon is always working to enhance the user experience with technology – including enhanced FX Toons, which allow creators to include music or animation in their Webtoon to benefit user immersion. Webtoon boasts partnerships with Legendary, Lucasfilm, Stan Lee, Top Cow/Image, and more. Webtoon takes the comic experience to the next level by providing readers with daily curated content and giving creators an intuitive platform designed to help them easily publish and publicize their own original comics. Webtoon creators have been nominated for multiple Eisner Awards, as well as winning a multitude of Ringo Awards – including seven in 2018. Webtoon is available on iOS, Android, and desktop.
Sizzle Reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTB2nsr9sA4
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