Outtakes from The Business Army

 






Pages and artwork from two versions of my historical novel about an attempt to engineer a fascist coup in 1930s America.


The novel comes in two versions: as a conventional text-only manuscript, and as an illustrated screenplay novel with “storyboard roughs” and “stills” based on archival photos. I’ve seen (and, once, produced) a lot of graphic novels in my time. But I’ve never seen an approach like this. Not sure why. It’s an idea that borrows from the brilliance of whoever invented the original screenplay format, yet it avoids one of the biggest pitfalls of movie production: the incredible pressure to make a profit and recover production costs, and therefore make “crowd pleasing” fictions.


The novel itself is based on real people and events, and tells the story of General Smedley Butler — a Marine who became a vocal critic of militarism and American imperialism — and his cat and mouse relationship with Gerald MacGuire, a small time bond salesman all too willing to act as an agent for much more powerful individuals.


If curious, more here: https://www.eclectica.org/v23n2/harvor.html


Here: The Business Army, part one

https://youtu.be/g2stGjrxL1Y


And here: The Business Army- Part One A - sep 10 12

https://youtu.be/7etqXWttH_,


 

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