This week I sat down at Hourglass Brewery in Longwood, Florida to talk to comic creator Ethan Kenneth. Returning to the scene of his comic release party Saturday June 8th.

“The book is called Torlena. I thought I actually created that word.”

As Ethan tells me it is hard to come up with a name because everything you can think of is already taken.

“I come up with this word… Torlena. It’s a woman’s first name.” After doing a little research…”In Hindu it means fractured…it kind of fit what I’m trying to tell.”

Sometimes things fall into place.

This is the story of the man behind Torlena. It starts in a lot of places Megacon 2017, Wheaton College, as a kid having his mom telling him the story of The Incredible Hulk. Like I said in a lot of places. It is a journey as they say.

Drawing since he was a little kid, Ethan just wanted to make comics he didn’t even want to go to Art School. But eventually he did go. He went to Wheaton College in Massachusetts he was so excited but all I want to do is make comics.

“My first drawing class-my teacher was like ‘we have to start you over from the get go, we need life drawing’. That was the last thing I wanted to hear-Dude I want to draw comics.”

By the time he was finished up at Wheaton he was burned out on drawing so he went with his other passion music. He moved down to Florida in 2001 to try to make it as a rock star and he had some success. According to Ethan more people know him as a musician than as an artist right now. I believe that is about to change.

It took a friend practically dragging him to Megacon in 2017 to put that change in motion. (Megacon is Orlando’s premier comic convention. I have spent many a weekend there myself.) Six hours in artist alley changed his path. He met artist Sorah Suhng(who had done covers for Ninjak among other projects) talking to her got the blood flowing. She suggested he speak to Nick Bradshaw then it was Clay Mann and others. Something in the universe touched him. It was time to make some comics.

Fast forward to August 2017. He quit his job, this is going to happen. The next day he was already working on getting his chops back. Looking at anything to do with the art of making comics because that is what he was going to do. By February of 2018 he was starting to work on Torlena, by March he was treating it like a job. Getting trademarks and copyrights and doing all other things we never think about when we pick up the books at our local comic shop.

I met Ethan a new Comic Book Day first Saturday of May. He was drawing in the back of my local comic book store working on Torlena. I talked to him for a few minutes. I already knew I wanted to see the final product. And I was happy for him that he had gotten that ‘zero’ issue published.

Asking about Torlena. The first and second issues are written and he is working on the 3rd. He figures it will go eight issues but then again the zero issue was originally going to be 25 pages and ended up at 28.

Initially he wanted it to be like Spawn and just go on forever. Todd McFarlane is one of his comic heroes after all.

This is the start of something. Hope it is a long, long ride.

Torlena # 0

A team of scientists must save

a little girl before she brings

her bad dreams to life.

You can order Torlena from EthanKennett.com or Torlena.com.

Enjoy.