Just a quick note that I'm quoted in an article on Poynter.org today about NPR radio reporter Brooke Gladstone writing her first graphic novel, the forthcoming The Influencing Machine. The art for Gladstone's book was done by Josh Neufeld, whose book A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge was very well received.
I've never heard of Gladstone, don't know Neufeld and haven't read their book, so why me? Beats me; all I know is that reporter Mallary Tenore found out about me when her editor gave her a copy of Mom's Cancer. Mallary contacted me a few days ago, e-mailed me three general questions plumbing my thoughts on graphic novels, and used my answer to one of them pretty much verbatim.
Poynter.org is the website of the Poynter Institute, a journalism school in Florida. As a one-time and still-sometimes journalist, getting mentioned in this piece was kind of a kick for me. It's also a nice little article about Gladstone and Neufeld's process, made a bit more interesting because Gladstone was new to comics and Neufeld had to guide her through it. Neufeld is braver than I; I wouldn't have taken the gig. I look forward to seeing the results of their work and hope it's a great success for them.
.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday Dim Sum
Bite-sized morsels that add up to a light meal. Like tapas. (Thanks, Sherwood!)
* * *
In my opinion, the best newspaper comic strip being published today is "Cul De Sac" by Richard Thompson, so I'm happy to point you to this profile of him in the Washington Post by Michael Cavna. It's the finest "cartoonist's profile" I can recall reading in the mainstream press. Cavna managed to get comment from cartoonists like Pat Oliphant, Art Spiegelman, and the shy Bill Watterson, and I admired it just as a piece of journalism. The piece mentions Thompson's nomination for cartooning's big Reuben Award this year, where he'll be up against my ping-pong nemesis Stephan Pastis (who, I don't think I'm breaking any confidences to report, thinks Thompson deserves to win but maybe he just told me that to be nice). It also touches on Thompson's recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Recommended reading.
* * *
For the three people likely to read this who live in Sonoma County, Calif., a half-hour TV program that includes an interview with me will be broadcast 11 a.m. Sunday on KRCB Channel 22, the local PBS station. It's an episode of "Business with Passion" whose host, Jay Hamilton-Roth, interviewed me an a bunch of other cartoonists during last September's Sketch-a-Thon at the Charles Schulz Museum. I mentioned it when it originally aired elsewhere back in December; there's a preview below. Those of you not in the area can watch it online anytime. Thanks again to Jay. Sorry I'm such a dorky lox on camera.
* * *
The latest issue of InPHOCUS, an online newsletter put out by the pharmaceutical marketing firm Phocus, has a nifty mention of the upcoming "Comics & Medicine" conference in Chicago that I'm helping organize. If you're in the Chicago area June 9 and 10, check it out. If you need more incentive beyond our terrific panelists and keynote speakers (Paul Gravett, Phoebe Gloeckner, David Small and Scott McCloud), I'm planning to give a 90-minute workshop on cartooning (I've already got the first two minutes down; the next 88 are a work in progress) PLUS you'll get a nifty cloth bag with my artwork on it! So . . . who could resist?!
* * *
Memo to those of us still on Earth this Sunday: party at Harold Camping's house! BYOB (bring your own brimstone).
Dot dot dot.
* * *
In my opinion, the best newspaper comic strip being published today is "Cul De Sac" by Richard Thompson, so I'm happy to point you to this profile of him in the Washington Post by Michael Cavna. It's the finest "cartoonist's profile" I can recall reading in the mainstream press. Cavna managed to get comment from cartoonists like Pat Oliphant, Art Spiegelman, and the shy Bill Watterson, and I admired it just as a piece of journalism. The piece mentions Thompson's nomination for cartooning's big Reuben Award this year, where he'll be up against my ping-pong nemesis Stephan Pastis (who, I don't think I'm breaking any confidences to report, thinks Thompson deserves to win but maybe he just told me that to be nice). It also touches on Thompson's recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Recommended reading.
* * *
For the three people likely to read this who live in Sonoma County, Calif., a half-hour TV program that includes an interview with me will be broadcast 11 a.m. Sunday on KRCB Channel 22, the local PBS station. It's an episode of "Business with Passion" whose host, Jay Hamilton-Roth, interviewed me an a bunch of other cartoonists during last September's Sketch-a-Thon at the Charles Schulz Museum. I mentioned it when it originally aired elsewhere back in December; there's a preview below. Those of you not in the area can watch it online anytime. Thanks again to Jay. Sorry I'm such a dorky lox on camera.
* * *
The latest issue of InPHOCUS, an online newsletter put out by the pharmaceutical marketing firm Phocus, has a nifty mention of the upcoming "Comics & Medicine" conference in Chicago that I'm helping organize. If you're in the Chicago area June 9 and 10, check it out. If you need more incentive beyond our terrific panelists and keynote speakers (Paul Gravett, Phoebe Gloeckner, David Small and Scott McCloud), I'm planning to give a 90-minute workshop on cartooning (I've already got the first two minutes down; the next 88 are a work in progress) PLUS you'll get a nifty cloth bag with my artwork on it! So . . . who could resist?!
* * *
Memo to those of us still on Earth this Sunday: party at Harold Camping's house! BYOB (bring your own brimstone).
Dot dot dot.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Super-Obvious Secrets
Before today I hadn't heard of cartoonist/illustrator Phil McAndrew, but my pal Patricia Storms linked to a blog post of his titled "Super-Obvious Secrets That I Wish They'd Teach at Art School" that I found very worthwhile. Here are the bullet points:
* Draw Every Day
* Challenge Yourself
* Be Nice to People
* Have Fun
* Goals and Deadlines Are Important
* Breaks Are Important Too
* Don't Limit Your Influences
* Don't Trash Talk Yourself
* Art Ruts Are For Chumps
* Draw Awesome Stuff and Put It On the Internet.
