Brandon Graham's Blog, page 137

How did you feel about the somewhat recent wave of creators who left the big 2 for Image, only to go back when their creator owned stuff didn't take off or they didn't get that TV deal? There was some pretty dull stuff getting put out, but does that taint

I dunno about anyone’s motivations, I assume those guys just like jumping around and trying out different companies. I’m not a fan of Image pulling many creators from M and DC. For many reasons. 

Although I do think you have to look at each creator as an individual. You have people like my manga bro Emma Rios who did work at Marvel but then comes to Image and does work like I.D and Mirror (with Hewi Lim) (two amazing books if you haven’t read them) , and then you have people who get the freedom that Image provides and they just do the same old shit they were doing on superhero comics or some other tired idea. It bugs me when creators act like they can’t do whatever the fuck they want at Image. Take a risk, maybe have an original thought?

Unfortunately I do think it weakens Image as a company to have any subpar books. but I get that my taste is far from what sells best. but I do think they also have some fantastic books. (some books  I like RIngside, Prince of Cats, Snotgirl, Wicked + Divine, Rumble, Mirror, Manifest Destiny, etc)

I hope work like the stuff in ISLAND feels like it’s own thing. Because that’s the whole goal. 

How did you feel about the somewhat recent wave of creators who left the big 2 for Image, only to go back when their creator owned stuff didn't take off or they didn't get that TV deal? There was some pretty dull stuff getting put out, but does that taint

I dunno about anyone’s motivations, I assume those guys just like jumping around and trying out different companies. I’m not a fan of Image pulling many creators from M and DC. For many reasons. 

Although I do think you have to look at each creator as an individual. You have people like my manga bro Emma Rios who did work at Marvel but then comes to Image and does work like I.D and Mirror (with Hewi Lim) (two amazing books if you haven’t read them) , and then you have people who get the freedom that Image provides and they just do the same old shit they were doing on superhero comics or some other tired idea. It bugs me when creators act like they can’t do whatever the fuck they want at Image. Take a risk, maybe have an original thought?

Unfortunately I do think it weakens Image as a company to have any subpar books. but I get that my taste is far from what sells best. but I do think they also have some fantastic books. (some books  I like RIngside, Prince of Cats, Snotgirl, Wicked + Divine, Rumble, Mirror, Manifest Destiny, etc)

I hope work like the stuff in ISLAND feels like it’s own thing. Because that’s the whole goal. 

How did you feel about the somewhat recent wave of creators who left the big 2 for Image, only to go back when their creator owned stuff didn't take off or they didn't get that TV deal? There was some pretty dull stuff getting put out, but does that taint

I dunno about anyone’s motivations, I assume those guys just like jumping around and trying out different companies. I’m not a fan of Image pulling many creators from M and DC. For many reasons. 

Although I do think you have to look at each creator as an individual. You have people like my manga bro Emma Rios who did work at Marvel but then comes to Image and does work like I.D and Mirror (with Hewi Lim) (two amazing books if you haven’t read them) , and then you have people who get the freedom that Image provides and they just do the same old shit they were doing on superhero comics or some other tired idea. It bugs me when creators act like they can’t do whatever the fuck they want at Image. Take a risk, maybe have an original thought?

Unfortunately I do think it weakens Image as a company to have any subpar books. but I get that my taste is far from what sells best. but I do think they also have some fantastic books. (some books  I like RIngside, Prince of Cats, Snotgirl, Wicked + Divine, Rumble, Mirror, Manifest Destiny, etc)

I hope work like the stuff in ISLAND feels like it’s own thing. Because that’s the whole goal. 

Would you ever do a marvel or DC comic? If so what character do you feel you'd most want to draw a story for?

Noooo.  but I do love a lot of the characters I grew up with  Power pack and the old Excalibur (80′s new mutants are great too) . or a Gen 13 with Braniac-5 & Static replacing Grunge and Burnout 

but yeah, I guess I’m rare in comics as someone who refuses to work for those companies  (I did a little in the past) but neva again because of how bad they are with creator rights & just generally how they seem to put other things in front of just making quality work. – like shitty ads cutting into their pages. . 

I don’t fault other creators for working at those places buuut I do think it perpetuates a lot of what  is bad about the US comic industry. I’m aware that I can make these high horse stances because I have a publisher who backs me and no kids or any debt. 

comicsworkbook:shinercomics:The new cover and first three...

comicsworkbook:

shinercomics:

The new cover and first three pages of Love Again, a conversational/autobiographical sex comic by John G and Amanda
Lee. Originally part of a group art exhibit, Modern Sexuality, at
Canopy Collective in Cleveland in February 2016, the print edition from the show sold out a while ago. We’re happy to announce that it’s back in print and available in Cleveland exclusively at Canopy, and it’s finally available to order at shinercomcs.net!

