So, a friend of mine recently suggested that I write a blog, or something, explaining why funding my comic, The Pride, on it's new IndieGoGo campaign page is a great idea and how to do it.
The how is simple:
You can either fund via PayPal or balance trasfer. All money that is raised, whether I hit target or not, will get to me. And there are great rewards for doing it: just follow the links or go to Indiegogo and search for 'The Pride', click on the project, and down the right hand side are a number of perks. Select which one you want and the funding amount, and then it's a simple matter of sending payment. Simples!
As for those perks, they are the reason that funding The Pride is a fantastic idea.
All the perks are in US dollars, and as such, if you are outside the US or in the UK like me, the current exchange rate means that the funding amounts are particularly bargainous!
For those who are within the US, not only is this the best and easiest way to ensure you have your copy, as I will send them myself (as we are yet to establish a distribution source/deal out there), the prices are still incredibly low. The whole series is available for $15: now, in the stores, or on my webstore after release, the comic will retail at $5 (including postage). At six issues, that means post-release, the series will cost you $25, so using Indiegogo now you make a great saving. Of course, in the UK it's even better as you'll be paying less than a tenner!
The following is a list showing the Perk cost, the UK exchange rate price, and the estimated Retail Price:-
Perk Option:- Perk Price: UK value: Est. Retail Price
Immortalised in Print! $1 60p -
Copy of Issue #1! $5 £3.03 £3.95/$4 (plus postage)
First Three Issues! $10 £6.07 £11.85/$15 (plus postage)
The Whole Series! $15 £9.10 £23.70/$24 (plus postage)
Signed Pride! $25 £15.17 "
Personal Sketch! $50 £30.35 £43.70/$44 (plus postage)
Art from the Series! $100 £60.69 Well, whatever Gav wants to charge
It's worth noting that signed work or original art could potentially become even more valuable too, if the series does very well, or if myself or my collaborators become more known. So every perk here has fantastic value for money and potential for the future too!
So please, go to Indiegogo and help us get this fantastic, fabulous and diverse comic out to the widest audience possible! All money raised goes into improving distribution and printing more copies! If we can beat target, well, all the better!
Just follow this link, fund and use the social networking links to help spread the word!
http://igg.me/p/37384?a=216477&i=shlk
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Friday, 6 May 2011
Funding THE PRIDE
THE PRIDE needs your help!
The comic is safe, don't worry there. However, funding the production is becoming a little much for me to manage on my payslip alone (I do have to try and live as well). As such, I have set up a new Crowdfunder account for the project.
Crowdfunder is, like the American site Kickstarter, a resource to help raise funds for creative projects by donating what you can towards them and receiving rewards in return if the project is successful. If however the project doesn't reach it's target, then everyone's donations are immediately returned.
I am hoping however that there are enough of you out there who genuinely want to see this project get made on time and be the best it can be. As such, I am relying on your help to raise the funds needed and to spread the word and help us reach target. So please donate what you can, it is so appreciated, you wouldn't believe.
HELP FUND THE PRIDE HERE!
The comic is safe, don't worry there. However, funding the production is becoming a little much for me to manage on my payslip alone (I do have to try and live as well). As such, I have set up a new Crowdfunder account for the project.
Crowdfunder is, like the American site Kickstarter, a resource to help raise funds for creative projects by donating what you can towards them and receiving rewards in return if the project is successful. If however the project doesn't reach it's target, then everyone's donations are immediately returned.
I am hoping however that there are enough of you out there who genuinely want to see this project get made on time and be the best it can be. As such, I am relying on your help to raise the funds needed and to spread the word and help us reach target. So please donate what you can, it is so appreciated, you wouldn't believe.
HELP FUND THE PRIDE HERE!
Monday, 11 April 2011
Kapow Comic Con 2011
This past weekend so the inaugural Kapow Comic Con in Inslington, London, UK. The brainchild of Mark Millar, the living hype-machine-spin-god (imagine that Kirby design for a second, will you?), creator of such high-octane and lauded tales as Wanted and Kick-Ass; this con was supposed to be the UK’s San Diego Comic Con (something which caught the attention and ire of the MCM London Expo). Millar’s stated idea was to create something with importance on the UK con calendar that would see big announcements, previews etc, like the American cons. And from Saturday to Sunday, we got to see if he managed it. In a word: No. Now, I’m gonna get back to this later, but bear with me while I try to review a weekend which has seen a lot of booze in between. Now the con absolutely was a lot of fun. And yes, there were some major announcements indeed. In fact, Millar himself announced four new creator owned series’ each with a stellar artist, like Dave Gibbons, Frank Quitely or Leinil Yu, all of whom were in attendance. We also had Marvel announcing several new projects, and hint at a couple of things that made me personally squee (in fact, my friend and colleague PJ Montgomery was recording podcasts for the Sidekickcast guys, so there’s a good chance you will actually hear that). There was a fantastic turn out of people, and all seemed to be a good and enthusiastic crowd. The energy of the con was high, and it was amazingly well organised for a first time con, though there could stand to be a few improvements. Why doesn’t it match the aim of a UK SDCC? Simple: size. It was nowhere near as big. And the announcements would really need to be a lot bigger and more far reaching. Could this come in Kapow 2? Sure, I daresay in fact it will. But for the size part they’d need a new venue. It would be a shame to lose the Business Design Centre in Islington, as it was a beautiful venue and well-spaced for what was there. But if Millar really wants to hit SDCC sizes, he needs more room to breathe and grow. There were a couple major downsides that I hope will change for future iterations of this con, if it happens again. Firstly, it was terrible for new, small press or indie creators. There were a handful about, to be sure, but tables were incredibly expensive. Many creators from that area I spoke to felt that they weren’t being catered towards, in favour of bigger names and draws, and that’s a shame as the UK indie comic scene is awesome at the moment. So maybe next time something could be done about that. Also, there was no Artists Alley, and most artists at the big signings didn’t have tables. I left with no sketches. This has never happened after a con to me before, so that’s a terrible shame. Maybe halve the size of the IGN arena (which was really unnecessarily sprawling) to include one? Similarly, I only managed to get one signature. The big name signings had to be queued for for ages, and often the creator would only be there for an hour. So fans who wanted to try and see more of the show and not just stand in lines for two days were left in the cold. Giving each of the big name creators an option of their own table too could resolve this. Similarly, whilst queue times were listed on the timetable, they were not enforced. So if you played by the rules, you often found yourself unable to enter the panel you wanted. The Thor and Movie X panels were a sign of this. Finally, I’d argue that the ‘Movie X’ panel was a let down. That it was advertised as the premiere of a major superhero ‘summer blockbuster’ movie had most thinking Thor or X-Men: First Class, only to find on Sunday that the film had an 18 certificate (bye bye, kiddies) and was indeed Super. Whilst this may be a good film (I quite fancy it) it is by no means a ‘summer blockbuster’. Maybe Millar’s talent for hyperbole got away with him there, but the atmosphere at the con in concern of this movie was discernibly disappointed. Now, suggestions for improvements aside, it does not mean it was a bad show. Quite the opposite, it was a great show! It just could be better. And hopefully next year it will…and you can bet I’ll be there.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Buying Stiffs/The Pride
So, just made it a little easier...the button to click to order the comic is now in the sidebar just to the right of this blog.
So nothing to stop you buying the comic. If only for the excellent Gavin Mitchell artwork. Buy it for it is the awesomesauce!
So nothing to stop you buying the comic. If only for the excellent Gavin Mitchell artwork. Buy it for it is the awesomesauce!
Buy the STIFFS/ THE PRIDE PREVIEW comic!
So, we launched this comic at Cardiff International Comics Expo just under two weeks ago now (my that went fast) and it was a great success!
Aside from selling quite a few copies and merchandise at the show, we also got a lot of incredibly positive feedback. Many creators, readers, bloggers, and publishers read the book and congratulated us on creating such a professional looking product, and also bigged up our stories in the book too.
The show was a massive success, and there will be more big news to come from it even yet, so stay tuned.
But since that weekend, I've been wondering how to get the comic out to even more people. Already, it is being stocked by the Comic Guru here in Cardiff, but what about all our supporters from further afield, or who want to buy it from us directly. And so, I think I have come up with the solution:
Below, there is a PayPal button for ordering the comic. The comic costs just £4 with a £1 charge for posting (this will cover postage and packaging). Just keep looking to the bottom of the post, after the comic's Press Release and covers.
Stiffs/ The Pride Preview
Get in on the ground floor with the special preview issue for two South Wales made comic book extravaganzas!
12 page preview for the first issue of Stiffs, the story of Don Daniels, his wise-cracking simian soulmate Kenny McMonkey and his mates as they find their South Wales Valley home secretly surrounded by the undead. So what do they do? Become kick-ass zombie hunters, naturally! But there's more going on in those deep dark woods than any of them is ready for...
