It has been awhile since I opened up my big mouth to talk about comics. I guess I've just been letting things stew for a bit, then letting the ferment and turn into a brew.
So, the first big change in my life as a comic creator is that I am learning the art side of things, and as a writer this is a challenging and frustrating thing to do. But I'm only 34 and I have a whole lot of life ahead of me, so if it takes me up to ten years to get things right I am fine with that. You may ask me why I would want to do something like this, and why now when I have established myself as a writer (in some capacity)?
I have been writing short stories for people throughout the past year, trying to get to know artists and foster a relationship between them and I. I consider myself to be an open and friendly gentleman and I also consider myself to be open to conversation about story and the quality script that an artist want, the level of detail, etc., but I am constantly finding myself writing scripts that I have an investment in seeing produced and than getting dropped from an artist's mind without so much as a reason why. So, I move on and try and find another artist, and that is how the process goes. Artists, one piece of advice I have for you...please tell a writer if you don't want to work with them. I have a strong ego, I can take a little letdown or criticism, and than I know where I stand, I don't have to keep sending you emails, you can be free from me.
Also, I want to produce stories that are personal to me, stories that are for me more than anyone else, stories that I write, pencil, ink, color and letter. And I've done one page so far, one page that is entirely mine. It is not the prettiest page I have ever seen, nor is it the most professional, but I handled it from head to toe and it tells the story that I want it to tell. That is progress folks, and that is a writer learning the art of a cartoonist, something I have always felt that I have within me.
I know I have written a superhero story and am still producing it, but I doubt that I will dip back into that genre for a very long time. I have gotten that out of me for the time being (although I still have two great ideas that I want to get out of me at some point), and I think it is time to focus on stories that have character at the core, relationships, and ideas about life. Hell, I'm 34, I have some idea about how I think the world turns and it'll be great to look back on those ideas when I hit 60 and have a laugh.
As I get close to finishing the 12 issue opus that is Foreign Matter (which I am finishing because I am stubborn as shit) I have a little better take on how the industry works, and how things are stacking up with what I want to do and what I want to produce as an artist.
That said, I have had the pleasure of working with some very wonderful artists (you all know whom you are) that have been the most professional and giving people that I can imagine, and I will continue to work in making graphic fiction that I am proud to bear my name, as well as writing in other media.
I probably have more to expound on, but I will write some more about what I think about comics and things later tonight, or even later this week.
Thanks for listening,
Martin
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
I have a nephew named Aiden who is doing a year of home schooling. One of his assignments was to interview me about my writing. We had a cordial little interview and the end product looked something like this:
Today I interviewed the magnificent writer and illustrator Martin John. This was
my biggest interview yet!!!! He has a very interesting personality. His comic that he
just published ‘Foreign Matter’ is his first graphic novel and is about superheroes
and relationships. I like how the characters are all so different – some are animals,
some are human, some are ultra human and some are robots. You have to give a
lot of credit too to the illustrator of this book whose name is German Ponce. Martin
started this book with his brother Damian John at the age of 18. Martin is now 33
and lives in Toronto happily with his wife, Chantelle.
Martin stated he is inspired to write to bring out messages and express his opinions
to the world. Some of the writers that inspired him when he was little and still
move him to write are Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Ernest Hemingway, Neil Gaiman, Kurt,
Vonnegut Junior, and lots of other graphic novelists and film makers.
Martin shared that some of his likes are to spend time with his wife, treat his body
and his mind well, make food, writing stories, reading books and comics, being
outside, and watching well done films and sports.
Martin’s final words of the interview were “If you want to do something then DO IT.
If you like something DO IT. If you stick with it you will eventually become an expert
– you have to be passionate. Hard work pays off.”
I hope you liked it, I thought Aiden did an amazing job and wrote a great article for an eleven year old. Thanks Aiden.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Top Cow Pitch for talent search
For those interested I am posting the pitch I did for the Top Cow talent search. I hope you like it.
Format
Three issue miniseries. 20 page issues.
The Elevator Pitch
Lydia Lunch (Punk Rock Icon) Battles Jim Jones (Jonestown Massacre Cult Leader).
The Big Idea and Characters
The Top Cow Artifacts are capable of destroying the universe, as evidenced in the Artifacts series. Within my framework for this pitch, the Artifacts are powerful items that take a great toll on their bearers and can have different effects on those that wear them. As we have seen in Hine and Haun’s The Darkness, and as is evidenced by the Angelus picking a bearer in Witchblade, these Artifacts have a sentience of their own, and each has their own agenda for the Top Cow universe. Within the new Top Cow universe Jackie Estacado, willingly or not, has given some of his foes hurdles that they will have to overcome in order to become what they once were.
In my pitch three users are dealing with three Artifacts that are affecting them all in different ways. They are as follows:
Glory Silver is a gutter punk that has always been missing something...the Ember Stone. Glory is about twenty-two, one of the sides of her head is shaved, and she is covered with tattoos. I imagine her to be a female power fantasy, someone that is badass, but sexy with an edge. Glorianna, or Glory has been de-aged but has had everything taken away from her, her wealth, her power, and her Artifact. Glory feels a pull towards the Ember Stone, so much so that she can focus on nothing but finding and obtaining it. Glory has suffered and sacrificed her mental and physical well-being in order to find the Ember Stone, and in a state close to madness has finally found it in the hand of a familiar character...
...Wulfgar Olafsson (I picture him as a bearded version of Robert Deniro in Cape Fear, without all the tattoos), who is looking for a bearer for the stone that he can control, a bearer that Wulfgar can manipulate into doing what he believes, one that will burn the world down so that it can be reborn in fire without society or class. Wulfgar is the head of a multinational cult that believes the Ember Stone will bring them into an “Age of Fire”. Glory must take the Ember Stone from Wulfgar and show her true strength and character by learning to master the stone, while being chased by the cult of a madman.
Xi Ji fights to control the 13th Artifact, and regularly loses that fight. He has inadvertently killed dozens by not having the experience or even-mindedness needed to master the 13th Artifact. Xi Ji has taken unleashing the power of the Artifact on evil men, effectively becoming a vigilante and attracting the attention of Michael Finnegan. Will he live long enough to learn how to control his Artifact? And can he maintain his sanity with the amount of guilt he is now carrying with him? Xi Ji must learn to balance himself in order to take control of his Artifact, but with each passing incident he becomes less and less stable.
Michael Finnegan knows about the previous universe...Jackie Estacado needs someone to make sure the Artifacts are found and tracked. Knowing that the Artifacts had a hand in his death in a previous universe Michael’s agenda is to find them and find a way to destroy them. Finnegan has the Glacier stone, but after observing what the Artifacts have done to those that have embraced their powers, keeps it on him, but does not allow it to touch his bare skin, afraid of how it might ‘infect’ him. Finnegan is trailing Xi Ji suspecting that he has an Artifact.
The Spine
A variety of movements. Each character has a story arc.
Glory Silver steals the Ember Stone from Wulfgar, effectively setting off a chain of events that bring all of Wulfgar’s power against her. The basic idea of this conflict is to show that Glory isn’t anyone’s pawn, she is her own woman, capable of mastering an Artifact that gives her unimaginable power. Something that Glory realizes is that the Ember Stone is as fiery and unpredictable as she is, and Glory struggles to keep her mind and wits about her as they mingle. Wulfgar and his people test Glory’s capabilities, putting her up against waves of cult killers similar to the Hand in Wolverine comics. As the masses of killers attack her, she begins to doubt herself, and her ability to wield something as powerful as the Ember Stone.
Xi Ji struggles to control his Artifact, and comes into contact with both Glory and Michael, the other Artifact wielders. He sees them struggle with their own demons, sees how they are human with faults and comes to forgive himself for being human as well, allowing him more emotional center.
Michael Finnegan attempts to communicate that Xi Ji and Glory should give the Artifacts up, and try and destroy them for the sake of humanity, and their sanity. He fails: Glory would never give up her Artifact and Xi Ji does not trust anyone else with his.
