Alexander Danner's Blog, page 3
February 10, 2011
Gingerbread Houses Concludes
I’m delighted to announce the conclusion of Gingerbread Houses, the graphic novel that Grug and I have been working on for the past two years. Full release below, and of course, you can go read the whole thing on PictureStoryTheater.com right now!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
How do you live happily ever after with parents who abandoned you in the woods to die?
Gingerbread Houses, by Alexander Danner and Edward J. Grug III reached the end of its two-year serialization on Thursday, with the publication of the series’ final installment.
A 97-page self-contained graphic novel, Gingerbread Houses retells the classic fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, looking beyond the story’s original end to examine how the children’s ordeal changed them, as well as their relationship to their parents. The story can be read in its entirety online. In addition, three issues of Gingerbread Houses are now available as print minis, and can be purchased via PictureStoryTheater.com. The fourth and final mini will be released in the coming weeks.
Gingerbread Houses is written by Alexander Danner (“The Discovery of Spoons,” “Five Ways to Love a Cockroach,” “Panel One”) and illustrated by Edward J. Grug III (“Love Puppets,” “Glorious Bounty,” “The Bizarre Life of Charlie Red Eye”).
Gingerbread Houses can be found at:
http://www.picturestorytheater.com
http://www.moderntales.com/comics/gingerbread.php
Contact Info
Alexander Danner
alexander@twentysevenletters.com
http://www.twentysevenletters.com
Edward J. Grug III
tedprior@yahoo.com
February 4, 2011
35
Time for my annual birthday stocktaking, admittedly a week or so late. It seems I neglected to review my goals and progress last year, so I’m look back two years for my most recent review. Here’s a look at the goals I posted then, and how I’ve measured up in the intervening time:
I still need more income.
Update: Didn’t really happen. In fact, I’m probably making less income now, as I’ve cut back my teaching to spend more time home with the baby. Not a bad trade-off there, since I very much like being home with the baby. It does look like I have some paid writing work on the horizon, though (see below).
I’m going to have a lot of promotional work to do once Trouble Is hits print.
Update: Trouble Is is still a long way off from hitting print. It’s fully scripted, and I’m very proud of the final product. But it’s still awaiting illustration and Shelli has understandably needed to prioritize more immediately lucrative opportunities. I’m still confident that the book will happen, but the timing is out of my hands.
I want to get Gingerbread Houses into print.
Update: Well, three out of four minis are in print now, and the fourth will follow closely on the completion of the online version—just a couple of weeks off now! And really, just getting the series completed is the big achievement here—my largest single completed work to date. I do plan to assemble a collected edition at some point in the future as well, but I need to have a conversation with Grug about how we want to approach that.
I want a wider variety of things to sell at cons, particularly books with spines.
Update: I’ve done some of this. Most cons still aren’t profitable for me, but I’m also still shorter on books with spines than I think I need to be. However, I’m finding that the smaller the con, the more profitable it tends to be for me.
I want to script not one, but *two* new graphic novels in the coming year.
Update: Trouble Is was one of these, and that one is finished. I never got around to starting the second, though. Nothing in the works at the moment, sadly. That needs to change.
I need to get my website cleaned up, redesigned, and profitable.
Update: The website is done. Twice, in fact. Still not exactly profitable, but I bring a few bucks in from Project Wonderful. I’d bring in more if I had anything actually updating here.
So, some good things accomplished, some other plans gone awry. Considering my son was born in the intervening time, I can’t feel too badly about it.
Now, looking forward:
I’m in talks at the moment for a new textbook. Nothing is signed yet, so I can’t go into details, but negotiations are proceeding well, and I’m confident that my co-author and I will be hard at work soon.
I’m working on helping to edit Show and Tell, the comics anthology of the New England Comic Arts in the Classroom conference. Not a paid gig, but a worthwhile one, and I’m very excited to see how it turns out.
I just completed the first draft of an adaptation of one of my plays into a graphic novel. No artist committed to illustrating it yet, and honestly I think it will be a long while before I reach that point, so this one’s on hold.
I need to find a new creative project to work on. I’m not settled on anything, but I have a few ideas I’m considering. Of course, the new textbook will require the majority of my attention, but I’m reluctant to let my creative work languish entirely.
February 2, 2011
The Best Webcomics You’re Not Reading
For anyone who was interested in the panel on The Best Webcomics You’re Not Reading, but who couldn’t make it to Arisia, Kelly Cooper has an amazing summary of all the recommendations. The panel included Shaenon Garrity, Dirk Tiede, Everett Soares, and Steve Popkes. Oh, and me, of course.
