The Life of Darrell

The Latest Marvel Event

2012-01-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

My opinion of Marvel's upcoming event seems to change on a daily, if not hourly, basis. A few (as in quite a few) random and rambling thoughts:

Yes, it is too early to judge it. I haven't read it (and probably won't anyways) so judging a story before it's done is rather unfair and shows some closed mindedness.
However, it's yet another "event". I was definitely hit with "event fatigue" or whatever you wanted to call it, I was just tired of getting hit with where everyone's involved and everything is a tie in.
Having said that, if you were looking to get kids or some non-comic readers excited about an event it seems logical to be able to say "It's Avengers vs X-Men". It's really a "nuff said" event as you might be mildly curious about what causes it but at the end of the day a lot of people just want to see these guys slug it out, it's just really simple and sell-able to a wide audience. Superhero comics have always had that "who would win between" element to them, as a Hulk reader I've had more than my fair share of books where it was "Hulk vs someone". Yeah, we've seen fights like this before (Secret Wars or so many others) and we'll see it again. It's just one of those things you have to expect with superhero comics. If you aren't in to them just wait, it's not like the next 10 years of Marvel comics will be this story. Next year it'll be something else entirely.
Let's face it, no matter how much you love a character/writer/company/whatever they will inevitably write something (or in the character's case something will be written with them in it) that just doesn't appeal to you. It's the old "You can't please everybody all the time" thing. Some stories may be more miss than hit but that's life and that's art.
"It's just comics." I've often hated that expression as I see it at belittling to the medium but I have to admit, life will go on and so will the characters/stories. We'll have the comic enthusiasts going around in stereotypical fashion saying "worst idea ever" (yes, I have been one of them and will be again and again) and there's nothing wrong with having that opinion but life is full of disappointments. And no matter what you think of it there will be those who think it's better than sliced bread. Who's right? I say that's a trick question. It's art. It's comics. It's opinions.
So let's go negative. So let's be critical of the books before they come out. Let's play into that stereotype. Does it help the medium? I think having a calm, rational discussion of possible "event fatigue" or of the story (after it's out) can be helpful but I don't think we're ever going to see that on the Internet. Once you go to absolutes or judging without reading I think you are turning off potential readers who would help the industry as a whole.
That reminds me of comic clerks who are critical of certain books and those who buy them. I've had clerks mock me, insulting me for reading Hulk comics, a "one-dimensional character" in their opinion. Really? Is this how you're trying to sell your merchandise? By all means, you have every right to your opinion but don't be so dismissive of others.
Will I buy these books? I'm 99% certain I won't. Having the Hulk playing a part does get my attention and I may give in and check out an issue or two if he's front and center. And will I be critical of another "event" or for some other reason? Perhaps. Will I admit that my opinion is my own and doesn't necessarily reflect the true quality of the story (especially because, again, I probably won't even read it) and everyone else may disagree with me? Absolutely.
So will it be good? Will it be a good story? Will it sell? Will it get new readers in or send old readers out the door? Only time and history will tell I suppose, and even then I may disagree with that.
Will life go on? I sure hope so. It's just comics after all.

It's been a while...

2011-12-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

I guess I just haven't had much to blog about lately. Plus, does anyone even blog any more? I won't go in to the personal/work stuff, it's all rather depressing. So let's stick to comics and other fun stuff.

With all the stuff going on it's been rather tough to find time for the Bluenoser so I'm down to one page per week but I'm keeping up with that at least. Here's a preview of this week's page:

As you can see I still have a ways to go on this page. My original plan for this book was to keep it going with short (5-6 page) stories but then I decided to do a "major" story once I got close to the 100th page so it's been about getting stories out that build to that one. Okay, that may not have made as much sense as it did in my head. Sorry, I'm rather tired at the moment. I guess the "move" to its own page was a little unnecessary as well as DrunkDuck has been somewhat stable and what few readers I have seem to stick to there. But oh well, it's good to have a mirror up just in case.

