Broken Frontier

Michael Dolce takes you inside the final issue of his debut project, The Sire. If you think the story ends here, think again!

The solicitation text for the issue reads:

The wait is over! The long awaited conclusion to the hottest new indy of the past year has hit stores shelves! Featuring a cover by superstar Tyler Kirkham, the third issue picks up right after the harrowing cliffhanger of issue #2.  

Cornered by the police, the SIRE must find a way to escape arrest so he can somehow save the world from the evil Siphon and his plans for total conquest! Written by Michael Dolce with art by rising star Dan Leister and colors by Dolce, this issue is a can't miss!

Hey, Sire fans and welcome to the very first Inside Look for the series here at Broken Frontier .  For all newcomers check out www.mikebooks.com right this minute and order up issues #1 and #2, as we’re going to dive right into the stunning conclusion to issue three which hit stores yesterday! Oh, shameless salesman I am…

PAGE 1

The Sire’s had a rough road so far.  He’s been attacked by three fugitive super humans, chased by a millionaire technology mogul and by the end of issue two he’s cornered by police.  Two things to take note of here; first is the lead officer barking orders. Originally, he had a more prominent role in the mini series and will in future issues, but one of the things I found after penning three issues was: there’s not really a lot of time to get all of your ideas in.  I know, I know, 70 pages of story and all I could do is fit him into two panels.  Well, sometimes that stuff happens I guess.  All newbies beware.

The other thing was the last panel.  This is a great example of how much Dan Leister kicks ass!  I had a COMPLETELY different internal monologue ready for him but after seeing that bottom panel, Sire’s reaction turned out to be my reaction the first time I saw it. “Whoa…Matrix style!” Yeah, that just fit.

PAGES 2 & 3

I know Frederik is thinking to himself, “Is Mike going to go through every single page?”  Nope, but I had to point out how kick ass this spread is.  Dan just completely blew my mind with every issue.  He got better and better and my coloring and writing also evolved with him, thankfully.  Nothing in-depth about this page, just wanted to point out the pretty picture.

PAGE 7

Thomas Fireheart was always meant to be called “Paralys.”  Why?  Can’t say, that’s just what I envisioned.  But after doing the story I really don’t know if I should have done that or just kept him known as Fireheart which is also kind of a cool name.  My indecisiveness rears its ugly head everywhere, but hopefully it also leaves the door open for story opportunities later on.

PAGE 15

This was the scariest page to write in the entire series.  Why?  Because when I wrote it I envisioned what basically amounts to a rape scene.  Here’s this guy (Fireheart) who’s been in prison.  Here’s this hot chick reporter.  He’s got her in a compromising position, albeit out in the open.  “What else is he going to do,” I thought. Well, that scene really shook me because even though I knew it made sense it still wasn’t something I wanted to be portraying.  But I stuck with it and luckily Dan drew it in a way that the tone becomes something other than what I envisioned. Rape doesn’t even come to mind anymore… thank god!

PAGE 19

Did everyone catch what Zeus just did in panel 2?  Keep reading…

PAGE 20

Dan is going to kill me for pointing this page out.  But for all you aspiring comic artists out there this page is one of the most important.  Is it his best work?  Compared to the rest of the issue of course not.  BUT… he made the deadline and the book is in your hands.  Sometimes you have to compromise even though it can be very difficult on your pride.  That’s why this is possibly the most important page of the issue.

PAGE 22

And then there are pages like this one here.  One word: STUNNING.  Dan is amazing, I can’t say enough about him or his work.  And he makes me better.  He called me like 2 or 3 times that day to make sure the colors were working.  He has such tremendous pride in what he does.  It’s really something.  Also, this is the pivotal moment in the series.  This is when Sire decides to embrace being the Sire.  Now the real fun can begin!

PAGE 26

I purposely didn’t send Frederik the JPG of this page because it’s the big reveal!  What is it?  What does it mean for the series?  Well, you’re just going to have to go out and buy it!  Ha, shameless, I know! But what can I do?  I want there to be an issue four!

And speaking of which, I’m happy to announce here that we will indeed be putting out a sequel mini series in June of 2007, tentatively titled The Sire: Awakenings .

It’s just unbelievable that a project that was started in April of 2005 finally saw fruition a good year and half later.  By the time you read this issue you’ll be happy to know Dan and I actually have a good system in place to produce more of these.  The first issue took a good year of planning and execution from April 2005 straight to April of 2006.  The second issue took us a measly 4 months to complete and this issue a little under 3 months.  And by now we both wish we could go back to issue one with everything we’ve learned. But I guess that’s the beauty of these things.  You write, you create, you learn and you try to do better next time. 

With that in mind I’d like to thank everyone who’s stuck with us, picked up an issue or two (or three) and want to see more.  If you check out www.mikebooks.com come late February we’ll be debuting some really cool Sire web comics expanding the supporting cast and this universe we’re trying to create.  Also, if anyone has any questions (like ‘Who the heck IS that crazy red alien dude on the last page?’) feel free to go there and drop us a line!  You can also find us on myspace at www.myspace.com/sirecomic.

Until next time, I want to thank Frederik and Broken Frontier and of course you, the fans!