And for those of you who would like just a “cream of the crop” synopsis, Shaenon posted her ten favorite suggestions from the panel in her most recent Comixology column: Ten Webcomics You’re Not Reading.
January 19, 2011
“The Widow Reminisces” Reviewed on TCJ.com
The Widow Reminisces Over a Plate of Vegetables, illustrated by Stephanie Smith, nee Brown, is the oldest of my comics, but one that I’m still immensely proud of, in part because it’s so different from most of my other work.
On Monday, Rich Kreiner of The Comics Journal posted a short but lovely review of “The Widow Reminisces.” I particularly liked his eloquent articulation of the story’s central themes: “It’s a graceful arc of triggered thought and pained reflection, of loss and the reconfiguration of prior resentments.”
There’s some criticism as well, as is only appropriate. Kreiner has previously reviewed my first collaboration with Grug, Bring Your Daughter to Work Day.
January 17, 2011
Review: Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, by Leanne Shapton
First pubished on ComixTalk.com, August 2010.
Photography by Jason Fulford, Kristin Sjaarda, Leanne Shapton, Michael Schmelling, and Derek Shapton.
What is the value of a memory? What is the value of a single moment shared between two people? Does the worth of an affectionate gesture outweigh the cost of a petty unkindness? When does the price of love become too high? These are the central questions of Leanne Shapton’s inventive second book, Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, a book in which each moment in the affair of two lovers comes with a price-tag clearly affixed.
Important Artifacts takes the form of an auction catalogue, the shared and individual possessions Lenore Doolan and Hal Morris splayed out, photographed, organized, and appraised with an unsentimental eye; we are to witness the posthumous dissolution of Love’s estate. Is the first known snapshot of the couple, taken at a Halloween party in 2002 worth $25 – $30? Is Doolan’s hand-drawn Valentine’s Day dinner menu worth $50 – 60? To whom?
The plot is not worth discussing—two people meet, then fall in love, then share each other’s lives for a while, then go their separate ways. This is known from the beginning, and there are no tricks or surprises along the way. The challenges these lovers face are as mundane as they are insurmountable—she is a food writer for the New York Times whose life and livelihood reside in her kitchen; he is a world-traveling photographer with a fondness for hotels. We aren’t here to find out what happens, what grand events transpired. We’re here to pick apart the minutia, and to witness how those minutia ultimately add up to the success or failure of love. The clues play out slowly, and are subtly presented—LOT 1104, a collection of birthday gifts from Doolan to Morris, which includes “A gift certificate, unused, for Italian cooking lessons at the Culinary Institute.” Unused. The other gifts in the set are clearly thoughtful, carefully chosen gifts, but it is that one word that stands out. It might as easily have said “unappreciated,” or “unwanted,” or simply “rejected.”
Not every moment in the book is so elegantly achieved. The bulk of the photography is perfectly executed, neutral depictions of well chosen artifacts that put the characters’ tastes and personalities on display with little need for elaboration: her collection of vintage dresses and antique salt and pepper shakers, his tweed suits and collection of hotel room keys. As successful as these indirect depictions are, where Shapton sometimes falters is in her attempts at the characters’ direct communication. There are frequent notes between the characters; some, like their postcards and their brief scrawled exchanges on the backs of playbills can seem quite natural. Their longer notes—frequently notes of apology—are less successful. LOT 1104 again, also includes a handwritten note from Morris to Doolan: “Darling, Am sorry about last night, please please don’t get offended about the cake, I’ve always loathed meringue and thought I’d mentioned it.” Morris’ ingratitude is compounded, but in a far less interesting way. It feels expository rather than authentic. And what’s more, it’s unnecessary—Morris’ rejection not just of Doolan’s effort, but of her attempt to share her personal interests with him was already so clear that this letter can only diminish the effect. It is as though Shapton’s confidence in her concept (or her audience) wavered.
The lovers’ personal snapshots also occasionally feel a bit too on-the-nose. LOT 1108, “A photograph taken at a farewell party for Doolan’s coworker” shows Doolan and Morris at an office party. Doolan is engaged in conversation with her coworkers, while Morris sits beside her, but turned away reading a magazine, in blatant disinterest of the people around him. This is a painfully unsubtle image—so much so as to call attention to the fact that it’s clearly staged. It is a considerable chip in the book’s otherwise impressive authenticity.