Plus, an original, self-contained The Pride story starring FabMan (Tomorrow's Fabulous Man, Today!) in 'It Gets Better'- an important vignette and message from The Pride, an LGBT superteam who are here for everyone! Also, the origins of two of The Pride's core members, Wolf and White Trash!
Stiffs is created and written by Drew Davies, PJ Montgomery and Joe Glass, with art by Gavin Mitchell and Adam Cadwell; The Pride is created and written by Joe Glass with art by Gavin Mitchell and Kris Carter.
These comics projects have something for everyone, and there'll be big things for both in the future! So get involved and see what you can expect ready for the Big Launch of both comics in the latter half of 2011!
Get in on the ground floor with the special preview issue for two South Wales made comic book extravaganzas!
12 page preview for the first issue of Stiffs, the story of Don Daniels, his wise-cracking simian soulmate Kenny McMonkey and his mates as they find their South Wales Valley home secretly surrounded by the undead. So what do they do? Become kick-ass zombie hunters, naturally! But there's more going on in those deep dark woods than any of them is ready for...
Plus, an original, self-contained The Pride story starring FabMan (Tomorrow's Fabulous Man, Today!) in 'It Gets Better'- an important vignette and message from The Pride, an LGBT superteam who are here for everyone! Also, the origins of two of The Pride's core members, Wolf and White Trash!
Stiffs is created and written by Drew Davies, PJ Montgomery and Joe Glass, with art by Gavin Mitchell and Adam Cadwell; The Pride is created and written by Joe Glass with art by Gavin Mitchell and Kris Carter.
These comics projects have something for everyone, and there'll be big things for both in the future! So get involved and see what you can expect ready for the Big Launch of both comics in the latter half of 2011!
Sunday, 5 December 2010
The Pride
Hey all,
I've decided to take some time out and write an introductory blog to my comic book project, The Pride, written by yours truly (no...no, I meant me....ass!) and with art once again by the excellent and ever impressive Gavin Mitchell.
Basically, the idea for the comic started forming in my head all those years ago, through thedeepest mists of time, when once I, yes, dear reader, I was but a younling of around 16 years of age.
During my formative experiences as a gay man (I know, I didn't know either, it's such a surprise, isn't it?), I also rediscovered my love of all things comic books and superhero mostly in the form of Generation X and the larger X-Men series of comics. Now, these I reckon were really helpful to me, being as they are about people who are different, hated and persecuted because of those differences, and really just want to live their lives, and maybe even do some good while they're here.
But what bugged me even then was that although the characters and their struggles were certainly metaphorically akin to the experiences of the gay community, none of them were actually gay (I had yet to discover Northstar at this time, mostly becausehe wasn't really in much of anything at the time...kind like how he's handled now really). And I wondered, what if there was a superhero team where they were all gay. The X-Men are tied together by a similar experience and nature, and so what if this superhero team were the same; joined together by their mutual sexuality, and wanting to change the world (or it's perceptions at least).
It kind of stayed there, in the back of my head, building, forming, changing and bubbling, but I never really brought it out much as I worried about who would read it. Was there enough of a market for a comic about gay superheroes?
But then two things happened that made me change gears and go for it: firstly, my friend and colleague Drew Davies read the script for the first issue and liked it. He said he got it, and encouraged me to pursue it. This was hugely encouraging because Drew is straight; a straight man read it and liked it.
Secondly, I came to realise that I just wanted to tell the story. So whatever happens, it will be out there. And maybe it'll do well, maybe it won't. But maybe some young guy struggling to come to terms with his sexuality will read it and find characters like he is, and that he can on some level look up to.
So that was kind of my impetus to get cooking with the book. That I wanted it to be a story that anyone can read, regardless of sexuality, gender, whatever, and see something of their own problems in there. See characters that are heroic, funny, powerful, kick-ass and at times vulnerable, that just happen to be gay.
Sure, I will touch on 'gay issues' (this is one of the other things which occassionally bugs me about comics, they have the chance to tackle real issues and sometimes they skirt around them), but hopefully in a way that everyone can understand, relate to, and empaphise with...where they are just 'issues'.
But that's kind of it: that's the ideas that gave birth to The Pride.
Now, I'll let you in on the upcoming plans (*squee* etc etc )
The Pride will have it's first main story arc taking place in a six issue run, probably initially self-published, but I hope that a publisher will pick it up at some point, so I can reach a wider audience. If you work for a publisher and like the sound of what I'm trying to do, I'm happy to pitch.
The first arc is called 'I Need A Hero' and tells the story of Fabman as he forms the titular team, with a mission of just doing some good and hopefully changing how their seen in a world where LGBT heroes are treated ever so slightly like a joke. I promise comedy, drama and action, because that is when a comic is at it's best.
Hopefully, the first issue can be seen at some time in 2011.
As a primer for the series, there will be a six-page primer story that I'm gonna keep my hat on a little longer. I was recently inspired to tell this tale, and I think Gav's putting some great work into it, so I'm hoping you'll all like it.
Finally, again as a primer, each character will be getting a one page Origin or Primer story, to help people get a feel for the characters and touch on their origins. Each of these will be handled by a different artist, and I'll reveal each as I reveal more about the characters in the coming weeks.
Hopefully, these will make up a small Primer issue, that will be released at the Cardiff International Comic Expo on February 26th 2011.
As always, for more updates on the comic, stay tuned to www.facebook.com/ThePrideComic and press the 'Like' button.
Well, that's it for tonight! Bye for now! x
Monday, 22 November 2010
Thought Bubble 2010
So, this past weekend I attended the Thought Bubble one day comics festival in Leeds, UK. With me I had the ever creative and ever English (except when he's Welsh) PJ Montgomery (I am NOT his sidekick), and later in the day I was joined by the incredibly talented Gavin Mitchell and his missus, Leanne (lovely girl).
The idea behind going was not only to have a weekend to just geek out at the awesome comics, fanboy gush over creators and generally spend all my money on all things comic books. No no, the idea was also to meet up with various creators we'd been getting to know, network and schmooze and maybe even spread the word on our comic, Stiffs (and maybe a little of The Pride too).
The idea behind going was not only to have a weekend to just geek out at the awesome comics, fanboy gush over creators and generally spend all my money on all things comic books. No no, the idea was also to meet up with various creators we'd been getting to know, network and schmooze and maybe even spread the word on our comic, Stiffs (and maybe a little of The Pride too).
So really, it was a mix of business and pleasure, and you know what, it was rather brilliant for both.
(I also had to pick up some Christmas presents for myself from my mother, to be wrapped and given back to me on Christmas Day. What I managed to get was an original page by Marc Ellerby for his Phonogram: The Singles Club story and a canvas print of a cutesy Batman by Dave Evans Illustration)
Merry Christmas to me!
Me and Paddy went up the night before and stayed with our friends Dave and Lolli, who live in Huddersfield (big thank you for their hospitality). First thing on the Saturday morning, we made our way to Leeds, and quickly found ourselves at the Royal Armories Hall, next to Savilles, and joined the MASSIVE queue of people waiting to get in.
It was awesome to see the con looking so busy, and everyone in the crowd so eager to get in. The air was generally that of excitement, and when the doors eventually opened we began pouring in at a steady pace. Me and Paddy got ourselves sorted, and made our way inside.
Now, I've been to Thought Bubble once before, back in 2008. Amazingly, I thought the main hall looked bigger. I don't know how exactly they managed it, but it just did. The number of people exhibiting ther wares seemed to have vastly increased, as did the number of fans pouring through the doors. By the time Paddy and I were inside, it was already heaving with people. Also, there seemed to be more cosplayers than I ever rightly recall seeing in one place at any time, ranging from genuinely good, well thought out costumes; to the utterly awful, looking like they knocked something up in the space of five minutes when they rolled out of bed in the morning. At any rate, all seemed to be having the time of their lives.
We made a quick lap of the hall, getting our bearings, seen as we had just narrowly missed out on the first panel we wanted to attend due to our getting through the doors a little late. Wasn't long before we saw one of the first guys we wanted to see, as it would be Paddy's first time to meet him, Adam Cadwell.
One snag in getting to him: the queue of people waiting to see John Romita Jr. was sooooooo long that it actually came right up and blogged the tables for Adam, Marc Ellerby, Kayla Hillier and more.
Paddy and I joined the queue as we figured at least then we'd get to Adam, at some point. Of course, by the time we reached his table, Adam had wandered off somewhere. Kayla recognised me though (something I still find hugely odd, the number of people who 'recognise' me from Twitter), and we got talking with her at the table (lovely girl!) and checking out her work and Adam's portfolio showing off Blood Blokes pages. Sadly, BB wasn't ready for TB10 as was hoped, but frankly, the pages he had showing were totally amazing. It looked very slick, totally professional, and frankly the kind of quality you'd expect to see in a big Image book; so waiting a little longer so that it's ready and at suh a high quality will be totally worth it. If you know nothing about Blood Blokes, or Adam and Kayla for that matter, I absolutely suggest checking them out.
