Broken Frontier

Jef is, let's face it, your classic teenage nobody: gawky, awkward, taken advantage of. He's complete clueless about girls, though they're pretty much all he thinks about -- and dreams about. And it's a dream that finally lands Jef what he thinks he wants, a gorgeous girl by his side, in this case Dream Maiden Megan, the title character of the new SLG Publishing graphic novel. Dream Maiden Megan is the newest work from Ian and Tyson Smith, creators of the hit all-ages graphic novel Emily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand.

Megan delivers dreams, but when Jef wakes up and catches her in the act, she becomes mystically "tethered" to him until he falls asleep and dreams the dream she was giving him. Caffeine- and monster-addled (Megan employs the monster Been Geen to keep the amorous Jef in line), Jef can't keep up with a vain, spoiled, party-girl dream maiden. And Megan isn't about to let him get comfortable! She's determined to get rid of him -- even if it means getting him a date.

Ian Smith, the writing half of the Smith brothers duo, began the process of writing Dream Maiden Megan with his with his cast: a huge, lovable monster; a couple of self-centered beauties, a clueless dork. "I have a fondness for Japanese anime where ensemble casts of women stomp all over a hopelessly unromantic guy," said Ian. But he also drew inspiration from real life: "I also used to have some hilariously self involved, vapid neighbors who liked to sunbathe outside my apt window and talk, talk, talk... I figured they're probably Dream Maidens."

Tyson Smith, handling art duties, looked to his past work for inspiration. After working completely digitally in Emily and the Intergalactic Lemonade Stand and the Smith brother's SLG series Oddjob, he commented, "As an artist I wanted to stretch myself. I pulled out some of my old work that I did on bristol board with a brush. And I really wanted to incorporate that look and feel into Dream Maiden Megan using my computer." Custom-designed digital brushes and a Wacom tablet enabled Tyson to reproduce an ink-and-paper look on his computer.

In addition to the brush art look, Dream Maiden Megan also features spot color and glossy paper, making this all-ages, 96-page graphic novel polished enough to pass the muster of the pickiest Dream Maiden. Dream Maiden Megan may be pre-order through Diamond Comics now, with the order code APR083514. It will be available in June 2008.