Phil has nice comments and examples for each. If you have any type of creative aspirations--not just cartooning but anything: writing, music, competitive hamster grooming--something in his post should strike a chord. Two points that I especially liked were "Don't Limit Your Influences" and "Don't Trash Talk Yourself."
On the first point: I think too many people find a style that they like and works for them, and they go with it--not realizing that a million other people are doing the same. We're all the product of our influences; one problem with cartooning is that a lot of people have the same small list of them. What I most object to when I see how pervasive the manga style is among a generation of young cartoonists is less (what I consider) its stylistic limitations than their stifled individuality. How much more could you offer if you knew enough art history to bring some Monet or Dali, or even some Hal Foster or Jack Kirby, to the table? As Phil writes, if your only influence is (cartoonist) James Kochalka, you'll never be anything but a bad imitation of James Kochalka . . . and who needs you when we've already got him? Cast your net widely. You'll have more interesting things to say and more interesting ways to say them.
On the second point: I'm not high-profile enough to get very many people asking my opinion of their work. But on the rare occasion I do a signing or something and a young person brings me their sketchbook or portfolio, it's amazing how often they open with an apology. "I could have done this better," "I didn't have time to color this right," "This one isn't quite finished." First, if it's not your best stuff, don't put it in your portfolio. Second, show some pride and backbone! (But not arrogance!) So many creative people are their own worst enemies, and I understand the psychology: criticizing your own work pre-empts the anticipated sting of someone else doing it, and you can both agree that you stink. Well . . . don't do that! If the first words out of your mouth indicate that you don't like and respect your work, why should anyone else?
But now I'm repeating Phil. Go read his post, maybe you'll get something out of it.
* Draw Every Day
* Challenge Yourself
* Be Nice to People
* Have Fun
* Goals and Deadlines Are Important
* Breaks Are Important Too
* Don't Limit Your Influences
* Don't Trash Talk Yourself
* Art Ruts Are For Chumps
* Draw Awesome Stuff and Put It On the Internet.
Phil has nice comments and examples for each. If you have any type of creative aspirations--not just cartooning but anything: writing, music, competitive hamster grooming--something in his post should strike a chord. Two points that I especially liked were "Don't Limit Your Influences" and "Don't Trash Talk Yourself."
On the first point: I think too many people find a style that they like and works for them, and they go with it--not realizing that a million other people are doing the same. We're all the product of our influences; one problem with cartooning is that a lot of people have the same small list of them. What I most object to when I see how pervasive the manga style is among a generation of young cartoonists is less (what I consider) its stylistic limitations than their stifled individuality. How much more could you offer if you knew enough art history to bring some Monet or Dali, or even some Hal Foster or Jack Kirby, to the table? As Phil writes, if your only influence is (cartoonist) James Kochalka, you'll never be anything but a bad imitation of James Kochalka . . . and who needs you when we've already got him? Cast your net widely. You'll have more interesting things to say and more interesting ways to say them.
On the second point: I'm not high-profile enough to get very many people asking my opinion of their work. But on the rare occasion I do a signing or something and a young person brings me their sketchbook or portfolio, it's amazing how often they open with an apology. "I could have done this better," "I didn't have time to color this right," "This one isn't quite finished." First, if it's not your best stuff, don't put it in your portfolio. Second, show some pride and backbone! (But not arrogance!) So many creative people are their own worst enemies, and I understand the psychology: criticizing your own work pre-empts the anticipated sting of someone else doing it, and you can both agree that you stink. Well . . . don't do that! If the first words out of your mouth indicate that you don't like and respect your work, why should anyone else?
But now I'm repeating Phil. Go read his post, maybe you'll get something out of it.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Literary Food for Thought
Two data points about the brave new world of publishing that caught my eye this morning:
Data Point One. The #1 bestselling book on Amazon right now is not yet in print. Titled Go the F**k to Sleep, it's billed as a children's book for adults. From its title, I'm guessing it's a twist on kids' bedtime books like Goodnight Moon but meant for parents who just want their little monsters to shut up and lie down. Sounds clever. Wish I'd thought of it.
What got my attention is that, as explained in this article, the book topped the bestseller list and has already been optioned for a movie due entirely to a PDF preview that got away from its publisher. Critics, buyers for bookstore chains, marketing people and others need to make decisions about books before they're physically printed, so publishers send them a PDF. Usually, they're held close to the vest. This one escaped into the wild. That's piracy, but it's also grassroots marketing--way better marketing than the publisher could have ever dreamed of doing on its own.
In the article, I enjoyed editor Ibrahim Ahmad wrestling with his dilemma: you don't want a million illegal free copies of your forthcoming book floating around the Internet, but at the same time those illegal free copies actually translated into pre-sales that will make both publisher and author barge-loads more money than they ever dreamed. Ahmad says he's fighting the piracy, but I don't think his heart's really in it. Understandably.
I'm not celebrating this story. In fact, it's pretty much the antithesis of how I think business, and the author-reader relationship, ought to go. "Give it away free to get exposure" is the opposite of how I'd choose to run my creative life--and yet this time, accidentally, it worked. I don't quite know what to make of it, but it got me thinking. Like I said, it's a data point.
Data Point Two. This article (originally by the Washington Post but since they currently appear to have a glitch on their website I linked to it elsewhere) features Nyree Belleville, a "thin, pretty brunette" who wrote 12 romance novels for a traditional publisher which then dropped her. Since her books had never earned her much anyway and she had nothing to lose, she reissued her first two novels as e-books.
(BTW, the article says that "her writing career was so flat line that one of her old publishers had even given her the rights to her first two novels." I bet that's not quite right. More likely, the books had gone out of print and the rights automatically reverted to Belleville under the terms of her contract. Nobody "gave" her anything.)
