Jason Franks's Blog, page 12
August 17, 2016
Metal Genesis
Howdy folks,
Tune in to Metal Genesis on 106.7 PBS FM tomorrow night between 10 and 12pm to hear me talking to the fearsome Wendy Tonkin about the Sixsmiths, Bloody Waters, heavy metal and Satan. Tunes will be played!
https://pbsfm.org.au/metalgenesis
Get your ears around it. It’s gonna be good. 
August 2, 2016
Darkness Beyond – Year’s Best Horror 2015 Honorable Mention
Scored an Honorable Mention on Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror again for my story in Cthulhu: Deep Down Under, along with other Jason Fischer, Aaron Sterns, and Bill Congreve from the same volume.
My long list of HMs for The Best Horror of the Year volume 8 (pt 1)
This is my second time on the HM list and I’m pretty pleased with this result, given that my short story output is so small. (Right now I seem to be producing one a year.)
Here’s Bruce Mutard’s amazing illustration for the story from Deep Down Under:
July 7, 2016
Sixsmiths ComiXology Sale July 7-10
Hey sinners,
Caliber Comics is having a huge ComiXology sale. Every title, including all of the Sixsmiths issues and collections, is 50% off!
Use the code Caliber to access untold riches. Valid 7-10th of July.
https://www.comixology.com/search?search=Sixsmiths
Hail Satan!
May 19, 2016
Character Interrogations
If you could ask any question of any of the characters in any of my fiction, what would it be?
This is what Facebook wanted to know. It may not surprise any of you that Satan received the most direct questions, and was also the topic of several others. Also, people seem to like dogs.
MATT NICHOLLS: Mr. McBlack, who was your favourite kill?
WHITEFACE McBLACK: My favourite is yet to come, I hope. A man’s gotta dream, right? PS what are you doing tonight around midnight?
JOHN DeFROG: For Clarice Marnier: Given yr own experience, would you recommend The Devil as a stepping stone for aspiring musicians? And with the benefit of hindsight, would you have done it differently? Also, what gear are you using these days?
CLARICE MARNIER:
a) No, and fuck you for asking.
b) Yeah, I would have made sure that asshole understood who was in charge from the very first.
c) My current project is a vintage Fender Jazzmaster. I’m still trying to find a good way to fix the bridge, but while it’s in, the sound is luscious.
EMMET O’CUANA: Reverend Melmoth, what do you he make of Alan Watts’ “left hand of God” theory?
“You see, how it was done was this prohibition not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. That was the one sure way of getting it eaten. But of course when the Lord God accused Adam and said, ‘You’ve been eating of that tree I told you not to eat,’ and he passed the buck to Eve and said, ‘this woman that thou gavest me, she tempted me and I did eat.’ And He looked at Eve and [said] ‘now what about it?’ She said, ‘well, it was the serpent.’ And He looked at the serpent–the serpent didn’t say anything, because he knew too much and he wasn’t going to give away the show. Who is it that sits at the left hand of God? We know who sits at the right hand. It’s hushed up, because that’s the side where the district attorney sits, and in the Book of Job of course you know Satan is the district attorney at the court of Heaven. He’s the prosecutor, he’s a faithful servant of the court. Because, you see, the whole problem is, it would be very bad indeed if God were the author of evil and we were his victims. That is to say, if we keep the model of the King of the Universe, and the creatures are all subjects of the king, then a God who is responsible for evil is being very unkind to other people. But in this theory God is not ‘an-other’ person, there are no ‘victims’ of God. He is never anything but His own victim.”
VICAR MELMOTH: Well, Mr Watts says rather a lot in those paragraphs. With the disclaimer that the concerns of Satanism are of course different to the Episcopalian tradition that Watts is addressing, here is the position of the Modern Orthodox brand of Satanism practiced by congregations like my own:
1/ We do hold that Satan has the role of prosecutor, although we consider the book of Job to be apocryphal. The most commonly held belief is that the falling out between Satan and his creator came when the Devil tried to hold the Judge accountable to his own standards. We hold that God is responsible for his own crimes just as the rest of creation: that is the cause of the Devil’s apostasy and that is why we hold that he made his departure from Heaven–of his own free will. *
2/ I cannot agree with Watts’ assertion that the Snake in Eden was accomplice to the creator in the Fall of Man. We see the act of Temptation as a facet of the Devil’s identity as Lucifer the Lightbringer: by convincing Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, the Devil brought the light of Reason to humankind**. He is the Light in Enlightenment.
3/ As to the left and right hand: Satan (a title meaning ‘accuser’ in the original Hebrew, rather than a proper name), the prosecutor, stands on the right, and Lucifer Morningstar on the left. The Devil stands on both sides of the creator, bracketing him with accountability and reason. This is the nature of their dispute. This is the reason that we call the Devil two-faced.
