Jesus Goes to Hell…?
While turning a page to the next chapter in the life of Joseph, it’s appropriate to unveil our new brand. Our new logo features a crooked cross and a bent halo above, complete with devil horns. Not to mention a new mascot. Still haven’t given the little guy a name yet. Maybe you guys can help with that?
Since 2011 the focus of our series has been on the adoptive father of the Son of God, a fictional man by the name of Joseph Carpenter. Joseph’s primary concern has been to raise a man worthy of his name. If Jesus can survive his teen years without depending on his miracle powers, Joseph will consider that a success. Consequently, Jesus may actually become the savior of all Humanity. But that’s a long way off.
Joseph will remain a fixture throughout the life of our series, but it’s become clear that, as our story has unfolded, there’s an epic narrative offering much more than we’ve seen before. JESUS GOES TO HELL is the continuation of what we started four years ago, and it’s the gateway to what we are becoming. You may recall that Jesus and Lil’ D. sent an evil clown to Hell. Totally by accident! Then Jesus made a deal with his cousin Lazarus, who happens to be a lawyer, and resurrected the clown. Thereafter, the boys thought they got away with what they had done.
Throughout THE NEVER ENDING SEQUEL we saw signs that there were going to be consequences for that action, and that chapter ended with robots taking over and an explosion at Ruthie’s school. Wow! JESUS GOES TO HELL will see Jesus dealing with more than clowns and robots (and going to Hell!). We’re going to be watching this super powered fourteen year old dealing with the consequences of always disregarding his adoptive father’s warnings. That yes, there is a very good reason he is always telling him “no miracles”.
At the beginning we see Jesus dealing with genuine concern. He’s already brought a clown back from the dead, and that didn’t seem to go so well. What if another miracle goes wrong? But like every hero, Jesus has friends he can count on for support. It’s not going to be pretty, but it is going to be fun!
JESUS GOES TO HELL is our chance to show our readers we are more than just JOSEPH! We are BAD HALO COMIX. Our cast has grown from a small four character ensemble to an ever-increasing stage. We’ve introduced supporting characters from both mythology and history, and will continue to do so with celebrities and more. This series has a lot of potential. Keeping that in mind, I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve been trying to do over the past four years.
JOSEPH started as a 24 cartoon strip submission to newspaper syndicates. We quickly became a web series. After an invitation to make a submission to a graphic novel publisher, we started work on THE FAMILY ALBUM, a 64 page OGN. When we teamed with Rob and INDIECOMIX, I made the decision to simply keep writing the work as a series of graphic novels. And that’s what you see here every week. But I wanted JOSEPH to be more and so I dared to do more.
The first thing I tried was something I called animotion. This was a series of shorts that was part animatic and part motion comic. It didn’t really work. I think that it could have worked as one or the other, but as it was, it was just too experimental.
I then moved on to animation. Meaning, I wanted to produce JOSEPH as an adult animated TV show. Man, let me tell you – that was a lot of work! There are any number of reasons I can give you as to why this did not work out. Bottom line: you have to have a quality submission package and more than that, you have to have an “in”. I believe I got most of the package just right. All it missed was a quality reel. But even if I had that, I still did not have an “in”. I can go over and over about how I really tried, but that’s just going to come off lame and sad, and I just gave up. I think some day it will make a great TV show (or movie!) but I am not the one to get it there. I just don’t have what it takes to make that happen. But I would love to write it!
Speaking of writing, I next moved on to writing a screenplay titled BAD HALO. Technically, what I wrote is called a spec. Now, let me warn you: should this adaptation be sold, there are big differences between what that movie will be and its source material. And that is with good reason. For one, when you write a screenplay you are always writing that screenplay. The job is not done until you see it on the screen. I am fully aware that when the spec is sold it will then go on to other writers who will re-write. It will go on to producers and filmmakers of all sorts, and then one day it will be a movie. So, it is an ongoing cycle from spec, to re-writes, to shooting script, to movie. Aside from all that, there are noticeable differences with what you may recognize as JOSEPH.
