Evan Dorkin's Blog, page 32
May 6, 2011
This And That (FCBD Edition)
I'll be signing stuff at Comic Book Jones tomorrow for Free Comic Book Day . At least I hope to sign some stuff. One never knows. I expect to show up sometime around noon, for those of you who give a toss.
I will have some work featured in a FCBD giveaway, by the way -- a three-page Bart Simpson strip Sarah and I did will be in the Bongo freebie.
Speaking of Bongo, Sarah just finished up the colors for a ten-pag Bart strip that I wrote and drew, which should be published later this year. The Bart Simpson comic goes monthly this spring/summer, and a one-pager we did should be coming out within the next few months. There's also a Ralph Wiggum-centric two-pager floating around that we did, I think it may end up in a trade paperback scheduled to come out soon. Sarah and I are currently co-writing an eight-page Simpsons comic that we'll also be doing the art and colors for. I realize relatively few people involved with the Direct Market is paying any attention at all to this, but I can assure you some children enjoy these comics, and they sell very well indeed in collected form to book buyers all over the world. Even in that strange land of awkward animals, Australia. So there, Direct Market.
I finished up what may be this year's contingent of Beasts of Burden scripts this past Monday. Or Tuesday. I don't know, time is meaningless when insomnia takes you for a spin. I've also seen Jill Thompson's finished painted work for the first story, which is lovely, as always. I'm hoping we may be able to schedule some more Beasts material as soon as possible, fingers crossed we'll be able to begin work on more stories later in the year.
Had to turn down an invitation to a convention in Brazil. Dagger in me heart, I really wanted to attend, even if I'm far from perfectly happy and sane about flying, but my schedule and circumstances simply wouldn't allow it. I rarely get invited to domestic shows, let alone anything international. Maybe someday. I'll try to use the time home to make some good comics, or some good money, hopefully both.
Speaking of work, Sarah and I have a nifty non-comics gig starting up later this month. After that I start some nifty comics work. "Nifty" in the sense that the work will be fun, not that it will be of much importance to anyone else (see: "Direct Market" quip above).
I'm also working on some CD art for MC Frontalot, a piece intended for the Team Cul de Sac fundraiser, some commissions, a new round of art auctions for eBay (I think I'm going to try to sell the Demon pin-up I posted recently), and we're anticipating and slowly getting ready for Heroes Con, And there's still some stuff I can't talk about, which, at this point, I'm starting to pretend isn't even going to happen anymore. Except for the thing that is happening. Which I can't talk about.
On that subject -- I was talking on the phone with Shannon Wheeler the other day, and we got on the subject of how you can't mention what you're working on anymore while you're working on it. And how utterly boring and frustrating that can become. Nowadays you have honest-to-gosh PR cycles in comics, you have to sit silent on projects for months, and it seems to takes ages for anything to come out once you're turned the work in, forget how long it feels from the time you signed the contract. Sometimes I miss the days of doing a cover, soliciting a comic, knocking it out in a frenzy, and getting it on the stands a few months later. Sure, it's nice that we make cute little bound books that go on a shelf and all these days, and some creators are treated wonderfully and we can all pretend like we work in an actual industry that knows what it's doing, but, I dunno. It's not like the pay has increased with the rise of industry puffery and pretensions and Hollywood-style behavior. Not for most of us suckers in the trenches. Sometimes when I have to play the game of acting oh-so-professionally I wonder what the point is. But then I see some dingbat blow their PR wad on an early announcement, sucking up all interest from the "press" before the comic is on stands, and I understand fully the necessity of keeping mum until the the time is right. Times have changed, even if this maddening business is still largely predicated on the perception of how well an individual writes or draws Batman or Spider-Man. That's not a knock on the super-types, by the way, but could you imagine how screwed-up other media would be if they rose and fell largely on projects based on old characters? Could you imagine if Hollywood depended heavily on nothing but adventure and superhero movies based on...oh, hell...oh, forget it.
Anyway, I hope to see a few announcements in the near-future that the H.O.F. faithful might get a kick out of, if no one else.
Fingers crossed and keeping busy.
I will have some work featured in a FCBD giveaway, by the way -- a three-page Bart Simpson strip Sarah and I did will be in the Bongo freebie.
