Graphic novelist realizes longtime dream

Comic books have been in Jeremy Mace’s blood for as long as he can remember.

He grew up on the likes of Captain America and Superman, and he recently realized his dream of publishing his own fictional superhero, an aging villain named Mr. Creep. His graphic novel Saving Mister Creep was more than 20 years in the making.

“It really coincided with me going to church and dedicating my life back to God,” said the North Augusta resident. “When that happened, I always had a lot of story ideas. I wanted to continue to write and be creative and make sure God was at the center of these projects. When I made that commitment, Mr. Creep began to manifest.”

At the center of the graphic novel is the theme of redemption — how a career villain can make a change that leads to it.

“Mister Creep has escaped from a meta-prison with Grace, a seven-year-old girl on the run from a secret organization known as the Guild. Together the pair must evade capture while trying to locate a cure for Grace’s condition,” reads the synopsis at Amazon.

The storyline paralleled some of the things going on in Mace’s life.

“It really stems from a moment in my life where I looked in the mirror and realized that I needed to change the direction of where I was going. if I continued heading the direction I’d been in, I’d probably lose my life or not have what God had intended me to have,” he said.

That moment of staring into a mirror opens Saving Mister Creep.

In his younger years, Mace had published a few comics and headed to some comic book conventions, but looking back, he realized he had a lot to learn. As he began to think about the character of Mr. Creep, he wrote the story in the form of a screenplay. Character development and dialogue were areas he discovered he needed to work on.

“I knew instinctively about those things, but I didn’t know how to articulate it or integrate it into a story,” he said.

He also realized that the screenplay genre wasn’t the right fit for him either. He needed to write In the genre he knew best — comic books. Going ahead, he started thinking of panels instead of scenes and that changed his trajectory.

A vital part of a graphic novel is the art.

Mace wanted a specific style for Saving Mister Creep.

“I wanted it to feel like people could find my graphic novel in their attic. I wanted it to look like it was created late 60s and 1970s,” he said.

He also wanted it to reflect the art of Alex Toth, known for his work on Space Ghost, Jonny Quest and SuperFriends, so he put out a call on the Internet. More than 150 artists responded, but only a few met the criteria. Marco Finnegan not only was familiar with Toth’s style, but he’d corresponded with Toth when he was a teen. Finnegan learned pointers from the artist.

He did the pencil and inking, and Mace found Juan Romera to do the coloring. Romera used a vintage watercolor technique that fit Mace’s vision.

 With the artists in place, it would take many more years for the project to come to life. Mace said he would have the work done in spurts according to his budget.

 “I paid for it over years; 20 pages here or 10 pages or 30 pages,” he said.

After it was completed, it sat for about 18 months. The idea of endless self-promotion didn’t appeal to him, and he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

 “Do I give it to a publisher, self-publish, use Indiegogo and print a few copies just for myself?” he said.

Mace takes part in the annual JoeFest toy and comic book convention in Augusta, and he’s met many members of Augusta’s sequential artists’ group, who encouraged him to take a step and publish the book.

“I did an Indiegogo and got the books right after Christmas,” he said.

He made softcover and hardcover books available at the Saving Mister Creep website, and the ebook is available at Amazon.

Mace said he has plenty of other creative ideas cooking, but he’s not sure what he will do next. 

“I’ve got a lot of ideas. I don’t know if they are video games or graphic novels or just for me,” he said.