Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, entertainment, frogman, kickstarter

Frogman: Who He Is, And How He Came To Be…

Published Sun, 28 Jun 2015 18:00:51 -0500

Frogman 3 written by Matt Fitch and Mark Lewis, art by Gibson Quarter. Kickstarter ends 20^th July 2015. Printing: Early August 2015

This is the story of how Frogman came to be, how he ruined lives and almost made people sacrifice goats. This is the story of how a fictional frog forces his way into our reality, by destroying the minds of two young creators.

Written by Paul Clark-Forse

Everything starts with an idea. An explosion, an incendiary spark. Such a spark created our universe. Everything. Me, you, that women who threw a cat in a bin that time. But hell, sometimes even the Universe makes mistakes, which seems to a natural byproduct of creating everything.

One such mistake is Frogman.

Cut to November 2012, a basement in London. The air crackles with the charge of dark magic, carried with it, on the wind, are the scents of garlic and exotic herbs. In the darkness three figures can be seen stood inside a chalk pentagram, the figures of two men and a malnourished goat. The first man, Matt Fitch, mumbles in Latin, while the second, Mark Lewis, raises a giant bowie knife to the goat's neck. Suddenly Matt has second thoughts.

"Wait…are we sure about this?"

"We've got to, that Wikipedia article said the only way to get indie comic books printed is to sacrifice a goat. We've talked about this, there's no other way."

"I'm not questioning Wikipedia, I'm just worried about the carpet."

"It's cool, I've put some paper down. And look at him, he can't have much blood in there. He's really thin."

"Okay, but don't ruin the knife, It's mum's favourite."

As Mark raises the knife to 'Big Knees' the goat's neck, Matt begins to cry. How did they come to this? He thinks. Surely, there's an easier way? One that doesn't involve goaticide? His mind flashes back to the beginning.

Six years ago, a simpler time, a brighter time. The caterwauling of a garage band undercuts the suburban quiet of a London street. A younger Matt and Mark are at band rehearsal. Both men are innocent, wide eyed, having never even heard of black magic or Wikipedia. The band plays on.

Suddenly, in-between banging out Elastica covers, something comes over the lead singer. His eyes roll back into his head, he starts screaming and speaking in tongues. It's obvious to the boys he's been possessed; Mark grabs a crucifix, Matt a stake. As they approach to restrain their friend, his head twists impossibly to greet them, he points and speaks directly to the boys in English in a voice dragged into existence from some other earthly plain.

"He's green…He's wet…He ain't your pet".

"FROOOOOGMAAAAAAN!!!!!"

Then he covers the boys in projectile vomit.

Although neither of them knew it back then, this was the start of their downfall. The beginning of the end.

Back to 2012, time and Matt's mum's favourite knife both seem to be moving in slow motion as Matt remembers everything that brought them here, everything that led to this moment. Frogman had been forgotten for years, but last year something happened. One morning, the boys found a script, a comic book script neither of them had seen before. Not that unusual granted, until they looked at the title.

"FROGMAN"

Written by Mark Lewis and Matt Fitch.

Something was happening…

After that, Matt disappeared for a year. Mark, desperate to find his friend, had taken to walking the streets, eventually by the bins of a closed down Iceland's, he saw him, there was Matt. He'd been living on the streets, no memory of who he was or where he'd come from; to his breast he clutched a number of drawings. Mark in a frenzy, grabbed one. This is what he saw:

Frogman was real; he existed in 22 pages of superhero slapstick drawn by a errant vagrant with no memory. Mark took the drawings, and Matt, back to his home. Here it was, a comic book, ready to go. But the boys had no idea what to do next, how do you turn this collection of drawings into a real life bona fide comic book? They consulted Wikipedia, which brings us back (again) to 2012.

Mark raises the knife to the goat's neck. Matt can't help but look away. But at that moment, when everything is at its darkest, a flash of lighting cracks in the sky above them, the door to the basement swings open and with a swagger and a dress reminiscent of Cameron Diaz's entrance in The Mask, in walks Kickstarter. Matt and Mark retrieve their jaws from the floor and turn to each other. "This is it". Prayers have been answered, various deities appeased and the cosmic cycle of the universe continues.

Frogman launched on Kickstarter in December 2012 and told the story of Frogman's first adventure, his battle with arch villain The Taxman. Frogman was a sex crazed, drug addled 'superhero' fighting the injustice of the British regulatory system, and the public loved him for it. It was one of the first British comics to hit the American crowd-funding site when it finally opened its doors to projects based in the UK. As the book was already drawn and ready to go, the boys set themselves a modest target of £1,000 just enough to get the thing printed. To their amazement the target was hit within a week. But more than that, something about it was buzzing, people were responding, the book went on to raise 259% of its original target, allowing for an extended print run and a sexy spot varnish cover, Frogman was real.

With this, the boys thought they were finally free of their yearlong nightmare and returned to their lives.

Frogman 2: Frogman Returns

But a year later, it happened again. Frogman was not done with these boys.

Matt had managed to get his life back on track. He was happy, content. But neither of them could shake the voices, the calling late at night…

"FROOOOGMAAAAN".

A sequel was inevitable. But this time the boys were determined not to let it drive them to the edge of sanity. To their relief, long time friend and award-winning British artist John Aggs stepped forward, himself plagued by dreams of wet, green things, John volunteered to take on illustration duties for the second book.

This time, Frogman was grittier, darker. Frogman Returns tells the story of the titular heroes battle to solve a serious of mammary focused serial killings, and pushed the hero to come face to face with his dark reflection, the breast obsessed Manfrog.

John Aggs made the book his own, creating a bigger, bolder take on Frogman. The boys turned again to the Kickstarter community to help make the book a reality, Kickstarter again responded and the book raised 348% of its original target.

Frogman 3: The Death Of Frogman

Again, thinking themselves free, the boys returned to their lives. Matt, wanting an uncomplicated life, became a humble shoe smith, Mark joined a Buddhist temple to try and find peace but Frogman would not leave them be. Mark would awake in the middle of the night to find himself naked in the reptile house at London Zoo holding frogs. Matt's meditations were plagued by visions of Frogman, voices demanding 'that every trilogy deserves a part three'. Again finding themselves on the precipice of insanity, Mark made a pilgrimage to Matt's temple, this time he was determined get through this unscathed. This time, he had a plan. They were going to kill Frogman.

Knowing, in their heart of hearts, that part threes are never good (Godfather, Lord of the rings, Terminator, hell, even Jedi was a little bit rubbish), the boys were determined to avoid such a fate. They were finally going to write Frogman on their own terms, making this one the biggest and best installment of Frogman and finally put that green son of a bullfrog to rest forever. They just had to find someone to draw it…

At the same time, on the other side of the world (Canada) artist Gibson Quarter felt possessed by something, he began covering himself in green paint, ruining commissions by coloring Deadpool in green, he found himself ribbitting in public. Something was happening to him, he felt like his life was in danger. He consulted Wikipedia to look for a cure. After sacrificing a small goat Gibson returned home to find an email waiting for him from England. After hearing about Gibson's issues on Frogloversforum.org Matt and Mark had got in touch.

Gibson agreed to help the boys put this nightmare to bed, once and for all.

Which (finally) brings us to 2015. Here we are again, asking the Kickstarter community to help us make Frogman 3 a reality. This is the final cry, the death call of two men driven to the edges of their brains. If they can do this, if they can finally kill Frogman, these two souls may finally be allowed to be free.

You can help Matt and Mark by backing Frogman 3 here. We're also offering, for all Bleeding Cool readers unfamiliar with the face of the frog, a free digital download of Frogman 1 here.

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