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Right Place at the Write Time #4: Thou Shalt Motivate ThyselfWritten by WesLocher on May 18, 2012Filed in: Right Place at the Write Time | No Comments » Hi there! Since the last Right Place at the Write Time column, I assume that you’re actively reading and writing, yes? Let’s hope so! In this column, I wanted to talk about motivation. Good times! You’re here, and you probably want to learn something about writing comics, right? Here’s a challenge: Can you motivate yourself to read the following words? Each day at my day job I interact with anywhere from 10-130 people. Each person has their own life, their own story, their own hopes, and their own dreams. Me personally, I’m all about their dreams. We’re only alive for so long and I’m a strong believer that everyone should work hard to achieve what they want and be happy doing so. One works so much harder with much less negativity if they’re doing what they love for a living. Sadly, not everyone is able to up and quit their day job in order to pursue their dreams, but that doesn’t mean they are unattainable. Most of us work 40-45 hours per week, or go to school full time, or some combination of the two. While that’s a giant time sink because you either need to pay the bills or need to further your education (hopefully in order to achieve that dream job) it doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to dedicate to the things we love.
Because I make those 123 hours work for me, instead of against me, I get put off and frustrated when I hear people say that they can’t accomplish their dreams because “they don’t have time.” You have to be motivated. You have to manage your time. Unless you have a life assistant, no one is going to follow you around and poke you in the ribs when you’re doing something that could be considered a “waste of time.” You have to be motivated. You have to be proactive. How many of your friends and family members have you heard say, “I want to write a book one day”? Probably a lot of them. How many of those people have actually written that book? I don’t subscribe to that mentality because I can want to write a book all I want, but I’m a realistic person and I know that I’m not going to wake up one morning, crack open my laptop and find a word document with the entire manuscript typed up neatly. No matter how badly you want to do something, you have to make the time to do it. I always wanted to write a book too. In 2009 I actually did it. It took me an entire year because I had to find the time — Nay, had to make the time. I didn’t want to be one of those people who spent my life talking about it. I recognize that no one was going to make it happen for me except me. “But Wes!” you say. “That 123 hours thing is crap. I have to eat and sleep and spend time with my loved ones as well!” I thought you might say that.
By other stuff, I mean the television episodes, the video games, the NetFlix. Those are all huge time sinks that steal away hours and hours of your life. If you have a dream or you have a goal, those activities are taking time away from it. Not to say that you shouldn’t do those things, but be conscious of the time spent doing them. In order to focus on the careers we want, my wife and I canceled the cable. For an entire year we didn’t watch TV. We’d do the occasional DVD but there were no shows that we followed. We now have NetFlix, but it’s rarely on for more than 4 hours a week in total. Though we may have fallen behind on all the great TV shows being aired, you know what happened when we stopped watching them? NOTHING. They played on without us, our friends spoiled them for us, and we suck at small talk in social settings because we’d rather use that free time to focus on our goals. Plus, we entertain one another infinitely more than an episode of Quantum Leap ever could. Also, about that sleep thing. Find out how much sleep you need. Some people cannot function with less than 8 hours, while others do fine with 5-6. I’ve conditioned myself to function off of 4-5 hours a night, and I wake up 3 hours before I go to work each day in order to squeeze in additional productivity time. Case in point, this column was written at 8am on a Friday. Let’s take our 123 hours and subtract the 6 hours of sleep we need each night to function at an acceptable level. Heck, we’ll splurge a bit and give ourselves 8 hours on the weekends. That still gives us 77 hours to manage in order to focus on our passion. Keep taking away time as needed, but the moral of the story is simply that the time is there if you want it. I’m not attempting to be holier than thou or trying make you feel bad about how you are spending your time, I’m simply sharing what has worked for me. I subscribe to the mindset of how do you know, if no one ever tells you? Hey, I have an idea — Let’s talk about comic books. (Slick segue, right?) All of the above was written with the comic book writer in mind, though it can be applied to anything that you’re passionate about. If you didn’t read the stuff before the words “comic” and “book” then you missed some really good words of wisdom (or perhaps just common sense). Seriously, go check it out. I could use a sandwich anyway. Why the above is important is because most comic book writers are essentially freelance writers. They finish a job, get paid, and have to find the next job. I hear it’s very stressful at times. When you’re starting off in comics, no one is going to put a gun to your head, sit you down at your computer and tell you to write. Well, maybe your husband and wife if you’re into that sort of thing, but traditionally, everything is on you. Let’s say you pitch your awesome story idea to Image Comics. Maybe you just have five pages of script and 5 pages of completed art and nothing more. What happens when they agree to publish it. What if they want 5 issues? What if they want 10? Know how to make the time before you need it. If you’re in a situation where you’re expected to send 22 pages of script to an artist by Friday, you don’t want to struggle to make the time. It’s unprofessional and the worst thing you can do is not meet a deadline. Show everyone that you’re serious about your work by actually being serious about your work. One of my life motto’s says, “If you won’t do it for free, then no one will ever pay you to do it.” Set deadlines for yourself. Working on a comic short story? Set a deadline to have your 5 pages complete. Manage your time, find a way to make it happen. Don’t set yourself up for disaster. One missed deadline in the business and you’ve dug a hole that’s going to take a while to crawl out of.
