Comic timing

It’s not every day that one’s childhood superhero dreams are brought to life.

Three VCU students have taken their dream of having their own comic book and made it a reality. The comic book, “SANCTUARY,” is the creation of students Martin Krause, Kevin Roberts and Brian Visaggio.

Once just a thought brewing in their minds, the three developed the comic by combining their skills in art and writing with their love for Japanese comics and television shows.

Tokusatsu is the Japanese genre that includes such shows as “Power Rangers,” “VR Troopers” and many others that present the transformation of a person into a superhero. Visaggio, a junior English major, got the idea for the comic one night while watching an episode of “Power Rangers” with Krause.

“We were talking about it and eventually we said, ‘Let’s do a comic,’ ” Visaggio said. “I told Kevin my idea and he was already prepared. He had designs ready. He had wanted to do the same thing.”

Roberts, a senior communication arts major, had been drawing superhero characters in his sketchbook long before Visaggio approached him with the idea.

“I had always been into that genre of henshin and tokusatsu, and had been preparing for something like this my entire life,” Roberts said.

The students wanted to produce a comic book they could sell. To create the characters, many of their drawing influences came from television shows, films and video games such as “Battlestar Galactica,” “Battle of the Planets” and “Casshern.”

“It is also a game called Zone of the Enders,” said Roberts. “The art director of the game, Yoji Shinkawa, had the biggest influence on my art and a big one on me artistically.”

Roberts says taking a comic book drawing class with George Pratt also helped him a great deal. Pratt, a former VCU instructor and acclaimed comic book writer and artist, taught Roberts in a class the semester before he was approached with the idea of “SANCTUARY.”

“He is no longer at VCU and I am disappointed because I wanted to show him the comic,” said Roberts. “Thanks to George, I had the tools and the vocabulary that I needed to do this comic.”

A lot of the storytelling elements are not what one would find in an ordinary comic. Visaggio was influenced by TV shows such as “Lost” and “Arrested Development” when writing the story line of the comic.

“Those shows use a lot of non-linear storytelling . . . flashbacks to tell the story as much as I use the present narrative,” Visaggio said.

He also uses elements from “Hamlet” and “Macbeth,” religious philosophy and the philosophy and theology of Pope John Paul II.

“Purpose and identity are really going to be the main streams of thought defined in the story,” said Visaggio.

With this philosophy of thought, there is something unusual about the characters in the comic; none of them are evil.

“All of our characters, with a couple of exceptions, are going to be very broadly sympathetic,” said Visaggio. “Even the antagonists are not evil. They are simply soldiers that have been given the mission to do horrible things.”

The layout of the comic is another component that sets it apart from traditional ones.

“SANCTUARY” is a full-color comic that is being sold for $6.99, whereas many comics being sold today are either only black and white or partial color.

Aside from the color and price, instead of the normal nine-panel format that most traditional comics have, the students chose a widescreen four-panel layout for the comic.

“I was really going for composing the book like a movie,” said Roberts. “It gives it a cinematic feel and it is easier to compose a page that way.”

Visaggio thinks this will also have a strong impact on the reader.

“When the format is broken, you can see that clearly something is about to happen in the story,” he said. “When you have a very rigid format like we have used, it will be immediately noticed by the reader.”

After three months of production, the first issue of the comic was released on Nov. 8, 2006 at Velocity Comics in Richmond. Roberts says the turnout was great and they sold a lot of books.

Making the first issue a teaser is a way to get the reader and others to purchase the next book to see what will happen next. Issue one has the basic themes of the book, some throw down kung-fu action and a cliffhanger ending.

“I like the idea of not telling the whole story all at once,” Visaggio said. “Issue two has a lot more teeth to it; you’ll get much more into what is going to be going on.”

Sales have not been strong since the release because it is being sold in three stores, each only carrying a small supply of the comic.

“The book sells when you sell it,” Roberts said. “The trouble with selling it is communication and getting it out there to people.”

Krause, Roberts, and Visaggio hope that sales will improve when issue two of “SANCTUARY” is released this April.