The Climax
Glory kills Wulfgar, crossing the line of life and death, displaying that she is morally gray, and truly chaotic, but also that she will remain her own woman with her own agenda. Her powers manifest, allowing her control of fire and heat..and her true potential has yet to be unlocked!
Xi Ji loses control of the 13th Artifact as he gets caught up in the fray with the cult, undermining the previous control that he thought he had discovered.
Michael Finnegan tentatively embraces the power of the Glacier Stone to protect himself, effectively becoming linked to it. He finds that the Glacier Stone has an aura is strong and immovable, and that it longs to be at rest. The only way this will happen is if all the other Artifacts cease to exist, a goal similar to Finnegan’s. Finnegan finds himself able to manipulate temperatures to the colder side of things, capable of freezing fluids in men’s lungs, joints, in their eyes (effectively exploding them), and like Glory has yet to find his true range.
The End
Glory is the bearer of the Ember Stone and is being chased by Wulfgar’s followers. To Glory the Ember Stone represents the path for her to realize her true potential as a person and she will stop at nothing to get to that point, even if she has to burn away half the world to get there. Glory has befriended Xi Ji, and they travel together to fulfill their destinies.
Xi Ji has had a taste of the skillset he needs in order to control the 13th Artifact he sets out with Glory to find ways to control himself, much like Bruce Banner in the Hulk television series. Xi Ji is on a journey to become Zen, and his Artifact will help and hinder him on that path.
Michael Finnegan, after meeting the Artifact bearers, and their unpredictability, stands firmly in the idea that the other Artifacts must go...but now he doubts whether this is his idea or that of the Glacier Stone. Michael’s fear of dying has transferred into an anger and desire to dodge a fate that has already happened. Michael decides to talk to Jackie Estacado about this, leading into a future appearance in The Darkness.
The Sample Script
Note to the artists: I will write everything in my head down in the script...if you have won this competition I expect you know what you are doing as far as pacing, lighting and the rest goes...so feel free to take liberties, add a beat if the script is too loose, change a lighting suggestion, you probably have a better idea about the specific visuals than I do, I write down what I see in my head to help inform your vision as well. Ignore my suggestions if you want, but know that they are there to help, not impede.
As far as action sequences go, I will try to keep the panels sparse so that each can be as dynamic as possible, but if you want to add extra details in the backgrounds (such as movements of other characters in the scene) that would be amazing.
Any color suggestions are that as well, if there are ways of portraying a powerset or scene that would be clearer without this go ahead and follow YOUR desires.
Note to the letterer: I have included some SFX. IF these are not splashy enough, or have enough impact, feel free to change them to something with more impact. Also, if a page of action is too sparse, feel free to add sound effects in.
Issue 1
Panel 1. Michael Finnegan is standing outside of a reputable looking restaurant smoking a cigarette (a popular Irish brand). It is raining. You cannot see the Glacier Stone because, although it is on Finnegan’s person, it is stowed in a pocket in the lining of his jacket. Finnegan has his hands stowed in the deep pockets of his fitted leather bomber jacket, which is not zipped up. (If you want you can show Finnegan’s shoulder holster with a Smith and Wesson .38 special in it in some of the shots on this page...it is not needed, but it would be great way to establish that he is a gangster and an armed man).
Caption: Brooklyn.
Caption (Finnegan): Name is Michael Finnegan and I’ve known Jackie Estacado to do some pretty fucked up stuff, but this last one was a winner.
Panel 2. A flashback panel. Blood leaking from a stab wound in Finnegan’s chest (See Artifacts #11 for reference).
Caption (Finnegan): Jackie wiped out one universe and started another. I thank God I made it to this one.
Caption (Finnegan): Although Jackie thinks I should thank him.
Panel 3. Finnegan flicking the cherry off of his cigarette.
Caption (Finnegan): He just put me back to work.
Caption (Finnegan): I guess there is no rest for the wicked.
Panel 4. Finnegan putting the half-smoked cigarette back into the pack.
Caption (Finnegan): I’m supposed to be tracking down the Artifacts. Know where a couple of them are.
Panel 5. Finnegan breathing out the last of the smoke in his lungs as he is opening the door to the restaurant.
Caption (Finnegan): I’ve got something called the Glacier Stone.
Caption (Finnegan): Don’t touch it really, I don’t trust it.
Panel 1. Xi Ji in an alleyway behind the restaurant that Michael Finnegan has just gone into. It is a brick building that has a door that opens onto the alleyway...an alleyway that is an open thoroughfare from one street to another. It is raining. Xi Ji is wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans that are covered in gore and muck. The 13th Artifact, a death ball (see Artifacts for reference, it is a ball with a skull on it that the monks of his order hide within their mouths in order to contain the evil inside), is clutched in one of his hands glowing slightly pink. The skull imprint on his face is also glowing slightly. Around Xi Ji is the body of someone that his Artifact has just eviscerated. There are chunks of gore strewn around, some limbs, and put the partially skinned head of the victim beside Xi Ji’s, as a counterpoint.
Caption: Back alley. Brooklyn.
Caption (Finnegan): These things, they change you.
Panel 2. Xi coming back to consciousness. Think of your worst hangover face, and put that onto Xi Ji’s, he is in a great deal of pain.
Xi: Oohhh
Panel 1. Xi Ji realizing what has just happened, that he has lost control of the evil once again. He is looking at his blood-stained body.
Xi: No.
Panel 2. Xi Ji pushing himself up to standing position. He is bent is such a way that he looks weak, that he can no longer stand due to the emotional and physical strain that he has had foisted on him by trying to control such a powerful Artifact.
Xi (whisper): I cannot do this.
Xi (whisper): I am not strong enough to hold them back.
Xi (whisper): Vajra*, give me strength.
*Vajra is a Buddhist saint/deity.
Panel 3. Finnegan coming out of the back alley door. He has a determined look on his face. Xi Ji looks on in fright.
Finnegan: Jaysus.
Panel 4. Xi Ji shouldering past Finnegan. Finnegan is stumbling backward, having been taken off guard.
SFX: TUMP
Panel 5. Xi Ji running away from Finnegan, into the reader, with a focus on the pink skull on Xi Ji’s forehead.
Finnegan: Hey!
Finnegan: Stop.
Panel 1. Glory Silver resting up against a black metal rail fence in between two Brownstones in midtown Manhattan. Her head is firmly entrenched within a large pink hoodie, so that you cannot see her full face as she has her head down, her eyes are up, and you can see her shoulder length red hair with one side shaved. Glory should be somewhat disheveled, as she is broke, and has sacrificed everything she has to make it to New York so that she can swipe the Ember Stone. You can take this opportunity to parallel her face beneath the hoodie to Xi Ji’s face in the last panel, making for a nice page transition.
Caption: Midtown Manhattan.
Panel 2. A closeup on the red hair of a woman that looks very much like the old design of Glorianna Silver, but is not her. This character is a chemically lobotomized woman that is used to transfer the Artifact from one place to another, a blank slate that the Artifact cannot imprint itself on. I will refer to this character as Doppelganger. The Doppelganger has the Ember Stone around her neck.
Panel 3. The Doppelganger is coming down the front steps of a Brownstone flanked by two large bodyguards (bodyguard #1 and bodyguard #2). Wulfgar is a couple of steps down from the Doppleganger. There is a black Cadillac with tinted windows waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. In the background, you can see Glory leaning up against the fence.
Wulfgar: Keep the stone close.
Hitman #1: Yes, Wulfgar.
Panel 4. Glory Silver launching herself from the fence, her hood falling back to reveal her face. The look on her face is one of staunch determinism, as she is putting everything that she has into her one chance at getting the Ember Stone.
Panel 1. Glory Silver running towards the doppelganger. The two bodyguards are staring at her, already moving into action to draw their guns, Browning Hi-Power 9mms. Wulfgar is looking on with interest. The Cadillac is in between them.