Speaking of Bongo, Sarah just finished up the colors for a ten-pag Bart strip that I wrote and drew, which should be published later this year. The Bart Simpson comic goes monthly this spring/summer, and a one-pager we did should be coming out within the next few months. There's also a Ralph Wiggum-centric two-pager floating around that we did, I think it may end up in a trade paperback scheduled to come out soon. Sarah and I are currently co-writing an eight-page Simpsons comic that we'll also be doing the art and colors for. I realize relatively few people involved with the Direct Market is paying any attention at all to this, but I can assure you some children enjoy these comics, and they sell very well indeed in collected form to book buyers all over the world. Even in that strange land of awkward animals, Australia. So there, Direct Market.
I finished up what may be this year's contingent of Beasts of Burden scripts this past Monday. Or Tuesday. I don't know, time is meaningless when insomnia takes you for a spin. I've also seen Jill Thompson's finished painted work for the first story, which is lovely, as always. I'm hoping we may be able to schedule some more Beasts material as soon as possible, fingers crossed we'll be able to begin work on more stories later in the year.
Had to turn down an invitation to a convention in Brazil. Dagger in me heart, I really wanted to attend, even if I'm far from perfectly happy and sane about flying, but my schedule and circumstances simply wouldn't allow it. I rarely get invited to domestic shows, let alone anything international. Maybe someday. I'll try to use the time home to make some good comics, or some good money, hopefully both.
Speaking of work, Sarah and I have a nifty non-comics gig starting up later this month. After that I start some nifty comics work. "Nifty" in the sense that the work will be fun, not that it will be of much importance to anyone else (see: "Direct Market" quip above).
I'm also working on some CD art for MC Frontalot, a piece intended for the Team Cul de Sac fundraiser, some commissions, a new round of art auctions for eBay (I think I'm going to try to sell the Demon pin-up I posted recently), and we're anticipating and slowly getting ready for Heroes Con, And there's still some stuff I can't talk about, which, at this point, I'm starting to pretend isn't even going to happen anymore. Except for the thing that is happening. Which I can't talk about.
On that subject -- I was talking on the phone with Shannon Wheeler the other day, and we got on the subject of how you can't mention what you're working on anymore while you're working on it. And how utterly boring and frustrating that can become. Nowadays you have honest-to-gosh PR cycles in comics, you have to sit silent on projects for months, and it seems to takes ages for anything to come out once you're turned the work in, forget how long it feels from the time you signed the contract. Sometimes I miss the days of doing a cover, soliciting a comic, knocking it out in a frenzy, and getting it on the stands a few months later. Sure, it's nice that we make cute little bound books that go on a shelf and all these days, and some creators are treated wonderfully and we can all pretend like we work in an actual industry that knows what it's doing, but, I dunno. It's not like the pay has increased with the rise of industry puffery and pretensions and Hollywood-style behavior. Not for most of us suckers in the trenches. Sometimes when I have to play the game of acting oh-so-professionally I wonder what the point is. But then I see some dingbat blow their PR wad on an early announcement, sucking up all interest from the "press" before the comic is on stands, and I understand fully the necessity of keeping mum until the the time is right. Times have changed, even if this maddening business is still largely predicated on the perception of how well an individual writes or draws Batman or Spider-Man. That's not a knock on the super-types, by the way, but could you imagine how screwed-up other media would be if they rose and fell largely on projects based on old characters? Could you imagine if Hollywood depended heavily on nothing but adventure and superhero movies based on...oh, hell...oh, forget it.
Anyway, I hope to see a few announcements in the near-future that the H.O.F. faithful might get a kick out of, if no one else.
Fingers crossed and keeping busy.
April 28, 2011
See Me, Hear Me, Read Me (But Don't Touch Me)
If you aren't sick of me, me, the fabulous me, here are some more me moments for you to choose from:
SEE ME:
- I'll be signing and doing free sketches for whoever wants one at Comic Book Jones on Satan Island on Saturday, May 8th, for Free Comic Book Day. Apparently the comic Bongo is offering for FCBD features work by Sergio Aragones and myself, you can read more details on the contributors here.
