An Artist's Life, Digitized: Graphic Novel in Progress

Unfinished Science Fiction Adventure Series

Story & Art by Grady Lyda

In our Solar System's distant future, a man of mysterious origins (Sherman Ames), a woman transplanted from the 21st Century (LaNaRa), her hi-tech artificial guardian (BoB), and an insectoid-plant (Buster), escape from a dying Earth. They crash land on the Lunar Ring -- a vast hoop created long ago from a pulverized moon, encoded with a virtual-reality simulation of the entire span of human history.

Their collision with the hoop creates a temporal shock-wave that draws in a trio of para-military operatives (Hoop-Hoppers) from the 25th Century. This trio, now trapped in the doomed future, joins the first group (Ames, LaNaRa, BoB, Buster) and together they explore hoop history, searching for a hidden portal thru which they can return to their starting point in the 2400s.

Ames, the mystery man, is secretly searching for something else: The ultimate meaning and value of human beings. His final judgement will determine mankind's continuation -- or annihilation -- in the New Order that is unfolding in our solar neighborhood.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

SHERMAN AMES ("Sure, man aims..."); alternate name is OBRECON (from his covert mission: OBserve, REact, CONtinue): Seemingly an average human male, his origins remain a mystery -- even to himself, apparently. Initially, he cannot remember his true name, his former life, or how he got there. However, his existence will become crucial to mankind's destiny.

BUSTER BULB: A friendly sentient insectoid-vegetable. The only one of its kind, "he" represents the highest point in the evolution of Earth species in this post-human epoch. Buster acquired mobility and an understanding of human language due to "his" association with LaNaRa.

LANARA ALPHA: A human female conceived in the 21st Century, brought to life in this world by BoB, whose mission was to preserve a human fetus and then revive it in the distant future. Her name is the result of her 3-letter designation, "LnR" (for Left 'n' Right, meaning "ambidextrous fetus"), sounding like "La-Na-Ra" using updated alphabetical pronunciations.

BoB (Acronym for "Billions of Brains"): A "Magic Box" computer-conveyance created in the 2000s. Its capabilities are nearly unlimited and it is literally indestructible. It represents the pinnacle of human quantum technology and is considered extremely dangerous to society by future law enforcement agencies: The advanced Q-Tech functionality makes its Registered User absolutely invulnerable to outside interference or harassment by anybody.

HOOP-HOPPERS (RaSa, DaRa, JaKa): 3-member team of elite agents entrusted with maintaining & policing the orbiting Lunar Ring Recording of the 25th Century. They must urgently deal with the catastrophe that is created by LaNaRa, et al, when they crash into the hoop.

Hoop-Hoppers TOC Suit: See full PDF

FOREVER ENDEAVOR Development Binder - 1 of 3

ART 1 PART I - "SHERMAN"

Page 1 - INTRO: "Beginnings"

FOREVER ENDEAVOR & ever & ever & ever & ever...

TIME: 1,000,000 Years in the Future (or maybe 3 Million -- I haven't decided yet)

PLACE: Earth, which is trapped inside the artificial GeoSolar GigaSphere

Page 1

Prehistoric fire - 1,000,000 years in the past

EXTERIOR: Future fire, GeoSolar MegaSphere - 1,000,000 years in the future

INTRODUCTION

The time is three million years in our future (or maybe 1 million...). A vast globe, created long ago by super-advanced humans from extra matter in the solar system (other planets, moons, asteroids, etc.), contains our world in lonely orbit around the sun.

This Great Sphere shields Earth from hazards in deep space, and efficiently retains all of the sun's energy within it. Caught in this bubble of everlasting daylight, Earth is now a nearly barren world circled by a ring made up of the disintegrated remains of the moon.

INTERIOR: Earth surrounded by Lunar Ring (remnant of the Moon)

The planet is lifeless except for a small bio-sphere that sustains all that is left of Earth's erratically evolving organic forms. This habitat is located in the center of what was once Antarctica. It is protected and maintained with mechanisms installed by humans who have long since abandoned their cradle.

Antareserve - Antarctica, South Pole, 1 million years from today

ART 2 PART I - "SHERMAN"

Page 3 - "Dropping In"

This steady state of affairs is interrupted by the appearance of intense beams flashing up from the ground, zapping animals and plants out of existence. This inexplicable development initiates a sequence of events that are chronicled in FOREVER ENDEAVOR.