Tyler, Neufeld announced as SPX guests

August 27, 2009 By

Via PR:

The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is pleased to announce Carol Tyler and Josh Neufield as guests for SPX 2009.

Carol Tyler, one of the original “Wimmen” cartoonists, has contributed to Weirdo, Drawn & Quarterly, Zero Zero, along with the anthologies Wimmens Comix and Twisted Sisters. She will be at SPX to talk about her latest graphic novel, You’ll Never Know Book One “A Good and Decent Man”, released by Fantagraphics. You’ll Never Know has received acclaim from critics and librarians alike for its portrayal of not only her fathers story of his experiences in World War 2, but how those experiences shaped Carol and her family.  See more of Carol’s work at her web site http://www.bloomerland.com.

Josh Neufield, author of the Xeric Grant winner A Few Perfect Hours, spent time as a volunteer for the Red Cross in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This resulted on the online graphic novel A.D. New Orleans After The Deluge, which is now a full color book published by Pantheon that has garnered rave reviews. Josh also created the series The Vagabonds and as well as collaborating with Dean Haspiel on Keyhole. Visit Josh at his website at http://joshcomix.home.mindspring.com/.

Both Josh and Carol will be on discussion panels to talk about their works, in addition to being available for book signings while at SPX.

SPX will be held Saturday, September 26 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, September 27, noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Admission is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days. 

Filed Under: Events, Indies

Land o’ Links, 8/27/09: Here I Am

August 27, 2009 By

§ The deadline for voting in the Harvey Awards is midnight Friday! Go here to vote.

§ Brigid Alverson has some basics of webcomic design that are very basic, but still good advice:

DON’T hide your comic. This should be obvious, but a lot of webcomics fail this basic test: When I go to the front page of your domain, I should see your comic. Similarly, if I click on your Project Wonderful ad, it should go right to the comic. Not your blog, because I won’t care about your blog until I read your comic. Not your latest avatars, a picture of your desk, or a pitch for T-shirts. Just the comic. Or, at the very least, a large, very obvious link to it. If I can’t find it, I can’t read it.

§ Screenwriter Alex Tse (WATCHMEN) teases his work on the BATTLING BOY movie a bit. [Via Splash Page]

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§ We love those historical comics that reveal interesting facets of history. Ben Towle is working on one now, OYSTER WARS (above).

I’ve been reading a lot about the Chesapeake Bay at the turn of the century, and in particular about the town of Crisfield, Maryland. Around this time Crisfield was the center of a huge boom in oyster production, and with the building of a railroad into the town, it became the seafood capital of America… and with the influx of money inevitably came an influx of lawlessness, prostitution, corruption, crime, and all that other good stuff. For a while, Crisfield was a little like Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1870s, but instead of gold, it was oysters that were fueling the fervor. The oyster beds were such a valuable asset that an Oyster Navy, established by the state of Maryland in the late 1800s, was involved in skirmishes in which shots were fired as recently as the 1950s.


[Via JK Parkin]

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§ An interview with Karen Berger that reads as if its questions were written by a PR agency. However, the Sweet Tooth preview looks…sweet (above.)

§ For ’80s indie comics buffs, a rare public comment from CEREBUS collaborator Gerhard that talks about his financial settlement with Dave Sim.

§ Apropos of stuff people have been talking about this week, Sean Kleefeld talks about comics journalism and social media via the writings of Henry Jenkins:

What motivation might these “new journalists” have? Well, there are any number of things, I’m sure, depending on the individual, but I think Jenkins’ idea about “Here I am” almost definitely comes into play for the vast majority of them. Part of the reason I, and many others, write these kinds of things is simply to keep my name and identity in your conscisousness on an ongoing basis. Years ago, while I was still running my Fantastic Four fan site, I made a point of making regular, weekly updates so that there was always something there for people to check in on. The same holds true for my daily blogging today. Part of it is an exercise in writing regularly as a form of practice, but part of it is to keep my name out there. I make a point of trying to write posts in advance of every day that I know I won’t be at a computer and able to blog, precisely so that the stream of information coming from this location is continual. (I’m not always successful, admittedly, but I do try.) I’m deliberately trying to build cultural capital within the comics community by standing up every day to say, “Here I am.”