Those e-books made a few bucks. Then a few more. Belleville got the rights to two more of her books, wrote a new original one, dug up a few stories she'd written earlier in her career, and offered them all as e-books. In the first quarter of 2011, she sold 58,008 copies and made $116,264. Quite a comeback for a writer who a few months earlier thought her career was over.
The article also points out that such success is rare. Belleville had a big advantage being a known name with an established reputation and fan base in the print world. Far more common are the e-books that sell six copies to family and friends. Still, the economics are compelling. Notes the article, "it is possible for writers marketing a $4.99 self-published e-book to make more per copy than authors with a $24.95 hardcover." As an author with a $24.95 hardcover, that sounded about right and got my undivided attention.
Of course the most important question to me is: How does this affect me? I dunno. These are interesting times. Writers have exponentially more strategies and outlets available than ever, but consequently a greater challenge being heard above the din than ever. If there are no gatekeepers and everybody's a writer, how do you stand out from the crowd? Tell good from bad? Can a writer still lounge moodily in his garret and scritch away with a quill pen (as I am wont to do), or does the 21st Century author have to be a promoter, accountant, and computer guru, too?
Interesting times.
Data Point One. The #1 bestselling book on Amazon right now is not yet in print. Titled Go the F**k to Sleep, it's billed as a children's book for adults. From its title, I'm guessing it's a twist on kids' bedtime books like Goodnight Moon but meant for parents who just want their little monsters to shut up and lie down. Sounds clever. Wish I'd thought of it.
What got my attention is that, as explained in this article, the book topped the bestseller list and has already been optioned for a movie due entirely to a PDF preview that got away from its publisher. Critics, buyers for bookstore chains, marketing people and others need to make decisions about books before they're physically printed, so publishers send them a PDF. Usually, they're held close to the vest. This one escaped into the wild. That's piracy, but it's also grassroots marketing--way better marketing than the publisher could have ever dreamed of doing on its own.
In the article, I enjoyed editor Ibrahim Ahmad wrestling with his dilemma: you don't want a million illegal free copies of your forthcoming book floating around the Internet, but at the same time those illegal free copies actually translated into pre-sales that will make both publisher and author barge-loads more money than they ever dreamed. Ahmad says he's fighting the piracy, but I don't think his heart's really in it. Understandably.
I'm not celebrating this story. In fact, it's pretty much the antithesis of how I think business, and the author-reader relationship, ought to go. "Give it away free to get exposure" is the opposite of how I'd choose to run my creative life--and yet this time, accidentally, it worked. I don't quite know what to make of it, but it got me thinking. Like I said, it's a data point.
Data Point Two. This article (originally by the Washington Post but since they currently appear to have a glitch on their website I linked to it elsewhere) features Nyree Belleville, a "thin, pretty brunette" who wrote 12 romance novels for a traditional publisher which then dropped her. Since her books had never earned her much anyway and she had nothing to lose, she reissued her first two novels as e-books.
(BTW, the article says that "her writing career was so flat line that one of her old publishers had even given her the rights to her first two novels." I bet that's not quite right. More likely, the books had gone out of print and the rights automatically reverted to Belleville under the terms of her contract. Nobody "gave" her anything.)
Those e-books made a few bucks. Then a few more. Belleville got the rights to two more of her books, wrote a new original one, dug up a few stories she'd written earlier in her career, and offered them all as e-books. In the first quarter of 2011, she sold 58,008 copies and made $116,264. Quite a comeback for a writer who a few months earlier thought her career was over.
The article also points out that such success is rare. Belleville had a big advantage being a known name with an established reputation and fan base in the print world. Far more common are the e-books that sell six copies to family and friends. Still, the economics are compelling. Notes the article, "it is possible for writers marketing a $4.99 self-published e-book to make more per copy than authors with a $24.95 hardcover." As an author with a $24.95 hardcover, that sounded about right and got my undivided attention.
Of course the most important question to me is: How does this affect me? I dunno. These are interesting times. Writers have exponentially more strategies and outlets available than ever, but consequently a greater challenge being heard above the din than ever. If there are no gatekeepers and everybody's a writer, how do you stand out from the crowd? Tell good from bad? Can a writer still lounge moodily in his garret and scritch away with a quill pen (as I am wont to do), or does the 21st Century author have to be a promoter, accountant, and computer guru, too?
Interesting times.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
I'm On The Austrian a-Radio
Way back in last August, I got an e-mail from reporter Christian Cummins from Austrian radio station ORF FM4 asking for an interview about Mom's Cancer (or its German version, Mutter hat Krebs). In a powerful example of how small the world has become and how interconnected we are all, I received Chris's e-mail at 4:40 a.m. my time. I replied as soon as I got up and saw his note, at 7:03 a.m., and said, "How about now?" Chris and I connected on Skype, did the interview, and were done by 7:42 a.m., when I e-mailed him some images from the book to post online.
Think for a second about how amazing that is: a guy in Austria wants to interview another guy in California for a radio program and they get the entire thing done, soup to nuts, in less than an hour. Sometimes I enjoy living in The Future.
Anyway, I did the interview and forgot about it until yesterday, when Chris was kind enough to e-mail me a copy of the piece with apologies for forgetting to do it earlier. How rare and considerate! If I've done this right, there should be some kind of doohickey right under this paragraph that will let you listen to the edited three-minute interview (posted with Chris's permission). He also sent me a link to a separate text version of his story, which has totally different content and is, I think, an excellent write-up.
COMICS
Thanks to Christian for the interview and the web article, and for remembering to tell me about them!
Think for a second about how amazing that is: a guy in Austria wants to interview another guy in California for a radio program and they get the entire thing done, soup to nuts, in less than an hour. Sometimes I enjoy living in The Future.
Anyway, I did the interview and forgot about it until yesterday, when Chris was kind enough to e-mail me a copy of the piece with apologies for forgetting to do it earlier. How rare and considerate! If I've done this right, there should be some kind of doohickey right under this paragraph that will let you listen to the edited three-minute interview (posted with Chris's permission). He also sent me a link to a separate text version of his story, which has totally different content and is, I think, an excellent write-up.