- I'll also be appearing at the Hawthorne High School Comic Convention on May 14th, in Hawthorne NJ. Unfortunately, the show doesn't have a dedicated website or presence, it's a small show benefiting the school's art department and information seems to be going out via collector/fan bulletin boards. A link for the general information is here. Sarah and I appeared at this show a number of years back, it is a kind of continuation of the Ramapo High School shows and from what I understand this may be the last event planned. The scheduled guest list features a lot of Silver and Bronze-age guys (60's and 70's for those of you who have never bagged and boarded a comic in your lives), folks like Walt Simonson, Dick Ayers, Rudy Nebres, Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott, Joe Giella, and others. Hell, some of those folks were making comics in the 50's. Anyway, if the past shows are any indication, this is a small, but nifty, local show where you can rummage through some comic boxes, buy some art, get some free or cheap sketches, and chat up some creators in a casual atmosphere. I think they're also going to run some raffles, folks buy tickets to try to win art or comics or the like. A nice show, super kid-friendly, and very laid back. I'll be bringing cheaply-priced old back issues of my SLG stuff (and some of our mainstream gigs) that I uncovered earlier this week and some art and will be doing quick freebie sketches, including Yo Gabba Gabba characters for the kids. Sarah and Em might take the drive with me, not sure yet.
Hope to see some of you at either event.
HEAR ME:
Cartoonist Mike Dawson has launched a new podcast feature at The Comics Journal and I was the subject of the inaugural interview. You can hear the lengthy conversation here.
READ ME:
The Dark Horse Comics digital storefront is now open for business, and folks can download and sample an individual issue of the Beasts of Burden mini-series or read all 4-issues in a bundle if they are so inclined. If you're unfamiliar with the pet detective horror series (featuring the amazing artwork of Jill Thompson) and you're curious, you can read the first issue for free. Beyond that, I'd suggest checking out issue #2 as people seemed to really like that particular story. If you're more of a cat person than a dog person, maybe you'd like #3, as it features the feline members of the cast in a solo adventure. Each issue is pretty much self-contained, and I hope that folks like what they read, if they decide to give the series a try.
The store features many other free comics (26, at the moment) and a boatload of downloadable titles including Hellboy, The Guild, Little Lulu, Conan, Lone Wolf and Cub, Axe Cop, The Goon, The Umbrella Academy, and many more, cheaper and apparently more convenient than the paper stuff we've been pushing for oh, so many years. I dunno where this is all going, but I'm happy to see some of my work going, uh...wherever this is all going.
Speaking of Beasts of Burden, I've seen the finished art Jill's done for our first new story since the Hellboy crossover, and it's really swell stuff, as usual. Can't wait to see the new material come out. Even though I write these things, they don't exist for me until they're painted and lettered, and even then they're just phantom stories until other folks can read them. Hopefully folks will be able to read them soon.
That about covers things for now. I'm late on the last of the new Beasts script and better get back to wrangling that sucker.
Type to you soon.
SEE ME:
- I'll be signing and doing free sketches for whoever wants one at Comic Book Jones on Satan Island on Saturday, May 8th, for Free Comic Book Day. Apparently the comic Bongo is offering for FCBD features work by Sergio Aragones and myself, you can read more details on the contributors here.
- I'll also be appearing at the Hawthorne High School Comic Convention on May 14th, in Hawthorne NJ. Unfortunately, the show doesn't have a dedicated website or presence, it's a small show benefiting the school's art department and information seems to be going out via collector/fan bulletin boards. A link for the general information is here. Sarah and I appeared at this show a number of years back, it is a kind of continuation of the Ramapo High School shows and from what I understand this may be the last event planned. The scheduled guest list features a lot of Silver and Bronze-age guys (60's and 70's for those of you who have never bagged and boarded a comic in your lives), folks like Walt Simonson, Dick Ayers, Rudy Nebres, Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott, Joe Giella, and others. Hell, some of those folks were making comics in the 50's. Anyway, if the past shows are any indication, this is a small, but nifty, local show where you can rummage through some comic boxes, buy some art, get some free or cheap sketches, and chat up some creators in a casual atmosphere. I think they're also going to run some raffles, folks buy tickets to try to win art or comics or the like. A nice show, super kid-friendly, and very laid back. I'll be bringing cheaply-priced old back issues of my SLG stuff (and some of our mainstream gigs) that I uncovered earlier this week and some art and will be doing quick freebie sketches, including Yo Gabba Gabba characters for the kids. Sarah and Em might take the drive with me, not sure yet.
Hope to see some of you at either event.
HEAR ME:
Cartoonist Mike Dawson has launched a new podcast feature at The Comics Journal and I was the subject of the inaugural interview. You can hear the lengthy conversation here.