Filed Under: Kibbles 'n' Bits

Drawn and Quarterly and Delisle in New York/Brooklyn Book Festival

August 27, 2009 By

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Guy Delisle, author of three fantastic graphic novels, will be making his first appearance in New York at the Brooklyn Book Festival September 13th. Drawn & Quarterly will be exhibiting for the third year in a row and they have several exciting events planned, as you can read at their blog. Beside Delisle, D+Q cartoonists in attendance: R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics), R. O. Blechman (Talking Lines), Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings), Gabrielle Bell (Cecil & Jordan In New York) and Ron Rege Jr. (Skibber Bee Bye, Against Pain).

To celebrate such a momentous gathering of D+Q cartoonists as well as toast to the company’s 20th Anniversary, please join us for cocktails at the Brooklyn purveyor of fine comics, Rocketship, on Saturday evening.

Saturday, September 12th, 7:00 PM
Rocketship 208 Smith Street Brooklyn, NY

http://rocketshipstore.blogspot.com/

Sunday, September 13th, 10:00AM-6:00 PM
Brooklyn Book Festival Borough Hall Brooklyn NY

http://www.visitbrooklyn.org/festival.html

11:00 AM Guy Delisle on the BBF’s International Stage
11:00-12:00 PM Gabrielle Bell & Ron Rege Jr signing
12:00-2:00 PM Guy Delisle & Adrian Tomine signing
2:00-4:00 PM R. O. Blechman & R. Sikoryak signing
4:00-6:00 PM Guy Delisle & Gabrielle Bell signing

All signings will be at the Drawn & Quarterly booth!


For more general information on the BFF, which includes appearances by:


Russell Banks, Jonathan Lethem, Anne Carson, Paul Auster, Edwidge Danticat, Claire Messud, Colson Whitehead, A.M. Homes, David Cross, Mary Gaitskill, Nicholson Baker, Oliver Sacks, Staceyann Chin, Gary Shteyngart, Amy Sohn, Nelson George, Melvin Van Peebles, Siri Husvedt, Lupe Fiasco, Heidi Julavits Sloane Crosley, Tao Lin, Jeffrey Rotter, Esmeralda Santiago, Keith Gessen, Naomi Klein, Thurston Moore, M.T. Anderson, Greg Milner, Francine Prose, Jonathan Ames, Kate DiCamillo, Mo Willems, T. Cooper, Tom Tomorrow, Judi Barrett, Christopher Myers….and many more


Check out the latest press release.

There will be a sizable graphic novel presence at the show with the New York Comic-Con’s participation…more details forthcoming on that.

Filed Under: Books, Drawn & Quarterly, Events

Brian Chippendale analyzes DAREDEVIL

August 27, 2009 By

Brian Chippendale is blogging.

This Brian Chippendale.

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But he’s blogging about…DAREDEVIL.

Matt Murdock was the second most important character in this mega-issue. Master Izo has shown us his legacy and we are happy he invited us in. finally, why not a drunken kung fu master to brighten the day with mixed up morality. Marvel should have introduced this off-kilter warrior 35 years ago. Frank Miller(in his saner years) gave us Stick, Murdock’s mentor, and now Stick has a mentor of his own and we are all the wiser. Izo, the many-hundred year old ex-leader of the Hand. It seems that writers since Miller have been unconfident to push FM’s additions to the DD mythos till now(other than Electra). Even Turk gave us a glimpse of humanity in this issue. Tis a sad day that Brubaker has given us his best story and packed his bags all in one. Like Immortal Iron Fist, the subtle grasp of character and history may plummet with his departure. Michael Lark, i fear what follows, your solid composure illustrated a sordid dark gritty New York. A textured city. A balanced graceful Daredevil. I have i think 450 of these 500 issues in my possession. small treasure. Daredevil, Man without Fear, must I fearlessly collect the last 50 or so floppy format comics, from that ugly section of history known as issues 300-380. those cheap days better be over. DD 500 is a prize.


[Via Dan Nadel]

Filed Under: Blogosphere, Indies, Marvel

James Bond and Wolverine team up for…ANGST

August 27, 2009 By

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MAN WATCH: EW has a first look at Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman in the Broadway play ‘A Steady Rain’, which, we’re told, is a heavy duty drama about two Chicago cops.

Jackman, who won a Tony in 2004 for hoofing it as 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, plays Denny, a patrolman with a racist streak and violent temper. And Craig, a London stage veteran making his Broadway debut, plays Joey, a recovering alcoholic and gentler soul who may not be as docile as he first seems. In A Steady Rain, which just began rehearsals, the two buddies in blue recount a few harrowing days on the job and their very different accounts of a police call that quickly went south.