As I was writing the spec I argued with myself over a scene in which Jesus and Joseph stand behind a rude customer in the check-out line. In the comics the rude customer speaks loudly into his cell with a series of “blahs”. On the page this looks funny. It’s comical. In a movie I was concerned it wouldn’t really work the way I wanted it to. The point of that scene is to convey that if you were given the responsibility of raising the Son of God you have to do so in the modern world. It happens every day. You see rude people in the check-out lines, spewing profanities into their cells, with no regard for the people around them. Some of those people are parents with their children. So in the comics when you see this scene, it’s very easy for the reader to imagine what the rude customer is saying. Those “blahs” can easily be replaced in your imagination. But in a movie? You see a guy onscreen saying “blah blah blah” and maybe it can be funny, but you also take the risk that the point isn’t being made. Is it slapstick or parody? What is this? Is this funny? If you have to ask those question then no, it is not funny.
To resolve that issue I had to go somewhere as the writer that I do not normally go to when I write the comics. The comics are suggestive. I don’t have to write profanity, or what I call “s**t jokes”. Once I embraced going there for the movie it made everything else so easy, and now I am in the process of seeking representation to sell that spec.
But I wasn’t quite done. I’ll be truthful with you about this. Writing screenplays is not my first love as a writer. There are a lot of mechanics that I find cumbersome, and I don’t like working with software. There are some great programs available, like Final Draft, but that’s just not for me. I prefer writing novels (or short fiction), and so no. I was not done with that story I wrote as a movie.
As a writer of religious humor I had been fooling around with a parody of the Holy Bible. When I went back to writing BAD HALO as a novel, I realized I could combine the two. What I had done before became the Old Testament, and the screenplay became the New Testament. It continued with the Improved Testament and the finished book is titled JESUS: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GOD, currently being reviewed by a publisher.
Religious humor is a particular niche of fiction. Some can be very offended by it, and others may not understand it at all. The rejections I have received concerning the graphic novels and the screenplay have been the nicest I have read since I’ve been writing my entire adult life. Before 2011 the rejections were standard form letters. Now, people actually take the time to write short things like, “Sorry. I really liked this but can’t find a place for it.”
I understand their rejections. If your job is to find the next best-seller you have to be selective. I’m not Mel Brooks and I didn’t even intern for Monty Python. I’m not “a name”. It would be very difficult to sell my work to a wide audience. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, but it will take time.
In the meantime, we’ve got BAD HALO COMIX. We started out as a silly cartoon strip and we will always be a silly cartoon strip. No matter what!
~David Paul, writer
Since 2011 the focus of our series has been on the adoptive father of the Son of God, a fictional man by the name of Joseph Carpenter. Joseph’s primary concern has been to raise a man worthy of his name. If Jesus can survive his teen years without depending on his miracle powers, Joseph will consider that a success. Consequently, Jesus may actually become the savior of all Humanity. But that’s a long way off.
Joseph will remain a fixture throughout the life of our series, but it’s become clear that, as our story has unfolded, there’s an epic narrative offering much more than we’ve seen before. JESUS GOES TO HELL is the continuation of what we started four years ago, and it’s the gateway to what we are becoming. You may recall that Jesus and Lil’ D. sent an evil clown to Hell. Totally by accident! Then Jesus made a deal with his cousin Lazarus, who happens to be a lawyer, and resurrected the clown. Thereafter, the boys thought they got away with what they had done.
Throughout THE NEVER ENDING SEQUEL we saw signs that there were going to be consequences for that action, and that chapter ended with robots taking over and an explosion at Ruthie’s school. Wow! JESUS GOES TO HELL will see Jesus dealing with more than clowns and robots (and going to Hell!). We’re going to be watching this super powered fourteen year old dealing with the consequences of always disregarding his adoptive father’s warnings. That yes, there is a very good reason he is always telling him “no miracles”.
At the beginning we see Jesus dealing with genuine concern. He’s already brought a clown back from the dead, and that didn’t seem to go so well. What if another miracle goes wrong? But like every hero, Jesus has friends he can count on for support. It’s not going to be pretty, but it is going to be fun!
JESUS GOES TO HELL is our chance to show our readers we are more than just JOSEPH! We are BAD HALO COMIX. Our cast has grown from a small four character ensemble to an ever-increasing stage. We’ve introduced supporting characters from both mythology and history, and will continue to do so with celebrities and more. This series has a lot of potential. Keeping that in mind, I’d like to share with you some of what I’ve been trying to do over the past four years.