COMICS
Thanks to Christian for the interview and the web article, and for remembering to tell me about them!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I Need a New Word for "Tapas"
I keep posting these collections of bite-sized morsels. Well . . . I did it again.
* * *
Friend O' The Blog Jim O'Kane made a pilgrimage to Florida last week hoping to witness the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. As I mentioned in the previous post, he was even nice enough to invite me along and I was sorry to decline. Sadly for Jim, Endeavour's launch was postponed (and remains uncertain), and he had to return home. Happily for me, while he was there Jim shot a picture of Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow voguing on the iconic NASA seal in the Main Hall of the Kennedy Space Center! Holy Hertzsprung!
I have a collection of photos like this, taken of my book in much cooler places than I'll ever visit myself, on WHTTWOT's Facebook page. I always imagine someone shlepping my book around all day just to capture one picture in just the right place; I'm impressed with their effort and grateful for their thoughtfulness. Thanks again, Jim!
* * *
Today is "National Cartoonist's Day," which is such a big deal that not even many cartoonists seem aware of it. But hooray for cartoonists anyway! If you see one, give him or her a big hug and kiss, and perhaps a Reuben sandwich. I hear that's their favorite. I personally will be hanging out on a street corner downtown hoping someone recognizes me. Maybe if I splash some India ink on my shirt first . . .
On a related note, Saturday is "Free Comic Book Day," when comic book shops try to lure future customers by passing out free comics, many of them produced by publishers just for the occasion. Some shops go all-out with special events, creator appearances, art exhibitions. Might want to see if anybody's doing anything fun around you.
* * *
Much more somberly, but I think appropriate for a blog that was begun nearly six years ago to talk about Mom's Cancer: a friend pointed me to this final blog post of Derek Miller, evidently a popular blogger but previously unknown to me, who died of colorectal cancer on May 3. Derek knew the end was near, faced it with dignity and courage, and composed this post to be published after he passed away. I thought it was touching and wise and said some of the things a lot of people probably wish they could have said if they'd had the chance. It will help you get your priorities straight and put your little problems of the day in perspective. That's always worthwhile.
More later.
* * *
Friend O' The Blog Jim O'Kane made a pilgrimage to Florida last week hoping to witness the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. As I mentioned in the previous post, he was even nice enough to invite me along and I was sorry to decline. Sadly for Jim, Endeavour's launch was postponed (and remains uncertain), and he had to return home. Happily for me, while he was there Jim shot a picture of Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow voguing on the iconic NASA seal in the Main Hall of the Kennedy Space Center! Holy Hertzsprung!
I have a collection of photos like this, taken of my book in much cooler places than I'll ever visit myself, on WHTTWOT's Facebook page. I always imagine someone shlepping my book around all day just to capture one picture in just the right place; I'm impressed with their effort and grateful for their thoughtfulness. Thanks again, Jim!
* * *
Today is "National Cartoonist's Day," which is such a big deal that not even many cartoonists seem aware of it. But hooray for cartoonists anyway! If you see one, give him or her a big hug and kiss, and perhaps a Reuben sandwich. I hear that's their favorite. I personally will be hanging out on a street corner downtown hoping someone recognizes me. Maybe if I splash some India ink on my shirt first . . .
On a related note, Saturday is "Free Comic Book Day," when comic book shops try to lure future customers by passing out free comics, many of them produced by publishers just for the occasion. Some shops go all-out with special events, creator appearances, art exhibitions. Might want to see if anybody's doing anything fun around you.
* * *
Much more somberly, but I think appropriate for a blog that was begun nearly six years ago to talk about Mom's Cancer: a friend pointed me to this final blog post of Derek Miller, evidently a popular blogger but previously unknown to me, who died of colorectal cancer on May 3. Derek knew the end was near, faced it with dignity and courage, and composed this post to be published after he passed away. I thought it was touching and wise and said some of the things a lot of people probably wish they could have said if they'd had the chance. It will help you get your priorities straight and put your little problems of the day in perspective. That's always worthwhile.
More later.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday Tapas
Bite-sized morsels heading into the weekend.
Blogging's still sparse while I work hard on my day job (looks like I might get an important new client!) and thumbnailing Mystery Project X. I'm into the fun pages of the latter: the exciting conclusion when all secrets are revealed amid wall-to-wall pulse-pounding action. Yeah, let's go with that. I still have a ton of work to do before my sketches become a proposal, then who knows how many months of drawing afterward to turn it into a near-200-page graphic novel.
It's at this point that I always regain huge respect for anyone attempting a big creative project like this, even if it's an enormous steaming heap. After all, nobody sets out to make an enormous steaming heap, and it takes just as much time and energy. For all I know, that's what I'm doing. I worry about that.
My friend Jim O'Kane is down in Florida right now, waiting to watch the penultimate Space Shuttle launch. At this writing, the weather looks good. Jim actually invited me along and I wish I could've taken him up on it, but North America's a big continent that I'm on the other side of and shuttles aren't famous for launching on schedule. Endeavour looks good to go today, though. Godspeed, Jim.
BTW, Jim took a great photo yesterday that I'll post to my Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow Facebook Fan Page when I get a minute. If you haven't seen my album of "In the Wild" photos showing my book in various settings--including tombstones, rocket nozzles and Disneyland (isn't that a Lesley Gore song?)--you might enjoy that. Make my WHTTWOT page one of your "Favorites" while you're there, but only if you really feel that way deep in your heart.