Now, we'd had a minor misunderstanding at the doors coming in to the event. Paddy was told that he didn't have access to the afterparty, as the person on the door thought only the first 50 tickets did, and Paddy was number 54. Well, Kayla was very helpful, suggesting people we should talk to, in fact, so was Howard Hardiman, Adam, Marc and more throughout the day. Of course, it turned out to be a mistake, and all was fine, but this was the first sign of the feeling that for me became the over-riding feeling of this con: that the UK independent comic scene is a very close knit, and friendly community.
I should mention actually that we also stopped by Howard Hardiman's table, and saw some of his excellent work too (seriously, pick up a copy of The Lengths you guys). Now, Howard is someone I had spoken to a couple of times on Thingbox, a gay social networking site, and had always found him very friendly there. Awesomely, in person he continued to be totally friendly, sweet and generally an all round nice guy.
We decided to stay in the queue and en route spoke briefly with Anthony Johnston, before getting to John Romita Jr. Now, through a massive oversight, I had not brought anything for him to sign (wtf, right?), but Paddy gushed like a child seeing Father Christmas when he met one of the best creators in comics.
We briefly had a word with Paul Cornell, ever the gentleman and lovely guy, who was signing and giving out free comics, because he's just awesome like that. By this point, it was time to meet up with Gavin.
After finding him (a minor logistical nightmare, as inside the hall we had no reception on our phones), we went back inside to catch up with the now returned Adam, Kayla, and also Marc Ellerby who was also back at his table. Now, we bought a lot of these guys comics, and stayed chatting with them for a little while, because not only are they very talented but they're all really nice people too. And of course Adam had been colouring Gav's work on Stiffs, but this was the first time we'd all met.
I left Adam doing an excellent sketch for me, and went down a table to meet Jamie McKelvie. The man was, well, a busy man, signing loads of his work and chatting with fans. When I handed over my comics for him to sign and he asked my name, he (again, oddly) recognised the name, and tapped up Kieron Gillen (who had just returned from a panel, I think) and told him who I was, who immediately dropped what he was doing and shook my hand, which made me feel like a fanboy again (if Paddy was gushing over JRJr. then I was having a slight fan moment right now). Anyway, again, totally nice guys, and enthusiastic and chatty with fans. I picked up a copy of Phonogram: The Single's Club as although I had all the singles, I wanted to get the trade too, as it's really nicely produced. If you have notread this awesome piece of pop history, go online, find a copy, and buy six. NOW!
(On an aside: I've today realised that with both Phonogram trades I read the Glossary first. No idea why I do that (aside from it being hugely informative and my music knowledge is a little lacking, and incredibly funny too))
Anyway, meeting back up with the guys (and retrieving my sketchpad with a new awesome Cadwell sketch inside) we moved on to a panel that Adam was on, about the ins and outs of Self Publishing. The panel also featured Tom Humberstone (who I'd just picked up all three Solipsistic Pop's from), Liz Lunney, Phillipa Rice, Kristyna Baczynski and Matt Sheret. This was hugely helpful stuff, and if nothing else has made me want to organise some kind of Drink And Draw style event in Cardiff. I'm going to be looking into that now, and will let you all know how that comes along.
Con sketch: Zombie Little Adam by Adam Cadwell
At this point, the group kind of split up for a bit, but not before Gavin showed me the full six pages for a The Pride story, that will hopefully be the first The Pride story available for everyone to check out. The six pages looked fantastic, and I really think that anyone who picks up the comic when it's done will be totally wowed by the fantastic work Gavin is putting into it. If only my words can live up to those pages!
During this time, me and Paddy continued exploring and doing some fanboy style stuff, mostly getting sketches or signatures (I sadly only managed to get two sketches, Adam's and an excellent Generation X's Chamber sketch done by Becky Cloonan). Then, it was time for me and Paddy to get interviewed.
Becky Cloonan with her skecth's of 'Generation X's Chamber she did for me.
Yup, we were interviewed by Sidekickcast guys about Stiffs. It was a little weird, being interviewed about a book that wasn't out there yet, but also totally cool too. As soon as I hear anything about when that interview is available for listening, I'll let you know.
Meeting back up with Gav, we dived back into the con to continue signature hunting, before the day finally drew to a close. The day was totally fantastic, really useful and fun for us in terms of what we were planning and want to do with our comics.We checked out the afterparty in the night too, meeting up with the guys from Dead Star Publishing, and meeting new people as well, in the form of April Nash and Rhiannon Lucy May. In fact, I cannot possibly recount the host of new people I met (as my memory for names is pretty dire, plus I was pretty drunk by this point).
But the afterparty served to exemplify again exactly how I felt about the con and the UK comics scene: it's a community. And one I loved, and I embrace, and oh my god, I have found my place! It's awesome. I mean, anywhere I can be stood at a bar, listening as the theme to Quantum Leap comes on and then wind up having a huge conversation with a random stranger girl about QL and how exactly did it end, is an awesome community in my book.
We sadly didn't get much time to dance to awesome DJ sets being let out through the speakers, as our train back to Huddersfield was fast approaching. So after mingling at Warp Speed and saying a quick, slurry, drunken 'Hey!' to Adam, Marc and Howard, mine and Paddy's Thought Bubble 2010 was over.
Or sort of, anyway. End of the day, we met a lot of cool new people, got out a lot of info about the comics to such people, and also learned a great deal which we can now work on in our own efforts to get something out on that scene, and properly become a part of that community.
The biggest thing I think we learned is to stop freaking out about our comics and getting them out to publishers etc. To just try it, to put stuff out on our own terms, whatever that may be, and see how it goes. Learn from the mistakes, but have the courage to make them, and to realise that a comic as an artefact of art can be anything, whether it be a glossy American styled floppy, to a photocopied table napkin with a narrative. It's just a matter of DOING IT and putting it out there.
So thanks to everyone we met at Thought Bubble 2010, and thanks to the organisers for putting on a great show! Look forward to seeing you all next year, and hey, maybe next time we'll have a table too.
Sunday, 10 October 2010
The Pride Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=158805490809339
Follow the link to join the Facebook group for my upcoming comic project, The Pride.
Have you ever been sick of being misrepresented? Of having no one like you to look up to? Have you ever wanted to change everything?
Well, FabMan has. In a world populated by superpowers, the superhero is common. Sadly for FabMan (Tomorrow’s Fabulous Man, Today), he feels a deep schism in the representation of his community, his own heroic exploits being presented as just big jokes in the news.
Wanting to fight for change, he forms PRIDE, the world’s premier LGBT supergroup. Not a gay superteam, just a team where most members are LGBT. Not exactly receiving the desired response, the group faces opposition from the confrontational Justice Division, more aggressive misrepresentation by the media and are then taken advantage of in the plans of the nefarious Reverend. After a serious trial by fire, the team find themselves the only super team in the world capable of stopping The Reverend’s diabolical plot for world domination.
Join FabMan, Wolf, Sapphire, Frost, Twink, Bear, Angel and White Trash on their mission to help people and improve LGBT representation in the process.
The Pride is a six issue comic book project from writer Joe Glass and artist Gavin Mitchell.
Looking for a publisher at this time.
Follow the link to join the Facebook group for my upcoming comic project, The Pride.
Have you ever been sick of being misrepresented? Of having no one like you to look up to? Have you ever wanted to change everything?
Well, FabMan has. In a world populated by superpowers, the superhero is common. Sadly for FabMan (Tomorrow’s Fabulous Man, Today), he feels a deep schism in the representation of his community, his own heroic exploits being presented as just big jokes in the news.
Wanting to fight for change, he forms PRIDE, the world’s premier LGBT supergroup. Not a gay superteam, just a team where most members are LGBT. Not exactly receiving the desired response, the group faces opposition from the confrontational Justice Division, more aggressive misrepresentation by the media and are then taken advantage of in the plans of the nefarious Reverend. After a serious trial by fire, the team find themselves the only super team in the world capable of stopping The Reverend’s diabolical plot for world domination.
Join FabMan, Wolf, Sapphire, Frost, Twink, Bear, Angel and White Trash on their mission to help people and improve LGBT representation in the process.
The Pride is a six issue comic book project from writer Joe Glass and artist Gavin Mitchell.
Looking for a publisher at this time.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
Comics Pile Specal - X-Men: Second Coming
Tweeview:- "X-Men:SecondComing: A classic style X-Men event, done on a grand scale with some epic moments. Art is largely great"
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Okay, unlike my other reviews where I do my best to avoid spoilers, I am just not going to bother here. Firstly because it would be next to impossible. Secondly, I'm reviewing the collected Hardcover edition of this event, and so there's little chance that you wouldn't know the key points and major outcomes if you're a comic fan, especially if you're an X-Men fan.
So here's your warning, here be spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, and have somehow remained so still, then don't bother reading this review.
