I didn’t let another week go by without giving you an update. We’re in the final stretch of pages for Issue #1, so we hope to have that completed soon. And we’re still hoping to be able to do it in color. More on this soon.
In the meantime, be sure to check out more Brute adventures in our store
Parts 2 & 3 of Issue #0 are scheduled to go into print as part of the YEET! anthology comic. And lastly, Issue #1 is progressing well. Here’s a look at the dynamic cover!
Woah, we’re half way there Woah, livin’ on a prayer Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear
Bon Jovi (Livin’ on a Prayer)
Work continues on our first full-sized issue – Brute – Issue #1 – Of Petals and Thorns – which is Rose’s origin story and how she met the tiny terror we all love – Brute!
Owen has finished the first half of the book, and his art continues to get better and better with every page! Unfortunately, we’re both back to work full-time so that’s slowing production down a bit but we’re committed to getting the best Brute first issue to you as soon as possible.
In the meantime, enjoy the FREE ashcan 14-page comic of Brute – The Angriest ‘Teddy Bear’ in the Galaxy’ at brutecomic.com and please share that with your friends! Help us get the word out about this unique and entertaining new series.
Here’s a sneak preview of what’s in store for Issue #1: Lost, desperate and alone, Rose must find a way to survive in a strange alien world.
As I hear and read about recent events in the news, (and for those reading this later on, I’m referring to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in the back – seven times, followed by riots and looting, following by a lone militia shooting 3 more innocent people who were protesting) writing Brute seems more and more relevant. Now I totally understand if that seems far-off or out of left field but understand, you cannot write about an entire galactic civilization, with well thought-out interstellar races, without taking how all those races are going to interact in mind.
Does racism (or in this case speciesism) exist in the ‘Bruteverse’? Of course it does. There will always be someone who thinks because they are more privileged, or more advanced, or more intelligent, or more physically, politically, financially, or socially powerful, or more pious that they are therefore superior to others. Now Brute the series is not a political statement or social commentary, but I couldn’t be true to the nature of these races, and individual characters if these issues did not, at some level, come into play.
If there is to be an intergalactic society, a core fundamental tenant of that society must be to accept and acknowledge every other intergalactic species rights to exist and live life in a manner that seems best to them (as long as it’s not infringing or endangering others) no matter how foreign, strange or even unacceptable that might be to our standards. They are aliens after all and will behave in very alien ways. But despite the differences everyone is part of the whole. They all make up one galactic body.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ~ 1 cor 14-26
So in Brute, as in almost all space operas, humans seeks to not only be accepted by, but to be a leader in, intergalactic affairs. But if we cannot see the value of those that are 99.8% identical to ourselves, how can we, as a race, ever hope to co-exist with others that are 99.8% different? We have a long, long, loooong way to go.
Yet as I hear the news, I have hope. Because while we hear the tales of horror and hatred, that is not what is in the hearts of the majority of people. Most of us just want to get along. Most of us want to love our neighbors. But as Brute will learn, we cannot sit idly by waiting for others, like politicians or leaders, to do the right thing. WE must be the change. WE must take a stand, do the uncomfortable things and DEMAND better. WE can do it. But like the who’s in Whoville (The Grinch), every voice must be heard, very voice must be counted, every single one of us has to stand hand-in-hand with our neighbors, even those we may not like, and demand the loving, tolerant world our forefathers fought for us to have, and not let the few take it from our grasp.
1985 – I’m in line, griping about the cost I’m about to pay, but it’s worth it, as I was stepping into history. I’d read about the San Francisco and New York comic conventions, but never had there been one in Canada, and in my hometown of Toronto. I HAD to be there. Had to see what it was all about.
I don’t remember much from that convention, it was quite small by today’s standards, and I don’t think they had attracted any really ‘name’ talent to come. So it was mostly rows of comic vendor’s selling comics.
One thing did stand out, at one booth a guy was peddling his still fledgling indie comic, a black and white affair, pretty much unheard of at the time when all comics were color (except magazine-style Conan and the like). I picked up a copy and flipped through it. The art was decent and lots of action, but I’ll always remember thinking, ‘Teenage… Ninja… Mutant… Turtles…? Phffft! This will never sell.’ I put it down and continued on my way.
Of course, if I had the benefit of foresight, I’d have bought every single issue he’d bought with him (or at least every issue I could afford). It’d be a goldmine now! The Ninja Turtles need no introduction, being household names, having starred in a variety of comic series, TV cartoons, motion pictures, video games and I could go on and on. Did Eastman (or maybe it was Laird) care I didn’t buy their comic? Sure it’d been nice, but no, not really. They believed in what they were doing. My purchase didn’t really matter to them. But it mattered to me. I missed out! I could have been there from the (almost) beginning!
This is how Owen and I feel about our comic, Brute. About the angriest (and strongest) “teddy-bear” in the galaxy, his human companion, Rose, and a bunch of misfit would-be bounty hunters trying to ‘make it’ in a hostile universe. Brute is fun, at times funny, action packed, sometimes heart-warming, sometimes heart-wrenching, silly, yet serious space saga that acts as a reflection on how we treat each others, and how we treat ourselves. About overcoming our own natures and about finding faith in something greater than ourselves – or not – and where that leads us in life. I truly believe that this series, once word gets out, could become something HUGE. Don’t make my mistake. Get involved now, help shape it. Become part of the magic. Get the first ‘ashcan’ comic free – right now at brutecomic.com
Yep, that’s me holding the first ever appearance of Brute and co in print in the most recent edition of the anthology comic – YEET #36. Owen and I were very excited to get our copies in the mail and see it in print.
If you’d like to get a copy goto: www.patreon.com/yeetmagazine and sign-up and ask producer Mike Jones for a copy of YEET #36 with Brute in it. Note: This is the same 7 page story we ran for free on the site and is still available on the site as part of a 14 page digital ‘ashcan’ comic for FREE – if you don’t already have it, sign-up now: FREE BRUTE COMIC
The response to Brute’s initial appearance has been so positive that they’ve requested to run the two-part follow-up story – ‘Buyer’s Remorse’ and ‘Living Legend’. These are both available RIGHT NOW in digital form in our SHOP (Still 50% for the next 3 days!!) or you can subcribe to YEET and get them all in print! Or wait until we produce a print version of Issue #0 which includes all three as one story.
Meanwhile Owen continues to work on the artwork for Issue #1 – and each page he submits is even better than the last! I can’t wait for everyone to see what’s he’s been doing with this heart-wrenching and heart-warming story depicting Rose and Brute’s first encounter.