It’s 6" x 9", 16 black and white pages and only $5 (includes shipping).

If you got one of the original print run that was available at the show and you would like a complimentary copy of this new printing, please feel free to get at me (shinercomics at gmail) and I’ll make sure you get one.

John G

I found this comic kicking around the Rowhouse recently - it’s well worth checking out. - Sally

Why I think "Black Heroes Matter" means well, but is ill conceived and counterproductive to the goals of “Black Lives Matter” and should delete itself.

d-pi:

A while back I was on a panel called Black Art Matters. I passively offered my criticism of the choice to reference Black Lives Matter with the name of the panel, but I also saw it as a great opportunity to discuss why I thought the reference was a bad idea. This weekend I’ve seen several images of the slogan “Black Heroes Matter” so I am taking this opportunity to express why this doesn’t sit right with me. Hear me out…

So TLDR/make it plain version: 

While I’m sure it comes from relatively innocuous place, “Black Heroes Matters” appropriates the cultural capital of “Black Lives Matter” to commercial ends. 

While black heroes do matter, packaging that argument in the memetic language of Black Lives Matter is, at best, distasteful, and at worst subversive, and appropriates the social currency of Black Lives Matter to sell shirts and a brand. That said, I don’t believe it’s deliberate, just ill conceived.

So, the long version is:

“Black Lives Matter” at its core represents a movement to call attention to and to end the destruction of black lives by institutions and the agents of those institutions. It is a reaction to the systemic destruction of black lives. It argues the existence and value of (in particular but not exclusive to) black life on an ontological level within our social structure. This is important work. Many people put their lives on the line, rallying behind “Black Lives Matter” to further this cause. The slogan “Black Lives Matter” carries the weight of those lives; it aggregates that currency as a meme that spreads the values of the movement from person to person all over the world. That currency is spent on changing and liberating all people from oppression and violent death at the hands of the state.

Any meme that uses the structure of Black Lives Matter is swagger-jacking the cultural currency of BLM at best, swagger-hacking and subverting the core idea at worst. All Lives Matter was a meme hack or virus that used the memetic currency of Black Lives Matter to subvert the values connected to Black Lives Matter. Black Heroes Matter, like All Lives Matter is a response or reaction to Black Lives Matter. Why is it appropriating that format/language and to what end? 

If “Black Lives Matter” fights for space of black lives on an ontological level within our society and calls us to protect black bodies from institutional violence, “Black Heroes Matter” asks us to do what exactly? What does it call for? Are black heroes in peril? If so, what poses an existential threat to “Black Heroes” and if there is an existential threat to “Black Heroes” is that threat an existential threat to Black Lives? 

Does Black Heroes Matter increase the memetic value of Black Lives Matter? If not, is the memetic currency that Black Heroes Matter hijacks from Black Lives Matter worth detracting from Black Lives Matter and what Black Lives Matter stands for? 

-Ronald

The 4th comics lovers running in IMAGE+ magazine

The 4th comics lovers running in IMAGE+ magazine 

islandcomics:Hey people, Check out Island #4 on October 28th....

islandcomics:

Hey people, Check out Island #4 on October 28th.

The first installment of my story “A land called Tarot” is in it, alongside Farel Dalrymple’s Pop Gun War and Brandon Graham’s Multiple Warheads. 

Here’s a piece of MW fan art I did for the occasion.

Urasawa Naoki no Manben Manga Documentary S2E3 2016 - Igarashi...

Urasawa Naoki no Manben Manga Documentary S2E3 2016 - Igarashi Daisuke English

simon-roy:Order code: AUG160697“All his life, Hank Cho wanted...

simon-roy:

Order code: AUG160697

“All his life, Hank Cho wanted to join the ranks of the Habsec-the rulers of the orbital habitat his people call home. But when he finds a powerful, forbidden weapon from the deep past, a single moment of violence sets his life-and the brutal society of the habitat-into upheaval. Hunted by the cannibalistic Habsec and sheltered by former enemies, Cho finds himself caught within a civil war that threatens to destroy his world.

A new barbarian sci-fi adventure by SIMON ROY (PROPHET, JAN’S ATOMIC HEART, Tiger Lung), originally serialized in ISLAND MAGAZINE.

In Shops: Oct 26, 2016

SRP: $9.99″

Yo my book is in previews! Talk to your local comic store so you can snag it up this fall!