READ ME:
The Dark Horse Comics digital storefront is now open for business, and folks can download and sample an individual issue of the Beasts of Burden mini-series or read all 4-issues in a bundle if they are so inclined. If you're unfamiliar with the pet detective horror series (featuring the amazing artwork of Jill Thompson) and you're curious, you can read the first issue for free. Beyond that, I'd suggest checking out issue #2 as people seemed to really like that particular story. If you're more of a cat person than a dog person, maybe you'd like #3, as it features the feline members of the cast in a solo adventure. Each issue is pretty much self-contained, and I hope that folks like what they read, if they decide to give the series a try.
The store features many other free comics (26, at the moment) and a boatload of downloadable titles including Hellboy, The Guild, Little Lulu, Conan, Lone Wolf and Cub, Axe Cop, The Goon, The Umbrella Academy, and many more, cheaper and apparently more convenient than the paper stuff we've been pushing for oh, so many years. I dunno where this is all going, but I'm happy to see some of my work going, uh...wherever this is all going.
Speaking of Beasts of Burden, I've seen the finished art Jill's done for our first new story since the Hellboy crossover, and it's really swell stuff, as usual. Can't wait to see the new material come out. Even though I write these things, they don't exist for me until they're painted and lettered, and even then they're just phantom stories until other folks can read them. Hopefully folks will be able to read them soon.
That about covers things for now. I'm late on the last of the new Beasts script and better get back to wrangling that sucker.
Type to you soon.
April 22, 2011
It Was Twenty Years Ago, Someday
As some of you H.O.F. faithful know from following this blog, I've been spending some time recently going over my old files -- original art, paperwork, documents and various ephemera from old projects, convention appearances, store signings, fan mail and art and the like. That's lent this year an air of nostalgia that's been pretty heady, dredging up most of my career in words and pictures, detailing a variety of successes, semi-successes, disappointments, failures, my fault fuck-ups and train-wrecks I had nothing to do with. I've looked at a lot of old art, mostly very ugly and amateurish and depressing to think about, and looked over what amounts to a messy scrapbook of a fitful career, which flourished, perhaps unaccountably, for a time in the 90's, dipped and stumbled badly for a decade or so, and at this point in time shows signs of stabilizing. Fingers crossed..
Aiding and abetting this wave of nostalgia -- I turned 46 on the 20th (thanks for the birthday wishes posted in the previous comments section btw), and birthdays almost always depress me, even the pleasant ones (and this year I had a very, very nice day with my lovely family). 46 is hardly ancient, but when you've been scared to death of dying since you're 11 the morbidity piles up somewhat, and I've always been crazy-worried about how much time I have left, and anxious about plans and projects deferred, unfinished, or fading. Meaning, I'm human, only perhaps with deeper anxieties and less-effective coping mechanisms than some folks. I guess.
On a far less depressing note, I've been working on a nifty personal project off-and-on as of late, one requiring some art corrections on some very old and creaky drawings (I've described the process to a friend and on Twitter as "organizing vomit"). And I've been working on some private commissions, several of which have involved characters I started drawing some time ago.
For example:
Bill and Ted, Death and Time Thumb, 9" by 12", pen and ink, 2011
Fun With Milk and Cheese - back cover strip recreation (from the 1st ed), 14" by 17", pen and ink, 2011
All of this is a long-winded and rambling way to note that 20 years ago I started working on the Bill and Ted comics from Marvel, released the first issue of Milk and Cheese from SLG, and managed to go full-time as a comics creator/cartoonist.
This is all slightly freaky to me, if no one else.
Aiding and abetting this wave of nostalgia -- I turned 46 on the 20th (thanks for the birthday wishes posted in the previous comments section btw), and birthdays almost always depress me, even the pleasant ones (and this year I had a very, very nice day with my lovely family). 46 is hardly ancient, but when you've been scared to death of dying since you're 11 the morbidity piles up somewhat, and I've always been crazy-worried about how much time I have left, and anxious about plans and projects deferred, unfinished, or fading. Meaning, I'm human, only perhaps with deeper anxieties and less-effective coping mechanisms than some folks. I guess.
On a far less depressing note, I've been working on a nifty personal project off-and-on as of late, one requiring some art corrections on some very old and creaky drawings (I've described the process to a friend and on Twitter as "organizing vomit"). And I've been working on some private commissions, several of which have involved characters I started drawing some time ago.
