Local animator reaches millions with online comic
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

FANTASY REALM- Scott Christian Sava's action tales reach around the world with his online comic strip, "The Dreamland Chronicles." Today nearly 2 million readers log on to follow the latest adventures of Sava's characters.

The funny papers don't need paper any more to reach an audience. In fact, the paper route may be more of a hindrance than a help to budding comic strip artists.

Agoura Hills resident Scott Christian Sava should know. An artist and animator who's worked on films such as "Casper the Friendly Ghost," "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars," Sava continues to work for the Hollywood set through his Blue Dream Studios. But the alternative universe he created through an online comic strip series "The Dreamland Chronicles" is his true passion and apparently the passion of millions of comic aficionados from every corner of the world.

Sava started working on his strip in the traditional fashion by creating characters, selfpublishing his work and distributing his books to comic book shops. After publishing three issues- and receiving good reviews from fans- a friend suggested publishing the series online. The first page of the first comic went global in January 2006, and Sava hasn't looked back.

Sava released about a page of his comic each day on the Internet the first year. At first he counted about 10 page views per day, but within three months, "Dreamland Chronicles" was being viewed by 1,000 fans each day. Now more than 10,000 readers log onto the site daily, he said.

Within just a year, the comic was being seen by 1 million people, and today nearly 2 million people log on to discover the latest adventures of Alex, Kiwi the fairy, Nastajia the elf princess, Paddington Rumblebottom, the rock boy, and an assorted group of ogres, dragons and other fantasy creatures that come alive at Sava's hand.

Apparently "Dreamland Chronicles" has a compelling plotline for children and adults alike. Although the tale began with twin brothers in college, the story really begins in their childhood. Alex Carter is the dreamer in the storyline, and his brother Dan is the one who "chronicles" the stories and has always believed his brother's nighttime adventures actually happen.

For years Alex dreamt about another land inhabited by elves, fairies, dragons, giants and other images common in a young boy's imagination, Sava said.

In his dreams Alex fights with a sword, and one day he awakes with a sword necklace around his neck. When his mother takes the necklace away on his 12th birthday, the dreams stop.

While in college, the boys receive a care package from their mother and included in the mix is the sword necklace. When Alex wears the longlost necklace, the dream adventures resume, but the characters in Dreamland have aged along with Alex and Dan.

"It's kind of like his key back to Dreamland," Sava said.

Sava's alternative universe is packed with adventure, intrigue and enough twists and turns to keep fans counting the hours for another page to read.

"My biggest fan base is teen girls," Sava said. He wrote the story for his young sons, twins Brenden Daniel and Logan Alexander, but apparently fairies, elves and a touch of romance with collegeage fairies and elf princesses hooked young girls on the storyline. Dragons, swords and some philosophical meanderings keep boys and adults reading the stories, he said.

According to fan mail and geographical tracking by the online search engine Google, Dreamland's fan base is broad. Comic lovers worldwide have followed the plot for 15 months, and the fan base continues to grow.

The analysis has tracked more than 1 million viewers from the United States, 158,000 from Canada and 80,000 from the United Kingdom. There are also 1,000 readers from Latvia, 2,500 from southern African countries, and 2,200 Malaysians who've been following Alex's adventures.

With more than a million hits a month, "Dreamland Chronicles" is generating advertising revenue. Just three ads chalk up about $1,500 per month for Sava and his family.

More satisfying than the money, however, are the responses Sava receives from fans. "Parents send me emails thanking me for putting ageappropriate content on the web," he said.

The comic strip may have developed through the unprecedented reach of the Internet, but Sava uses his online fame to cater to other readers' traditional tastes. He compiles the "Dreamland Chronicles" strip into books and markets them through Amazon.com and local bookstores and libraries. For online viewers, the strip is at www. thedreamlandchronicles.com.

Sava started writing the comic when his boys were born, and now that they're 4 years old, Brenden and Logan love to keep up with the plot and act out scenes with their dad.

Sava said the boys know the names of all the characters, and each son has his favorite scenes.

"They like the scenes when Alexander rescues Kiwi, the fairy, and Nastajia, the elf princess, fights the pirates," he said. "I have to play the pirate most of the time. Brenden pretends to be Alexander and Logan is Nastajia and they beat me up with pillows until I submit. They absolutely love it."

The future is bright with possibilities for Sava's family. He has other books in the works, and is working on manufacturing character toys, due to appear in stores this summer. A Paddington plush toy is also in the wings, and Sava looks forward to his sons sleeping- and dreaming- with the toy each night.