Most comic writers have a desire to work with Marvel, DC, or Image comics. The writer thinks the story idea that they’ve been kicking around in their brain for the last ten years is going to be the key to fame and fortune. Maybe it’s their own character, or maybe they’ve plotted out their 30 issue maxi-series that will take Spider-Man to places Stan Lee never dreamed of. KNOWLEDGE BOMB: No big time publisher is going to look at, let alone release your work without you having been published elsewhere. That’s just the way it is. You have to prove yourself. That takes time. That takes your free time. Go write a comic. Find an artist. Self publish. Make a webcomic. Take an active interest in your dreams. Next time you’re slumped over on the couch watching America’s Next Top Model – Season 87, and you’ve zoned out thinking about how ridiculous Tyra Banks is as a human being, turn off the TV and go make some comics. “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.” ~ Jonathan Winters Wes Locher weslocher.com  |
Classic Comic Review #7: WHAT IF… THE HULK HAD KILLED WOLVERINE?Written by TaliAdina on May 11, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | No Comments » Why am I reviewing older comics? Well because I’m still sorta new at this and I’m trying to catch up on reading the ones that I wasn’t able to read growing up. Also there are many people out there who are either new to comics or are seasoned pros who may want to revisit some of the older stuff. To tell you the truth, these comics never get old. Besides, there are so many people out there who are reviewing the new comics. So without further ado, I give you this week’s Classic Comic Review… WHAT IF… THE HULK HAD KILLED WOLVERINE? Vol. 2 50th Issue June 1993 Marvel Comics Writer: John Arcudi Penciller: Armando Gil Colors: Gina Going Editor: Craig Anderson Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco I love the WHAT IF… series because it always gives readers the opportunity to go down another path in the Marvel Universe. In this case, the path takes us down the road of what would happen if the Hulk killed Wolverine and shows readers the consequences of that one particular action…the results are amazing and if you want to the answer to the question then you’ll enjoy this book. Writer John Arcudi gives readers an excellent and enjoyable story. The pace is smooth and sound and every action that is taken by a character in the story builds up until you have disasterous but excellent results. The art however is in my opinion ugly. Armando Gil depiction of the Hulk is the one of the worst that I’ve seen. I know the Hulk is a monster but his appearance is still beautiful and Gil just makes him and the majority of the other characters such as Rogue ugly. Over all, the story is good and I think readers will enjoy traveling down the path not taken with Utau the Watcher guiding them. If you have any classic comics that you want me to review please email me at taliadina@gmail.com. Remember comics must have been published before 2010. |
Young Justice: Not So Young AnymoreWritten by TommyZimmer on May 8, 2012Filed in: Zimmertainment | No Comments »
After a long and tiring past year, I finally caught up to one of my favorite shows since it premiered: Young Justice. While I liked the way they handled the first season, I am beginning to have doubts about the second season titled: Young Justice: Invasion. The first season handled the show quite well. It introduced us to six main characters, and showed us not only how they interacted with one another and worked together but also where they came from and how they fit in with the larger world amongst them. One such example is Superboy who was the main subject of the opening episode: “Independence Day.” The character (as in the comics) is a clone of Superman, and the team (on a mission to infiltrate Cadmus) discovers him liberating him from his frozen stasis in the process. However, when he realizes who he is, another Super-character does not give him much time. Feeling uncomfortable about the situation, it takes Superman until the end of the first season to come to terms with and finally accept Superboy’s presence in his life. These sorts of plot lines took place while the team went on adventures facing characters such as Bane and Count Vertigo. Yet, things have changed quite a lot with this new season. The new season takes place five years later after the last episode of season one. The team has acquired new members such as Robin IV or Tim Drake and Blue Beetle, and the main six have grown up. Dick is now Nightwing, Miss Martian is older and has moved on from a relationship with Superboy, and some characters like Kid Flash and Artemis have vanished. This is troubling for me. I do not like the fact they moved the series five years into the future, and just went balls out like Justice League Unlimited did. I don’t feel it’s the right time in the series for that but there are also quite a lot of negatives associated with that. The viewer misses the maturation of the characters. We have no “character moments” that made Teen Titans such a classic TV series such as Robin’s obsession with finding Slade and Beast Boy pinning for Raven and Terra. Though we do get that minimally here, the story seems to be focused more on plot rather than the actions of the characters themselves. That is to say, the plot seems to be thrust upon them. While that is in keeping with the fact they are subordinate to the Justice League with Batman giving them missions, it still feels troubling. Another issue evolving from that is the disappearance of other characters. Three episodes into the new season, I am left wondering what happened to the missing characters: Kid Flash, Artemis, and Aqualad. I am particularly interested in the former because they had an interesting subplot of growing mutual respect and love for one another. That blossomed at the end of the first season but we do not get any sense of that in the new season. Usually, we would see a continuation of subplots like that as they changed in new seasons but this new season seems to be totally ignoring those things, and focusing just on the major plot ending the first season. Which leads me to my last point: why the focus on one giant plot? As a fan of the series, I do like that they do that but can’t you do that while having some smaller episodes like where Artemis and Zatanna go to New York? I am not even talking about something that small but just a part where they do not battle someone who is a part of the giant conspiracy web growing throughout season one. While that is a strength of the series, that is also a negative too. There does not seem to be a focus unfortunately coming up on how the relationships between the characters (romantic or otherwise) are being developed. Unfortunately, it seems this season will be a team show (which I do like but miss the other factors of the series) and will focus continually on the plot, not characters. |
Webcomic: A flowchart Guide to Mass Effect 3Written by StephenJondrew on May 5, 2012Filed in: Stephen Jondrew | No Comments » After discussing Mass Effect 3 in the latest episode of the Fanboy Buzz I decided that as someone who is still working on the Mass Effect series, I should compile their feedback in a easy to follow flow chart. I’ve collected their points and put them together so that people like myself can remember how to play Mass Effect 3 when it becomes that time. I hope you enjoy.
