MORAV: the Comic

Whatever the state of play of the in-development TV series of M.O.R.A.V., creator Fon Davis has been speeding ahead with a comic version of the story, which features 30-foot robots and “a global arms race to build the greatest giant robot army in the world” — an epic sci-fi drama that allows the viewer/reader to experience the history of a coup d’etat in a fictional country, leading to civil war and eventually World War Three. It is, as its creator puts it, grittily realistic:

The show is heavily focused on keeping stories character based and making the environment tangible. There is an effort to bring the audience into a world where robots really walk the streets. The robots in this series do not jump, fly, and shoot lasers out of their eyes. They are designed the way giant robots would be if they were real.

Fon Davis has just offered the Backbrain an exclusive view of the newly delivered cover of issue 1 of the six-part comic series M.O.R.A.V. Multi-operational Robotic Armoured Vehicle, a beautiful piece of work by Emmanuel Shui, who has in the past provided matte work for such blockbuster SFX films as Hellboy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and The Day After Tomorrow. Click on the image to see it enlarged.

Davis reports that all six issues are now finished and work has begun on the covers. Apart from Shui, other artists involved in producing the six covers are: Brian Matyas; Roel Robles; Lei Jin; Greg Knight; and Paul Hamblin.

Here is a sample page, to give you some idea of the internal artwork (click on image to enlarge):

An earlier, limited edition of the comic revealed it to be an effective sci-fi vision of things to come — a near-future vision that is close to the present in its technological speculations and naturalistic in its approach, with a political background that might have come from today’s news reports. The emphasis so far has been on drama rather than spectacle, though the prospect of a giant robot war is a tantalisingly apocalyptic one.

The Backbrain will let you know as the project develops. Meanwhile, if it’s mechandise you’re after, Davis commented: “I’m also trying to raise funds for MORAV by selling Coffee Mugs, Men’s and Woman’s t-shirts and more on Zazzle. This is my newest design.”

• Source: Fon Davis via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery; Official website