The Variants web series

Somewhere between Clerks and The Guild lies The Variants; Somewhere between Clerks and The Guild lies The Variants; a show about life on the other side of the counter. These comic shop retail geeks are almost literally based on real life encounters dramatized for comedy's sake at Zeus Comics and Collectibles in Dallas, Texas. Store owner Richard Neal, along with Ken Lowery and Joe Cucinotti, developed the series and cast employees as themselves. The show has also featured prominent comic book personalities like Scott Kurtz, Dave Crosland and Ben Templesmith as guest stars.

The Variants is in its second season with a new theme song, new website, and shiny season one DVD.

Keeping them together.

website recently underwent a total code change. Previously running on WordPress, it was attacked constantly by spammers and hackers, needed constant software security updates, and the typical linear blog format was a poor fit for a web television series. Keeping the original logo we designed for the show, and all of its content, we migrated everything over to a completely restructured site. Now it runs on CodeIgniter using our own custom built CMS. All of its episodes, commercials, and behind-the-scenes videos are neatly organized on the front page and accessible at a glance.

We pulled out the big guns.

For season two, The Variants is doing everything bigger and better. Having just finished mastering their DVD, production was already underway for season two and the expectations are much higher. From editing, sound mastering, color correction, and special effects, using tools like Apple Final Cut and Adobe After Effects, Martini Lab brings a level of post-production service unseen in any other web series. This kind of commitment gives Richard, Joe and Ken the ability to make exactly the kind of show they envision.