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Comicmaniac Spotlight: Jimmy Palmiotti InterviewWritten by TaliAdina on May 5, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | 2 Comments » RETROVIRUS is a new creator-owned graphic novel written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and illustrated by Nomberto Fernandez with the lettering done by Bill Tortolini and the cover by Amanda Conner. Right now, the creators are raising the funds for the project on Kickstarter. I had the opportunity to interview Jimmy via email to talk about the graphic novel, his other project Creator Owned Heroes, his thoughts on the indie community, and what fans can look forward to in the pages of All-Star Western. What inspired this project and what was the creative process? Jimmy: Having success with the QUEEN CRAB book on Kickstarter, Justin and I figured we give it another go with another project we have been working on outside our usual work. The idea itself was inspired by many childhood movies and books like The Andromeda Strain and Altered States, and we thought Retrovirus was something, as writers, we haven’t done before. What makes RETROVIRUS stand out? Jimmy: Some amazing artwork by Nomberto Fernandez and a really wild story told in an adult manner. The story is a self-contained graphic novel with a beginning, middle and end. We try our best to pull the readers into a situation that there seems to be not a shred of hope, and take you on a journey with the main character that we think you will enjoy. It stands out because it’s more of a concept piece driven by a main character. You’re known for creating believable characters that live in the same dark and dismal world that we all must bear. What can you tell us about the characters in RETROVIRUS? Jimmy: Our main character is Zoe, and she is a scientist dealing with a lot of unpleasant things happening in her life and an interesting proposition comes her way that will change her forever. As her adventure unfolds, we meet the other people in the story and what drove them to be working on the Retrovirus project. These are a group of regular people with jobs trying to make their way in a world with unraveling mysteries and dealing with the sad facts that what they are being told is only part of a bigger story. As usual, we unwrap the mystery that opens up a Pandora’s box of insanity. You have worked on a lot of projects with Justin . How do you keep your creative partnership from getting stale? What was it like working with Nomberto? Jimmy: New ideas and new projects keep us going. Working on these books is always a personal adventure for us and building an audience through our work is always exciting. With every book, we have a chance to get someone else into our world and that never becomes stale. Justin and I have so many ideas, there just is not enough time in the day…but together we make a great team and understand that having similar goals gives us a chance to make a better go at it together. Getting to work with so many wonderful artists like Norberto make the ride even better. You recently started Creator Owned Heroes with Steve Niles and Phil Noto which will be debuting in June. How did the book come into being and what can you tell fans a little bit of what they can expect with this book? Jimmy: Creator-Owned Heroes is a monthly title coming from Image comics that features two different 11 page stories by Justin and I and Steve Niles, as well as 16 pages of editorial . It’s sort of a magazine style comic where we get to throw some wild ideas out there each month. The first story we have in it is Triggergirl 6 , drawn by Phil Noto. It is a sci-fi action drama set in the future. The way this all came together was we all were talking about how hard it is to put bigger projects together and how costly mini series were for people trying to do creator owned work. This whole project is an experiment that we hope people give a try. We are very proud to have an interview with Neil Gaimen featured in the first issue. What advice can you give indie creators who are just starting out? Jimmy: Create a following. Use social media as best you can and put yourself out there and your work on the internet…from there, work it all as best you can. It’s not easy, but there has been much success for some doing this. We are working in a field where practically everyone that reads comics wants to create them, so it can be tough in the beginning, but stick with it and eventually you will find some kind of success on some level. If your goal is to be rich and famous, you are in the wrong business. Comics are done out of love of the medium. You learn that right away. 2012 has been declared the year of creator owned comics. What excites you about what’s currently going on in the indie community? Jimmy: There is an energy out there that you can feel. The better comic shops are carrying a wide range of books that are taking risks, books that are not just superheroes. The new wave of creator owned titles are exploring all different genres and that’s a move in the right direction. The bigger companies have had to up their game because of this and competition is the healthiest place to be in this industry. On a personal level, right now about half of my work flow is working on creator owned comics, so I am excited bout that. One day I might even to be able to make a living off of it. I think 2012 is the year of IMAGE comics. What advice do you have for writers and artists? Jimmy: Work, work, work, and don’t get discourage or quit. Take advice from professionals and be smart about who in your life helps you and who hurts you. Its all about focus and believing you can do this that makes the difference. Read a lot, travel and listen to others….then get to work. What do you do when you get writer’s/artist’s block? Jimmy: I do anything else but look at books or comics. I go for a walk, go see a movie in the middle of the day, or talk to Amanda about other things. I trick my brain into other tasks and then things usually work themselves out. How did you break into comics? Jimmy: Loved them as a child, worshipped different artists along the way, went to an art high school and eventually broke in by doing backgrounds for other artists till I picked up my own work. What inspires you to create comics? Jimmy: The need to express myself in a visual medium is what drives me to create comics. The love of the graphic storytelling format and the excitement of seeing others take my words and create artwork will never be anything but exciting to me. . What comics are you reading? Jimmy: I buy the first issue of each and every book that comes out. If they impress me, I try the second, and so on. As you may know, this means I am reading more than I can talk about. My weekly pile is getting bigger and bigger. With the Night of the Owls storyline currently going on in the Bat books, will Jonah Hex be getting involved with any of the madness in his timeline? Jimmy: Everything we do in our book will have an impact on the future of Gotham in one way or another. We are inspired by the stories taking place right now in the Bat books and try to pepper the past with ideas. We are working hand in hand with them to keep this universe and timeline the tightest it has ever been and we are having a blast making Jonah part of it. What can readers look forward in upcoming issues of All-Star Western? Jimmy: You can look forward to a lot of the other characters making appearances in the front stories including new ones as well. We have a big storyline coming up that makes Gotham the center of the universe for a lot of the characters and we raise the stakes for Jonah and his gang in a way that has everything to do with the timeline and what was happening in other parts of the world. We are just having so much fun on this book, I sure hope its coming across that way. |
