September 24, 2008

A new website. Exciting new announcements. A new weekly blog. You can say that things are certainly buzzing around BlueWater.

Each week check this site as one of the BlueWater creators will chime in and give you an update on their latest titles, cover an issue, or give you a brief look on how "the sausage is made."

As you probably know by now, BlueWater recently partnered with one of the greatest cultural icons of the past generation William Shatner. We will be creating 4 new titles (3 based on his different novel series and one brand new concept Shatner will develop himself).  I have been given the distinct honor of heading up the creative team that is developing successful TekWar series.

So I thought for my inaugural blog I would give you a glimpse on the direction we plan on taking the TekWar series and how you stay true and faithful to the original source material while charging the title with some new energy.

Staying true to the source material is not as rigid a process as you might think. TekWar is a widely recognized property so on the one hand you want to make certain that the key elements remain, but you also want need to push the story in new directions. Take the latest Christopher Nolan Batman movie for example. They tell essentially the same story as the Tim Burton version, but provide a different point of view. A different skew. It's a very similar with TekWar. The story of a wrongly-convicted cop released from prison to find an enigmatic scientist is still the basic foundation. There is still a drug called Tek. Jake Cardigan is still the no-holds-barred hero. There is still the familiar themes that Shatner wrote of in the pages of the novel, but it is presented with a new flavor. So by infusing a new perspective into a recognized property, I get to build upon TekWar's framework to break that new ground.

But what does that mean? If you are familiar with the novel, the first thing you will notice is the tone of the book is much darker and grittier.  However, Shatner created a  potent mix of genres. You have your classic science fiction combined with detective noir. He has infused these with themes that make for great drama: loss, faith, redemption, injustice, frailty hidden by a facade of strength. Being able to build on his original work and expand on the mythology is very appealing to me. I started the process by reimagining the future where Tek War existed. It's not  the clean, gleaming world of flying cars, laser pistols and shiny robots. I like to think of it as a Dickensian Tijuana. The very rich live off the coast on man-made islands while the rest of humanity lives from day to day in the squalor of Greater Los Angeles....shouldn't be much different from the apartment Darren and I lived in back in the mid-80s. Additionally, I'm one of those believers that the diamonds are in the details. I had to figure out how Tek worked, why it was so addictive and detrimental, who produced it and why. I had to create a reason for robotic -beings to exist and their roles. I had to figure out the physics and purpose of cryogenic prison. And I had to tie them all back to one of the themes from the book. From there, I chose the characters from the book that would best move the story forward in such a world. But none of this would go any further without Mr. Shatner's input and blessing...which I received.

But all I have told you is really Creative Writing 101. When you pick up TekWar Chronicles #1 next March, what can you expect? That would be telling now, wouldn't it? However, if I swear you all to secrecy I can tell you that if you enjoyed the original novels, you will find a lot of familiar faces and situations. At it's heart, TekWar is and will continue to be a good old-fashioned detective story. However you will also find some new characters, a lot more twists and turns  and, if I've done my job right, a fuller, more developed and continuous mythology.

And since you asked, or at least are thinking it, I have not watched the TV series. I wanted to make sure that all my influence and inspiration came from the novels.

Anyway, I look forward to telling you more very soon. If you have specific questions, send 'em on over. I will dedicate future blog entries to answering them.

Oh, by the way, my latest project, War of the Elementals should be in your local comic shop. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by,

Scott Davis