Okay, now that they're gone, I'll begin.
X-Men: Second Coming is the third part in a trilogy of events that started with epic, game-changing Messiah CompleX, continued through the X-Force/Cable event Messiah War, and now concludes, as the 'mutant messiah' baby Hope, now a fully grown young woman, returns to the present with her guardian and father figure, Cable.
The story encompasses a vast range of the X-camp, bu mainly focuses on Hope and Cable, Scott Summers, and X-Force. The rest of the X-Men finally learn of the murderous team formed by Cyclops for covert wetworks missions, and some of the initial story points deal with the fallout of this.
Now, on the internet while the series was being released weekly across Uncanny X-Men, X-Men Legacy, New Mutants and X-Force, some fans seemed upset by some points in this series, especially some of the major deaths. I'll go into these individually, but suffice to say, the X-Men find themselves at war, literally, and if there had been no deaths at all it would have been a let-down and would have ruined any idea of realism and drama in the story. The fact that there are also a fair number of mutilations in this series I take with a mixed bag...it kind of makes sense that even some survivors would be forever scarred in some way, but it also feels gratuitous and unnecessary at certain junctures.
Onto the plot. Scripting duties are shared out between Matt Fraction, Mike Carey, Zeb Wells and Chris Yost and Craig Kyle. They work well together; for the most part it's hard to tell who's writing which chapters, though Fraction and Carey stand out most as they have some of the most distinctive dialogue to give the characters. The whole piece kind of feels like a Yost and Kyle story, and feels very much like a wider scale X-Force adventure, which makes sense given the villains and the revelation of the team.
However, no matter how vast this story is, and it is vast, the revelation of the X-Force group and the disparate reactions of other X-Men feel ultimately unresolved and incomplete. It would have been nice to see Cyclops having to deal with it more, maybe even facing more dissension in the ranks, but obviously the main point of the story is finding out what Hope is capable of an if she is indeed the messiah they all hope for.
My other quibble with the plot is the use and portrayal of Bastion. Now, Operation: Zero Tolerance was one of the first major crossover X-Men events that I ever read, and was able to get in on the ground floor on, reading it as it progressed in the American issues. Bastion is frightening in his zealotry and being the embodiment of some of the worst features of humanity, despite not actually being human himself. In Second Coming however, he is all machine, and there is nothing of the cool terrifying sentience of the original Bastion here, except in maybe one or two scenes handled by Fraction and Carey, and also at the very end.
As much as I realise that he was merged with a Nimrod unit, it felt a shame that the lead villain was essentially a computer intelligence and came across as such. Luckily, Bastion's cadre of fascists and anti-mutant hate mongers more than make up for it.
Which kind of brings me to why this is a great, classic X-Men storyline, done in the classic vein. This story feels very much like the culmination of decades of stories about the X-Men facing off against a humanity that would rather see them dead. This is a story about the hate and bigotry that those that are different face, and the dark futures that hatred and genocide spawn. And when, ultimately, the forces of the oppressed rally together, not just saving themselves but also the normal, average people around them, it feels like a fitting end to those stories, and that the X-Men can finally move on.
Grant Morrison kind of started doing something similar in his seminal New X-Men run. His stories were still the classic X-Men stories about bigotry and minority groups, but it was told from a different angle; the minority group culture becoming mainstream, the 'coming out of the closet' and rallying Rights movements. But they were all still essentially 'classic' stories; there was a bigotry one, a genocide one, a space one and a dark future one.
Here however, the story ends with a sense that these kinds of tales may finally be put to rest, and that the stories will move forward. Yes, the X-Men will continue to face those that would destroy them, but the motivations of these villains may be different now, as the X-Men finally finish off the threat of bigotry against them.
All in all, I loved this story. It was great to read, and had a wonderful end that felt like the future for the series held so many different possibilities. But there were those that weren't so keen, and the main reason is the two major deaths of popular characters. I'm now going to go into them, so last warning, if you don't want to know, do not read on.
The first major death was the sad loss of Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler has been a major part of the X-Men cast for decades in the comics, and was always a firm fan favourite. He was also the heart and spirit of the group, with his deeply moving religious struggles, and he was also a symbol of innocence for the X-Men in how he made everything seem like an adventure and always seemed to be having fun.
He had however been a little out of the spotlight lately, appearing sporadically in the comics in maybe an arc or odd issue. Many fans felt that he was brought into the spotlight in this series just to be a high profile death, and I can see why they could feel this way. As I mentioned, he'd barely been touched upon and had little in the way of a fully formed character arc in some time, only to be brought in as the voice of conscience and innocence for the team, and then be lost.
I think it is a shame that the character has been in the shadows for so long only to come to die at this point, but frankly, it couldn't really have been anyone else. After finding out about X-Force, Nightcrawler is shocked and appalled, but continues on like a good soldier, and he seems to struggle with the knowledge. Sadly, we don't see much of this struggle but it is implied, and well it should be. The death of Nightcrawler thus signals a loss of innocence for the team as they realise that they too can be capable of murder, and all mourn the loss of this innocence. Ultimately, this reignites the sense of moral conscience in all the team, which comes into play at the epilogue; and it also serves to bring Wolverine back to the point of nearly ever-present murderous rage that made him an unstable and interesting character to begin with.
The second major death was Cable. However, with the death of Cable I can see why many fans were left cold by it. It was badly telegraphed not just in the early chapters of the story but also in the promotional material that Marvel were putting out before the story started. As a result, his death was obvious and felt like a mere formality to get on with the story. Thus, Cable's death, though important and emotionally motivating for the characters, feels trivialised and inevitable to the readers.
I would have to say that this may not be the fault of the writers, but maybe higher up within Marvel. If the promotional material didn't make it so blatant, maybe the telegraphing wouldn't have seemed so obvious, and Cable's death may have struck an emotional chord with readers too.
However, all in all, the plot is damn near perfect. It's vast, spread out, and yet urgent, and feels like the ultimate showdown it should be. Hell, they could have easily made this the end of the X-Men entirely if they had so decided.
As for the art, the artistic chores are also spread out between Terry Dodson, Ibraim Roberson, Greg Lad and Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. There are also bookends to the series by Stuart Immonen, David Finch, and Esad Ribic, and a wonderful little assist in one issue by Lan Medina and Nathan Fox.
As a whole, the art is great, and everyone for the most part is one the top of their game. But as you can probably tell from my choice of words, there is a weak link.
Ibraim Roberson's art is nice, straightforward and tells the story perfectly. He makes an excellent month-by-month artist. Sadly, compared to the other artists though, his art feels the least accomplished and thought out, and sometimes looks static and cold. There's a definite sense of one to watch here, but he doesn't feel up to his A game yet, unlike the others.
Now, I bet some of you thought I was going to say the weak link was Greg Land. I normally agree with the internet folks who like to diss Land's work for it's gratuitous use of referencing, in particular when he appears to be simply tracing from pictures (worse yet when he appears to be tracing from porn pictures). For example, Land's work on major Ultimate Marvel event, Supreme Power, was filled with so many porno style faces; all women had a 'Cock goes where?' expression, and all men had a 'eeech, cummming!' look, it wound up making what was meant to be a serious event come across as a farce. However, here Land serves up some brilliant artwork. There seems little evidence of tracing, rather simple harmless referencing, which all artists do to some extent. His action sequences flow much better, and frankly it's some of the nicest work he's put out in ages.
Terry Dodson's more stylised cartoonish style manages to be very different yet fit wonderfully, and looks as gorgeous as ever. And Mike Choi and Sonia Oback produce some of their best art ever; in fact, it's them that have to deal with both major death scenes, and they do so with ease. Nightcrawler's is by far the best, handled with such care and warmth as the character deserves.
The assist by Nathan Fox and Lan Medina is a welcome surprise in the latter end of the series, as the more indie comic style art takes us inside the head of Legion and seems like a perfect choice for it. In fact, I could have happily seen more of it!
The book ends too largely look great, with Immonen and Ribic delivering some wonderfully detailed and poignant scenes with ease. David Finch's issue to kick off the event is a little odd to look at sometimes, with some peculiar anatomy and faces, but is largely gritty, powerful and heroic.
Finally, the presentation of the hardcover collection...it's epic. You get loads for your money in this book, not just the main series but some nice extras and all the covers too, all beautifully laid out and reprinted. It's one of the nicest collections this year, only just being trumped by the Batwoman GN released earlier this year.
So all in all, X-Men: Second Coming is a must read, featuring some of the best writers and best artists around, and is well worth forking out the large sum of cash for.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Okay, unlike my other reviews where I do my best to avoid spoilers, I am just not going to bother here. Firstly because it would be next to impossible. Secondly, I'm reviewing the collected Hardcover edition of this event, and so there's little chance that you wouldn't know the key points and major outcomes if you're a comic fan, especially if you're an X-Men fan.
So here's your warning, here be spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, and have somehow remained so still, then don't bother reading this review.
