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The Sacrifice

2007-04-06T17:13:00.000-04:00

"I went to church this weekend." James said between sips of Big K cola.

"Why on earth did you do that?" I wanted to know. There was little to do in Somerset, but we'd generally managed without resorting to going to church.

"It was Easter. Dawna's family all went." I had forgotten it was Easter. I had stayed in Louisville so I could work. These were the days before i was brave enough to take the TARC anywhere so I spent most of the weekend sitting in the dorm with...time on my hands. I forgotten it was Easter. "It was pretty cool." he continued.

This last bit caused me to pause with my hand in the Grippo's bag. James was very easy going and nonjudegemental, still I was surprised that a guy who had, as far as I knew, only been to church once in his entire life could be so easily taken in. "What...do you mean?" I carefully inquired.

"Well, it reminded me of Predator."

Now, in my 18 years of continuous church attendance, I have heard many outlandish things used in the sermons, from frightening stories of men having the word "God" burned into the chest by lightening to baby sitters turning inexplicably cannibal becuase they had "popped some pills". There were even quite a few pop cultural references, from The Charlie Daniels Band to the Brady Bunch Girls (special prize for anyone who remembers that one). However, Predator, well, this was new.

James continued in that excited but still soft and hushed way of his. "The preacher went into all this detail about how Jesus was beaten before he was crucified. He talked about the blood and the wounds and the crown of thorns pressed down on his head." My dad had once gone one about the size of the thorns they might have used. "I'm sure it wasn't a tiny rose bush with these little thorns." he said with a cracked voice. My dad wasn't really a shouter, but he was quite the weeper. "And I'm sure they didn't set it gentley on his head. I'm sure they pushed it down into flesh." and etcetera. I'm sure James was treated to quite a story. But still, I didn't know how Predator fit in.

"Then Jesus stumbles and falls at the foot of the hill, under the weight of his own cross." James looked into the distance, his eyes glassy. "And he talked about how he stood up again, under his own power, and continued to walk. He made him sound...heroic. Superheroic."
He paused to take a sip of his drink. "I kept imagining the Predators. How they would see this. They would think he was some great warrior." He turned to look at him, his eyes now on fire with inspiration.

"I think it would be great to do a comic that shows a Predator landing on earth during the crucifiction and standing, invisibile, among the crowd. He would watch Jesus fall down, bloody and broken, trembling with agony, and then Jesus would get his hard ass look on his face, and stand up defiantly. The Predator would then nod his head in approval."
I thought about it for a few seconds, taking a sip of my Dr. K. "You should do it!" I said.

He never did.

A Natural Affinity for Ice

2007-03-09T11:53:00.001-05:00

I was saying to my wife the other day, after we watched The Incredibles again, that I don't ever want ice powers because I don't like to skate. Well, I should say I do like to skate enough, I just don't like to fall down and I am terrified of falling on ice. She replied that if one had ice powers, then one would naturally be more adept at moving on ice.

I dismissed this idea at first, but upon reflection I realized that there is no evidence this isn't true. I'm sure it never occured to anyone to test whether or not Iceman or Frozone could stand/walk better than somwone else. How does one qualify such things? How does one separate an innate ability from all the practice one gets rushing around on ice slides?
As they say about Tootsie Pops, the world may never know.

Effective Invisibility

2007-02-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Some colleagues and I were recently observing that it is fortunate that some who have the power to turn invisibility also, inexplicably, have the ability to generate force fields as well. As incongruous and improbable as this may seem, it does seem to off set a superpower that otherwise would appear very limited indeed. In fact, I myself flippantly remarked that without the force field power, invisibility would “suck ass”. However, I couldn’t stop thinking that this was neither flattering nor fair to those with the power to turn invisible, and demonstrated a lack of thoughtfulness and resourcefulness on my part. I have taken it upon myself to correct this misperception of invisibility by offering these handy tips.

1.)Know your role
Okay, we all want to go toe to toe with Dr. Sorrow or Mechgorilla, but that simply isn’t what you do. Your role is to one of reconnaissance and advance scout. You’ve honed your observation skills, spiked up your memorization, familiarized yourself with a variety of radio and subspace communicators, maybe even learned Morse Code. Your stealth is your strength, and your chief weapon is information. Everyone will applaud how Tunnor or Laser Mace dealt the coup de grace but perhaps they wouldn’t have known Tigersaur’s weak point or The Sinadrome’s evil plot if you hadn’t been out there, doing the stealth work. If you get really good at this, you might even find yourself employed by several superteams at once, head hunted by the Righteous League or Team Alpha. Of course, you might grow tired of Smashtra and Z Trooper making fun of your noncombat role, and maybe you’ve hauled one too many heavy hitter out of one death trap too many and you’d like to step up your effectiveness in the field.

2.)Learn Martial Arts
It works for Iron Panda and The Hallow. They routinely face powered opponents with nothing more than athleticism and skill. And you wouldn’t really have to be as good as they are, since you have the huge advantage of being invisible to your foes. All you need is a few basic aikido moves for throwing people to the ground and you’d be quite effective. Of course, no matter how many hours you spent punching bricks to harden your hands (and yes, the Hallow does that), there’s only so much you can against Carno or Giant Kahn. So, you might want to skip ahead to the next point.

3.)Pack Heat
Arm yourself with as many firearms as you can tote without impeding your movement. So you don’t want to go the lethal route like Specter General and Rath, and certainly you're more employable if you don’t, and wish to carry rubber bullets and tranqs like Streetcleaner, do keep in mind that neither of those things work against androids, robots, or armored foes. No one’s going to fault you for carrying a clip or two of Teflon coated armor piercing rounds for “emergency use”. After all, you can’t shoot through manacles or locks witout penetrating ammo. If you wish to take out a sizable Power Loan, or if you can land a job beta testing for CosmaCorps or Yang Lee Inc. (which is allegedly how Beta Max does it) (and, of course, how he got his name), you can equip yourself with the latest in repulsors, plasma knives, stunulators, etc. Which puts you right on par with Z Trooper, Beta Max, Dr. Revolver, and others, only you’ll have one advantage they don’t; you can turn invisible.

Big Lit

2006-12-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

In the special features of Carnivale Season 2 Dan Hurtz(?) series creator said that the type of television HBO is doing is moving television out of its infancy. He compared these long form series with the 800 page novels, in which the first 50 or more pages are just character build up and laying out the setting. Note in Carnivale, and the same is true for Lost, how little happened in the first season but the second season was right into the thick of things. Now this didn't seem to work spectacularly well for Carnivale. They couldn't bring the audience back for the second season, but it does speak to the long form and its strengths and the weakness of the short form. Witness in comics where the short book with the explodo every few pages is a less satisfying read than a long story like Sandman. That's one thing that Japan got right with thier naitonal style of comic books. And the anime series, if you ever watched one, your well into the arc before anything happens an dyou know what's going on. The first few episodes are just giving you a taste of the people and the world.
I lack the patience for this type of thing, unfortunately. Well, not lack the patience, but I am not satisfied until the ublished story reaches that meaty part, where all the minor adventures into caves looking for treaures, at the cafes having conversation, or pointless explodos become a complex character driven story. I think that BRMX will reach that point eventually but in the meantime I'm not reaching my audience because there's too little of the meat and too much of the glaze and the fancy dressing.
Disucss.

Fatherhood

2006-11-29T11:23:00.000-05:00

The other night, Friday to be exact, I was holding Willow in lap while watching a movie and I had the distinct feeling, more of a knowledge and less of a thought, that I was holding a minature version of myself. There's no way to ever get that feeling unless you actually are holding a minature version of yourself. It's profound on an existential level. I feel a little scared because I have burdened her with with a sense of "meness" and we all know what a challenge that can be. I am also excited because I get to watch "Me" and see what "I" do. Of course, she's also Angela and has both of our familal history to draw from, but she is my daughter and the apple never falls far from the tree, as they say. So far this has been the greatest experience of fatherhood; from the first time I looked in her face in the nursery and saw myself to this deeper level of that feeling the other night. It also cuts through the sense of alienation I always feel, a sense of isolation that even marriage couldn't penetrate.

Many Tongues, One Empire

2006-07-14T16:23:00.000-04:00

New page up, more Guide to Xrox. I'm working on the next bit of the Guide, about the Ithdanes of the North, Eina's people. I like the Ithdanes. They are tremendous fun!
Which reminds me, many of you have asked "How do you say Eina's name? Is it pronounced 'In nah', or 'EE nah'?" I've always gone somewhere in the middle, "E In Ah", but as we've no Ithdanes to ask, I suppose any one could be correct. So, as your Emperor, I have decreed the First official Election in the Fandom Empire!! Everyone send in your votes for how you think Eina's name should be pronounced and that will be the official pronunciation, as well as establishing a guide for the dialect of the entire Ithdane people!!
Pretty cool, huh? I wouldn't call us a democracy, but as you all know, I adore hearing from you and I think your loyalty, devotion, and curiosity has warranted a little audience participation.
Bryon has been in touch this week. It's always a good sign when you get an email, ANY email!, from your artists. Bryon is actually asking me technical questions, which means he's at least trying to give the impression that he's hard at work on BRMX 2. (Just kidding Bryon! I know how much you want to unseat Peter as the #3 Citizen in the Land of the Future) (Alas, he'll have to settle for #3 as my adorable wife Angela is #1 and the Once and Future Empress, Willow, is Citizen #2. Blood is thicker than India Ink and all that).
James has hinted that there might be a new page of Xrox #2 when I visit him this weekend (in a few hours in fact). As you've all noticed, he's posted two new pages of Seven Arrows on his own site. Perhaps he's shaken off the Malaise?
Speaking of plagues, I have become aware of new strain of Slack in great Poptropolis. You may have heard of ADD, which is a vulgar way of putting it. I prefer to think of it as an Enlargement of the Mind's Eye...for lack of a better word.
It's a tricky business as one often doesn't realize that they fighting off an illness. It clever attaches itself to other systems in the cognosphere and might result in a killer winning streak at Diablo II, say, or a productive morning updating your MySpace account, and then, when a diagnosis is taken, you realize "Hmm, that new page of Xrox 3 hasn't changed much in the past week."
But, as they say, "Knowing is...um...real good." Or something.