Classic Comic Review #5 & #6: Civil War: The Confession A Marvel Comics Event #1 & Fallen Son The Death of Captain America Iron Man Chapter 5 AcceptanceWritten by TaliAdina on May 3, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | 1 Comment » Why am I reviewing older comics? Well because I’m still sorta new at this and I’m trying to catch up on reading the ones that I wasn’t able to read growing up. Also there are many people out there who are either new to comics or are seasoned pros who may want to revisit some of the older stuff. To tell you the truth, these comics never get old. Besides, there are so many people out there who are reviewing the new comics. So without further ado, I give you this week’s Classic Comic Review… This week is Avengers week! In honor of The Avengers Film being released in the states this week, I’m reviewing comics that featured characters from the Avengers. These two comics feature Iron Man & Captain America! Civil War: The Confession A Marvel Comics Event #1 Marvel Comics May 2007 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Alex Maleev Color Artist Jose Villarrubia (pages 14-22) Letters: Chris Eliopoulos 3-D Iron Man Design: Josh Singh Production: Rich Ginter Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson Editor: Tom Brevoort Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada Publisher: Dan Buckley Fallen Son The Death of Captain America Iron Man Chapter 5 Acceptance Marvel Comics August 2007 Writer Jeph Loeb Pencils & Inks: John Cassaday From an idea by: J. Michael Straczynski Colors: Laura Martin Letters: Richard Starkins & Comicraft Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona Editor: Bill Rosemann Executive Editor: Tom Brevoort Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada Publisher: Dan Buckley I decided to review these two together because they tie into each other and feature the Iron Man and Captain America the two anchors of The Avengers. If you haven’t heard, a few years ago, Captain America was killed and it all came about from the Marvel Event Civil War. In The Confession, readers will see Iron Man confess his feelings to someone about what has resulted from his actions and decisions and at the end of the story we see the last conversation that he has with Captain America before the Captain’s assassination. It’s a short, powerful, and heated discussion. This comic is great because it shows readers what Captain America really meant to Tony Stark. Bendis writes his many bubbles with emotion and you hear Tony speaking from his soul. Though Fallen Son focuses on Iron Man, the star of this comic is Captain America’s best friend Falcon. Readers will attend the Captain’s funeral and read an excellent speech about Steve Rogers. Along the way there are beautiful splash pages and artwork featuring Captain America with his Avengers. This story gives you a history of the Captain’s adventures throughout the years. Loeb does an excellent job writing Falcon’s speech while Cassaday’s art shines. This book is the last chapter of a five part series which deals with the five stages of grief and features different members of the Avengers-new and old so check this series out. So this concludes my Classic Comic Reviews for The Avengers. I know you’re gonna enjoy the film and I’ll catch you next week for a new classic comic review! If you have any classic comics that you want me to review please email me at taliadina@gmail.com. Remember comics must have been published before 2010. |
Classic Comic Review #4 Thor: The Trials of Loki Part One “It Should have been Mine” (Issues 1-4)Written by TaliAdina on May 3, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | No Comments » Why am I reviewing older comics? Well because I’m still sorta new at this and I’m trying to catch up on reading the ones that I wasn’t able to read growing up. Also there are many people out there who are either new to comics or are seasoned pros who may want to revisit some of the older stuff. To tell you the truth, these comics never get old. Besides, there are so many people out there who are reviewing the new comics. So without further ado, I give you this week’s Classic Comic Review… This week is Avengers week! In honor of The Avengers Film being released in the states this week, I’m reviewing comics that featured characters from the Avengers. What good is a superhero team without their villians? And since Loki is the main villain in the film (or is he?) I couldn’t do a review with a book that features him! Thor: The Trials of Loki Part One “It Should have been Mine” (Issues 1-4) Publisher: Marvel Comics 2010 Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Penciler: Sebastian Fiumara with Al Barrionuevo (issue 4) Inker: Michel Lacombe with Alvaro Lopez (issue 4) Colorist: Jose Villarrubia Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino Cover Art: Sebastian Fiumara (issue 1) and Travel Foreman & Nathan Fairbairn Editor: Alejandro Arbona Supervising Editor: Ralph Macchio I fell in love with the god of mischief when I watched the Marvel animated film Hulk vs. Thor. Tom Hiddleston is awesome as Loki and I’m enjoying the current Journey Into Mystery stories. So of course I had to find a classic comic that just focused on him. Granted this book started in 2010 and was published in 2011, but since it started in 2010 it meets my criteria-see there’s a bit of Loki in me! Now onto the review. Without spoiling the plot for you, this book is about Loki and how he interacts with his brother Thor and his family and the rest of the Asgardians, but it’s from his perspective. The story takes place in Asgard and it shows how Loki thinks and what’s going on in that scheming brain of his. Roberto Aguirre-Sacas’s writing is great, he gets readers right into Loki’s heart and soul. Fiumara and Barrionuevo’s art are wonderful . If you want to know more about Loki, this is a great book to get to know him. If you have any classic comics that you want me to review please email me at taliadina@gmail.com. Remember comics must have been published before 2010.
