Friday, December 31, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/31/2004 08:08:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 60
(full disclosure: technically, this entry is three days late as I'm post dating it on Monday. I didn't get a chance to blog last week due to a crazy new year's weekend)
Instead of the usual year-in-review columns and other traditional end of the year events, let me simply wish everyone a happy, safe, and productive 2005. I'm not one for new year's resolutions, at least not in the sense of making a laundry list of items. Instead, I pick a couple of accomplishments that I'm proud of and resolve to keep at them, and try to improve on at least one other aspect of my life. Despite the usual ups and down, overall, 2004 was a good year on my end. So for the new year, the goal is to write and publish more stories, grow Ferret Press, and get back to a semi-regular exercise regimen.
Regardless of how your year was, I hope the new one is better on all counts.
Happy new year, everyone.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/31/2004 10:30:00 AM
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The Beat looks back at 2004
As reported elsewhere, Heidi MacDonald has written a very nice little "year in review" column over at The Beat. The most insightful comment, at least to me, is the following:"Perhaps the problem with the LCS [Local Comics Shop] is what I call the "10,000 dopes syndrome."
I base the 10,000 dopes figure on the sales for POWERS when it switched from Image to Marvel. Same interior. Same creators. Same regular shipping schedule. But it sells 10,000 more of every issue.
Now you could say that Marvel has more reach in the market place. But in theory, Marvel and Image have exactly equal exposure to the LCS system. Certainly Brian Michael Bendis is a known and loved quantity.
So maybe retailers don't even look outside the little Marvel catalog that ships with Previews? Or they know that 10,000 readers think the name Marvel is so all powerful that it automatically makes a comic good? I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, it's bad news. Very bad news."
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/31/2004 10:15:00 AM
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Small press shoutout redux
Friend of the Ferret, Panel member, self-publisher, and all around nice guy Craig Bogart has the entire contents of his The Ineffables 24-hour comic available for your reading pleasure, on his website, for free. How's that for small press goodness, pony boy? That's right, I thought so. No git yer butt over there and show him some love.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/31/2004 10:13:00 AM
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Small press shoutout
Chad Lambert has an interview over at Broken Frontier for his book Point Pleasant. he also managed to plug No Dead Time. Check it out, ya'll.
--Dara (permalink)
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Thursday, December 30, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/30/2004 10:36:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 59
I got a big kick out of Andy's childhood drawings posted below. Makes me wish I had some of mine. Unfortunately, all of my early drawings (up to age 12) were lost forever due to the move from Iran to the US. When your family is fleeing an oppressive regime and a war, you only pack the essentials. (Not that I'm whining, mind you. Compared to so many other displaced Iranians, we had it relatively easy. I'm just sad to have lost certain items that would have connected me with my very happy childhood.)
Besides home made comics, the other artifact of my youth lost somewhere back in Iran which I miss the most was my nearly-complete collection of all the Tintin graphic albums. In hardcover. In Persian. Man, I loved those books. I must have read and re-read each at least half a dozen times. It's always struck me as odd how Hergé's work isn't all that known stateside, whereas he's practically a household name in most other countries.
On the other hand, I do have some other geeky comics memorabilia to share with you guys. Back in the day, I used to be quite the letter hack, sending letters to my favorite comics and creators. I think about a dozen or so of them were printed in various comics letter columns. And I even got some letters back from the pros whom I had written. The one that sticks in my mind is a long, hand-written letter from Jim Lee, postmarked from Italy! I've got a few others too. A short missive from Tom DeFalco, during his tenure as Marvel's Editor in Chief. I think one from Fabian Nicieza (?!). Can you tell I was a Marvel Zombie back then? :-)
Anyway, I'll dig these gems up and post small portions of them here. Should be fun.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Andy Bennett
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12/30/2004 08:46:00 PM
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By Popular Demand
In light of the recent posting about Mike Weiringo's childhood drawings, and not to be outdone, I have scanned my latest acquisitions. And I even found a bonus image while I was at it! I have five images in total, but didn't want to kill the bandwidth all at once, so I've only posted two for now. To the best of my knowledge, these were done when I was 7 or 8 years old. So without further ado:
Spider-Man (signed by the artist)
and The Incredible Hulk, in a rare color piece from me:
--Andy Bennett (permalink)
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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/29/2004 10:17:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 58
As predicted, the death toll from the devastating Southeast Asia earthquake and tsunami is climbing higher and higher. As of today, it's estimated that well over 80,000 people have lost their lives. Many millions more are without shelter, food, or medicine.
