Lendin’ a Hand to Lil’ Guy
Monday, August 11th, 2008
The guys from Lil’ Guy Productions left a voicemail message for me this afternoon. If you’ve been following the posts here, they were the subjects I interviewed for Present Magazine at Prosperos Bookstore last month. They’ve asked me to help them write a proposal to promote their graphic novel series to Marvel, DC and at least one other comic book publisher with which I am not familiar. Maybe King’s Press?
In any case, the proposal is really just a brief summary of the Lil’ Guy comic’s plot line. Creator Chuck Smith said he feels a little too close to the story to summarize its broad scope and the pain he survived. Based on his teenage years, the graphic novels tell a dark story about an under-sized junior high kid who’s bullied by his affluent classmates and step-father. The boy eventually learns to defend himself, which is when the books turn violent and also are oddly at their best. It’s clear the comic book has become a natural cathartic outlet for its writer.
Smith and colleagues James Rider and Mike Valverde are in the middle of completing the six-issue series, but it’s evident the comics will close in a blood bath. I’ve agreed to help out with the summary so the Lil’ Guy story might move on to a much larger stage. I’ll keep you posted.