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Comicmaniac Spotlight: Alan KistlerWritten by TaliAdina on May 2, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | 1 Comment » Welcome to the Comicmaniac Spotlight! Here is where I will feature or interview a person or persons who are either in the comic industry or they’re doing something that’s awesome and geeky/nerd related. This weeks spotlight is author, actor, Agent of S.T.Y.L.E., and Crazy Sexy Geek Alan Kistler. He has recently published The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew! and has two more books on the way. I sat down with Alan to talk about his book, his thoughts on writing, as well as what other awesome projects he’s working on.
How did you get into comics? Alan: I found a rocket ship lying in a crater. Inside there was an indestructible red blanket, a living computer called Mother Box, and a very bitey radioactive spider. At this point, a robot dog appeared and gave me a key to a dimensionally transcendental time-ship that resembled a blue… No, wait, wait… Sorry, that’s all imaginary. Honestly, it was an accident. Right place, right time. I was very into science fiction as a kid. I devoured Isaac Asimov and any book that dealt with time travel, parallel universes or space vampires. Loved Arthurian legends, Anansi stories and certain mythologies. When I was about 7, a friend/babysitter thought I’d enjoy a nearby sci-fi convention and took me. It turned out to really be a comic convention and there was a raffle at the door that I won, which left me with a dozen free comics. I knew some characters from cartoons, movies and TV shows. But for the most part, I had no idea who these characters were, these X-Men or Justice League teams or this blond woman in black called Ms. Marvel. I recognized Spider-Man but had no clue who his friends Iron Man and Black Panther were. I read them over the weekend and my mind was blown. Whenever I watched TV or read books, I constantly thought, “What if these characters could all meet?” What if Columbo met J.B. Fletcher? Would they get along or get annoyed? But that would never happen. Comics, though, had shared universes! And sometimes the heroes didn’t win. The Flash in this comic had once been a sidekick named Kid Flash and the guy who had been the Flash before him had actually died! That was startling! I talked about it with my grandparents and it turned out they knew Jack Burnley, who was a comic book artist during the 1940s. He worked on Superman and Batman and co-created the original Starman. So they took me to meet Jack and we chatted for a couple of days about Golden Age comics and Silver Age comics and what events in history inspired certain characters and stories. He showed me his collections of different Batman stories over the years, how the art, writing and personalities changed. After that, there was no going back. I was interested not only in comics but in their evolution and the history behind them.
What advice can you give writers? Alan: You have an idea? Fantastic. Stop talking about it and do it. It’s one thing to pitch an idea or share a premise with a friend, but so many writers, artists and the like get so enamored with the idea and don’t actually do anything with it. Or they think it needs to be perfect, so they focus solely on plotting and planning everything “perfectly” rather than actually taking the next step and creating something that can be developed and then shared. That’s as effective as imagining a relationship with someone you have a crush on but never have the guts to actually ask out. Make the damn thing. Write it down, beginning to end. You can always re-shape it later, but at least HAVE something to work with instead of just the idea of what it could be. The other biggest advice I can give is to pick your battles when it comes to editing and criticism. Whatever you write or film or plan, changes WILL be made and sometimes we’re too close to our own work to see the edges that need smoothing out. Don’t ignore others or else you won’t evolve. That being said, if you feel passionately about the core of a story or what message the audience is supposed to get at the end, stick by it. The minute you stop caring and just do what you think others will like, the audience will sense it.
What inspires you to write? Alan: I’ve wasted a few opportunities and I’ve seen my share of death and it’s made me sensitive to use my time as best as I can. Admiration and anger are both good motivators. A story that excites me also makes me want to cause the same reaction in others. On the flipside, a story with a decent idea but terrible writing makes me shout, “I can do better than this!” And then the other side of the brain says, “Really? Stop talking about it and do it.” But more than all that, the actual act of writing inspires me to write. Sounds hokey and evasive, but that’s the truth. Even when I plan things out, I never know exactly what’s going to happen when I start writing. You just have to get into that rocket, launch it and then improvise with whatever strange, new worlds come across your path. Imagination and thought are the results of chemicals and lightning in your brain! What’s not inspirational about that process? When I finish one project, I never say “well, that’s done then,” I prefer to ask, “What’s next?”
As a comic book historian, what fascinates you about comic book history? Alan: There are comics that are very personal stories, of course, but if you look at the large picture of the industry and the big superhero genres, then you can see that like art or fashion or a lot of sci-fi in film and TV, the comics reflect society. What are people afraid of and what do they hope to achieve in the future? Superman comes out of the Depression Era and first focuses on fighting gangsters, slum lords, abusive husbands, war profiteers and corrupt politicians. We were angry, it was a dark time, and here came this brightly colored guy who said, “You’re right, this isn’t fair. Let’s do something about it.” In the 1960s, we’re in the space race and Clark’s focused on meeting aliens. Now, Superman’s been relaunched and he’s fighting aliens still, sure, but he’s renewed a major focus on corrupt politicians, slum lords, gangsters and our new recession era fears. None of that is an accident. Superhero comics in particular give me hope for the human race because most of them are morality tales. Help others, don’t abuse power, don’t give in to base emotions, don’t take the easy way out all the time. The original Avengers line-up is basically a fairy tale about cooperation. The literal god of lies and manipulation shows up and who fights him? A self-absorbed rage ogre, an arrogant knight, an anachronistic prince, a social butterfly and an introverted explorer. And these people all have to learn that they are stronger by working together and embracing their differences than they would be if they all worked alone and did things their own way. The fact that we’re still telling these morality tales gives me hope for society. Obviously, we still think there’s merit in such lessons.
