Hedrick Newsletter #47
I'm Alive!
Hi Everyone! 👋
It’s been a little more than 4 months since my last newsletter and a lot has happened since then. But first, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you once again that Brackish #1 & 2 is live on Kickstarter (but only for 10 more days)!
Link here: http://kck.st/4fmGNW7
Here’s a rundown on what’s been going on since my previous newsletter:
Footpath: Dangerous Nights is 94% fulfilled. 6% of backers have not completed their surveys.
Hospice: Tunnel of Love is 38% fulfilled. All backers who have completed their surveys have received digital copies. We’ve had to pivot our plans for physical fulfillment due to Comix Wellspring shitting the bed. But we have a solid alternative and should begin that stage of fulfillment in August.
I’m back stateside (Florida) to handle fulfillment for Tunnel of Love and Brackish! In the meantime, I’m trying to do as many cons and in-store signings as possible. I’ll be at Famous Faces & Funnies in Melbourne, FL on August 8th with Austin Janowsky to sign copies of Zombies: We’re Human Too!
Multiple Kickstarter campaigns that I worked on (but did not run myself) were successfully funded to include Civil Disobedience (from A Wave Blue World), Night & Day (from David Greshel), and Time Served #1 & 3 (from Brad Scott Studios)!
I had a great time last month at Space Coast Comic Con and had a blast hanging out with Cowabunga Comics for the weekend to do a bunch of live streams on eBay and Whatnot!
And then most recently, this was announced…
Last summer I was invited by Sumerian Comics to write a graphic novel based on the Grammy nominated album “Awake” by hard rock legends, Godsmack! And the project was finally announced last week with copies available for preorder now!
Here’s a synopsis of the story:
GODSMACK: AWAKE follows Sevrin, a broken man who wakes alone in the isolated sand dunes of Massachusetts, with no memory of how he got there — only bruises, missing time, and a matchbook that keeps leading him to the wrong bar. As Sevrin drifts from one dive to the next on Halloween night, he relives violent deaths from different eras, each tied to greed, rage, and lives ruined by the same mistakes he keeps making himself. With every vision, new scars appear, blurring the line between past and present, life and afterlife. On a night when ghosts walk freely and demons laugh, Sevrin must decide whether he is doomed to relive these lives forever — or finally wake up and change.
Needless to say, this was a dream come true! Working on licensed properties (LPs) is a huge step in my growth as a writer. It shows that I can work with requests and takes notes to flesh out what the licensor wants for the property. And technically, this is my second LP! The first has yet to receive an official announcement.
After easily accepting the offer, I met with Godsmack’s management team to discuss the outline for the project. A loose pitch was already made prior to my involvement and I fleshed it out with their team members to fully understand what they wanted for this graphic novel. To summarize the theme in one word: “reincarnation.” And we talked a lot about what that meant in relation to the Awake album.
Once they felt I had an understanding of their notes, I was given the greenlight to write a 64-page script. Then the real work began. I dived deep into the band’s history, and of course, listened to the album on full repeat…often!
Before I put pen to paper, I printed out the lyrics of each track and highlighted lines that I wanted to work into the graphic novel. It was important to me that lifelong or even casual fans would be able to recognize the source material. I also wanted it to be an experience for the reader if they were to listen to the album at the same time!
Then I did my usual breakdown of one sentence descriptions for each page. This always helps me as a guide to keep the story moving and balance pacing. It also assists in building separate acts to give the book a proper beginning, middle, and end.
Typically when I write, I listen to my favorite ambient rock band called Signal Hill because they don’t use lyrics, which tend to confuse me when writing. But, I broke that tradition and had Awake on the entire time. I lost count of how many times I listened to it! However, it never got old and it set the appropriate mood. To be 100% transparent, I’m listening to it as I draft this!
Another essential element to the story was the setting. Godsmack is a band based out of Massachusetts so it was paramount to set the story there. The main arc is told throughout one single day (Halloween, the same day the album was released in 2000) and our main character, Sevrin, travels from real towns in Mass throughout his journey. To make it even more authentic, I provided our amazing interior artist, Giusi Lo Piccolo, with screenshots of each place Sevrin visits. The three splash pages I shared above are actual places in Mass with only their names changed. I also made sure that the path Sevrin takes made sense from one destination to the next.
I love doing research for a project and this one provided plenty of it! My hope is that true fans and Massachusetts residents will pick up on the authenticity. I also sprinkled in a lot of easter eggs for eagle eyed readers! Without giving anything away, Awake isn’t the only album referenced and there’s a setup for a second volume! You might be able to spot some in this promo video below.
And once I handed in the script, it went through the hands of these amazingly talented creators:
Art: Giusi Lo Piccolo
Color: Simone D’Angelo
Letters: Toni Sardina
Cover: Eduardo Schaal
The finished product is nothing less than remarkable!
And now it’s finally available to order through Sumerian Comics’ website here: https://sumerian.ink/products/godsmack-awake!
You’ll be seeing me promote the hell out of this for awhile. 😉
Well, I think that about wraps things up for this newsletter. I hope everyone is doing well, having a great summer, and staying safe!
Please let me know if you have any questions about Godsmack: Awake or any other projects in the comments below.
Thank you for your support!
Until next time,
Are all of the towns you used in a particular region of Massachusetts, or did you use screenshots from all over?