If we OWNED Spider-Man and Superman!

If we owned SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN we would do a cross-over to end all cross-overs...

The series would be WHAT IF? meets ELSEWORLDS...

What makes SPIDER-MAN who he is? "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

What makes SUPERMAN who he is? "...raised with wholesome family values..."

What if that changed?

What would happen?


If Crystal Fractal Comics owned SPIDER-MAN and SUPERMAN we would do a What If? / Elseworlds story where Ben and May Parker are driving through the fields of Connecticut on the way back to their place in New York... a meteor lands causing the truck they were driving to spin out of control.

They climb from their wreckage to find a small boy with extreme strength.

They bring the boy home, and call him Clark. He is raised with good family values and is told with great power comes great responsibility. And this is told again and again as May and Ben discover early on that their son, Clark, has a lot of strong powers.

Several years later, Peter Parker's parents die in a tragic accident and Peter Parker moves in with May, Ben and their son, Clark, and is raised as a brother.

Sibling rivalry. No longer raised with two-on one attention.

Clark becomes high-school football champion, letterman, all-around, all-American boy. While he is a few years older, he and Flash become friends as Flash looks up to Clark.

Peter, on the other hand, sinks further and further into his studies. While encouraged by Uncle Ben and Aunt May to be himself, they do slip into the habit of comparing Peter to Clark. Clark sticks up for him most of the time, but once in a while finds himself teasing his "younger brother." Clark, discovers some of his heritage and adopts the secret identity of Superman!

On a fateful field trip, Peter is bitten by a radio-active spider and finds himself with the powers of a spider!

Peter discovers his powers and enters into a wrestling contest and wins. Meanwhile, a robber escapes but is easily thwarted by Superman who flies in to save the day, even though Peter, now a wrestler, let him go.

Superman continues to become a super-hero, and Spider-Man continues to become a professional wrestler earning money and fame. Clark confronts Peter and Peter eventually admits he is the wrestler but agrees not to tell May and Ben if Peters tells them himself.

Peter doesn't. But Clark is distracted with being a hero and doesn't rush to tell them. The agency that had hired Peter's parents learn of Peter's abilities and approach him to work for them. He does. Along the way he works with people like Bullseye, Sandman and Scorpion on some missions that are rather unsavoury, calling his team, the ThunderBolts: Heroes for Hire.

Clark finds that his major nemesis is Kingpin and continues to thwart his plans teaming up with the likes of Daredevil, IronMan, and Hawkeye - forming the Avengers. The Avengers becomes a global organization sponsored by the U.N. More heroes join.

Spider-Man and his team of mercenaries - which includes Silver Sable, Power-Man, Iron Fist, Bullseye and Moon Knight - skirt the law, but are usually on the right side of it.

Following an unfortunate event, the U.N implements a plan suggested by the USA and Canada, co-led by Henry Peter Gyrich, James Hudson, and Senator Kelly. This plan involves the Super-Powered Registration Act and the creation of Sentinels.

The plan - and the Act - create a Civil War that pits Spider-Man against Superman. The Kingpin secretly hires Spider-Man's team, and has a block of Green Kryptonite delivered to Scorpion and Bullseye. In the final battle, sibling rivalry, built in with various levels of hatred between the groups, has Superman finally die as a result of the Green Kryptonite weakening him right before the arrival of Doomsday!

As Superman dies, Spider-Man finally learns the meaning of "with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"  reveals his identity, and registers with the Act. He then joins Iron Man, inviting some of the ThunderBolts who join him, while others do not. He takes on a new costume to honour Superman and lives to watch his Uncle Ben, now proud of him, die of a Heart attack, further building in the lesson.

Then, Superman returns, and the two work together to face the war of the Skrull!

(we had other less "happy ending" versions, but felt that this version would appeal to the current property owners, fans and our own creative juices!)

Most of the above characters are (c) and TM Marvel.
Doomsday and Superman are (c) and TM DC. 