* The lore is not entirely cogent on this matter. http://www.thesixsmiths.com/?comic=arise
** On foot. http://www.thesixsmiths.com/?comic=accuser
*** There is some argument as to the nature of the actual fruit consumed. http://www.thesixsmiths.com/?comic=mango
PAUL BEDFORD: This question is for Whiteface McDog, the best named pet in all modern literature: “Are you exercised daily, are you vet checks regular and what does your diet consist of?”
WMD: “Rarf!” (affirmative)
“Rarf rarf!” (affirmative)
“Rarf-rarf-rarfy-rarf rarf!” (kibble, seasoned with trace amounts of gun oil. Occasionally wet food. Shmackos for a treat.)
DAVID WALDEN: Satan, who do you think gave the best portrayal of you? Please cover Film, Literature & Music
SATAN: David, I am very partial to the way that Mikhail Bulgakov portrays my alter ego, Professor Woland, in the Master and Margarita. I also enjoyed Robert De Niro’s turn in Angel Heart, and Peter Stormare’s weirdo rendition in the otherwise terrible Constantine movie.
The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is probably the most true-to-life version, bongo intro notwithstanding.
KAREN JACOBSON MARCON: Clarice, what did become of that Barbie Doll of yours?
CLARICE MARNIER: I melted her down and used her for plectrums.
GEORGE WILSON III: Does Satan REALLY love me?
SATAN: Yes, George, I do. Why would I lie about a thing like that?
GEORGE WILSON III: McBlack, where do I get a GunDog?
WHITEFACE McBLACK: Gundog is a one-of-a-kind individual. Since Lila’s death her three sisters have been looking after him.
ANTHONY EARL: Satan, why do good things happen to bad people?
SATAN: Because they make them happen, Anthony. Ruthlessness is a virtue.
If you have any more questions for any of my characters, please feel free to post them in the comments or to email me. If I get enough I’ll write another of these posts!
Cheers,
— JF
April 29, 2016
Sixsmiths digital sale from Drive Thru Comix!
Sixsmiths digital sale! 75% off on the combined editions and 50% off on single issues from Drive Thru Comics. Only 15 hours left to get some Satanic comics goodness in PDF!
(Scroll to the bottom of the page of find the Sixsmiths selection under Caliber!)
April 22, 2016
Scarcity
In May I’m heading to Japan for a month, so I will sadly not be at Oz Comic Con or at Continuum. M wife and son are already over there and I’m looking forward to joining them.
Some bad news: my long-delayed novel, Shadowmancy, has been further delayed due to the publisher going onto an indefinite hiatus. The book is done and ready for print and will come out eventually, but that’s all I can tell you for right now.
My current comics project, Gourmand Go, is well underway and I’ll talk more about it when the first issue is done. I’m also currently doing a small work-for-hire gig with some cool peeps and I will tell you about that when I can.
Peace through csuperior comics power,
— JF
March 24, 2016
Sixsmiths Shortlisted for a Ledger Award
Hey folks,
Some excellent news. The Sixsmiths (both volumes together) have been shortlisted for the Ledger Awards!
It’s very strong list this year and a huge honour just to be nominated. I’m incredibly proud of the the team for getting us to this point and grateful to Caliber Comics for making it all happen.
Cheers!
— JF
March 5, 2016
ACAF Interview with Amanda Bacchi
I spoke with Amanda Bacchi about the Sixsmiths on the con floor at ACAF.
Jason Franks ACAF Audio Interview Ψ
If you play this recording backwards you can hear the demon Azazel exhorting you to kill your sister with the spanner.
Hail Satan!
February 12, 2016
The Sixsmiths Melbourne Book Launch
Sing a song of Sixsmiths
A hipflask full of rye
Seventeen creators
Baked in a pie
When the pie was opened
They all began to sing
“We are such a bunch of knaves
And Satan is our King!”
That’s right, we’re having a Melbourne book launch for the Sixsmiths graphic novels!
Be among the first to see the diabolical new edition of volume 1 and the all new volume 2. Your friends will burn with envy for a thousand years!
MCed by the dulcet brogue of Emmet O’Cuana, I will be on hand to discuss the book and sign copies. Stay tuned for details of who from the art team will also be appearing.
Hail Satan!
February 5, 2016
Australian Comics Journal review of The Sixsmiths
Big thank you to the Australian Comics Journal.
“…plenty of great gags (a Norwegian death metal band’s day trip to St Kilda is especially amusing) and fun ideas and scenarios, as well as some ambitious world-building going on. This volume also recruits a wide pool of impressive art talent with Dean Rankine, Jase Harper, Sacha Bryning, Aly Faye, Gregory MacKay, Trevor Wood, Luke Pickett, Sarah Howell, Tim McEwen, Anton McKay, Bruce Mutard, Bobby N, Jan Scherpehuizen, and Ed Sienienkowicz presenting their own visual interpretations of The Sixsmiths’ universe.”
