CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO!

WHAT I WANT TO DO

With so much media involved in a superhero craze right now, a photographic graphic novel of my book, Task Force: Gaea, could be the crux of a new literary trend and redefine the genre. Regular comic book art provides visually stimulating, creative takes on stories, but this will take stimulation to an exciting new level.

This innovative medium would be bringing a director's storyboard to life: heroes powered by the gods of Olympos, battling to keep order and chaos in balance.

WHY I WANT TO DO IT

I want to inspire more people to believe in heroes.

Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, fantasy novels made me want to be a superhero, or at least a better person. A voracious reader as a child—the kid with the flashlight under his blanket at night reading everything from The Hardy Boys' Mysteries to the encyclopedia—I discovered Superfriends, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other members of the Justice League. "Wow!" I thought. "I want to be like them!"

Later, I started reading comic books, not able to get enough about my favorite heroes. Talk about giddy! In 1978, I saw the Superman movie with Christopher Reeve. After being a comic book fan, seeing a live version of one of my favorite heroes made my heart pound and brought a grin to my 11 year old face—I truly believed a man could fly (well, just about). I then discovered Greek mythology. Great Zeus, was this spectacular! I read Edith Hamilton's Mythology as a high school freshman and fell in love. And then, it happened. I learned something spectacular: Wonder Woman, my favorite comic book hero, was actually based in Greek mythology. Great Hera! Between the Saturday morning show Superfriends, Greek myths, comics in general, and fantasy novels, I was hooked and started to write heroic stories.

In 12th grade, I wrote a short story called "The Olympus Corps.," sort of Star-Trek-meets-Greek myth. Over the years, I tweaked and revised and whittled down and built up this story that I eventually retitled "Task Force: Gaea." This past February 2012, I published through an on demand publisher, CreateSpace, so that I could just get my work out there. No aspirations of retiring on my royalties, I just wanted my dream to come true and bring new role models into the world. And now my short story has become a 380 pg. novel: Task Force: Gaea—Finding Balance.

I didn't start writing to win awards or have a best seller. I write simply because I love to do it. It ignites my soul. But now, I'd like to see this story go further.

HOW I WOULD DO IT

Adam Jay, of SuperHero Photography, approached me, and wants to help me take my novel a step further and revolutionize the graphic novel with photography.

Task Force: Gaea's heroes are perfect for this genre: they're fantasy heroes with powers originating from the Olympian gods. They can do for others what Saturday morning cartoons, comics, and fantasy novels did for me—inspire someone. If I inspire others, I can help keep creativity moving forward.

Adam Jay's work is truly outstanding, and I know he can make credible the heroic look I would want. Here are a few shots of Wonder Woman he did. This realism is what I hope to achieve with bringing my characters from fiction to reality. His photography, along with backdrops to match the content, would thrust this genre into the spotlight.

And here's a video trailer he did with Lara Croft:

This could change the face of fantasy fiction: not a movie from a novel, but rather a photographic novel.

Michael Hamlett's exceptional work (atop this project) inspired me to finish my novel. As I move forward, I see these heroes moving into the real world now. I see Adam Jay's work doing just that.

People should believe in heroes, and this project will pave the way.