Long time fan tired of old time schtick

2006-07-12T16:27:00.000-04:00

I'm constantly looking for a comic that delivers a dense, mature, complex story.
A comic who's content is the rival of any renowned prose work. An "adult"
comic. A comic "for the masses", that is, for nonfans. And as much as
I enjoy the comics I've found, they rarely fit this description. The Oni Press
books are definitely non adventure genre, and they are widely accessible, but Scooter
Girl and Blue Monday are still comical stories about teenagers. Scott Pilgrim is
loads of fun, made more so by the round iconic art style, but in the end it's also
about young people dating and throws in some over the top fighting scenes. Mind
you, I gravitate toward the science fiction and adventure stories and take great
delight in Promethea, Tom Strong, Top 10, Planetary, etc. but what audience do they
strive for? Isn't the bulk of the crowd still in their 20's? As you all know, I'm
NOT in my twenties. Isn't there a comic or comics that I can truly claim as written
for my age group?
Granted, "dense", "mature", and "complex" are subjective
terms and difficult if not impossible to define. I would put Blankets in this category
but hold it in question because the main character is in high school. Goodbye Chunky
Rice is similarly layered with meaning and even more poetic and touching as a story,
but is it helped or hindered by the iconic art style and anthropomorphic characters?
They say Maus is that much more accessible because it is anthropomorphic. Is Maus
the best we've had to offer the world at large?
Perhaps anything by Los Bros Hernandez. The art is elegant and the stories edgy,
complex and hold nothing back, and they cover a wide range of characters in all
stages of life.
Of course there's a separate track in the artistic merit of a comic. Chris Ware
offers brilliant visual experiences but leave something to be desired in the storytelling,
I think. Is is enough that a comic be visually complex?
Discuss.

Faith in the Empire

2006-07-07T12:29:00.000-04:00

In order to quell the impending riot in Land of the Future I have made an update to my website. Poor James is still lost in the fever dreams of Artist's Malaise and I am, though a great Emperor, sadly unable to fill his mighty shoes. In order to quench your appetite for all things Fandom, I have posted some pages that I had thought to release later on. There are some notes taken from the unpublished (and still in the works) Guide to Xrox. A little info on races, places, faces, that sort of thing. There are several pages on the Mydgians, though the other pages have less text and more images. If James isn't any better by next week, I'll post the next installment.
Also, under the BRMX branch of the Empire, I've posted some of the sketches Bryon Vaught has sent me for Battle Royal MX #2. I'm sure by now you've all been to his website and are familiar with Bryon's tight, dynamic pencil work, but what you haven't seen is what happens when that pencilwork is married to the hip style of the Empire!
Send James a cyberhug and wish him over his Malaise quickly. And send one to Bryon as well. He's the father of three now, you know.
And as usual, keep those cards and letters coming! Without your constant feedback I would long ago have succumbed to the advanced stages of Artist's Malaise and have melted into a pool of Slack!

Inky Dink

2006-05-31T09:10:00.000-04:00

Been making good progress on Xrox 3. Drew in some faces yesterday. That was challenging, using only a charcoal pencil. I think the drawing looks really good, but it's missing something. Maybe a dynamic quality, the characters are too stiff, or a quality of the marks, or the value needs to be pushed further. Angela thinks it's the value. I'm pretty sure it's the figures. You know how stiff my spines are. I wish I had a good way of capturing the image. I could try scanning it in parts and putting it together. I've never actually tired that so I don't know how hard it is.
It will be a large shift going from this drawing, which is a splash so it's one drawing to the next page with multiple images on it. I've spent hours on this one drawing. Will I spend as much time on each panel, treating them as individual drawings, or will I work on the page as a whole drawing? Time will tell. I don't expect to have Xrox 3 done by the time Xrox 2 is finished. I'll probably start publishing it as I finish. That would be sporadic but better than having a long dead air time.
I think I've come to an understanding of inking. For the most part comics were ink because of the printing process. The ink showed up and it was fairly cheap and the labor was easy enough. I think that inking has continued to be used because it's easier to create fluid and dynamic line work with ink than with charcoal or pencil (though it can be done, ink is just easier). And of course, ink does show up better. The blacks on the page will be as black as black if you use ink.
I'm still also dancing with expectation. I still think the blacks on the page should look like a classic comic, that this line should be defined by a heavy black rather than a soft fuzzy charcoal mark. Thus, it's difficult to treat the art for what it is, if you follow me.
I'd still like to try collage on the page but I'm not sure how to work that. Most of the elements of collage are cultural detritus. I have plenty of old postage stamps and discarded letters but not much by way of griffin feathers and ugl parchment.

A little is a lot

2006-05-23T10:58:00.000-04:00

Worked about half an hour on the splash for Xrox 3. It's heading in the he direction I wanted it to, I think. It's a neat effect. I'm not sure if I'm going to do the whole thing in charcoal or use ink or scan it and do finishing touches in PhotoShop. It's a good start, I think. Flawed to be sure, but still resonant with life and discernable as a comic page, I think. I think I'll try to scan it just so I can experiment a bit. I don't want to attempt anything that's nonreversible at this point.

Self sufficient self starter

2006-05-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

Did draw. Don't know how long. How long is PJ Harvey's "To Bring You my Love"? I listened to it one and a half times while I drew. I like how it's coming together, but it isn't exactly working the way I planned. The charcoal isn't staying down like I thought it would. Don't know if that's the paper or the Gesso or both. I'm going to go over it a bit with sandpaper. I sandpapered last time so that might make a difference. Plus I like the effect. The composition may not be the most dynamic but it's early still. I plan on using the page no matter how it turns out. Finish it and all that. (plus, it's my first attempt, I'm not trying to impress anybody (well not much))I am wondering about using ink after all. I can get tighter lines and draw smaller details than I can with anything else. We'll see. I'm trying not to rush. There's really no need to rush and the process itself requires a building up over time. I'd be nice to scan the page and print it, then I could try different effects, like ink, with a little more forgiveness. Or at least a light table. Scanning and printing seemed a good idea, especially since I already have the means to make it happen, but looking at the work so far I'm concerned how much detail will scan. Shows I'm learning something, I guess.
I think the anatomy of the figures is alright. I'm pleased that I seem to know where certain lines go without reference to a model or a book. I just hope they don't turn out looking too stiff. I have a tendency to make things stiff.
I can see in my head where'd I like to go, but I'm not sure how to get there, if I can get there or if I should try to get there. It comes down to how much of the process do I want to try to control and how much should come naturally.
But at the very least, I actually started something today!

2006-05-15T11:13:00.000-04:00

The next page of Xrox part 2, "Wisdom", is up at Webcomics Nation. Of course, those of you who have taken the time to subscribe to the comic already know this, but a few of you are tardy so you get a gentle reminder to go read the newest page. And while your poking around the web, drop James West a note thanking him for his loyalty to the Empire and all the hard work he's put into Xrox 1 & 2. Complement him on his excellent craftsmanship of this current installment, and don't forget to remind him that you page 3 & 4 have yet to be penciled and there's only a week till the next installment.
Of course, James won't be getting much work done this weekend as he's going to the Small Press And Comics Expo in Columbus, OH. (SPACE). Alas, I cannot leave my Empire and must stoke the coffers with cash to keep the machines running and the buses on time (so to speak). Yes, I can hear your collective sigh of disappointment as The Millenials #1 is such a pretty book and it's all ready for public consumption (well, nearly ready).
Thank your Mother's this Sunday for teaching you how to read so you can enjoy the wonders of the Fandom Empire.
You will also be excited to hear that I started production on Xrox 3 (as yet untitled) this week! Yes! I have one sheet of paper Gessoed and ready to be drawn on! It hangs, pristine and blank, in the studio, just waiting for me to do something with it! Isn't that thrilling!!
Now, as soon as I catch up on this season of Lost, I'll draw something on it....

As usual, keep those emails coming! My greatest reward in this endeavor is your generous outpourings of support. Without it, I'd just be sending strange emails out into the ether with no sign of ever reaching anyone. Rather like throwing fish into space. What a sad and forlorn thought, isn't it?
Well, fortunately, I have you.

It's Hard out here for an Emperor

2006-05-15T11:10:00.000-04:00

(originally written Friday, April 21st 2006)
I got a administrative and domestic duties to tend to in addition to being Patter Familias and Sovereign of a vast multimedia empire that spans not just cyber space but the breadth of the human imagination as well. Thus on some days, like today, I am very tardy in posting the latest installments of Xrox or Battle Royal MX. I'm sure by this late hour many of you are feeling quite uncertain about my ability to rule. I'm sure none of you would ever say so, but I don't doubt you think it. My most important duty is to you, my loyal fans, my legion of legions, for without you this would all truly be vanity of vanities. No matter how much paperwork is on my desk or how many domestic duties are clamoring for attention, I should never leave you hanging so long for that which sustains us all, the story.
Today's installment is the last installment of "Monsters". James has already submitted several pages of the next chapter of Xrox called "Wisdom" I think. ( I think I change the title every week.) I have some frantic lettering to do between now and next Friday but I am certain I can have the first installment up in time.
Don't forget to keep those cards and letters coming! It is your feedback and input that makes this truly worthwhile. I love hearing what you think and I do truly consider everything bit of feedback I receive.

A Glorious and Somber Day for the Empire

2006-05-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

(written St. Patrick's Day, 2006)
Today's installment of Battle Royal MX is the last installment of Battle Royal MX for a good while. Yes, through many glorious and much camaraderie we have come to the end of our rambling preamble. Twenty glorious pages of pop culture chaos, witty postmodern criticism, and ravishing sequential design and yet we're just getting started. I was fairly certain when I started posting BRMX that it was more or less a last hurrah for the story, but due to the flood of emails I receive every week from all of you, I am compelled...nay! FORCED to continue the tale!
I just don't know when the next chapter will be ready. If I can find someone as deft and dedicated and skilled and generous as Peter Bergeron to handle the art chores for chapter 2, things will progress very quickly. If I step up to the plate and put my mad art skills to the challenge and draw the second chapter myself...we could all be waiting awhile.
But fret not! You will still receive your weekly dose of Fandom Mayhem every Friday!! There's still plenty of pages left on Xrox "Monsters" and I've already received several pages on the second part of that story "Tales".
Wow! I can actually hear your collective sigh of relief!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

C. Clark-Praxis

News of the Empire

2006-05-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Japan and Israel have been added to the list of country's where our presence has been felt. That brings the total number of countries up to 17! 17 countries under the sway of the Fandom Empire!!
BWAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Empire Commands You!

2006-05-15T11:04:00.000-04:00

Go to Web Comics Nation and read the latest installments of Xrox and Battle Royal MX! For added viewing pleasure, I've included some "Fan Art". It's a little tricky to find. You have to select Battle Royal MX from the drop down menu (even though Battle Royal MX is already showing). The page won't change much except the background color will be different. Right about this weeks page there will be the option to view fan art.
Enjoy!
And as soon as I get the corrections made to issue 1 and get said corrections back to the printer the book will be available to purchase. Maybe I can get some help with that this weekend. Eh, James?