In terms of what I've been reading lately, I just finished the Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor. I was actually rather disappointed in it. Perhaps it's just my dislike of the Governor or something else (which I don't want to say/spoil) but I just didn't enjoy it as much as the comic. I've also finished off some comics like Kill Shakespeare volume 2 (really interesting idea and well executed), Walking Dead volume 15 (despite parts of this story seeming to drag on I'm still hooked on it for some reason), and Sweet Tooth volume 3 (while reading this book I wasn't sure I'd buy volume 4 but by the time I got to the end I was eager to see what happens next). I've also started reading "Hark! AVagrant" and I'll probably be starting Jack of Fables volume 9 shortly. I have a lot of books on my "to be read" pile so I'm hoping to tackle some during the holiday week (between Christmas and New Year's).

So back to the drawing board (or the Cintiq sitting on my dining room table at least).

It's that time of year

2011-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's that time of year. And no, I'm not talking about Christmas. It's the time of year when people start listing the top books of the year. Okay, maybe it's a bit early but Publishers Weekly has already got the ball rolling. Of those books I've read Habibi and most of Zahra's Paradise. I've added some of the others to my "might pick up" pile. And that's how I often work. Obviously I pick up some books throughout the year but I really enjoy seeing the "best of" lists and finding new treasures I might have overlooked or didn't hear of throughout the year. So if you see any such lists that you think I may have missed or have your own suggestions let me know. Webcomic suggestions are of course welcome as well.

I'll probably be doing up my own list of this year's highlights but it won't be until December.

Another check in

2011-10-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

I'm really falling behind on the whole blogging thing aren't I. But then again, does anyone really blog anymore? :)

So what's new? That crap I mentioned in my last post that's been going on in my life continues. In some ways I'd like to talk about it yet it just doesn't feel right to ramble on about these things in a blog post. So instead I'll ramble about comics.

It looks like the big companies are moving more and more towards the digital world. DC has already gone same day and Marvel is moving more and more of their books to that. Heck, one smaller company dropped monthlies entirely (selling digital and eventual print collections). I still haven't fully went that way in terms of reading though. I don't buy monthlies but I wait for the TPBs. A few reasons:
- Price. As much as I want to support the creators of these books I just can't see paying the same price to read it digitally (which should be cheaper to produce/distribute and results in me not actually owning anything) as I would to own a physical copy.
- Reading experience. This one is slightly on me as I don't own an iPad but even trying it on a friend's I still preferred the print versions. Part of this is that artists still draw for the printed page, using story telling techniques that don't always translate 100%.
- Decompression. I still find that when I read an individual issue of so many books that at the end I feel somewhat cheated, that there was no closure and I only got a small chunk of the story. It almost feels like I've been left mid-sentence and have to wait a month (or longer) for it to finish. Then when the next issue comes out I still don't feel that closure. I don't feel that way (as much) reading the TPBs. And if I'm waiting for the TPBs anyways (which tend to be cheaper than the individual issues and I find too long to sit in front of a computer reading) then why go digital?

But that's all just me. I also wonder about webcomics and where they fit in. With the iPad apps and various viewers coming out and such is the idea of free webcomics going to continue? Or are they just going to be that stepping stone of getting people to notice you and then dropped when you get that first paying gig. So often I see that and it makes me less interested in webcomics because I feel "Why bother getting involved in the story if the creator is actually looking to drop it for a paying gig?" Are webcomics irrelevant now that we have the iPad/iPhone/laptops with comic viewing software where we can buy stuff?

Though my view on webcomics may also be slightly tainted with the DrunkDuck things going on. WOWIO seems to have put work on it aside until they start making some money and the site could really use the work right now after the relaunch. And the annual DrunkDuck awards finalists got nominated. I'll admit, I had some hopes to maybe get recognized but I knew it was a long shot. So maybe there's a bit of sour grapes but my first reaction was "How did X get nominated in category Y?" I have to recognize it was a popularity contest and books I don't think are that great are popular. And people who read those books were quick to nominate them as much as they could (like a book being nominated in both "black and white" and "color" comic or in every genre, some people just put one book in every category) so I just have to shrug it off but that mentality of not caring does bug me. I can see why some people decided to leave but on the other hand is any site really going to be better? Leaving one site because you aren't one of the "cool kids" just doesn't seem all that productive. I think it happens on every site, there's that inner clique and if you aren't in it then you're on your own and if you are then you'll generally go no farther than that.

