Archive for August, 2004
The return of Paul Chadwick’s Concrete
There’s a brief interview of sorts on the Dark Horse website wherein Paul Chadwick talks about the new Concrete miniseries called Concrete: The Human Dilemma. From what I’ve gathered, it seems to be about Larry fathering an unwanted child, and the bigger theme of population explosion and such. Says Chadwick:
“Human nature is the series’s broader theme-our drives for sex, for symbolic immortality, for family, for acquisition of wealth, for collecting. Combine those with our inability to deal with threats that aren’t sudden or dramatic, and you have the Human Dilemma in a nutshell…I confess I enjoyed writing and drawing the sex scenes, too. Always in service of story and character! But nice.”
Girls, Girls, Girls…
I just can’t get enough of these Kent boys (well one is a former Kent boy, but none-the-less.) Check out this new sketch book by Jay Geldhof and Robert Ullman! If not for the ladies, then do it for the amzingly high production standards over at Adhouse Books.
Also check out this super-mega artist hub and forum at www.lurid.com
More comic book fan movies
A bit late in getting to these, but so it goes. I watched both last night. One’s good, the other cheesy. But I applaud both camps for spending their time and money to make a fun little fan film.
Grayson is done as a faux movie trailer for a Robin flick, and is quite impressive in it’s production work and sheer number of DC characters spotlighted (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Joker, Penguin, etc.) Here’s the official blurb:
“Gotham’s Son Returns! Two decades after the golden age of superheroes has passed, hope has abandoned Gotham City. Corruption has infected Gotham’s highest levels of power and led to the death of its greatest champion. Now, former boy wonder, Dick Grayson, will emerge from the shadows of retirement to avenge the murder of his legendary mentor.”
Punisher vs. Wolverine – First Round is…well, not good. B-movie production values, horribly cliche dialogue and acting, and just plain cheesy. And that plastic torso for the Punisher seems a very off choice, but hey, they did a good job on Logan’s hair!
“High Art” in Newsweek…
There’s a write up about Art Spiegelman’s new In the Shadow of No Towers book in this week’s Newsweek. I have to admit i wasn’t moved by the excerpt in McSweeney’s Quarterly, but printed as a card-paged children’s book it could be a quality package.
How to make 3-D photos at home
Ok, this is really cool. Using a standard digital camera, Photoshop, and a free software package called Callipygian 3D Photo Editing Software, you too can make 3-D photos. The step-by-step tutorial here is fantastic. If you’ve got some 3-D glasses at home, check out these sample images:
(link courtesy of boingboing)
An open letter to this blog’s contributors and visitors
I don’t really want to type this note, but certain recent comments have forced my hand. People are quick to bandy around strong words like “censorship” and “establishment” when it suits their needs. If only they’d pay as much attention to oft-forgotten words like “professionalism” and “respect” and “responsibility”…
When I set up this blog, it was for several reasons: a creative outlet, a repository for cool info and links, a forum for idea sharing, a historical log of our creative efforts, and yes, even a means of promoting Ferret Press and Panel books and projects. But above all, I wanted it to be a fun. Which is why I invited anyone and everyone involved with Ferret Press and Panel to join as a contributor (obviously, some declined due to various reasons, most having to do with a lack of free time). Which is why I implemented the open comments feature. Which is why I don’t “police” the blog and have a general “anything goes” policy. I want this to be an open forum for sharing ideas, comments, critiques, time-wasters, cool links, etc.
What I don’t want this forum to be is a public place for people to air their dirty laundry and personal grudges.
When someone feels they’re entitled to that, that’s when it gets to me. In the end, this is my website and my blog. I paid for the domain, I registered it, I set it up, I maintain it on a daily basis. I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours building it up, contributing to it, promoting it, researching new features for it, and endlessly refining it. I don’t advertise on it, I don’t make any money off of it, I’m not getting rich or famous through it, and I’m not looking for praise or gratitude because of it. I do it because it’s fun.
And I don’t ask for anything in return except for basic common courtesy and respect for the hard work that’s gone into this forum. That’s all.
So yes, if you posted a personal attack on someone here, I deleted it. I’m not in the habit of “censoring” people, but I also don’t owe anyone the use of my forum to air their grudges. It’s disrespectful of all the hard work I (and others) have put into this blog. If there’s ill will between you and someone else, that’s fine. But don’t think you’re entitled to use this forum to air it. Take it elsewhere. I’m providing this service for free with absolutely no strings attached, other than a simple “play nice” rule. I really don’t think I’m asking for too much. And given that we’re coming up on a year and a half of this blog’s existence and growth without any problems, I’d say it’s a fair and reasonable policy.
This blog is a great resource and a fun daily diversion. Let’s keep it that way.
Thank you.
Dispatch on Bone
For those of you who missed it, this past Sunday’s Columbus Dispatch had a big article on Jeff Smith and the end of Bone. You can read parts of the article online, but apparently you have to pay to read the whole thing. (if you’re not a registered Dispatch user, go to BugMeNot and just grab a freebie id/password). Gib is quoted in the article as well:
“Gib Bickel, owner of the Laughing Ogre on N. High Street, has read the series
many times. He found the ending bittersweet. ‘I was happy to see how it turned
out, but it felt like my friends were going away,’ he said. ‘The characters
really matter to me, and the fact that their adventures are over is really kind
of sad.’”
