Spring forecast calls for Snow
You could say Toronto illustrator Benjamin Rivers lost count. Rather than make another countless attempt at the rescue mission, he focused his energy on a female character of his own.
Enter Dana, the thirty-something protagonist of his four-part graphic novel Snow, for which he’d also developed a companion game to extend its story.
“I think a lot of comic artists lie when they talk about how they came up with their ideas,” says Rivers with a laugh, noting that Dana had simply evolved from a sketch in a Moleskine notebook. “For me, it’s about fitting a character I like into the outline of a script rather than the other way around.”
Conceived in October 2008, the Toronto-centric story also takes place during that time frame. It revolves around Dana’s observations of the changing Queen West neighbourhood as the backdrop to a chain of events that unfolds throughout the series.
Around that time, Rivers participated in the Artsy Games Incubator founded by novelist, filmmaker and game designer Jim Munroe, which encourages artists to bring their talents to gaming.
Thus his first game was born, and it became a companion piece to the graphic novels. But Rivers wasn’t interested in merely rehashing the Snow story. Instead, the PC game takes place the day before the events that kick off in issue one.
“I wanted you to really feel for the character, getting an idea of who she is,” says Rivers. “You won’t miss out on anything by not playing the game, but those who do will feel a deeper connection with her.”
The fourth and final installment of the self-published Snow arrives in time for the Toronto Comics Arts Festival in May, and e-reader PDFs are also available.
And, thanks to a grant from the Xeric Foundation, Rivers will also be publishing a full compilation of all four graphic novels.
written by
eclaire
last online: 9 months ago
“I think a lot of comic artists lie when they talk about how they came up with their ideas”
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