I’m so excited to announce my next project after Monster M.D. will be TERROR IN THE TRENCHES! A brutal TRILOGY of EPIC STORYTELLING!
After violent war crimes in WW2 led to him leaving his dark superhero persona behind, Black Terror must don his fear inducing mantle again when vengeful superpowered Nazis bomb his New York neighborhood, turning it into a trench-laden warzone.
But years of inhaling the toxic gas that gives him his powers may be finally making him what he fears most… a mindless killer.
This project is personal for me for a lot of reasons. I’ve wanted to tell a dark avenger story since I was a kid first entering a 1980’s comic shop in Norman, Oklahoma. I’ve also wanted someone to finally give Black Terror his due as a character and unleash the potential coolness I saw squandered on comic shelves.
Many BT stories didn’t build on the character in any meaningful way. Batman evolved over the years, Superman evolved -- those sell. Why hasn’t Black Terror evolved into something that sells? All I saw in this cool as hell looking character was potential for something way cooler. Something that makes him a standout rather than an “golden oldie”. My approach couldn’t be a ‘take’ on the character. It had to evolve him into what he was always meant to be. Someone needed to put the TERROR in Black Terror. But where do I start?
While I was fuming in my own ideas on how Black Terror should evolve, I was also kicking around the type of super hero story I would want to write. It had to be a DARK AVENGER STORY. I’ve been waiting to write one since I was 8. It had to have the ingredients I like: Horror, blazing action, heroes using both their mitts and their wits, sharp comic relief, a great cast, great designs, a relatable human story at the heart of things. Of course, I would add all these, but what did I really want to write about when it comes to my super hero epic? In an era of Marvel movies, I wanted to go classic and write about a hero falling into their own shadow. I wanted to write my great ode to dark avenger hero stories. And like a gift from my own OCD imagination, an idea presented itself.
I asked myself what would it be like for a veteran of WW2, a trench warrior, have to go through the trenches created from the ashes of his friends and neighbors after his neighborhood gets bombed and even worse, what if it was all his fault? His past mistakes come home tenfold… and I realized that this was the story Black Terror was missing. This was Terror in the Trenches. Something had sparked. I started designing characters and writing out my ideas right away. They came faster than I could get them down. Always a good sign. Lady Satan seen above is also a classic character that I’m turning into something new and cooler than cool — a gun witch. Back in the day she went from gun and knife wielding killer to full on magician. So why not combine both and have magic meets guns? She’s got great one liners and is our comic relief while also having a revenge story of her own to work through after seeing her husband firebombed by Nazis.
So much of this story lets me explore things I enjoy. The nature of fear, the problems with come with revenge, what it is to be a ‘haunted hero’, heroes who scare the shit out of the other heroes, super powered neo-nazis, & sexy witches!
It was too perfect. The idea paid heed to Terror’s WW2 roots while letting me bring him into the 60’s and then blow up his world around him and put him in the ashes of his own mistakes. We spend very little time with him in the white pharmacists coat in this story. We get right into the wreckage and trenches made of his friends and neighbors. In this horrorscape, BT will have to confront the mistakes of his past. We’ll see him in the trenches of olde where he committed acts that made him leave the battlefield once before. He’s a guy having trouble remembering if he’s the good guy or the bad guy in a lot of ways. Another villain I finally got to do - My ode to the hot baroness type character. Detonetta! Her cells excite around her and explode outward from her body.
My new idea became the vehicle for my Black Terror story and I just started writing and before I knew it I had this epicly thick 203 page story and all these NEW CHARACTERS like Lockshot here. The girl with the golden scopes for eyes. My editor loved her! And even better, every character in this has layers and you get to see how each one was created. I’m really stoked for Lockshot! She’s a fave for a lot of people already.
Any hero, dark avenger or not, is defined by his villains. So I created some badass ones. You’ll find out how it all connects back to Terror and his mistakes. That’s why you’ll notice a lot of the villains have traits that reflect our hero or the imagery associated with him. Lucky for me I’ve signed on favorite artists MONIKA MACCAGNI of Monster M.D. and VAMPBLADE fame, as well as ERIC WEATHERS on letters. These character designs were designed by me then drawn by Monika & colored by the amazing MICHAEL PEDRO. Be sure to check them both out. Two amazing artists: @MonikaZeroTwo @michaelpedro
I have PAGES and more character designs and behind the scenes fun to share with my paid subs so I’ll start getting those ready! I’m so excited to tell this story and give Black Terror his due. EVIL WILL KNOW TERROR AGAIN!
Now that I have you I’d like to show you what else you get as a paid sub. For a flat $5 a month you’ll see the behind the scenes as I make MULTIPLE TITLES and then get to download them for free when I’m done. Here’s a taste of what’s to come if you dig my stuff. Onward to the other sections of this post!
This last month we closed out my first comic campaign MONSTER M.D. on Indiegogo with 106,202 by 2,259 backers. That was something else. Pretty good for my first book. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/monster-m-d/x/19000198#/
And while that is awesome, it’s even more awesome being part of the campaigns for awesome creators that I look up to. Getting hired to write stories for someone you’ve read since you were a lil’ kid is a dream come true for me.
I got to turn in a script for Art Thibert’s BLACK AND WHITE and the response has been nothing but positive from Art and his team! I got to write this killer one shot for him as part of his new campaign. Check it out here to support my work! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/black-white-vol-2-man-vs-machine/x/19000198#/
I’m working on a script for a story MOST EPIC for Jon Malin’s GODLIKE and hope to share art with his permission once we get there! For now the campaign is kicking all kinds of butts. Support it and my work in the supplemental book here! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/godlike-the-romulus-saga/x/19000198#/
I also got to turn in a script for NARWHAL, a local indie hero who is killing it on his new EARTHBOUND 2 campaign found here. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/earthbound-part-2--2/x/19000198#/
Nar gave me the following prompts for the script: Cavemen, slaves, the movie Apocalypto. Thus to him I delivered a script called CAVE SLAVE. I also designed this logo for it cause I have a fetish for designing logos for everything. Fun fact: I designed the Earthbound logo AND the MEGATON logos for Narwhal! I hope he uses this one!
Nar is still figuring out what he’s going to do with it but stay tuned. I may be able to show art for it to my monthly subs with his permission. He already has pages coming out with a really cool artist who’s had stuff in Image.
WALK AWAY FROM IT
No, seriously. You’re banging head against it and it isn’t solving anything. Fresh eyes are godlike in power when self editing - in fact, I’d call them mandatory. That’s why you give yourself permission to take a break or work on something else and then come back with fresh eyes and the solutions present themselves. Part of writing is knowing when to let the meal you’re cooking digest and then you can better analyze what your recipe needs. Dang now I’m hungry. It’s good time to step away and…
This segment is me showing something I dig that you may or may not dig, ya dig? This time around it’s what many call the best book on Werewolfism ever. The Book of Werewolves. I ordered this 1970’s edition used as hell off some Amazon bookseller. Written in the mid 1800’s - it looks into werewolfism and discovers mad cases of cannibalism across Europe. It also showcases detailed rituals involved with becoming a werewolf according to different cultures. It’s sexy and weird and feels like an occult book you’d discover in a movie. A must read for werewolf fans!
I should sign off and save the rest for my paying subs! THANK YOU to those who’ve signed up so far. You guys are awesome and I have some ideas on how to thank you in the future. You’re gonna love the comics we make at RISE AGAIN COMICS!
Your fiend in comics,
Vonster