So anyways, back to work for me. Hope everyone's having a better day than me and that I didn't bring you down too much. :)

Checking in

2011-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I've been pretty quiet on here lately and I guess I should apologize for that. There's a lot going on in my life that has me down and I've been trying to avoid going all negative and ranty here. I think the web already has enough of that.

So trying to stay positive by touching on a few of the books I've read lately. I'm up to date on DMZ and Scalped. Still enjoying both books (Scalped more so) but I do think knowing both books will be coming to an end does help. For some reason as much as I'm enjoying them I do feel they both need to come to some closure at some point (fairly soon). Atomic Robo volume 5 was great, as usual. Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme was pretty amazing but I didn't realize going in that this was just the first book so I guess I'll have to wait for the next one. I also had a Nathan Fillion filled weekend by re-reading the Serenity books (recently released as two hardcovers) and the Castle graphic novel (seen on last night's episode).

In terms of new books I decided to check out the first two volumes of iZombie. I wasn't sure what to expect from it and a few issues in I wasn't really blown away but by the end of the first volume I was intrigued enough to really want to read the second volume. I'm still slightly on the fence with the series but I'll be picking up volume 3 when it comes out.

I meant to read Habibi on the weekend but it got put aside for some lighter reading. It's currently on the top of my "to read" list. And at some point I plan on doing a Sandman re-read. I borrowed them through my first reading so I'm picking up the new editions that are coming out (I'm a little obsessive compulsive and I'd kind of like a consistent set and not a mix of various editions). So that plan may get put aside until they all have been re-released.

So that's it for me at the moment. And I'm open to suggestions on other books to read.

New Readers

2011-09-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

I'm probably the last person to be bringing up DC's 52 reboot as I'm not reading them (other than Justice League) and I'm not going to be a new DC reader, I'm just not interested. But I've been reading plenty of comments on them from new and old readers and among the compliments and complaints there are a few things I'm picking out (whether they're true or not). One, the books don't seem to be all that new reader friendly. If it's not Superman or Batman then new readers have no idea who these characters are and the reboot books don't seem to be origins or introductions to the characters. They are the start of a new story but readers without the history may be feeling lost right from the start. And there doesn't seem to be any closure within the issues (with maybe a couple exceptions). This can be jarring to new comic readers who are expecting a contained story. I think they expect like a TV show or movie that there will be some sort of contained story in the issue even if it is part of an ongoing larger story.

So I think about when friends ask me about getting into comics and what to read, my first reaction is usually "well what would you be interested in reading?" Are they in to horror, westerns, sci fi, romance, or do they really want to give superhero stuff a try? And then I go to books/stories/characters I feel they can get into easily and this is usually not Marvel or DC. Unless they say "I saw Thor and really want to read Thor comics" I just don't go there. I find any character who has a story going back to the 1960's can be a little daunting. I usually go with ones where they can go into a comic shop, bookstore, or Amazon and grab a TPB or two and figure out if the story is for them. So I go with Invincible, Elephantmen, Atomic Robo, Walking Dead, Chew, Sandman, Fables,... And it's easy to direct them to volume 1. Where do you direct someone for Marvel or DC characters? The "essential" volumes? More recent TPBs? More recent "relaunches" of the character (if they have one)? I'm just never sure.

It has me thinking, would DC's reboot have been better served by having single issues or even initial TPBs that contained full stories that actually introduced the characters (either through origins or just self contained stories that at least told you who they are). Would it benefit DC (or even Marvel) to put out such books? A confined "All you need to know about Spider-Man/Thor/Captain America/Superman/Batman" comic (either single issue, TPB, or digital comic they can get from their sites. And I'm not talking those 2-3 pagers that don't really give you any actual story. Because as it is I'm still directing any potential new readers elsewhere.