For example:
Bill and Ted, Death and Time Thumb, 9" by 12", pen and ink, 2011
Fun With Milk and Cheese - back cover strip recreation (from the 1st ed), 14" by 17", pen and ink, 2011
All of this is a long-winded and rambling way to note that 20 years ago I started working on the Bill and Ted comics from Marvel, released the first issue of Milk and Cheese from SLG, and managed to go full-time as a comics creator/cartoonist.
This is all slightly freaky to me, if no one else.
April 16, 2011
Quick Mention: Auctions Ending Today
We have four re-listed auctions ending later today on eBay, Japanese toys and some HOF art that didn't move (or, in one case, wasn't paid for by the bidder). Kept forgetting to mention the fact until it was almost too late.
More art posts later, maybe later today, if all goes well. Trying to keep them going because I can't really post about what we're working on these days, mum's still the word on most of what we're up to. Finished up the inks for the Bongo 10-pager the other day (a few days early, miracle of miracles), we're starting something else for them in a short while. Can't go into detail on the Beasts of Burden stuff yet, and there's three projects in the works that I can't talk about at all, which is driving me slightly nuttier than I already am.
There's a few things I can mention because they're out there already -- Eric Powell announced that he's finished the layouts for The Goon #35, which is the issue I wrote. A one-pager we did for the Bart Simpson comic will be running soon according to the latest Previews, and we have a two-page illustration in the latest issue of MAD, which may or may not be on the stands now. Facebook cover. With Alfred E. Newman, in case you were wondering.
Back to whatever.
More art posts later, maybe later today, if all goes well. Trying to keep them going because I can't really post about what we're working on these days, mum's still the word on most of what we're up to. Finished up the inks for the Bongo 10-pager the other day (a few days early, miracle of miracles), we're starting something else for them in a short while. Can't go into detail on the Beasts of Burden stuff yet, and there's three projects in the works that I can't talk about at all, which is driving me slightly nuttier than I already am.
There's a few things I can mention because they're out there already -- Eric Powell announced that he's finished the layouts for The Goon #35, which is the issue I wrote. A one-pager we did for the Bart Simpson comic will be running soon according to the latest Previews, and we have a two-page illustration in the latest issue of MAD, which may or may not be on the stands now. Facebook cover. With Alfred E. Newman, in case you were wondering.
Back to whatever.
April 14, 2011
King Kirby Deep Cuts: Peeper
This is Peeper. He is a mutant, one of Magneto's lackeys from Jack Kirby's Captain America Annual #4, published back in 1977. He pretty much serves as a a stand-in for The Toad from the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and I think the assemblage of genetic misfits seen in the Annual might have been a new version of the old Brotherhood. I'm too lazy to go get the book I referenced this from to see if Mister Peeps here was indeed part of a totally legit new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Which also included a crowd of chromosome-challenged chumps sporting such epic names as Burner, Lifter, Slither and Shocker. I think there was a Shocker. Not the Shocker from Spider-Man, the dude with the comfy-looking padded suit and the jolt-happy mother's little helper wristbands. Different Shocker. Happens, sometimes.
If those names don't exactly inspire fear, or interest, well, that's because they shouldn't. There's nothing inspired about them. They're perhaps one step above naming your bad guy, "Bad Guy." Actually, "Bad Guy" might be better, it sounds like it might be ironic, as opposed to moronic. Don't get me wrong, I love Kirby, but this is brain-coasting even for him. He clearly wasn't in any particular mood to dicker around with clever villain names during the ten or fifteen minutes he spent whipping this annual up. "Okay, we got Captain America, we got mutants, and we got Magneto, which is Doctor Doom for mutants. And who I gotta use, because the office told me to. Okay, whatever. But to hell with Magneto's old gang, they can keep that. I'm not looking that shit up, and I don't wanna do that same old stuff again, anyway. I'll make some new guys. Yeah, new guys, I can do that like breathing. I can piss new guys out like a race horse with Charlton rates. Whatever the hell that means. So, yeah. Need some new guys. Need some new guy names. Names...names...where's my cigar? How about...Lifter? Yeah, sure, Lifter, a strong guy that lifts. Burner...a fire guy that burns. I swear that cigar was here not two minutes ago. Slither. Snake guy that slithers. And Peeper, with the eyes, and boom-boom-boom, here I go and look at this, I got three pages penciled here, an I didn't even know I was holding the goddamned pencil!".
