By NOEL MURPHY
COMICS have come a long way from the golden days of last century and proven a great survivor of the artworld.
The space heroes and jungle lords once viewed as a bad influence on young minds have moved across all manner of genres: Hollywood blockbusters, fanzines, graphic novels, videos, enough merchandising paraphernalia to boggle the brain, manga, anime, gaming …
The changes keep coming, too, as Geelong’s Jess Alsop and Ayan Abeysekera will happily attest.
They’re working up a new comic dubbed Template Heroes using all manner of computer programming and design, backed by crowd sourcing, which could hardly be further from from the hastily rendered pen-and-ink strip toons that once characterised cartoons.
The pair hold degrees in interactive entertainment, majoring in animation — Jessica also has credentials in game development from Deakin Uni – and are half-way through their tale of a multi-player online game.
Both Jess and Ayan admit to being video game junkies and comic addicts. They share the artwork and scripting between them.
Artistically it’s a big ask to collaborate but they work together comfortably, Jess says.
“We disagree but we have an understanding of what we both want to achieve so we work together to come up with a better idea,” she said.
The couple are hoping to get their Template Heroes out to the market by mid-year with a website kickstarter but, like many artists, are at the mercy of time and finances.