The news media has recently taken to featuring "miracle" babies who survived the disaster, and other young children who have been reunited with their family. I suppose after hearing the sobering statistics and seeing the heartbreaking pictures for the past few days, we need to see a glimmer of hope in this tragedy. On some level, though, this bothers me. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for any and all survivors, especially children. It's just that when the nightly news only devotes 6 or 7 minutes to the disaster, doing a 2 minute human interest story on a single survivor does a disservice to the life-and-death issues that demand immediate attention.
Or maybe I'm being too harsh on the media. I suppose we're all human, after all, and there's only so much tragedy we can endure before we need to have our faith restored by some means. Any means.
Anyway, here are some more resources for anyone able to help out with the relief effort (many links scoured from the great boingboing site)
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog features "News and information about resources, aid, donations and volunteer efforts."
Apple.com is featuring links to many relief organizations on their home page, including the following:
Amazon.com has a donation fund going, and as of this writing it's raised $3.3 million.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/29/2004 03:22:00 PM
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X-Books year in review
Because nobody else wanted to do it, blogger Paul O'Brien reviews all the X-Men books and spin-offs from 2004 in an 18-part tour-de-force. From Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men to Chris Claremont's Wolverine/Witchblade. Yikes.
"Just in case there's any lingering doubt, we're looking here at the new New X-Men, formerly the new New Mutants. The original New X-Men is back to calling itself X-Men, and we'll come to it later. Oh, and just to confuse matters further, the team who star in New X-Men aren't called the New X-Men, but they are called the New Mutants, a name which they didn't actually take on until New Mutants ended and their book was called New X-Men. They also shouldn't be confused with the original New Mutants. These are the new New Mutants. Oh, and before someone e-mails me, yes, I know the logo says New X-Men: Academy X. And that's how they solicited it, for one issue. But it's officially just called New X-Men now. Confused yet?" (via The Comics Reporter)
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Tom
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12/29/2004 11:24:00 AM
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Check out Air America's site full of stories that may or (largely) may not hit corporate media such as...
- A Pentagon leak that ranks global warming a bigger threat than terrorism!
- Bush still on vacation as the tsunami crisis goes on??
It's been on for a while I know but with the dominance of Rush it's a welcome balance. Left wing radio that you can listen to online. If you're in Columbus it's broadcast on 1230am radio. I would advocate listening to it in small doses while you're driving. With the f'ed up administration you might ram in to someone.
--Tom (permalink)
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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/28/2004 10:23:00 PM
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Childhood revisited
Drop on by artist Mike Wieringo's blog and check out the cool happenings. For the last few weeks, Mike has been posting scans of comic book characters he drew as a young kid, and then redesigning the characters and costumes with a "modern" look. It's fantastic stuff, and something I'm sure most adults can relate to (whether you're a comic book fan or not). I wish I still had some of the comics I drew as a kid.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/28/2004 10:04:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 57
Following up on my post from yesterday, I'm still having a hard time coming up with a story that I like for the Myth book. I've gotten to the point where I'm playing around with a few different ideas, but I'm not satisfied with any of them yet. At this point, I blame it mostly on stress (which is a topic I've talked about before).
I've actually had the last 6 days off from work. Yet between the hectic holiday stuff, the snow and ice, car troubles, power outages, projects blowing up back at work, and about half a dozen other things, I feel more tired and wound up than I would if I had been at work the whole week. Needless to say, the creativity just isn't there. So I'm thinking it may be time to switch gears and work on something else. Maybe catch up with some administrative tasks that need to get done (update the website with info on the new Panel book, promote the Hybrid book online, send solicitation info to Cold Cut and FM, etc.) The trick is not to wait too long, though. The deadline for the book is very short and I really need to get a story together soon.
Then again, I've always worked best under pressure, so maybe this is a good thing. We'll see.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/28/2004 10:15:00 AM
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Small press shout out
Check out the online comics available at Boltcity.com
 
This is the site of Kazu Kibuishi, editor of the Flight anthology (published through Image), and writer/artist of Daisy Kutter, from Viper Comics. Gorgeous looking stuff.
