ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND 19X27 Print Art!!

Paul Loudon and myself have decided to launch a mini fundraiser prior to launching a proper Kickstarter to fund a pilot episode for ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. 

AVAILABLE NOW!! Order a special 19x27 print of Paul's amazing promotional work for ALICE. As a special thank you for taking part in funding the pilot, not only will you receive a thank you in the credits for the pilot, YOU WILL BE GIVEN THE OPTION OF US USING YOUR LIKENESS AS AN EXTRA IN THE PILOT EPISODE!!

Once you have purchased the print please sent us a photograph of yourself to swashbucklingalice@gmail.com

You will also receive a character sheet of the way you will appear in the series!!

The cost is $75 per print and limited to 25 only. Click on the button below to preorder today.

Alice now on Google+

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Alice is now on Twitter!!

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Alice: Victorian Adventuress

One of the things that has driven me to create this version of  Alice was I had become tired of all the fetishy cheesecake versions out there.

 

Especially in comics.

 

It's amazing how many sexed-up versions of Alice there are out there. Which is slightly disturbing considering Alice was supposed to be a SIX YEAR OLD girl in Lewis Carroll's original tale. Although, the age has varied in the various productions over the years between six to ten years of age.

 

Although yes Alice is sixteen years old in my version of Wonderland, I wanted to offer something different from fetishy Alice. I wanted an Alice that was fun and adventurous with a distinct style all  her own. This Alice was not to be a pin-up. But a rough and tumble swashbuckling Victorian Adventuress. These were the things Paul and I worked very hard to create.

 

This was to be an Alice who wasn't all cogs, corsets and cleavage. I wanted to infuse the best bits of what I love about the Doctor in Doctor Who, Harry Potter and a dash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

 

...just for good measure.

 

What also surprised me when Ainsley how very few girls adventure shows there are on Cartoon Network. I find this to be very unfortunate. Although, I enjoy many of the screwball comedies on CN. I think it could definitely use a show young girls can enjoy.

 

Alice perhaps?

Meet the Real Life Alice...

Some time ago Carrie Uihlein Nilles contacted by via email to ask permission to use the design Paul and I created for her daughter Beth's cosplay.

 

Both Carrie and her daughter were fans of Alice in Wonderland and Steampunk and they had come upon my concept sketch on deviantart.

 

As Carrie mentioned in her email Beth was so happy to find something that was not all corsets and cogs but still awesome and steampunk. I was also very happy they asked my permission to use the design before just using it.

 

She mentioned that she told her daughter it is probably best to ask artists for permission whenever possible. Trying to instill some intellectual property rights values in there.

 

Which I think is incredibly thoughtful of her. And quite honestly I was incredibly flattered that they liked the design Paul and I worked really hard on to create for Beth's cosplay.

 

And the result was terrific!!

 

 

It should be mentioned that in their own way, Carrie and Beth have inspired the project too. Her statement of  "Something that was not all corsets and cogs" has become the project's battle cry for the lack of a better word.

 

And that's the influence I wanted my version of Alice to have. Not only that. Carrie and Beth did a fantastic job creating the costume!! It's for people like Carrie and Beth that makes me continue to move this project forward.

The evolution of the Alice Project...

 

The project which would ultimately become known as ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND simply started out as sketches I did for a Steampunk inspired show my wife Syd and I were taking part in. Syd innocently mentioned that I had never done any Steampunk versions of Alice in Wonderland.

 

Which prompted me to do two illustrations of Alice and her Wonderland cohorts in decidedly retro futuristic Victorian Garb. The one you see above is the color version of one of those illustrations.

 

As I worked on the illustrations I begun to toy with the idea of a story that would go along with the images. A story which would begin where Alice's adventures down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass left off. Re-imagining her as a swashbuckling adventuress fighting back against a decidedly transformed version of The Queen of Hearts. Mixing the best bits of what I love about Doctor Who as well as Harry Potter...

 

...and with a dash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer tossed in there for just good measure.

 

It was around that same time I got to know illustrator Paul Loudon. I felt like the project needed to go in a different direction as far as the look and the feel of the artwork is concerned. And I felt my style just didn't have that right feel for the story I had created. And Paul's did.

 

I initially asked him if he would be interested and sent him a copy of the script. Which at that point I had written as a graphic novel.

 

He said yes and from there I began to work on character sketches in my notebook for him to go by.

 

 

He took my initial sketch of Alice in a slightly different direction which I absolutely loved.

THIS Alice fit the story. My only instructions was that Alice was not to be "oversexed". She's a sixteen year old girl in this story and not a pin-up. I had seen so many cheesecake versions of Alice, especially in comics, and I wanted a version of her that reimagined her as a fun swashbuckling action adventuress.

 

It amazes me how many oversexed versions of Alice there are out there. Especially considering she's a six year old girl in the original story.

 

While I had these stipulations for Alice. The Queen of Hearts on the other hand...

 

 

Paul's artwork has really set the tone as far as the story is concerned. The plot itself when I was developing it as a graphic novel was originally supposed to be one self-contained story. However, the more I looked at it, the more I realized I could break the story itself down into a season of episodes for a potential animated series.

 

This is where Ainsley Rivers Waller comes in. An old chum for college, she has helped me to rewrite a lot of the script as well as groom the scripts of each episode.

 

It's become a real team effort as we have worked on getting Alice off the ground from just merely being Steampunk to being a proper swashbuckling girls action-adventure series.

 

And we're just getting started...

 



Meet the Artist: Paul Loudon

The key cast to ALICE by Paul Loudon

If you have been wondering just who has been creating the amazing artwork for the project, that would be Manchester England based illustrator Paul Loudon. Our chief character designer and layout artist. As well as someone who has helped develop it with me.

 

I had got to know Paul through his deviantart and I knew right away he was the perfect fit for the project I had been working on. He had just the right action adventure style for Alice.

 

And he even helped come up with the title ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND. The project had been under the working title ALICE THE ADVENTURESS IN WONDERLAND. Until Paul wisely pointed out most of the action took play on Earth as opposed to Wonderland.

 

The title, much like Paul's work, fit everything just right.

 

Paul and I have worked very closely together (albeit overseas) on creating the right look for the project in it's various stages.  He had worked with character sketches I had initially created adding his own flair to the characters. Even created the amazing poster-style promotional art.

 

Alice and Company facing a tall task... a towering task as a matter of fact. Illustrated by Paul Loudon

 

Be sure to visit his website to check out more of his work. As well as keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter.

 

His work is just too good to miss!