But that may just be me.

Two page spreads

2011-09-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

One thing I'm curious about is how the two page spreads (specifically those in the Justice League books by Jim Lee) look on the iPad and iPhone. It can't be that great a reading experience. I'd say two page spreads are more for the benefit of print versions. But here's the thing, they really aren't (in most cases).

Now this is just my opinion of course and there are exceptions (I seem to recall some great two page spreads in MiracleMan, Sandman, Return of the Dapper Men, etc) but I found in those exceptions they fit the story more. They gave us a large view while moving the story forward. In Justice League 1 you have a double page spread of Batman jumping out of the way of gunshots from helicopters, is that really worthy of a two page spread? In issue 2 it seems (I've only seen the unlettered preview) you have Batman and Superman squaring off in a two page spread. Yes, it shows off some pretty artwork but does it really tell the story effectively or is it just trying to cover up a lack of substance with some eye candy?

And aside from that, it keeps me wondering about making comics for print and digital yet again. The talk about going digital seems to gloss over what this means for some artists. Many artists don't look at making comics as a panel by panel thing, for them the whole page (and all its panels) fits together as a work of art. So you'll have panels blending into one another, overlapping (in art or dialogue), and other little "tricks" that require you to see the full page at once to get the full reading experience. Currently, tablets and smartphones are smaller than printed pages and often lose detail when pages are shrunk down to fit them (especially the phones). Computer monitors are usually better (though they have to be sufficiently large enough). I guess the assumption is that either artists will have to stop doing stuff that works better in print or that technology will eventually find an answer or that the majority of comic readers (especially those going to digital) won't care.

I tend to go with the last option for the most part, I don't think there's that many readers who actually care about this stuff. It's too bad in a way as I find it nice to see artists who know how to really tell the story effectively through their art but I accept that I can be in the minority and that there's a larger audience who just want their glossed over pretty pictures. I guess it's like all other forms of entertainment (TV, movies, books, etc) where what I might consider high quality doesn't always bring in the money and the audience wants their sex/violence/explosions/"reality" TV/"leave your brain at the door popcorn blockbuster"/glittery vampire with abs/whatever else sells. And who am I to say what is right or wrong for them to like/spend their money on.

Though I also know of some artists who are considering these things and being pulled in many directions. So hopefully they can find a balance or a solution and that technology continues to expand the possibilities for them.

Fan Expo Canada 2011

2011-08-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Another Fan Expo Canada has come and gone. I had been looking forward to it all summer so I'm glad it came but it's also a sign that summer is coming to an end and that sort of sucks. But anyways, the organization this year was so much better than last. There were a few hiccups on the first day and with the photos but what con won't have at least a few things when you're dealing with so many people, some of whom can be the cause of the problems (seriously, it's your choice to stand in line at 10:30 for something that doesn't open until 2:00, giving the organizers crap about having to wait in line until 2 just doesn't help things). But here are some of the highlights of my visit to Fan Expo Canada.

In terms of photos, I didn't really take too many, that's more my brother's thing. But there are a few I tweeted along the way and they can be found on yfrog.

Thursday:
We got in shortly after 2:00 and I made a beeline to Jeff Smith's table. I had originally hoped to pick up a TPB or something small to get signed but when I saw the 20th Anniversary Bone box set I couldn't resist. Then it was mainly just wandering around, picking up a mini-painting and a copy of "F**k You, Box" from Katie Cook and prints from Christopher Uminga, and getting an idea of the layout of the Expo. It definitely felt more roomy but the best part was the sizable food court areas (and the "Premium lounge" for those of us with the Premium tickets). It was actually at the food court that I got the chance to meet Alex Zalben. And of course I went to the sketching duel between Shane Davis, Mark Brooks, and Clay Moore which was great (all the sketching duels were great, though the "Women in Comics" one was my favourite).

