The Yank Shots
by kurtiswiebe
The Yank Shots has been a story that I’ve been working on for years. Seriously, years. In fact, it’s based on one of the first scripts I ever wrote. I’m going to guess this goes back to 2006 when I first came up with the idea and then a year later hired an artist to do the sequentials for a pitch.
Obviously the story never went anywhere and I shelved it. Back then, when it was called Wrench, I thought it was the best idea of all time. Ever. Going back to the original script is painful now, so painful I can’t actually muster the courage to finish reading.
Anyway, over the years I’ve attached numerous artists and seen the project fail each time. Until a month after NYCC 2011 when I had the amazing opportunity to meet the impossibly talented Andrew MacLean. We talked about the project for a week or two and when he sent in the sketches, the narrative began to change. First, let me show you the original synopsis:
Set in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, somewhere in the near future, the story of Wrench follows the tortured life of a man named Vicente Botella Rodriguez. He is an individual who finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being the avenging hand of God.
So, when I got the following in an email from Andrew, it sent my brain in a completely new direction.
It was at this point that I went back to the drawing board and completely rewrote the concept but keeping integral parts intact. No longer set in Brazil and making the story a bit more current, I drafted a brand new script and sent it to Andrew. This is what became of it.
Sadly, no takers yet on a publisher. But, we forge on.
Check out Andrew’s work here: http://andrewmaclean.tumblr.com/ and follow him on twitter: @andrew_maclean
Inside the Mind of Kurtis J. Wiebe 
I would have imagined that seeing a man walk into a bowling alley to greetings of “Duuude” would have made my mind go to one place and one place only, but it’s not The Big Lebowski that this strip brings to mind, more The Man Who Wasn’t There or Miller’s Crossing.
I love the idea that this guy is actively involved in the world of crime but still has an interest in bowling; these days you would expect him to be too busy brooding to pay the pins any mind, that he balances both worlds is a bold move. Very interested to see where this guy goes and what his story is, so I hope that you guys can get this thing off the ground,
Have you thought about trying to follow in Becky Cloonan’s footsteps and self-publishing, or perhaps doing something digitally? It would be better of course to have the backing of a publisher, but there are probably enough fans that could be persuaded into picking the book up regardless.
Thanks for the comment! Yeah, the problem with self publishing is that I can’t afford to pay Andrew a page rate which is an absolute necessary thing in my mind. With Becky, she wrote and illustrated so she had full control.
We’re going to run the circuit to all publishers in hopes of getting something, but if there’s no interest we’ll probably move onto other things.
Damn multi-talented people. Well I guess the answer to that is winning the lottery or learning how to draw as well as a professional, shouldn’t be too hard? I’d like to think that a Kickstarter or some such would work but as a wannabe writer myself I understand that a set wage is important for instigating a project.
Hopefully someone picks it up, but it not It may be for the best; perhaps in 2018 when you look back at the current script you’ll think of ways to make it even better again. At least we have Grim and Peter to look forward to until then.
Sounds really awesome. I love Andrew’s art. I take it Image declined? That’s unfortunate if so. Good luck with the project.
peace,
Herc
Goddamn these pages are beautiful! Somebody will scoop it up. It just looks WAY too good. Andrew is a wonder.