Geoph Essex creates fiction, art, technology, games, and sentences that refer to him in the third person. He’s prolific that way. Here are some of his projects and productions, whether currently published, in-progress, or in concept stages.
Silhouette is a collection of stories set in the fictitious Silhouette Universe, where gods and aliens and ghosts and cosmic horrors are not only available for the occasional adventure, but quite likely to drop by for sandwiches on a random Wednesday afternoon.
Named for the fictional midwestern town that serves as an unexplained nexus for all these weird goings-on, Silhouette currently consists of two published novels—Lovely Assistant and Jackrabbit Messiah—with more in the works.
You can visit the official Silhouette Universe website for more info.
Six is a hard-nosed newspaper reporter assigned to a boring human interest story out in the sticks—as punishment for a fizzled exposé that almost got the Dirichlet Analysis sued into oblivion by the wealthy elite. But little does he know that there's a lot more going on in Port Euclid than meets the eye.
An obscenely powerful family overseeing the town from a cliffside manor. A privileged community under construction by the lake. An indigenous population treated as second-class citizens. A commercial fishing boat gone mysteriously missing. And a strange visitor even more unwelcome in Port Euclid than a nosy reporter.
This dark and deep graphic novel is a classic noir mystery with plenty of twists and turns and a sharp sense of satire. If you should be afraid of anything, maybe you should be Afraid of 7...
[Web link pending.]
There’s a strange world that can be reached through the mysterious red doors found on so many other worlds. One by one, creatures of various shapes and sizes find their way through these doors and to each other: a cautious predator, a curious scientist, an artificial probe, and many more.
The mystery of how the doors work—and how to return to their own worlds—pales compared to the mystery of who built them and why. Pursued by cruel and cunning shadows, a strange assortment of companions must figure out if this world must be saved, or destroyed...and what either outcome might do to all the worlds connected to it.
The Clockwark graphic series dives head first into this mystery with a cast of odd adventurers and bizarre monsters, along with adventurers who are monsters and monsters who are adventurers—nothing is ever quite as it seems. You can visit the official Clockwark website to find out more.
Part absurdist satire, part winsome philosophy, part wry observation: Amelia and Crow is a simple comic strip following the interactions of a little girl and her avian best friend. Amelia is a bright, creative, earnest, and sensitive girl. Crow is an amiable, curious outsider just getting to know what the world is all about.
Originally aimed at syndication (before the slow and continuing demise of newspaper comics reached the point of no return), there’s still a plan to revive and resume the daily humor of Amelia and Crow in a more modern venue at some future date.
You can visit the official Amelia and Crow website to get a preview of some completed strips.
The apocalypse has arrived—how exactly civilization ended is neither precisely clear nor entirely relevant when survival is the most important factor. And, to be honest, there are a lot of conflicting theories, so nobody can keep their stories straight.
A dying scientist kept his children safe in a top secret bunker, but now it’s time for learning disabled Alice Turing and her precocious little brother Dish to venture out into the smoking remains of a scarred planet in search of their missing mother. Accompanied by some of Doctor Turing’s quirkier inventions, they’ll encounter roving gangs, weird cultists, and rampaging armies all out to hold on to what little is left of this dying world.
Part rock musical (written for live performance), part webcomic and graphic novel, So Many Better Ways to End the World takes on the absurdity and futility of searching for meaning in a world that’s already ended, and the improbability of the human spirit giving up despite that.
Take a listen right here to the title theme (and opening number).
[Web link pending.]
As far as he’s aware, little David is the only survivor of his home planet, rescued by salvage scavenger Gamingo Blux only moments before the Empire blew the place up. Growing up in deep space with his Uncle Blux is the only life he’s ever known, save for a favorite toy and a few hazy memories of the planet known to the galaxy—or rather, to those who have ever heard of the obscure fringe world—as Snark.
A chance encounter with Imperial inspectors adds a twist, though, as the Empire’s interest in all things Snark has been mysteriously rekindled almost a decade after the planet evaporated into space. Intrigued by the possibility that David might not be all that remains of Snark, and desperate to stay one step ahead of the authorities who would love nothing more than to get their hands on him, David, Blux, and an interstellar circle of loyal friends find themselves in a race to uncover the truth about David’s home, and why the Empire is so desperate to erase it from the past and future of the universe.