Friday:
Friday was a bit busier for me. After signing up for a commission from Jill Thompson I went to the Tony Daniel/Marko Djurdjevic sketching duel where I won a Tony Daniel sketch. Then I headed back to talk to Jill while she worked away. Then there was the Tony Moore/Billl Sienkiewicz duel where they drew a zombie-Hulk. It wasn't my suggestion but it was funny because I had told people before the Expo that I would have liked a zombie-Hulk commission from Moore. Unfortunately I didn't win because the final pieces were awesome. And then there was the "Women in Comics" sketching duel (which I like to think I helped "sponsor" by donating some bristol board to some of the artists) where I won a "Penny from Inspector Gadget" sketch from Katie. And somewhere in there I think I picked up my commission from Caanan (Hulk/Spidey) and signed up for She-Hulk drawing from Ryan Stegman.

Saturday:
My main mission for Saturday was Eliza Dushku. I got in line right away and she showed up shortly after the show opened. She was incredibly nice and interactive with her fans (at least what I saw/experienced). So I was able to make it to the Steve Epting/Alex Maleev duel where I won the Dr Doom drawing in my Twitter photos (though it doesn't do it justice). There's a story about how I won but I won't go into that. But I was starting to make a name for myself with the organizers of the duels as this was my third win of the Expo (neither Brent or I had won in all the duels we had attended the last two years). The Eliza photo op was a bit of a mess with the Tom Felton line going on at the same time but again, she was incredibly nice. Then another sketching duel (Dale Eaglesham, Dale Keown, and Jimmy Cheung drawing Wolverine) where I didn't win. But Brent made a friend in the Lee Majors line and in ended up being Kelly Sue DeConnick. I had hoped to meet up with a friend who was dressed as "Death" (from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman") but unfortunately it didn't happen (part of that may have been due to the fact that I couldn't get any sort of signal on my iPhone for most of the day, it was a pretty common complaint that we could see a signal but couldn't do anything).

Sunday:
I figured Sunday was going to be pretty quiet for me and for the most part it was, though the floor seemed pretty busy for at least the afternoon. Of course I went to yet another sketching duel. Yeah, I'm a sucker for those. I think it's too bad that other cons don't do them (yet again this year some artists didn't really know what to expect when they signed up for them) but I also realize not all artists are gung ho for fitting them into their schedule and taking time away from their paid commissions. Brent and I got to talk to Kelly Sue and Matt Fraction for a bit and I picked up a few more prints (from Tony Moore and Caanan in particular).

We had made a few friends who came up from New York and were now stranded in Toronto so we tried our best to suggest things to do or make sure they could at least make it back to their hotels (one was left stranded by their Toronto based friend at the Expo). I hope they've all made their way home safely by now.

So overall, yeah, I had a blast. I'm pretty sure I'm missing a bunch of stuff from this post. It all seems so chaotic and a blur now. Maybe I should take more pictures to help me remember everything.

Wikinomics

2011-08-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

I finally finished reading "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" a few days back, I had been reading it off and on for quite a while now. I won't go into a full review but I do think it's an important book to read. The times are changing whether some people like it or not and it's important to understand what's working and what isn't. I don't agree with everything in the book, some of their opinions and conclusions just don't work for me or seem to overlook things I'm curious about, but that's just my opinion.

The stuff in this book is more directly related to my job than my interest in comics (and the comics industry) but I think there are also parts that are important for everyone, including the comic industry, to learn from. The web is just one game changer and with every new technology things are changing. Trying to stick to old business models just isn't going to work in the long run.

I don't really have the business mind to see exactly where things are going, I think anyone who does say they are certain about how things will be in the future is deluded or trying to sell you something (or both). But I do know things are and will be changing. Okay, maybe I'm a little deluded too but at least I'm not trying to sell you something.

I could ramble on and on about all this stuff, last weekend a friend and I talked about it for hours (less about the company side though and more about the regular workers) but I don't think that would be to anyone's benefit (I'm guessing only one or two people will get this far in the rambling).

