Broken Frontier

This is an Inter-Review—a review and an interview in one!

Today we speak (once again) with artist/writer, David McAdoo.  His debut graphic novel  Red Moon—an animal fantasy-adventure epic about on a young dog and a prophecy that speaks to “The End of Man’s World”, as nature moves to reclaim her own—is set to debut in early 2009.

But before the big release, McAdoo is offering  three  free online webcomic prequels.

A while back, we took a peek at the   FIRST.

Now, Broken Frontier takes a look at the second...

Broken Frontier Review: The first online Red Moon prequel (“One Must Fall ”) spotlighted a character who may or may not be a villain, or perhaps an anti-hero—the raven named Krigg, an absolute bad-ass of a bird who, in the 8-page preview, fought viciously for control of his flock. Why?  Because, as Krigg put it: “A Storm is coming.”  Now, creator David McAdoo turns the shiny circle of light on Red Moon’s big-wig hero of the story, a dog named Daeden, and his first meeting with his (in the graphic novel) traveling companion, Mox. This 6-page second prequel (“One Must Unite”) also spotlights the origins of a bitter hatred between Daeden and another tough bastard of an animal, the Calico cat Shanir.

Much like the first, this prequel’s story is action-oriented, brutal and bloody and yet not void of more character-centric elements.  I’ve been jaded in recent years, believing action sequences to be little more than plot filler—moments to let the artist shine and/or allow the writer to pad a story into GN-sized chunks or stall a story until a crossover-type piece can fall into place over in another book.  In short, action = story standstill with character-building issues in-between.  That tends to be the modern-era formula.  But McAdoo has proved himself a master at using non-stop action to establish character, progress relationships, advance the plot, and even explain the plot.  It’s an impressive thing to see, and makes for a damn engaging read.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Well nice to see ya again, David!  How have things been on the Red Moon front since last we spoke?  Has response to the first prequel been heartening?  Has writing and drawing a graphic novel from scratch killed your sense of self, hope, and feelings of self-worth yet?

DAVID MCADOO: Good to talk to you again, Mr. Baxter. Red Moon is moving along pretty well.  Response to the first prequel was great and I want to thank you for helping out on that. I really couldn't have asked for a better reaction from all the viewers. I didn't really know what to expect, but I'm excited now to know that there is still that fan base for this sort of story and art style. Actually, the only thing this project has really killed for me emotionally is my self-awareness of my art-speed.  I still love drawing the pages and finishing them everyday, I just wish I could draw them faster.  Self publishing a novel has built in traps - like moveable deadlines - that I'm trying to avoid like the plague.  I work better under pressure so I'm really trying to stick to a deadline. At the same time I've never drawn anything this big before so I have no way of knowing if that deadline is realistic or not. That sucks.

BF: Moving from the story of Krigg to the first meeting of Daeden and Mox, it was interesting to me that you chose to jump so directly into the mix, with no intro to Daeden and smack dab in the middle of his journey.  Why this choice for the second prequel?  And where precisely does it fit with the upcoming main event?

DM: Well, early on in the process of setting up the whole marketing plan of Red Moon, my publishing partner Steve Kozak was asking me about certain lines of dialogue in the script that I had written and I was telling him that I had all these background stories in my head while I was writing it. That's kind of where the idea of the prequels came about. I wanted the prequels, for the most part, to be pretty action oriented, like little cliffhanger serials before the big epic comes out, and at the same time really introduce the essence of the three main characters, one at a time. The first and second prequels literally overlap in the time-line but they take place several months before page 1 of the graphic novel.

BF: On the subject of your ability to use action to convey the story—thoughts?  Do you strive for this intentionally?  Or just an action sort of guy and so your storytelling veers toward the fierce side of things?

DM: It's pretty intentional in an unintentional sort of way. I don't really think about it consciously but I know what I like and when something needs to be toned down or sped up. My mind thinks in movies, I dream with crane shots and hand-helds, so a lot of that comes out in my page styles and writing cadence. I do tend to like a lot more action than head-bobbing dialogue but if I can do both at the same time and make it work then I will. The essence of good script writing and movie storytelling comes from being able to tell a meaningful story without putting the audience to sleep so I try to keep that in mind at all times. 

BF Review: While the new prequel short is indeed shorter than the first (6 instead of 8 pages), there’s a lot more to ingest.  Instead of one new character there’s five to meet and greet.  It’s unknown how prevalent two of them will be in the GN, but three (Daeden, Mox, and Shanir) are definite key players, and likely all five will have at least a small part in the  upcoming Red Moon apocalypse.  I was sad to see the simplicity of the first prequel go, but the second delivers in depth and event in a way that says: “If you’ve come this far, there’s no turning back. You have to get into the epic now!”

McAdoo’s art is as lush and gothically black as ever. Red Moon looks like Tony Moore meets Mignola, a cross between old-school Walking Dead with traces of modern-day Hellboy. This makes for avid eye-candy, and a plot that—while it may contain cute little furry critters—seethes with a natural sinisterness and ferocity rarely seen but in the best of the best. On the art front alone, fans who check out the prequels will find themselves thoroughly impressed, and scratching their chins in consideration concerning the soon-to-be-released graphic novel.

On the story front, 6 pages isn’t a lot to go on, just as 8 wasn’t quite enough during the first, but McAdoo’s dexterity as a genre writer is obvious, and there isn’t a red flag of warning in a single line of dialogue or caption.  I haven’t been privy to any extra pages of story and art that the fans haven’t been, and by the stories displayed thus far, stories anyone can head on over to the website to check out for free, I think that Red Moon is going to make a big splash, by word of mouth and impression alone.

BF: Will all the characters we meet in the prequels have major parts to play in the GN?  Oh, and are there any nifty “easter eggs” being dropped in these prequels that fans will be able to notice when they read the larger epic?

DM: Mmm, most of them will be in the gn, and most will have arguably pivotal roles.  I've teased the Shanir storyline in the blogs and Alk (from the first prequel) also has been featured as a character profile in the blogs.  The bluejays in this second prequel won't have a major role but will certainly show up in a few panels towards the end of the book.   I love easter eggs but I haven't put any in... yet.  The book will have some for sure, though.

BF: So we had one story with Krigg, and now one with Daeden and Shanir (with the explanation for why Shanir is missing an eye!).  What can fans expect for the third and final prequel?  Do you know?

DM: I haven't actually written it yet but I know the storyline.  This one will be leading directly into the gn so it's going to lean more towards the character development as opposed to the action elements. And, of course, it will deal with the final and main character protagonist, Mox and his relationship with his family and Daeden.  

BF: Parting shot for this second Inter-Review—how far are you in the GN to date?  How much further to go?  For that matter, how big will the Red Moon GN be when complete?

DM: I've blocked the book out to 196 pages, black and white with spot red (Sin City-esque). As with all publications, this could change with edits and technical details as time goes on but I can't imagine by much.  I'm almost half way through it but it was slow going at first and I'm really getting into a groove now. Deadline is coming fast and furious. Cross your fingers it doesn't move!  Thanks for all your support!

BF: Can’t wait for the debut.  But we’ve still got one more prequel to go.  Onward!

Be sure to join us again in the summer, when we talk to creator David McAdoo about the third and final Red Moon prequel, all building up to the big GN release in late 2009!

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The  Red Moon prequels “One Must Fall” and “One Must Unite” can be read in its entirety at the   Red Moon Website.

It can also be seen at the   Red Moon Myspace page.

Finally, you can just look below and read the whole thing here!