William Shatner Still Breaking Barriers at 84
Posted By: Shane Montgomery Times Read: 1711
William Shatner has never been one to shy away from new technology.
The 84-year-old actor and sci-fi icon is a prolific presence on Twitter, has been linked to technological advancements that were inspired by the “Star Trek” phenomenon including the cell phone and he even has an app, Shatoetry, that allows users to create poetry that is then played back in Shatner's unique diction.
This Saturday, Shatner will be bringing his love of innovation to San Diego Comic-Con International to introduce his newest project: the cinematic graphic novel.
“It's somewhere between a movie and a comic book, but it's neither,” said Shatner. “It's its own new thing. A unique new idea.”
Jointly developed by Los Angeles-based LNL Partners and Panelfly along with Shatner, the cinematic graphic novel titled “Man O War” delivers digital comics that combines moving panels, a new stylistic dimension in animation, in-story sound effects and a music soundtrack. The group has adapted Shatner's sci-fi novel to become the studio's first licensed property.
“Showcasing Shatner at his best, William Shatner's ‘Man O War: Cinematic Graphic Novel' features humanistic storytelling based on his more than 50 years of performance and his lifetime of understanding power and people,” said LNL Partners co-owner Mariano Nicieza in a written statement. “With the surge of popularity for mobile devices, and with new devices in the pipeline, he believes the time is ripe to introduce a new product channel into the market — and we are thrilled to be part of his vision.”
Shatner first came across the idea of interactive graphic novels while watching “The Ricky Gervais Show” several years ago.
“It had these flash figures and I realized it was his radio show from England,” Shatner said of the animated characters that would interact within what appear to be comic book panels.
“From that crystallizing idea came this full-fledged idea of a moving graphic novel,” said the always-busy Shatner, who will soon be releasing a new novel, “Zero G,” and is fresh off his eight-day trip from Chicago to Los Angeles aboard a three-wheeled Rivet motorcycle.
Shatner's “Man O War” graphic novel will introduce reader to Benton Hawkes, a man tasked with negotiate peace between Earth workers at a martian mining colony and the corporation that owns their lives.
“Mars is producing all the raw materials for Earth and the miners are dissatisfied, but they're not doing anything about it. It's their children who revolt,” Shatner explained. “Benton Hawkes is assigned the job to settle the rebellion but he falls in love with the youth and their youthful passions. It becomes America versus Britain and he is essentially the George Washington figure and we repeat the War of Independence.”
The first of the 16 books will be launched at the Comic-Con panel on Saturday, which starts at 4 p.m. in Ballroom 6BCF at the San Diego Convention Center, featuring Shatner and Nicieza among others.
But Shatner envisions much more than just an animated graphic novel.
“Part of the grandiose vision is that the ebook of ‘Man O War' and the graphic novel interact so that when we can we will have points where you are looking at the graphic novel, you press that point and the paragraphs from the book come up, then you can press the book and the illustrated novel comes up,” Shatner explained. “We're hoping the audience will snap it up.”
San Diego ComiC-Con International
What: The sold-out convention in San Diego draws thousands of fans from all over the world who love all geeky things and pop-culture.
When: Thursday through Sunday.
Where: San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive.
Information: www.comic-con.org
On the Web
• For more Comic-Con coverage, go to www.dailynews.com/topic/comic-con-2015
By Beatriz Valenzuela, San Bernardino Sun
William Shatner to discuss new graphic novel, "Man O War," on July 11, 2015 at this year's San Diego Comic-Con International. (Courtesy)