Agenda Benda

2006-04-18T12:15:00.000-04:00

Still enmeshed in Blackfish: the Ultimate collection. I have a week from Thursday to get it finished. In the middle of that somehow I need to get "The Gospel According to Blackfish" off the Kinko's. Still working on the layouts to it, too. I'm considering posting it on webcomicsnation, but as it's a mini that I'm going to sell for like a quarter, I hesitate giving it away. Still, I've got keep WCN active. I've got pages of Xrox chapter 2 from James already that I can letter and post. That takes me out a ways.
I don't know if I'll try drawing anything myself this summer. I feel the hankering to draw something, but I don't know what it would be and I don't know if I'm ready. Of course, there's only one way to find out, right? I've been thinking about process quite a bit, and tools, how to work with my style to create a finished page. If nothing else, I could stand the practice.
I find my work going in two directions these days; the really personal autobiographical work and the broad scope of the epic storytelling. As I've said before the personal work only ever seems to scratch the surface of my life and I'm curious to see what's below. Yet the Millenials world is vast and compelling and so gosh darned fun that I feel committed to maintain my role as advocate for it. We'll see what the summer brings. There's two weeks left of school and quite a bit of work to be done.

Scriptic

2006-03-30T10:52:00.000-05:00

Smooth Ride
Current mood: energetic

I finished the script for Battle Royal MX Chapter 2 yesterday. I feel very excited about this Chapter. It's more purposeful and more complete, my two biggest criticism of Chapter 1.

I'm also excited about the level of collaboration in this script. I don't regret the tight control I had over Chapter 1, it's not that this is the "better" way to collaborate with an artist. I just think it's healthy to be this open about work, to take more risks, and I think it plays to the strength of the artist, any artist, in interpreting the text. What I'm talking about, in case I didn't mention it before, this script is basically a few sentences to a paragraph of the action that needs to occur on a page with as little as I can get away. Thus, I was able to write the script (which is more of Plot Treatment) in a few days as opposed to months of tedious revisions.

In the future, I'm either going to do scripts this way or I'm going to do the breakdowns and layouts of the issue. The visual component of a comic is so essential to the work the mind that interprets on that level does much by way of "writing" the issue. I'm not often willing to give that much control to someone else, even if I need/want them to do the artwork.

Anyway, I could talk theory all day! Right now I have to go to Psychology and then find something to eat

Bookworkmin' it

2006-03-29T11:32:00.000-05:00

I love books. I'm not sure what it is. Something about the physicality of books, how they appeal to all senses, how they have mass as an art object, how interactive they are, how playfully. The way we can dive into them, literally, unlike a painting or a sculpture (normally). Making books is actually fun. I tore my pages down to 10x141/2 yesterday and trimmed the pages evenly and punched my holes to be sewn tomorrow. Sewing, though tricky, doesn't really take that long and now I can easily see myself making multiple books someday. Cover are pretty easy, just make sure there's no lumps is the tricky part, I think.
My final project, however, is going to involve a bit of impositions. That will be probably be the hardest part, because I'll need to have my signatures worked out before I print out the pages. Need to find some open time to draw. Sunday night is my next block of open time. Can you believe that?
I still want to explore more altered books. My altered book project just barely scratched the surface of what could be done with the techniques. There are great books on the subject and I need one (or two) because I otherwise wouldn't know how to do these things. They just wouldn't occur to me naturally.

That Slow Burn

2006-03-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

I like paints, I think. I just did a panel on one of the comic jam pages for book arts using acrylic washes. They turned out lousy (they are way too dark, but live and learn I guess) (at least I hope the others see it that way) I did enjoy the mixing of colors, figuring out how to make brown (you guys know how to make brown, right?) and squeezing the little tubes. I'd like to do more with color but I have no clue what I'm doing. I know there are classes for such things and books, but you know, tick tock, right?
I've thought about going back and coloring The Millenials and reposting them, but that would most likely be a computer color job and I'm not going to do it any time soon.
I do love art, though. It's been slow this semester in that most of the book art projects don't involve much drawing and I'm not spending 6 hours of class time drawing a week. I forgot how exciting the process of discovery is, that feeling of magic as I create a new color, a new line, a new pages, unearth a new idea, bring forth some secret, fantastic aspect of myself, my inner world. I never seem to get much past the first shallow layers of what it is I'm getting at. I blame this on time factors. I don't create for the sake of creation inside a wide open container. I'm cramming a few hours in here and there and racing the clock to beat a deadline. Yeah, "Finish It" is the Magus Council Motto, and it works, yet...remember, if you can, those early days of youth when we fumbled heavily past clothing and hesitation on our first warm brush with undiscovered skin? Remember the long, laborious circular moments of stalling for time and distraction with our lips, teeth, and tongue while our hands sought access, vulnerable spots, some way past defenses to touch the damp, deep hidden mysteries? And that sickening burn we were left with when our tactless maneuvers were halted too soon, the churning itch and smoldering irritation was all we had to take home with us while we imagined the secret world, that promised sense of self that lie hidden, just underneath the surface, always just another inch, another few seconds away.
It's feel something like that.

Size matters

2006-03-23T07:15:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to dig the manga format. Not just the size, but especially the page count. While scripting Issue 2 of BRMX I got to thinking that it would be great to have a single issue that had all the plot points and scenes I wanted, and I could fit it all in if the book were 40 or so pages. That'd be great!! I wonder if Bryon will do that?

A Somber and Auspicious Day for the Empire

2006-03-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

Friday I posted the last page of Battle Royal MX One. This is a great accomplishment. However, as it is the last page of artwork I have on the series, I am sad. As I posted I thought "There will be no Battle Royal MX updates on Friday anymore."
But just when I thought all was lost, Bryon Vaught initiated talks to do art chores on a second issue of BRMX! I'm very excited!! I have wanted to work with Bryon for a long time and have long thought his linework is perfect for the series. Thanks Bryon and welcome aboard!
We have nearly all the details of our collaboration worked out. This neccessitates that I get the second issue scripted and fast!
Stay tuned to this location for updates on this project.

Oh yeah, I forgot

2006-03-09T11:46:00.000-05:00

Just as I was going on the other day about spending my habits and comics and "voting with my dollars", my friend Andrei came to my Book Arts class to talk about comics. He brought with him an assortment of amazing small press comics, most of which I'd seen before. These are some fantastic books, most of which redefine the defintion of both comic and art book. Since these are small press, they don't cost very much per issue and all are available via the web. But, in the 6 months since I've know of their existence have I purchased one of the these books? No. Instead I spend huge sums of money at the comic book store on trade paperbacks. Mind you, the comic book store is not evil, and it's locally owned, so that's good. And the books I bought are off the "mainstream" by independant creators telling innovative and offbeat stories. But they are not hardworking smallpresseres, like myself, pushing the art form I love into new and daring places. And I voted to uphold a distribution system that marginalized not only the small businesss person like myself, but also does much to alienate new readers, new talent, and new ideas.
Thanks Andrei for reminding me of my hypocricy! That's what a good teacher should do.

Call Me Stupid

2006-02-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

Well, no don't do that, but this little story does demonstrate my uncanny grasp of the obvious.
I read Bananafish book 1 the other day and at the end of the book it occurred to me that what I read was the first "issue" of the story. These fat little manga books aren't collections of single issues like the American Trade Paperback, this is the first issue. That's a big difference in how the story is paced, plotted, and executed. Somebody tell me, because I'm too lazy to look it up, how many pages are in those things? I can't imagine having that much space to write a single issue of a story. But all this time I've looked at Manga and, while I knew that these were single issues, I didn't get that they were single issues until just the other day. I've gotta admit, I've got a whole new respect for the format.

I love you, I love you not

2006-02-15T11:56:00.000-05:00

I was reading Tom Strong the other day (I checked it from the Library) and was thinking how much of an action story it is. It and Top 10 and Planetary are still very much in this action/adventure type genre. So why do I feel that Battle Royal MX is too much of a genre story? Is it that I can't be objective about my own work? Is it that I spend too much time introducing characters and not enough time telling a story? I think about doing another installment soon, this year hopefully, and probably drawing it (somehow) myself. I'm not sure if I should take the imagery of the standard four color book, which is what I did in issue 1, and tell a more complex story with it, or depart from the premise of a four color world and go into uncharted territory. Of course this conundrum will no doubt generate a host of pithy answers that while ideally true lack any concrete solutions to my specific dilemma.
I think this ties back the situation I had at the comic store the other day, feeling guilty for liking the Four Color books so much. I like what I like and I like the fun wild stuff. I like Star Trek and Doctor Who because they are science fiction, not despite the fact, etc. etc. I have lots of different angles and takes on Battle Royal MX specifically as a setting in the Millenials and can do each of them in turn with no problem, but I think what I am most concerned about now, and justifiably so, is telling a good story. I know that phrase has been used to the point of being hollow, so I'll define what I mean by good story. Actually, good story isn't so much the case as STORY. Issue one of Battle Royal MX suffers most because it's not really a story. It's a pastiche, a tableau, a 20 something page set up for a story, but not, I think, much of a story itself. I'm stepping back from the thematic level of the tale and working more with the minutiae of it. The micro not the macro as James always says.
I'm just not entirely sure what that might look like. I introduced some 12 or 14 characters in issue one of BRMX, each of them with their own story to tell. Where to start?
I'd like to have issue two be the issue two it was always meant to be. Tiger meets Anthem and they coffee and they flirt. Again I run the risk of not telling a STORY but I do get to have people in a very human situation dropping the metaperson facade and being meek and curious with each other. Plus, from a technical standpoint, it allows me to fill in back story. And it does have it's place in the grand scheme of things, it just might not be apparent at first. I've written the scene several times and have always loved it. Unfortunately, the last and best version was lost in the crash of '04. That's okay. I did it before I can do it again. And I need to change the ending anyway. I'm not sure how to end it, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Megabuck$

2006-02-13T11:40:00.000-05:00

I went to the comic shop Saturday. I hadn't been in a while. Thought I'd spend a little of my tips on a book, just one book. Of course I found several books that wanted and need for my collection. However, I found myself feeling guilty about the choices I was making. Was I really supporting the expansion of the medium and the elevation of the market out of the genre rut by purchasing Tom Strong or Top 10 or even Planetary? Weren't these still "merely" action stories building on an adolescent imagination? Isn't the medium better exemplified by radical innovators like Gary Panter, Robert Crumb, Chris Ware, and Tony Millionaire? Shouldn't I buy these more "literate" or rather more "artistic" books, both to confirm to myself that I have "outgrown" the "mere thrills" of my latent adolescence?
AAARRRGGHHH!! I know it's one book, but we do vote with out dollars. The industry goes where the money is and if I add fuel to the capitalist fire, then I have done little to change the face of the comic market.
Of course, at question here is whether or not these books are "mere genre" stories built upon an "adolescent imagination". Greater voices than mine have debated that question and the answer will most likely always be subjective anyway. In the end I went with what I like, what thrilled me the most, and which artist/title had the biggest hole in my collection.
But it did get me thinking about the "politicized" nature of the medium. Hell, this same issue could apply to any type of art. I could just as easily be talking about movies or novels or even sculpture or painting. The truth is as much as I love Panter and Crumb and a great many other artists and writers who do some truly incredible things with out beloved art form, as I said before on this very blog I love the action stories best. I love the thrills, the chills, the heroism, the tragedy, the humor, and the sheer imaginative grandeur.
That I knew already. What I hadn't thought about in a while (since I hadn't bought a book in a while) was the question about where my money went. What aspect of the market gets my support the most? What messages do I send with my purchasing power? Such things should drive my decisions (I should buy books I don't want just to make a political or aesthetic point) nor should they trouble me to the point of neurosis, but I do think they are valid questions to consider. I do think we should examine our spending habits and attempt to make those habits into conscious choices.
I continued the buy the same mainstream genre books fro years after I had fallen out of love with them. I just couldn't seem to break my old cycles. I wanted to see where the plot was going to end up (answer: Nowhere good) or what happened to the latest love triangle (answer: it's the same old triangle it always was).

