Archive for September, 2006
Gerry Conway interview
Newsarama has an interesting interview with 70s comic scribe Gerry Conway, creator of The Punisher and Firestorm, amongst other characters. The interview focuses mainly on his transition from writing comics to working in film and television, specifically the Law & Order franchise.
I love this part about those old 80s cartoons that fanboys have such an unhealthy emotional attachment to, where he calls them out for what they really were (emphasis mine):
“NRAMA: In addition to Fire and Ice, you worked on a number of animated shows [including G.I. Joe, The Transformers, and The Centurions]. What are the differences between working in animation and live-action?GC: There are a number of differences – in live action, you can write real characters with depth. That’s not to say you can’t do that in animation, but there was no incentive to do it in animation, back then, I can’t say it’s the same today, because the main incentive of those particular shows was to sell toys.
The toy companies drove the development. Writers could put in extra levels of character, but at the end of end of the day, it was a 30-minute advertisement. You could consider it an infomercial for toys. Some were better than others, but that’s what they ultimately were. I have a 10-year-old daughter, and the stuff she’s watching today is head-and-shoulders above the stuff we were doing 20 years ago, which is head-and-shoulders over what was being done 20 years before that, a natural progression.”
Someone needs to bookmark this passage the next time some raving fanboy rages about how the new Transformers big budget movie is ruinning the “spirit” of the 80s cartoon.
Lots more behind the scenes stuff, including his thoughts on co-writing Ralph Bakshi’s Fire and Ice animated movie with Roy Thomas.
ripped from today’s headlines
One of the central plot points of “Blood of the Tyrant” is the idea that the main character was sent to Iraq as a civilian advisor, even though his main qualification is a stint with the College Republicans. Here’s an article from the Washington Post outlining how that process worked:
Ties to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq
Monday Morning “Guess the Artist”
Wow, I just realized we hit the one year mark with this feature! That’s like 5 years in blog years.
As always, we’re taking a look at a piece of artwork from the early career of some of today’s big name comic book artists. For your consideration this week:
(click image to SKREEEEify)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006)
Stuck‘s on a break but will resume in a week. In the meantime, Vito has come up with a thing he calls 5 x 5. We ask each other five questions.
Off to the side is a new banner featuring the next character: Frank Pastone.
________________
Silver Bullet spotlighted our comic
with a rating of 10/10 ‘Best webcomic out there’.
Holy Crap!!
Lyrics for today…
I’m a living sunset
Lightning in my bones
Push me to the edge
But my will is stone
Fools will be fools
And wise will be wise
But I will look this world
Straight in the eyes
What good is a man
Who won’t take a stand
What good is a cynic
With no better plan
Reality is sharp
It cuts at me like a knife
Everyone I know
Is in the fight of their life
Take your face out of your hands
And clear your eyes
You have a right to your dreams
And don’t be denied
I believe in a better way
— “Better Way”, Ben Harper
Segway and the Bush
From an LA Times article about the latest recall of the Segway:
“President Bush tried to ride his parents’ Segway in 2003 and fell off.”
‘Nuff said.
“Comic Strip Artist’s Kit” – artists, go read this now!
Blogger Mark Kennedy has posted a fantastic resource for all artists on his blog: scans of The Comic Strip Artist’s Kit. This great guidebook was created around 1975 by
“Carson Van Osten, a famous Disney artist who did many Disney Comic Books and created the famous “Comic Strip Artist’s Kit”. It was created to help beginning comic artists deal with perspective problems and other drawing difficulties. “
According to Mr. Van Osten himself:
“I wrote and drew those sketches around 1975 and I’m so tickled to know that people still find them helpful today. It started as a slide presentation for my boss to show at the Disney meeting in Frankfurt. It went over so well that he asked me to expand on it when he returned. They printed 2000 copies and mailed it to all the Disney offices. “
Really good advice and guidance on proper use of perspective, body language, etc.