Anyway, Peeper and his Pals...they're not very good. That jerky drawing up there --? He doesn't look any more imposing or threatening in the comic. One of his pals is a snake-guy, he's sort of cool, I guess. One of the other mutants has a mustache...I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it's very difficult to get excited about these boys. And, again, those names -- those low-rent, purely descriptive names! Lifter, Burner, This-er, That-er, I mean, He-Man villains would laugh at them. Very young children would retract those names immediately if proffered up for their own fantasy characters during play-time, they'd instinctively develop editorial skills and revise them, maybe even apologize, or withdraw from society. ("Okay, I take that back, my guy's not really named Lifter. I just went stupid all of a sudden. He's Murder Man. That's better, right?") I assume these monikers will never grace the card art on any action figures anytime soon (although I might be wrong and they've made a Lifter Heroclix or a Peeper resin bust, considering the crazy hardcore bat-shit junk that gets made these days. And even if I'm right, you never know. I mean, it only takes one former fan-child with a hard-on for super-obscure/oddball curtain-jerkers and a high enough position at Marvel or a toy company and ka-pow -- there's a listing in Diamond Previews next month for folks to scan, upload and write nerd-snark about). I mean, does anyone like these characters? Does anyone remember them, even? I can't say I love them, beyond the sheer wonderful dumbness of characters named Lifter and Burner.
That being said, I never forgot these Ed Wood players. Especially Peeper ("What? Jack named him "Peeper"? Jesus Christ, he's making comics look silly! Oh, by the way, John, we need those corrections on Giant Size Man-Thing today"). I was one of those kids who bought all the Kirby Marvel books in the 70's, and I enjoyed the hell out of them, even if they were whack-a-nuts and felt completely out of step and out of touch and out of line with what was going on in the "real" and "serious" Marvel Universe. Roy was Stan if he really, really believed, Englehart seemed daring at the time (at least to a kid), Gerber was edgy (or whatever we called "edgy" back then -- "weird"? "Messed up"? "The Howard the Duck Dreaded Deadline Doom issue"?) and that all felt "happening" and "with it" and shit but I still loved whatever Kirby did. Even if his versions of Cap and the Panther felt like you were reading haphazardly-translated Mexican bootlegs. They were just off. Kirby in the 70's -- well, you've either experienced it or you haven't. If I can't post a hundred images, or a few stories, then there's no point in going into it. It's like telling a drug story, you had to be there, and you had to be on drugs, to actually get it.
So, here's where I admit I have no idea where I'm even going with this (could you tell? Could ya, could ya?). Pretty much just typing to see what happens (It's not like I have to read this), so this is more scattershot than usual, which is saying something. I'm very tired and I'm feeling very lightheaded right now, because I'm staying up as long as I can to try to re-adjust my sleep schedule. For the past few weeks I've been getting up at a different time every day/night, working a few 18 hour days in a row and then crashing out, going to bed when the family's getting up, not leaving the house for a week at a time, that sort of thing. I'm sure a number of you freelancer-types out there know what I'm typing about. This past week has been especially long while I work on a few things at once which are due...yesterday or something. I need to put in as many hours as I can right now and I sure as hell don't bounce back from this sort of schedule like I used to when I wore a younger idiot's clothes. I was finishing up an inking job tonight, actually, that would be today, ha ha, and I wanted something throwaway to work on while the last few pages I was shuttling back and forth were drying. I figured I'd do another Kirby character because people seemed to like the Demon piece I posted the other day. To make a long, boring-as-shit non-story short: Peeper.
No, I don't know why. Arnim Zola has better street cred, the Swine would get a better laugh, but I went with Peeper. The power of Kirby compelled me.
Peeper.
He's got eye powers, you know? Could you tell? He can see real far. And rays shoot out of his eyes.
Fucking Peeper.
I gotta get some sleep.
April 12, 2011
Drawn, Drawn, Out of Boredom, Man ...
...it's the Demon, Etrigan.
8" by 11", pen and ink and the need to draw something that I could finish semi-quickly, to give me a bit of a break while inking a batch of super-detailed Bart Simpson pages.