In case you were wondering

2006-01-30T09:32:00.000-05:00

I do need a penciller and/or inker for Battle Royal MX. Peter is working dilligently on his own book, the genre defying Solace Moon, so I only got him for one issue and one issue only. So drop me a line here or via email and we'll talk.

All around the world

2006-01-30T09:13:00.000-05:00

Battle Royal MX is being seen in half a dozen countries! That's just mind boggling!! I do cringe from time to time on how dated the script feels. Dated in the sense that I understand the format so much better than I did when I wrote it. Peter did a fantastic job on the art, I just feel the story could have used one or two more edits. Well, the best advice I ever got was "Finish it and wince about how much better it could have been later." That was from Neil Gaiman himself and since he's not done too bad for himself, I think it's safe to take his advice.
Also in the news today, the print version of Battle Royal MX is going to press! I received an email this morning from Comixpress. They were very courteous and apologetic and have made amends more graciously. I am very pleased how they recovered. Hopefully I will get a print date on that soon.
I have decided to start posting Xrox on WCN, probably this week. It is a magic and adventure story, so is quite different than BRMX. Plus there are only four characters as opposed to fourteen. The first two installments are penciled and inked by James West who does a fantastic job with this sort of thing. You may know him from such books as Random Order Comics and Games and Pan-Gea. You can see his own work here .

The Golden Age of Silver

2006-01-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

As I said I was recently shocked by how banal many of the mainstream comics in collection seemed. This prompted me to reexamine the comics in the superhero/action/science fiction genre that I still think are awesome, and what made them so.
Take for example the early Fantastic Four, and I don't know, maybe even the Byrne era FF (I do like Byrne quite a bit, or did when he was really on top of his game). The FF drew as much on early pulp traditions of scientific adventure and exploration like Jules Verne and Alan Quatermain. They were discovering new civilizations, new dimensions, rare elements and fighting monsters. There was a sense of wonder and discovery to these stories, much as found in Dr. Who or Star Trek. Plus, they were a family as much as a team; their relationships were intensified by the dynamic. They weren't just in it for the glory or the paycheck, they were in it together.
Early Spider-Man was also unique. He was weird looking, with the red and blue spider pajamas that covered his head completely, jumping around and cracking jokes. Not to mention the unique abstraction of even the most pedestrian Ditko pages. Spider-Man was also Everyman; struggling, poor, rarely got the girl, lived with his Aunt. He was no playboy with a secret lab and unlimited bankroll for his war on crime, nor did he have a satellite or a secret station beneath the North Pole.
There are other books through out history that bring us these fresh approaches to the genre, often reinventing what worked before, often coming up with something completely unheard of before; The Authority, Planetary, The Invisibles, The Atomics. There have even been, in my opinion, some really great mainstream books by Marvel and DC in the last 10 or so years; X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, JLA, X-Factor/X-Static, which is why I don't dismiss the genre completely.
However, I must admit, one doesn't have to look far or hard to see a great frothy sea full of deadwood, detritus, algae-slicked lumps of putrid waste, and vast chunks of tepid, banal clumps, all floating listlessly about in fetid green water, chocked of all it's refreshing or nurturing qualities, the air shimmering with the repugnant odor of stagnation.

Memory Lane

2006-01-03T14:44:00.000-05:00

I went through my old comics today and roughly inventory the ones I am going to get rid of. Strange experience. I'm the sentimental type, you know, and I've loved comics as long as I can remember (literally: as far back as I have memory in this incarnation as a human being I have a memory of loving comics), yet looking at 32 issues of Alpha Flight was...disconcerting. I don't even feel the ephemeral thrill of pop culture from those comics. I don't have any inclination to peruse the art again, even the John Byrne issues, and I can't even remember what it was I liked about them in the first place. They just seem silly, superficial, shallow stories with minimal entertainment value. They don't have the whimsy and stylization of old Fantastic Four's or Spider-Man or contemporary 80's books like DNAgents or The Elementals. It's sad to think that not only an art form but a genre could not only produce but subsist on such banal tripe for so long. It's not just that particular title, it's the bulk of the comics in my collection; Avengers, Defenders, X-men, West Coast Avengers. It seems it only brand loyalty and habit that motivated me to buy some of these titles. I mean, the West Coast Avengers? What did I see the West Coast Avengers?
I have no qualms about chucking so much of it.
What I'm keeping is the Marvel Universe's and Who's Who (DC), Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Power Pack (natch), but that's it, I think.
I'm even getting rid of tons of issues of Transformers. Sure, the first 12 or so issues were good, but I haven't had the urge to reread them in 15 years.

Here's something about Peter Berergon

2005-12-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

Peter is theonly reason I've got a BRMX comic to share with the world and he's not getting enough credit for it. I can't figure out how to post this bio on my webcomicsnation page, so I'm putting it here for now.

PETER T. BERGERON has won numerous awards and recognition for his artwork. Unfortunately most of them exist only n his ever-active imagination. He is skilled in numerous art fields including sequential art, illustration, painting, computer art, graphic design and a little bit in photography. Peter is currently and perpetually working on his most prized project, SOLACE MOON, a fantasy/sci-fi based graphic novel that will eventually spawn an animated short film. A web site with samples of his artwork is in the planning stage an should be available in the winter of 2005-2006. He originally hails from Manchester, NH but currently resides in Savannah, GA.
Contact may be made at Karniphys@comcast.net.

Where has the bloody time gone

2005-12-14T11:27:00.000-05:00

My last post was 48 hours before Halloween and today it's 11 days till Xmas. Sure, I've had finals and all that, but I used to be able to squeeze in a post every once and a while.
Well, a quick recap: As mentioned finals are over as of yesterday. I know have until January 9th to do every project that's been in limbo this semester, not to mention read every book and reconnect with every person I've been ignoring all semester.
The biggest recent news is that I finally got my webcomic up and running over at WebComicsNation. I'm running the first issue of the Millenials since comixpress is three months behind the print date with no indication they are ever going to get round to it. I've left the book in limbo as I didn't have time to deal with it. I guess that's something I need to get on with.
The semester ended in high gear. Well,I personally ended it in pretty good shape, but typical of me, many of my classes suffered at the end. Even Comics as Art. I came to the last two classes not having read the material (can you believe that?). I felt bad about it, like I let the Professor, who's become a friend of mine, down.
Well, it's over now and I've got time...theoretically. It's my wife's birthday tomorrow and I've got shopping and planning and cleaning to do.
Hope your still out there (if you ever were) and if you've wandered over from the comic, hope you come back.

Less than 48 hours

2005-10-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

Down to the wire on Halloween and all my plans have melted like cotton candy in warm, wet mouth. It's not a total wash. I'm still going out and I'm still getting dressed up. My goals are a little more modest than they were is all. I think that's what I really want. I don't want to say it's about my age, so let's just say I'm at the point where standing around in a noisy party with young people I hardly know who are all drinking excessively isn't exactly my idea of a good time. I'm content to have a quiet evening with good friends. In the struggle between camaraderie and revelry, camaraderie wins out. Michael called this afternoon and asked us over for some quiet drinks. Sounds very pleasant. We might watch House of Dracula. or Night of the Living Dead. We are definitely going to have a few drinks. I do wish it were a little more organized. They're a fun loving bunch but not always ambitious. Still, I let my anxiety and depression keep me from getting it together this year. I think next year I'm going to organize a scavenger hunt. I think that will be loads of fun.
I'm not sure if I'm going to wear my costume. We are going to a double feature on campus, by Angela doesn't want to get dressed up and Michael and Danny aren't going to be dressed up, so I don't know. We're still dressing up for the kids on Monday night.
I'm glad I'm thinking about this not just in terms of the here and now but also about the future as well, when we have kids of our own. Things like a scavenger hunt the entire family can get involved in. Plus I've decided that every year we're going to make s'mores! It's easy enough with a regular grill or a gas stove. And the holiday isn't over yet. The real fun is to be had Monday, when the kids are all dressed up.
I keep thinking about the final scene in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Charlie Brown laments the effort put into another holiday that fails to live up to our expectations and says that perhaps they should hang it up. Linus indignantly replies that "next year will be different! Just you wait and see!". Now I truly understand what he means.

You only get one

2005-10-27T12:34:00.000-04:00

You only get one Halloween and then you have to wait an entire year for another one. I guess that's why I've got such a build up for the holiday. Unfortunately it doesn't help. My wife won;t even talk to me anymore about what our plans are because she's so stressed out by my expectations. I'm getting frustrated because all of our plans are coming apart like wet cardboard in my hands. I tried to explain that we don't have to endure this ordeal with Xmas or Thanksgiving. I think partially it's because you just show up. Everyone sort of knows what to expect, what they're going to do, and you just do it. Each year we are attempting to invent Halloween out of nothing. Yeah, my expectations make it even more difficult, but at this point I'm sick of not knowing if I'm even going to go out this weekend and will gladly accept whatever is handed to me. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't even hear what I'm saying anymore.
What am I saying? I guess I'm saying that Halloween needs traditions like Xmas and Thanksgiving. We need to know that this is what Halloween is like in our house and then do it. Mind you, there's always lots of family and friends on the other two holidays so I know there's going to be a sense of community and camaraderie on those days. It still bothers me that my friends don't seem to want to do anything for for Halloween, not even go to a party. Frustrating.
I'm not sure what to do. At this point I'm going to be on my own for the Holiday. My wife isn't even going to do anything with me.
*sigh* My favorite holiday is quickly turning into something to dread. Disgusting.
I feel like throwing up.