Despite this occasional unevenness, Important Artifacts is an interesting concept cleverly executed. What’s more, it taps into something instinctive—who doesn’t examine their friends’ and acquaintances’ knickknacks and bookshelves for clues to their private lives? This book embodies the pleasure of investigative voyeurism like no other, making it an eminently worthwhile read for any snoop, peeping tom, or busybody—as well as anyone merely interested in a novel approach to pairing words with pictures to tell a story.
January 13, 2011
Arisia this Weekend
To those of you in the Boston area–I will be appearing on several panels at the sci-fi convention Arisia this weekend. The convention runs Jan 14-17, 2011, at the Westin Waterfront Hotel. My own panels will be on Sunday and Monday (schedule below), and for two of them I’ll be alongside my webcomicy friends Shaenon Garrity and Dirk Tiede–fun! Many Boston Comics Roundtable folks will also be in attendance.
Unfortunately, I neglected to rent table space, but I will have some mini comics on my person to hand sell–if you see me and you’re interested, don’t hesitate to ask! Also, I may put a few out on Shelli Paroline’s table, so have a look there as well.
Here are the panels I’ll be appearing on, with all relevant info:
862 The Best Webcomics You’re Not Reading Burroughs
Sun 3:30 PM Duration: 01:15
They range from wretched to wonderful, from the most mundane to the freakiest of the fantastic. We’re going to discuss what we consider to be the best of the best from various genres–and we’re sure to cover some you haven’t heard of yet.
Alexander C Danner mod
Steve E Popkes
Everett Soares
Dirk Tiede
Shaenon Garrity
868 The Best Young-Adult and Children’s Comics Paine
Sun 5:00 PM Duration: 01:15
Are you looking for material suitable for your kids? Or are you seeking to convert that favored niece or nephew into your life-long hobby? Come share recommendations suitable for the younger crowd.
Steve Kanaras mod
Alexander C Danner
David Marshall
872 How to Write a Comic Douglas
Sun 8:00 PM Duration: 01:15
How do you turn a blank page into a vibrant grid chock-full of adventure? How do you write a script for an artist to interpret? How do you get from introduction to climax in 22 pages (or 3 panels)?
Steve Kanaras mod
Alexander C Danner
Everett Soares
Dirk Tiede
Shaenon Garrity
869 Non-Fiction Comics: Telling Truth With Pictures Carlton
Mon 12:30 PM Duration: 01:15
From memoir to biography, from true science to history, there are dozens of great comics out there that have little in common with the spandex-clad set. What do these stories strive to share? Are comics a good medium for non-fiction? What *can’t* you do with pictures and words?
David Marshall mod
E. J. Barnes
Alexander C Danner
Daniel Miller
Steve Kanaras
Dicebox, Book 1: Now in Print
If anyone on the street were to ask me, “If I really wanted to see the best that webcomics has to offer, what one series should I read?” I know what my answer would be: Dicebox, by Jenn Manley Lee. Now, it’s not the funniest webcomic. Nor is it the most exciting, or the most romantic, or the cutest. Which is usually what folks are looking for in webcomics. BUT: if you like complexity, in both world and character; if you like subtly and nuance in both writing and art; if you think world-building is about exploring richly imagine cultures, not just superficially alien ones; if you are fascinated by the politics of interpersonal relationships; and if you believe that lovers and family aren’t the only relationships that truly matter in our lives–then Dicebox is the one comic that you need to be reading.
Now, maybe you like sprawling, nuanced epic storytelling, but find such reads to be a slog on you computer screen. Perhaps for more substantial fare, you prefer a solid tome in your hands.
GOOD NEWS!
Lee has just announced the opening of pre-orders for the first print volume of Dicebox. So, head on over there and buy one–because the sooner she raises the funds, the sooner she can go to print. And the sooner she goes to print, the sooner I get MY copy. And I want my copy, dammit!
April 23, 2010
ComicPress vs. Webcomic
So, a...
April 22, 2010
Funding E-Sheep
Patrick Farley's attempt to fund his comics-making efforts via Kickstarter donations is hitting a critical moment--he needs to raise $6,000 by May 1 in order to make a serious go of doing comics full time. If you weren't following webcomics way back when, you might not remember Farley, but he was a great inspiration to a lot of early webcomics creators, especially those of us with an interest in technical/formal experimentation. His "Delta Thrives" (sadly not currently online) remains one o...
April 9, 2010
Off to MoCCA!
by Danner & Grug
