Yars' Revenge: The Comic Book!

Entry posted by StanJr April 8, 2014

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As some of you may have heard, I have been toying around with a Yars' Revenge comic book. I am doing this entirely as a writing exercise to see if I can do it. I am a huge comic book nerd and would LOVE to write comics for real, but as I am not an actual writer, this is more of a dream than something I could actually do. That said, if I ever want to even consider making that dream a reality, it is going to take some practice. So that's where this project comes from.

I always had a fondness for the 9 page quasi-instruction manual comic book that accompanied the Yars' Revenge video game. The game was a favorite as a kid and the comic was icing on the cake. As an adult comic fan rereading the tight little story composed by Hope Shafer, my imagination began to grow and expand the world of the Yars'. While there isn't much outside of the basic gameplay and some very 80's Atari exposition to be found in that mini-comic, I felt there was a seed in there. A seed that could grow.

I've decided to take that seed and run with it. I realize that an actual comic book version of this project will likely NEVER see the light of day. First, I am an amateur writer, and NOT an artist of any stripe. Second, god knows who owns the rights to the Yars' Revenge name and characters, nor how badly they would pursue me if I tried to actually do something with the name. Third, I'm poor. Mounting a grass roots comic takes money and know-how in terms of getting printed and published. I have none of that.

Now that I have sufficiently discouraged everyone, let me tell you why I still think this project can be fun. Despite all of the above, I still believe in the vision I have for the Yars' universe and story. I still think there is fun to be had, even if it is just fun for fun's sake. And isn't that the best kind of fun, really? So, while this may not bear any kind of real fruit, I think it would be fun to imagine what if...?

Since there is no real hope of this making it outside the realm of, dare I say it, fan fiction. I figure the best way to share what I'm doing with anyone who might be interested is to share it here on Atariage. A place where like-minded folks might at least give the Yars' comic a glance and say, "boy, that would be really cool!" If anyone is going to care about a Yars' Revenge Comic Book it is you good people.

My goal is to tell exciting and fun science fiction stories that explore and expand the world made possible from the existing Yars' Revenge source material. Since the game's instruction manual is all game details, this limits us to what is written in the original comic. I want to stay as faithful as possible to the spirit of the comic book and the game even as I open it up to all kinds of new ideas.

Honestly, I could see writing something like this for at least 10-15 issues to start, with even more stories possible. My first story is a 3 issue arc. I am a big fan of 60's, 70's, and 80's comics and LOVE the single-issue story, so even though the first story arc is 3 issues, I feel strongly that each issue should be a self contained story that is part of a larger whole.

So that's the general idea. In my next entry I will layout the basic pitch for why a Yars' Revenge comic is even a good idea in the first place, why I see so much potential in the subject matter, and lay the foundation for the first story arc. I will also share some very rustic design sketches I have done so that we can all have a good laugh.

I would love to hear more feedback on this idea.

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Nathan Strum 11,922

Posted April 9, 2014

Go for it. As long as you're having fun doing it, that's all the reason you'll ever need. Fact is, that's the best reason. If other people enjoy it too, then it's bonus points.