A perfect holiday

2005-10-21T17:52:00.000-04:00

Less than two weeks now. The weather is great here. A little hot in the afternoon, but generally cool. The trees are just gorgeous!
I'm not sure Halloween will live up to my expectations, but it never does. I'm not really sure what I expect, to be honest. I have vague ideas it, but I can never think of what the coolest thing to do would be. I think, although it seems a little lame, a good round of storytelling would be fantastic. Recite the raven, some ghost stories, that sort of thing. I do have visions of a large bonfire, people in costume and paint dancing, writhing about in the dark, sweaty, breath steaming, limbs entwined, bit like the "rave" scene in the Matrix 2 with the bonfire scene of Lord of the Flies or something.
I just need to find a large group of really crazy pagans with access to a large parcel of land. Someone would put on a ceremonial mask and appear in the midst of the group, perhaps clad only in paint and bones and feathers, dancing and leaping, savage wild. We would crown him with oak and thistle as the Lord of the night, and feed them pumpkin seeds and sweet cakes and ply them with liquor. We would carry them about on a chair and hold them aloft chanting and singing. They would sit upon a throne and guide us in our debauchery, raising toasts and bestows blessing and boons. After a while they would step into a coffin shaped box and be closed inside (secretly slipping through he trap door on the stage) and we would carry the box to the fire and throw it in.
But where am I going to meet people like that? I don't know anybody like that.

Still sailing on that river

2005-10-20T18:42:00.000-04:00

Ever since discovering the power of denial I have been in a GREAT mood! I'm able to relax and not spend every waking hour with my nose in a text book, I've been to watch some tv and have fun, I've enjoyed studying again and even have a great grasp of the material. The weather is still a bit hot but the leaves are now a dazzling array of colors.
I hope this keeps up! There isn't much time left in this semester!

Not just a river in Egypt

2005-10-11T15:29:00.000-04:00

Wow. I will never underestimate the power denial again.
For weeks I've been in mental anguish over school. I'm not exaggerating either. I've been physically ill from stress. It's Fall Break and I have a four day weekend and I spend most of the the last three days studying or worrying about studying. Last night I spent a pleasant evening with John Hagan getting his book "Aha and the Great ahum ahum ahum" ready for press. When I woke up this morning I realized I wasn't thinking about school. Simple as that. I knew it was there, and I was aware that part of my brain was scared of the consequences this denial would bring, but the rest of my brain was just oblivious, as if that 10% still freaking out had been walled off behind glass. We could see it out of the corner of our eye, banging on it's translucent prison, we could see it's mouth moving and are vaguely aware it is shouting at us, but we can't make out what it's saying. So we turn out back to it and go about our business.
It turns out to be a nice day. More trees are moving to yellow and rust, it's warm but not hot, cool breeze in the air. I went to two Big Lots looking for Halloween candy and bought the first bags of it today. I went to Wild and Woolly Video and got the first Halloween movie of the season.
I'm going to have fun today, damn it! Even if it does cost me my GPA!
(truth: it won't)

Just like that

2005-10-08T17:12:00.000-04:00

It finally happened. It was cold and wet yesterday, last night was in the 60's, and today is still very cold. There is orange and red and yellow showing in the tress. I think the Season is upon us at last! I've decided there's no need to wait around. It's time to bust out the rest of the decoration and the Halloween music and to watch the first of the Halloween movies. I have Evil Dead coming from Netflix. Don't know if I can wait for it to get here. Might pop out to the store today for something else. Not sure what. We might be getting out pumpkin today. Would be cool if we did. We we're supposed to have left hours ago, but both of us are stressed and anxious these days. We've just been sitting around in our robes and talking all afternoon. It's one of the things we love best.
I am a little saddened that my Halloween costume won't be ready (again!) in time for Halloween. It might, I'm not abandoning hope yet. However, I am preparing Plan B, just in case. Not nearly as cool as my original idea, but still pretty nifty.

Birthdays

2005-09-29T13:29:00.000-04:00

I have a birthday in a couple of weeks. I'll be 35.
I'm old.
I know age is just a number and all that, but it does a number on my head. On the one hand, I still have this image of what an "adult" is: an adult has a career, not a job, an adult is the boss not the lackey, an adult has a house and a car and is never broke and has a family. I don't have any of those things: I'm still in school so I haven't started my career, I don't have my own car, we rent an apartment, I'm a busser in a restaurant, I'm not even a manager or a supervisor, and I'm always broke. I don't necessarily want those things. Or I don't want them if it means working 9 to 5 with a suit and a tie in a cubicle doing menial clerical type work. Ick.
Still, even if I choose the road less traveled, what about my connection to the world? What about "When I grow up, I'm going to___"? I'm grown up now. I'm totally fucking grown up! Shouldn't I stop behaving like a crazed 25 year old and have some mastery over my life? Or something?!?
And maybe the worst part is that being 35 DOESN'T mean anything. There is no expectation. It doesn't matter how old I am, or what I do. It's all just relative. And maybe that is worse.
I don't know. My wife tells I'm obsessed with my age. Well, first, I have an obsessive personality, so yeah. Second, when she's 35 I think she'll look at things quite a bit differently.
I don't want to give the impression I'm depressed or having a mid life crisis. I'm happy to be older. I get better with age. I'm wiser, smarter, more experienced. It's great! It's just the shock of it. Thirty-five, not twenty-five or twenty-six or even thirty or thirty-three, but thirty-five. I just can't get my brain around it. I mean, I don't remember being thirty-three. What happened that year? Was that so long ago? Has it been a decade since Jagged Little Pill was released? Is it possible that a high school senior doesn't even remember Nirvana, or Nine Inch Nails or Jane's Addiction? They would have 6 when all that happened.
Think about that. If you're my age (and I know both of you are) then when you were 15 it was 1985 music that was 10 years old was from 1975. How much relevance did that music have on your life? How significant did it seem to you then? What about music from 1965? That was totally foreign to your life, wasn't it? Now,for the 15 year old today, 1995 if 1975 and 19854 is 1965 and if you're my age, and you can somewhat remember 1975, for today's youth 1975 is 1955!
Hard to imagine, isn't it?
Well, that's what getting old is like. Enjoy.

Mythicons and Celeheros

2005-09-29T13:10:00.000-04:00

I watched this great documentary on PBS last night called "Get up, Stand up: The history of pop and protest." Hosted by Chuck D.,the film traced the history of protest much and music with a political or social message. It was not only a nice study of popular culture (one of my areas of concentration) but a nice trip down memory lane. It also raised certain points that I'm constantly turning over in my mind.
For example, if there was an artist like Jim Morrison alive today (and I'm sure there is somewhere), would I even pay attention? What about David Bowie? Is there someone with his theatricality performing today (I doubt it, but maybe) that I am not aware of? And does it seem important? Would I think it's all as cool as it seemed in the past?
This is a long tale of my relationship not only with the popular culture, but the past as well. Many of the artist I discovered in my youth (by youth I mean 20's) had already had their impact on culture. Many of them were dead or long since faded into obscurity. History had already consigned to them the roles they play. There was no sense of ambivalence, and even if there was, the ambivalence itself was seen as significant.
Partially this all comes from the way I interact with culture and history. I'm not sure where it all started or why, because it predates my early college years, though I think it was just after high school, maybe. When I wanted to know something about a band or an artist, I would watch documentaries, read magazine articles or books. Perhaps, as I write these words down, it could be said that I always experienced things vicariously through other people's words and experiences. At least, at that young age. Punk and even heavy metal, indeed, rock and roll itself was quite outside of experience. My parents, being incredibly strict Christians, didn't listen to anything other than gospel, unless it was some Old School Country. There were no punks in my school, no "alternative kids" or whatever the REM and Bauhaus fans were known as. The most radical students were the metal heads and they literally scared me. Anyway, so I always had a view of people that was created by history and the media. When I listened to David Bowie, I wasn't listening to music but listening to David Bowie: Queer Icon, Glam Rock Pioneer.
So, I was talking about this summer. I was watching this old DVD of a certain 90's band that I always loved, had always, and still is, one of my favorite bands ever, and suddenly I was seeing something I hadn't noticed before. Here in the live footage was someone with all the charisma of a David Bowie, all the passion of a Pete Townsend, all the angst and anger of Bob Mould. Here was a bombastic performance of a musical virtuoso, pushing the music into this amazing shape not unlike a Mick Ronsen, a Jimmy Page, or even shades of Jimmi Hendrix. Here was one of these icons that I had always looked to, but I had been there when it happened. I had seen this band in concert twice, and I never thought, at the time, that this was my generations music, this was my generations Icon. Not even my generation, this was MY icon, my artistic hero. But it never quite felt that way.
Maybe I let the media tell me what is or isn't important. Maybe I wait until the paradigms are formed and then use them to define myself. Maybe I'm always looking for history to happen when what's happening is simply right now. Maybe it never happened the way they said it happened, maybe no one ever felt so revolutionary, so enmeshed in a cultural phenomenon. Maybe people are just people and the music was what it was for them, and this sense of narrative that we get after the fact is something we impose. Or maybe I just forgot. Maybe I hadn't let myself hold to those moments of transcendental bliss, when an artist is taking me out of myself, out of my life, and plunging me into something profound, absolute, and visceral. Maybe all that had just slipped my mind, that feeling of being that alive, that raw, that sad and that impassioned all that same time, maybe I just can't tolerate that as much as I used to so I cover it up. Maybe that's what happens when you get old.

It happened

2005-09-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning and it was cold! Not just cool, but cold. Fall is here!! It seemed to happen so suddenly. Oh, it had been cooling off, but it just didn't seem to be cooling off that much that quickly. I was worried that the weather wouldn't change in time for Halloween. And, as the poem goes, "just like that, just like a snap, or even less, it all changes".
And I still don't have my costume together! The sooner I can get the store the sooner I can relax!

The King

2005-09-20T19:20:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been thinking about Jack Kirby. I have come to the following conclusion: He was good.
I used to hear more about Kirby when I was a young Marvelphile, waaaaaaay back in the 1980's. I didn't get it. I found his figures to be boxy and squat and his designs too jumbled, his line too thick. I understood his historical significance, but as an artist, I didn't care for him. It wasn't until very recently that I began to appreciate the dynamic qualities of his style, the way figures leaped off pages and fist flew with unabashed fury.
Lately, I've begun to appreciate the stylization of his designs, all those squiggly, jumbled objects and the fat and fuzzy lines. Call it maturity, or a better trained eye, or perhaps a greater sense of what I like, but I love the way his pages all come together.
And I don't know who actually created what, I wasn't there and I haven't seen the evidence, so whoever actually created the look and feel of the fantastic four really did something. Just take an image of the FF zipping along in a boxy, squiggly flying car, something like Speed Racer meets Depero, with a flaming guy circling about, leaving a jagged line of flame behind him, as they trawl through the Negative Zone or the 5th Dimension or where ever, the background another brilliant amalgam of Futurism, Deco, and Pop Art.
I think from a sort of pure art sense, Kirby's work is visionary, daring, and well, fantastic.