I don't care much about the Royal Wedding but Will and Kate seem like swell kids and I wish them well. I do appreciate the sense of tradition and century-spanning continuity that the wedding evokes. We don't have much of that in the New World and especially in California, where the oldest structures are missions from the 1770s. In Britain, they'd call that "the new stuff we're still breaking in." One aspect of the wedding coverage I've enjoyed is that, after making my first visit to London last year, I have an internal map of the geography: "Oh, I've been there!" All these places--Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Parliament--are like a 20-minute walk apart. That makes the grand pageantry a bit homier.
Have a terrific weekend, everyone. It looks like spring around here. If you happen to look up at the stars tonight, take a second to marvel over the fact that we've got people up there.
Friday Mid-Morning UPDATE: Oh no! It looks like the Shuttle launch has been scrubbed for at least two days. I hope Jim can stick it out!
.
Blogging's still sparse while I work hard on my day job (looks like I might get an important new client!) and thumbnailing Mystery Project X. I'm into the fun pages of the latter: the exciting conclusion when all secrets are revealed amid wall-to-wall pulse-pounding action. Yeah, let's go with that. I still have a ton of work to do before my sketches become a proposal, then who knows how many months of drawing afterward to turn it into a near-200-page graphic novel.
It's at this point that I always regain huge respect for anyone attempting a big creative project like this, even if it's an enormous steaming heap. After all, nobody sets out to make an enormous steaming heap, and it takes just as much time and energy. For all I know, that's what I'm doing. I worry about that.
My friend Jim O'Kane is down in Florida right now, waiting to watch the penultimate Space Shuttle launch. At this writing, the weather looks good. Jim actually invited me along and I wish I could've taken him up on it, but North America's a big continent that I'm on the other side of and shuttles aren't famous for launching on schedule. Endeavour looks good to go today, though. Godspeed, Jim.
BTW, Jim took a great photo yesterday that I'll post to my Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow Facebook Fan Page when I get a minute. If you haven't seen my album of "In the Wild" photos showing my book in various settings--including tombstones, rocket nozzles and Disneyland (isn't that a Lesley Gore song?)--you might enjoy that. Make my WHTTWOT page one of your "Favorites" while you're there, but only if you really feel that way deep in your heart.
I don't care much about the Royal Wedding but Will and Kate seem like swell kids and I wish them well. I do appreciate the sense of tradition and century-spanning continuity that the wedding evokes. We don't have much of that in the New World and especially in California, where the oldest structures are missions from the 1770s. In Britain, they'd call that "the new stuff we're still breaking in." One aspect of the wedding coverage I've enjoyed is that, after making my first visit to London last year, I have an internal map of the geography: "Oh, I've been there!" All these places--Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Parliament--are like a 20-minute walk apart. That makes the grand pageantry a bit homier.
Karen and I showed up for the wedding 10 months early.
Have a terrific weekend, everyone. It looks like spring around here. If you happen to look up at the stars tonight, take a second to marvel over the fact that we've got people up there.
Friday Mid-Morning UPDATE: Oh no! It looks like the Shuttle launch has been scrubbed for at least two days. I hope Jim can stick it out!
.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Call and Response
Two commercials with remarkable similarities. Enjoy, I did:
And have a nice Springy weekend, y'all.
.
And have a nice Springy weekend, y'all.
.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
No One Told You When to Run, You Missed the Starting Gun
Begrudging blogging. I'm still chipping away at "Mystery Project X"; have thumbnailed (laid out, sketched, and placed dialog for) about 80% of it and built a related model that'll prove useful later (remember how I built a spaceship once? Like that). When completed, I'll print out the thumbnails, put together a little package, and ship it off to Editor Charlie to see if he's interested in publishing it. I alternate between confidence that I'm creating the greatest work I've ever done and terror that it totally sucks and my career is over. In other words, the usual.
* * *
I had a birthday last week. It was nice. My favorite gift was from my girls. I mentioned before that my daughter Laura is a part-time docent on the USS Hornet Museum, an aircraft carrier which was the recovery vessel for the Apollo 11 and 12 missions before being decommissioned in 1970. Her sister Robin has since started working there as well, helping chaperone the groups (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts) that sleep over on the ship most weekends.
Also docenting aboard the Hornet is a gentleman who actually served on it during the Apollo missions, and who during those recoveries slipped away to shoot his own Polaroids of the events. Which is how I ended up with a CD of 36 never-before-seen pictures of the Apollo 11 and 12 missions. To me, that's as good as finding a new photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg. The best part is knowing I raised kids thoughtful enough to come up with a gift like that.
* * *
I laughed at this news story this morning about Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Grainger in the "Harry Potter" movies, dropping out of Brown University partly because her fellow students just weren't cool enough to handle having her there. Apparently she got tired of them shouting "Three points for Gryffindor!" whenever she got an answer right.
I'd like to think I wouldn't be one of those students, but at age 18 I probably would have.
* * *
A couple of nights ago, Karen and I went to see a friend of ours give a poetry reading. You heard me right: I know a professional poet. Ooooh, impressive! Karen and she became best friends when they met at age 13 and I wormed my way into the Circle of Trust when we all went to the same university. It was a good night that reminded me my life could use more fine poetry in it. Although, as Karen pointed out later, it's not as if I haven't dabbled a bit myself.
I was delighted to find that the bookstore hosting the reading had a copy of Mom's Cancer on its shelves. I've slowly gotten over my shyness about offering to sign books I find in the wild, but it's still a weird thing to do. And I was struck again by two things I've noticed before: 1) More often than not, the clerks seem totally indifferent--I mean, I wouldn't presume anyone would be impressed that one of their authors happened by, but maybe a smile to indicate I'd penetrated the montony of their day? I usually end up apologizing for bothering them. And 2), nobody ever asks for ID. I could be a crazy man vandalizing random books for all they know. Or care, evidently.
Anyway, read some poetry. It's good for your soul.
Now back to work.