Comic Book Interviews dot Com

The interview I conducted with Derrek has been posted at www.comicbookinterviews.com.

Here's the direct link.

One Page At A Time interview...Derrek Lennox, part 2

Here it is at last...the conclusion to my interview with Derrek Lennox, Publisher of Crystal Fractal Comics!

DC: Let's get specific now with the series Dr. Twilight: The Crossing...Why should a new reader pick this series up? What role does this series play in the overall grand scheme of the CFU?

DL: This title looks at the history of the universe leading up to the Crossing. This is not an anthology as all of the stories are related. Each story involves at least one of the magically powered people that Natanael de Velazquez (aka Doctor Twilight) recruited to come to the Crossing in Baguio. Many of these people did not make it, and these stories present the interconnectedness of several plot threads – and expose why they did not arrive. Importantly, it also establishes several of the so called antagonists to the main storyline – some overt, and some covert.

DC: Dr. Twilight is one of the central players in the Crystal Fractal Universe, but would you describe him as a hero?

DL: Not in the "Superman" sense... Doctor Twilight is a person with a mission motivated by a mixture of the need for self-redemption and the need to learn.

DC: Dr. Twilight is immortal, and that presents a really unique opportunity to visit with him at various historical eras and at various points in his evolution as a person. So here's a two part question...what's your personal favourite time period in the past and do you have plans for a Dr. T story during that time?

DL - I have a number of favourite time periods - many of which won't be visited by Doctor Twilight as they are before his time. But we may still see them...

DC: How would you describe Dr. Twilight's character arc over the several hundred years that pass since we first encounter him? Has he changed? For the better or perhaps for the worse?

DL: That would be telling...

DC: As the editor of the series, what type of stories are you looking for in this series?

DL: Each story must fit into the puzzle of the history leading to the Crossing.

DC: What appeals to you about anthology projects?

DL: As noted, we can’t really consider the Crossing an anthology. But what I do like about this style of project is the ability to work with multiple writers and artists to get their lens into the Crystal Fractal Universe while at the same time, being one of a handful of people that knows how each of these stories actually related to each other.



DC: As we start to wind this down, let’s switch gears. Which writers, artists and projects influenced you as a creator? For me, huge influences from my youth were the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans (which took a very long view of developing the personalities of the characters, and also offered Robin-my longtime fave-an opportunity to genuinely and permanently grow) and Camelot 3000 (which was one of my first introductions to a comic book series that had a strongly defined three act structure). Rich Buckler, Neal Adams, George Perez and Brian Bolland were my favourite artists and imprinted themselves and their styles on my young brain. More recently, Preacher has become the definitive model for me of telling a long form story, with concrete story arcs, killer characters and flashbacks that flesh out each character's history and motivations. (Ooops... sorry ..didn't mean to hijack your interview...this is just a fun topic for me)

DL: Don’t let me stop you from pumping your favourite stuff. For me, I would have to say that the team of John Byrne and Chris Claremont for their run on the Uncanny X-Men was by far my largest influence. I continued to read the X-Men long after they both departed just because of their tenure on the book. I also give Wolfman and Perez a “tip of the hat.” Peter David, Neal Adams, Paul Michael Smith, Kurt Busiek, George Perez, Arthur Adams, John Bolton and Bill Sienkiewicz were – and are – continuing influences. Peter David is a writer who can work well with many artists – and the quality of his story telling remains consistent. Claremont, in my opinion, needs to have a certain type of artist to work with which is why I find his stuff a little more inconsistent. So, I find his work with John Bolton, Paul Smith, and Bill Sienkiewicz far more of an influence that his work with other creators. James Robinson’s work with Paul Smith (from the Golden Years to Leave it to Chance) another exceptional pairing. It shows how a good collaboration can create something exceptional.

DC: Your duties as publisher and editor (along with the day to day stuff that we all deal with) take up a lot of your time. Do you still find time to write and draw?

