The Many Faces of Topaz

Welcome to the first issue of Topaz. Topaz has had an interesting history, starting back
in the early 1980s. If you’ve read my introduction piece, you know that I was working
on trying to become a comic book artist. But at the same time, I was producing my own
magazines and newsletters.
One of the strips I’d planned on producing was called Esper. A
sample is to the left. She could teleport almost anywhere and could
send a powerful mind blast into the brain of her intended target. In
fact, the strip that is included was originally drawn as the Esper
character. Her costume was much different than the Topaz costume.
I think I was influenced by the hippie movement I grew up with. In
fact, I have photo copies of some of the original art where the
character was Esper, not Topaz. I honestly can’t remember when I
changed her name to Topaz, or, even why.
Even though the strip was drawn and inked back in the early 80s, it
was never published. I moved onto other things in the mid 80s and
then onto WAVE movies in 1987. This is the first time anyone other
than a few people will see the completed 9 page strip.
But that wasn’t the end of
Topaz. When I started
WAVE, one of the things I
wanted to do was to make
some super heroine
movies. In 1992, we shot
footage of Patriot Girl
(Christine Cavalier) for
what would become
D.O.L.L. Squad. In 1994,
Pamela Sutch took on the
part of Topaz. But now
she could only teleport
using her blue topaz ring.
The storyline remained
somewhat the same
including having a sister
who was out to get her for
the death of their father.
We shot that footage 4
years later with Vanessa
Carlton as her sister out for
revenge.
In 1994, we shot Topaz’s first encounter with Death Dealer, who was now a German
Nazi looking to bring back the Third Reich. Her touch still meant death and there was a
damsel in distress (Laura Giglio) who’s kidnapped and almost drowned as in the strip.
Laura’s character would go to become Firebrand years later.
The following 9 page strip is just the
beginning of Topaz’s illustrated adventures.
As seen on the cover, she’s had various
costumes and possible future costumes. Vote
for your favorite so that when the follow-up to
strip is produced, she can be wearing the
costume you want to see.
We look forward to your comments.