Mike Maihack
patreon
The Moonlit Spiral
🕑 Added 2024-01-13 00:00:04 +0000 UTCHappy Friday!
With work on Spidey coming to a close (at least for now), I thought it was finally about time to share the next graphic novel that's likely going to take up most of my year: A 300 page, creator owned treasure-hunting, fantasy adventure I've decided to call THE MOONLIT SPIRAL.
Other than my agent, publisher and a very minute circle of friends and family, you lot are the first to hear of it. Because of this, please don't share any of the art and information I'll be sharing with you throughout the year outside of this Patreon. Otherwise, I'll have to shut everything down, be out of a job and you'll never hear from me again. π
To kick things off, the above is the promo image I used for the cover of the pitch packet I sent out to publishers. This was waaay back in 2020. Candlewick Press was the one to nab the book and that's who will be publishing it once I'm done with it. Since I realize a title like THE MOONLIT SPIRAL is a little cryptic right now, here's a list of more familiar properties that helped influence the general vibe--not plot--that was in the back of my mind while creating the story's characters and world.
- The Goonies
- Treasure Planet
- Bone
- Castle in the Sky
- Totoro
- PokΓ©mon
- The Legend of Zelda
Funny enough, I started watching One Piece with my youngest this past fall (currently 140 eps in! Woo!), and was surprised to find how much it had in common with my earliest drafts of MOONLIT. Not so much anymore, but enough that I feel like I should probably include it in that list.
Moving forward, I plan to show what went into that original pitch packet, including a ton of concept art, along with how the story kept evolving and changing to what it is now. As I work on pages for it, I'll share some of those coupled with my process. You'll pretty much be with me as close to the ground floor as possible while I work on this beast of a book. My hope is that it not only proves useful and intuitive for anyone wondering what goes into making a graphic novel but also getting one published. It'll hopefully also be a fun insight into how I work. It's kind of the whole reason I started this Patreon before a whole lot of other stuff derailed it. I'm both excited, and a little scared, to get things back on track.
Finally finishing Moonlit Spiral after starting development on it four years ago will be my primary focus for 2024. And for those completely uninterested, understood! I know there's a good many of you who follow me mostly for fan art and pinups. So I'm still going to do my best to post other stuff between it's pages. Just bear with me as I get into a steady groove. Started working on pages this week and....well, more on that later.
TL;DR: I have my work cut out for me.
Have a great weekend!
π
Comments
Malik Rivers
I do love me some process talk. Canβt wait to check it out!
Craig M. Hinch
Itβs amazing that youβll share this with us! I canβt wait to buy it!
