Gates The Comic by Hal Hefner, Presented by Heavy Metal

Gates, a dark, science fiction webcomic, presented by Heavy Metal Magazine celebrates a birthday today!

THANK YOU…

As the writer, creator, designer, HTML editor, production artist, letterer, article writer and all around one stop shop creative whackjob and brain trust behind the Gates, science fiction comic, presented by Heavy Metal Magazine…I humbly do a Kung Fu bow to you all.

Thank you to all of my new, wonderful friends I have met this year who have become fans and supported Gates on social networks, the official website and so much more.

Thank you to all of my old friends who saw this coming and helped me in so many ways spiritually, emotionally, physically and more.

Thank you to my family and friends that are as close as family (you know who you are), without you guys, I’d be in big trouble.

Thank you to everyone who has given me hand here and there to help with little intricacies of Gates such as marketing, production, web dev, moral support and more. You guys rock!

Thank you to all of the bands and musical talents that participated in Volume 1 of the Gates soundtrack.

Thank you to everyone who has ever doubted me, dissed more or told me I couldn’t do something. You all fuel the fire in my belly.

I am very grateful for all of you. Thank you. Cheers to you in 2012~

 

A RECAP OF GATES THE SCIENCE FICTION COMIC BOOK IN 2011

One year ago today on 1/1/11 , Gates launched to much fanfare from such places as Wired Magazine and MTVGeek!

A trailer was launched…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_YEuWQ8jfM&context=C314f143ADOEgsToPDskK-URvk_WHUDJ1H4UVJUF8d[/youtube]

Then a few videos about the story were released…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7LWn1Bbuc&feature=plcp&context=C3111781UDOEgsToPDskI-YkgoKu9ql7GpLSwH3weV[/youtube]

 

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvThv06FP_c&feature=plcp&context=C3de1f45UDOEgsToPDskJ78Q0pYQXzXxq8lKg7qCJu[/youtube]

 

Then the first 5 pages, popped up online! The negative Dystopian science fiction comic book was born! Heavy Metal Magazine then had its first online comic book, and history was made. Every Tuesday of every week a new page of Gates has been added to the website.

 

In May we created a fun video that serves as back-story juiciness involving the ConGenement, the villainous oppressors of our main character Gates.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUhaLvuRMvk&list=UU1KfaywoLwjHYLzNzFfs8Lg&index=1&feature=plcp[/youtube]

 

 THE SOUNDTRACK TO BENEFIT THE RONNIE JAMES DIO STAND UP AND SHOUT CANCER FUND FOR GATES THE COMIC BOOK

In August we launched a soundtrack to the comic that is available for download on iTunes and AmazonMP3, benefiting the Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund.” This soundtrack was created to memorialize Dio for his contribution to the original 1981 Heavy Metal Movie, while in the band Black Sabbath, in the last and most epic short form the movie, Taarna. The song the Mob Rules will forever inspire Heavy Metal Magazine artists forever!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4FrHXy7fiw&feature=plcp&context=C36895edUDOEgsToPDskI2gBRPy2bmfPFrlhI9IIMI[/youtube]

 

And in the summer, in support of the Gates soundtrack to support the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, your fun and self mocking creator, ME (Hal Hefner) dressed up as Girogio Tsoukalos, the Ancient Aliens TV show star from the History Channel, and ancient astronaut theorist. Know for his over inflated locks of hair and his passionately delivered speeches, we had a little fun with him, his theories and…his hair and orange skin.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfjfiVHljtU[/youtube]

 

THE ART, DESIGN and MESSAGE OF GATES: “FIGHT THE POWER AND QUESTION AUTHORITY – THINK FOR YOURSELF”

And Gates, continued to chug along…New Page after new page. Here are a few of my personal favorite pages from the year, from the science fiction webcomic, Gates.