In issue 68 in 1993 I had a letter published which mentioned a comic shop I wound up working in for nine years, and while my comic collection fluctuated between then and becoming a writer as an adult (initially a music journalist and film critic with some fiction for fun), the Femforce comics from my teenage years always remained with me. The characters are perfect archetypes of the classic superhero blueprints, and that has always been appealing to me as a fan.
When I had my first script picked up in 2015 ('The Rage of Traxis') I had no idea that I would continue to write story after story for the team, and also no idea just how much I would develop under the guidance of the Heikes.
Femforce issue 186 will be something of a milestone for me as it is the first issue where I have written the main lead story, namely 'March of the Etherium', which introduces brand new adversaries who may well prove to be too powerful to stop. We shall see how they do when the story concludes with its second part soon after!
Knowing there'll be a Femforce comic book with an Andrew Hawnt story at the helm is a delight and an honour, and I can't wait for the next adventure. Incidentally, now is the perfect time to discover my Femforce work as the current Femforce issue 184 features no less than five of my stories across the issue. So what are some of the things I have learned to develop leading up to this point?
- An understanding of movement in comics panels
- Moving a story along using dialogue, thoughts and captions as well as action
- Making sure artists clearly know who is in each panel
- Ensuring that characters don't act in a manner which contradicts their established personalities
- Showing that superhero characters are still people with thoughts and emotions beneath their masks
- How to set stories up and focus on the pace and plot
- Ending stories with a desired atmosphere, be it uplifting, shocking or poignant
There's a lot more, but it's late and I have pages to do. I just wanted to say what a pleasure it is to get to do this, to enjoy the playground that AC have been building since the 1980s. Here's to many more stories to come.
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