Okay, now that they're gone, I'll begin.
X-Men: Second Coming is the third part in a trilogy of events that started with epic, game-changing Messiah CompleX, continued through the X-Force/Cable event Messiah War, and now concludes, as the 'mutant messiah' baby Hope, now a fully grown young woman, returns to the present with her guardian and father figure, Cable.
The story encompasses a vast range of the X-camp, bu mainly focuses on Hope and Cable, Scott Summers, and X-Force. The rest of the X-Men finally learn of the murderous team formed by Cyclops for covert wetworks missions, and some of the initial story points deal with the fallout of this.
Now, on the internet while the series was being released weekly across Uncanny X-Men, X-Men Legacy, New Mutants and X-Force, some fans seemed upset by some points in this series, especially some of the major deaths. I'll go into these individually, but suffice to say, the X-Men find themselves at war, literally, and if there had been no deaths at all it would have been a let-down and would have ruined any idea of realism and drama in the story. The fact that there are also a fair number of mutilations in this series I take with a mixed bag...it kind of makes sense that even some survivors would be forever scarred in some way, but it also feels gratuitous and unnecessary at certain junctures.
Onto the plot. Scripting duties are shared out between Matt Fraction, Mike Carey, Zeb Wells and Chris Yost and Craig Kyle. They work well together; for the most part it's hard to tell who's writing which chapters, though Fraction and Carey stand out most as they have some of the most distinctive dialogue to give the characters. The whole piece kind of feels like a Yost and Kyle story, and feels very much like a wider scale X-Force adventure, which makes sense given the villains and the revelation of the team.
However, no matter how vast this story is, and it is vast, the revelation of the X-Force group and the disparate reactions of other X-Men feel ultimately unresolved and incomplete. It would have been nice to see Cyclops having to deal with it more, maybe even facing more dissension in the ranks, but obviously the main point of the story is finding out what Hope is capable of an if she is indeed the messiah they all hope for.
My other quibble with the plot is the use and portrayal of Bastion. Now, Operation: Zero Tolerance was one of the first major crossover X-Men events that I ever read, and was able to get in on the ground floor on, reading it as it progressed in the American issues. Bastion is frightening in his zealotry and being the embodiment of some of the worst features of humanity, despite not actually being human himself. In Second Coming however, he is all machine, and there is nothing of the cool terrifying sentience of the original Bastion here, except in maybe one or two scenes handled by Fraction and Carey, and also at the very end.
As much as I realise that he was merged with a Nimrod unit, it felt a shame that the lead villain was essentially a computer intelligence and came across as such. Luckily, Bastion's cadre of fascists and anti-mutant hate mongers more than make up for it.
Which kind of brings me to why this is a great, classic X-Men storyline, done in the classic vein. This story feels very much like the culmination of decades of stories about the X-Men facing off against a humanity that would rather see them dead. This is a story about the hate and bigotry that those that are different face, and the dark futures that hatred and genocide spawn. And when, ultimately, the forces of the oppressed rally together, not just saving themselves but also the normal, average people around them, it feels like a fitting end to those stories, and that the X-Men can finally move on.
Grant Morrison kind of started doing something similar in his seminal New X-Men run. His stories were still the classic X-Men stories about bigotry and minority groups, but it was told from a different angle; the minority group culture becoming mainstream, the 'coming out of the closet' and rallying Rights movements. But they were all still essentially 'classic' stories; there was a bigotry one, a genocide one, a space one and a dark future one.
Here however, the story ends with a sense that these kinds of tales may finally be put to rest, and that the stories will move forward. Yes, the X-Men will continue to face those that would destroy them, but the motivations of these villains may be different now, as the X-Men finally finish off the threat of bigotry against them.
All in all, I loved this story. It was great to read, and had a wonderful end that felt like the future for the series held so many different possibilities. But there were those that weren't so keen, and the main reason is the two major deaths of popular characters. I'm now going to go into them, so last warning, if you don't want to know, do not read on.
The first major death was the sad loss of Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler has been a major part of the X-Men cast for decades in the comics, and was always a firm fan favourite. He was also the heart and spirit of the group, with his deeply moving religious struggles, and he was also a symbol of innocence for the X-Men in how he made everything seem like an adventure and always seemed to be having fun.
He had however been a little out of the spotlight lately, appearing sporadically in the comics in maybe an arc or odd issue. Many fans felt that he was brought into the spotlight in this series just to be a high profile death, and I can see why they could feel this way. As I mentioned, he'd barely been touched upon and had little in the way of a fully formed character arc in some time, only to be brought in as the voice of conscience and innocence for the team, and then be lost.
I think it is a shame that the character has been in the shadows for so long only to come to die at this point, but frankly, it couldn't really have been anyone else. After finding out about X-Force, Nightcrawler is shocked and appalled, but continues on like a good soldier, and he seems to struggle with the knowledge. Sadly, we don't see much of this struggle but it is implied, and well it should be. The death of Nightcrawler thus signals a loss of innocence for the team as they realise that they too can be capable of murder, and all mourn the loss of this innocence. Ultimately, this reignites the sense of moral conscience in all the team, which comes into play at the epilogue; and it also serves to bring Wolverine back to the point of nearly ever-present murderous rage that made him an unstable and interesting character to begin with.
The second major death was Cable. However, with the death of Cable I can see why many fans were left cold by it. It was badly telegraphed not just in the early chapters of the story but also in the promotional material that Marvel were putting out before the story started. As a result, his death was obvious and felt like a mere formality to get on with the story. Thus, Cable's death, though important and emotionally motivating for the characters, feels trivialised and inevitable to the readers.
I would have to say that this may not be the fault of the writers, but maybe higher up within Marvel. If the promotional material didn't make it so blatant, maybe the telegraphing wouldn't have seemed so obvious, and Cable's death may have struck an emotional chord with readers too.
However, all in all, the plot is damn near perfect. It's vast, spread out, and yet urgent, and feels like the ultimate showdown it should be. Hell, they could have easily made this the end of the X-Men entirely if they had so decided.
As for the art, the artistic chores are also spread out between Terry Dodson, Ibraim Roberson, Greg Lad and Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. There are also bookends to the series by Stuart Immonen, David Finch, and Esad Ribic, and a wonderful little assist in one issue by Lan Medina and Nathan Fox.
As a whole, the art is great, and everyone for the most part is one the top of their game. But as you can probably tell from my choice of words, there is a weak link.
Ibraim Roberson's art is nice, straightforward and tells the story perfectly. He makes an excellent month-by-month artist. Sadly, compared to the other artists though, his art feels the least accomplished and thought out, and sometimes looks static and cold. There's a definite sense of one to watch here, but he doesn't feel up to his A game yet, unlike the others.
Now, I bet some of you thought I was going to say the weak link was Greg Land. I normally agree with the internet folks who like to diss Land's work for it's gratuitous use of referencing, in particular when he appears to be simply tracing from pictures (worse yet when he appears to be tracing from porn pictures). For example, Land's work on major Ultimate Marvel event, Supreme Power, was filled with so many porno style faces; all women had a 'Cock goes where?' expression, and all men had a 'eeech, cummming!' look, it wound up making what was meant to be a serious event come across as a farce. However, here Land serves up some brilliant artwork. There seems little evidence of tracing, rather simple harmless referencing, which all artists do to some extent. His action sequences flow much better, and frankly it's some of the nicest work he's put out in ages.
Terry Dodson's more stylised cartoonish style manages to be very different yet fit wonderfully, and looks as gorgeous as ever. And Mike Choi and Sonia Oback produce some of their best art ever; in fact, it's them that have to deal with both major death scenes, and they do so with ease. Nightcrawler's is by far the best, handled with such care and warmth as the character deserves.
The assist by Nathan Fox and Lan Medina is a welcome surprise in the latter end of the series, as the more indie comic style art takes us inside the head of Legion and seems like a perfect choice for it. In fact, I could have happily seen more of it!
The book ends too largely look great, with Immonen and Ribic delivering some wonderfully detailed and poignant scenes with ease. David Finch's issue to kick off the event is a little odd to look at sometimes, with some peculiar anatomy and faces, but is largely gritty, powerful and heroic.
Finally, the presentation of the hardcover collection...it's epic. You get loads for your money in this book, not just the main series but some nice extras and all the covers too, all beautifully laid out and reprinted. It's one of the nicest collections this year, only just being trumped by the Batwoman GN released earlier this year.
So all in all, X-Men: Second Coming is a must read, featuring some of the best writers and best artists around, and is well worth forking out the large sum of cash for.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Weekly Comic Pile 23/09/2010
Thor #615 - Matt Fraction (w), PAsqual Ferry (a)
Tweeview: excellent start to new run. Art is superb, characters well rounded, dialogue sparkling. Follows on wonderfully
Matt Fraction's eagerly anticipated run on Thor begins, and it's off to a great start. Obviously, I have been waiting to get my hands on this since Fraction's Thor one shots, which were epic and seemed to really find the voice of the character naturally.
