Comic book trio turns work into novel

Cover of the Graphic Novel

This is the story that goes with the video I shared yesterday. It was a fun time talking with the three of these guys. The story was "first" published in the April 4, 2012 issue of The News-Herald Newspapers.


Gin-Ryu, or Silver Dragon as it translates from Japanese to English, first was released in comic book form in a limited five-issue run in 1994. Now, nearly 20 years later, the story is coming back to life as an omnibus edition graphic novel being released Saturday.

Big Ben's Comix Oasis, 6711 Allen Road in Allen Park, is throwing the release party. Stephen Egged, the book’s author, will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with inker Frank Parr and Internet marketer Arthur Yoell. All three are Downriver residents. Egged and Parr both live in Taylor; Yoell is from Wyandotte.

The book follows the story of a samurai sword from ancient Japan that finds its way to Detroit in the mid 1990s.

Frank Parr (left), Stephen Egged and Arthur Yoell display copies

 of their comic, "Gin-Ryu."

The first two issues of the original comic were published in color, but for the release of the graphic novel, the art was redone by Parr and Wes Simpson who had not worked on the original two issues. The entire graphic novel is in black and white.

"I wanted the continuity with the art and the design," Egged said.

The protagonist is a martial artist named Mr. Caval who happens upon the sword and decides that he must cleanse the streets of Detroit from those who are a menace to society.

The art in the book is astounding for the most part, with the meticulous attention to detail. Posters of former Detroit Lions’ star Barry Sanders, the spirit of Detroit, Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center are all peppered throughout to give a local flair to the story.

The book is set mostly in Detroit, with a few scenes late in the book taking place in Highland Park.

Don't let the fact that it's a comic book fool you, though, the story and art are strictly for the over-18 crowd. There are graphic bloody murders, and mostly adult language fills the book.



As the story advances, the stakes continue to get higher and the supernatural starts to get involved as the book culminates in a massive action scene on the People Mover as it runs through Detroit. Caval fights off an entire gang of super-powered “baddies,” comic book slang for bad guys, before being forced to tackle the “big bad.”

The upper left panel took over 16 hours
 to draw and ink due to the immense
 amount of detail included in the
 brickwork of the buildings.

For Egged, the process started just wanting to create a book about what he knew. He worked in Detroit as a federal investigator for the Equal-Employment Opportunity Commission before retiring on disability due to multiple sclerosis.

Egged, a lifelong comic fan, also is a fifth-degree black belt in ju-jitsu, and was inducted to the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 2000.

Those two passions led to the genesis of “Gin-Ryu.” A six-page ashcan copy of an early “Gin-Ryu” story was published in 1994, which led to the eventual first issue of the limited-series later that year.

"The idea originally was to keep doing issues, not stopping at five,"Egged said. "But full-time work and other things got in the way."

The dream never died for either, though, and with advances in publishing and printing, they said it is easier than ever to produce a book. So when the opportunity to produce a graphic novel of their work presented itself, Egged jumped on it.

"I'm just so excited for the release," Egged said. "I just know people are going to like it."

Work on bringing the series back also has begun. A sixth not-yet-published edition of the series already has been written and drawn. That edition will continue the tale of “Gin-Ryu” as it continues its path through history.

The book will be for sale at Big Ben's as well as at Comixpress.com for $19.95. “Gin-Ryu” also has a Facebook page where Egged can be reached for information about the book.

Contact Staff Writer Dave Herndon at 1-734-246-0842 or dherndon@heritage.com. Follow him on Facebook and @NHDaveH on Twitter.


Check out the story on thenewsherald.com here: http://bit.ly/HRCL3Q

Stephen Egged's Gin-Ryu

I did a story on the guys that worked on this book for my "real" job, and got to do this review as an added bonus. Check it out, it's cool stuff.