Panel 2. Glory leaping over the hood of the car and kicking the gun out of one of the bodyguards (bodyguard #1) hands. The gun is flying somewhere far away.
SFX: THOOT
Panel 3. Wulfgar ordering the bodyguards.
Wulfgar: Take her down alive.
Wulfgar: But cripple her.
Panel 3. Glory dodging under bodyguard #2’s gunshot, headed towards the Doppleganger.
Panel 4. Glory staring up into the face of the Doppleganger. She has a look of defiant anger on her face.
Glory: You’ve got something of mine.
Panel 1. Glory ripping the Ember Stone from the Doppleganger’s neck. The Doppleganger has no visible expression on her face as she is brain dead. Glory is already lunging away from her.
Panel 2. Glory running down the street away from an enraged Wulfgar.
Wulfgar: Shoot her!
Panel 3. Wulfgar grabbing a gun from one of his bodyguards.
Wulfgar: Give me that.
Panel 4. Wulfgar shooting the gun three times. The force of it has kicked his arms upwards slightly. Wulfgar looks extremely practiced at this, he is very calculated and deadly.
SFX: POP POP POP
Panel 5. Glory getting grazed in the leg by a bullet. Pieces of her pants and blood are flying through the air.
SFX: SHRIP
Glory: AH!
Panel 1. Glory looking down at her bloodied leg. You can see the wound through shredded pants.
Panel 2. Glory surrounded in a power aura of black, red, yellow and orange, like a glowing ember. The Ember Stone has started to glow in Glory’s hand.
Panel 3. The wound on Glory’s leg smoking as it cauterizes.
Glory: RAHHH.
Panel 4. The wound on Glory’s leg scabbed up.
Panel 5. Glory looking up with a look that can only be described as pissed. :) She is holding up the Ember Stone in front of her.
Glory: THIS IS MINE.
Panel 6. Glory standing straight and an energy aura is starting to surround her. You can see the two bodyguards charging Glory, but there is a taxi that has come between them. The taxi driver is looking at Glory with confusion on his face. Wulfgar stands further back looking on.
Glory: COME AFTER ME AND DIE.
Panel 1. Splash page. Glory, with her back to the camera, looking at Wulfgar, the Doppleganger, and the charging bodyguards as the taxi explodes in front of her. The bodyguards are engulfed in flames, as is the taxi driver. Wulgar is looking straight through the explosion at Glory. Glory is in a power pose, holding one hand in the air while the other hand grasps the Ember Stone. Glory is engulfed in flames.
SFX: BO BOOM
Panel 2. Small offset panel of Wulgar’s face.
Wulfgar: Glory.
Panel 1. Xi Ji with his hand on his knees. He is staring down at the pavement, his shoulders are slumped showing how exhausted he really is, mentally and physically. There are multitudes of people passing by with looks of shock and curiosity on their faces.
Xi Ji: Huff. Huff.
Panel 2. Xi Ji looking up, a closeup of his upper body as he notices that someone is in his personal space.
Panel 3. Xi Ji’s face, he looks confused, with a tinge of sadness.
Panel 4. There is a Buddhist monk standing in front of Xi Ji looking concerned.
Monk: Are you okay?
Xi Ji: No.
Xi Ji: I am not.
Xi Ji: Look at me. Why aren’t you afraid of me?
Panel 5. The monk with a calm compassionate face.
Monk: I can help. Let me.
Monk: What is your name?
Panel 6. Xi Ji looking over at at the monk. Xi has a look of defeat on his face.
Xi Ji: I am Xi Ji.
Xi Ji: But you cannot help me. It is too strong.
Panel 1. The monk looking quizzical while Xi Ji looks beaten.
Monk: I don’t understand.
Xi Ji: I have a horrible burden, something evil that does...things.
Monk: What kinds of things?
Xi Ji: I can’t remember, but I always wake up...
Xi Ji: ...I murder people.
Panel 2. Flashback panel. Color suggestion for the panel is a lilac with pink accents. Xi Ji standing in the midst of his fallen brethren in the middle of a monastery. The skull in Xi Ji’s head is smoking and his mouth is open with the ball stuffed in it, his mouth almost in a sadistic grin from the will he must exert to keep the evil at bay. This panel also hints at the fact that he may be the one responsible for the deaths of his fellow monks.
Caption (Xi Ji): I was the youngest, the least experienced of all of my brothers to watch it. They guarded it for centuries until something went wrong and they all died.
Caption (Xi Ji): But now the burden is mine alone to bear.
Panel 3. Flashback Panel. Xi Ji looking behind him as he flees from a house with tears in his face. There are bodies outside of the house, the bodies of the family that once inhabited it. This is in the Chinese countryside, in a remote area so you can draw livestock that have been killed as well.
Caption (Xi Ji): At first I couldn’t control it’s power. And I ran from the horrid acts it committed. I’ve been everywhere, trying to find a place to hide alone.
Caption (Xi Ji): Everywhere I go there are people. Good people. Dead people.
Panel 3. Flashback panel. One of Xi Ji’s victims being attacked by the demons that Xi Ji is holding back. Xi Ji is convulsing in the background as the power flows out from him. The victim is shooting a gun and yelling at the top of his lungs while the arm that isn’t shooting the gun is torn away.
Caption (Xi Ji): But I’ve gotten to know when I can’t hold it in any longer. I look for evil men.
Caption (Xi Ji): And I set it loose on them.
Panel 1. The monk looking at Xi Ji with a look of concentration. Xi Ji has a dark look about his face, as though recalling this has hurt him, but reinforced his will in some way, especially when reminiscing about murdering the criminal element.
Xi Ji: Now there are people that want to kill me. They look for me even as we speak.
Panel 2. Xi Ji lit in a sympathetic manner, he looks timidly heroic.
Xi Ji: I don’t want to die. I’m only twenty-one years. And who would look after it? Who would bear this load?
Xi Ji: Don’t you see. I can’t do this, but there is no one else.
Panel 3. Finnegan pulling up in a car. The car is screeching to a halt with the passenger side door facing towards Xi Ji on the sidewalk.
Finnegan: Get in the car.
Panel 4. Finnegan looking out of an open car door with a gun pointed outwards as he speaks, at Xi Ji, who is off-panel.
Finnegan: Now.
Panel 5. Xi Ji looking at Finnegan.
Xi Ji: I will come.
Panel 4. Xi Ji walking towards the car as the monk catches him by the shoulder.
Monk: Wait
Monk: Open the hand of thought and suspend your judgement. Only then will you be able to let it all pass you by without getting involved.
Panel 5. The monk looking into Xi Ji’s eyes.
Monk: Please remember this.
Panel 6. Xi Ji stepping into the car while looking at the monk.
Xi Ji: I will.
Xi Ji: Thank you teacher.
Matt, thank you so much for your time. I really hope you have liked reading what I have written, and notice the time and craft that I have put in these pages.
Fingers crossed,
Martin
Lighting The Ember by Martin John
Format
Three issue miniseries. 20 page issues.
The Elevator Pitch
Lydia Lunch (Punk Rock Icon) Battles Jim Jones (Jonestown Massacre Cult Leader).
The Big Idea and Characters
The Top Cow Artifacts are capable of destroying the universe, as evidenced in the Artifacts series. Within my framework for this pitch, the Artifacts are powerful items that take a great toll on their bearers and can have different effects on those that wear them. As we have seen in Hine and Haun’s The Darkness, and as is evidenced by the Angelus picking a bearer in Witchblade, these Artifacts have a sentience of their own, and each has their own agenda for the Top Cow universe. Within the new Top Cow universe Jackie Estacado, willingly or not, has given some of his foes hurdles that they will have to overcome in order to become what they once were.