--Dara (permalink)
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Monday, December 27, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/27/2004 11:07:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 56
So I've been trying to come up with a good story for the "Myth" issue of Panel, to no avail. Writer's block and all that.
That is, until a few hours ago when I read Neil Gaiman's children's book The Wolves in the Walls. And all of a sudden my mind opened up to new possibilities for a story. I started thinking along lines I hadn't considered before. Now, that's not to say that my writer's block has been completely cured. I still don't have a good story idea. But the important thing is that my mind's been kick-started out of its cold rut. Who knows, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow morning with one of those "Eureka!" moments.
So out of curiosity...for all you other writers out there, what where some of the books/movies/songs/events/etc. that got you over a bad case of writer's block? I want specific examples.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
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12/27/2004 07:13:00 PM
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Posted by
Dara
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12/27/2004 06:31:00 PM
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MSNBC.com supposedly profiles Dark Horse Comics
I say supposedly because, for the most part, the article just talks about the usual "manga sales are huge" and "comics are being mined for movies" topics, instead of anything about Dark Horse. And of course there's the usual errors in reporting:"Other Dark Horse comics that have been adapted into movies include "Ghost World," "The Mask" and "Road to Perdition." Really? I think Fantagraphics and DC might have a thing or two to say about that. But I suppose it's only an article about, *pshhh* comic books, so it's not like you need to check your facts.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Tony
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12/27/2004 04:30:00 PM
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As reported on the Pulse ...
Will Eisner recently had heart surgery, confirms longtime friend Denis Kitchen. Kitchen tells the Pulse:
"Will Eisner is in intensive care following open heart surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Quadruple bypass. He didn't want anyone to know until he came through OK, but all signs are that he is recovering terrifically. He's already joking with the nurses and "biting his lip" over delayed deadlines.
He's not supposed to return to work for 6-8 weeks (I'm making side bets), so it'd be nice in the interim if the industry deluged him with warm words while he's recuperating.
Please encourage fans and friends to send Get Well cards to:
Will Eisner Studios, Inc.
8333 West McNab Road,
Suite 131"
Best wishes to one of comics' living legends.
Tamarac FL 33321)."
--Tony (permalink)
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Posted by
Sean McGurr
on
12/27/2004 01:06:00 PM
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Illustrated Books
I've noticed in more and more books, particularly those by authors who have ties to comics or wear their comic influences on their sleeve, the use of illustrations to add to and complement the text. Here are a few recent examples:
* McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (2004, McSweeney's, Amazon listing) is another collection of genre stories edited by Michael Chabon similar to last year's McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (2003, Vintage, Amazon listing). Featuring illustrations by Mike Mignola, the book has stories by Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Lethem, Roddy Doyle, China Mieville, Joyce Carol Oates, and Peter Straub among others.
* Michael Chabon's most recent novella, The Final Solution (2004, Fourth Estate, Amazon listing), has as its protagonist an unnamed Sherlock Holmes. Jay Ryan contributes a number of pencil sketches incorporating text from the story.
* Jonathan Lethem, often discussed on this blog, had Chester Brown contribute the cover illustration to his novella This Shape We're In (2001, McSweeney's, Amazon listing). His most recent collection, Men and Cartoons (2004, Doubleday, Amazon listing), features a number of comic influenced stories.
* The Future Dictionary of America (2004, McSweeney's, Amazon listing) is a left-leaning book with humorous entries written by a whole host of famous authors (King, Paul Auster, T.C. Boyle, Robert Coover, Glen David Gold, Jonathan Franzen, Dave Eggers, Eric Larsen, Rick Moody, Richard Powers, and dozens of others). Throughout are illustrations by Art Spiegelman, Adrian Tomine, R. Sikoryak, Chris Ware and others. Although it is not a sit-down and read cover-to-cover book, it is humorous. All proceeds were going to groups with progressive causes during the 2004 elections and I would imagine continue to do so.
I know that there are probably other books that fit this model. It was once quite common for books to be illustrated. While I'm sure that it never quite went away, it is nice to see that there are currently big name authors who feel strongly enough about it to start it up again. Any other examples anyone?