* * *
I had a birthday last week. It was nice. My favorite gift was from my girls. I mentioned before that my daughter Laura is a part-time docent on the USS Hornet Museum, an aircraft carrier which was the recovery vessel for the Apollo 11 and 12 missions before being decommissioned in 1970. Her sister Robin has since started working there as well, helping chaperone the groups (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts) that sleep over on the ship most weekends.
Also docenting aboard the Hornet is a gentleman who actually served on it during the Apollo missions, and who during those recoveries slipped away to shoot his own Polaroids of the events. Which is how I ended up with a CD of 36 never-before-seen pictures of the Apollo 11 and 12 missions. To me, that's as good as finding a new photo of Lincoln at Gettysburg. The best part is knowing I raised kids thoughtful enough to come up with a gift like that.
* * *
I laughed at this news story this morning about Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Grainger in the "Harry Potter" movies, dropping out of Brown University partly because her fellow students just weren't cool enough to handle having her there. Apparently she got tired of them shouting "Three points for Gryffindor!" whenever she got an answer right.
I'd like to think I wouldn't be one of those students, but at age 18 I probably would have.
* * *
A couple of nights ago, Karen and I went to see a friend of ours give a poetry reading. You heard me right: I know a professional poet. Ooooh, impressive! Karen and she became best friends when they met at age 13 and I wormed my way into the Circle of Trust when we all went to the same university. It was a good night that reminded me my life could use more fine poetry in it. Although, as Karen pointed out later, it's not as if I haven't dabbled a bit myself.
I was delighted to find that the bookstore hosting the reading had a copy of Mom's Cancer on its shelves. I've slowly gotten over my shyness about offering to sign books I find in the wild, but it's still a weird thing to do. And I was struck again by two things I've noticed before: 1) More often than not, the clerks seem totally indifferent--I mean, I wouldn't presume anyone would be impressed that one of their authors happened by, but maybe a smile to indicate I'd penetrated the montony of their day? I usually end up apologizing for bothering them. And 2), nobody ever asks for ID. I could be a crazy man vandalizing random books for all they know. Or care, evidently.
Anyway, read some poetry. It's good for your soul.
Now back to work.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Chicago in June?
I hear it's lovely. Should be a terrific setting for an academic conference on the subject of Graphic Medicine. Nice poster art, too.
I've made my flight and hotel reservations, and am scheduled to give a 90-minute "how-to" workshop titled "See One, Do One, Teach One" (some people will get that) aimed at teaching participants some cartooning skills and, more importantly, giving them the confidence to encourage others to do it in a potentially therapeutic setting.
We've got a schedule of talks and panels roughed out, three top-flight keynote speakers, and panelists coming from around the world. It also looks like we'll be able to provide CME (continuing medical education) credit to healthcare professionals for whom that would be an attractive draw. Registration, a schedule, list of panelists, maps, links to accomodations and more are available now at http://bit.ly/ComicsMedicine (clicking on the poster above will work, too).
I'm getting very excited about this event which, if it's anything like the first one in London last year, will be a wonderful, intimate mix of a hundred or so writers, artists, academics, doctors, nurses who all take the potential of comics to reflect and affect healthcare seriously. .
I've made my flight and hotel reservations, and am scheduled to give a 90-minute "how-to" workshop titled "See One, Do One, Teach One" (some people will get that) aimed at teaching participants some cartooning skills and, more importantly, giving them the confidence to encourage others to do it in a potentially therapeutic setting.
We've got a schedule of talks and panels roughed out, three top-flight keynote speakers, and panelists coming from around the world. It also looks like we'll be able to provide CME (continuing medical education) credit to healthcare professionals for whom that would be an attractive draw. Registration, a schedule, list of panelists, maps, links to accomodations and more are available now at http://bit.ly/ComicsMedicine (clicking on the poster above will work, too).
I'm getting very excited about this event which, if it's anything like the first one in London last year, will be a wonderful, intimate mix of a hundred or so writers, artists, academics, doctors, nurses who all take the potential of comics to reflect and affect healthcare seriously. .
Thursday, April 7, 2011
2011 Eisner Award Nominations
No, I didn't get any, silly. I didn't put out anything last year (which is not to presume I'd have gotten nominated if I had). But I still care, and looked over the nominees announced yesterday with avid interest.
My first impression is how few of the nominated works I've read. Partly that's because I just don't read mainstream comic books anymore (that's maybe a subject for another post . . . short version: I didn't leave comics, comics left me). My second impression is how many of these works I've never even heard of. From that I draw two, not necessarily mutually exclusive, conclusions: 1) The comics industry is healthier and more diverse than ever, with a wide range of offerings to appeal to an expanding universe of readers; 2) My ignorance is vast.
Still, there are some books and creators I know and like, and am happy to see on the list:
For "Best Continuing Series" and "Best Writer/Artist" I like Echo by Terry Moore. Terry and his wife Robyn are good people making comics for all the right reasons, and Echo is gorgeous work. I like it and him.
In "Best Publication for Teens" I can recommend Raina Telgemeier's Smile and Barry Deutsch's Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. Hereville is a great story and published by Amulet, an imprint of my publisher Abrams, but I'd really like to see Raina win this. Smile is very good, plus I first met her at the 2005 Eisner Award ceremony where she was up for "Best New Talent" and didn't get it. I think the universe owes her one.
In "Best Digital Comic" (my category!), the nominee I regularly read is "The Abominable Charles Christopher" by Karl Kerschl, whom I've never met. It is a charming strip about a mute Sasquatch lumbering through a vaguely medieval world filled with talking animals and some of the best artwork around. However, my girls wouldn't forgive me if I didn't point out that Tracy Butler's "Lackadaisy," an "anthropomorphic cats during Prohibition" favorite of some of their friends, is also nominated.
For both "Best Reality-Based Work" and "Best Painter/Multimedia Artist" I can recommend Carol Tyler's You'll Never Know Book 2: Collateral Damage, Carol's continuing tale of her father's World War II experience and the long shadow it still casts on her family. I've met Carol a couple of times and I just flat-out love her. She's one of the most joyful, creative people I know and her work shows it.