That's continued in this issue. In fact, all the characters feel fully formed, as most of the main cast is given a couple of layers within just one issue, and others seem to have interesting ideas set up before them.
The great thing about this issue if you've already been reading Thor is that it doesn't just start afresh. It builds and flows on organically from what Kieron Gillen has done on the book, including strands and character arcs that Gillen was exploring being continued here.
And yet, it remains a perfect jumping on point for new readers.
The story feels immediately epic and grandiose, whilst being filled with small human moments, and light, well-handled comedy. Easily some of Fraction's best in-house work, much like his run on Invincible Iron Man.
As for the art, Pasqual Ferry knocks it out of the park. Many of the panels and pages feel huge, with large vistas, flowing line work, and excellent story telling. It's topped off by some great colours from Hollingsworth, which feels much more like the colours were lavishly painted on digitally, instead of blocks of colours and tones. In fact, the deftness of the modern 'painting' technique manage to infuse the art with a sense of the new and the old, which is where Thor is always at its best.
The lettering from Workman is a great job, with perhaps onepossible exception. The new villains of the piece all have an odd white fuzzy thing (that's seriously all I can describe it as) in their speech bubbles. I found it so hard to tell what it was or why it would be there that it actually managed to pull me out of the story for a moment. If it turns out that this is on purpose and will be explained later, fair enough, but if it's some kind of artistic license, I really hope they drop it.
Overall though, this book is excellent, easily one of the best picks of my haul this week. In fact, it's only being trumped as my best by one ...story...and it's an odd choice, which I'll be getting to at the end.
True Blood #3 - Alan Ball (w), David Messina (a)
Tweeview: story a little clunky, and art too. It's great when Messina isn't working of photos, but ref'd panels are static
The True Blood comic is an odd thing; I find most liscensed comic books to be odd though. It's hard to tell if we're supposed to consider this canon. Fact is, I'm fairly certian Ball has said it is, but it feels like it shouldn't be.
It's possibly that on a comics page, the characters just don't come across as well as on the screen; dialogue often reads as forced, or plain bad. Similarly, the plot is a little clunky. In this issue, three rednecks appear from seemingly nowhere, and fight sequences end as quickly as they start. And the ending just feels sudden, almost like an 'oops, out of pages, ah well' moment.
However, it has it's moments. Occasionally, the characters feel like the ones we know and love, and in some cases lust for, and the mood and themes match the show well enough.
The art by David Messina is a bit 'clunky' too. The art seems to split into two types: art that is referenced from pictures of the cast and show, and art that is entirely Messina's free work. The free work is excellent, and dynamic, and the movement is palpable. But the referenced panels feel entirely static. They look excellent and spot on for the most part. Only when perhaps a character is smaller in the background to they look completely off.
All in all, this continues to move te story forward at a slow and slightly clunky pace, but it's hardly the worst comic around. I just can't help but feel it would have worked better as a Graphic Novel, and with Messina not referencing so much.
Avengers #5 - Brian Michael Bendis (w), John Romita Jr. (a)
Tweeview: Important plot element added, but otherwise straightforward middle issue. Pacing little too fast. Art is great
The problem with this issue is that it feels like a fairly standard middle of a run issue, but it's issue 5, and it's hard to see how this arc can be wrapped next issue in anything but a breakneck pace.
In fact, that accelerated pace is felt strongly in the last couple of pages of the issue. Bendis' pacing in New Avengers has been proving much better than here sadly.
That being said, it's not a bad issue. It's nostalgically reminiscent of classic Avengers/Marvel stories, with uneasy alliances being heroes and villains, but with Bendis' usual element of intrigue and modernity to it.
The main reason I had for picking this up was the apparantly important double-page spread in the issue hinting at possible future events within Marvel. Now, it by no means feels original: DC have already done this, twice or more, with Rip Hunter's whiteboards. This one equally feels like not just a big important plot element to this arc (though that in itself raises the question of why it's being introduced so late) but will also have intriguing things for fans of the rest of the Marvel Universe. Whether it's worth picking up for the $3.99 price tag if you don't usually read Avengers....probably not. And you certainly couldn't read this issue without the others.
Artwise, Romita Jr. continues to produce some fine work, not his best, but pretty solid, with some fantastic spreads. He feels like a good fit for this book as he can produce good work like this, that can tell a story plainly and well, on a fast turnaround, which frankly this arc certainly needs to keep interest.
Uncanny X-Men #528 - Matt Fraction (w), Whilce Portacio (a)
Tweeview: nice story progression. Finally some Northstar&Dazzler action. Art sometime sparse and but effective
The story of the Five Lights is progressing well. So far, I haven't been that excited wih Fration's X-Men work. It has it's spectacular moments (Utopia) and it has it's slow and not very spectacular moments, not bad, just not amazing (the Sisterhood and Predator X arcs).
However, I think what's needed to properly understand those slow moments is to really view the run so far as a whole. The stories Fraction has been weaving seem to be very different themes than usual X-Men stories: instead of just focusing on how hard it is for people persecuted for being different, we see people and societies struggling with ideas of change. Similarly, the effects of fame and being thrust into the spotlight on these people and groups. This thematically links with what Morrison was doing in his stellar New X-Men run; though unlike Morrison who introduced these themes to look at the same classic X-Men stories from a new angle, Fraction focuses on these new themes with the characters.
Classic style X-Men stories then are now being told in the other X-books, but Uncanny is dealing with a very different theme, and is having to do so on a broad scale, across whole arcs. The book itself is changing just as much as it's dealing with the concept of change.
Thus, if we look at it like that, as well as being a good issue in and off itself with interesting character moments and good progression of individual character arcs and intrigue; it's also a great story progression for the overall theme, especially evidenced in some dialogue beteen Hope and the newest Light, and a scene with Northstar and Dazzler.
And another thing, FINALLY some Northstar/Dazzler action! We got a tease in a previous issue, but since then this 'tag team to watch' have essentially just run around in the background if they appeared at all in the main book. Finally here we see them bantering away at each other, a gay and his glamorous fag hag, as they kick ass! And it's brilliant to see them! There needs to be more. Hell, if it were up to me, they'd get their own mini. But offering the chanceto shine, in Uncanny of all places, is great to see.
The art by Whilce Portacio...well, I'm not the biggest fan of his superhero work. I think he works fine doing grim 'n' gritty and horror, but superhero not so much. But it does the job. The story progression is easy to follow and clear. However, some of his panels and pages are sparse, with blocks of bare colour or characters and action all appearing to one side of the panel. Also, there are a couple of occassions where the anatomy is way off (in one panel, Emma Frost looks like a butch man with fantastic tits). But as I said, it works. It tells the story and does so well, it may nt be the prettiest to have graced the book, but it damn well gets the job done. Plus, it's some of Portacio's best on the title so far, so it feels like he's getting more of a feel for the characters now.
Jimmy Olsen's Big Week: Action Comics Co-Feature part one
Available for free on the DC App - Nick Spencer (w), RB Silva (a)
Tweeview: it's free! It's funny. It's smart. It's pitch perfect. And the art is superb. RB Silva is a revelation!
Now this is the odd one. Odd because this has been my favourite bit of comic book picked up today...and it was done online, or rather on my phone, for free, and is technically a back-up feature, not a main event. Yet it hands down beats the full comics I spent cash on this week.
Jimmy Olsen can be a fun character. Grant Morrison showed how quirky and insane and wonderfully entertaining he can be in All Star Superman....however, in the main DC Universe, he's not handled quite so well lately. In fact, in Countdown he was used pretty badly.
However, Nick Spencer gets him. He gets the concept of following Superman's powerless 'best pal'. And not only does he know what made the concept great and fun and quirky in the past, but he knows how to update it and make it modern yet essentially stay true to the original idea.
Also, the DC Universe finally has it's Chloe Sullivan. She's smart, she's sassy, and she's quite literally Jimmy's answer to Lois Lane. He even gets his answer to Lex Luthor.
And I think that this is going to be one of the fun things about this story: if Superman is meant to make us realise our potential and live our lives a bit more bravely and optimistic like him, then Jimmy Olsen is the Everyman Superman. He may take a little time to realise it, but this guy can save the day when he sets his mind to it.
The Everyman thing is important: we instantly connect with Olsen and root for him, and understand him. He's likeable and geeky and funny, and he's just this gawky adorable guy you wanna see win (but kinda wanna see the mishaps along the way too).
The art is stunning. RB Silva is a revelation to me, being completely unfamiliar with his work. His art looks a cross between Olivier Coipel and Ryan Sook, and all the characters and settings look great! In fact, that's part of what makes this 10-page comic more enjoyable than the full comics; I spent time pouring over each panel admiring the craftsmenship and artistry, on my tiny iPhone screen.
