Sci-fi fantasy and reality blend in writer's work

Like the story arcs he creates out of his comic book writing, the career arc of M. Zachary Sherman has been rich and interesting.

Sherman has returned to the place he called home for about four years as a kid when he and his family lived in Barbers Point, the son of a Navy captain stationed at Pearl Harbor. He says it was always his intention to live here, and now with his Kona-born fiancee, Sherman continues his work in his favorite place in the world.

Three years out of the Marine Corps Reserves, Sherman has drawn on his military, screenwriting, video game design and digital effects skills in penning his current comic book and graphic novel projects, which include a sequel to his graphic novel "SOCOM: Seal Team Seven," a continuing online comic book adaptation of the "America's Army" video game for the Army and, for the independent Radical Comics, "Earp: Saints for Sinners."

Sherman has already made a name for himself working on Radical's "Shrapnel" title; a critically acclaimed short story, "Entrenched," for Dark Horse Comics' "Star Wars: Visionaries" graphic novel; and also for helping to write the story line and dialogue for the recently released video game adaptation of the "Saw" movie franchise.

Sherman made a leap-of-faith career move in 2006, leaving his 10-year gig as a digital effects artist for George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic to try his hand in comic book writing.

He said it started with the help of his father, a Navy captain and technical adviser for major studio films involving the Navy's assistance, including "Navy Seals," "Flight of the Intruder, "A Few Good Men" and the 1989 movie adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel "The Hunt for Red October," where the young Sherman got his first taste of the business, working as a production assistant.

In his attempt to always get things right technically and procedure-wise, Sherman's writing straddles the line between realistic military and imaginative sci-fi scenarios.

"I find it more interesting when things are grounded in reality, where real people react in believable ways," he said.

SHERMAN CONSIDERS himself first and foremost "an action, sci-fi writer who creates realistic, thought-provoking characters."

He's particularly proud of the work he's done -- and is doing -- for Radical Comics. Produced with Zombie Studios, Sherman completed the first story arc for the well-received space opera "Shrapnel," subtitled "Aristeia Rising." He said he set up the dark, combative world the main character Samantha "Sam" Vijaya inhabits in her exile world of Venus, leaving it up to the title's next writer, Nick Sagan (son of famed astronomer Carl Sagan), to express the more thoughtful and emotional aspects of the story.

Sherman is looking forward to next summer's debut of "Earp: Saints for Sinners."

"I've transitioned into what myself and Radical think will be a bigger, more intense, hard-hitting crime drama project. It's a cool, futuristic, dystopian retelling of the Wyatt Earp/Tombstone mythos, which includes an in-depth look at what it takes to be a good man in corrupt times."

The three-issue miniseries, created from a treatment by Matt Cirulnick, shows a bleak future.

"Las Vegas is the last bastion of hope in making money, so it obviously brings out the seedy criminal elements. Wyatt and Doc Holliday are partners in a major crime unit, and they meet up with re-conceived characters like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, up to John Dillinger.

"Even though Radical Publishing has a multitiered business strategy that ties in their comics with possible video game and movie adaptations, I've told them that I'm not working for them as some kind of 'movie shill.' My intention is to first help make good comic books," Sherman said.

The writer also takes strides in making the online graphic novel "America's Army" true to the intent and mission of his employer, the Army. The story is now three issues in, with each of Sherman's scripts having to go through approval before a panel of three high-ranking officers.

"While it's both a promotional tool for the video game and to help in recruitment, I try to keep it character-driven and not jingoistic, where you feel you're being constantly hit over the head with a two-by-four, telling you that America is great."

IN RELATING the story of a young man from Louisiana trying to find his direction in life, Sherman said that while his protagonist agrees to join up and learn to become a medic, "he also learns the importance of commitment to serving in the military, not just because he doesn't have anything better to do.

"The Army is a great organization that provides great jobs. Based on the number of hits the graphic novel has gotten, I'm extraordinarily happy with how the story's come along. I've already laid out a 12-issue arc."

Also on tap for Sherman is next year's release from Arcana Comics of a trade paperback he did with illustrator Matt Hebb, "Harry Walton, Henchman for Hire," about an ex-superhero sidekick who decides to become a villain because the money's better. There are also plans for the continuation of another sci-fi title he writes for creator-editor Fon Davis, called "M.O.R.A.V.," or Multi-Operational Robotic Armored Vehicle.

"I see life as an adventure," the writer said. "I'm lucky enough to be able to do a job where I don't have to be in one particular place. I love Hawaii, its people, culture, everything. ... There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

On the Net:
» www.mzacharysherman.com
» www.radicalcomics.com
» www.americasarmy.com
» www.morav.net