In my pitch three users are dealing with three Artifacts that are affecting them all in different ways. They are as follows:
Glory Silver is a gutter punk that has always been missing something...the Ember Stone. Glory is about twenty-two, one of the sides of her head is shaved, and she is covered with tattoos. I imagine her to be a female power fantasy, someone that is badass, but sexy with an edge. Glorianna, or Glory has been de-aged but has had everything taken away from her, her wealth, her power, and her Artifact. Glory feels a pull towards the Ember Stone, so much so that she can focus on nothing but finding and obtaining it. Glory has suffered and sacrificed her mental and physical well-being in order to find the Ember Stone, and in a state close to madness has finally found it in the hand of a familiar character...
...Wulfgar Olafsson (I picture him as a bearded version of Robert Deniro in Cape Fear, without all the tattoos), who is looking for a bearer for the stone that he can control, a bearer that Wulfgar can manipulate into doing what he believes, one that will burn the world down so that it can be reborn in fire without society or class. Wulfgar is the head of a multinational cult that believes the Ember Stone will bring them into an “Age of Fire”. Glory must take the Ember Stone from Wulfgar and show her true strength and character by learning to master the stone, while being chased by the cult of a madman.
Xi Ji fights to control the 13th Artifact, and regularly loses that fight. He has inadvertently killed dozens by not having the experience or even-mindedness needed to master the 13th Artifact. Xi Ji has taken unleashing the power of the Artifact on evil men, effectively becoming a vigilante and attracting the attention of Michael Finnegan. Will he live long enough to learn how to control his Artifact? And can he maintain his sanity with the amount of guilt he is now carrying with him? Xi Ji must learn to balance himself in order to take control of his Artifact, but with each passing incident he becomes less and less stable.
Michael Finnegan knows about the previous universe...Jackie Estacado needs someone to make sure the Artifacts are found and tracked. Knowing that the Artifacts had a hand in his death in a previous universe Michael’s agenda is to find them and find a way to destroy them. Finnegan has the Glacier stone, but after observing what the Artifacts have done to those that have embraced their powers, keeps it on him, but does not allow it to touch his bare skin, afraid of how it might ‘infect’ him. Finnegan is trailing Xi Ji suspecting that he has an Artifact.
The Spine
A variety of movements. Each character has a story arc.
Glory Silver steals the Ember Stone from Wulfgar, effectively setting off a chain of events that bring all of Wulfgar’s power against her. The basic idea of this conflict is to show that Glory isn’t anyone’s pawn, she is her own woman, capable of mastering an Artifact that gives her unimaginable power. Something that Glory realizes is that the Ember Stone is as fiery and unpredictable as she is, and Glory struggles to keep her mind and wits about her as they mingle. Wulfgar and his people test Glory’s capabilities, putting her up against waves of cult killers similar to the Hand in Wolverine comics. As the masses of killers attack her, she begins to doubt herself, and her ability to wield something as powerful as the Ember Stone.
Xi Ji struggles to control his Artifact, and comes into contact with both Glory and Michael, the other Artifact wielders. He sees them struggle with their own demons, sees how they are human with faults and comes to forgive himself for being human as well, allowing him more emotional center.
Michael Finnegan attempts to communicate that Xi Ji and Glory should give the Artifacts up, and try and destroy them for the sake of humanity, and their sanity. He fails: Glory would never give up her Artifact and Xi Ji does not trust anyone else with his.
The Climax
Glory kills Wulfgar, crossing the line of life and death, displaying that she is morally gray, and truly chaotic, but also that she will remain her own woman with her own agenda. Her powers manifest, allowing her control of fire and heat..and her true potential has yet to be unlocked!
Xi Ji loses control of the 13th Artifact as he gets caught up in the fray with the cult, undermining the previous control that he thought he had discovered.
Michael Finnegan tentatively embraces the power of the Glacier Stone to protect himself, effectively becoming linked to it. He finds that the Glacier Stone has an aura is strong and immovable, and that it longs to be at rest. The only way this will happen is if all the other Artifacts cease to exist, a goal similar to Finnegan’s. Finnegan finds himself able to manipulate temperatures to the colder side of things, capable of freezing fluids in men’s lungs, joints, in their eyes (effectively exploding them), and like Glory has yet to find his true range.
The End
Glory is the bearer of the Ember Stone and is being chased by Wulfgar’s followers. To Glory the Ember Stone represents the path for her to realize her true potential as a person and she will stop at nothing to get to that point, even if she has to burn away half the world to get there. Glory has befriended Xi Ji, and they travel together to fulfill their destinies.
Xi Ji has had a taste of the skillset he needs in order to control the 13th Artifact he sets out with Glory to find ways to control himself, much like Bruce Banner in the Hulk television series. Xi Ji is on a journey to become Zen, and his Artifact will help and hinder him on that path.
Michael Finnegan, after meeting the Artifact bearers, and their unpredictability, stands firmly in the idea that the other Artifacts must go...but now he doubts whether this is his idea or that of the Glacier Stone. Michael’s fear of dying has transferred into an anger and desire to dodge a fate that has already happened. Michael decides to talk to Jackie Estacado about this, leading into a future appearance in The Darkness.
The Sample Script
Note to the artists: I will write everything in my head down in the script...if you have won this competition I expect you know what you are doing as far as pacing, lighting and the rest goes...so feel free to take liberties, add a beat if the script is too loose, change a lighting suggestion, you probably have a better idea about the specific visuals than I do, I write down what I see in my head to help inform your vision as well. Ignore my suggestions if you want, but know that they are there to help, not impede.
As far as action sequences go, I will try to keep the panels sparse so that each can be as dynamic as possible, but if you want to add extra details in the backgrounds (such as movements of other characters in the scene) that would be amazing.
Any color suggestions are that as well, if there are ways of portraying a powerset or scene that would be clearer without this go ahead and follow YOUR desires.
Note to the letterer: I have included some SFX. IF these are not splashy enough, or have enough impact, feel free to change them to something with more impact. Also, if a page of action is too sparse, feel free to add sound effects in.
Issue 1
Page 1
Panel 1. Michael Finnegan is standing outside of a reputable looking restaurant smoking a cigarette (a popular Irish brand). It is raining. You cannot see the Glacier Stone because, although it is on Finnegan’s person, it is stowed in a pocket in the lining of his jacket. Finnegan has his hands stowed in the deep pockets of his fitted leather bomber jacket, which is not zipped up. (If you want you can show Finnegan’s shoulder holster with a Smith and Wesson .38 special in it in some of the shots on this page...it is not needed, but it would be great way to establish that he is a gangster and an armed man).
Caption: Brooklyn.
Caption (Finnegan): Name is Michael Finnegan and I’ve known Jackie Estacado to do some pretty fucked up stuff, but this last one was a winner.
Panel 2. A flashback panel. Blood leaking from a stab wound in Finnegan’s chest (See Artifacts #11 for reference).
Caption (Finnegan): Jackie wiped out one universe and started another. I thank God I made it to this one.
Caption (Finnegan): Although Jackie thinks I should thank him.
Panel 3. Finnegan flicking the cherry off of his cigarette.
Caption (Finnegan): He just put me back to work.
Caption (Finnegan): I guess there is no rest for the wicked.
Panel 4. Finnegan putting the half-smoked cigarette back into the pack.
Caption (Finnegan): I’m supposed to be tracking down the Artifacts. Know where a couple of them are.
Panel 5. Finnegan breathing out the last of the smoke in his lungs as he is opening the door to the restaurant.
Caption (Finnegan): I’ve got something called the Glacier Stone.
Caption (Finnegan): Don’t touch it really, I don’t trust it.
Page 2
Panel 1. Xi Ji in an alleyway behind the restaurant that Michael Finnegan has just gone into. It is a brick building that has a door that opens onto the alleyway...an alleyway that is an open thoroughfare from one street to another. It is raining. Xi Ji is wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans that are covered in gore and muck. The 13th Artifact, a death ball (see Artifacts for reference, it is a ball with a skull on it that the monks of his order hide within their mouths in order to contain the evil inside), is clutched in one of his hands glowing slightly pink. The skull imprint on his face is also glowing slightly. Around Xi Ji is the body of someone that his Artifact has just eviscerated. There are chunks of gore strewn around, some limbs, and put the partially skinned head of the victim beside Xi Ji’s, as a counterpoint.
