CREATIVE LESSONS YOU CAN LEARN FROM COMICS PART TWO! THE TRIGAN EMPIRE
Scott McConnell
Story consultant and former producer helping screenwriters and producers to develop resonant scripts. Book a Story Consult now. Screenwriter.
The Trigan Empire is a classic British comic written by Mike Butterworth that was especially popular in the 1960s when it was featured in the legendary UK children’s magazine “Look and Learn”. The stories in this comic series are set millions of miles away from the Earth on the planet Elekton, where Trigo, a great warrior and emperor, leads his people against a host of enemies and dangers on that planet (and beyond).
One strong virtue of The Trigan Empire is that many of its stories have clever and difficult problems that the heroes have to overcome. This virtue is, of course, evident in many classic comics, including in the early Marvel, Superman, and Batman series. And it should be a virtue in all stories.?
Although the stories of The Trigan Empire are exciting, the lead heroic, and the world -- with its combination of ancient Roman costumes and futuristic technology -- is fascinating, what is perhaps most remembered about the comics is their incredible art work. As an example, see the attached photograph of the cover of The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire Vol 1. Enjoy the colorful, dramatic, benevolent and immensely attractive world and person the drawing dramatizes. The artist is the now legendary Don Lawrence.
The Writing Tip Takeaway
Just two brief takeaways for creatives re this classic comic are:
?1)?????Creators don’t need a dark or steel grey palette and naturalistic lighting to create drama. The color and excitement of the “paintings” of Trigo and his adventures and world are bright, benevolent and intensely dramatic.
2)?????It’s very difficult to create a new world in space. One of the biggest pitfalls to attempting this is to make the world so fantastic that humans here on Earth – especially those in development offices and seated in cinemas – won’t relate to them. The Trigan Empire is a unique genre fusion of adventure, fantasy, and science fiction. Study The Trigan Empire to see what works and what doesn’t in its amazing world.
I hope for the day that some talented and brilliant producer will develop a feature film of The Trigan Empire!
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Former producer Scott McConnell is classic comics fan and a story developer.
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Former producer Scott McConnell Scott McConnell is a story developer/editor.
About Scott McConnell The Story Guy & His Editing Services
Scott McConnell started in the business in Los Angeles performing script analysis for Samuel Goldwyn, Sundance, Hallmark, Nu Image, and Roger Corman, among others. He ended his producing work in Los Angeles as a showrunner. Scott is now a writer & story consultant.?He supports writers, producers, and directors, as well as production and publishing companies, to develop and improve all forms of stories, but especially scripts and novels. Besides developing and editing individual stories, Scott also offers a Mentorship Program, where he supports creatives to write a story from concept to first draft, while teaching them a writing process of all the key stages of crafting a story. To discuss your story needs write to Scott at?[email protected]
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Wow, gotta go look this one up. I have never read it.
Business & Entertainment Attorney | M&A | Fractional Outside General Counsel
2 年Nic Lishko - I think you'll find this interesting.
Business Owner at AWL Media Services
2 年Thank you for sharing, Scott. ????
Screenwriter
2 年Trigan Empire is cool!
Chief Executive Officer at Reviews on the Edge
2 年Excellent Scott . There are a lot of lessons and experiences in comics that can be applied to real life... like every story there is some element of truth ...