MUMMY BECOMES HIM: BRUCE ZICK ON THE ANUBIS TAPESTRY

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

To defeat the enemy, you have to become one of the same kinds as your nemesis.

That’s the story that will be told in the pages of Bruce Zick’s The Anubis Tapestry, a new illustrated prose novel from Komikwerk’s Actionopolis imprint.

Scheduled for released in September, The Anubis Tapestry revolves around the adventures of a teenager by the name of Chance Henry. “Chance sees his dad taken over by an evil time traveling mummy, Osirius,” Zick explained to Newsarama. “In order for Chance to save him, he must become a mummy and wear torn bandages from the magical Anubis Tapestry which give him great powers to battle the forces of darkness. The Anubis Tapestry was created by the Elder Gods of pre-dynasty Egypt. The tapestry represents either a power for good or evil, to create or unleash total destruction. Chance is then taught by a benevolent mummy, Osirius to learn the ancient Egyptian art of Heka Magick. Along with a strange creature sidekick, Blixx, also a time traveler who now loves the internet... and duct tape, they journey to the Underworld realm of the dead to rescue Chance's father. Ultimately deep in the Thirtieth Level of the domain of the dead sleeps the ancient all powerful Anubis, who will one day awaken and step through the Rift and conquer our world. Unless Chance Henry can find him first and defeat him and the horrible beasts that guard the slumbering immortal.”

Zick has worked in the animation business as a background designer and production illustrator at Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar and 20th Century Fox for over two decades. “I've designed Rescuers Down Under, Lion King, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Hercules, Prince of Egypt, A Bug's Life, Road to Eldorado, Titan A.E., Finding Nemo, and others.”

And he is no stranger to the world of comics, having penciled Thor, Sleepwalker, Toxic Avenger and Pirates of Darkwater for Marvel. There’s also his own series The Zone Continuum for Caliber, and Atlas and Terminal Point for Dark Horse in the 1990s.

“I've currently worked on a Disney movie, Rapunzel, a Pixar movie, W.A.L.-E, and now a Blue Sky movie, The Leafmen.”

As for what made him do a children’s book for Komikwerks’ Actionopolis? “I grew up reading great adventure stories, some illustrated and others not,” he recalled, and added that he “loved the Tom Swift stories as a kid, then grew up on Superman and Batman, then switched over to the Marvel comics, which I was insanely fanatic about. Old favorite movies were The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, King Kong, and Jason and the Argonauts. “Then I graduated to comic books and loved them. So it's in my blood. When I was writing and illustrating comics for Marvel and Dark Horse Comics, I was frustrated with the lack of space for more text, more story, richer characterization. I felt for years that an illustrated novel would be an ideal form. But not just for children. More of an all ages, or maybe 10-24 year olds. I really believe you can appeal to a wide audience and not dumb down the material to be condescending to anyone.”

Zick has had two internet strips running at Komikwerks’ website for several years, namely The Zone Continuum and the recently added The Universal Intergalactic Discovery Co.. Therefore, it’s not a surprise when the owners of the site, Patrick Coyle and Shannon Denton, wanted to branch out and do the Actionopolis books that they approached him to do a book for the new imprint. “Of course I was exicted to be involved,” he added.

The inspiration for The Anubis Tapestry came from his love for the Egyptian mythology. “And mummy movies,” he said. “I wanted to start with what is familiar in history, and then reinvent it with a different older pantheon of gods, different ideas of what a mummy is, and a completely newly invented Underworld with Thirty Levels, Thirty Portals, and Thirty Monsters who guard the Portals and must each be defeated. I then sorta channeled all the entertainment that I grew up on, from comics to movies and art, and voila—The Anubis Tapestry!

“This book format is a logical extension of the comic book,” he continued. “It has richly layered text and plenty of illustrations of different sizes, like a graphic novel, but with more words than pictures. As far as storytelling, it involves ideas familiar to comics--adventure, fantasy, weird creatures, and lots of danger and excitement.

“I think retailers should really jump on this format because it really widens the market for what a comic book idea can become. It's like taking a hardback graphic novel and adding more complexity to it. If stores carry these types of books and promote them, they'll create more of a market for new readers, which is good for everybody. It's in retailers own self interest to make this book a valid part of their shelf display. C'mon--don't you guys want to make more money?

“If you have time to kill, you can look at my artwork at my website: www.pigdogproductions.com --it's chock full of loads of fun crazy stuff. Along the top row are four icons that will take you to film art, comic art, illustrations, and fine art.”

The Anubis Tapestry is now available for pre-order in the July Diamond Previews catalog (listed under Komikwerks, page 300) and will be hitting stores in September. The ordering code for The Anubis Tapestry is JUL06 3280.

For more information and to read a preview chapter of the book, click here.

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