In Portland's Buckman neighborhood, across the street from Helium Comedy Club, is Indent Studios, a filmmaking facility that houses several production companies. The IFC show Portlandia has its offices here, and the sci-fi blaxploitation short Blackstar Warrior was filmed on its soundstages.
Indent Studios is also the home of Relium Media, a company with a new approach to storytelling. Angel Punk, their tale of a girl who finds she is descended from angels, is being developed across several different platforms at once.
Beginning with an idea from filmmaker Devon Lyon, the story of Mara Layil has begun with issue #0 of the comic book, available now. The comic series will also be joined by both a feature film and a young adult novel.
"The idea came first," says Lyon, "and then we thought about which media it would work best in."
He is careful to point out that each platform will be designed to stand alone, but also represent its own part of the overall arc. Unlike other projects where a movie or book is adapted from a comic, Angel Punk is a single concept that has multiple facets.
Kevin Curry, who has just finished the first draft of issue #1's script, describes the wide scope of the project. The movie provides the origin story, which then leads into the comic series. The YA novel will have a slight overlap with the end of the comic,and finish the arc. The website, angelpunk.co, will serve as the information hub for the various platforms and provide additional value for registered users.
"The family is complex, there's political density... these aren't cardboard cutouts."
The team at Relium Media spent a year working out the Angel Punk story before beginning any of the projects.
"It's a mistake to start without having the full story," Curry says. "We had to map ours out."
"People get excited and want to just write," Lyon adds, "but you need to take time."
"We've spent a lot of time in creation of the backstory," he continues. "The family is complex, there's political density... these aren't cardboard cutouts. There's no 'shell game' involved."
Curry is grateful to have multiple people to work with on the story. When one person runs into a block, he explains, the group brainstorms solutions together. One gets the sense of a rock band collaborating on a song.
"I needed to write a scene with someone getting tortured," Curry remembers, "but I wanted a location that wasn't the same old alley or warehouse. I can't imagine what the people in the coffee shop were thinking as we discussed where to torture this guy."
A large whiteboard in Fan Engagement chief Jake Rossman's office shows a detailed family tree, plotting the history of the twelve angels known as the "Grigori." Choosing to leave Heaven to experience mortal life, they took human wives and founded a line of powerful descendants, some of whom are well-known figures.
"We're glad to have industry stalwarts on the team."
Also featured on Rossman's walls are pages of comic art from veteran illustrator Val Mayerik (Man-Thing, Howard the Duck). Mayerik, who is based in Portland, will be providing the art for the first five issues. He was also instrumental in assembling the rest of the team: inker Bob Wiacek (Man-Thing, Uncanny X-Men), colorist Steve Oliff (Akira, Spawn), and letterer/St. Johns resident Tom Orzechowski (Uncanny X-Men, Savage Dragon).
Oliff and Orzechowski were pioneers in the comics industry, Lyon notes, bringing computer technology to their craft. Oliff used digital color separation for Akira, and Orzechowski was using computer fonts in the early 90s.
"It's our first experience with comics," Lyon says about Relium Media. "For us it's a learning process, so we're glad to have industry stalwarts on the team."
He and Curry agree that there is a fine balance needed when writing scripts for comics.
"We don't want to instruct [the artists] in their art," Lyon says, "but we also have our own specific vision."
Having veteran Mayerik as artist has been very helpful to the fledgling team, notes Curry.
"He's given us some good feedback about page layouts and composition."
Mayerik, who is taking on his first comic in years, loved the opportunity to work on a "non-tights story," according to Lyon.
The newest addition to the Angel Punk team is local cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man, The New Yorker). Wheeler was brought in to act as a liaison with potential co-publishers, but has much to contribute in other areas, as Curry points out.
"He's great on the business side," he says, "and also great on the story side. In story meetings, Shannon pushes in just the right places to help present possibilities."
As the comic rolls along, with issue #1/2 scheduled for early July and #1 in August, the team is interviewing candidates to write the YA novel. Since the author will have creative input into the finished work, the ideal choice would be someone who understands the direction of the overall story. The applicants have been narrowed down to a small group, and a final selection will be made in the near future.
The Angel Punk film script is complete, and efforts are being made to gather the necessary financing.
"We're hoping to begin production in the Fall," says Curry, "depending on the funding."
Relium's goal is to have all projects completed by the second quarter of 2012.
Devon Lyon's background includes a Law degree from Pepperdine, acting as communications director for the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, and running a film production company, Lyon Films.
His business partner at Lyon Films, Kevin Curry, also came from politics, running campaigns in Salem OR. Curry's additional experience is in public relations, marketing, and advertising.
Jake Rossman, who is in charge of fan engagement, worked in stock analysis until he decided to pursue an acting career. After working on films with Lyon and Curry, he was asked for some assistance with the business side of Relium, and joined the team a month later.
Issue #0 of Angel Punk is available now through Relium's website, and issue 1/2 is now on pre-sale. Once a co-publisher has been decided on, the lines of distribution are expected to open up to local comic shops.
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