Well, here it is! The cover to Goldrush, the first book in the Vanguard Prime series. It feels like the cat’s already out of the bag, given that the cover has been available on the Penguin website for a while now, but I could hardly mention it in every post up until now and then not show it off…right?
I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out. Superhero design is a tricky thing to pull off; it’s deceptively simple. You only need to read the posts on the Project: Rooftop blog to see how much thought goes into making people in tights look good.
My biggest fear with the cover design was that it would look inauthentic, that the publisher wouldn’t get what I was going for. When I was coming up with these characters, I wanted them to feel like genuine comic book creations, with their own histories and an adherence to the archetypes they represented (wow, I can get really pretentious about this stuff, huh?).
I shouldn’t have worried. The team at Penguin really know their stuff, pushing things in a more ‘realistic’ direction than I would have expected, making this look almost like the Film Tie-In edition right off the bat. It’s dynamic, it’s eye-catching, it’s right.
When you get the chance to see the actual book, you’ll find that the image wraps around to the back cover, showing off the whole team. I can’t wait for people to see that, because the design of the three characters on the back is amazing.
Thankfully, it won’t be too long now until everyone can see it for themselves. The book goes on sale July 25th. One week after that, we’ll be having a launch at the Sun Bookshop in Yarraville. Everyone is welcome along but please make sure to RSVP! You can find details on the ‘Appearances’ page.
In the meantime, I’m finishing up the manuscript for Book 3. We’re just about to begin editorial work on Book 2, which includes working out a title and coming up with another cover design. If it’s anything like the first, I can’t wait to see it!
(And if you’re curious about who’s responsible for the illustrations, make sure to check out http://www.mccowndesignagency.com!)
Steven Lochran 