Caption: Back alley. Brooklyn.
Caption (Finnegan): These things, they change you.
Panel 2. Xi coming back to consciousness. Think of your worst hangover face, and put that onto Xi Ji’s, he is in a great deal of pain.
Xi: Oohhh
Page 3
Panel 1. Xi Ji realizing what has just happened, that he has lost control of the evil once again. He is looking at his blood-stained body.
Xi: No.
Panel 2. Xi Ji pushing himself up to standing position. He is bent is such a way that he looks weak, that he can no longer stand due to the emotional and physical strain that he has had foisted on him by trying to control such a powerful Artifact.
Xi (whisper): I cannot do this.
Xi (whisper): I am not strong enough to hold them back.
Xi (whisper): Vajra*, give me strength.
*Vajra is a Buddhist saint/deity.
Panel 3. Finnegan coming out of the back alley door. He has a determined look on his face. Xi Ji looks on in fright.
Finnegan: Jaysus.
Panel 4. Xi Ji shouldering past Finnegan. Finnegan is stumbling backward, having been taken off guard.
SFX: TUMP
Panel 5. Xi Ji running away from Finnegan, into the reader, with a focus on the pink skull on Xi Ji’s forehead.
Finnegan: Hey!
Finnegan: Stop.
Page 4
Panel 1. Glory Silver resting up against a black metal rail fence in between two Brownstones in midtown Manhattan. Her head is firmly entrenched within a large pink hoodie, so that you cannot see her full face as she has her head down, her eyes are up, and you can see her shoulder length red hair with one side shaved. Glory should be somewhat disheveled, as she is broke, and has sacrificed everything she has to make it to New York so that she can swipe the Ember Stone. You can take this opportunity to parallel her face beneath the hoodie to Xi Ji’s face in the last panel, making for a nice page transition.
Caption: Midtown Manhattan.
Panel 2. A closeup on the red hair of a woman that looks very much like the old design of Glorianna Silver, but is not her. This character is a chemically lobotomized woman that is used to transfer the Artifact from one place to another, a blank slate that the Artifact cannot imprint itself on. I will refer to this character as Doppelganger. The Doppelganger has the Ember Stone around her neck.
Panel 3. The Doppelganger is coming down the front steps of a Brownstone flanked by two large bodyguards (bodyguard #1 and bodyguard #2). Wulfgar is a couple of steps down from the Doppleganger. There is a black Cadillac with tinted windows waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. In the background, you can see Glory leaning up against the fence.
Wulfgar: Keep the stone close.
Hitman #1: Yes, Wulfgar.
Panel 4. Glory Silver launching herself from the fence, her hood falling back to reveal her face. The look on her face is one of staunch determinism, as she is putting everything that she has into her one chance at getting the Ember Stone.
Page 5
Panel 1. Glory Silver running towards the doppelganger. The two bodyguards are staring at her, already moving into action to draw their guns, Browning Hi-Power 9mms. Wulfgar is looking on with interest. The Cadillac is in between them.
Panel 2. Glory leaping over the hood of the car and kicking the gun out of one of the bodyguards (bodyguard #1) hands. The gun is flying somewhere far away.
SFX: THOOT
Panel 3. Wulfgar ordering the bodyguards.
Wulfgar: Take her down alive.
Wulfgar: But cripple her.
Panel 3. Glory dodging under bodyguard #2’s gunshot, headed towards the Doppleganger.
Panel 4. Glory staring up into the face of the Doppleganger. She has a look of defiant anger on her face.
Glory: You’ve got something of mine.
Page 6
Panel 1. Glory ripping the Ember Stone from the Doppleganger’s neck. The Doppleganger has no visible expression on her face as she is brain dead. Glory is already lunging away from her.
Panel 2. Glory running down the street away from an enraged Wulfgar.
Wulfgar: Shoot her!
Panel 3. Wulfgar grabbing a gun from one of his bodyguards.
Wulfgar: Give me that.
Panel 4. Wulfgar shooting the gun three times. The force of it has kicked his arms upwards slightly. Wulfgar looks extremely practiced at this, he is very calculated and deadly.
SFX: POP POP POP
Panel 5. Glory getting grazed in the leg by a bullet. Pieces of her pants and blood are flying through the air.
SFX: SHRIP
Glory: AH!
Page 7
Panel 1. Glory looking down at her bloodied leg. You can see the wound through shredded pants.
Panel 2. Glory surrounded in a power aura of black, red, yellow and orange, like a glowing ember. The Ember Stone has started to glow in Glory’s hand.
Panel 3. The wound on Glory’s leg smoking as it cauterizes.
Glory: RAHHH.
Panel 4. The wound on Glory’s leg scabbed up.
Panel 5. Glory looking up with a look that can only be described as pissed. :) She is holding up the Ember Stone in front of her.
Glory: THIS IS MINE.
Panel 6. Glory standing straight and an energy aura is starting to surround her. You can see the two bodyguards charging Glory, but there is a taxi that has come between them. The taxi driver is looking at Glory with confusion on his face. Wulfgar stands further back looking on.
Glory: COME AFTER ME AND DIE.
Page 8
Panel 1. Splash page. Glory, with her back to the camera, looking at Wulfgar, the Doppleganger, and the charging bodyguards as the taxi explodes in front of her. The bodyguards are engulfed in flames, as is the taxi driver. Wulgar is looking straight through the explosion at Glory. Glory is in a power pose, holding one hand in the air while the other hand grasps the Ember Stone. Glory is engulfed in flames.
SFX: BO BOOM
Panel 2. Small offset panel of Wulgar’s face.
Wulfgar: Glory.
Page 9
Panel 1. Xi Ji with his hand on his knees. He is staring down at the pavement, his shoulders are slumped showing how exhausted he really is, mentally and physically. There are multitudes of people passing by with looks of shock and curiosity on their faces.
Xi Ji: Huff. Huff.
Panel 2. Xi Ji looking up, a closeup of his upper body as he notices that someone is in his personal space.
Panel 3. Xi Ji’s face, he looks confused, with a tinge of sadness.
Panel 4. There is a Buddhist monk standing in front of Xi Ji looking concerned.
Monk: Are you okay?
Xi Ji: No.
Xi Ji: I am not.
Xi Ji: Look at me. Why aren’t you afraid of me?
Panel 5. The monk with a calm compassionate face.
Monk: I can help. Let me.
Monk: What is your name?
Panel 6. Xi Ji looking over at at the monk. Xi has a look of defeat on his face.
Xi Ji: I am Xi Ji.
Xi Ji: But you cannot help me. It is too strong.
Page 10
Panel 1. The monk looking quizzical while Xi Ji looks beaten.
Monk: I don’t understand.
Xi Ji: I have a horrible burden, something evil that does...things.
Monk: What kinds of things?
Xi Ji: I can’t remember, but I always wake up...
Xi Ji: ...I murder people.
Panel 2. Flashback panel. Color suggestion for the panel is a lilac with pink accents. Xi Ji standing in the midst of his fallen brethren in the middle of a monastery. The skull in Xi Ji’s head is smoking and his mouth is open with the ball stuffed in it, his mouth almost in a sadistic grin from the will he must exert to keep the evil at bay. This panel also hints at the fact that he may be the one responsible for the deaths of his fellow monks.
Caption (Xi Ji): I was the youngest, the least experienced of all of my brothers to watch it. They guarded it for centuries until something went wrong and they all died.
Caption (Xi Ji): But now the burden is mine alone to bear.
Panel 3. Flashback Panel. Xi Ji looking behind him as he flees from a house with tears in his face. There are bodies outside of the house, the bodies of the family that once inhabited it. This is in the Chinese countryside, in a remote area so you can draw livestock that have been killed as well.
