The current date is July 21st. Preview night for San Diego Comic Con is Wednesday July 23rd. It can be counted in hours. Still. News pours in. More panels announced, after parties. Events added to the ever expanding calendar. It’s being written as I write — you cannot see everything.
One project I’ve been keeping my eye on is designer Ash Thorp‘s ‘Lost Boy.’ From the images Thorp has debuted on his Instagram feed, ‘Lost Boy‘ looks to be a raw and aggressive adventure that will include a graphic novel written by Thorp and filmmaker Anthony Scott Burns, as well as vinyl figures, posters, and other items.
Last we saw Burns and Thorp they had created the main titles for OFFF Barcelona, a sequence grounded in a similar mood as their short film from 2013, ‘Manifold.’ There’s an elegant an alien touch to those collective creations, tone poems written in digital frames. There current collaboration takes a more delirious and brutal approach — the world of ‘Lost Boy’ is shaping up to be an explosive rush of chaotic contemporary sci-fi.
Thorp revealed some images of a book he had made specifically to show at Comic Con, an edition of two that he created to share with friends, peers, and fans, yet regrettably, there will be no copies for sale.
I reached out to Ash to do an update of our previous chat about the ongoing development of his first original work, ‘Lost Boy.’
Image of tech design from ‘Ender’s Game’ | Ash Thorp, Lead Motion Graphics Designer
Image of tech design from ‘Prometheus’ | Ash Thorp
ETDC: As someone that works mainly with high-end properties in Hollywood, I’m curious if that affects how you approach creating your own original work. Knowing how something like ‘Prometheus’ or ‘Ender’s Game’ comes together, does that add pressure or relieve it?
AT: Personal work is when I can truly own the work. It’s a wonderful state of being and a hard place to be for me as I am so hard on my work. I want everything to be at its highest level of quality for whoever is on the receiving end.
I want people to be excited and eager for more when they get a taste of the world we are building. Coming from film and understanding the level of craft really helps and inspires me to take my own personal work to that higher level.
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
What’s in the ‘Lost Boy’ book you’ll have with you at Comic Con? I’ve seen a few pages of black and white sketches and a bit of text — is there a narrative to the book?
It’s a 110 page book that I made two copies of. It has some early conceptual art of the characters that live in the story that Anthony Scott Burns and I created.
Anthony wrote and awesome short story that encapsulates the synopsis of the story and opens up the reader to what this world is about. I created the book so that I would have something other than a bunch of images on my phone to share with other artists and fans at Comic Con.
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
That’s a pretty smart move, but I’m guessing it was a lot of work to put together. Where in the development process of ‘Lost Boy’ is this book? Was it made specifically for Comic Con?
Currently ‘Lost Boy’ is in early development as we have just wrapped up the story and built the world that we are excited to play in.
Now comes the graphic novel and the rest of the concepts. The book that I have for Comic Con is a very early glance at what is to come. It’s filled with lots of rough sketches and early art along with the story and little moments from the world.
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Is anyone else on board with the writing of ‘Lost Boy’? How many artists are on board outside of you?
Right now it is just Anthony and I building and writing ‘Lost Boy.’ I like to keep things as tight as possible, and Anthony and I have created many projects together so there is a great unspoken trust that we have when we create.
I will send him an idea and he will refine it and vice versa. Outside of that, we have my friends Rafael Grassetti and Igor Catto who are creating an amazing sculpt of one of the main characters that we hope to make replications of if / when the Kickstarter is a success.
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
You’ve mentioned doing a Kickstarter before to get the project up and running. Any date set for that?
Aiming to get the Kickstarter going end of this year or early next year. I would like to have 80% of the work done before I start the campaign.
So if I can cut out 3 – 4 months of time to start building the comic and the rest of the book we should be on time. I want the book to be amazing along with everything else I have in store for this project.
Page of Ash Thorp’s ‘Lost Boy’ book made exclusively for Comic Con 2014
For more from Ash Thorp and his ‘Lost Boy’ project follow these handy links –
Ash Thorp’s The Collective Podcast
Previously on Evil Tender — Story & Movement: Interview with Designer Ash Thorp
Previously on Evil Tender — Interview: Ash Thorp Talks ‘Lost Boy’ (Part I)
Slamming!!!!