Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Dan Wickline. Paolo Pantalena, entertainment, Sinbad, zenescope

1001 Arabian Nights: Adventures Of Sinbad – 24 Trades Of Christmas

Published Sat, 24 Dec 2016 16:00:01 -0600

And here it is, the 24th of the 24 trades of Christmas. We've gone through most companies and covered a variety of characters and genres. But since this is Christmas Eve, the odds are no one is going out shopping today, so the final trade for this series is one of mine. Back in the mid-2000's I got asked by Zenescope Entertainment to do up a new take on the classic 1001 Arabian Nights character of Sinbad. They gave me one note on a direction… Captain Jack Sparrow meets James Bond…. and they gave me a bald, tattooed Sinbad designed by Gustavo Vazquez. I got to work from there.

I set out to make an epic tale that would be told over 24 comics, broken into four segments. Each would be a quest for part of an object that Sinbad would need. He was accused of murdering the Sultan and the object could clear his name. But to do this, he would need a whole new crew and a ship. The crew was a group of circus performers with unique abilities. Everything from a lizard man to a sorceress. It was my version of the X-Men set in the time of swashbucklers and dragons.

The first trade, 1001 Arabian Nights: the Adventures of Sinbad Vol 1 Eyes of Fire, may of had a very long title… but it also had the art of Paolo Pantalena and the colors of Nei Ruffino. Sinbad and his crew headed to a pair of Volcanic islands in search of the first piece of the Jericho Visor, but had to deal with the seductive Witch Queen Alorana and the ancient wizard Kabrit Amud. It's classic action / adventure with pretty women, adventurous men, amazing creatures and feats of magic. You know, everything you'd want from a Sinbad story.

This was a fun series to write and edit. We tried to make it as close to the classic Ray Harryhausen films of the 70's as we could. Sinbad was dashing, quick witted and heroic with just enough mischief in his heart to make him a rogue. Of all the comics I've done over the years, it's one that I would drop everything to go back to working on. There is nothing like sitting at your desk, late at night and busting out laughing because of a line of dialogue you write… because when I wrote Sinbad, he wrote his own lines. I never thought of them, the just popped in my head as if the character had said them himself.

This would be a good gift for anyone who loved the old 70's Sinbad movies or wants comics that are fun and epic.

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