comic bits online: Funny What You Find On The Internet

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!