About 'Code Name: Hunter':
What to say about 'Hunter'... I'd love to say 'Hunter' is a labor of love but it's more like a labor of insanity. Created by a programmer and a former librarian - who really should have both known better - 'Hunter' follows the adventures of a fellow employed by the British government to investigate... odd occurrences. Random disappearances, diplomatic missions, ritualistic murders, vampires, werewolves, rampaging fey, things of that nature. You know, your average, everyday incidents. Oh, and did we mention he's a gray mouse?
Don't worry, it will all make sense. Really.
Series Overview:
Imagine a world much like our own, where the day to day is just that. Now, what would happen if one day that stopped and all the myths and stories returned to the light of day? That was London sixty years ago when, during one of the darkest nights of World War II, a certain stained glass seal broke and the old magic returned to a city that had known nothing but reason and logic for almost a millennium.
In the midst of war this new crisis was noticed and a stopgap put into place. Sixty years later this stopgap, a small agency buried deep in Britain's bureaucracy, is still holding. Knowing there is no way of stopping the magic, they try to keep the old ways and older creatures from gaining ground too quickly and a populace, just starting to regain their abilities with magic, from destroying themselves.
Sound fantastic? Well, it is. 'Code Name: Hunter' is a fantasy comic. Urban fantasy. However, it's also a comic about relationships, people and day to day life where things are just a little bit surreal. The comic's focus is not just on the weirdness cropping up, but on the lives, work and play of two people employed by an agency whose task just happens to be keeping a handle on the things that go bump in the night.
Welcome to RCSI.
The History of 'Hunter':
'Hunter' began as a series of stories that, unfortunately few people online were willing to sit down and read. Something about too much text or some such. Not a good thing to say to a librarian. But, we believed we had a good idea and so tried to find another way to attract readers. Matt's plan... a comic. My thoughts... hell no. You see, he writes. I draw. A comic did not sound like a favorable idea to me. More drawing? Time is limited as it is. But eventually I gave in and 'Hunter' moved into the comic realm in September of 2003. Only to go through a restart in January of 2005. What happened? The first version was sketchy, literally. Not something I felt was worthy of this story we wanted to tell. So we started over. Bigger, badder (in the good sense) and bolder... thanks to the wonderful world of Prismacolor!
(Though let me tell you something... Never attempt to color a comic in colored pencil for a long period of time. You will go insane. Trust me on this.)
By some accounts 'Hunter' is an odd comic for the web. Clocking out at a minimum of 80 issues (with each issue at 24 pages), it's a big baby who we fear will one day be large enough to eat the Jersey Turnpike. Designed for print, the updates are actual full page layouts. The work is drawn and colored by hand with the computer coming in for the borders, text and balloons. The pace moves slower than other comics due to us taking the time to focus on the characters themselves. Each page doesn't end on a joke or a cliffhanger. The good guys don't always win. The bad guys aren't pure evil. And dead means dead.
It's taken some time to figure things out but we're starting to hit our stride and things can only get better with time. So here's looking at a bright future. Come along for the ride, won't you?
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