#joekhachadourian

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Meet The Creators: Joe Khachadourian

Creator and Writer

Joe Khachadourian is a writer, concept creator, and graphic fiction evangelist living in Austin, Texas. Formerly an Executive Editor at MightyVille.com - A Comics Website, Joe has contributed to various websites and periodicals over the years, along with a number of comic book anthologies, including IDW Publishing’s Transformers: Mosaic. A recipient of several awards in journalism and playwriting, Joe’s decided to make the dive into the world of creator-owned comics with Identity Stunt. A lifelong comic book reader, this is the project his entire creative career has been building to and he’s thrilled to have you along for the ride. 

Follow Joe on social media: Twitter  |  Instagram  |  deviantART

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Identity Stunt by Joe Khachadourian

About Identity Stunt: After being falsely outed as a vigilante, a professional stuntman must battle to reclaim his identity by circumventing the police, outsmarting bionically-enhanced mercenaries, and rescuing his family from the clutches of a notorious madman. Capturing the bombastic tones and dialogue of '80s and '90s action films, Identity Stunt is a relentless odyssey featuring complex characters, a touch of romance, and a fistful of masked lunatics. Written by: Joe Khachadourian Targeted Age Group: Teens Buy the ebook Buy the Paperback Book Buy the Series Read the full article

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This Christmas, IDENTITY STUNT Returns!

BREAKING: This Christmas, Sami Nasser and gang from Markosia Publishing's break-out critical hit Identity Stunt return in...Identity Stunt 2! 

Many more details will be coming soon, and until then, here's your first look at the solicits for Identity Stunt 2 #1, along with promotional artwork by Kyler Clodfelter and Patrik Mok!

Identity Stunt 2 #1 of 3 - “Die Hard”

(W) Joe R. Khachadourian (A) J.C. Grande with Kyler Clodfelter (C ) Patrik Mok (CA) Kyler Clodfelter & Patrik Mok

Former stuntman Sami "Sam” Nasser is finally piecing his arduous life back together, having narrowly survived a torturous experience with a psychotic ganglord six months earlier. As promising new opportunities present themselves to the Nasser family this holiday season, so does an unfamiliar adversary, long-hidden by the shadows of the underworld, and now clawing at the threads of unanswered questions dangling in the back of Sam’s tumultuous mind. Christmastime is here again, Studio City, and it’s brought with it a battalion of ballistic Beatdown doppelgangers, all ready to deliver one sinister message to Sam Nasser: What Father wants...Father gets! 

Channeling the eruptive spirit and witticism of ‘80s and '90s action movies, writer Joe R. Khachadourian (Transformers: Mosaic, Altered Metal) and artists J.C. Grande (Johnny Monster) and Kyler Clodfelter (Dead Beats) bring you the next high-octane chapter of the critically-acclaimed Identity Stunt saga, featuring a multidimensional cast on an intrepid quest for self-discovery, facing the relentless onslaught of an all-new pack of masked lunatics!

Available: December 2020 from Markosia Publishing.

Who's in??!

#ABeatdownIsComing 

(c) 2020 Joe R. Khachadourian & Markosia Enterprises 

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Identity Stunt #2 Preview 2

Tick, tick, tick...the clock is ticking towards an explosive debut for these two mystery characters in Identity Stunt #2, coming in 2018!

Lineart by J. Briscoe Allison, color art by Timothy Brown

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian

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Writer/Creator Joe R. Khachadourian interviewed by Review Fix!

Patrick Hickey, Jr. of Review Fix interviewed Identity Stunt writer/creator Joe R. Khachadourian. Here’s an excerpt from the eclectic candor:

Review Fix: Who’s your target audience for this?

Khachadourian: I’m inclined to say “everyone,” but the book’s got a “15+” tag on it for a reason. It’s basically written for action junkies who want a little “heart” mixed in with their big boom story-telling, like that one scene in The Temple of Doom. I kid! It was important to me that the series progress at a breakneck pace, with little or no room for the readers or characters to catch their breath. But in order for that to matter, we need to love the lead players, or else what’s the point? If your lead is unlikable, the peril becomes less of an emotional threat. So I tried very hard to make Sami (“Sam”), Mason, Tracy, et al, feel like people you’d hang out with on a daily basis, kind of like the cast of Saved by the Bell…ahem. Though, my hope is also that if you don’t revere action sequences the way I do, but simply enjoy humor, or romance, or comic book silliness, that there’s enough of all that in here to keep you entertained.

Click this link now for tons of details regarding the creation of Identity Stunt in Khachadourian’s most in-depth interview to date.

#ABeatdownIsComing2018

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From Script to Page - Identity Stunt #1 Page 19

Issue #1 is done, folks! Woo Hoo … milestone achieved and we are full steam ahead on issues two and three! As we gear up to get our submissions ready, we thought we’d commemorate the occasion by sharing with you not only some brand new artwork, but also a snippet of the script so you get some insight into our creative process.

