By RYAN J. PRADO
When Darren G . Davis discovered 10
years ago that he had tested positive for
HIV, his life changed in more ways than the
obvious. Certainly, he would be undergoing
a medications regimen, enduring waves of
confusion, probably even regret. He kept a
journal to document the ebbs and flows of
his daily questioning, to attempt to work out
through writing what no one else could help
him with.
Davis had the support o f his friends and
family, but no one-on-one guidance in terms
o f the real decisions he would have to make as
a result o f his contracting the virus. He was,
in a sense, lost, but looking to be found. The
muse that stole his mind away wasn’t what
Davis had envisioned his career to revolve
around, but just like anything, as he puts it,
“you have to make do with what it is.”
Little did he know then that the focus
o f his journal entries would eventually help
morph the world’s first H IV superhero, Zak
Raven, into the graphic novel Lost Raven.
The stirring, beautifully animated tome fol
lows the contrasts o f being shipwrecked on
a government-run island, designed for D N A
testing on humans for future space travel,
and Raven’s nightly diary confessions.
“I wanted to figure out a cool way to take
my journals and transfer them into a comic
book,” says Davis. “I came up with this idea
o f him getting shipwrecked on an island
and during the day he can fight monsters,
and at night, all he has is this journal that
he’s washed up on shore with and [he writes
about] his stresses o f being H IV positive.”
The groundbreaking subject matter allowed
Davis to speak at Yale University. Twice.
After leaving such distinguished enter
tainment companies as E!, USA, and Lion-
sgate before heading to D C Comics, Davis’
considerable imagination yielded his debut
comic, 10th Muse. The release became the
sixth highest-selling comic book the year it
was produced (2000)—beating Batman and
Superman. Davis began producing his own
comics, and in 2007, he founded his inde
pendent publishing house, Vancouver, Wash
ington-based Bluewater Productions.
Bluewater produces five titles per month,
including the company’s two most bal-
lyhooed series, Female Force and Political
Power , which spodight empowering women
and political figures in the world— Hillary
Clinton, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and
Oprah Winfrey, to name a few— through
the animated lens of a comic. These series
have generated the most publicity for the
company, from media outlets like CN N ,
Regis and Kelly and Fox News. The upcom
ing Stephanie Meyer Female Force title, to
be released in November— the same month
as new Twilight movie The Twilight Saga:
New Moon — is expected to be the company’s
highest-selling comic to date.
“It’s really taking off,” Davis says regard
ing Female Force. “Sarah Palin signed a copy
o f her comic for us. Bill Clinton’s assistant
called us asking for a copy o f the book for
Bill. And we’re like, ‘Why don’t you go buy
it?’ But still, it’s pretty cool. This whole thing
is totally baffling to me.
“In theory I think the genre is great be
cause there’s only so much you can tell within
22 pages, so they really are talk pieces,” he
continues. “You pick one up and you read
about Sarah Palin and that will either inspire
you to learn more, or it will just be something
you can talk to your friends about.”
Additionally, Bluewater has developed
relationships and comics series with such pop
culture icons as William Shatner {The Tekwar
Chronicles ), special effects pioneer Ray Har-
ryhausen ( Wrath o f the Titans ), and most re
cently actor/activist Reichen Lehmkuhl {The
Wasps series). Most o f the titles that Davis
publishes enjoy the opportunity to be devel
oped into feature films as well. The Legend of
Isis has been optioned by Paramount Pictures,
and 10th Muse by Universal.
“Comic books don’t sell as much as they
used to sell,” explains Davis. “Circulation is so
down on it, and being an independent pub
lisher you’re way down on it, so you have to
think o f different things to gain interest.
With Shatner, we wanted to build on
his creation o f Tekwar, and with Har-
ryhausen we wanted to do sequels to all
of his films, rather than just retelling all
o f his films. We want to do something
totally new.”
Davis has nothing to worry about.
As someone who has never read a
comic book in his life, I success
fully finished seven in one week’s
time based on the sheer uniqueness
of Davis’ stable o f writers and art
ists— and his vision o f a new way to
expose the avenues o f imagination.
The Muse, it seems, has never been
more viable.
For more information, visit
www. bluewaterprod. com.
Check out Just O ut’r blog (blog-
out.justout.com) fo r a fu ll transcrip
tion o f this interview with Darren
G. Davis.
D a rre n G D avis' B lu e w a te r
P ro d u c tio n s re le a se s se veral titles
e a c h m o n th in c lu d in g th e Fem ale
Force series N o ta b le c h a ra c te rs
in c lu d e In s a n e J a n e (left) a n d the
o n e w h o s ta rte d it a ll. Lost R aven
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