--Sean McGurr (permalink)
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Sunday, December 26, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/26/2004 07:32:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 55
A couple years ago on a trip to Oregon, I took this picture on the beach:
At the time, it seemed like a pretty ridiculous sign. "Oh, right. Like you can't see a big wave coming to shore?"
Needless to say, I feel quite differently about it now. Almost a year to the day after the devastating earthquake that hit Bam, Iran (killing over 30,000 people), another earthquake has brought devastation to southeast Asia by creating massive tsumanis. As of this writing, close to 13,000 people are believed dead. And unfortunately, I know that number will only climb in the days ahead."The rush of waves brought sudden disaster to people carrying out their daily activities on the ocean's edge: Sunbathers on the beaches of the Thai resort of Phuket were washed away; a group of 32 Indians including 15 children were killed while taking a ritual Hindu bath to mark the full moon day; fishing boats, with their owners clinging to their sides, were picked up by the waves and tossed away." Having grown up on a steady diet of comic books where natural disasters such as tsunamis are a common occurrence, I think I took for granted the real speed of these tidal waves. I mean, I obviously understood the severity of the threat, but I was mostly of the mindset that surely people will have plenty of early warning before the waves hit the shoreline. I certainly would have had a hard time believing that one minute you could be sunbathing on the beach and the next you're swept out to sea.
That's before I learned the waves can travel as fast as 500 miles per hour.
It really is a sobering event. I know it's cliche to talk about how it gives one pause to reflect on the fragile nature of our lives. But it's true. And unless you're a completely self-absorbed jerk, it's impossible not put your own troubles in proper perspective compared to the plight of the people affected by such a large scale disaster.
Some ways you can help:
Relief International
Mercy Corps
International Committee of the red Cross
--Dara (permalink)
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Saturday, December 25, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/25/2004 10:01:00 AM
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Daily Musings: Day 53
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
My car has been de-iced, Wendy's neghborhood has electricity once more, they've sanded the roads in my hood, and the sun is shinning on the ice covered trees, giving them a beautiful glow.
So that's gonna' do it for me today. Have a great one.
--Dara (permalink)
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Friday, December 24, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/24/2004 10:10:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 52
My bro got the Family Guy season 3 DVD set from the library, so I've been watching a lot of it over these past few days. And I have to say, it's a shame that FOX killed that show. Not that it's anything new to them. They also effectively killed Futurama by scheduling it after Sunday night football only to preempt it each time.
Meanwhile, The Simpsons, though arguably one of the best, funniest, and cleverest shows to ever air on TV, limps along, years past its prime. Which is too bad. I'd rather see my favorite entertainment bow out gracefully while at the top (see Calvin & Hobbes), instead of becoming a sad parody of themselves.
Anyway, back to the Family Guy. The thing I liked about that show, aside from it being actually laugh-out-loud funny, was that the pace was fast. The jokes came at you at a breakneck pace, often times hitting you while you were still trying to process the prior ones. In a landscape filled with crap-ass sitcoms and regurgitated humor, it was refreshing to watch a show that tried to fit so much comedy in the space of its 20 minutes that it exploded with a frenetic energy. And besides, Stewie is one of the all time funniest characters ever created.
(For the comic geeks, one of the episodes featured Peter buying an old fishing boat from a police auction. The name of the boat? "The S.S. More Powerful Than Superman, Batman, Spider-man, and The Incredible Hulk Put Together".)
By the way, happy Christmas eve to all of you out there. And for those of you in Columbus, I hope your power is back on and your streets have been cleared. As for me, I spent the better part of the day chipping off an inch-thick layer of ice from my car, thanks to the idiots at Discount Tires who thought the way to unfreeze my doors was to pour buckets of hot water over them. Yes, you read that right.
--Dara (permalink)
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Thursday, December 23, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/23/2004 10:17:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 51
Snowstorms and blizzards can be a pain in the ass. On the other hands, there's nothing like a good snow (or in our case, an ice storm) to bring people together.
After I called in to work and took a "snow day" this morning, I curled up with a hot bowl of oatmeal and watched the local news. They were covering every angle of the crippling snow and ice mess that has brought the city to its knees. And it warmed my heart to see scenes of neighbors helping other neighbors dig their cars out, or total strangers helping to push stuck cars out of snow drifts. After all, that's what it's about, right? It reminded me of the really nasty snowfall we had last winter, and how in my neighborhood alone I was involved in at least four such cases of helping out, or needing help.