Well, that sounds just awesome, except, based on the VERY, VERY serious look in Jackman’s eye and Craig’s fierce porn ‘stache, this play is really about two guys sitting around a steambath together. AND WE’D LOVE IT.

Filed Under: The Stage

Is Diane Nelson the new overlord at DC?

August 26, 2009 By

Diane Nelson Bw07 2006Rich Johnston reports the rumor that has been swirling around for the last few weeks from multiple sources: a new boss for DC, namely Diane Nelson currently president of Warners’ direct-to-DVD branch Warner Premiere. DC honcho Paul Levitz had been reporting to Time-Warner president and COO Alan Horn, after a period several years ago where he reported to Nelson’s boss, Kevin Tsujihara, currently president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group but then at a different, lower level position.

Nelson was responsible for handling relations between J.K. Rowling and Warners during the Harry Potter production process, a tricky task which won her many plaudits. Last year she was behind the WATCHMEN motion comics move, talking it up in this interview at Newsarama, so she’s clearly interested in the characters.

Time Warner typically has a very complicated corporate structure, and like does not necessarily go with like, as DC Comics’ distance from the publishing arm (Time, which Time-Warner is desperately trying to unload) and absorption into the movie studio arm shows. DC has usually come under minimal corporate supervision (Alan Horn seems to have bigger fish to fry) but an exception was Tsujihara, who implemented a number of key hires and initiatives at DC. Speculation is that Nelson, who was hired by Tsujihara, would be much more hands on as well.

The success of DC’s movie characters has put them back on the corporate map, but the studio surely is concerned about bringing those characters into greater play, especially with the tremendous success Marvel has had leveraging their characters, becoming the darlings of Wall Street in the process. Marvel’s revenue of $719 million is less than two percent of Time-Warner’s nearly $46 billion annual sales. Yet Wall Street values Marvel at approximately $3 billion and Time-Warner at $34 billion or nearly nine percent of the home of Batman. With the value of Time-Warner stock lagging for several years, it stands to reason that corporate would be anxious to unlock the value of DC Comics as effectively as the House of Ideas has their own IP.

Developing, as they say.

Filed Under: Business News, DC

Is Australia killing another DC superhero movie?

August 26, 2009 By

DC fans are still grieving over the way brutal Australian tax laws put the kibosh on George Miller’s JLA movie, claiming the film did not have enough Australian content to justify the tax breaks needed to make such a costly film.

Now it seems these Aussie scumbags are endangering the Ryan Reynolds starring GREEN LANTERN film, according to Inside Film. This time, the culprit is the rising Australian dollar, which is up 16 percent since the movie plan was announced in April.

Warner Bros is understood to be negotiating with the NSW State Government to receive a higher level of concessions in an effort to claw back between $US15 and $US25 million in value eroded by the currency gains.

[snip] While most offshore productions lock in finance when a project is green-lit, it is understood that ongoing work on the Green Lantern script delayed that move. Pre-production on the film was originally scheduled for July and filming for November.


Something’s got to be done to prevent these down under spoilsports from blocking our God given right to get more DC movies made so we can complain about them on the internet! Have they no decency?

Filed Under: DC, Movies

PINOCCHIO, VAMPIRE SLAYER contest — Lie to win

August 26, 2009 By

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PINOCCHIO, VAMPIRE SLAYER by Van Jensen and Dustin Higgins is coming out this fall from Slave Labor, and the creators are promoting it with a most imaginative contest:

Hyphothetical question time. What if you were a magically sentient wooden puppet? And what if whenever you told a lie, your magically sentient wooden nose would grow suddenly? And what if you suddenly were confronted by a gang of bloodsucking vampires, and you needed to snap off a shank of magically sentient wooden nose to kill the undead? Hypothetically speaking, what lie would you tell?

If you can come up with a funny, creative lie, you could win some serious swag from the upcoming Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer graphic novel. The book, created by Dustin Higgins and Van Jensen, will be released by SLG Publishing on Sept. 30. All you have to do is post your best lie at the Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Facebook group or send one by e-mail to pinocchiovampireslayer@gmail.com. All entries must be received by Sept. 23.

The best lie, as chosen by Dustin and Van, will receive a signed copy of the book and a page of Dustin’s original artwork. Two runners up will both receive signed copies of the book.

Mark Twain may have said “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes,” but it can also help rid the world of vampires. So get creative! Get hypothetical! Get lying!

Disclaimer: The creators of Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer are not liable if a submitted lie appears in the current or any future Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer book. Dozens of lies appear in the book, and any submitted lie matching one in the book is purely coincidental.