Psudeonomicon

2005-09-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

I'm a big proponent of names. I think it's important what you call something. I'm notorious for my hair splitting. So, I've been following tea Manga/OEL(manga) discussion at Warren Ellis' The Engine for a week now.
See, I think that people read manga because it's not a comic, even though it is, and they won't read comics because they are not manga, even though they are both comics.
I understand that manga are, on the whole, really good comics. I think the American comic industry, from the smallest indie publisher to (especially) the Big Two can learn from the Japanese. However, I think that what we can learn is how to improve comics and make them better. Not how to make manga. It doesn't matter if we ink like the manga or lay out our pages like we might see in a manga or draw our figures like one would expect from a manga. What matters is that we learn to tell stories that are complex in plot, rich in characterization and dialogue, with a wide range of visual storytelling techniques to communicate the story content rather than flash the reader's eye, and that stories are driven by inspiration and vision, not sales and brand names, thus they need to end when they are over and need to be the work of the creators vision, even if they are working via proxy. That's what I think manga has to over. Sure, some of those visual storytelling techniques might necessarily look like what we would expect from a manga in terms of framing and composition, that doesn't mean the line work and character design is going to resemble what we would expect from a manga.
I can't blame anyone for trying to hook manga readers by looking as much like a manga as they can. And I'm sure there are creators who love the visual style they see in manga and choose to draw that way. Goddess knows my work is going to remind people of someone else. The two things that really get me is that there's a huge number of readers who don't read comics because they are comics, but read manga because they are not comics (somehow) and that there are creators who think that making manga is better than making comics or that the only good comic is a Japanese comic so we'd better copy them as much as possible.
Sure, I'm not being fair, nor is any of this based on anything other than my own conjecture. (only about two people will read this anyway, so I'm fairly safe from reprisal anyway).
I think the word "comic" is outdated and needs to go away. That which we call comics are no longer funny. I have said we need a word like manga to call these books, be they monthly floppies or fattie novels. However, manga means "Japanese comic". So, we can't call them that. We need something else.
And it REALLY honks me that people read manga but not comics!! This should be a separate blog, but I'm on a roll. I think the exoticism of the manga being Japanese cancels out the stigma of American comics and makes it okay to read them. (again, pure conjecture) Mind you, even if they read all the really good American comics, how long would that take? A month or so? And compare that to how many good manga there are.
The other thing is that manga are often associated with anime and video games. Many of them are adaptations or retelling of the anime and games, or vice versa. In that sense, manga are an extension of a subculture. They are another manifestation of these hyperkinetic, super iconic, larger than life pop creations. And taking that and running with it (like I do), that's something that manga do pretty well, from what I've seen so far.
Like I said, one thing we can learn from manga is using a wider range of storytelling techniques. It was pointed out to me on The Engine that manga on the whole use fast, jarring, sweeping cinematic techniques. They pull in close, then go wide, they expand moments of emotional intensity across panels or pages. The thing I like is the minimized use of a grid or box panel for page compositions, often near collage techniques with characters laying across panels that falling with pointed boarders like raining shards of broken glass. In short, what I'm trying to say in my own verbose way, manga (on the whole) are uniquely well suited for the mtv generation (and post mtv generation. In that sense, one can and sometimes must suspend the notion of what a comic is, suspend notions of pacing and layout and form. These are expressions of a hyperkinetic, fragmented, post modern (post postmodern?) world.
Comics have this same quality, I think. There are few things more pop than comics and cartooning, but I'll admit (after a long struggle against) that manga (on the whole) capture "pop" with a cool sophistication, depth of intensity, and lushness of style.
So, deep down, I don't blame "the kids" for reading manga. In a way I'm envious. What would my reading habits have been like had I the option of reading manga at a young age? I do call them "young whippersnappers" or "snot nosed brats" if they won't even try to read an American Comic!
Really, I wish could come up with a new name for these new books that are being made in a new world where divisions of East v. West, Us V. Them, Manga v. Comics have disappeared and everyone benefits.
But that's just me.

Visions of...

2005-09-19T15:44:00.000-04:00

Last night at work visions of pumpkins kept leaping into my head. Just images of them, plump and orange, sitting in a garden with wild green vines coiling about them. Just a flash every so often. This makes me very happy. It means that the season has started and that the mood is coming upon me.
See, every year, and it gets stronger the older I get, about this time I begin to worry that I would be in the right mood for Halloween. That it would feel like Halloween. Or I worry that there would be enough time to get into the proper mood, there's no way the weather will change or the leaves change quick enough for us to have a proper Halloween month.
I love Halloween.
The weather is starting to change, the air is cool, the temperature hovering in the mid 70's. I know the leaves are starting to change. I can feel it in my bones. Something is happening, something wild and fantastic.
Still, I worry. Is it too soon to break out the Halloween music? What if I wait too long and miss the window? What if I start to early and get burned out? What if I'm too busy with school to really enjoy myself? What if the weather doesn't change quick enough? It's been a very hot, dry summer. The seasons could have shifted.
Deep down, I know it will all work out. It always does. Right now it's hard to imagine the leaves are going to burst into vibrant color and cover the ground. Right now it's hard to imagine it every being cold again.
But it will.

Sam Hain is back again!

2005-09-08T18:17:00.000-04:00

Man,that's corny...
The weather is already starting to change. I air is cool in the mornings and at night. It grows dark at 8:30. We've crossed the lip of September and are now moving toward the coming of night. In two weeks it will be Autumn and in 54 days it will be Halloween.
This is my favorite time of year. The very air is ripe with change. Transformation and metamorphosis are everywhere. The trees changing color, the night lengthening, the air growing cold, the smell of decay. We celebrate and express this change with Halloween, the one night you can be anyone or anything you like. The rest of the year we may have to be one thing or another, but this night, all bets are off! It's all about magic. Magic is change. Change is transformation and transformation is about loss and death. This is the time of decent, when the sun descends into darkness, when the leaves descend to the ground, when Persephone returns to the Underworld, and Demeter goes into mourning. In the Celtic tradition, I have come to understand it, the God of light, Lugh, is slain at the equinox and descends to the Underworld, leaving his rival, the God of Darkness, to rule the world. In the Underworld, Lugh takes the throne and is crowned on Samhain, which we call Halloween, and the creatures of the night rejoice on his coronation day.
We symbolically enact this cycle by descending into our own underworld, our own version of hell, to confront the demons there. We must acknowledge the demons in order to rule them, lest they revolt and destroy everything. We honor them and celebrate them and bless them for this one short span of time, so that we may better rule the light.
That's what I think anyway. That's why I never dress up like a fairy or an angel or anything cute, silly, or funny. I don't sit in judgment of that, it's just not what Halloween is about for me. I love the sinister, the macabre, the weirdness, the shock of it. Occasionally I laugh at it, and there's a camp element to it, for me. Something B Grade. If we don't laugh at our demons, then we are in big trouble, I think.
I fear with my busy schedule and the demands of both work and school that I won't have time for Halloween this year. Can you believe that? It's only the 8th of September and I'm already worried about my holiday plans. My brother pointed out to me last year that I am the only person he knows who worries as much about Halloween as most people do about Christmas.
He's right.
It will all be fine. It always is.
The real trick is how to properly celebrate Halloween. I think rituals have more meaning when shared by those close to me, by friends and family. Yet, a small gathering of friends hardly has the cathartic quality of a raucous nightclub or bar. However, going out to a nightclub can be so shallow and ultimately hollow. Not to mention that all the work of getting dressed up feels somewhat wasted if only four people see my costume.
*sigh* It's always a dilemma, every year. The obvious solution is to take my friends out the club with me, but that never seems to work out. I have some nice ideas for out of the ordinary activities this year. One involves a rather large bonfire. I'm sure I know someone outside the city limits where I can do that.
That'd probably be easy than getting everyone to participate in a black mass....

Either do or not do, there is no maybe do

2005-09-08T17:57:00.000-04:00

I'm finally getting used to my school schedule. Not that it isn't still kicking my ass most days, I just don't feel so overwhelmed. That's a tricky spot for me, to not feel like I'm drowning in my own life. Still haven't found the space to work on anything much, just some more notes on Xrox. James has got me inspired with that. As much as I hate when we takes on another project, his thoughts on the Land of Hof is giving me a serious wood. Hopefully, Saturday I can get at least the next two pages of Xrox 2 layouts to him. They've been thumbnailed. It shouldn't take much.
Once I get that done I might just start some sketches for my slashdotpop line.
I'm suppossed to meet with John on Monday to layout his book. Guess I'd better decide now if that's going to happen and make it happen.

Cel-e-brate good times! Come on!

2005-09-06T17:16:00.000-04:00

September 23 is Celebrate Bisexuality Day. I did not know this. Guess I missed that memo. I feel so outside the loop. But..what is this Loop? I refuse to join forums. I spend most of my time answering emails as it is. Either way, I know now. It's nice to have your own holiday. I'm not crazy about this move in the late 90's/early 2000's toward seperatism. Everyone has their own flag now, everyone has their own days and their own events. Kids, back in the old days of '92 and '93, we had unity! One flag with all the colors of the rainbow on it to represent all the different people. When you said queer of GLBT, you meant everybody! Cause we were all in it together! These days the bears have their own flag, the leathers have their own flag, the bi's have their own flag, the left hand Buddhist non-heterosexual monogamists have their own flag. Can't we all just get along?
Still, after laboring under bi invisibility for so long, both from the general culture and the queer culture, and struggling with my own internalized bi invisibility, it's nice to be acknowledged. I've recently had some revelations along those lines. It's time I stopped mumbling under my breath from the side lines and stood loud and proud as an out bisexual man. Oh, I know what your thinking, those that know me, anyway, they're thinking "You're pretty out now, C. We wouldn't want you to be any more out!" I finally realized that I'm talking about being out to myself. To stop struggling and just relax with who I am. To stop apologizing and feeling embarrassed.
So say it with me, "I'm Bi! I'm Fly! I'm on site! Get used to!"

Yeah, I know, needs some work...

