Unveiling the Excitement of a New Comic Book Series
- Jason J. Cross
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
INTRODUCTION
Hello, everyone out there. It is me, JJ Cross, the boss of Four Sides of Cross. And how many of you are out there today? Let me see if I can count. Uh, yeah, I see. Oh, and over there as well. Ohh, and over there. So by my count, I know that it is. . . Okay, you got me. From my position, I can't see anyone, but I can safely assume there are close to 100,000, obviously.
Hello out there to my 100,000-plus fans, who may or may not be part of my imagination. Welcome to a new installment of the inner workings of my mind. Please take a seat, and don't mind the cobwebs and dust. It is The Maids' day off.
TITLE
Now, I hope you're strapped in because we're going into the next comic book series entitled Cross Roads. That is a tentative title and may change as we continue with this series, so please don't get too attached to it. At any time you think of a more appropriate name, please let me know. Since we're just beginning the series, I don't expect you guys to have any, so let's just get this series started.
ORIGIN
In today's episode, I'll give you an introduction to the story and its characters. In future installments, we'll delve deeper into the timeline and characters, but for now, let me discuss the origins of this story. I wrote this script in 2016, during the final moments of my first marriage. It had deteriorated so severely that, though we were still living together, I was sleeping in the living room. When I was sitting in the living room at night, this idea came to me, and I wrote the whole pilot episode for what was going to be a whole new series.
INSPIRATION
I wrote two episodes, but let's focus on the pilot. The basic idea originated from the Queensrÿche album, Operation: Mindcrime. If you haven't heard this album, you really should check it out. In fact, why don't you do it now? Go ahead, we'll wait. Hurry up, because the rest of us are waiting.
Well, it's about time. What took you so long? It was really not respectful for those of us who had to wait for you to listen to what is arguably one of the best albums of the late '80s. Not sure why you waited so long, but here we are. It's OK, send me a check or money order for $250 for my time, and all will be forgiven.
THE STORY (SORT OF)
Alrighty then, where were we? Oh, yes, this story idea originated from that album, but it's not the same story, not even close. The mere thought of a man with a plan arriving in a city taken over by crime is about all it has in common with that album. Everything else came from my mind.
I was impressed with how this story came from my mind so easily, considering what I was going through at the time. You would think that there would have been some kind of writer's block because of the emotional turmoil I was going through, but that was a story that really wanted to escape my brain.
I wanted to tell my own version of 'Operation Mindcrime' since I first heard it, but I didn't have this much detail in mind at the time. Over the years, various versions crossed my mind, but none came close to what I wrote. I was once focused on writing the story as a musical.
As a writer, it's crucial to continually challenge yourself and write diverse types of stories and genres. Even the great Stephen King, who's known as the master of Horror, also branches out with stories like Stand By Me, The Running Man, and Shawshank Redemption. Find your niche, but be sure to branch. From time to time, to keep your mind challenged and open.
OTHER WORKS
Over the years, I have been best known for my horror stories and short films, but I also have other works available. I have 3 Christian novels and a poetry book available on Amazon. I also now have two comic books, available on Amazon as well. Let me give you a few minutes for my shameless plug to hit you. Did you purchase these books? If not, I'll give you a few more minutes to do so. With such an amazing plug like that, I don't know why you wouldn't. I can already hear the sales notes playing in my mind.
BACK TO THE STORY
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Over the years, I've continued to think of this story as a musical. I even wrote one song that introduced the setting by having drug dealers sing, “The Streets Belong to Us.” I lost that writing some time ago. Consider yourself lucky. I am man enough to admit that I really can't hold a tune.
So, when I finally started writing this script, I approached the plot from a different mind and a fresh perspective. There was no outline, and it was not pieced together like a Frankenstein of ideas. Nope, it was nothing but fresh ideas that flow entirely right out of me. It was very comfortable, considering what was going through my mind at the time.
WHAT TOOK SO LONG?
Now, some of you might be asking why I haven't done anything with this script in almost 10 years. The answer is straightforward: time. I was trying to produce films as quickly as possible. Making the script into a short film would have taken considerably longer. The script is about 45 pages. That translates to about 45 minutes of screen time. Considering it takes me 2 hours to animate 30 seconds of film, this would require a significant amount of time.
If you're trying to gain traction for your content or increase followers on your YouTube channel, you know that regularly releasing content is essential. It would have taken me too long to complete this project. It was not good timing.
I never forgot about this story or the script; it was always in the back of my mind. I even created the characters in my program called Character Creator by Reallusion. So the timing was off, but the plan to eventually make this project never left my mind.
COMIC BOOKS
As I start creating comic books, I realized that this would be the perfect way to tell this story. I used my first two issues of Four Sides of Cross Presents as an experiment and a learning tool towards creating this series. Now that the second issue of Four Sides of Cross Presents is out, it is time to start putting together this story.
Although I have written two episodes for this series, I will start by creating the pilot script. It is not a complete story, but it's full enough to tell a story. If it gains enough interest from the audience, then I'll continue with the story. If not, then I'll feel accomplished enough to know that I was able to get the pilot episode told.
OUTRO
So that is enough for today. That is the introduction of Cross Roads. Join me next time as we will go deeper into the lore and background of the characters involved. I know you're excited to hear more and to spend more time inside my crazy thoughts. Until next time, be sure to have my flowers and chocolate ready. No joke, make sure it's prepared.
JJ Cross