Filed Under: SLG/Slave Labor

Scott Pilgrim meets Gem Fighter

August 26, 2009 By

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Bryan Lee O’Malley pays tribute to a classic Capcom poster with this Scott Pilgrim image. It will be available at the upcoming PAX show.

Filed Under: Oni, Video Games

Relax, Twilighters getting their OWN conventions

August 26, 2009 By

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Creation is launching a 20-date series of TWILIGHT conventions, writes Geoff Boucher at the LA Times:

The three-day weekend fan conventions will tour around the country and internationally over the next three years, with 20 stops already announced and one scheduled in the Southland at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel on March 12-14, 2010.

“Twilight” fans will have the chance to meet and get up-close and personal with “Twilight” cast members, including Kellan Lutz (Emmet Cullen) and Ashley Green (Alice Cullen), with additional guests to be announced. No word on whether Robert Pattinson (who plays Edward Cullen), Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan) or Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) will show up yet.

The conventions will feature exclusive footage sneak-peaks, panel discussions, photo opportunities, contests and parties. There will also be wine and cheese parties for the actors and nine fans lucky enough to win an auction for the private event.


It’s a clever move on Creation’s part. The idea is to lure the rabid fans of the Vampire Romance series into their own containment area so that their cooties will not spread to other, healthy fandoms. Once in lockdown, the Twilighters can be isolated and subjected to reprogramming so that they won’t bother us any more.

Filed Under: Conventions, Fandom, Sociology

Todd McFarlane doodles

August 26, 2009 By

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Todd McFarlane has been Twittering ever since Tyrese talked him into doing it. And now we get Todd’s doodles from when he’s in meetings. He writes:

Here’s a PARODY drawing of a classic hero. Idle time makes the mind wonder. This was done in the program COREL PAINTER.

Filed Under: Art, Image

Ted Kennedy memories — UPDATE

August 26, 2009 By

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Poor Bluewater…bad timing.

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UPDATE: Bluewater has released a statement:

The country is a lesser place with the passing of Senator Kennedy. Regardless of where you stand on the political spectrum we could all learn a great deal if we followed his passion for public service.
 
The timing of our announcement of a biography comic based on the life of Ted Kennedy was in no way tied to the Senator’s declining health and ultimate passing. When Bluewater planned out the first year of biographies, Kennedy’s name was always at the top of the list. In fact, this issue has been in production since March and was solicited to retail shops through our national distributor in June. We will, of course, pay final respects to this American icon by adding a page to the completed issue to close the last chapter of his remarkable life.
 
We mourn his passing with the rest of the nation.

Filed Under: Obituaries, Politics

My Romance news: iPhone apps, marketing director

August 26, 2009 By

200908260005MyRomanceStory is a division of Arrow Publishing that has been turning out romance comics for a while now — unspectacularly, but they made it this far, so something must have worked. A check of their website reveals these sorts of storylines, just so you know where we’re coming from:

Volume 101. Surprised By Love 
The best surprises come wrapped in love…
Featuring:
 Whitewater Rapture 
Could Wolf and Annie survive the consequences of one night of wild passionate love in the Canadian wilderness? 

Wildfire 
David was determined to have Ashley despite her bitterness toward men. But it took a dangerous forest fire and a midnight visit to finally break down her resistance.


A couple of press releases just out from the company. First, they have hired Valencia Wood as Director of Media Development to help “spearhead Arrow’s expanding publishing offerings.” Wood has worked on a variety of multimedia projects in film, music, and so on and hopes to get MyRomanceStory’s works out into other media.

Wood’s first move, via another press release, is to put their romance graphic novels on iPhones. This is one of the best press releases we’ve read in some time! Instead of the boring story of new content for mobile devices, price points blah blah, it’s a story of frustrated desire, mixed signals and finally…union.

“The iPhone opens up an exciting platform for readers to experience our romance novels,” says Pat White, CEO Arrow Publications, LLC, the publisher of MyRomanceStory.com. “The colors are vibrant and the text is easy to read.”

However, getting these stories up was frustrating.

At times, MyRomanceStory editors suffered the same mixed signals as their fictional heroines since they were never sure what Apple wanted. Form emails would indicate that there was a problem with the submission, but wouldn’t specify the text, image, or even the panel. As White explains, “We present stories of couples falling in love. That involves romantic and necessary intimate scenes. We spent a lot of time editing and re-editing. If only we could have spoken to someone at Apple to understand exactly what changes they wanted.”
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“We were sensitive to Apple’s range of readers so we submitted edited versions targeting what we thought was a general audience,” Managing Editor, Tom King, adds. “But although we edited out some of the love scenes and text, we still got rejections.”