I never thought it'd happen to me

2005-09-02T19:03:00.000-04:00

I think I'm losing hair. There's too much scalp showing at the front of my skull. My brother has already lost hair. I thought I got the gut, he got the hair, and that was the deal. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm not going to comb over or try to hide it, sure. I said years ago I wasn't going to be that vain. I just don't think the Larry Fine look is going to work for me. I guess I could shave my head. I think bald men are incredibly sexy.
I don't know. Maybe it's just a bad hair day.

Gods and Monsters

2005-08-25T19:38:00.000-04:00

The mythology of Xrox is bursting out my skull, fully clothed and screaming hungry for vengeance. I haven't been able to work on anything else for two weeks now. Which is okay. Rob has the script for Xrox three and has started layouts. I do owe James three pages of layouts, but he isn't exactly bugging me for them. I was going to start my slashdotpops next. I guess it's only fair to give myself a week or so to acclimated to my new schedule. So far it's kicking my ass.
This mythology is fantastic! It's so many levels of the story in one simple form. That's what I love about archetypal theory in the first place. I'm giving a taste of a culture first hand, the attempt to express the Mystery of being alive in a living world through the particulars of a cultural aesthetic. At the same time I'm giving a meta narrative to the story itself, which is something I wind up doing with all my work. The main story takes place within the greater context of these fantastic and powerful beings, who are but characters themselves. I'm also exploring how myths and legends come into being and grow. And it's helping me sort out a symbolic language based on my own ideas of archetypal forces and concepts (masculinity, feminity, the cycle of nature) that's built on the stories that I've loved since the fourth grade. The flavor is, as I mentioned, an approximation of Anglo-European and popularized notions of Celtic culture. I don't claim any of it is historical, just ideal and personal. I mean, there's a huge heaping cup of Gygax sprinkled on the top!
I have the idea of doing a mythic tales book, story book illustrations, digest sized. I'm envisioning it as Artesia meets Sandman illustrated by Windsor McCay or Mucha. Well see.

Schoolhouse Schlock

2005-08-22T13:29:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day of a new semester of school. For the most part I love the academic process, I love to learn, and I love that school, no matter why you are enrolled, is about getting something that you want. For me, it's about living a dream, about manifesting my skills and abilities in the best way I can, about challenging myself and making sacrifices to get what I want. On the other hand, part of me thinks this is about challenging myself and making sacrifices and that part of me is saying "What the fuck am I doing?!?" I feel too old for this some days, certainly being surrounded by so much youth is a bit much at times. At the same time, I feel a bit pampered by all this. I'm not working, I'm getting to learn things, have huge breaks in my day, spend most of my summer not working, and not deal with a boss or a time clock. It's the Protestant in me. I keep saying to myself "Maybe I should work more hours, then I'd feel better."
Fortunately, my Inner Artist and Inner Student can kick my Inner Protestants corn fed ass.

Strange magic

2005-08-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

One of my neices is staying with us this weekend. She's three, almost four. It's fantastic! Everything is so real to her. If I say there's magic in a bowl she wants to know why she can't see it. If i tell her the magic came from a house elf she wants to meet him. It's wonderful for me to have this! It's the feeling I get when I write and draw only this is more immediate. It isn't filtered through a story or structure. It just is. And she is so open, she just accepts what I say and do unconditionally. I don't ever feel like that with grownups. I don't mind being an adult, in fact I do prefer it to being a child, but this quality of childhood I wish to have with me every day, every where. James, you have SO much to look forward to!

Rollicous

2005-08-19T04:00:00.000-04:00

Started working up the primary deities for Xrox. I used to do this all the time when we were role playing. I was the only one who seemed to think religion was essential to a fantasy campaign. I still think it is. There are, of course, ways around it. I just love polytheism! I had a blast creating naked fertility gods and primal gods of the sea and light. The shit was just rolling off my fingers, the character creating themselves. See, these are personifications of qualities and ideas. I am sort of painting using concepts, symbols, values. It's the archetypes, only I get to decide what is important to a culture and then define the archetypes for them. Of course, these are based on the archetypes as I know them, so the whole thing is like my ideal for a Western European, basically Anglo, pagan religion.
I really dig how it's put me in a zone. I've been working for two hours tonight, from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am. It's been AGES since I've done that.
Makes those shit layouts I sent to James seem even more than half assed.
I don't think much about the fantasy genre these days, prefering to work in something mostly like sci fi, or at least a modern setting. However, the elements of fantasy are so primordial, they just get my blood flowing! And Xrox is shaping into a...what's the phrase? A Secondary World? That's really nice.
Going to bed. More later.
Woo hoo!

Annexnation

2005-08-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

I am happy to announce that John Hagan's book "Aho & and the Great Ahum Ahum Ahum" will be published by Fandom Empire under the slasdotpop imprint. You may be wondering what the slashdotpop imprint is, as no books have appeared under that imprint. slashdotpop is bite sized, single serving books. They are mini books, self contained, that are fun to read and fun to collect. They are the Pop end of the comics spectrum, the ephemeral and whimsical nature of the iconic language. John's book, is not a comic. It is a book of poetry. But not just any poetry. It is lean, concentrated, meditations on the day to day and our strange ways. John captures the essence of humanity, the humor, the angst, the ennui, the whimsical, the profound, with a quick wit and deft turn of phrase. I am very excited about his work and wish to use what powers I have to get it into the publics hands. When he told me he wanted to produce the book as a mini, I saw then that it was perfect for the Empire so I swooped in and annexed his creation. We have yet to set a publishing date, I'm shooting for October. Right now it's in the hands of the Treasurer General who is garumping and gwafing and muttering something about coffers and pillage and what not. Stay tuned to this site for further details.

Now a word from our sponsor

2005-08-17T17:33:00.000-04:00

I love comics. I love comics in a way that is frightening. It is frightening because I love comics more than I love anything else. Comics are a passion for me the way sports is a passion for many other men, the way music is a passion for some, and they way religion or politics is a passion for others. Discovering a new comic or finding a new way to look at or related to comics gets me so excited I tremble.
I am endlessly curious and voracious about new comics and new forms of comics. I am curious about Japanese comics, Francophone comics, British comics. I love comics of all sizes and shapes and all subject matters. I enjoy funny books, action books, sexy books, wordless books, ugly books, pretty books. I spend more time and energy thinking about and talking about and reading comics than I do anything else, even school. I have loved comics, as I said, since I can remember, and my love grows stronger every day. It shows no sign of diminishing. I seek to understand comics the way a scientist might seek to understand fusion or an painter might seek to understand texture or technique. It is, quite simply, an obsession and a fetish. It's a powerful force in my life, so powerful I feel overwhelmed by it at times, compelled by it. It feels as if I'm not under my own control sometimes. It's scary, but I like it. The fact that most of my life, especially during the formative years of adolescence, I was strongly conditioned to think of comics as juvenile fare to be maligned and embarrassed of. I have only very recently in my adult life gotten over this. Say, the last three or four years. So, here I have this powerful obsession that I am embarrassed or ashamed of and seek to keep marginalized in my life. The whole time, it is the very center of life. I'm glad I've gotten over that. I have much more room to revel in my love affair with a magical art form. A rebel art from, in its own way.
Recently I have finally made accommodation in my consciousness for the Art of Comics. This is a phrase I have embraced for years but only recently have I opened my thinking up to accept the Art of Comics. I think now of the physical form of words and pictures, of books and bindings, of pages and pigments, as one might think of canvas and pastels, of ink and paper, or lumps of clay to be shaped in infinite variety and form.
I feel as if I'm on the verge of a great chasm. Hanging just above my head is a precious, succulent fruit. I can reach it, I can taste it, if I stand on the very edge of this vast abyss, on my tip toes, and reach my arm out as far as I can over the black, bottomless gorge.

Biology 101

2005-07-29T14:23:00.000-04:00

I finally got The Millenials in the mail! The disc sat around for a bit and I kept forgetting to take it out with me. I guess I was a little afraid of the commitment and kept thinking I was going to go back in and edit things some more. Then I remember the Magus Council motto. "Finish it!" So it's off. Hopefully I'll have copies in hand by Dragon*Con.
Now, a little story about the origins of the The Millenials.
It's the 80's, my sophomore year of high school, which makes if 1984, since school has just started. I'm sitting in Biology 101, which is dreadful boring and made even more so by the dried up little man teaching the class, when my best friend in the world Travis O'Neill turns to me and asks "If you can have any superpower you want, what would it be?"
As many of you know, this is a standard question among geeks. It doesn't sound profound or out of the ordinary, though I think that's a deception. It is a very profound and revealing question. I'm sure Travis and I had this discussion before, we had been friends since seventh grade, but I don't recall the question begin asked so specifically. It caused me to stop and think carefully about my answer. I let my mind conjure up an image I found desirous, appealing, enchanting. Some channel of communication was open that day between my self and unconscious, my body and my mind. I saw images of young, lithe athletes contorting with improbable agility. Body's that moved with grace and ease, folding and extending in gravity's embrace. I saw scenes from my favorite martial arts films, the flips and flying feet, my favorite wrestlers, the high fliers and risk takers, and even some flashes of Lion-O in his feline grace. All this raw date translated quite elegantly into a character with animalistic characteristic, something ferral and powerful, lethal and predatorial. Strength, speed, agility, senses, all heightened like a jungle cat. And of course, augmented healing. This was very important and prove to be even more telling and crucial than my original visions of balletic superhuman agility.
A name followed soon after. I always hesitate to say where I got the unusual moniker of Tiger Nightfight. Perhaps I'll give a prize if anyone can guess correctly.
And all this occurred rather quickly.
Travis answered the question for himself and created an alter ego for himself, somewhat in contrast in several ways to Tiger Nightfight. The two formed the nucleus of a super team based largely on people we know and ideas that we had been entertaining for some time. Since we identified so strongly with these characters, in fact, they were us, with our own lives as the background and foundation, we nutured them and invested time and energy into them. This was the first idea we seriously considered turning into a comic book. This was our flag ship, our X-Men, our Justice League. A world grew around them, slowly but surely.
Time passed and Travis and changed. We grew older and our lives became more sophisticated. I moved away and we grew apart. Our correspondence diminished and then came to a halt. I went to college and exploded into a millions pieces, all fighting for escape and peace. But these characters never left me. I continued to nuture and develop them. They proved resilient to change, and became greater and stronger in my mind. I never let go of the dream they represented, of the first comic book I was going to write. Of course, the only character that's left from the original idea is Tiger Nightfight. It's just as well, the others weren't really mine to use anyway. Oh, the group is very similar to the one we invented in biology those many life times ago. Stands to reason those themes and dynamics are going to show up over and over again in my work. It's it's own animal, though. I completely reinvented the idea after reading the Watchmen in 1990. I'll admit, not shame in that. I'm not trying to write the Watchmen. I know better, but I'd be a poor scholar and a bloody fool if I didn't readdress the way I related to tea genre after reading Moore's book. I reinvented them again in 1999 after a particularly revelatory night watching WWF's Raw is War.
And that's a not too brief story of the origin of the Millenials.
I hope you were paying attention. There will be a quiz.