Pop Culture Bicycles part 7

2012 Most anticipated films: April

Titanic 3D, (April 4) 
Plot: This spectacular epic re-creates the ill-fated maiden voyage of the White Star Line's $7.5 million R.M.S Titanic and the tragic sea disaster of April 15, 1912. Running over three hours and made with the combined contributions of two major studios (20th Century-Fox, Paramount) at a cost of more than $200 million, Titanic ranked as the most expensive film in Hollywood history at the time of its release, and became the most successful. Writer-director James Cameron employed state-of-the-art digital special effects for this production, realized on a monumental scale and spanning eight decades. Inspired by the 1985 discovery of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, the contemporary storyline involves American treasure-seeker Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) retrieving artifacts from the submerged ship. Lovett looks for diamonds but finds a drawing of a young woman, nude except for a necklace. When 102-year-old Rose (Gloria Stuart) reveals she's the person in the portrait, she is summoned to the wreckage site to tell her story of the 56-carat diamond necklace and her experiences of 84 years earlier. The scene then shifts to 1912 Southampton where passengers boarding the Titanic include penniless Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and society girl Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), returning to Philadelphia with her wealthy fiance Cal Hockley (Billy Zane). After the April 10th launch, Rose develops a passionate interest in Jack, and Cal's reaction is vengeful. At midpoint in the film, the Titanic slides against the iceberg and water rushes into the front compartments. Even engulfed, Cal continues to pursue Jack and Rose as the massive liner begins its descent. Cameron launched the project after seeing Robert Ballard's 1987 National Geographic documentary on the wreckage. Blueprints of the real Titanic were followed during construction at Fox's custom-built Rosarito, Mexico studio, where a hydraulics system moved an immense model in a 17-million-gallon water tank. During three weeks aboard the Russian ship Academik Keldysh, underwater sequences were filmed with a 35mm camera in a titanium case mounted on the Russian submersible Mir 1. When the submersible neared the wreck, a video camera inside a remote-operated vehicle was sent into the Titanic's 400-foot bow, bringing back footage of staterooms, furniture and chandeliers. On November 1, 1997, the film had its world premiere at the 10th Tokyo International Film Festival.






American Reunion (April 6)

Plot: In the comedy 'American Reunion', all the 'American Pie' characters we met a little more than a decade ago return to East Great Falls for their high-school reunion. In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn't and that time and distance can't break the bonds of friendship.

It was summer 1999 when four small-town Michigan boys began a quest to lose their virginity. In the years that have passed, Jim and Michelle married while Kevin and Vicky said goodbye. Oz and Heather grew apart, but Finch still longs for Stifler's mom. Now these lifelong friends have come home as adults to reminisce about--and get inspired by--the hormonal teens who launched a comedy legend.

The Three Stooges (April 13) 
Plot: Peter and Bobby Farrelly finally get around to doing their take on the Three Stooges with this 20th Century Fox production. From a script they penned with Mike Cerrone (Me, Myself & Irene), the brothers' comedic take on the trio will not be a iopic, but rather a sampling of new slapstick adventures set in the present day. Will Sasso and Sean Hayes are set to play Curly and Larry respectively.

The Raven (April 27)
Plot: The macabre and lurid tales of Edgar Allan Poe are vividly brought to life - and death - in this stylish, gothic thriller starring John Cusack as the infamous author. When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Poe's darkest works, a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) joins forces with Poe in a quest to get inside the killer's mind in order to stop him from making every one of Poe's brutal stories a blood chilling reality. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, which escalates when Poe's love (Alice Eve, 'She’s Out of My League') becomes the next target. Intrepid Pictures' The Raven also stars Brendan Gleeson ('In Bruges') and Oliver Jackson-Cohen ('Faster').

Goon (Limited release April 1) Labeled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.

An interesting thing happened on my way home last night

As the title suggests, an interesting thing happened on my way home last night. I ran into my first real world fan.

(Warning, the following story may be very exagerated, but it is mostly true.)

I was covering the Allen Park City Council meeting for work. For the first time in months, a meeting let out in a paltry two hours, and I was sprinting to the exit so I could get home at a decent hour, you see I live about an hour south of the city, in a mystical land called Toledo.

I was nearly at the door when suddenly I was grabbed from behind. Immediately I went into defensive mode, saying that I would look into whatever story idea the person had, but that I was super busy and it may take me a few weeks. (All joking aside, I really do mean it when I tell that to people.)

It turned out to be one Allison Cline, who works in the police department as a grant writer, and I was partially correct, she did want to talk about a story for me to work on. That's not the reason for this blog though, you see what happened next is what had me beaming proud, she mentioned my blog by name, and said that she reads it as often as she can. That she even has it sent to her phone.

Now you see, she was the first person that I didn't know on a personal level that has ever come up to me in the 'real world' meaning not simply my friends, family and coworkers have ever mentioned reading my blog. I know that a lot of people read this, because I get thousands of hits a month, but knowing the people that read it make it so much more fun to write.

So I guess what I'm saying is that if you read this, and happen across me in the real world please feel free to stop me and tell me so. It'll make my day, and you might even be immortalized right here on the internet.

'Hamburglar' steals burgers from McDonalds drive-through customer

Augusta, Maine -- a man dressed like the McDonaldland character The Hamburglar snuck through a drive-through line and stole a bag of food as it was being passed out the window to a customer.

Police report that a teenage boy was dressed in clothes that resembled the former McDonald’s advertising character when he ran between a car and the building to snag the food right as an employee opened the window to hand it to the customer.

The theft occured at about 6 p.m. March 25.

A witness flagged down a police officer who was exiting a nearby convience store. The officer found the man in an Arby’s parking lot a few doors down eating the evidence.

The man fled into the woods while yelling obscenities at the police .

The man remains on the lam.

The Hunger Games: Which is better the book or the movie?

Office Intern Dennis Hinzman and I sit down and discuss which we liked better, the book or the movie. Check it out and let me know what you think.