 For
years, artist Fred Perry has wanted to animate his Gold Digger adventure
series. After several attempts to farm out the work to animation studios,
he finally sat down in front of a computer and created the animation himself.
"I went ahead and did the backgrounds - and there were a ton of backgrounds,"
Perry told fans. "Every scene change has a background. I can't count the
number of backgrounds I did." And Perry discovered that animation isn't
easy. "Things that look simple are hard. Something like a person walking
across a room is hard." Perry hoped to have a home video version of his
Gold Digger animation ready for release within a few weeks of the convention,
with VHS coming before a DVD release (which would have a commentary track
from Perry). |
|
 Once Perry
got Gold Digger started at Antarctic Press, his goal was to reach the 100-issue
mark, something rare for an independent comic. "After a few years you grow
people up a bit and add new faces," he said. Once he reaches that
100-issue total, Perry is thinking about bringing the series to a conclusion.
"I always thought that great stories have an ending and you can't stretch
it out." Perry noted that he has plotted an end to the long saga of Gina
Diggers' search for treasure, but he won't reveal that ending until it
goes into print. He's already ended his Legacy series, but will draw an
additional epilogue for the Legacy graphic novel. |
 The idea for
Gold Digger came to Perry a short time after returning home from serving
with the U.S. Marines during Operation Desert Storm, where he traded pin-up
drawings for extra stuff from soldiers. Now with the U.S. moving into Afghanistan,
might Perry be recalled to active duty? Probably not, he said. "I served
eight years, and I'm two years past my recall date...I was in front of
the front lines and I saw my luck disappear, one round at a time." Perry
is one of the soldiers who wishes that the allied forces had taken Sadam
Hussein out of power in 1991. "I really wanted us to in there and get him
out, but the politicians said we can't assassinate leaders." |
