I found several old web pages put together by myself and
others and I offer this taster of the past because very soon The Paranormals
WILL be appearing!
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THE PARANORMALS:ART & BACKGROUND
THE SPECTRAL REALM,PERIPHERALS & MORE. Hopefully this
page will give you a little knowledge about the series but more will be found
at the Spectral Realm yahoo!group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectralrealm
These pages are not the best scans and the reason for this
is to prevent anymore downloading of strips and pirate [illegal] versions being
printed –I suffered enough of that with the Eros Comics work! I’ve also
included some of the character designs from the 3D Animation which I’m hoping
might lead to other developments. But first some background!
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In the mid 1980s Fleetway had a comic featuring the toys
from ACTION FORCE -the comic title being BATTLE ACTION FORCE in case you didn’t
know. But things went awry when Marvel purchased the comic rights and Fleetway had to rush to
get a replacement feature.
On 13th November,1987, Fleetway launched No.1 of THE
SUPERNATURALS, again based on a set of toys from Tonka. But by issue no.6 there was talk of Marvel UK going for a
deal with Tonka Toys that would leave Fleetway in a deep hole again.
I was working on scripts and project ideas and was asked if
I had anything that could fill the gap IF the worst happened? Well,I was
working on a series of toy designs that had led to nothing and the games
manufacturer who had shown interest in a game based on the idea also opted out
to produce yet another TV show oriented game.
My project was “The Supernaturals I:The Spectral Realm”.
Sensing the seductive perfume of a possible pay cheque I sat
down and went into deep contemplative mode.
Money or no money? Fame and [possible] fortune or obscurity?
In short,I said “yes!”
Having travelled on the London Underground system on trips
to London I was struck by how eery some of the stations were -probably brought
on by recollections of the film “Deathline” with Donald Pleasance,Christoph er
Lee and others [basically,Alan Moore -well,it looks like Alan Moore- is a
psychotic underground dweller killing people in a gorey way while shouting out
"Mind the doors!"]. I got into looking at the history of the system
and soon found out about the haunted areas and even claims of real derelicts
living in abandoned areas.
The Underground is,after all,the oldest in the World;opening
in 1863;so many burial plague pits and graveyards have been cut through –and in
creating the Jubilee Line I believe three monastic cemetaries were cut
through;makingthe possibilities endless.
The deepest tube line is,I believe,300
feet? But there are others,some unmapped…perhaps even deeper below London?
I had the idea that,rather as in The Supernaturals
comic,there was this power or force,neither good nor evil but maintaining some
kind of balance of the two. This power chose warriors or people and placed them
in The Spectral realm where they were given various powers/abilities. There was
no returning to “Mortal World”. These people were stranded in Spectral Realm
until the end of time or until they died.
There would be Realm Dwellers,ghosts and the like to assist
one side or the other. There would be the occasional enigmatic figure able to
bridge both worlds. And I thought why not have one of the deepest,abandoned
[around 1900]stations as the breach between Spectral Realm and Mortal World?
Then I was asked for some character designs…but to bear in
mind the toy market possibilities. A friend suggested a games manufacturer that
was looking for a Role Playing Game [RPG].
Although received enthusiastically, the scripts and much
more vanished along with the idea -about a month after The Supernaturals had
ceased publication. What happened? No idea but I’d guess the legacy of Robert
Maxwell [whom I had lunch with one day along with a business colleague after
which we purchased certain rights –he was quite charming..who knew?!] had
something to do with it,Fleetway was later taken over by Egmont.
The gaming people jumped ship.
Briefly,around 1993,I thought the idea was going to be
picked up by an animation company but no.
When I was looking for a project from my dusty old files to
revive the hefty box with The Paranormals material in fell on my head. I could
not refuse what was obviously a decree from the Great Power!!
So,like ‘em or not,watch this space. There will be two
distinctive levels with this project:gaming and toys as a possibility and the
comic which may be black and white OR colour. Not yet decided.
Until more news is ready….DO NOT go exploring disused
Underground stations!
T
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