(via boingboing, who found it via Drawn!)
For you artists (in Ohio)
Wexner Center has announced it’s open call for State Fare: Ohio based artists can submit slides for a juried show. The Wex has only three spots for this exhibition. I’d be game for it except the 250 word artist’s statement/ philosophy seems silly to me. It always has. In college, I always made it a point to check out every student gallery show. While I enjoyed the shows, the statement always seemed like an exercise in mental mastubation. Write a book! This is art jackass!! If I seriously have to explain my work to the judges then all hope is lost. ‘Yes the cup symbolizes my coping with my latent feminine…’ what the F*CK?? I just want to craft good imagery and have a show. Cripes.
Still you have to play the game I guess. Be sure to tie in some reference to a popular disease and add that your mark-making carries on a narritive.
The Road to 9/11
Former comic book scribe Peter B. Gillis has posted a very interesting “alternate history” short essay on his blog, called The Road to 9/11. Worth a read.
“On August 6, 2001, President Al Gore Jr. receives a Presidential Daily Brief entitled “Osama Bin Laden determined to strike within the U.S.”As with the Millennium Bomb plot, he puts the government on maximum alert. He holds daily meetings with Richard Clarke, his counterterrorism czar.”
Panel: Myth and Panel: Music reviews
WEE over at Almost Normal Comics reviews Panel: Myth and Panel: Music. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
“Funny, entertaining, interesting, exciting or touching, each story represents a point of view, a technique, a vision, an idea, and it brings to my mind the memory of magazines such as Metal Hurlant or Creepy without having to depend on big-breasted-giant-gun wielding-hotties or red eyed ooze and muck monsters to hook an audience . Plus, the bonus issue devoted to music in the form of a tiny vinyl is a plus that is always welcome, and it brings the same combination of good art plus imaginative scripts that make of panel one of the most solid and best comic artist collectives I have known so far.”
Side note for Tony: your favorite f***ed-up comic series, Americanjism, is also reviewed there.
My Stuck collaborator Vito talks on Best in Show. You can check out the 9/10 podcast here. Skim to the last fourth of the program. Unless you want to hear some NFL banter and chat about sausages.
Stuck‘s going on a small break but will be back in a couple of weeks. The last of the arc came out yesterday. I just want to add that this wasn’t necessarily planned or paced this way. It just sort of happened. Initially we all had talked about a launch a month earlier than we began The Chemistry Set. Vito, hailing from NYC, had no intention of capitalizing on the tragedy.
Next week I get to play interviewer as we interview each other on a bumper piece we call 5×5. I’m still kickin’ around what I want to ask.
God’s Acre book one now avilable
God’s Acre, the project that started off as a webcomic with some input from yours truly, has transformed into a lavishly illustrated book instead. Scott Lambridis and Angie Needels did an amazing job of putting this book together, and the final product is just a beauty to behold. This is self-publishing at its finest, folks.
You can preview the book and order your copy directly from Scott and Angie here.
Starbucks and movies
Interesting note over at boingboing about Starbuck’s latest venture: promoting movie DVDs in which it has a stake. I’m not a coffee drinker, and don’t patronize Starbucks, but if you do you may have noticed the movie Akeelah and the Bee available for sale at their stores. That’s because they co-financed the movie.
Cory Doctorow over at boingboing makes this comment, which I find particularly interesting in relation to comics and comic book distribution:
“The interesting thing here is the retail opportunity presented by a Starbucks partnership for DVD distribution. In bookselling, research has it that more than half of the people who might buy a book if they spotted it will never set foot in a bookstore or place an online order. In the golden age of pharmacy and grocery-store spinner-racks, more than half the books sold were sold outside of stores.”
See the parallels? I wonder how well a graphic novel with mainstream appeal (say, volumes of Bone or Hellboy) would do if available at non-traditional places like Starbucks?
Time to hit up some local coffee shops and indy music stores to see if they are willing to carry the Panel anthologies, eh?