DL: The most I get to draw these days are doodles on the corners of documents... However, I am still involved in writing the overarching story bible for the CFU... I wrote and fully scripted one of the stories in the upcoming Crossing 002 drawn by Kieron O'Gorman... I co-wrote the entire story line with Shawn Smith for Velvet Angel... - even though most of my actual writing isn't directly a part of a finished product... And some of the scripts are co-developed, so my work ends up there... Do I want to write and draw more? I would love the chance to get there... in an ideal world...

DC: As a publisher and editor, you must receive lots of submissions from artists and writers. Can you tell us some "do's" and "don'ts" when it comes to seeking work in the comic book industry?

DL: We receive quite a few each and every month at a fairly steady pace. The one thing that I would tell people who are making submissions is this: read the submission guidelines as each company is different, and then follow them. I would say that at least half of what we receive doesn't conform with our submission guidelines - and we can't do anything with them when that happens.

DC: Can you tease the audience with any upcoming storylines or projects that you're excited about?

DL: I am excited about all of our upcoming stories - and want to highlight The Crossing, Doctor Twilight, and all of our lines as we get them out...

DC: Derrek, thanks a lot for your time. Even though I’ve written several stories for Crystal Fractal Comics, I also happen to be a fan. It was great to get your take on the inner workings of the CFU, and I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’m eagerly awaiting the next projects that you’ll be putting out there!

DL: It's great to hear you are a fan! Creating something that our other creators are excited to be a part of makes this all the more fun! Until next interview...

One Page at a Time interview...Derrek Lennox

It seems only fitting to start this series of interviews with Derrek Lennox, the creator and publisher of The Crystal Fractal Universe. This interview was conducted via email in December 2010.

DC: I was mostly a DC kid when I was growing up. I loved Superman, Batman, Firestorm, Teen Titans and Captain Carrot. I fondly remember heading down to the corner store and checking out the spinner rack two or three times a week. How about you Derrek...what's your "comic book fan" secret origin?

Derrek Lennox: I remember my first “real” comic was Uncanny X-Men 112 where the X-Men had just been kidnapped by Magneto and pulled to his secret lair in the Antarctic. I bought this comic at the summer resort I used to go to with my parents. Before that, I had only really read Casper, Richie Rich comics and the odd Superman. Boy was my life changed. I got the chance to buy a few more comics – a Teen Titans story featuring Titans East and Titans West, and a Justice League 96-pager – but it wasn’t for another year when I picked up X-Men 124 and 125 when I was hooked for life to comics.

DC: Comic books may be unique in that a lot of readers have a desire to create stories as well. I still have the crudely drawn comics I made that were inspired from those 1980s DCs that I loved so much. How about you...how did the shift from "reader and fan" to "creator" happen?

DL: I am not exactly sure when - but I had created my first mini-comic not much after reading X-Men 125... It featured a crossover between the X-Men and the Teen Titans (with Elongated Man thrown in for good measure). It was undeniably terrible, but it was a first step. I think I was 7 at the time.

Much later - in high school - I created a lot of the characters that appear in Project Epsilon (Vante predominantly) and then in university where Entropy was first envisioned. The rosters for both teams have changed over the years - and the current versions include characters created by Shawn Smith (Project Epsilon) and Jeff Haas (Entropy).

In university, I created other characters for comic strips published by the university newspapers, and a few for another independent company.



DC: So, it seems like the Crystal Fractal Universe was created in stages, and interestingly, it appears that Dr. Twilight wasn't originally the central part of this shared universe. Can you walk me the process that you used to interconnect all of your ideas? And I suppose the ultimate question here is...did the characters come first, or did you begin with the plot idea about the realm of dream and the time-lost wanderers?

DL: Several of the team books were indeed developed first. There were also a number of other single heroes and teams created along the way - but I was missing an anchor concept.

Black Rain - one of the characters that we will be introducing in Entropy was to do that, but as the story of Entropy and Black Rain was fleshed out for the "5 readers in university" it made more sense to keep his background separate.

Sometime in the first few years of university, I came up with the notion of an event to cross into another realm, and that became - eventually - the realm of dreams. The first character of those that eventually become “the core and the nine" was Francois the Redeemer - who readers got a glance of in CFU 0.0 and who will play a significant role in upcoming stories.

Doctor Twilight evolved as a design from then.



DC: What are some of the logistical issues with creating such a big, sweeping story...and how did you solve them?

DL: Designing a world is fantastic – and something that I have always enjoyed doing –whether on my own or in collaboration. The issue is usually not in creation, but once it is created, developing a story that tells just the right amount of information not to derail or bore the reader. The other issue is in getting it out in the marketplace. There have to be readers even before they have the option to be bored. Will they support a large involved story? Will they want to read a story with many moving parts? That often depends more on the readers than on the story.

DC: In the early stages of creating the CFU, did you have any other writers or creators around to bounce around ideas with, or was it all you?

DL: In the early stages there were some friends – like Sam Chan who helped developed some of the original characters for Entropy in an early iteration. And then there was Ken Ouellette (who has developed his career in computer animation and special effects working on films including Disney’s The Wild, and the X-Men movies) who also helped with another iteration of Entropy. It was because of these past iterations – even though they stayed mostly on the drawing board or cutting room floor – that when we finally get to meet Domenico Poisson we learn that he has tried his mission many times before with many past versions of the team, without success. More creators helped out when I became more serious about fleshing it out – some with content and some as sounding boards. These creators include Jeff Haas, Shawn Smith, and John Kennedy. With specific story elements, more and more were fleshed out further with Howard Wong, Jon Byrans and Dino Caruso. Artists have also played a part – usually with costume design. These artists have included Sam Agro, Robert Hand, the team of SF360, Thony Sillas, Lawrence Lam, Alisson Borges, and JianYi.

DC: I love continuity-heavy stories like LOST, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, 100 BULLETS, Y: THE LAST MAN, etc...I often wonder how much of a roadmap the creators made for themselves before the beginning. From your perspective, is it possible to completely plan out something so massive? Or do you simply have to leave room for creative deviations that may occur along the way? And (here's the big one) do you know how the story of the Crystal Fractal Universe will eventually end?

DL: It depends on what you are trying to do. I find it is better to have a direction, but allow room to play in the execution of the details. At the end of the day, it is all about how engaging the story is – does it keep the reader interested, excited, “addicted to come back for more”? Do I have an ending in mind for the CFU? Absolutely. The overarching story bible was designed to get there. Will there be changes along the way? Absolutely as well.

Check back next week for the conclusion of this interview...

Doctor Twilight "redesigned" costume

... further to the previous post... here is now the costume as designed by Jon Lam for Crystal Fractal Comics in 2006 (while it was known as "Derrek Lennox o/a Bedlam Comics and Entertainment, Toronto")... a few of us liked it... it was the basis for the costume used in the preview edition... and a costume that will be seen (comic-book-market willing) once in a while...

Original Doctor Twilight Costume - circa 1990

In a previous post, I promised to put up images of the original Doctor Twilight costumes... here is the original one Derrek Lennox designed back in the early 1990s (that was considered way too close to a combination between Spawn and Doctor Strange)...

Wizard Toronto

Sometime last year the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon was bought by Wizard owner Gareb Shamus (and a congrats and kudos out to Peter of Paradise for inking the deal). This year, the convention will be on the CNE grounds and will feature appearances by greats like William Shattner, Eliza Dushku and yours truly. While I am - in the mind of most - not as great as Bill and Eliza, I do get the odd fan excited. Great art, great stories, great opportunities for a portfolio to be reviewed... etc etc...

We are looking forward to the con -- to see how it looks, feels, and smells now that Wizard has put its stamp on it!

Hope to see you there! (whether you are excited to see me or not)...

D.

And the Winner is...

Over the past few months, we ran a simple "get to know you" contest.

The prize?