Caption (Xi Ji): At first I couldn’t control it’s power. And I ran from the horrid acts it committed. I’ve been everywhere, trying to find a place to hide alone.
Caption (Xi Ji): Everywhere I go there are people. Good people. Dead people.
Panel 3. Flashback panel. One of Xi Ji’s victims being attacked by the demons that Xi Ji is holding back. Xi Ji is convulsing in the background as the power flows out from him. The victim is shooting a gun and yelling at the top of his lungs while the arm that isn’t shooting the gun is torn away.
Caption (Xi Ji): But I’ve gotten to know when I can’t hold it in any longer. I look for evil men.
Caption (Xi Ji): And I set it loose on them.
Page 11
Panel 1. The monk looking at Xi Ji with a look of concentration. Xi Ji has a dark look about his face, as though recalling this has hurt him, but reinforced his will in some way, especially when reminiscing about murdering the criminal element.
Xi Ji: Now there are people that want to kill me. They look for me even as we speak.
Panel 2. Xi Ji lit in a sympathetic manner, he looks timidly heroic.
Xi Ji: I don’t want to die. I’m only twenty-one years. And who would look after it? Who would bear this load?
Xi Ji: Don’t you see. I can’t do this, but there is no one else.
Panel 3. Finnegan pulling up in a car. The car is screeching to a halt with the passenger side door facing towards Xi Ji on the sidewalk.
Finnegan: Get in the car.
Panel 4. Finnegan looking out of an open car door with a gun pointed outwards as he speaks, at Xi Ji, who is off-panel.
Finnegan: Now.
Panel 5. Xi Ji looking at Finnegan.
Xi Ji: I will come.
Panel 4. Xi Ji walking towards the car as the monk catches him by the shoulder.
Monk: Wait
Monk: Open the hand of thought and suspend your judgement. Only then will you be able to let it all pass you by without getting involved.
Panel 5. The monk looking into Xi Ji’s eyes.
Monk: Please remember this.
Panel 6. Xi Ji stepping into the car while looking at the monk.
Xi Ji: I will.
Xi Ji: Thank you teacher.
Matt, thank you so much for your time. I really hope you have liked reading what I have written, and notice the time and craft that I have put in these pages.
Fingers crossed,
Martin
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Tuesday - Hierarchy In Comics. Can't We All Just Get Along?
I haunt the twitter feeds of a lot of creators, and I've been hearing some discourse about the hierarchy in comics. This seems to be the the food chain for the creators: 1. Writer 2. Artist 3. Colorist 4. Inker (if there is one) 5. Letterer, or that is how I have heard it to be, or imagine it to be.
Why? I guess it all comes down to money. Writers can take on various projects at once and write the hell out of them (some of them anyways, Ed Brubaker just took himself out of Marvel because 18 issues a year on Captain America was too much), and that means they can make a decent amount of money for themselves. Artists can only do one title a month, and although I believe their page rate is above that of a writer, they are locked down to one project, and possibly a cover or two.
Colorists are rising in prominence, but I believe they don't get any royalties, and letterers are the runt of the group, getting shoved about and getting shit shoveled down their throats on every deadline.
That said, there are alternatives. We could all just get out of comics and get into video games or film and make a fuckton more money. We could do illustration for any sort of media, could attempt to make the jump from one medium to the other, it might be hard but we are a wily little bunch of comic creators.
Take the time to look up page rates for pros online though. You might be surprised that comics people don't make that much money, probably about mid-five figures for most, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depending on where you are in the mix.
I can only imagine creators that have worked in this business for 20-30 years. They have seen so much happen in the way of creator rights. Writers and artists get some royalties for characters that they create, and books that they sell now (colorist get the shaft, at least as much as I know). There has been some forward momentum. I think the 90s was the age of the artist, where artists could pump out books and as long as it looked good they were printing money, until the bust. Writer's have obviously been doing pretty damned good for themselves. Let's not forget the other creators also. Colorists are bringing a whole new dimension to comics now, making them look more like fine art than comics have ever been and they seem to be getting the biggest shaft out of everyone, except for the letterer who brings the comics to life with words and isn't even in the discussion.
I'm not offering any solutions and am probably pissing a few people off just by writing this, but I think that the discussion of such things can lead to a place wherein comics creators can get along, look at each other and say, "We're all getting about the right amount." It really is a case by case scenario though, especially in the indie scene, and it depends on the amount of work that everyone is putting into the project. Thing is, do people consider it polite to talk dollars and cents? I don't know, I'm just blathering on now. As long as there is forward momentum we are doing well.
Thanks
Martin
Why? I guess it all comes down to money. Writers can take on various projects at once and write the hell out of them (some of them anyways, Ed Brubaker just took himself out of Marvel because 18 issues a year on Captain America was too much), and that means they can make a decent amount of money for themselves. Artists can only do one title a month, and although I believe their page rate is above that of a writer, they are locked down to one project, and possibly a cover or two.
Colorists are rising in prominence, but I believe they don't get any royalties, and letterers are the runt of the group, getting shoved about and getting shit shoveled down their throats on every deadline.
That said, there are alternatives. We could all just get out of comics and get into video games or film and make a fuckton more money. We could do illustration for any sort of media, could attempt to make the jump from one medium to the other, it might be hard but we are a wily little bunch of comic creators.
Take the time to look up page rates for pros online though. You might be surprised that comics people don't make that much money, probably about mid-five figures for most, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depending on where you are in the mix.
I can only imagine creators that have worked in this business for 20-30 years. They have seen so much happen in the way of creator rights. Writers and artists get some royalties for characters that they create, and books that they sell now (colorist get the shaft, at least as much as I know). There has been some forward momentum. I think the 90s was the age of the artist, where artists could pump out books and as long as it looked good they were printing money, until the bust. Writer's have obviously been doing pretty damned good for themselves. Let's not forget the other creators also. Colorists are bringing a whole new dimension to comics now, making them look more like fine art than comics have ever been and they seem to be getting the biggest shaft out of everyone, except for the letterer who brings the comics to life with words and isn't even in the discussion.
I'm not offering any solutions and am probably pissing a few people off just by writing this, but I think that the discussion of such things can lead to a place wherein comics creators can get along, look at each other and say, "We're all getting about the right amount." It really is a case by case scenario though, especially in the indie scene, and it depends on the amount of work that everyone is putting into the project. Thing is, do people consider it polite to talk dollars and cents? I don't know, I'm just blathering on now. As long as there is forward momentum we are doing well.
Thanks
Martin
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Thursday - My Weekly Stack
Spoilers HO!
So, I 've got a really small stack today, two books: Danger Club #4 and Fatale #8.
Danger Club has been anything but a normal superhero comic book. Imagine if you took the characters from the Lord of the Flies and put them in superhero costumes, that is what Danger Club reminds me of. All the adult superheroes in Danger Club have all died in space (reportedly) and their sidekicks are trying to put the world back together. Kid Vigilante and his crew are desperate to return order through whatever means necessary, but their toll is high. They have already lost numerous members of their group, and their activities are questionable at best, their morals and humanity seemingly slipping away with every horrible act that they have to commit. The sidekicks don't know that the American Spirit (also, the President) has killed their parents (as seen in issue 3), and has plans for them.
I'm missing some plot points with that summary, but you'll have to buy the book for them, bringing us to issue #4. Ivan, a magician of sorts, injects himself with something we've seen him inject the Olympian with in issue #3, which causes him to implode and bleed out everywhere while having visions. The visions are vague and encapsulated in bright golden bubbles. Ivan's visions end in our first shot of the adult heroes, just before they croak it (it appears that way) and Ivan's astral self stabs the hell out of the vision bubble with them in it. There is a lot of foreshadowing going on in this issue, and I can only hope that this pays off big in upcoming issues, because I have no idea what it means.