Where did the idea for the The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook: From Direwolf Ale to Auroch Stew! come from? Adams Media was aware of my work and asked if I’d be interested in doing an Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook. I enjoyed Martin’s books, so I said absolutely. It wasn’t as easy as that, of course, I still had to write samplers so they could see what kind of book I wanted to write and what recipes I’d put together and whether or not this was what they were looking for. But fortunately for me, they really loved my samples and after that, we were off and running.
Besides the cookbook, you also have two more books coming out: The Unofficial Spider-Man Trivia Challenge and The Unofficial Batman Trivia Challenge. Can you give some background about the creation process for these two books? Alan: Writing those books was one of the most insane experiences of my life. Basically, Adams Media was really happy with my cookbook and wanted to use me again since they knew my forte is history and trivia related to superheroes. With both Batman and Spider-Man having movies out this summer, they wanted tie-in quiz books covering the comics, tie-in novels, newspaper strips, foreign interpretations, video games, films, TV shows, etc. At least 800 questions each book and also several information sidebars for each chapter. They offered that I could write either book or both. Here was the kicker, though. This project had been proposed a bit late in the game, but they still wanted the books to come out in time for the movies rather than a couple of months later. So whether I agreed to write one book or both, I had about five weeks and that was it. So I had to ask myself, can I research and write 1600 questions in one month for two characters with decades of history? Or do I just want to play it safe and only write one book? But how could I choose between Peter and Bruce? I love both characters so much. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a dare. Two books? Sounds like an exciting challenge. Finally, I spoke to my friend Kiri Callaghan, a great writer herself whose work Funeral Potatoes and The Lily or the Tiger can be found on Amazon. And she said, “Dude… What would Captain Kirk do?” And that was all I needed to hear. I said yes to both and started writing that night. It was a damn marathon for several weeks, but I did it and they liked it and I’m excited to see the books hit shelves soon. You can pre-order them already on B&N’s web-site and on Amazon.
I love your Agent of S.T.Y.L.E column on Newsarama. What inspired you to create this column and what other characters can readers look forward to being featured in the future? Alan: In a way, it started when I was a kid. Not many people know this now, but I used to draw quite frequently when I was younger. I used to carry a sketchpad around at all times and I often drew what I called “comparison” pieces. I’d have a page full of Spider-Man in different costumes or different temporary transformations. I’d have Superman flying alongside Bizarro and Superboy and the Superman of the 853rd century. The Adam West Batman standing next to the original, Bob Kane Batman. The differences in design always interested me. A couple of years ago, I met Tim Gunn and realized he had a respect and knowledge of superhero comics. And I just thought, wait, what an interesting thing this would be. Me and this affable fashion authority gabbing about different designs a hero or villain had and discussing what worked. We did a couple of videos together and it was great. I then started thinking that there must be a website out there that showed a clear, linear evolution of all the looks a particular hero or villain would have. And to my surprise, I couldn’t find any. There were several sites that showed dozens of Spider-Man costumes or Batman uniforms, but the images weren’t in order and they gave you no context. I thought, there really should be something that does that, maybe I can do it. I had already spent a couple of years writing various articles on different web-sites discussing the histories and character evolution in comics. Maybe I could evolve that style into a fashion/design history. A week later, I got an e-mail from David Pepose at Newsarama who had seen my videos and wanted to know if I could thought I could write a few articles along the same lines. It was perfect timing and I said sure, so we agreed to have me write about six pieces and we’d see if they got a reaction. After the fourth one, I was told ok, people really like this, we’re making it a column. Moral of the story? If there’s a product or a story you really want to see and you can’t find it, make it yourself.
You co-host of the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast with Jill Pantozzi as well as the host of the web-video version. What can listeners and viewers look forward to on future episodes? Alan: Yeah, the videos were something I did first, but I never had a stable crew and various circumstances led to there being no set schedule. Later, Jill and I were talking about how we found certain podcasts wanting and we decided to do one ourselves. She said we should just continue using the “Crazy Sexy Geeks” label I’d used on my videos since it was a good title. In future podcasts, we’ll be chatting with more comic writers, more novelists. Possibly more actors. Definitely a couple of cosplayers. We’ll also be focusing a bit more on people who make independent content in comics and web-shows, etc. I’ll be doing some new web-videos too that will be focusing on the history of the superhero genre. It’ll be educational for new fans and pretty funny for old fans, I hope.
On Twitter, you’ve mentioned that you’ll be doing a radio play later in the year, can you talk more about that? Alan: I’ve been scripting out a radio play mini-series based on a classic science fiction story that is now public domain. I have a crew and equipment. The script needs to be finished and edited and then we need to hold some auditions, but after that we’ll be rocking it out fairly quickly I believe. I’ll be in the cast as well. If it goes nicely, I’d like to continue by either adapting another classic sci-fi story or ancient mythology. I love radio plays and it’s a shame to me that the United States considers them “old fashioned” and practically irrelevant. I love listening to new audio plays from the BBC and Big Finish Productions. It’s such an interesting medium and a great way to tell some stories when you don’t have a budget of over $90 million.
What other projects are you working on? Alan: Wait, seriously? The radio play, upcoming podcasts, upcoming web-shows, and weekly column aren’t enough? No, wait, you’re right. There are still empty hours in the late night, after all. Have you noticed how many stories and songs reference 4 am as this hour where bizarre events and strange feelings happen? For me it’s sometimes the best part of the night. Along with the projects I’ve mentioned, I’ve been cast in a friend’s web-series pilot and may become a recurring character. We’ll be shooting the pilot very soon. I’m also co-writing a film with a friend that may involve a woman hero physically kicking ass. And when I finish a couple of these projects, I’m moving on to getting a web-comic published that I can’t discuss but involves a penguin with a gun at some point and a steampunk dinosaur villain. When you hear the villain’s name, you will laugh. It’s awful and funny. I’m also writing another book right now. This is a much more involved book, inspired partially by Grant Morrison’s wonderful work Supergods.