On a more personal note, I got to spend the whole day with Wendy and Hanna. Their whole neighborhood is without power, so I invited them over. We played spy games, made lunch, watched movies, made giant robots with Tinker-toys, and took Hanna sledding. I had originally planned on cleaning up around the house and catching up on some reading and writing. Wendy had planned on running some errands. But the snow storm had other plans for us.
And I wouldn't have had it any other way.
--Dara (permalink)
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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
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12/22/2004 10:59:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 50
One for the comic book geeks: I just saw a rerun of Law & Order where the murder victim's name was John Byrne. Insert own joke here.
Speaking of TV shows, I made a point of not watching the new ABC show Lost when it first aired. This is because 1) I don't really care for the work of J.J. Abrams, the show's creator/producer, and 2) I had a feeling that the very "hook" of the show, i.e. the mystery behind the island and what's going on there, would also be its undoing. Let me explain.
In my opinion, Abrams' other show, Alias, suffers from the X-Files syndrome. Mainly, the big mystery/conflict at the heart of the show will be dragged out endlessly as long as the ratings are good and they need to keep the show on the air. They will pad the storyline, they will introduce endless new subplots, just so they won't have to logically end the story. Which makes economic sense, obviously, but it makes for a very unsatisfying and frustrating experience for the viewer. I don't want to read a book that's never going to end as long as people keep buying the next chapter. Even in comics, where serialized stories are the norm, there is usually some sort of closure on the main story arcs. And besides, there's no big mystery at the heart of the iconic characters. Superman hasn't been trying to return to Krypton for the past 65 years. Batman hasn't been trying to solve the mystery of his parents' murder for thousands of issues.
But in TV land, with shows like The X-Files, Alias, Quantum Leap, Star Trek Voyager, and I'm betting Lost, there is one major quest or plot element that defines the show. And we all know it's never going to be resolved because that would mean the end of the show. You know the next episode teaser for Quantum Leap where it looks like Sam is going to find his way back home is just bullshit. You know the "shocking" episode of the X-Files that promises startling revelations is bullshit. In the end, nothing changes and nothing is resolved until it's time for the series to be cancelled. And even then, there's usually a lame open-ended finale to keep the prospects for a spin-off show or movie or whatever open.
So each episode becomes a tired game of "how can we string along the audience this week without really accomplishing anything?" In the case of Alias, they accomplish this by pretending to change the status quo with their "big" revelations that everything you thought you knew about these characters and organizations is wrong. Every other week. Repeated ad infinitum.
Again, I understand the financial necessity of it, but that doesn't take away the fact that it's manipulative storytelling that is insulting to the show's fans. And in the end, it only leads to an overall piss-poor experience. Just look at the bloated, thrice dead corpse of The X-Files by the time they finally pulled the plug on that comatose patient.
On the other hand, I've caught a couple episodes of Lost in reruns and I have to admit that the premise, characters, and locales are all very intriguing. If there was a guarantee that this show was going to tell a finite story (like, say, Babylon 5), I could see myself becoming totally immersed in it. But alas, we all know that's not going to happen. So no thanks, Mr. Abrams. I think I'll just read up on the episode synopsis on the Internet if I ever find myself curious as to what's going on with the show 8 years from now. I have a feeling I'll miss out on some pretty cool stories here and there, but in the end I'm confident I'll be saving myself a whole lot of wasted time and frustration.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Craig
on
12/22/2004 11:15:00 AM
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A guy walked into the retail store where I work at about 9 p.m. last night asking if we carried comic books. I told him we didn't have any, then tried to give him directions to the two closest stores where he could find them, all involving drives across town.
