Hi My Name is Brad, I Write Things.
Ready to meet the other half of the Chadderbox creative team?
Hi. I’m Bradley Layden. I’m the word guy. Well, not the guy who actually puts the words in the panels. Chad hasn’t shown me how that works. But I am the guy who writes the words that GO in the panels, and I create the majority of the stories you’ll be reading in this universe. Nice to meet you.
Before I give away some tasty tidbits on what Chad and I have been working on, I’d like to thank you. Thank you for reading this, and hopefully sticking around to read our comics. Having a community to share this with will be one of the best parts of the process. On that note, stay tuned, and stay patient. It’s coming. I’ve seen actual finished pages for Jade. They exist, and they blow my mind. Things ARE happening, but let me quote...someone in saying that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Now, we’re not the type to make excuses about our pace. For example, we’d never use the fact that between the two of us, we have four children and just as many jobs as a reason why you aren’t already enjoying our products. Or that we’re building these books and this company from scratch. We respect you readers too much for that. But give us time to deliver the best, most entertaining comics we can, and we hope you’ll find it well worth the wait.
In the meantime, let me talk about what Chadderbox has on our slate right now. First off, there’s our flagship title, “Jade”. Without going full-spoilers (we don’t do that here either), it’s about a girl. And Chinese magic. And Kung Fu. And Demons. And Vampires. It’s also full of teen angst and possibly a little romance? I just realized that some of those things sound like “Twilight”. It’s not like that at all. Please believe me. You’re going to find action, suspense and epic choices that impact the fate of TWO dimensions! See? Way cooler!
Also, did you notice I specifically said “flagship title?” The reason for that is very exciting. Again, without revealing too much, Chad and I had a conversation where I pitched him a concept that Jade might not be the only game in town. While she’ll be a vital part of the Chadderbox universe, and she’ll (eventually) be a powerful hero, she’s not your typical “super hero”. Similar to a certain mystical surgeon who has a movie coming out soon, Jade will eventually meet others who are more….traditionally heroic on her journey. Exactly who these other people are, what they do and how they do it are still being discussed. But you’re going to see a corporate-sponsored super team, and either through that series or a book all his own, meet a young man currently going by Overdrive. Along the way, you’ll see gangster werewolves, a massive world-shaking conspiracy, mysterious space rocks, illegal genetic experiments and possibly a codpiece. I haven’t told Chad about the codpiece yet.
So that’s all I’m allowed to say about WHAT Chadderbox is up to, but let’s talk about HOW we’re doing this. The way we want to tell our stories. As de-facto Editor-In-Chief of Chadderbox Studios, my vision is to tell stories with super heroics, magic, espionage, adventure, war, horror and romance, all in one big universe. Different books will have a different combination of these elements, and feel very distinct, but will always have a chance to rub up against other characters in the world. And despite all the fantastical and over-the-top themes we’ll explore, we want the stories to feel modern and grounded. These characters will react the way real people would to having these abilities and being thrust into these situations. Sure, most of them will be trying to do the right thing, but “the right thing” can be interpreted many different ways! The other thing you’ll see in our world that breaks comic convention is that this universe WILL change. Time will pass. Characters will get old (if they are lucky enough to!). If someone dies here, they will almost certainly stay that way. If a character changes radically, rest assured that we won’t go back to the status quo in less than a year. The stories will impact this universe in a permanent way.
Also, even though our stories will be modern and and as realistic as possible, first and foremost they will be accessible. Sure, there’ll be some thrilling and emotional moments in our books, but we want you to feel safe letting your favourite tween read them too. Chad and I grew up loving the stories of Marvel and DC, from the early eighties to today. Yes, we want folks creeping up to forty the way we are to enjoy our comics. But we want their children to be able to pick up our books and love them as much or more. If the comic medium is going to survive another century, we have to make our kids think it’s still cool!
Sorry. That got a little long-winded. I don’t know when to stop, but I’m excited about what we’re doing, and wanted you to know all about it! The plan right now is that you’ll be reading Jade by Christmas 2016. Probably digitally, but you may also have an option to buy a physical book. Soon kids. Soon.
Stay tuned for awesomeness!
B