As an aside, I'm a little disappointed that I'm not seeing the unknown people trying to organize panels at Fan Expo. I think creating a panel with something unique could be good advertising for the webcomic/self publishing crowd. There are a few panels by people who have been successful at getting their own stuff out there ("Killing Shakespeare") or are people who have had at least some level of mainstream success (Ty Templeton, Cameron Stewart,...) but I'd actually like a more discussion-based panel with people who haven't yet. The last two years have had that (some with the people above before they were successful) but I just don't see it this year. Perhaps I'm missing something, perhaps there's just no demand for it (why talk to someone who hasn't made it when you can go to a panel to listen to someone who has), or maybe everyone's just too busy to do something like that. Either way, I'm just not seeing it. So I'll probably be spending much of my time at the sketching duels.

Panels

2011-08-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back (or whenever it came out) I decided to pick up Fear Itself #5 just because I wanted to see the Hulk and Thing versus Thor fight. Okay, and maybe I just wanted to read a single comic again, it's been a while. But after reading it I was pretty disappointed. The book just didn't seem to have much substance to it, either in that fight or the other stuff going on. And after thinking about it for a while I think one of the problems was what I felt was ineffective use of space.

I think too many panels were too large. I know I sound like your typical "in my day" comic fan but you look back at some of the artistic masters from the past they use small panels to display action and on one page you got a whole sequence and that made it feel intense. Here you have a full page only showing a small part of a sequence. It looks pretty but to me, it's boring to read and doesn't really engage me as a reader.

One thing I've taken from my webcomics is to make every page count and get in as much as possible. Partly it's the typical webcomic updating (one page at a time so you want that page to count) and partly it's that when I tried the large panel after large panel people spent less time and were less engaged in reading it. And that's how I felt here. With large panel after large panel I just breezed through it. Not to mention that when you do try to keep the panel size down it's more jarring when you do go to the larger one, a trick you can use to shock the reader. Large panel after large panel just becomes boring.

This also makes me think of the iPod/iPad stuff. People talk about how when they read comics on them and go panel from panel it can adjust the size of the panel to fit the screen (enlarging small panels). I think that's wrong. Now you could say that artists have to compensate for it and make sure their panels fit well but I think it takes away some of the storytelling control the creators have. If you really want your comic to be viewable on the iPad in that way then perhaps you have to find some balance. To be honest, I have too many thoughts going on in my head and I could ramble about this one forever but I don't want to take over this rambling with another, I just wanted to put it out there.

Now I'm just an amateur webcomic guy so obviously I know less about making comics than your average (or pretty much any) professional. And this is all just my opinion, others are free (and apparently do) disagree. But it's how I feel.

Hosting Part 2

2011-08-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

I sort of knew going in that the hardest part of setting up hosting my own comic wasn't going to be on the technological side (though technology and I don't always see eye to eye, partly due to my own stupidity at times), it was going to be what comes after. Promotion.

I've never really gone too far out of my way to promote my webcomics. I mention them here and there (often in a derogatory way, which is a big problem) but I don't really sell it. There's a lot going on but it mostly boils down to a lack of confidence. It took me a while just to post something on DrunkDuck and then I let the community aspect of that site bring in a few readers (some stayed, most didn't). With my own hosting, the community thing just isn't the same. I can link to my comic or site when I comment on other people's sites (even that feels awkward to me) and I can try to talk about it a bit more (on here or with friends) but I just haven't been able to put out a full on blitz.

Maybe one day I'll get over it. On the plus side, I'm not looking to make a career out of it or anything but it would be nice to have some readers to make the work worthwhile. And for now, I do have my DrunkDuck readers.

Hosting

2011-08-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

I've thought about it, I've talked about it, and now I've finally got off my butt and did it. With all the issues going on with DrunkDuck I felt I had to do something with my webcomics and I felt moving over to another site might be a temporary solution but eventually I'd still be relying on someone else hosting. I'll still use DrunkDuck as a mirror though.