Above is page 19 of Identity Stunt. On the left, you can read an excerpt from Joe’s script (sorry about the redaction, but we can’t give too much away!). On the right, you’ll see how the artist and colorist translated the text into some phenomenal artwork. The look on Sam’s face is quite telling, and how about that nod to Hitchcock on his phone? (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Let us know what you think and bonus points if you can spot any other subtle differences between script and page!

*Note: artwork and script subject to change.

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian 

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Creator and writer Joe Khachadourian calls in to The Geek Speak Show to talk up Identity Stunt with host Henry San Miguel, along with some other comic book related stuff! 

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Identity Stunt Color Process

Identity Stunt’s colorist of the highest excellence, Tim Brown, peels back the curtain to give us a glimpse into his coloring process. We were blown away. Plus, get a sneak peek at some never-before-seen art!

1. This is what the page looks like when I first get it. These are a couple of panels from a page I really enjoyed doing, and it brought a great chance to work on using my colours to set the scene. At this point, I read over the notes and the script to figure out how I should use my colours.

2. I did the flats myself for this issue, which gives me a good chance to plot out everything and figure out the smaller bits of the page. It's not the most exciting, but I'm already figuring out how to make the important characters look important, and start tying the page together. The bright red will be used later for a specific purpose.

3. Now I've gone ahead and done some rendering in the background, because I normally work from the back to the front. I've also added some Royalty Free stock photos, so that there's something of interest on the TV. The red was used so I could place the photos over the screens with much greater ease.

4. Now to finish the page, I render the characters and whatever else is in the foreground. After that's done, I added some more special effects like the lighting. I used the bright lights in the back to make the girl, along with Sam and Tracy, appear closer to the reader, along with it looking cool. My work is done, and the only thing left to do is letter the page.

Great work, Tim! Thanks for dropping some color knowledge on us. 

*Note: artwork subject to change.

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian

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Identity Stunt Character Evolution: BEATDOWN

Continuing our series of Identity Stunt Character Evolution segments, our next entry is the ever-punchy Beatdown. While our local bad-ass is not the hero of our tale, he’s definitely a player. Very little is known about this masked man, and that’s by design. More than an urban myth; more like a force of nature in a bulletproof vest, Beatdown stalks the streets of Studio City bringing the beat down on those who would wreak havoc upon his home town. 

Beatdown’s look had to be something that any of us could achieve given some resources, a little cash, and access to military surplus depots. It had to be real: it had to be functional; it had to be accessible. Fortunately, with the recent militarism of local police forces in America, I had lots of references to go with! Combining real-world antics with some aspects and tropes of comic book uniform lore, I put together the sketch on the right side of the above image.

From there, the artist took my shoddy work and rocked a few passes at Beatdown. I really dug his first take on the character in the middle, but we ultimately decided it was a bit more “superhero” than we were going for. His next pass on the right knocked it straight out of the park! 

Which design is your favorite? Let me know!

--Joe.

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian

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Identity Stunt Character Evolution: SAMI “SAM” NASSER

This week’s Character Evolution entry is Sami “Sam” Nasser, the hero of Identity Stunt! Sam was always meant to be the “everyday” guy, the character that most readers would be able to identify with. Granted, he’s far from “everyday” when our tale begins: a National Guardsmen of Middle Eastern heritage who’s traveled the world and is now both a stuntman and martial arts expert. That said, he’s still just a dude being a dude. 

From a visual perspective, Sam had to be both physically imposing and just fragile enough where you really feel for him as he goes through this drama. Referencing some Hollywood leading men, I put pencil to paper and scribbled out the image at the left up there. I turned my amateurish attempt at a character design and notes over to my artist, who was once again able to breathe life into another one of my imaginary people. 

And, man, die he nail my vision! Right?? Thanks to the artist, I no longer see Sam as something I created, but rather as a real, living person who I interact with on a daily basis*.

Enjoy!

–Joe

*It’s not as weird as it sounds. 

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian

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Identity Stunt Character Evolution: Dominus Smith

When I first started drafting Identity Stunt, Dominus was conceived as a generic villain caricature, a reductive Joker rip-off, probably named “Visage.” 

But as the story came together, and I started to think about what I saw as the “opposite” of Beatdown (if there is such a thing), my initial ideas began to fade. I also began to consider aspects of American folklore that drew me in; things like the history and mysticism of the South, specifically the black magic of New Orleans. 

And one day I came across an article about a man that was such a fan of Marvel’s Red Skull...that he had himself cosmetically altered to appear more like him. My first thought was, “That looks nothing like the Red Skull.” My second thought was, “But that does look like what a man who’s been possessed by multiple demons, or at least think he’s been, would look like.” 

Thus was born Dominus Smith, the “Mad God with the killer fuckin’ teeth,” as I initially coined him (it doesn’t actually mean anything). Up there on the left you’ll see my paltry doodle of what I thought Dom would like like: A deformed mad man in 70′s punk rock attire, born of the Bayou and touched in the head by demons. I passed my chicken scratch on to the artist, and as you’ll notice on the right is what the talented fellow was able to spin using my childish scribbles.

I think he did an amazing job bringing Dominus to life. Don’t you? 

--Joe

© 2017 Joe Khachadourian