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The Pitch:
Steve Bryant
By Brian Jacks

02.19.03

Welcome to Slushfactory.com's weekly feature, "The Pitch," where creators "pitch" you their newest, upcoming project in hopes of persuading you to give it a chance.

Pitching this week is Steve Bryant.

Pitching last week: Battle Pope creator Robert Kirkman

THE PITCH: One creator, Six questions.

Article continued below advertisement

Your name: Steve Bryant
Title of book: Athena Voltaire and the Terror in Tibet
Publisher of book: AdventureStrips.com
Ongoing or miniseries: 32-part weekly web comic. Print series to follow, hopefully.
Other collaborators on book: Paul Daly (writer) and Chad Fidler (colorist)
Expected on-sale date: New installments every Tuesday at www.adventurestrips.com

(1) Fill in the blanks: My name is Steve Bryant and I am best known for...bunches of roleplaying illustrations and collectible card game art.

(2) What is your book about?

Here's the official hype paragraph: What secret lurks in a secluded monastery at Mt. Everest? What are rival parties of Nazi and English black magicians willing to kill for? And what could have torn every member of a climbing expedition limb from limb..? Join Athena Voltaire, globetrotting avaitrix, as she races against time to save the world. It's pretty much 1930's Indiana Jones-style adventures starring a James Cameron-style female pilot.

(3) What is the origin of this project, secret or otherwise? Give us the origin story.

Athena Voltaire started off as a pitch for a 4-issue mini-series that we began shopping around conventions last summer. Through a mutual friend, we were put in touch with Chris Mills and Joey Manley (the editor and publisher of AdventureStrips.com, respectively). AS.com seemed like a great place to launch our heroine as we continue to shop the print version of her adventures.

(4) Aside from the promise of tall dollars, what drew you to this project? Why now?

Pulp adventure! Exotic locales! In the first 18 weeks of the strip, I've already drawn New York, Kansas, Arizona, Germany, Scotland, Morocco and Tibet! Nasty bad guys, occultists and a great leading lady! What more can an artist ask for?

(5) Why should a reader pick your book over, say, lunch on a given day? Pitch away.

For $2.95 a month, readers can subscribe to AdventureStrips.com and get 54 pages of story a month from creators like Mike Barr, Rick Burchett, Steven Butler and more (including Athena Voltaire). Plus, subscribers get access to the over 200 pages of "back issues."

(6) Anything else you'd like to add?

Tim Bradstreet says Athena Voltaire is "rollicking high adventure" and Mark Schultz calls it "fun and compelling." We've also gotten glowing reviews at Ain't-It-Cool-News, Sequential Tart and Comic World News.

Concluding Note: Where can readers go for more information:

- www.adventurestrips.com
- www.athenavoltaire.com

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