Week Zero

In honor of Free Comic Book Day  — a celebration of the comic art form — we’re pleased to present a “teaser” of things to come.

The concept for what became Wide Awake started, for me, a long time ago, with a creepy scene that popped into my head, as part of my work on a videogame property. I’ve never considered myself as a horror writer (my work tends to lean towards military, espionage, and science-fiction concepts), but somehow the scene took hold.

I thought about what that scene meant, a formative experience for a young girl who was destined to have a troubled life. Creepy, filled with menace, and propelled by taking simple, mundane imagery–all of which is associated with comfort and safety–and turning it right on its head. 

So, naturally, the project I was working on was canceled. 

Fast forward a few years, and Brandon Jerwa suggested we collaborate on a short story for the second Popgun volume from Image. The scene — which I’d long ago stuffed into a mental filing cabinet and forgotten about — popped out of its box, waved “hello,” and immediately described it to Brandon. 

My recollection is that he was intrigued by it all, and liked the scene, so we began developing a new story and character, riffing off the ideas the scene sparked.

Naturally, that scene didn’t appear in Popgun, either. (What did appear is available for your perusal in various places online, including Brandon’s “Anything Goes” column, complete with commentary from the pair of us.) 

That scene. 

We’d worked for quite a while on several potential stories which we felt would be ideally suited to a webcomic. An espionage series, a science fiction series. Various funding sources appeared and just as promptly disappeared, and then, finally we ended up here. 

When I tell you this is a labor of love, I’m not kidding. The artist, Mirco Pierfederici, is turning in what I feel is remarkable work, and he’s not charging us a penny. Brandon and I are working for, basically, free. We’re not planning on any kind of pay-to-pass gate around the content. The intention is to just put it out there — a long form original work — free of charge. 

There may be posters (in fact there IS a poster). Maybe a coffee mug. Maybe more, but the core idea, the STORY, the thing we care deeply and passionately about? That’s something we hope you’ll share with us. 

If you like the teaser, stay tuned. In the coming months, the plan is to run 6 pages per week (plus some additional material — “cover” images, pinups, behind-the-scenes information), for 52 weeks. To start. 

If you like the teaser, tell your friends. Share the link. Point them at our Twitter account (@wideawakeonline). Encourage them to tell us what was good, and what was bad, in the comments section. We’re telling a story the way we want to, unfettered by external pressures (editorial and publisher needs, for example), but we also want to hear what YOU think. 

(And that scene? The one that started it all? I just started drafting it. It’s coming. Soon.) 

But first: a taste. Amanda Carter’s nightmare is just beginning. 

Eric Trautmann
Lacey, WA