Action, Adventure, Religious Comedy, and Web Humor Come to Life in the New RyuFox Legends Manga by First Time Graphic Novelist Ike Adibe

Carrollton, GA (PRWEB) August 25, 2006

The first of what is hoped to be many volumes in the series, 20-year-old college student Ike Adibe has published RyuFox Legends, a graphic novel (manga for the Japanese savvy) he hopes will be able to compete for shelf space along with other graphic novels once it hits stores.

The first book, RyuFox Legends: Tales of the Dawning Outset – Volume 1, is the first installment of the series' first story arc, Dawning Outset. Currently, there are a total of seven story arcs being drafted out.

The story takes place far into the Earth’s future, the 46th century. Its main characters are Elliott Alexander, a 17-year-old D-student with an unmistakable sense of justice, and Jiro, a small, blue, rabbit-like creature called a RyuFox, whose sole duty is to protect the Earth. Late one night, Elliott receives a premonition regarding the world’s fate and soon after, Jiro crash lands in his back yard. There’s much friction between the two, especially after Elliott learns he must give up his carefree 17-year-old life to take on Carlton Whitedragon, a megalomaniacal Homunculus whose sole ambition is to destroy, not just the Planet Earth, but the rest of the Universe as well. Throughout the adventure, as they rally more people to their cause, the tension between Elliott and Jiro settle as Elliott finally realizes that if Carlton isn’t stopped, living the life of a normal 17-year-old will be the least of his worries.

RyuFox Legends was originally conceived and written back in 2004 to fuel Adibe’s desire to draw amateur comics just for enjoyment. This first publication of the series not only contains the current set of five RyuFox Legends stories, but it contains a wide array of extra material, including the very first illustrations of RyuFox Legends.

Adibe says that while RyuFox Legends was written with many religious analogues and references in mind, the idea was not to attempt to change anyone’s beliefs, but just to tell a story and bring his characters and ideas to life and put them out on the market, with the intent to entertain anyone who is fortunate enough to pick up the story. Jiro is a current favorite amongst many newfound fans who have read the original manuscripts.

One thing unusual about the book is how it managed to land a "Teen" rating, even though the language is, at times, coarse. "This is because during the time I was writing the story and coming up with the character concepts, while the story draws inspiration from a lot of the video games I've played and the anime I've watched, I didn't want the characters to sound overdone," Adibe says.

"Especially in Elliott's case, I wanted him to behave like a modern day teenager in his actions and in his speech. When I was Elliott's age, I don't recall hearing a lot of flowery and overdone dialogue amongst my peers. Most of my peers were using slang and swear words, even in normal conversation. I wanted Elliott's behavior to reflect that, as opposed to the behavior and diction of your run-of-the-mill anime or manga hero. While most would say, 'Stop, you evil fiend!', Elliott would most likely say, 'You've got a lot of balls, but I'm gonna cut you AND them down to size, asshole!' Elliott's standard dialogue is mixed in with some traditional hero speak, but for the most part, you can tell you're hearing the words come from the mouth of a modern-day teen as opposed to some guy in a Power Rangers costume. I worry about Elliott's dialogue, seeing as he even drops the F-bomb on one or two occasions, but it's done primarily for shock value. As a matter of fact, the original manuscripts contained a lot more salty language than this, so while I tried to largely stay true to the original dialogue, I cleaned it up where it was too strong, unnecessary, or ineffective…you know, just to cover my tracks a little."

“I was frequently worried about how the book would do with its target market,” says Adibe. “I’ve gotten a lot of support, especially from friends, family, co-workers, and acquaintances who have absolutely no known interest in graphic novels, but what really concerns me now is how my target market (actual anime and manga fans) will react to it. I spent most of last weekend fixing errors in the book to make sure it’s just right and I’m pretty sure there are a few small mistakes with erasures my editors and I have missed. My graphical influence for the series comes from Fred Gallagher’s Megatokyo (click to http://www.megatokyo.com), which is done entirely in pencil, Photoshop effects aside, so I had to extensively go back and get rid of erase marks. The lines in the earlier pages look rough, but the improvement is noticeable once you get to Episode Four. I’ve been practicing my drawing and it’s gotten considerably smoother and more lively, so hopefully, while I’ve been told that Volume One was a very good start for the series, Volume Two will be several grades higher than its predecessor in quality. By Volume Two, the reader will be introduced to new characters, thrown into more engrossing storylines, and more importantly see an overall improvement in the book’s drawing style. But all of that aside, I feel that finally completing what looks and feels like a real book, with my characters and my ideas coming to life, is my greatest achievement to date. It’s definitely a hell of a lot better than when I was crowned prom king at my high school.”

The first volume of RyuFox Legends can be found at http://www.lulu.com/kpress.

The official website for the RyuFox Legends story can be found at http://gdarcade.taloncrossing.com/rflegends.

-ABOUT THE AUTHOR-

Ike Adibe is currently a 20-year-old junior at the University of West Georgia. While he is currently attending the school in Carrollton, his hometown is Lithonia. He graduated from Stephenson High School in May of 2004. This is his first publication. He hopes to make subsequent books with the help of other artists and storywriters in the future.

-ABOUT LULU-

Founded in 2002, Lulu is the world’s fastest-growing print-on-demand marketplace for digital do-it-yourselfers. Please see http://www.lulu.com for more information.

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