Once Apple launched its ratings system and got over the initial bottleneck of submissions, Arrow noticed a faster turnaround for its Apps approval.

It was clear that although Arrow and Apple were experienced in their respective fields, preparing content for worldwide digital delivery was a challenge. Content creators wanted specific feedback while Apple, working with a large, diverse group of developers, often required a one-size-fits-all approach. Through this entire process, Apple, too experienced the pains of becoming a movie distributor, music distributor and bookseller.

Romance fans can go to the iTunes App Store and search by keywords “myromancestory” or “romance story” to find the Arrow titles.


Wasn’t that great? Please, marketing people, let’s put the drama back into press releases!

Filed Under: Mobile Comics

NBM and Panelfly team for…comics on iPhone

August 26, 2009 By

If only someone would put comics on iPhone! How convenient it would be! Wait, they have? NBM is the latest publisher to join the gold rush:

NBM Publishing is proud to announce partnering with Panelfly, the newly launched iPhone app that’s bringing the best graphic novels direct to you… instantly! 

Panelfly allows you to read your favorite graphic novels as the creators intended; you get full-page views, automatic panel navigation and more! You can purchase your comics using your iTunes account; tap the screen twice, and you’ll immediately have one of the world’s best graphic novels right in your hands. 

NBM titles now available include the sold-out smash BROWNSVILLE by writer Neil Kleid, Jesse Lonergan’s powerful romantic drama FLOWER AND FADE, Swedish sensation Naomi Nowak’s UNHOLY KINSHIP, Rick Geary’s award-winning LINDBERGH CHILD and Shane White’s NORTH COUNTRY. All of these by authors NBM is publishing new titles from this fall. More titles will be added throughout the fall. 

Each of these NBM graphic novels is available on your iPhone for $6.95 to $9.95, less than the paperbacks. Go straight to iTunes or to www.panelfly.com. 

Stay tuned for further announcements of partnerships between NBM and leading E-Book and mobile download sites.

“It’s clear this is the future where readers increasingly have a choice as to how they want to read their comics,” said NBM publisher Terry Nantier, “and we consider ourselves purveyors of graphic novels, not pushers of print publications. Any way you want a quality, engrossing novel-length comic, we’ll make that available, whether print or electronic.” 

For further information, please contact our publicist, Marc Mason: marcmasonnbm@gmail.com.

Filed Under: Mobile Comics, NBM

WHITEOUT pics released

August 26, 2009 By

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In preparation for its long-awaited debut on September 11, WB has released a bunch of new WHITEOUT pics. CBR has the whole gallery. Starring Kate Beckinsale and Gabriel Macht, the film is based on the Greg Rucka/Steve Lieber graphic novel.

Filed Under: Movies, Oni

Cartoonists are spanning the globe!

August 26, 2009 By

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LITERALLY!

We dropped by the signing for Josh Neufeld’s A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge last night. Arrived late, and the place was crowded but we heard it had been absolutely mobbed earlier, and Josh was still signing books right until things broke up at 9 pm. So, a success! It couldn’t happen to a more deserving cartoonist or project. Josh told us the signings in New Orleans over the weekend were “amazing,” selling out at one location. “People were really grateful to have their stories told,” he said.

We didn’t get any pictures of Josh, but we did snap this iconic one of Dan Goldman and Dean Haspiel, which represents the way graphic novels are conquering the world!

We also snapped this pic of Tim Hamilton and Joan Reilly, conveniently showing the front and back covers of the book, and you can actually see Josh’s ear behind Joan’s right shoulder. That’s Joe Infurnari and his awesomely fashionable friend to the left. Anyway, Josh was really busy the whole, we just couldn’t get near him.

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Other folks we chatted with: Chip Kidd, who enjoyed last week’s Bryant Park event, although he’d suffered terribly in the heat; Ada Price, Hilary Florido, and Sean Pryor, who are apparently forming some new kid gang; Larry Smith of SMITH Magazine, which gave birth to A.D., David Heatley, Tom Hart, Joey Manley, and a lot of people who we waved at but couldn’t talk to.

It was yet another night of good comics and good energy. People are making progress, slowly in some cases, but moving forward.

There is one thing that was really, really notable about the evening in hindsight…no one gave a shit about comics gossip or comics gossip sites. Really. It’s a great way to live.

