Andrew Paquette

Paquette's first professional work as a comic book artist appeared in the now defunct title Dread of Night[2] from Hamilton Comics. He later made several one-shot appearances as penciller, inker, or artist, in various titles from Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including a well-received story written by author Nicholas Vance in Hellraiser #14,[3] Nightbreed #17, written by Larry Wachowski, of The Matrix fame,[3] Teen Titans #87,[4] A couple issues of Avengers,[5] a Daredevil annual,[6] Book of the Damned,[5] Deathstroke[7] and The Big Book of Urban Legends.[5]

After these initial forays into comics, he became co-creator (with author James Hudnall) and penciller of the Harris Comics series Harsh Realm.[8] His last comic, published immediately before entering the video game industry, was the self-parody Dr. Andy #1, published by the now defunct Alliance Comics.

The Harsh Realm comic book series was optioned for use as a TV series by producer Daniel Sackheim and Fox television sometime prior to 1998. By 1999, the series was in production, with Fox veteran Chris Carter (X-Files) at the helm. The series did not perform well and was cancelled almost as soon as it was released,[9] after airing only three episodes on the Fox network. Later, all nine of the finished episodes were aired on the sci-fi channel (owned by Fox) and then the series was released as a boxed set of DVDs.[10] When the series first aired, credit was not given to either creator of the series, Paquette or Hudnall. The pair subsequently filed suit against Fox, Carter, and Harris Comics,[8][11] asking for a preliminary injunction against airing further episodes until appropriate credit was given. In the final ruling on the matter, the injunction was granted, Fox relented and gave the two creators credit in the start credits,[12] and the show was cancelled. Some believe there is a connection between the lawsuit and the series being cancelled, though the show's poor ratings are enough of a justification on their own.

The lawsuit against Carter was filed on October 13, which was both his birthday and Paquette's, as well as the name of Carter's production company, tenthirteen Productions.[13]