The David Earth series follows David as he grows from a little boy to a young man, discovering where he came from...and learning just what that means for the future of galactic civilization.
[Web link pending.]
Any decent galaxy spans hundreds of thousands of light-years across, so whoever corners the market on transportation between the far-flung reaches of the cosmos is an indispensable—and therefore untouchable—cornerstone of the galactic economy.
But sentience is as sentience does, and corruption knows no boundaries between planet, species, or base molecular structure. So when the only means of quick and easy travel between the stars is being stolen, piece by piece, the folks in charge head for the most corrupt sentients in the galaxy to go after the thieves.
Meet Olly Free the Lunatic and her four pet moons; Doozl the Bollix (whatever that is), more interested in setting the galaxy on fire than putting out the flames; the thoroughly unkillable and even more thoroughly unlikable Arcadio Travalian; and genetically-engineered former house-ape, Apegirl (don’t call her by her slave name). With their uplifted canine warden Martindale barely keeping them in line, this team of maladjusted miscreants is the only thing standing between galactic civilization...and an empty, distant void.
[Web link pending.]
In a forest full of cute and fuzzy animals, an armadillo and a rat pause to greet each other in passing, and simultaneously realize two distinct facts: one, they’re able to speak; and two, they’re vaguely aware that they shouldn’t be able to.
This is only the beginning of Treebound, a tale that sees Dill, Rat, and their adorable friends set off on a dark and dangerous journey to discover why they’re all haunted by elusive thoughts of a dream-like world they can’t make sense of. Their only clues are the shooting star burned into all of their memories, and the unearthly appearance of their mute green companion—the only one unable to speak, but whose silent secrets may hold the key to everything.
A saga in three parts, the adventure concludes and the mystery is solved only when everything these fuzzy friends hold dear must be given up in exchange for the truth.
You can visit the official Treebound website to learn more.
A chess-like boardgame taking place on three levels, Gray gives each player direct control of the pieces on their own upper or lower level (the archons), through which they can take indirect control of the pieces on the central level (the avatars). The abstracted strategy adds another layer of depth to the game, as players need to keep track of their own pieces, their opponent’s, and the avatar pieces that either can take control of.
In the same way that chess is a systematized metaphor for war, Gray is a systematized metaphor for a larger battle over mortal souls by opposing dark and light forces scheming on other planes of existence. The object of the game is to win the most avatars to your side...or obliterate them from the board.
Currently being play-tested and refined, Gray will be both 3D-printed for table play and simulated in a game app.
[Web link pending.]
On a planet crushed beneath the iron boots of a militant civilization from the stars, all that’s left of the old world are memories, crumbling monuments, and the few elderly veterans of a war that never stood a chance.
None of this means much to cynical x, intellectual o, or carefree +, three down-on-their-luck misfits serving time for trumped-up crimes against the occupation. At least, not until their fortuitous escape and hectic getaway land them in the middle of a reborn resistance movement with hard-to-resist temptations like money, love, and freedom.
In a wordless graphic series with an alien palette of people, places, and things—and an all-too-human palette of experiences—xo+ follows the wild and often reluctant adventures of three guys who just wanted to get out of prison, and ended up on the front lines of a worldwide fight for freedom.
You can visit the official xo+ website for the latest on this story.
Easy to learn and easy to use, A.K.A. is a simple roleplaying system with wide-reaching applications, well-suited for genres from fantasy to sci-fi, horror to superhero. Whether you like number-crunching, storytelling, or just plain fun, A.K.A.’s got you covered with a brief set of core rules open to unlimited expansion.
It’s classless and levelless, relying entirely on the character types and abilities you choose to develop. It uses an intuitive die-pool mechanic that gives you a better (but not perfect) chance of doing what you’re best at, and a worse (but not impossible) chance of doing what you’re worst at.
The core rules set is easy to apply to a variety of genres, and includes optional guidelines for a few specific settings. The characters themselves can be easily transplanted from one setting to another with no modification, making cross-genre world-hopping a fully feasible option.
A.K.A. takes the simplest parts of old-school RPGs and combines them with a useful, more modern take on mechanics. It provides depth without complexity, and fun gameplay with the amount of crunchy math you most prefer (from just about none to quite a bit!). It’s a great alternative to more complicated or lengthy systems for a single gaming night or an extended campaign.
Feel free to check out the A.K.A. website as more material is developed and made available.