I, Sherman Comic Book Makes Its Debut Saturday

With comic book heroes dominating the movie screens of cinemas nationwide for several years, the source material sometimes gets overshadowed by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

Along with the well known franchises from the Golden and Silver Ages of comics, there is an entire universe of small publishers and a plethora of characters and concepts gracing the pages of comic books. The latest entry, from Connecticut publisher Twin Robotz is called I, Sherman, and it makes its debut at the East Windsor Comic and Collectibles Show on February 26.

I, Sherman is the brainchild of Wally Czyzniak, the creator and writer of the new comic series. Issue number one introduces, Sherman, an office worker tripping through life until he is faced with his own mortality.

And the living embodiment of Death. He finds out from a website that he may have only one year to live, and Death literally follows him around. Sporting the t-shirt, "Death is my Wing Man," Sherman deals with his predicament in hilarious ways.

Czyzniak first fell in love with comics when he encountered Disney's Duck Tales in first grade. The passion took hold with the release of the Batman movies in the late 80s and early 90s.

"I became obsessed with Batman as a kid," Czyzniak said, "and people in my family would bring me Batman comics. It wasn't until I was 16 and could drive myself to the comic store every week that I bought my own comics."

Though he'd dabbled with writing in high school, and had developed ideas for both comics and films, it wasn't until 2010 that he got serious about producing his own comic book.

Czyzniak took a course in Graphic Novel writing at Free Lunch Studios in Granby, CT to learn the specialized craft of writing for comics. Also an amateur artist, the course inspired Czyzniak to venture into the world of comics publishing and Twin Robotz was born.

Taking an idea from a dusty movie script, Czyzniak wrote the first issue of I, Sherman. He commissioned veteran cartoonist Matt Ryan to draw his vision and realize his inspiration. Ryan is one of the owners of Free Lunch Studios.

"The Free Lunch guys have been like mentors for me," Czyzniak said.

The first story arc is slated to cover six issues of the comics magazine, but the larger story will continue for much longer.

"I really don't see any end in sight for the characters, so hopefully it can continue forever."

The process of completing the book was a grueling one, taking over a year to go from concept to print.

"It's a lot more work than I originally thought it would be. Good to get it off my shoulders, something that's been in the back of my brain for years, good to get it out on paper," said Czyzniak.

He is scheduled to debut the new comic at the East Windsor Comics and Collectibles Show at the . The twice annual show is promoted by Scott Pellin and Greg Kalagian, local comic collectors and vendors. Czyzniak also plans to attend the Boston Comicon in April to promote the book to a larger audience.
Twin Robotz is Czyziak's company, and the robot logo is a caricature of the creator himself.

"He's my twin robot," said Czyzniak, "hence the name of the company."

The first issue features the first twenty some pages of the epic and carries a cover price of $3.50. Czyzniak is looking forward to meeting the attendees of the show and autographing copies of the book.

The comic is available at local retailers, Matt's Comics in Enfield, and Buried Under Comics in Manchester.

The second issue of I, Sherman is already with the artist, and a second series, called Cosmic Kiss is also forthcoming from Twin Robotz.

Czyzniak hopes to follow in the great tradition of the great comic creators of the past and launch his creations into the imagination of the American Culture.

A press release submitted by Steve Kanaras