Works in Progress: Storm Pigeon (comic book)

A tale of revenge...about a pigeon with a gun.

I have a number of stories that I am either currently developing, or have shelved half-finished. I'm currently wondering what to do with some of these, or am looking for some feedback as to what to do with them next. If you don't mind, I'd appreciate some feedback on these ideas.

In my high school days, I wanted to get into the comic book industry. It was actually the reason why I chose graphic design as a major when I got accepted to the University of Michigan. While up there, I was introduced to the wonderful world of indie comics, and got to sample such diverse titles as Milk & Cheese, Tug & Buster, Herobear and the Kid, Scud: the Disposable Assassin and, uh, Cherry Poptart (the less said about that one, the better). This showed me that one didn't have to be with the likes of Marvel, DC, Image or Dark Horse to make a mark with comix. On top of that, I got to network with colleagues Liz Cheng, David Ano and Steven Houchard, who were self-publishing their own books on campus. In fact, Steve was starting his own line, and I had the honor of being the second book he published, making the book "Tales of Vengeance" with artist extraordinaire Keith Young.

I truly can't tell you where the concept of Storm Pigeon came from. I get weird ideas from time to time, and in my college days, I always had my sketchpad near, so if one of those ideas popped in my head, I could just do a quick doodle to get it out. But one of those weird ideas was simply "A Pigeon with a gun." Not an anthropomorphic pigeon, either. A real life pigeon toting a real gun almost as big as it is. I did one sketch, then I did two more. I showed them to my friends on campus for laughs, but then one friend, a fellow art student and comic book lover, said that there was a story in those images bubbling under the surface. Challenge accepted.

So to get the story I had to ask myself two questions: 1) how can a pigeon realistically carry and use a gun, and 2) why would a Pigeon carry a gun in the first place? The answers to those questions birthed a three-issue revenge story about a rare breed of pigeon capable of holding a gun, whose mate was killed by a pigeon hunter. And the story spiraled from there, with the pigeon's actions affecting a different hunter who is on a quest of his own for revenge. My previous experience with indie comix showed me there was a market for weird, quirky stories like this, so if I could get it done, maybe I could get one of the better known indie publishers like Caliber or Antarctic Press to pick it up. I didn't need to worry about coloring it, and I saved the headache of lettering the book by challenging myself to tell the story entirely devoid of dialogue. In future years, Marvel would tell a number of well-received "silent" issues of their comics, but that technique was done often years before in the indie comics scene. It was an idea worth exploring, so I started drawing. I even did a sketch for "Shadow Pigeon," a planned follow-up series about a different pigeon that had learned the ninja arts.

So where am I with this book today? The first issue is completely penciled, inked and ready to publish. The second issue is plotted and has rough storyboards for the entire book, and the final issue is fully scripted and thumbnailed, awaiting final art. I stopped working on the book for a few reasons. The first was my lack of confidence as an illustrator. some of the panels came out wonky, with my drawings of humans being a bit inconsistent. I actually took a page to one of my favorite comic creators, Bill Loebs (writer of The Maxx and Wonder Woman), for critique during a convention. He liked the page, but found some glaring flaws that needed to be addressed in how I was drawing the pigeons. I was leaning towards other projects, so I put Storm Pigeon on the shelf until I had the time to delve into redoing the art. that time never came. on top of that, my art supplies ran out, especially the 11x17 bristol board I used to draw on, and at the time there was no easy way to get those boards at that size once I left campus where there was a dedicated art supply store on campus. Also, to be honest, I was getting tired of drawing pigeons. And the longer I went without working on the book, the less motivated I was to pick it back up and finish it.

Now what? I'll be honest, this book is towards the very bottom of my priority list. I don't think I have the chops as an illustrator to make the book look the way I want it to look, and I can't afford to hire an artist to draw it for me. Even if I could afford an artist, I have other more important projects I would use that artist for, The market has changed a lot since 1999, and I don't think there's as much of a niche for such a weird story, even in the indie comics scene. And then there's the medium. There are way more publishing options now than there ever were before, but that doesn't mean they are good fits. The era of webcomics peaked years ago and is now on the decline, Substack comics haven't quite caught on, and those options have the same problem as print self-publishing: your book won't gain any traction if you don't have the means to properly market it and find its audience. And I don't.

I'd leave this in the vault, but if you know me or have been reading this blog, you know how much it bothers me to have good ideas unshared with the world. So I'm offering to share what I have with you. If the idea of a pigeon with a gun intrigues you, let me know in the comments. if I get enough feedback, I just might post what I have in this Substack. Or I could do something else. But I am bereft of ideas on what to do with this. So if you think of something, I am open to suggestions.

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And if you have something to say about this idea, I wanna hear it. Say something in the comments!