Who’s a favorite comic book character of yours? Alan: Oh, God… You know, it often depends on what kind of story I want to read. My absolute favorite comic book characters are Spider Jerusalem, Izzy S, Batman, Spider-Man, Nightcrawler, Barry Allen, Vixen, Wonder Woman, Superman, Anya Corazon, the Joker, Dr. Doom, Carol Danvers, Captain America, Supergirl, and Reneé Montoya. If I have to whittle it down further, Batman, Spider Jerusalem and Barry Allen. Batman is so interesting and admirable because he has so many reasons to become a villain yet chooses this heroic path and is selfless to a fault. And we all need a little Spider Jerusalem in ourselves, this angry voice that says stop kidding yourself. Truth no matter what. As for Barry Allen AKA the Flash… well, on top of having his amazingly designed uniform, his story is the dream of every superhero fan. He grew up on comics, wanted to be a superhero and then one day, thanks to chemicals and lightning, it happened. He became a superhero and wound up fighting alongside Superman, traveling through time, visiting parallel Earths, hanging out with aliens, and discovering secret societies of intelligent gorillas. He was a dreamer and a scientist and one day all the impossible worlds became real. Basically, he’s imagination incarnate. No wonder he never stands still! And wouldn’t you know it? Answering this question just gave me an idea for a story. |
Right Place at the Write Time #3: Writers Gonna ReadWritten by WesLocher on May 1, 2012Filed in: Right Place at the Write Time | 2 Comments » Hi! In the last Right Place at the Write Time column, we talked about how anyone who considers themselves a writer needs to write on a regular basis. In addition to that helpful hint, I believe it also important for writers to read. A writer should expose themselves to as many different authors and genres as possible. This will help you not only appreciate the craft that goes into each style, but you’ll notice trends in subject matter and be able to see which classic plots pop up the most. This can help you identify the audience that may be most receptive to your plot idea, or it will help you break the rules and pave new ground (ex. Don’t see a lot of Sci-Fi Romance novels? Write one!). Remember: You have to know the rules before you can break them. Because there are millions of published books out there, with more being released each day, I can’t begin to tell you which you’ll enjoy the most, but I highly recommend you track down some of the the classics if only to help you understand what makes an accessible story that millions of people want to read. There’s a reason that everyone reads the same books during their schooling. What I’ve discovered though, is that I wasn’t always intellectually ready for many of them, and re-reading say, To Kill a Mockingbird, as an adult can bring about a whole new appreciation and understanding for the context. Read them again. Break them down. Understand why they were groundbreaking, controversial, or why their characters appeared to be completely believable. Even if you write strictly fiction, be sure to pick up some nonfiction. Read autobiographies. Read memoirs. These are true stories and no story is more interesting and full of pain and success than one that actually happened. How-To books are great from the standpoint of getting the reader to comprehend something. By taking in a few of these, you can learn to guide a reader and learn skills that will ensure that they understand your writing every step of the way. STUFF TO READ While we’re on the topic of how-to books, I’ve definitely read my fair share. In fact, when I was first getting into writing comics, I read many specifically geared toward that field and I thought I’d share with you my favorites. Note that I said “my favorite books,” and not “the best books.” As a reader you may disagree, but I found that a combination of the five listed below gave me a great foundation and at least got me started in the right direction. I added my own flavor as I went along, but the books below currently sit on my reference shelf and are marked up with Post-It notes and highlights to help me quickly find specific sections.
Scott McCloud’s tome isn’t so much a how-to on writing comics, but it’s worth a read simply to gain an understanding of how sequential art came into the public eye. Think of this as your Comics History 101 class. McCloud gives the reader an understanding of terms, techniques, and tactics. It’s mostly focused on the artist side, but it’s important to keep in mind that as a writer, your scripts are, at the very basics, a how-to guide for the penciler. They’re essentially letters to the artist which will assist them in visualizing your story. After reading McCloud’s book, you’ll want to use it to beat in the skull of anyone who ever claims that comics are not art. The best part of this book? It’s written as a comic book! Does the genius ever stop?? Scott McCloud is something of a comics “futurist” and is always trying to figure out where the medium is headed, what it’s capable of, and new ways to use it to convey stories and ideas. Check out his website for all kinds of awesome stuff that would have made my head explode had I tried to come up with it. The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics If you’re unfamiliar with Denny O’Neil, he’s a DC guy who wrote Batman for 8,000 years. He knows a thing or two. This is by far my favorite comic-writing book because it’s simply the basics of the three act structure and how it relates to the visual medium. Denny gives the reader the basic formula to follow and get started, but what you do with it from there is up to you (remember that thing about knowing the rules?). In these valuable pages O’Neil discusses plot first versus full scripts, subplots, characterization, story arcs, continuity, and much more. Don’t let the size of this book fool you. Even at 125 pages, there’s countless knowledge to be had. If you’re like me and don’t know a darn thing about DC comics, don’t worry! The famous characters are only utilized to show the author’s points in practical application. If you’re serious about writing comics and don’t know where to start, this is it. Buy a copy and write all over it. You’re welcome.
