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Hyper Epics – Telling Great Stories 3 Pages at a Time

Published Sat, 25 Jan 2020 11:00:13 -0600

Tom Hoover, founder of Hyper Epics writes,

It all started out of necessity. Hundreds of story ideas rampaging through my mind. Surely, it was not realistic to churn out a screenplay for each concept nor produce a graphic novel per idea. It would take an endless budget or a hundred Kevin Feiges! So the question at hand: do these stories find life or do they disappear into the ether? Never to be heard from again. I decided I would not bow to the realm of lost tales.

I came up with a solution that seemed challenging yet achievable. Create these as part of an anthology series using a 3-page comic book format. The catch? These stories required scope and an epic feel to them. If I were to simply outlay basic scenes as an extract, for example, it would defeat the purpose. These Hyper Epics, as I would call them, needed to be bold. Larger than life. And have purpose.
But in a mere 3 pages.

The first step was to prove whether or not this was possible. Certainly short stories have been around since the Sumerians, but to tell a complete tale in the span of 3 pages? And having no contacts within the comic book business to make this happen?

I started off with measured steps, creating an initial script about a roller blading princess who was in a forbidden romance with a swashbuckling renegade. After recruiting the artist (Jared Lamp), and publishing "TILT" in the form of a web comic, the story proved to be a modest success in my eyes.

In the first year, Hyper Epics gained traction steadily through a growing pool of diverse artists and writers joining our league. Thomas Tuna, specifically, was an instrumental addition as our senior writer and managing editor, who began to script many imaginative tales and helped establish a weekly publishing frequency. And guess what, I also decided to incorporate original scores for each story. Thereby creating an immersive experience for the imagination. A format for those who seek to take in an epic story without having to commit to a movie trilogy or an insurmountable number of spin-off comics to get to the point.

Ideas would be suffocated no more! They could live and breathe, without taking years off of my life!

Cut to year two and we have an entire library of vibrant stories to escape into. In an era where much of the entertainment world fails to inspire me, and a growing number of artists bicker as if they are back in school, I sit here with a collection of stories brought together by a small cadre of generous and inspired creators through a shared dedication and passion for storytelling. It is for this reason I would like to increase awareness about our series.

My attempts at generating revenue have not been successful, maybe because readers do not know about us. Or perhaps we wade in these waters without swearing allegiance to any particular movement.

Nevertheless, my goal was to simply bring creative ideas to the world in a format that I'd be proud of (our stories are typically at a PG rating). So I consider all this a victory. And it feels like a dream come true on some level, as I feel chasing only monetary gain overshadows our true happiness in this world at times.

That said, these stories don't draw themselves, so we can certainly use a lift by those who feel there is value in what we are doing. Through our Patreon, at $2 a month, akin to a subscription fee that costs less than some graphic novels!

Is it because I want to get rich? No, if galactic credits were my aim, publishing indie web comics would not be my main option. Instead, my hope is that we gain enough support so that we can publish even more stories with loads more creators having their visions represented.

So with that, I ask you take a moment, visit www.HyperEpics.com, and embark on a fantastic adventure with us. Whether as a creator or a reader, you are all wholeheartedly welcome into our world, 3 pages at a time.