Wow!

2005-07-06T18:48:00.000-04:00

I just finished making the corrections my editor found! That means I've just got to wrap up the cover and do the paste ups! I'm going to make it to press by Friday!!
And they induce labor tomorrow morning! James and Dawna are having their baby!
What a week!

Clarmontinization

2005-07-05T14:31:00.000-04:00

As I said, I write stories that contain elements of the Fantastic. That is my genre. Any form of writing is a genre, but generally the word is marginalized to mean poor writing, generally writing that serves the form rather than the story. In this case, the story is about the Fantastic rather than about character or tone or structure. The characters are defined by what makes them fantastic rather than what makes them interesting. It becomes more important that a character is an alien or a paranormal or the product of some inexplicable anomaly than who they are, what they do, how they relate to people. When one is writing a story about the fantastic, it then becomes important to introduce and define the character by these fantastic elements. This leads to some awkward exposition composed of the bullet points of the characters history and relevant dramatic points. No one does this better than Chris Claremont, long time writer of the X-Men.
As I write stories about the Fantastic, I cam in constant fear of Clarmontinizing my characters. There's always that moment when a character comes on to the page and my first instinct is to have them do a force trip, fall on a 5 foot steel spike, and then launch into a soliloquy where they explain that because they can turn their body into pudding, they could fall on that spike without being hurt, and then lament the angst of being Pudding Boy and how everyone who meets him thinks that his chat room handle and won't go out with him.
If the situation calls for it, of course I'll deal with it. Yet I find the situations don't often occur naturally. One of the reasons I'm so stoked about the layouts and script for Xrox #2 is because I give information that defines the characters by skill and role (what we used to call "character class" back in the day) without making it obvious or heavy handed. In fact, people will probably read it and not get it. And that's okay. It's more important that we get to know who the characters are.
I find this is true to my real experience. It is no longer important for me to define myself by my sexual orientation so I don't make the point of bringing it up when I meet people. It does come up, it's there the whole time, I don't know if people pick up on it or not, but it's there. Sometimes I think I'm Claremontinizing myself, like sometimes I fear I'm Clarmontinizing my stories. Sometimes I do make a declaration that is dangerously Clarmontesque. Old habits and all that.
Identity is make up of all these parts, sort of like Ken Wilbur's holon theory, a whole/part. (at least it was Wilbur who first introduced me to the term) All of my characters have a "character class" that I define them, or I define them by their fantastic quality, so it's there all the time, I just like to think I get past all of that and think of them as people and not as tokens.
So, let's all just chill out people, and stop Clarmontinizing each other. I ask you, can't we all just get along?

Gibbering Mouther

2005-07-01T14:05:00.000-04:00

Rob "The Luddite" Crabtree, fellow Magus Council member, pointed out that in my inebriated state Wednesday it wasn't entirely clear that The Millenials wasn't going to press today. I will, however, easily make a July 8th deadline, which is still "The first of July" so that I'll be within the boundaries I set for myself.
Which means I should spend some time today polishing up the few rough bits...but I don't wanna!! I spent all day sucking down cathode (or whatever comes off of a computer) rays yesterday. Today I had planned to decent into my underground lair and putter about in my studio. The mojo is just right, still not totally together, but the vibes are kickin'!
I am going to work on layouts for Xrox #2. I'm ahead of schedule but I'm digging the way my ability to visually tell a story is growing. My powers seem to be increasing at an exponential rate. (and maybe they are, how does one measure such things?)
So, hopefully everyone is clear about the situation. Enjoy yourselves. Go look at Matt Dembicki's page. He's a great guy and a great artist and deserves our love and devotion. So does Rafer Roberts. Plastic Farm is really good and quite ambitious. I wouldn't lie to you.
Well, not about that...

Vacuosity at the Speed of Thought

2005-06-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

Did a little celebrating yesterday, in case you didn't notice.
Amazing how I work and work yet never seem much closer to being finished. The speed of thought is much faster than my pencil or my ass (especially my ass. I think my ass is one of the few inert objects in the universe). I continue to have new ideas while the current ideas still remain unfinished on the draft board. I need to hire very cheap but very driven labor.
It seems I've a bit of the PT Barnum in me, along with everything else. I get these great ideas on how to promote comics. One could say it's dangerously close to being manipulative marketing techniques. I like to think I am making comics fun again.
More and more I move closer and closer to the idea of the "Art Book", the comic as high end object of value, either through their quality and quantity of material or through their rarity as hand made objects. However, I also have the love of what I call "slashdotpop" comics. Tiny bite sized morsels of pop culture. Small and portable, they slip into the pocket or the book bag, they pass from hand to hand, they cost $1 or less, or are even free, and offer the same ephemeral whiz bang as gum or candy.
Of course, the borders of the Fandom Empire runs in both directions. Our center is everywhere and our circumference is everywhere.
I would think that such a mini comic would be easy to crank out. Small in size, modest in form, low in cost...but, alas, no.
But fear not! I am calling upon the lost magics of my fellow Mages James West, Stuart Sparks, and Rob "The Luddite" Crabtree. Together we have spells and charms that can shape the very nature of reality itself!
There will be a mini! There will be mini's like you wouldn't believe!!
And I just now decided to call them, officially, Slashdotpop! comics.
I think you're going to like this.

Summer Time

2005-06-29T19:16:00.000-04:00

My last 3D class was today. Great class. I deliberately gave myself the afternoon off. I'm also more than pleased with the layouts for Xrox #2.
Oh, "What's Xrox?" you ask?
Xrox is a fantasy comic...That sounds positively blue, doesn't it? It's a Post-Gygaxian, quasi-Morrocockian, semi-Jungian action tale of magic and adventure. It's appearing in Random Order Comics and Games published by good friend James West. Check him out. He does good things. Very good things.
This latest installment of what's become a perennial epic will be laid out by me, using my newly discovered powers of Visual Arts!!! James will then draw the pages, in his small way, then old friend Stuart Sparks will ink them with his own particular mad skills. You should check Stuart out. He's truly a mad man. He may look calm to you, but it's in the eyes.
This is the first time I've done the layouts on one of my stories that came out quite clever. Quite clever indeed. You'll just have to wait until the next Random Order Comics and Games comes out. Go over to James' site and bug him. He needs a push every now and then. But be nice to him, he's having a baby.
July 1st is very close. Very, very close. I can smell it. Oh, boy! Does it smell-you can't smell that? It's so-And with it comes the deadline to get The Millenials #1 to the press. Have no fear! I know what you're thinking, and you can stop it! Yes you! I saw that look in your eye! The cover is nearly finished. And looks great! Very cool. You're going to love this, really. I acquired an editor on this project. First time with one of those. It's a whole new element of complexity and sophistication. I'm moving up.
In the meantime, go read Xrox #1 in Random Order Comics and Games. I'm sure James has some laying around. Throw money at him. He'll do whatever you want. He's so cheap.

So what's wrong with superheroes, anyway?

2005-06-20T17:24:00.000-04:00

I find myself asking this question over and over again. In fact, much of my own work is a sort of apologetics for the genre. On some days I think there's no defense of them. They are silly concepts hung on two dimensional characters representing dated, and even right wing, ideals. They seem fine as light entertainment, and well suited to entertain children, until you consider the harm they might do.
My sculpture professor just cautioned the class to be wary of nostalgia. Nostalgia doesn't change us, doesn't transform us. Any experience that's going to have an impact on us must involve risk, either on the part of the artist or the audience or both. Most of our affection for superheros is based on nostalgia. Most of the comic publishing industry is designed to cultivate and capitalize on that nostalgia.
Given that, why do I feel the need to create superheroes, and the need to prove their validity as a genre? The obvious answer is the symbolic content. I truly believe that the superhero is a mythic figure, in the same way that Achilles, Beowulf, or Gilgamesh are mythic figures. We are dealing with larger than life characters doing larger than life deeds, risking death for an ideal. I believe the human psyche needs these kinds of stories, as examples, as teaching tools, as a process of self examination.
But mostly I think they are cool. Superheroes are neat! They are incarnations of the imagination itself. You can do anything in a superhero story and make it seem plausible. Once you posit that someone can fly or run faster than a bullet, all bets are off. You just suspended verisimilitude somewhere in the stratosphere.
It at this point in the process that a line is crossed and things become interesting. I often find myself wondering if I am talking about the same thing every one else is when they say "superhero". Do they include Donnie Darko, Flex Mentallo, Shade the Changing Man, Promethea, Grendel, The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, or King Fu Hustle in their estimation of the genre?
Really, the thing that make "superheroes" so cool is the amazing feats, the fantastic way they can warp reality. They enter our dreams and imagination and make the fantastic manifest. And they are in truth the geeks we are (Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne-come on, he's a book loving tech nerd, Reed Richards) and the romantic leads we wish we were (Tony Stark, Hal Jordan, Bruce Wayne).
Should we abandon the superhero for the richer, greener pastures? Sure. We should.
But we're not going to.

What time is it?

2005-06-12T13:54:00.000-04:00

Apparently, Jagged Little Pill by Alannis Morrisette was released ten years ago. I thought you should know.
People say I harp on too much about time. They attribute it to my obsession (read:neurosis) about my age. That's partially true. I doubt that time frames would have the same significance if not for my unique perspective. However, let's forget about age for a moment and just look at culture.
When someone says "The 80's" or "The 50's", think about what that brings to mind, all the fads, fashions, political and cultural shifts that spring to mind. Each decade is an era, an epoch, that rises and falls, brackets neatly by a year beginning in zero and one ending in nine. Generations of people are lumped together and defined by decades.
A decade, friends and lovers, is ten years. That means whatever paradigmical shift or sense of scale that the phrase "a decade" brings to mind, if any, just happened. Beginning with Jagged Little Pill and ending last Thursday.

Anticlimaxing

2005-06-10T16:03:00.000-04:00

Here I am. Building the blog. Muttering crazy magic into a vast, hollow, dark room without an echo to mark their passing. Much like throwing a fish into space.
Why am I here? I publish comics. Or rather, I will. It's an incredibly tedious process, but I've enough social grace to spare you the details. I've got a press date of July 1st, and that's just to get the material to the printer. I think you can expect to see a book by August.
What's the book about? Um...well, it's a commentary on our technologically dependant, media saturated, celebrity obssessed culture in the form of a post modern mythology expressed as a four color adventure. Basically.
I'd like to say more, but I'd rather people read it and make up their own mind.
I've got more projects in the work. See "Fish in space" comment above.
Watch this space for updates.