After some internal debating about domains I decided to finally set up darrellferguson.com for hosting. So I've started with the Bluenoser. I haven't been able to figure out how to post more than one page per day with ComicPress so it's quite a few pages behind where I am on DrunkDuck but I'll be posting a page per day on there until I get caught up, then it'll be Tuesdays and Thursdays. And I do plan on customizing the look and making it more pleasant to the eye at some point as well.

Eventually I plan on getting Divine Leap up there as well though I plan on doing that as one bulk thing.

Sketches

2011-08-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

I doodle from time to time but I very rarely sit down just to sketch stuff. Even when I do I tend to not be that loose with it and I hardly ever post it or let anyone see it. So I was thinking that I've been concentrating on drawing Bluenoser stuff so much that I needed a break. So I decided to do some quick and loose and out there sketches (or as loose/out there as I get).

Follow Up to the Post Comic Con Post

2011-07-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

So DC Comics has said they've heard the complaints about not hiring enough women and there will be a next batch of relaunch books that will correct some of these issues. I think that's a first good step and I'm glad they're listening but we'll see how it plays out. Some of the responses I've read on various sites reporting this news aren't very encouraging. One theme that comes up is "Well, the girls got what they wanted so they better buy the books now." I'm struggling not to ramble on about how wrong this statement is on many levels and how it reflects a part of the comics community that is very ugly. I hope for those creators working on these books that they succeed, but if they don't it's not a sign women can't produce quality books that can sell. I think the women creating webcomics, self-publishing, and working with other publishers have proven they can.

But now to ramble about other stuff. I wanted to point out Caanan's comment to that post and respond/comment on a few things he says.

- I think I would have liked a hard reboot as well. And for me, it's not necessarily about changing the characters like Superman but just cleaning up the mess that is Superman's history. No need to make him a bad-ass vigilante (and I don't believe his book should be "dark") or anything like that, just more accessible. But yeah, their current audience would be really upset by that.

- As for crossovers and the events, they seem to be the biggest seller of the big two and I've been told by a few people that they do bring in some new readers (I know a few people who came back to comics during Civil War). But sales have been declining and people don't seem to be as interested in them since then (I haven't heard much of Fear Itself or Flashpoint really bringing in new readers). But again I agree with Caanan, if I want to read the Hulk I want to pick up the Hulk series. I was reading the Incredible Hulks: Chaos War TPB last night and it was a little frustrating at times. An issue would end and you'd get "If you want to know what happens next pick up..." Now yes, if I was doing the single issues thing then yes, I could have picked up that issue (or two) but I don't really care enough about Herc and the others that were involved in that storyline. I don't really have anything against telling stories that involve more than one character, but I think maybe those stories should be self contained in their own titles. If they come up with a cool Hulk/Hercules story, create a title "Hulk and Hercules: Chaos War" and tell it there. This may also brings up continuity and such but at this point, I'm ready to give up on continuity to a certain level.

- And yes, the house style is a bad idea in my opinion. I think getting Jim Lee to redesign most of the characters and forcing artists to fit into his vision was wrong. I hate to bring up Marvel but if you look at their books you don't get that house style. You get a variety of artists who are allowed to adapt their style to books they want to do. You may get the "photo realistic" guys out there (whether I like it or not), you'll get the more surreal or abstract artists, you'll get the dark and gritty artists, the cartoony guys, the traditional artists, etc, etc. and they get to do what they love, create visually interesting art more on their own terms (with possible exceptions or tweaking).

And that last point may be one thing that hurts the female creators coming in. Allowing them to come in and tell interesting Batman or Superman stories in their own way could be great. Forcing them to take on a C-level character in a DC/Jim Lee style may be doomed to fail.

Post Comic Con

2011-07-29T07:10:00.000-07:00

As I've said, I didn't go but should that keep me from giving my 2 cents (even if it is a little late). I'll keep it short by only talking about stuff that I was interested in:

- Incredibly Hulk by Silvestri and Aaron. I'm not a big fan of Silvestri's art (don't hate it but he wouldn't be my first pick for Hulk) and the only book I've read by Jason Aaaron is Scalped (which I have been enjoying) and my initial reaction to the story was the typical "It's been done." But after watching Aaron's video talking about it and a couple more interview blurbs I'm starting to think it may be pretty good. I'll buy it anyways because it's the Hulk but I do feel good going into it.