In "Best Comics-Related Book," I have to go with Shazam! The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal, by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear. This beautiful overview of the comics and merchandising career of the original Captain Marvel was published by Abrams ComicArts and edited by Editor Charlie, but that bias aside it's a very deserving book.
I have some favorites in other categories but those are the nominees I feel strongest about. I also feel some responsibility to give all the nominees a fair shake and not just vote for my pals, and will perform my due diligence. I already know I'll turn in my ballot with several categories unmarked because I just haven't seen enough of the work. But it's neat to have a small voice in the "Oscars of Comics" and I wish all the nominees the best. If you win, just remember the coolest part: the little globe on the trophy spins!
My first impression is how few of the nominated works I've read. Partly that's because I just don't read mainstream comic books anymore (that's maybe a subject for another post . . . short version: I didn't leave comics, comics left me). My second impression is how many of these works I've never even heard of. From that I draw two, not necessarily mutually exclusive, conclusions: 1) The comics industry is healthier and more diverse than ever, with a wide range of offerings to appeal to an expanding universe of readers; 2) My ignorance is vast.
Still, there are some books and creators I know and like, and am happy to see on the list:
For "Best Continuing Series" and "Best Writer/Artist" I like Echo by Terry Moore. Terry and his wife Robyn are good people making comics for all the right reasons, and Echo is gorgeous work. I like it and him.
In "Best Publication for Teens" I can recommend Raina Telgemeier's Smile and Barry Deutsch's Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword. Hereville is a great story and published by Amulet, an imprint of my publisher Abrams, but I'd really like to see Raina win this. Smile is very good, plus I first met her at the 2005 Eisner Award ceremony where she was up for "Best New Talent" and didn't get it. I think the universe owes her one.
In "Best Digital Comic" (my category!), the nominee I regularly read is "The Abominable Charles Christopher" by Karl Kerschl, whom I've never met. It is a charming strip about a mute Sasquatch lumbering through a vaguely medieval world filled with talking animals and some of the best artwork around. However, my girls wouldn't forgive me if I didn't point out that Tracy Butler's "Lackadaisy," an "anthropomorphic cats during Prohibition" favorite of some of their friends, is also nominated.
For both "Best Reality-Based Work" and "Best Painter/Multimedia Artist" I can recommend Carol Tyler's You'll Never Know Book 2: Collateral Damage, Carol's continuing tale of her father's World War II experience and the long shadow it still casts on her family. I've met Carol a couple of times and I just flat-out love her. She's one of the most joyful, creative people I know and her work shows it.
In "Best Comics-Related Book," I have to go with Shazam! The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal, by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear. This beautiful overview of the comics and merchandising career of the original Captain Marvel was published by Abrams ComicArts and edited by Editor Charlie, but that bias aside it's a very deserving book.
I have some favorites in other categories but those are the nominees I feel strongest about. I also feel some responsibility to give all the nominees a fair shake and not just vote for my pals, and will perform my due diligence. I already know I'll turn in my ballot with several categories unmarked because I just haven't seen enough of the work. But it's neat to have a small voice in the "Oscars of Comics" and I wish all the nominees the best. If you win, just remember the coolest part: the little globe on the trophy spins!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Spurgeon at CCS
My friend Mike Peterson, whose Comic Strip of the Day blog provides some of the most thoughtful non-snarky comic strip criticism around, alerted me to this longish report by Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon about his trip to moderate a panel at the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in Vermont.
It's an interesting piece about something I don't have any experience with but am honestly a bit dubious about: schools dedicated to teaching people how to make comics. In my mind, the best way to make good comics is to learn a lot of stuff and have a lot of life experience that has nothing at all to do with comics and then tell stories about that. But that's a post for another time and I don't mean to disparage the sincere, hard-working people of CCS.
Mike sent me the link because one of the people on Tom's panel was my friend and editor Charlie Kochman. I laughed out loud (really!) at Tom's one-line observation that "Charlie Kochman is a note-taker" because I could just imagine him pulling out his well-worn paper notepad and scribbling intently with the pen he keeps clipped to the third buttonhole of his shirt. It's one of the qualities I admire about him. Also, I was at the New York Comic-Con the day Jeff Kinney brought Charlie his proposal for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and can vouch that it happened just as Charlie said.
Mike didn't know that I'm also casually familiar with another of the panelists, agent Bernadette Baker-Baughman. Bernadette and her former partner Gretchen introduced themselves in the early days of Mom's Cancer and for a while seemed to pop up everywhere. She exemplified the maxim that a big part of success is just showing up. At the time, Bernadette's small agency didn't have much reputation or a large client list, but she was there, she was interested, she was hustling--obviously looking for work, but in a friendly, low-key way that I appreciated. I remembered her and we've corresponded once or twice. I don't have an agent and haven't felt the need for one yet, but if I ever did she's one of a few people I'd call.
Anyway, Tom's CCS report is a nice read--a bit "inside baseball," as Mike told me, but worth a look if that's the kind of thing you might like to look at. Thanks, Mike and Tom.
It's an interesting piece about something I don't have any experience with but am honestly a bit dubious about: schools dedicated to teaching people how to make comics. In my mind, the best way to make good comics is to learn a lot of stuff and have a lot of life experience that has nothing at all to do with comics and then tell stories about that. But that's a post for another time and I don't mean to disparage the sincere, hard-working people of CCS.
Mike sent me the link because one of the people on Tom's panel was my friend and editor Charlie Kochman. I laughed out loud (really!) at Tom's one-line observation that "Charlie Kochman is a note-taker" because I could just imagine him pulling out his well-worn paper notepad and scribbling intently with the pen he keeps clipped to the third buttonhole of his shirt. It's one of the qualities I admire about him. Also, I was at the New York Comic-Con the day Jeff Kinney brought Charlie his proposal for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and can vouch that it happened just as Charlie said.