Blast from the past: from Caliber Comics to Desperado
I meant to post this a while back but forgot. Joe Pruett, former writer and editor with Caliber Comics, is starting up his own indy comics company: Desperado Publishing. And check out the list of talent that have projects lined up: Brian Bolland, P. Craig Russell, Bob Burden, Andrew Robinson, Paul Jenkins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Goran Sudzuka, Tony Harris, John McCrea, Phil Hester, and Brian Stelfreeze. Aside from publishing comics and graphic novels, Joe’s also planning on printing art books, with Brian Bolland and P. Craig Russell being the focus of the first two volumes. In addition, this week’s Lying in the Gutters column is reporting that “Desperado Publishing, Joe Pruett’s new company, is starting a new volume of “Negative Burn,” the highly influential anthology series from his previous company, Caliber.”
A rundown of some of the first few projects to hit the stands:
* Phil Hester and John McCrea on The Athiest.
* Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray on Widowmakers. “Superhero stuff with an edge.”
* Tony Harris’ Roundeye.
* Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot Comics.
* Pruett and Andrew Robinson’s Dusty Star.
Opening Hooks – a collection of literary beginnings
“The idea behind this site is simple, to compile as large a collection of great opening hooks from as many titles, authors, and genres as possible. Of course, what makes a great opening sentence or paragraph is subjective, but we know it when we read it. This database will allow readers to share their favorites with each other and provide writers a chance to see what a readers look for in an opening sentence.”
Here’s a great one:
“My mother was the village whore, and I loved her very much.” — from Pigs Don’t Fly by Mary Brown
(link courtesy of boingboing)
Fun with Photoshop
Here’s an online gallery of sometimes-clever, sometimes-disturbing photo manipulations where different animal speciaes (and even humans) are morphed into hybrid creatures. It’s called HumanDescent.com
Today’s “Lame-O Spider-Man Villain” is…
Joystick. The cover copy of her first appearance reads “Joystick’s her name, MURDER’S her game!” Oooookay, not dorky or anything. Maybe she could hook up with Arcade and the two of them could have a gaggle of platform shoe-wearing, Xbox-playing rugrats.
First appearance: Amazing Scarlet Spider #2. December, 1995.
Feedback
I find myself changing the way I ask for feedback lately.
My new procedure is to hand a piece off without telling the reviewers what it’s supposed to be about. Then I ask them to tell me what they think it’s about. That way, I know if the piece is effectively saying what I want it to say.
I find myself with less patience for praise lately. I want to know what’s not working so I can polish each piece down.
I’ve also been making a distinction between things that are matters of taste and things that don’t work. To use the West Virginia story as an example, if the reader doesn’t deduce the protagonist is upset after breaking up with his girlfriend, then the piece isn’t working. If the reader thinks it would work better if the protagonist is upset over losing a job, that’s a matter of taste.
I’m not sure where the line is between “not working” and “matter of taste.” There might not be one. My thinking is still fluid on this subject.
And finally, I find myself asking people if things I write are really worth reading. I don’t think indie comics creators ask themselves that often enough.
No Relation
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ — Heart of Ohio Ferret Association & Rescue is proud to announce their 6th annual championship ferret show, The Ferret Buckeye Bash 2004. The Ferret Buckeye Bash 2004 will take place on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004 from 10 am to 5 pm at Veterans Memorial Hall, 300 W. Broad Street, downtown Columbus. This event is open to the public. The event is sponsored by The FerretStore.com and sanctioned by The American Ferret Association. The Ferret Buckeye Bash serves as Heart of Ohio Ferret Association and Rescue’s main fundraiser in which all proceeds benefit the shelter.
Several fun events will occur during the day including a photo contest, best-dressed competition, tube race, paper bag escape, and more. There will also be several raffles throughout the day depending on the number of donations received by vendors, and the professional and retail community. Nationally recognized ferret experts Bob Church, of Missouri and Kim Schilling, author of Ferrets for Dummies will be at the event to share their expertise.
Web site: http://www.hofa-rescue.org/
Frank Cho’s T&A at Marvel
Newsarama does an interview with Frank Cho about his new 3 year exclusive deal with Marvel.
“Cho’s been working on a new and updated version of Shanna the She-Devil for Marvel’s mature line, MAX. And he’s provided fill-in art for Terry Dodson in the recently-released fifth issue of the Mark Millar-written Marvel Knights Spider-Man and is currently working on the eight issue of the series.”
Of course, this ain’t your daddy’s Shanna, says Cho.
“As you may know, Shanna was originally a cheap rip-off of Sheena. So I had to move Shanna away from the Sheena character and make her unique. The first thing that I had to do was to update her and power her up for the modern audience. This opened doors to more interesting story potential. In the story, Shanna is a genetic experiment. She was Nazi Germany’s answer to Captain America. I don’t want to give too much away but if you want to know her level of power, she fights off several T-rex and hundreds of raptors throughout the series.”
Enjoy the T&A (complete with patented “Nip-Slip” technology), Marvel Max style:
