One of the most-read articles at Suite 101 Comic Books is the one I did on Bill Tucci at MegaCon 98. So I am starting off will Bill on this year!
=====================
Bill talked for about an hour on his life in general and on Crusade comics in particular. Bill has spent the last year working on getting his movie done. He said that he originally told the story of Shi because he thought it would make a good movie. Bill expressed gratitude that fans supported him and his comic when it first appeared on newsstands in 1994. Until then, he was working on anything (drawings) that came along.
For those of you waiting for the "Shi" movie, you will have to wait a little longer. Financing is held up because the company he was going to team with is being sued by a distribution company. Bill said he was tired of dealing with Hollywood types. His "Shi" movie was pushed back because the studio was spending all it's time making "Battlefield Earth". Bill said he saw the preview of "Battlefield Earth" and knew it was bad. The situation made him even more upset that they moved his movie back for that one. He's seriously thinking about financing and distributing it himself - even if it takes five years. Bill mentioned that you should check his website in April - that he should know more about the movie by then.
Right now, look for Shi to return to comic books soon. Bill is looking at doing a "computer assisted" comic book. He has been working on doing a "CGI" (Computer Generated Imagery) Shi character where he only had to do the storyboard, and a studio would turn his storyboard and computer art into a printed comic. Bill mentioned that the CGI Shi looked great.
Bill also said he might be doing a special project featuring "Batman".
Bill said that "Shi is so much work because I do the business stuff myself." He said he had a staff of three or four people - so essentially it's still a 'one person' company. Bill said "I could put out a book every month, every week; but it would look like crap."
Bill talked some about his personal life, that dad died when he was six and his mom raised six kids. So he became self-reliant. (He also became very patriotic - Captain America is one of his favorite comic book characters). He also said his is was in the Army and recently in the Army National Guard - Special Forces. Now that he is in his mid-thirties and married, he transferred to Air National Guard. Bill has always been a World War II history buff, and talked about the possibility of doing pre-World War II movies on Long Island.
Go To Page: 1 2