Meanwhile, Kid Vigilante and Jack Fearless have a conversation about a dead compatriot, and KV is increasingly rabid about his doing what he has to do in order to make the world right. Fearless betrays KV and we get the moment that was foreshadowed in issue #2, which still managed to disturb the hell out of me. Landry Q. Walker is setting up a tangled plot in Danger Club and I have no idea where he is going from here, and that is exciting for me. I am totally going to pick up the next issue just to see where the hell they can go from here.
Eric Jones and Michael Drake, can I just say that you guys are KILLING on Danger Club. Mister Drake, your colors are out of this world. Mister Jones, your storytelling is grand. Keep it up and I'll keep coming back.
Sean Phillips is fast becoming one of my favorite artists, and I don't know why it took so long for me to realize that. I always pick up Brubaker/Phillips joints, but lately I have really been into Phillips figure work, his character work and his storytelling ability. Phillips is top notch, and 6/8 of the reason why I pick up Fatale. Also, Phillips covers on Fatale have been devastatingly good design work, their stark white border mixed with stunning colors and (most often) a singular figure in a dramatic pose.
Scaring someone with static images is a truly hard thing to do. You have to create the right atmosphere, you have to have a buildup, and than you have to deliver some truly creepy shit. Fatale and Rachel Rising (which I reviewed last week) are some of the only comics that have managed to do this to me, and Fatale #8 managed to get a good rise out of me. It was the interlude that did it, first the dream sequence as setup and than a fanged woman beating a man with his prosthetic leg. Sound comical when I write it, but Phillips killed the panels, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.
In all honesty, I have to reread Fatale a couple of times to understand what the fuck was going on in the first arc (already read it two times), but the second arc has been quite enjoyable with the sixties/seventies vibe, the insane snuff film, and the cult. Jo is an interesting character to follow, a mystical woman that is destined to always be the femme fatale, breaking hearts and causing death wherever she goes. Brubaker is setting up a conflict that is sure to end in an explosive way, but it is the getting there that is all the fun. Cult sacrifices, sex...and more. What else could you be looking for in a comic? For more insight into the book listen the Word Balloon's past couple episodes and the Nerdists Writers Panel. Ed details some the evolution of the book and goes into some depth about the characters and their motivations, especially Jo's.
The colors by Dave Stevens are...breath-taking. Steven's palette on this issue is mute and moody, with the odd exception to accentuate blood, gore and mystery. Steven's rendering within Phillips shadowy figures is nothing short of a wonder, his mastery is evident in every panel.
This book has been an interesting read so far and I am interested to see where it goes. Keep up the good work guys.
And with that I am out,
Martin
So, I 've got a really small stack today, two books: Danger Club #4 and Fatale #8.
Danger Club has been anything but a normal superhero comic book. Imagine if you took the characters from the Lord of the Flies and put them in superhero costumes, that is what Danger Club reminds me of. All the adult superheroes in Danger Club have all died in space (reportedly) and their sidekicks are trying to put the world back together. Kid Vigilante and his crew are desperate to return order through whatever means necessary, but their toll is high. They have already lost numerous members of their group, and their activities are questionable at best, their morals and humanity seemingly slipping away with every horrible act that they have to commit. The sidekicks don't know that the American Spirit (also, the President) has killed their parents (as seen in issue 3), and has plans for them.
I'm missing some plot points with that summary, but you'll have to buy the book for them, bringing us to issue #4. Ivan, a magician of sorts, injects himself with something we've seen him inject the Olympian with in issue #3, which causes him to implode and bleed out everywhere while having visions. The visions are vague and encapsulated in bright golden bubbles. Ivan's visions end in our first shot of the adult heroes, just before they croak it (it appears that way) and Ivan's astral self stabs the hell out of the vision bubble with them in it. There is a lot of foreshadowing going on in this issue, and I can only hope that this pays off big in upcoming issues, because I have no idea what it means.
Meanwhile, Kid Vigilante and Jack Fearless have a conversation about a dead compatriot, and KV is increasingly rabid about his doing what he has to do in order to make the world right. Fearless betrays KV and we get the moment that was foreshadowed in issue #2, which still managed to disturb the hell out of me. Landry Q. Walker is setting up a tangled plot in Danger Club and I have no idea where he is going from here, and that is exciting for me. I am totally going to pick up the next issue just to see where the hell they can go from here.
Eric Jones and Michael Drake, can I just say that you guys are KILLING on Danger Club. Mister Drake, your colors are out of this world. Mister Jones, your storytelling is grand. Keep it up and I'll keep coming back.
Sean Phillips is fast becoming one of my favorite artists, and I don't know why it took so long for me to realize that. I always pick up Brubaker/Phillips joints, but lately I have really been into Phillips figure work, his character work and his storytelling ability. Phillips is top notch, and 6/8 of the reason why I pick up Fatale. Also, Phillips covers on Fatale have been devastatingly good design work, their stark white border mixed with stunning colors and (most often) a singular figure in a dramatic pose.
Scaring someone with static images is a truly hard thing to do. You have to create the right atmosphere, you have to have a buildup, and than you have to deliver some truly creepy shit. Fatale and Rachel Rising (which I reviewed last week) are some of the only comics that have managed to do this to me, and Fatale #8 managed to get a good rise out of me. It was the interlude that did it, first the dream sequence as setup and than a fanged woman beating a man with his prosthetic leg. Sound comical when I write it, but Phillips killed the panels, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.
In all honesty, I have to reread Fatale a couple of times to understand what the fuck was going on in the first arc (already read it two times), but the second arc has been quite enjoyable with the sixties/seventies vibe, the insane snuff film, and the cult. Jo is an interesting character to follow, a mystical woman that is destined to always be the femme fatale, breaking hearts and causing death wherever she goes. Brubaker is setting up a conflict that is sure to end in an explosive way, but it is the getting there that is all the fun. Cult sacrifices, sex...and more. What else could you be looking for in a comic? For more insight into the book listen the Word Balloon's past couple episodes and the Nerdists Writers Panel. Ed details some the evolution of the book and goes into some depth about the characters and their motivations, especially Jo's.
The colors by Dave Stevens are...breath-taking. Steven's palette on this issue is mute and moody, with the odd exception to accentuate blood, gore and mystery. Steven's rendering within Phillips shadowy figures is nothing short of a wonder, his mastery is evident in every panel.
This book has been an interesting read so far and I am interested to see where it goes. Keep up the good work guys.
And with that I am out,
Martin
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Little Note To Warren Ellis
My thing with Warren Ellis started with this thread:
You can see the full thread here.
CommentAuthor mjmartinejohn
You can see the full thread here.
CommentAuthor mjmartinejohn
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
So, you go to the comic shop and pick up your pull list, but its a crappy week. So you go and look at the racks to see what is happening in the world of small indie superhero comics. You see an amazing cover, great art and notice that it is a limited series. Not a big investment in the long run. Might be a cool little story. You pick it up...
What do you want to see out of an indie superhero comic book? Black and white? Color? More pages? Extras? The start of a letters page?
I'm trying to see what format would be good for my comic and I know that Erik and his fans have been discussing this lately.
Would you just like to pick up a completely new black and white graphic novel for a low price?
Any suggestions? Would you want a digest size or something like a Conan magazine from the eighties?
Do you even give a shit.-
- CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeApr 1st 2010
Thanks guys. I'll see you on the comic stands.
No, I'm thinking I probably won't. -
No Warren, because I'll send you a copy personally.
-
CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeApr 1st 2010
I will, I'm afraid, be hugely surprised if you make it to publication. The last 10/20 years are littered with the corpses of indie superhero comics, and the fact that you don't have strong ideas about format right out of the gate indicates that you don't really have a solid sense of what you're doing. Format and content are indivisible, and one really does define and dictate to the other.
You can't crowdsource your own creative intent. -
I agree with that.
Seeing that I am still in the planning stages on certain parts of this endeavor, and that the comics industry seems to be in flux as of print, web, etc. I am curious as what people would like to see. I have written my project as a serialized, twelve issue series that will be published as a floppy. I am going to include a who's who page, a news report page, and a couple of pinups. Each issue will run twenty-two pages of story with the added bonuses. The first three issues will be given away free on the web because I like the idea of people seeing, reading and talking about it. It will be in color.
