48 is a story about a group of clones that escape from their lab and have to stay on the run for two years in order to exploit a loophole in the law that makes them free citizens.
There are two fun facts to know about 48. One, it’s the first fully realized comic book story I was able to complete, and therefore it will always hold a special place in my heart. Two, it’s without a doubt the one story I have that I regret not being able to continue as I had originally intended.
Making comics is a crazy business and anyone who has done it can tell stories of projects they wished would have come to fruition in different ways, the industry is littered with ‘wish I could haves’. I wrote 48 to enter the Top Cow talent contest, one of the first of its kind that let writers take a stab at winning a publishing deal. The way the story flowed was exciting and I knew I had a good one pretty early on. My problem was, it was far too big. It was outlined to be 48 single issues, to tie in with each month of the clone struggle to survive and stay hidden, waiting for the day they could come out into society and be free.
Making comics is a crazy business and anyone who has done it can tell stories of projects they wished would have come to fruition in different ways, the industry is littered with ‘wish I could haves’.
In terms of modern comics publishing 48 issues isn’t a huge undertaking for a larger company, but for a guy who had no idea what he was doing and who was absorbing all information possible from the internet as to how to proceed, it was like climbing a mountain that’s growing while you’re on it. I put out two issues and then things went crazy in my personal life and I put the book on hold. The artist, a very cool guy named Geoff Mosse was far too understanding for my own good and we stayed in touch while I tried to get my house in order. When I finally managed to do that we talked about the project with fresh eyes and a good bit more industry understanding that when I had started. I altered the plan, advanced the story a good bit, and we turned it all into a one shot graphic novel. Could I use that as a chapter one and continue one shots like we do with another awesome sci-fi book, Dead Reckoning? Absolutely! That may well happen as things here at the newly revitalized Red Handed Studios gets going. That’s the beauty of doing comics, you never know what’s coming around the corner!
For now, 48 is a complete stand alone graphic novel, and you can get your copy right here!