Filed Under: Books, Photos

To do tonight: A.D. benefit party

August 25, 2009 By

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Josh Neufeld’s tour for A.D.: continues tonight in NYC:

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Idlewild Books
12 West 19th Street
New York, NY

Come celebrate the release of A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE and raise money for Common Ground: New Orleans.

$5 cover charge (to benefit Common Ground)
Live music starting at 7 pm from Mary McBride!
Limited-edition giclée prints for sale (to benefit Common Ground)
Cold drinks and snacks

Filed Under: Events

FUNNY AMINALS to debut at SPX

August 25, 2009 By

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It’s not too soon to start planning for SPX. Here’s the first debut we’ve heard of, FUNNY AMINALS, an anthology by an array of luminaries.

CCS graduates and Sunday’s Co-editors, Bryan Stone, and Jeff Lok and their bestest forest friends bring you, Funny Aminals!

Contributors include: 2009 Ignatz award nominees Colleen Frakes and Cat Garza, as well as Brandon Elston, Emily Wieja, Jose Luis Olivares, Denis St. John, Kubby, Penina Gal, Bryan Stone, Jeff Lok, Morgan Pielli, and Dane Martin.  With a cover by Cat Garza, an essay on the history of the funny animal comic by Steve Bissette, and games and puzzles!

The release date for the book is SPX 2009 at the I Know Joe Kimpel table.  It will also be available in select comic shops, and online at http://www.iknowjoekimpel.com and http://funnyaminals.com.

Not safe for children!
64 pages.  $15.  On newsprint.  Full color cover on cardstock.

Filed Under: Small Presses

Brief bits: New Siegel decision, Larson and Shaw on editors

August 25, 2009 By

§ Ever vigilant Jeff Trexler reports on the latest ruling in the Superman case—the judge is pushing REALLY hard for a settlement.

As I’ve noted before, the judge in the ongoing Superman and Superboy lawsuits has been using his decisions to push the parties toward a settlement. The decision awarding addition material to the Siegels was no exception–Judge Larson may have pushed DC by giving the Siegels Krypton, but he also pulled back from a broader ruling that would have given the Siegels the copyright in Luthor and other key material.

Whatever the implications for copyright and comics history, Judge Larson’s opinions serve as paradigmatic example of judging as case management, as each new major ruling reminds the parties that the court is likely to issue a verdict that will satisfy neither side.


gray horses hope larson§ Over at Comics Comics Dash Shaw and Hope Larson talk about editing and why having a GOOD editor can be a very good thing:

I never got any feedback for Gray Horses. Oni Press was in an, um, transitional place at the time, and my book slipped through the cracks. I sent the script to a few friends, but they weren’t much help, either. That was when I realized that if I wanted a real editor, I’d better jump to a book publisher.

This probably makes it sound like the editorial relationship, for me, is all about my insecurities as a writer, but it isn’t. It’s about making the best books I can, and pushing my stories further. Some editors are able to look at a story and see what you’re trying to say when you can’t articulate it yourself. Some editors are more literary, while others are hyperaware of what the market wants. Some editors pursue structure, structure, structure above all else.

Filed Under: Legal Matters

Art distraction: Character Designer Blog

August 25, 2009 By

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Interviews with folks who design characters for film, animation, video games and comics. For instance, Paul Linsley (his take on the Turtles, above.)

What goes through my mind?… “Okay Paul, we need a completely original character, that’s fun and appealing, but complex, yet simple, and like nothing we’ve ever seen before.” … Panic. Anxiety. A dim bulb of an idea. Start moving the pencil, Paul. You can do this. Just start moving your pencil. Man, that looks like crap. Wait look at some of your favorites in your inspiration folder. Awwww.. Carter Goodrich! Scott Morse! Yess… Clair Wendling :) Yes yessss… Maybe a little Joe Sorren… Yes More? Why not some Francisco Herrera? Yess. Some Travis Charest. No, wait too stiff! I know, some Nate Wragg, lightly peppered with Matt Nolte. Perfect. Now pick up the pencil and draw again. CURSES!!! Then I go on to take some cheap stabs at a doodle and give it some life. It’s like there is riot of bad drawings clamoring to escape your mind through the pencil, and every time you pick one up, those have to be released first before you begin to find the magic. Of course I go through the basic elements of design: circle, square, triangle, red, yellow, blue. Is this an antagonist/protagonist? If I have the luxury (depending on the project) I’ll go into the screenplay and try to understand their history, inner-conflict and the roll they play in the story.

Filed Under: Art, Cartoonists, Process
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