Posted Jan 5, 09 02:39 PM
Paying the Piper a Visit
Last fall, I left my comfort zone a few thousand miles behind to embark on one of those self-promised Trips Of A Lifetime. My destination, Nepal, delivered stunningly complete submersion into a whole 'nother way of life. Teeming rainforests that made me realize -- after sweating six pounds water weight -- that I could actually make the Survivor jury. Cliff crossings so startlingly death-inviting that I heard the James Bond Theme piping through my head. And crisp 5 a.m. mornings calming to the comfort of Buddhist chants.
For two weeks+, my friend Megan and I trekked the Himalayas with our guide, Chedduk (oh, he loved to play Gin Rummy) and Sukbir, our porter (who, unlike Chedduk, actually won at Gin Rummy). From the far-off other-worldiness of Kathmandu to the oxygen-thinned summit we trudged at 17,282 feet, my imagination recorded indelible inspiration...
... for a graphic novel.
Returning to Los Angeles, where beef was no longer substituted with yak (stringy) and water buffalo (pretty good, to be frank), I was to resume another draft of the contract horror screenplay for our producers, Marc and Todd. But somewhere inbetween, Ralph and Joe at Zenescope Entertainment were commissioning me for a four-issue comic book serial spun off from their company's trademark Grimm Fairy Tales line. The assignment: take a period villain (in this case, the Pied Piper of Hamelin) and transpose him into a latter day, Pandora's Box plot. Brilliant idea, actually. Deadline: ASAP.
They emailed a pitch and we conference-called. Ralph and Joe definitely wanted a high school setting, but otherwise were quite open to story threads. My driving concern was to push for the non-derivative. Move around the shocks. Set up what seemed to be the familiar, but then win over the readers by steering a new direction where a sincerely invested theme would really ground the story with pliable insight. If it was a bullying angle, then revenge had to be truly explored. The hero's and villain's would parallel -- both teetering on vengeance's edge, one losing himself and threatening to pull down the other. Thinking you want someone to pay for harm they caused you and then seeing them pay are two frighteningly different distinctions. The former: humanity; the latter: complete, sudden erosion of humanity -- that sickening moment when your conscience lunges at you, vehemently reigning you back.
Ultimately, it had to "be about something."I quietly considered a Columbine subtext. In the years that have followed the extreme sadness of the shootings, was it just me, or was the alienation of some high schoolers by their peers getting worse? Those shadings had to be respectfully muted.
The centuries-old villain had to have a distinct mythology beyond the obvious. Enter the Hindu sights and sounds of Nepal, with it's Indian influences. There was a more origin angle that further explained the Piper's curse, but it was nixed -- backstory upon backstory. Sigh. Too bad: it contained my favorite poetics. Thats's another thing: I love writing period dialogue, so the Piper's Old World lyrical tongue was disguised with a genteel but menacing trickery. His murderous verse largely became iambic pentameter. If music = death, the conventions of these scenes each had to be like a symphony. The vibrations controlled weak-willed creatures, leading to a lot of ingenious animal-assisted exits.
My manager -- John Broker -- and I brainstormed. We purposely laid out The Piper to be movie-ready. Act I: issue one. Act II: issues two & three. Act III: issue four. Four books, twenty-two pages each. Five weeks. Factor in a horror draft that makes your producers smile and it's a fitting and fine year's end.
The comic books were published individually -- see www.zenescope.com, or consult other online or local retailers -- and distributed internationally (wow). Then, after running their cycle, the collective trade paperback followed. That's the up-top image you see, designed by David Seidman (whom I worked with on the Se7en prequel). It truly does look like a film one-sheet, and I'm proud to have my name listed alongside the truly gifted artist, Axel Machain. Axel and I just finished a collaboration for the Grimm Fairy Tales Annual -- more to come on that one. Colorist Ann-Christin Pogoda corresponded from Germany; colorist Nei (Final Destination: Spring Break) Ruffino and I finally met at Wizard World Los Angeles after sharing several credits. I love Nei's special effects! And Raven (Se7en: Gluttony) Gregory oversaw as editor, really leading to a reunion sensibility on The Piper.
Ralph and Joe went out and got THEE Tony (Candyman) Todd to write a liquid, mood-melding intro -- the kind that makes you want to turn down the lights and spark up every candle in your home. Of course, as Chiller fans know, Tony Todd is the link in the Final Destination film trilogy. And it was the last movie entry's graphic novel spin-off that became my first writing gig.
On this particular journey, I have officially come full circle.
Posted by Mike Kalvoda at 02:39 PM