It’s been a little while since we had an update but have no fear the wheels are still turning behind the scenes here at Unseen Shadows. To prove it here is a first look at page 5 from the Napoleon Stone/Nathan Ash comic Ashfall by Dan Thompson, Paul Mclaren Paul Williams and Darren Brown…enjoy!
So this week coming I will be brining the Unseen Shadows train to the Nine Worlds Convention in London. In case you are wondering what is Nine worlds here’s comes the explanation bit.
Nine Worlds will take place in London, UK, 8-10 August 2014. It’s about gaming, film, cosplay, fandom, literature, science, geek culture, meeting people and having a really big party.
In total we’ll have over 25 tracks presenting content in 2014, delivering more than 350 sessions over the three convention days. Enough to satisfy even the geekiest of geeks. Mix that all up with parties, comedians, book launches, discos, swordplay masterclasses, the UK’s top Queen tribute band, costume parades, sci-fi sing-a-longs, and bit of quality beer, and that’s what a geekfest is.
OK with the explanation out of the way I can say that I will be there with some copies of Fallen Heroes, Tales of the Forgotten but also some of the remaining copies of the Unseen Shadows Year One DVD which is digital collection of all the Unseen Shadows products (That’s the novel, the comics, the first three part so the audio drama and more).
I will also be taking part in the following panels and hopefully finding something useful to say in each one!
Superheroes and Superhuman: exploding the myth of the superwhathaveyou
County C&D, 3:15pm – 4:30pm
Tracks: All of the Books
Jenni Hill, Nick Harkaway, Stephanie Saulter, Barry Nugent, Taran Matharu
Superheroes are everywhere these days, from comic books to literary novels to the Disney Store. How is society exploring what ‘super’ means, and how does that change depending on the suffix attached? Panel: Jenni Hill, Nick Harkaway, Stephanie Saulter, Barry Nugent, Taran Matharu
Writing for Transmedia: ideas that cross formats and boundaries
County A, 6:45pm – 8pm
Tracks: All of the Books, Creative Writing
Barry Nugent, Anna Caltabiano, Simon Guerrier, Adam Christopher, David Tallerman
Because a story can also be an app, computer game, vlog, fanvid, web series, docu-drama, interactive ebook, diary comic, inter-sensory experience or any other format currently existing or yet to exist not listed here. Kind of against the spirit of the thing, if you ask us. Guess you’ll just have to go to it in person. Panel: Barry Nugent, Anna Caltabiano, Simon Guerrier, Adam Christopher
Tell me a story: podficcing – Podficcers and podcasters share techniques and technology
County B, 6:45pm – 8pm
Tracks: Fanfic
Elizabeth Bear, Barry Nugent, Pip Janssen, A. L. Johnson, Jenn Hersey
Can podficcers learn anything from podcasters, and vice versa? The panel discuss techniques, technology and performance aspects of their respective fields, and hope to discover new insights into the process from one another. Panel: Elizabeth Bear, Barry Nugent, Pip Janssen, A L Johnson
The Power of New Media
Royal A, 11:45am – 1pm
Tracks: Podcasting
Barry Nugent, Emma Newman, Stephen Aryan, Scott Grandison
This interactive roundtable panel follows on from Saturday’s talk about new media. Four podcasters will discuss and explore with the audience the growing power of new media and the rise of the everyman journalist. Speakers: Barry Nugent, Emma Newman, Stephen Aryan, Scott Grandison
If you at the Nine Worlds Convention pop along and say hi!
In this latest edition of’Behind the Shadows’ where we take a look at some of the Unseen Shadows projects a little more closely. Today’s the turn of comic ‘Eye of Stone’ and here to take us into the shadows is its writer Cy Dethan.
By my count, Eye of Stone is the fourth of my five scripting journeys into the Unseen Shadows, but it’s probably safe to say it’s the one I’ve been working on the longest.
For me, the character of Napoleon Stone is the Unseen Shadow at the heart of Barry Nugent’s occult-noir universe – a powerful fulcrum whose influence can be felt even in his absence, in the shapes and currents of the stories that form around him. Teacher, peacekeeper and weapon of last resort, his existence has galvanised bitter enemies into unwise alliances against him and reunited estranged brothers to fight by his side.
So… no pressure, then.
When Barry first approached me with the idea of writing expanded universe material for Unseen Shadows, Stone was one of the options he presented. Although I took a circuitous route via the Reverend and Bob Kelsey one-shots, characters I’d loved from the original novel, Napoleon Stone has been embedded in everything I’ve written for the project from the outset. The understanding of The Reverend that drove me through Wrath of God was grounded in the way Stone psychologically dissects him in Fallen Heroes. The Broken Heart cult that I devised for The Immaculate Abortion of Dina Leigh (and then returned to in Blood Cries Out and Eye of Stone), owes its political organisation and strategies almost entirely to the awe in which it holds the “Demon Stalker”. In fact, if you’re writing for Unseen Shadows at all, the hand of Napoleon Stone can probably be felt somewhere in infrastructure of your work.
Eye of Stone itself is designed both to shine a light on Napoleon and to preserve the central mystery he represents. I wanted to get inside the character’s workings a bit, but to emphasise the way his very existence informs the world he operates in. The Broken Heart’s predisposition toward the search for “saviours” made them a good fit for the one-shot, and having them find a relic of the Demon Stalker’s former life seemed like a strong frame for a story about his origins to hang in. At the same time, it provided an opportunity to demonstrate the sheer weight of the man’s influence in the radical upheaval a single encounter with him brings. The Children of the Heart fall and the Broken Heart is born.
While the backstory offered in Eye of Stone is neither exhaustive nor necessarily reliable, I’d like to think it does at least argue one point: that the best measure of stature is not the height you stand from the ground, but the length of the shadow you cast.
Eye of Stone will be out soon later n the year as part of the third Unseen Shadows comics anthology.
Cy Dethan
In this latest Behind the Shadows Lizzie Boyle talks about her work on the upcoming Unseen Shadows graphic novel ‘The Heart Which Makes Us’ and its heroine Kathryn Monroe.
You know that moment when you open a box of chocolates and you don’t know which one to have first? That’s how it felt when Barry asked if I would write for Unseen Shadows.
“Choose a character,” he said, “and write the story you want.”
There are so many great characters in the Unseen Shadows universe, but – as if instinctively reaching for the orange cream among the chocolates – I knew which one was for me.
New post by me
Sent from my iPad
Unseen Shadows 