Frankly, as if you really need another reason to be picking up Paul Cornell's Action Comics anyway, but if you still need convincing download this on the DC app and be blown away. A bloody great pick!
Tweeview: excellent start to new run. Art is superb, characters well rounded, dialogue sparkling. Follows on wonderfully
Matt Fraction's eagerly anticipated run on Thor begins, and it's off to a great start. Obviously, I have been waiting to get my hands on this since Fraction's Thor one shots, which were epic and seemed to really find the voice of the character naturally.
That's continued in this issue. In fact, all the characters feel fully formed, as most of the main cast is given a couple of layers within just one issue, and others seem to have interesting ideas set up before them.
The great thing about this issue if you've already been reading Thor is that it doesn't just start afresh. It builds and flows on organically from what Kieron Gillen has done on the book, including strands and character arcs that Gillen was exploring being continued here.
And yet, it remains a perfect jumping on point for new readers.
The story feels immediately epic and grandiose, whilst being filled with small human moments, and light, well-handled comedy. Easily some of Fraction's best in-house work, much like his run on Invincible Iron Man.
As for the art, Pasqual Ferry knocks it out of the park. Many of the panels and pages feel huge, with large vistas, flowing line work, and excellent story telling. It's topped off by some great colours from Hollingsworth, which feels much more like the colours were lavishly painted on digitally, instead of blocks of colours and tones. In fact, the deftness of the modern 'painting' technique manage to infuse the art with a sense of the new and the old, which is where Thor is always at its best.
The lettering from Workman is a great job, with perhaps onepossible exception. The new villains of the piece all have an odd white fuzzy thing (that's seriously all I can describe it as) in their speech bubbles. I found it so hard to tell what it was or why it would be there that it actually managed to pull me out of the story for a moment. If it turns out that this is on purpose and will be explained later, fair enough, but if it's some kind of artistic license, I really hope they drop it.
Overall though, this book is excellent, easily one of the best picks of my haul this week. In fact, it's only being trumped as my best by one ...story...and it's an odd choice, which I'll be getting to at the end.
True Blood #3 - Alan Ball (w), David Messina (a)
Tweeview: story a little clunky, and art too. It's great when Messina isn't working of photos, but ref'd panels are static
The True Blood comic is an odd thing; I find most liscensed comic books to be odd though. It's hard to tell if we're supposed to consider this canon. Fact is, I'm fairly certian Ball has said it is, but it feels like it shouldn't be.
It's possibly that on a comics page, the characters just don't come across as well as on the screen; dialogue often reads as forced, or plain bad. Similarly, the plot is a little clunky. In this issue, three rednecks appear from seemingly nowhere, and fight sequences end as quickly as they start. And the ending just feels sudden, almost like an 'oops, out of pages, ah well' moment.
However, it has it's moments. Occasionally, the characters feel like the ones we know and love, and in some cases lust for, and the mood and themes match the show well enough.
The art by David Messina is a bit 'clunky' too. The art seems to split into two types: art that is referenced from pictures of the cast and show, and art that is entirely Messina's free work. The free work is excellent, and dynamic, and the movement is palpable. But the referenced panels feel entirely static. They look excellent and spot on for the most part. Only when perhaps a character is smaller in the background to they look completely off.
All in all, this continues to move te story forward at a slow and slightly clunky pace, but it's hardly the worst comic around. I just can't help but feel it would have worked better as a Graphic Novel, and with Messina not referencing so much.
Avengers #5 - Brian Michael Bendis (w), John Romita Jr. (a)
Tweeview: Important plot element added, but otherwise straightforward middle issue. Pacing little too fast. Art is great
The problem with this issue is that it feels like a fairly standard middle of a run issue, but it's issue 5, and it's hard to see how this arc can be wrapped next issue in anything but a breakneck pace.
In fact, that accelerated pace is felt strongly in the last couple of pages of the issue. Bendis' pacing in New Avengers has been proving much better than here sadly.
That being said, it's not a bad issue. It's nostalgically reminiscent of classic Avengers/Marvel stories, with uneasy alliances being heroes and villains, but with Bendis' usual element of intrigue and modernity to it.
The main reason I had for picking this up was the apparantly important double-page spread in the issue hinting at possible future events within Marvel. Now, it by no means feels original: DC have already done this, twice or more, with Rip Hunter's whiteboards. This one equally feels like not just a big important plot element to this arc (though that in itself raises the question of why it's being introduced so late) but will also have intriguing things for fans of the rest of the Marvel Universe. Whether it's worth picking up for the $3.99 price tag if you don't usually read Avengers....probably not. And you certainly couldn't read this issue without the others.
Artwise, Romita Jr. continues to produce some fine work, not his best, but pretty solid, with some fantastic spreads. He feels like a good fit for this book as he can produce good work like this, that can tell a story plainly and well, on a fast turnaround, which frankly this arc certainly needs to keep interest.
Uncanny X-Men #528 - Matt Fraction (w), Whilce Portacio (a)
Tweeview: nice story progression. Finally some Northstar&Dazzler action. Art sometime sparse and but effective
The story of the Five Lights is progressing well. So far, I haven't been that excited wih Fration's X-Men work. It has it's spectacular moments (Utopia) and it has it's slow and not very spectacular moments, not bad, just not amazing (the Sisterhood and Predator X arcs).
However, I think what's needed to properly understand those slow moments is to really view the run so far as a whole. The stories Fraction has been weaving seem to be very different themes than usual X-Men stories: instead of just focusing on how hard it is for people persecuted for being different, we see people and societies struggling with ideas of change. Similarly, the effects of fame and being thrust into the spotlight on these people and groups. This thematically links with what Morrison was doing in his stellar New X-Men run; though unlike Morrison who introduced these themes to look at the same classic X-Men stories from a new angle, Fraction focuses on these new themes with the characters.
Classic style X-Men stories then are now being told in the other X-books, but Uncanny is dealing with a very different theme, and is having to do so on a broad scale, across whole arcs. The book itself is changing just as much as it's dealing with the concept of change.
Thus, if we look at it like that, as well as being a good issue in and off itself with interesting character moments and good progression of individual character arcs and intrigue; it's also a great story progression for the overall theme, especially evidenced in some dialogue beteen Hope and the newest Light, and a scene with Northstar and Dazzler.
And another thing, FINALLY some Northstar/Dazzler action! We got a tease in a previous issue, but since then this 'tag team to watch' have essentially just run around in the background if they appeared at all in the main book. Finally here we see them bantering away at each other, a gay and his glamorous fag hag, as they kick ass! And it's brilliant to see them! There needs to be more. Hell, if it were up to me, they'd get their own mini. But offering the chanceto shine, in Uncanny of all places, is great to see.
The art by Whilce Portacio...well, I'm not the biggest fan of his superhero work. I think he works fine doing grim 'n' gritty and horror, but superhero not so much. But it does the job. The story progression is easy to follow and clear. However, some of his panels and pages are sparse, with blocks of bare colour or characters and action all appearing to one side of the panel. Also, there are a couple of occassions where the anatomy is way off (in one panel, Emma Frost looks like a butch man with fantastic tits). But as I said, it works. It tells the story and does so well, it may nt be the prettiest to have graced the book, but it damn well gets the job done. Plus, it's some of Portacio's best on the title so far, so it feels like he's getting more of a feel for the characters now.
Jimmy Olsen's Big Week: Action Comics Co-Feature part one
Available for free on the DC App - Nick Spencer (w), RB Silva (a)
Tweeview: it's free! It's funny. It's smart. It's pitch perfect. And the art is superb. RB Silva is a revelation!
Now this is the odd one. Odd because this has been my favourite bit of comic book picked up today...and it was done online, or rather on my phone, for free, and is technically a back-up feature, not a main event. Yet it hands down beats the full comics I spent cash on this week.
Jimmy Olsen can be a fun character. Grant Morrison showed how quirky and insane and wonderfully entertaining he can be in All Star Superman....however, in the main DC Universe, he's not handled quite so well lately. In fact, in Countdown he was used pretty badly.
However, Nick Spencer gets him. He gets the concept of following Superman's powerless 'best pal'. And not only does he know what made the concept great and fun and quirky in the past, but he knows how to update it and make it modern yet essentially stay true to the original idea.
Also, the DC Universe finally has it's Chloe Sullivan. She's smart, she's sassy, and she's quite literally Jimmy's answer to Lois Lane. He even gets his answer to Lex Luthor.
And I think that this is going to be one of the fun things about this story: if Superman is meant to make us realise our potential and live our lives a bit more bravely and optimistic like him, then Jimmy Olsen is the Everyman Superman. He may take a little time to realise it, but this guy can save the day when he sets his mind to it.
The Everyman thing is important: we instantly connect with Olsen and root for him, and understand him. He's likeable and geeky and funny, and he's just this gawky adorable guy you wanna see win (but kinda wanna see the mishaps along the way too).
