Four Color Dreams

Four Color Dreams

Charles Romans

The Ashland Beacon

Comic books have been a pop culture staple for generations, and long before improvements in printing or digital renderings, the medium followed an industry rule of using four basic colors. The four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) were used to make all the other colors shown on the pages of original comics—but those four base colors ignited the vivid imaginations of millions.

In the modern world of comics and digital art in general, artists have a nearly unlimited palette of colors to work from, as well as improved printing techniques and even superior paper stock that reduces the “bleed” of colors that occurred on the classically used newsprint. These advantages help comic creators immensely; but as the most powerful passenger plane today owes its existence to the Wright Brothers’ first flight, so too does the vibrant kaleidoscope of modern colors trace their origins back to those four basic colors.

Local man Lucas Harbolt grew up reading comics, and he said they were a major part of his young life. This love of comics, both the stories and the art, led Harbolt to his current position at The Inner Geek Comic Book Store and his work at the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention. Harbolt can discuss everything from current issues of independent comics to fringe or “lost” storylines in classic comics from Marvel, DC, and other companies that have stopped printing or been absorbed by larger companies.

The reason for this is simple—Harbolt loves storylines. He loves artwork. Harbolt is a huge fan of comics that excel at combining the two, but he can also point out the strengths and weaknesses of titles that might miss the mark but still be well worth the time to experience them. Most are worth the time, he said, because every story is unique and valuable.

Recently, Harbolt has realized a year’s-long dream of writing and releasing his own comic book. “It’s called ‘Sword for Hire – Witches Don’t Burn and Other Tales’,” he said. “It’s a 36-page ‘one-shot’,” Harbolt explained. “The plan is to do another one, but it won’t necessarily be a ‘Sword for Hire’ Volume 2. It will have its own designated title as well.”

The main characters in “Sword for Hire” are itinerant adventurers Gene and Craig, who begin the story by “rescuing” an accused witch who is about to be burned for the alleged crime. “They are always looking to make a quick dollar,” Harbolt said of the main characters. “But what they find is trouble more often than not.”

“This is something I have wanted to do for a long time,” Harbolt said of the project. “I have always loved comics and comic book storytelling. But as a writer, the process is very expensive, so I had to wait until I was in a good place financially. Now I have better financial stability,” he said. “And I realized that since I am in my mid-thirties, it was time to make this happen.”

The process began to take shape about a year ago, he said. Harbolt said he went on the social media platform Reddit to find an artist to help bring his vision to life. He began checking artists’ pages on that platform to see if he thought their artwork was compatible with what he wanted and to see if those artists were available for new work.

“One of the first things artists ask is if you have a complete script,” Harbolt said. “The writer is the one breaking things down and setting the pace and tone of the story.” This, he said, gives the artist a framework wherein to work their own magic. But there are different styles of scripts and methods, and different artists prefer working with different types of scripts. Harbolt said he went with the full script style so nothing would be lost in translation.

Each artist works on different rate scales, Harbolt said. “You don’t really discuss an artist’s rates,” he said. “But to finish this book it cost around $3,000. That is artist, designer, logo, and letterer.”

Paying artists and other professionals up front allows Harbolt to maintain copyright. “Everything in ‘Sword for Hire’ is owned by me,” he said. But everyone receives credit for their work. “A comic book is rarely a one-man band,” Harbolt said. “And I believe in a collaborative field you should treat your collaborators well. And every time I post about it (on social media) I tag all the other creators, even if they don’t necessarily want credit.”

The project was paid for up front, Harbolt said, with, among other things, a Kickstarter campaign. This first project might not yield a lot of profit, he said, but will help facilitate future projects. The real payoff for Harbolt, after all of the technical issues were handled, was seeing his creation on the shelf at a comic bookstore.

“It is surreal,” Harbolt said of that part of the experience. “When I have people who don’t know me personally come in and ask to buy my comic, it’s a new feeling,” he said. But it is one he is getting used to. “It is amazing.”

Harbolt acknowledges that he is in a privileged position by not only working at The Inner Geek, but that The Inner Geek supports independent comics. “It is literally my job to talk up comics,” he said. “But Batman isn’t going to get sidelined so I can talk up ‘Sword for Hire.’”

“If you don’t typically read comics and you want to give it a shot, or if you know me but comics aren’t really your thing, I would say give it a shot,” Harbolt said. “Every comic is someone’s first comic,” he said. “I will often say that you might not like my comic, but I guarantee that there is a comic book out there you will love if you just give it a chance.”

“Comics aren’t just superheroes or knights fighting dragons,” Harbolt said. “They are their own unique medium.” For every story about Superman there is a story about a young girl time-traveling, and for every Batman book there is one that is a dystopian technological thriller, he said. “If you like movies or you like books, you like comics. You just have to find the right one. And maybe ‘Sword for Hire’ is that comic for you. I hope it is; but if not, there really is a comic for everyone.”