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KarlAltstaetter

Date:

March 15th, 2007 6:50 PM

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Ancient Persian Hero gets a Super-hero Makeover PRESS RELEASE!!!

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Info on my latest project. Check out my page for previews in the gallery!!!

Ancient Persian Hero gets a Super-hero Makeover.

This April, Hyperwerks Entertainment will publish its second graphic novel of the legendary Persian hero Rostam. This classic story has been re-imagined with a super-hero twist by writers Bruce Bahmani and Robert Napton featuring art by Karl Altstaetter and colorist Michael Garcia.

You’ve heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey or the Knights of the Round Table, and everyone knows about those 300 tough as nails Spartans. What you may not have heard of is Ferdowsi's “ The Shahnameh” or “Epic of the Kings", an ancient Persian book of Poetry written over a 1000 years ago. This masterpiece of nearly 60,000 verses took Ferdowsi over 30 years to write. It chronicles epic tales of heroes and villains, courage and betrayal , all which constitute a rich Persian mythology. The main character in “The Shahnameh” is a larger than life hero Rostam. He is part Hercules with a dash of Braveheart madness and determination to do what is right. Rostam’s own story plays like the best modern heroes you might find on any comic book shelf or in the movie theaters.

That’s what intrigued the creative team at Hyperwerks.

" I grew up as an Iranian-American kid in the 70s reading American comic books. While attending Persian literature class in school, where these great Persian epics were taught, I often wished I could read these stories in that same comic book form." says Bahmani. "But my main inspiration for bringing cool Iranian folklore like this to the American comic book was Lee's Thor, the famous hammer wielding hero from Scandinavian folklore," he added. And, with world politics as they are right now. I felt it important to share a snapshot of,another true aspect of our culture. In my opinion, common cultural icons and values transcend religious or political animosity."

How does a writer handle the daunting task of taking a hero from one culture and recreate them in the super-hero related genre?

"It's been interesting to learn about the legend of Rostam, and to see that every culture has its own HERO, a savior in the form of a mythic, perfect defender of the people. When there's so much negative rhetoric about Iran these days in the media, it's important to show what the people and the culture of Iran are about, in the form of one of their greatest mythological heroes." says Napton.

Artist Karl Altstaetter approached the art from a very specific angle. “ I realized early on that this project was going to appeal to a whole group of people outside of the comic industry. Many of them might be reading an American style comic for the first time. I wanted the book to be clear and straight forward so that anyone could easily enjoy it. In the first book, I explored a simpler style, but as I entered book two I felt it needed a richer style to match the depth of the story. It was a big challenge working on this book. There was a lot of subtle cultural nuances that I had to look out for. It was a great experience to take a legendary story like Rostam and do something unique and modern with it.

Book one and two are available through Amazon.com key word “Rostam” or at www.theshahnameh.com

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