Remember way back when comics could be found in just about any corner drugstore or supermarket? Whenever someone lists things that have damaged the comics industry in recent years, I always see one thing missing: comic specialty shops. I love the Laughing Ogre myself, and specialty shops have allowed a much broader range of material to evolve-- and they're essential to self-publishers like myself. But they've also marginalized the audience for the books (which I blame for "growing up" the characters and stories of what were once more accessable books), taken them out of settings where a newcomer might "discover" them, and drastically reduced the number of outlets where they are available. Who thought this was a good idea? The comics industry began taking a beating when the economy was soaring a decade ago; that was about the time this shift occurred, if I'm not mistaken (if you place blame solely on the "speculator bubble", I'd argue that was a product of specialty shops as well, since casual readers had them removed from settings where they could find them). Most people that hear I'm into comics tell me they weren't even aware they were still being made today.
Obviously we need the specialty stores for stuff like mature themed books, independents, and self-published material. Also, they are an ideal outlet for trade paperbacks and comic-related merchandise. I can't help but think that things would improve for comics in general if the biggest publishers made an aggressive push to get their core titles placed primarily in non-specialty retail stores again-- even if they just produce ranges of cheap reprints available only in those settings.
While I was giving the guy directions last night, he seemed to lose interest three intersections into my description. He thanked me, but I didn't get the impression he was going to be hunting down any of the stores I mentioned this afternoon.
--Craig (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
on
12/22/2004 09:51:00 AM
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Morrison on Superman
Newsarama has an interview with Grant Morrison about his involvement (with artist Frank Quietly) on the new Superman book for DC's new "All-Star" line of books. And despite the fact that I really haven't enjoyed much of his writing, and that I'm not a Superman fan, I find myself curious about this book. It's DC's pseudo version of Marvel's Ultimate line...basically the focus will be taking their iconic characters and telling iconic stories more-or-less free of continuity. With big name creators. Morrison describes his 12-issue plans:"The Fortress appears in issue #2, stuffed with a ton of new toys and gets haunted by the bandaged ghost of the Unknown Superman of 4500 AD. The Kandorians finally get out of that bottle. Superman gets a new power. Clark Kent winds up sharing a prison cell with Lex Luthor in issue #5. The Bizarro Cube Earth invades our world in an epic 2-part adventure (no 'decompression' here!) and we're recasting the Bizarros as a frightening, unstoppable zombie-plague style menace. Bizarro Jor-El and the Bizarro JLA turn up in the second part of that story too. What else? We meet Earth's replacement Superman and Clark Kent takes on a new superhero identity...Ten of the 12 issues are complete short stories in 22 pages, so lots of stuff happens. And it all links together as a maxi-arc or whatever they call them these days, entitled 'The 12 Labors of Superman'.
Overall, the series is more about Superman's relationships with his friends and with the world than anything else.
People know my stuff and I'm sure they can guess what to expect. It's going to be big, bold sci-fi Superman for 12 issues." And for you writers out there, here's a little something to make you alternately jealous and impressed:"I like to work a lot and try lots of different things. This year I've written a screenplay for a Dreamworks movie, a 300-page novel, a game script for the upcoming Predator: Concrete Jungle release, 40 comic books, several movie pitches and a bunch of other stuff. I've even been asked to script a theme park thrill ride."
--Dara (permalink)
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Tuesday, December 21, 2004
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Posted by
Dara
on
12/21/2004 11:12:00 PM
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Daily Musings: Day 49
What I wish to see in 2005:
A world free of hatred, prejudice, ignorance, and intolerance.
What I'll settle for:
People at least making an effort to be nice to one another.
--Dara (permalink)
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Posted by
Dara
on
12/21/2004 03:34:00 PM
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Wanna work on a romance comic?
Arrow Publications ("a 20-year-old publishing company based in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area") is looking for both writers and artists:"In 2003, Arrow Publications embarked on a new venture in Illustrated Romance Fiction that is sure to appeal to a wide audience of romance fiction readers. The launching date is set for early 2005. These will be romantic, passionate character-driven stories filled with adventure and intrigue. Our stories will be beautifully illustrated with images of strong, capable, and desirable women falling in love with equally strong, capable, and virile men." And this from their Writer's Submission Guidelines:"Good storytelling, dialogue and pacing are musts. There should be two or three passionate, intimate encounters between the hero and the heroine...There should be sexual tension, as well as believable conflict, between the protagonists. The heroes and heroines must display spirit, yet be vulnerable. Perfect people are boring." (via DigitalWebbing)
--Dara (permalink)
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) or e-mail to a friend
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Posted by
Dara
on
12/21/2004 01:03:00 PM
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