A CGC graded 9.6 version of the Preview Edition of "Crystal Fractal Universe" Number 0.0!

On Jan 1, 2009 we drew a winner... AND THE WINNER WAS JASON TRUONG!


On Jan 17th, we had an in-store shindig at Paradise Comics Toronto, where Jason got the book! Pictures coming soon!

D.

Paradise Comics and Crystal Fractal Comics in the News

This is a little out of order, but I recently came across a link to this article "published" in SNAP that featured our Oct signing at Paradise Comics.

It shows headshots of some of the Crystal Fractal Comics talents including Sam Agro (penciller for PELT), Andrew Uys (writer of several upcoming Zero Issue Chapters) and Dino Caruso (writer of Chapters 5 and 6 of the Zero Issue - now online - check them out below - and some up and coming chapters...)

It even has a little photo revealing the Editor-in-Chief himself...

Thanks SNAP!

D.

links to Caruso's Chapters:
http://www.crystalfractals.com/ZEROISSUE/Chapter5.1.html
http://www.crystalfractals.com/ZEROISSUE/Chapter6.0.html

The Fall Tour!

This fall we hit a number of stores and cons - and had a blast!

The highlights include the October in-store signing at Paradise Comics (covered by SNAP!)! A full preview of the comic titles were presented (check out facebook for some more previews!) - and we had six guests in total! and... the Boston Con in November where Jeff pretty much held the fort.

If you have posts or comments from any of these events, we'd love to hear about them - especially if you have scans of any of the sketches done for the Cons or signings!

D.

Crystal Fractal Comics Reviewed and Interview by UofT's "The Newspaper"

A few weeks ago, Derrek Lennox was interviewed by The Newspaper (the on-compus, independent community newspaper of the University of Toronto).

The title links to the on-line edition of the article!

D.

Jonathan Bryans to Write “Zero Issue Chapter” for Crystal Fractal Comics featuring “The Cheng Brothers”

Crystal Fractal Comics continues meeting fan demands by adding Zero Issue Chapters to its repertoire of online offerings.

Toronto, Canada (October 3, 2008) - Canada-based comic book publisher Crystal Fractal Comics announced that it has signed Jonathan Bryans – creator and writer of acclaimed “NGuard” – to write a Zero Issue chapter featuring the Cheng Brothers.

“We are extremely excited to have Jon on board,” says Derrek Lennox, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Crystal Fractal Comics, “His work on NGuard is phenomenal and commercially successful in both Europe and North America, and we expect to see him do more work through Crystal Fractal Comics beyond this first Zero Issue chapter.”

The Zero Issue program features introductory stories of the characters that were involved in the Crossing – or whom didn’t even make it but were expected to. The series will be published online in a semi-monthly schedule and will be collected into a trade paper back at the end of the initial run, featuring characters that will have long-reaching impacts on the Crystal Fractal Universe. The Cheng Brothers have a long involved past with both Doctor Twilight and Leviathan – an enigmatic but uncharacteristically vastly well-informed participant at the Crossing – and will be highly influential in the outcome of the Crossing – should they make it!
In addition to the Zero Issue program. Crystal Fractal Comics is planning on releasing six published comicbook titles in the coming months: Doctor Twilight, Entropy, Project Epsilon London Town, Magus Rex, Redorik and Velvet Angel. Like the Zero Issue Chapters, all of these titles focus on The Core and The Nine, the key players of the fictional Crystal Fractal Universe.

Crystal Fractal Comics is an up and coming comic book publisher and character licensing company seeking to diversify the industry through the dynamic storylines and characters of its titles. Founded by Derrek S. Lennox, the company aims to become one of the top ten firms in its industry through its online and print comics, toys, and other licensed products. Crystal Fractal Comics is currently headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Crystal Fractal Universe #0.0 Reviewed!

Johnathan A. Gilbert gives a review of the Preview Edition of Crystal Fractal Universe #0.0.

Check out "E-Dispatches from the Great White North."

Here:
or
Here:

D.