JOSEPH started as a 24 cartoon strip submission to newspaper syndicates. We quickly became a web series. After an invitation to make a submission to a graphic novel publisher, we started work on THE FAMILY ALBUM, a 64 page OGN. When we teamed with Rob and INDIECOMIX, I made the decision to simply keep writing the work as a series of graphic novels. And that’s what you see here every week. But I wanted JOSEPH to be more and so I dared to do more.
The first thing I tried was something I called animotion. This was a series of shorts that was part animatic and part motion comic. It didn’t really work. I think that it could have worked as one or the other, but as it was, it was just too experimental.
I then moved on to animation. Meaning, I wanted to produce JOSEPH as an adult animated TV show. Man, let me tell you – that was a lot of work! There are any number of reasons I can give you as to why this did not work out. Bottom line: you have to have a quality submission package and more than that, you have to have an “in”. I believe I got most of the package just right. All it missed was a quality reel. But even if I had that, I still did not have an “in”. I can go over and over about how I really tried, but that’s just going to come off lame and sad, and I just gave up. I think some day it will make a great TV show (or movie!) but I am not the one to get it there. I just don’t have what it takes to make that happen. But I would love to write it!
Speaking of writing, I next moved on to writing a screenplay titled BAD HALO. Technically, what I wrote is called a spec. Now, let me warn you: should this adaptation be sold, there are big differences between what that movie will be and its source material. And that is with good reason. For one, when you write a screenplay you are always writing that screenplay. The job is not done until you see it on the screen. I am fully aware that when the spec is sold it will then go on to other writers who will re-write. It will go on to producers and filmmakers of all sorts, and then one day it will be a movie. So, it is an ongoing cycle from spec, to re-writes, to shooting script, to movie. Aside from all that, there are noticeable differences with what you may recognize as JOSEPH.
As I was writing the spec I argued with myself over a scene in which Jesus and Joseph stand behind a rude customer in the check-out line. In the comics the rude customer speaks loudly into his cell with a series of “blahs”. On the page this looks funny. It’s comical. In a movie I was concerned it wouldn’t really work the way I wanted it to. The point of that scene is to convey that if you were given the responsibility of raising the Son of God you have to do so in the modern world. It happens every day. You see rude people in the check-out lines, spewing profanities into their cells, with no regard for the people around them. Some of those people are parents with their children. So in the comics when you see this scene, it’s very easy for the reader to imagine what the rude customer is saying. Those “blahs” can easily be replaced in your imagination. But in a movie? You see a guy onscreen saying “blah blah blah” and maybe it can be funny, but you also take the risk that the point isn’t being made. Is it slapstick or parody? What is this? Is this funny? If you have to ask those question then no, it is not funny.
To resolve that issue I had to go somewhere as the writer that I do not normally go to when I write the comics. The comics are suggestive. I don’t have to write profanity, or what I call “s**t jokes”. Once I embraced going there for the movie it made everything else so easy, and now I am in the process of seeking representation to sell that spec.
But I wasn’t quite done. I’ll be truthful with you about this. Writing screenplays is not my first love as a writer. There are a lot of mechanics that I find cumbersome, and I don’t like working with software. There are some great programs available, like Final Draft, but that’s just not for me. I prefer writing novels (or short fiction), and so no. I was not done with that story I wrote as a movie.
As a writer of religious humor I had been fooling around with a parody of the Holy Bible. When I went back to writing BAD HALO as a novel, I realized I could combine the two. What I had done before became the Old Testament, and the screenplay became the New Testament. It continued with the Improved Testament and the finished book is titled JESUS: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GOD, currently being reviewed by a publisher.
Religious humor is a particular niche of fiction. Some can be very offended by it, and others may not understand it at all. The rejections I have received concerning the graphic novels and the screenplay have been the nicest I have read since I’ve been writing my entire adult life. Before 2011 the rejections were standard form letters. Now, people actually take the time to write short things like, “Sorry. I really liked this but can’t find a place for it.”
I understand their rejections. If your job is to find the next best-seller you have to be selective. I’m not Mel Brooks and I didn’t even intern for Monty Python. I’m not “a name”. It would be very difficult to sell my work to a wide audience. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, but it will take time.
In the meantime, we’ve got BAD HALO COMIX. We started out as a silly cartoon strip and we will always be a silly cartoon strip. No matter what!
~David Paul, writer