For some reason Jack Kirby's Demon came to mind. Not that that's a bad thing, I'm super-fond of the character, he was super-bad and he knew it, swaggering like a monster heel and kicking the crap out of villains while boasting about himself and what he was going to do to anyone who screwed with him. Not a lot of depth, no, that was for old gloom-puss Jason Blood, I guess, but I can't recall much about the human side of the equation other than the heroic brooding schtick. The Demon was a much-needed breath of foul air compared to most of the dullards populating 70'd DC funnybooks -- hell, he's still refreshing, when compared to today's weeping, whining, moping super-jerkoffs. And if nothing else, it's a swell character design, even if the King cribbed it from an early Hal Foster Prince Valiant strip. Bow down, ladies and gentleman. Get your lighters out and recognize.
Anyway, back to the board.
April 6, 2011
Works in Progress 4/5/11
Finished up a Beasts of Burden script, outlining another. Sarah and I did a cover for some comic book thing. We're doing some production work on something else comic-related -- its turned into an ordeal, not wholly unexpected. Contracts arrived on two upcoming projects, one comic-booky, one not, both really interesting. A Bill and Ted commission underway, two or three other commissions in the rough/idea stage. Accepted another commission this week, the last for some time owing to the work schedule. Might be doing a CD cover for an indy musician. Asked to do a bunch of interviews out of the blue, two related to the Hectic Planet/band/ska stuff I did back in the day. Was invited to a convention outside North America, been a while since anyone offered me plane tickets. Wonder if I can fly, it's been a while since I started getting back on those contraptions. This would be worth it if time my schedule/anxiety disorders allowed. Still working on a Bart Simpson 10-strip, pencils finally done, inks begun:
Not much time to read lately, what I have been able to cram in has mostly been work-related, ye olde English magic malarkey and canine history for Beasts research, as well as some old horror pulp for mood. Finished up volume 12 of Lone Wolf and Cub early this morning when I couldn't sleep, by the time I hit 90 I'll hopefully have read that entire series. My offhand guess is there will be more killing and stuff.
Been listening to some episodes of the Ink Panthers podcast while penciling, mainly the Pro Tips interviews. Which have not really been about any kinds of professional tips, mostly just interesting comics-centric conversations with folks like Jim Rugg and Frank Santoro. I turned one off because the interview subject drove me up the wall, but I enjoyed the other conversations I listened to. The Dylan Horrocks episode was fun, they mostly talked about role-playing games, D&D, and the like, and how they affect story and whatnot. Enjoyed that, my ye olde D&D days definitely had an effect on my writing -- working up game scenarios and characters and creatures and seeing how they played out with responses from the players was always an interesting experience. And fun. I make fun of that stuff but I enjoyed playing games, sometimes I find myself missing them. Now I get to write goofy stuff for a living, but I have to admit in some ways it's not as much fun without a live audience every week. And company.
Guess that's it, really. Don't collapse from all the excitement here, folks. I know I won't.
Not much time to read lately, what I have been able to cram in has mostly been work-related, ye olde English magic malarkey and canine history for Beasts research, as well as some old horror pulp for mood. Finished up volume 12 of Lone Wolf and Cub early this morning when I couldn't sleep, by the time I hit 90 I'll hopefully have read that entire series. My offhand guess is there will be more killing and stuff.
Been listening to some episodes of the Ink Panthers podcast while penciling, mainly the Pro Tips interviews. Which have not really been about any kinds of professional tips, mostly just interesting comics-centric conversations with folks like Jim Rugg and Frank Santoro. I turned one off because the interview subject drove me up the wall, but I enjoyed the other conversations I listened to. The Dylan Horrocks episode was fun, they mostly talked about role-playing games, D&D, and the like, and how they affect story and whatnot. Enjoyed that, my ye olde D&D days definitely had an effect on my writing -- working up game scenarios and characters and creatures and seeing how they played out with responses from the players was always an interesting experience. And fun. I make fun of that stuff but I enjoyed playing games, sometimes I find myself missing them. Now I get to write goofy stuff for a living, but I have to admit in some ways it's not as much fun without a live audience every week. And company.
Guess that's it, really. Don't collapse from all the excitement here, folks. I know I won't.
March 28, 2011
March 22, 2011
I'm Christopher Glenn, and this is, "In The News"
Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites has been nominated for a book award sponsored by a review site called Foreword. In the graphic novel category, in case anyone was curious. I am not familiar with any of this but welcome all free press for the project.
Jill Thompson has been nominated for an award from the National Cartoonist's Society for her work on Beasts of Burden. I'm very much aware of that award and am really stoked for Jill and hope she wins. I wish I was a member of the NCS so I could vote for her.
Only one or two people have mentioned it outright, but in case anyone else is wondering, we will not be at MOCCA this year.