The art is stunning. RB Silva is a revelation to me, being completely unfamiliar with his work. His art looks a cross between Olivier Coipel and Ryan Sook, and all the characters and settings look great! In fact, that's part of what makes this 10-page comic more enjoyable than the full comics; I spent time pouring over each panel admiring the craftsmenship and artistry, on my tiny iPhone screen.
Frankly, as if you really need another reason to be picking up Paul Cornell's Action Comics anyway, but if you still need convincing download this on the DC app and be blown away. A bloody great pick!
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Slow Days (to the sound of vevuzuluhs)
So, today is one of those slow days where not much happens on the comic front. Or more accurately, from the perspective of the writer.
Stiffs is momentarily out of my hands waiting on some details to come back. I've done some preliminary planning on some other projects, including tweeting (a pretty invaluable tool for new creators to mix and mingle these days) an editor I know to see if he'd be cool with me running a couple of ideas by him. This is not something I generally recommend doing, especially not unsolicited, but if you're lucky enough to know a creator/editor well who is willing to do it unofficially there's no harm in using what contact you have.
Aside from that, there's no movement. Having a big chunk of my day taken up by the day job (how else are you supposed to fund your endeavours?) can be problematic like that sometimes.
Of course, it could easily be that projects could be coming on leaps and bounds, that artists are intrigued to work with me and composing those tentative first emails now.
Well, we live in hope.
Stiffs is momentarily out of my hands waiting on some details to come back. I've done some preliminary planning on some other projects, including tweeting (a pretty invaluable tool for new creators to mix and mingle these days) an editor I know to see if he'd be cool with me running a couple of ideas by him. This is not something I generally recommend doing, especially not unsolicited, but if you're lucky enough to know a creator/editor well who is willing to do it unofficially there's no harm in using what contact you have.
Aside from that, there's no movement. Having a big chunk of my day taken up by the day job (how else are you supposed to fund your endeavours?) can be problematic like that sometimes.
Of course, it could easily be that projects could be coming on leaps and bounds, that artists are intrigued to work with me and composing those tentative first emails now.
Well, we live in hope.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Stiffs!
So, I don't wanna go into too many details as yet as obviously, as mentioned before, the process of creating a new comic and getting it ready for pitch can be so tumultuous. But things seem so near completion now I had to say something (add that to the fact I really needed to update this blog).
So the comic that I'm working on with the ever fantastic writers Drew Davies and PJ Montgomery, with art by the permanently genius Gavin Mitchell and Adam Cadwell, has had yet another name change. It's only fair, and wise. It's out of respect to a far more amazing and established writer having already used a near identical title for a series at the beginning of the decade.
So anyway, now the comic is called STIFFS (a pun on the working stiffs and walking 'stiffs' that populate the story) and the pitch package is complete. We're waiting on a little something I cannot go into, and we have to print it out, and then we're sending it off to our publisher of choice, who will hopefully LOVE IT! ...everything's crossed now.
Anyway, for anyone who actually reads this blog, here's a look at a fantastic painted cover design by the surely-soon-to-be-huge Gavin Mitchell.
Always stunned when I see that.
Anyway, you can see more of Gav's work on his own blog, or on the recently updated Facebook page (which technically also let's you roughly follow the tumultuous journey this project has been on).
Monday, 14 September 2009
Starting out
Bare (bear?) in mind that this isn't exactly fresh in my memory now. We're probably talking a year, year and a half ago that the process of bringing the current comic project I am a part of to life began. Hell, it might even be more.
Also, it isn't like a lot of comic projects. Most have one writer and one artist, sometimes it's just the one guy who is lucky enough to be multi-talented that way.
The particular project I'm referring to is the start of Zombie Death Squad. This particular, as-yet-unpublished (but oh so tantalisingly close) comic is in fact a group effort. I won't go into the finding artists bit for the moment. I'm talking about how it started as a writer.
ZDS is written by myself, Drew Davies (who is, really, the daddy of ZDS), PJ Montgomery and Mat Trow. All very good writers who as yet don't really have anything published (as far as I'm aware, I hope the boys will correct me if this is not the case). We write it rather like a serialised TV show i.e. we together come up with the plots, often each of us having a specific plot in mind, and each of us hammering at it until it's perfect and it fits what we all want to do with the series (it is an ongoing project). Then, one of us will script the 'story' or arc in question, often the person who brought that particular story idea up in the first place.
It's a wonderful way to work. You have the benefit of several other writers working with you, telling you when you've been an absolute genius, and shooting you down before you go along too far with something that is turgid dross. It's fantastic, useful, frutrating and annoying all at once, and that is exactly how it should be. And for this particular project, this method works perfectly.
Which is exactly what I'm trying to get to here: before you even start on your road to creating your comic, you need to work out the basics of the writing. How are you going to write it? What style do you want the story to be told in? How do you want to work on it? Do you want help, or do you want to do this solo?
Once you've worked out that, it's a case of hammering away at your plot. You cannot just come up with a story on a whim and that's it. No one is that good. None of those writers you respect come out with genius on the first draft. They may come close; you may come close. But everything can stand a look over and a good trim and sprucing up. Do not be afraid to remove whole chunks of your plots, or characters even, if they simply don't work or don't fit.
You may in fact find that an excised scene or character becomes perfect for a different project, or a whole new story. More on that later, as it is something I had found out myself.
Once you have the story battered out, and I don't mean a script, you can leave that until a little later, but once your basic plot is perfect (show it to a friend if you want, it won't hurt even if they don't like it. But don't try to send it to your favourite writer. They will likely bin it straightaway....legal stuff),then and only then can you really concentrate on moving things forward.
Also, it isn't like a lot of comic projects. Most have one writer and one artist, sometimes it's just the one guy who is lucky enough to be multi-talented that way.
The particular project I'm referring to is the start of Zombie Death Squad. This particular, as-yet-unpublished (but oh so tantalisingly close) comic is in fact a group effort. I won't go into the finding artists bit for the moment. I'm talking about how it started as a writer.
ZDS is written by myself, Drew Davies (who is, really, the daddy of ZDS), PJ Montgomery and Mat Trow. All very good writers who as yet don't really have anything published (as far as I'm aware, I hope the boys will correct me if this is not the case). We write it rather like a serialised TV show i.e. we together come up with the plots, often each of us having a specific plot in mind, and each of us hammering at it until it's perfect and it fits what we all want to do with the series (it is an ongoing project). Then, one of us will script the 'story' or arc in question, often the person who brought that particular story idea up in the first place.
It's a wonderful way to work. You have the benefit of several other writers working with you, telling you when you've been an absolute genius, and shooting you down before you go along too far with something that is turgid dross. It's fantastic, useful, frutrating and annoying all at once, and that is exactly how it should be. And for this particular project, this method works perfectly.
Which is exactly what I'm trying to get to here: before you even start on your road to creating your comic, you need to work out the basics of the writing. How are you going to write it? What style do you want the story to be told in? How do you want to work on it? Do you want help, or do you want to do this solo?
Once you've worked out that, it's a case of hammering away at your plot. You cannot just come up with a story on a whim and that's it. No one is that good. None of those writers you respect come out with genius on the first draft. They may come close; you may come close. But everything can stand a look over and a good trim and sprucing up. Do not be afraid to remove whole chunks of your plots, or characters even, if they simply don't work or don't fit.
You may in fact find that an excised scene or character becomes perfect for a different project, or a whole new story. More on that later, as it is something I had found out myself.
Once you have the story battered out, and I don't mean a script, you can leave that until a little later, but once your basic plot is perfect (show it to a friend if you want, it won't hurt even if they don't like it. But don't try to send it to your favourite writer. They will likely bin it straightaway....legal stuff),then and only then can you really concentrate on moving things forward.
Opening Shots
Hey
I'm Joe Glass, I'm a writer based in South Wales in the UK. I mostly work on comic books, which is one of the easiest/most difficult industries to break into. Well, creatively.....weeeeell, for writers, really. Artists it's a little easier, and this blog won't be much help. But I digress, and skip ahead of myself at once. I'm good like that.
No, my intention for this blog is not just to blog about my books' progress, pop up the occasional teasing piece of art, and maybe even the occasional review. No, what I'd also like to do is discuss how I'm getting where I'm going, wherever that turns out to be.
I hope you enjoy reading about it. And I hope that those of you wanting to break into the comics industry find it useful.
I'm Joe Glass, I'm a writer based in South Wales in the UK. I mostly work on comic books, which is one of the easiest/most difficult industries to break into. Well, creatively.....weeeeell, for writers, really. Artists it's a little easier, and this blog won't be much help. But I digress, and skip ahead of myself at once. I'm good like that.
No, my intention for this blog is not just to blog about my books' progress, pop up the occasional teasing piece of art, and maybe even the occasional review. No, what I'd also like to do is discuss how I'm getting where I'm going, wherever that turns out to be.
I hope you enjoy reading about it. And I hope that those of you wanting to break into the comics industry find it useful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)