Mike didn't know that I'm also casually familiar with another of the panelists, agent Bernadette Baker-Baughman. Bernadette and her former partner Gretchen introduced themselves in the early days of Mom's Cancer and for a while seemed to pop up everywhere. She exemplified the maxim that a big part of success is just showing up. At the time, Bernadette's small agency didn't have much reputation or a large client list, but she was there, she was interested, she was hustling--obviously looking for work, but in a friendly, low-key way that I appreciated. I remembered her and we've corresponded once or twice. I don't have an agent and haven't felt the need for one yet, but if I ever did she's one of a few people I'd call.
Anyway, Tom's CCS report is a nice read--a bit "inside baseball," as Mike told me, but worth a look if that's the kind of thing you might like to look at. Thanks, Mike and Tom.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
WonderCon 2011
A quick report on my trip to the WonderCon comics convention in San Francisco yesterday. As I mentioned on my Facebook page (why oh why won't you be my Friend?), I was accompanied by my staff of digital art assistants who helped color Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow--that is, my daughters Robin and Laura, and their friends Kelly and Kristen. Photoshop wizards all. For some reason, my wife Karen preferred to spend her day in downtown S.F. in places like Macy's. Yet somehow our marriage works. WonderCon is a nicely scaled-down version of the San Diego Comic-Con International, run by the same people so you know it's done right. It takes up a lot less floor space--maybe one-fourth as much?--but, as the photos above and below suggest, can get every bit as crowded. Hollywood is a much smaller presence at WonderCon than Comic-Con, which is fine by me and a lot of other comics fans who in San Diego sometimes feel like gate-crashers at their own party. And of course WonderCon is on my home turf, about an hour away, making it a fun half-day getaway instead of an expensive multi-day odyssey. I think it has become my favorite comics-related event.
Some bullet-list highlights for me:
* I've joked in previous trip reports that no matter where or what size the convention, you can always count on seeing two people: Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca, and Lou Ferrigno, TV's Incredible Hulk. It was true again yesterday. Both showed up to sell photos and autographs, and for ten or twenty bucks you could have your picture taken with them--an opportunity I have never had any interest in availing myself of. However, I happened to be walking down their aisle when Mr. Ferrigno himself thrust a Polaroid camera into my hands and very politely asked if I would take a photo of him with a fan. Mr. Ferrigno is still in very good, very imposing physical condition. When Mr. Ferrigno asks you to do something, the word "No" flees your brain to enter orbit around a distant star. I still do not have a photo of Lou Ferrigno and me; however, some fan out there has a photo of Lou Ferrigno and her taken by me. Which to my mind is just as good.
"Just push the button." * I've also said in other trip reports that I can always count on meeting at least one really cool person I had no idea I was going to. Yesterday's was Kathy Garver, who played Cissy on the old TV program "Family Affair." She was sitting at a booth (just down the aisle from Ferrigno, I think), said "Hi" as I passed, and we had a nice, genuine conversation that lasted several minutes. We talked about graphic novels--she wasn't quite sure what they were but had heard from a business consulting expert that they were the next hot thing, and I explained why I was particularly happy to hear that. It was a little strange to unexpectedly meet someone I had a small boy's crush on 40 years ago, but it was neat and she was very gracious (Jim O'Kane, you should interview her for TV Single Dads).
Back in the day: Garver as Cissy on the left. Even as a child, I had good taste.
* I went to one panel, a free-wheeling exchange by writer Mark Evanier (whose blog is a daily stop of mine) and cartoonist Sergio Aragones. Mark and Sergio have worked together for 40 years, most notably on a funny barbarian character named "Groo," and through countless convention appearances have polished their comedy act to laid-back brilliance. I've met Mark a few times but believe I am the only person remotely connected to cartooning, comic books, comic strips, or crayon eating who is not a close personal friend of Sergio's. Everybody knows him, everybody loves him. Someday, Sergio. Someday.
The blurry comedy stylings of Evanier and Aragones. Yes, that young woman had green hair. Why do you ask? * I was happy to see some people I knew manning a booth for the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center. I think they were happier to see my daughter Laura, who volunteered there a while back and evidently left a good impression.
* I said hello to Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett, whose very good and clever book Boilerplate is slated to be made into a movie by J.J. Abrams. I'd introduced myself to them at last year's San Diego Comic-Con and we have the same publisher, so had that to talk about. Nice people and I'm very excited for them.
* I almost bought a lot of things but actually walked out the door with only two purchases, both books. One was The Looney Tunes Treasury by Andrew Farago, curator at San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum (just down the street from the convention) and a friendly acquaintance. It is an absolutely gorgeous book that belongs on the shelf of anyone who can't help singing "Kill Da Wabbit!" whenever they hear Wagner. Get it even if you're not lucky enough to buy it autographed from the author himself, as I was.
* Finally, the highlight of the con for me was finding Richard and Wendy Pini, who in 1978 created the pioneering self-published series Elfquest and have continued to build that fantasy universe and create others ever since. My second purchase of the day was Wendy's Masque of the Red Death, based very loosely on the Poe story. I look forward to reading it.
I started corresponding with Richard when he read and liked WHTTWOT, met them in person at last year's WonderCon, and reconnected this year as friends. We talked books, movies, business, our future projects . . . Very nice people, very generous sharing their time and experience. I also got to watch them interact with some of their fans, and its hard to imagine any fans being more respected or appreciated. We also talked about their efforts to drum up enthusiasm to get an Elfquest movie made by Warner Brothers, which optioned the film rights. Seems like a no-brainer to me . . . .
Wendy and Richard Pini. Coolest of the cool.
Also saw a lot of other people, comics, original art, merchandise and cosplayers, but I promised quick; that's about it. Good people, good stuff, good day.
.
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