The upcoming issue of Mad will feature a two-page illustration by Sarah and I.
And now, your super-obscure comical-book rarity bonus image -- the original, unused cover for the original, unpublished Instant Piano #1 by Kyle Baker:
As some of you H.O.F. faithful may recall, I've been rummaging through my comic book holdings and personal files, mostly to throw things out. About two weeks ago I found the original xerox dummy of what was supposed to be Instant Piano #1. Instant Piano, as some of you etc etc, was a 90's anthology that featured a group of NYC-based cartoonists/friends: Kyle Baker, Stephen DeStefano, Robbie Busch, Mark Badger and myself. Instant Piano became mired in a lot of stupid, unnecessary crap that kept it from seeing print for some time, and everyone but myself eventually left NYC for the west coast while the project drifted around.
After a time, Dark Horse released 4 issues of IP, with sales tumbling low enough for Mike Richardson to let us know we could quit with three issues if we wanted to jump ship and save ourselves. We didn't, and to their credit, DH printed the final issue, which I believe sold a little over six thousand copies. Which so many projects sell now it isn't funny. Anyway, what you may have seen as Instant Piano #1 is significantly different from the original dummy -- Kyle switched out a lot of his work, Stephen did likewise I believe, Mark re-worked the art on his story and added gray tones, etc. The cover was re-done, and the table of contents page (feat. Kyle's caricature of Fatty Arbuckle) was excised. I can't recall if my section was any different from what was printed. I do know that at one point, while waiting for the tide of nonsense to subside that was holding up the book, I pulled my pages to use for Dork #1.
Anyway, there's the original cover. I have a very-badly xeroxed copy of the rest of the book (If I remember correctly the dummies were run off the xerox machine in the office of Reflex Magazine -- not my idea) which I guess I'll keep for now. Although I might toss it. Ambivalence, thou art my eternal companion. As art thou, Clutter.
More than I meant to type.
Anyway, I'm Christopher Glenn, and that's what's been In The News.
Jill Thompson has been nominated for an award from the National Cartoonist's Society for her work on Beasts of Burden. I'm very much aware of that award and am really stoked for Jill and hope she wins. I wish I was a member of the NCS so I could vote for her.
Only one or two people have mentioned it outright, but in case anyone else is wondering, we will not be at MOCCA this year.
The upcoming issue of Mad will feature a two-page illustration by Sarah and I.
And now, your super-obscure comical-book rarity bonus image -- the original, unused cover for the original, unpublished Instant Piano #1 by Kyle Baker:
As some of you H.O.F. faithful may recall, I've been rummaging through my comic book holdings and personal files, mostly to throw things out. About two weeks ago I found the original xerox dummy of what was supposed to be Instant Piano #1. Instant Piano, as some of you etc etc, was a 90's anthology that featured a group of NYC-based cartoonists/friends: Kyle Baker, Stephen DeStefano, Robbie Busch, Mark Badger and myself. Instant Piano became mired in a lot of stupid, unnecessary crap that kept it from seeing print for some time, and everyone but myself eventually left NYC for the west coast while the project drifted around.
After a time, Dark Horse released 4 issues of IP, with sales tumbling low enough for Mike Richardson to let us know we could quit with three issues if we wanted to jump ship and save ourselves. We didn't, and to their credit, DH printed the final issue, which I believe sold a little over six thousand copies. Which so many projects sell now it isn't funny. Anyway, what you may have seen as Instant Piano #1 is significantly different from the original dummy -- Kyle switched out a lot of his work, Stephen did likewise I believe, Mark re-worked the art on his story and added gray tones, etc. The cover was re-done, and the table of contents page (feat. Kyle's caricature of Fatty Arbuckle) was excised. I can't recall if my section was any different from what was printed. I do know that at one point, while waiting for the tide of nonsense to subside that was holding up the book, I pulled my pages to use for Dork #1.
Anyway, there's the original cover. I have a very-badly xeroxed copy of the rest of the book (If I remember correctly the dummies were run off the xerox machine in the office of Reflex Magazine -- not my idea) which I guess I'll keep for now. Although I might toss it. Ambivalence, thou art my eternal companion. As art thou, Clutter.
More than I meant to type.
Anyway, I'm Christopher Glenn, and that's what's been In The News.
Evan Dorkin's Blog
- Evan Dorkin's profile
- 137 followers
Evan Dorkin isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