I have an interesting relationship with Peter David. Not that he’s aware of my existence, but rather when I go through the comics purchased in my youth, I notice that a large majority of them were written by David. Even to this day, if I see his name on something, I’ll at least give it a try. When I found out that he’d written the book (so to speak) on comic writing, of course I had to check it out. While David’s book covers topics similar to Denny O’Neil’s, it expands on many of the topics and uses creator-owned and Marvel characters to show the practical application. Where this book goes to the next level is with conversations and insights from legendary writers like Harlan Ellison and Marv Wolfman, bringing multiple views to the table. Writers on Comics Scriptwriting: Volume 1 Back in ’99, Titan Books finally pulled the curtain aside and gave us a peek into the world of the comic writer when they released volume 1 of Writers on Comics Scriptwriting. We were treated to interviews full of tips, tricks, and script samples from some of the biggest names (at the time) in comics. Not so much a how-to book, but rather info on writers, how they got into reading comics, and ultimately, how they broke into the business. Turns out that no two people ever seem to get in the same way (somewhere else, Mark Waid once said that breaking into comics is akin to breaking out of prison… once someone does it, they seal up the entrance and you have to find another way). Amazing writers like Kurt Busiek, Chuck Dixon, Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman, and Grant Morrison share their stories and provide priceless information for the new writer or the seasoned vet. Among the more interesting this discussed within the pages includes whether they prefer to work in full script or plot first, how to juggle multiple projects, and the ideas that helped to inspire some of their best and most well-known works.
Since volume 1 was a rousing success (I guess?) Titan decided to go forth with a second book, released in 2004. The format stayed identical to the first book, making it easily accessible for returning readers, and the goal on the second round was to talk to some of the fresh blood within the comics industry. Inside are great interviews with Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Mark Millar, Brian K Vaughan, and Brian Azzarello which bring even more expertise to our ocular nerves. As a side note, Titan has released a ton of great comic-related books over the years, and I highly recommend checking out the following Marvel-specific books for even more great interviews with writers and artists who will help deepen both your knowledge and appreciation for the craft! Comic Creators on Spider-Man IN CLOSING There you have a whole bunch of great reading material to help get you centered and get your mind in the right place. Of course, there are myriad amazing books on the craft of writing, and perhaps those are another column in and of itself, but if I missed any great comic-centric books, feel free to let me know in the comments section below. I’m thinking we’ll take a turn with the next few columns and actually get down to some nitty-gritty stuff, but of course, if you have particular topics you’d like to see discussed, just let me know! Thanks for reading! Wes Locher weslocher.com |
Classic Comic Review #3: Avengers Masterworks Volume 1 Avengers Nos. 1-5Written by TaliAdina on May 1, 2012Filed in: Comicmaniacs | No Comments » Why am I reviewing older comics? Well because I’m still sorta new at this and I’m trying to catch up on reading the ones that I wasn’t able to read growing up. Also there are many people out there who are either new to comics or are seasoned pros who may want to revisit some of the older stuff. To tell you the truth, these comics never get old. Besides, there are so many people out there who are reviewing the new comics. So without further ado, I give you this week’s Classic Comic Review… This week is Avengers week! In honor of The Avengers Film being released in the states this week, I’ll be reviewing 3 comics that have to do with the team. Avengers Masterworks Volume 1 Avengers Nos. 1-5 Publisher: DC Comics 1963, 1964, 1993 Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Jack Kirby Inkers; Dick Ayers, Paul Reinman, George Roussos Colorist: Janet Jackson Letterers: Sam Rosen, Art Simek Publication Design: Joe Kaufman Original Series Editor: Stan Lee Assistant Editor: Mindy Newell Editor: Tom Brevoort Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco I want to thank my co-worker librarian Mike Schau for putting this book in my hand and told me “This is your homework assignment.” I also want to dedicated this Classic Comic Review to him because he’s a huge Jack Kirby fan. Well folks, if you want to know the origins of the Avengers, this tells you how it all began, this is the original A-Team. I’m not going to spoil this book for you but it’s a must read if you’re interested in reading The Avengers. It’s great story-telling with amazing art. Stan Lee in his excelsior manner, gives you the scoop in his introduction and of course readers have the opportunity to enjoy his writing. But the main event of this book is Jack Kirby’s artwork. Throughout the years, many seemed to have forgotten or don’t even know that Stan Lee co-created The Avengers with Jack Kirby (among other comic book characters and teams). And it’s unfortunate that Jack Kirby doesn’t even get an acknowledgement in the credits of the superhero films of the characters that he co-created that have come out. Let just give you a few of the characters that wouldn’t exist without Jack Kirby: the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, the original X-Men, the Silver Surfer, Doctor Doom, Galactus, Uatu the Watcher, Magneto, Ego the Living Planet, the Inhumans and their hidden city of Attilan, and the Black Panther — comics’ first known black superhero —and his African nation of Wakanda and that’s just at Marvel. He also created characters for DC comics. Right now, there’s a campaign to create a Jack Kirby museum. You can follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/JackKirbyMuseumr and check out this site for more information: http://kirbymuseum.org/popupcampaign. Stay tuned my fellow Comicmaniacs, there are two more Avengers inspired classic comic reviews on the way! Also look out for more interviews in the Comicmaniac Spotlight. If you have any classic comics that you want me to review please email me at taliadina@gmail.com. Remember comics must have been published before 2010. |
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Each week, we have 168 hours into which we fit our lives.
You’re absolutely right. There are other things you have to do in life. Whether it’s spending time with friends or spouses, sleeping, going to the grocery store, or just maintaining your personal hygiene. You should do all of those things and not think twice about them, but think of the time you spend on all that other stuff.
FINAL THOUGHT!
Understanding Comics
Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels
By Mark Salisbury
Writers on Comics Scriptwriting: Volume 2
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