Saturday, April 28, 2012

The Birthbone

[Edit 2021 - shockwave file now available HERE on my Patreon] 

The Birthbone is a tree like structure that runs the length of the Zooniverse and is the source of all planets and suns which grow like boils on it's surface as eggs. After hatching the protective membrane shell breaks off, or absorbed, and the infant planet bursts into life, or the proto-sun ignites for the first time. The Birthbone concept is a very old idea that I've always wanted to explain in more detail, my latest animation on LoopDeLoop serves as a basic introduction to it's workings.

The Birthbone. A still from the animated short 2012.
The first reference to the Birthbone in print was in issue six of the mini-series. I've reworked this panel to give you a taste of how I want to recolor the original series digitally and republish it as a collected book. No publishers are interested yet.

A panel from the Zooniverse comic series 1987
In the above panel you can clearly see baby planets forming on the surface of the Birthbone. The panel below was from the first page of the follow up book Age Old Enemies, that was unpublished. Here you can see a boil being formed on the lower right branch. I'm still coloring this page, but I'll show you what I have so far. French publisher Guy Delcourt was in possession of the original line art which I left with him in good faith as I hoped he would be publishing the book. Unfortunately I only have a photocopy to work from. I'm assuming the original art has been long discarded.

An unpublished panel from Age Old Enemies 1991



4 comments:

  1. Have you approached Top Shelf? Zooniverse seems like something they could get behind. Or perhaps Gestalt Publishing in Australia?

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion Adam. Gestalt haven't got back to me in over a year. I didn't know about Top Shelf so thanks for that tip.

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  2. Hi Fil,
    One of my friends really liked your work in Prophet and pointed it out. We're still early days, but I do some comic and graphic novel publishing in Melbourne through my indie press, Milk Shadow Books.

    You can check out our books at www.milkshadowbooks.com

    Feel free to email me at james.andre@milkshadowbooks.com if you'd like to talk more about things. Love your work.

    Thanks,
    James

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    1. Hey James, I've seen your publications at the Big Arse #2 comic launch, my email is on the way. Thanks for getting in touch!

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