If I hadn't of posted this, there would be a couple of ideas that I hadn't come up with myself.
I am thinking that no publisher in their right minds would touch twelve issues from an unknown. I am hoping that they shit their pants when they see the art (which is amazing).
If this doesn't work I have a four issue series that I am going to shop around. Once again superheroes. Once again an indie.
If I understand correctly you started out with Lazarus Churchyard. Not exactly mainstream, but with an amazing artist attached.
That was an anthology, no?
Anywho, I will see you on stands, just so that I can prove you wrong. And you will get a copy in the mail, even if we're ten years older by the time you get it.
Thanks for the incentive.-
James Puckett.
Nice idea. It has me thinking about whether I want to produce this completely online. I know I have enough money for one full issue. For complete control I could get this online, and see whether or not I could make enough in donations or something in order to have the second issue made. And so on. All I would need is a domain, the software to crank it, and so on.
What I receive from this. Something to show others (editors, etc.), and I can make it my way.
Oh, and as for the Lazarus Churchyard comment, I was slightly off-kilter because one of my favorite writers just told me I couldn't get me comic made. It hit me quite hard, and I didn't know what quite to think.
But it all led to some new thought in how to get this out there, and how to get some recognition in this industry.
Now the question changes. Does this sound like an interesting way to pursue things? I think it does, and I think it is what I will do. And I can follow it up with a graphic novel if I can build enough of an audience to see print.
Thanks for the different thoughts.-
- CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeApr 1st 2010
If I understand correctly you started out with Lazarus Churchyard. Not exactly mainstream, but with an amazing artist attached.
That was an anthology, no?
A newsstand anthology, yes, called BLAST. I knew the parameters going in - six pages a month, page size, etc. They bought the script first, and then we looked around for an artist to fit it.
I have written my project as a serialized, twelve issue series that will be published as a floppy. I am going to include a who's who page, a news report page, and a couple of pinups. Each issue will run twenty-two pages of story with the added bonuses.
Use "single." Some people treat "floppy" as a perjorative. Sounds like you've scripted the whole thing already. That means you've already taken page size into consideration.
I am thinking that no publisher in their right minds would touch twelve issues from an unknown.
This is very true -- I usually advise against new creators leading with their personal epic, and starting with smaller pieces that are less of an economical risk for the publisher and show you as able to complete something.
If you're already taking the web into account, you might want to further consider "just" doing your project as a webcomic, and using that to shop for a print publisher.
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Costa_k sorry if you were misled. This started as an open question...I wanted to know what people were interested in so that I could get some idea about how to package a comic.
Then it became something else. I am attempting to make a comic. I would like people to read it, and I would like to see it in print. I was set on hitting up publishers for work because I cannot afford to print it myself, but I did not really take the web into consideration. Now that is kind of stupid on my part, considering the ipad, the ipod, comixology, iverse and etc, and this is just what I have learned in the past few hours.
I am an internet person, but I don't have an ipod, or any ithing in fact, just a Dell that I got on the cheap. Now I have a little money that I have borrowed and a little money that I have saved and I have paid for some pages to be made for a story that I have half scripted and plotted. I have written an adventure story that I like, and that has gotten some good feedback from the online communities that I frequent and would like to share it.
My artist is amazing, but I have to pay him, and having taken the leap in spending some money in order to achieve a dream of mine I am considering taking a bigger leap and making a larger investment with little or no return in order to have something to show people.
So through discourse and some small heartbreaks (that I can laugh at now), I have come to the conclusion that the online universe is probably the best place to bring my creation. I have a whole bunch of work ahead of me so that I can get this right.
Once again thanks everyone for your input. See you on the interweb. -
But once I get it published in print I'm sending you a copy Warren.
Before I get any further, let me explain my history with Warren Ellis as a member of his audience. When I was around seventeen I bought issue number 4 (I think) of Transmetropolitan. I was a sullen, lonely teenage boy that listened to too much music and read too many comics. I thought of myself as suicidal and was looking to latch onto anything that moved and I latched onto this book because it was unlike anything I had ever seen. I might have just read Neuromancer, and I might have just read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but I had never thought of what it might be like to smash those two ideas together and add Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail of 72 to the mix as well. I ate that book up, and being such an a dopey-eyed young boy I became a huge fan of Warren Ellis.
With the exception of SVK, some select Marvel projects and Freakangels I have read and owned everything in Warren's catalogue. EVERYTHING.
So, one day I decided to make my own comic, and I had no idea what I was doing. None. I went onto message boards, read books, and the like, trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to do with myself and what format I might like to try it in. I was striking out blind into the wilderness with a match and an idea.
And then the conversation above happened. And I broke a little bit. Warren does give me good advice in the conversation, eventually, but the first comment was staggering. I understand tough love, I use it myself sometimes, but I had a bond to this man's work, and that bond made me snap a little inside. It still hurts as I write this, but this is my last say on the whole thing, my purification from Warren, a bit of a cleansing to say the least.
Why now? Two years after the whole debacle? Well, I am getting rid of my last stack of Warren's comics that have been sitting beside my computer and I am having a hard time doing it. Warren's work is full of bile and intelligence and wonderful ideas. I love his work, I really do. But I am reminded how much someone I idolize let me down in a moment whenever I look at them, or flip through the pages. I've told this story a couple times since then and have been told, "You should never meet your heroes," and that rings true with me. I have never met the man, only had a short online conversation with the fellow, and I don't deign to know him from a hole in the ground, but...
I sent some emails to him since then:
Email #1:
Take a look at the first five issues. I think you might be surprised. And if you are not. Oh well. At least the art is worth looking at.
Thanks for the incentive.
Email #2:
I think I owe you an apology for being a troll. I am sorry for being a dick. I took something you told me to heart, and hurt myself with it and made myself a pest. This is the last you will hear from me.
Email #3:
Warren,
I know that I took what you said on your boards wrong and harassed you about it. I hurt myself with some words I did not read properly, and your advice was solid and something I should have paid attention to, but I stumbled around in the dark and found my way eventually.
I would like to send you a copy of my book, because I am proud of it, and am overly proud in general. You can burn it in a satanic ritual, or just use it as something to light your next cigarette, or read it to your children at bedtime. I self-printed 3oo copies, have it up in various digital places and am still working on volume 2.
I'm a fan and I hate looking at your work and feeling all bittersweet about it. So...it is up to you, but this proud man would like to send you his book, say sorry and get on with his life.
--And I know I totally trolled him on twitter for awhile and I tried to find those tweets, but I couldn't. I wanted to show how irrational I have been about this whole thing, and what an asshole I've been as well.
I really want to take the books out into my backyard and burn them, but I think I'm just going to sell them instead, and hopefully get this out of my head, and move onto something else.
Why write a blog about this? What is the point behind writing this down, making this public? Because it feels real that way, and because in my moment of not-so-rational thinking, on a day that I feel vulnerable, this has bubbled up to the top of the pile and I don't want to hold onto it anymore, I want to cast it off in the most public and stark way that I can, because I can.
I'm opening myself up to ridicule and I'm opening myself up to whatever hurt this could do my career as a comic book creator, but I needed to get this out.
I now understand what words can do to people and to fans of my work. If I have fans I will endeavor to treat them with the utmost respect, keeping in mind that I am human and I have bad days, and so do other people.
So know this Warren, I have my book in three shops right now, they're not selling that well, but I have them on the stands. And in my book I blow the shit out of a ship that I modeled after your Planetary ship, because I am childish and petty, but it felt good at the time.
I took your advice and put the comic up online. I am quite proud of it and we have some loyal readers, people seem to like it. I'm not finished it yet, but I'm going to do it.
Thanks for the work that I read of yours, I enjoyed it. I think I won't read any more of it and after this will finally be able to leave you the fuck alone.
The offer stands if you want that book.
Martin
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