- DC's women. This is one issue that's really spilling over to the blogs and comic sites, Dan DiDio's reaction to a fan calling out for DC to hire more women. I've never met Dan DiDio, maybe he's a great guy, I don't know, but I know I've often found myself not liking how he comes across in interviews and at cons. Maybe he was tired, maybe he was fed up with the amount of negativity being thrown in his direction, or maybe I'm just imagining things but his reaction came off as rather hostile towards the fan and the panel audience in general. When the percentage of women creators working on your comics drops from 12% to 1% people are going to raise some concerns. When your books are singled out time and time again for negative portrayals of women you may want to think about what you're doing to a large percentage of your potential audience. Many people have said that it appears the number of women attending Comic Con continues to rise and perhaps it's time to look into why DC's number continue to go down (in sales and in terms of women working there).

- DC's relaunch/reboot/whatever. Despite the threat of a protest (which amounted to a couple cosplayers who got more attention for their costumes than what they had to say about the reboot) this topic did seem to dominate the news. Even some mainstream-ish news people were talking about it instead of just talking about what movies and TV shows were there. And Marvel, though having some announcements to make, had nothing that could match it. But despite seeing some more pretty pictures from it and some more Jim Lee sketches I'm still not that into it. I actually give a tip of my hat to DC for trying something daring to get people reading their comics, I just don't have a good feeling about how they're going about it. I thought maybe that Morrison on Superman could be interesting but the more I hear about it the less interested I am. The flood of Batman books doesn't sound all that appealing. And overall it doesn't come across as all that new reader friendly especially with all this talk about Flashpoint explaining things. I don't want to read Flashpoint, it doesn't seem new reader friendly to me, and if you bring it up when trying to sell me on the reboot you're pushing me away. Having said all that, does it seem to anyone else that a large portion of the negative reaction and complaining about DC rebooting is coming from people who aren't reading the books? On the one hand why are those people so upset if they aren't reading them? On the other hand, it's not a good sign if potential new readers are complaining already. But then again, they may just be a vocal minority.

To clarify my stance on it, I'm not complaining that they are doing it, I think they have to do something. I'm just saying that on first glance I'm not a fan of how they're doing it and what the resulting DC universe will look like. But that's okay, I'm just one person and this could end up appealing to a much larger audience than who is reading the books now.

- Overall content: There's a graph going around showing just how many panels were about comics and comic related stuff versus movies and TV and it seems to show that comics were a big part of it. I don't want to come across as "Comic Con should only be for comics" but as a comic fan I am happy to see them well represented. Though this is just in terms of panels, I'm not sure what the general feeling on the floor was.

So overall it seems like a good time was had by most. It was hectic, it was stinky and sweaty, and most people didn't get to do all that they had hoped... It was Comic Con and I missed it so bring on Fan Expo Canada.

Hosting

2011-07-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

I guess I spoke too soon about DrunkDuck (or "The Duck") being back up and running. It's been locked up (unable to post pages, comment, or do anything else) for the last couple days. It really makes me consider moving away from the Duck or maybe just using it as a mirror site. My thinking:

I don't really want to have to pay much (if at all) for hosting my comic as I'm not actually making any money off it anyways. On the other, I'd like some reliability and it's the old saying of 'you get what you pay for'. The Duck has been fairly good but it has had its fair share of downtime. There always seems to be a reason (changing hands from one company to another, server upgrades, site upgrades, etc, etc). And with each change you get some period of stability (after prolonged instability) before it seems to start coughing up again.

A big thing for me is the community. I don't really advertise my comics but I've been able to get a few regular readers on DrunkDuck due to the community aspect of it (taking part in the forums or what not). Though I suppose I could keep them by mirroring my stuff there and maybe attract others by taking a more active role in the larger webcomics community.

And of course, moving off the Duck would mean I would have to take on more responsibility for the hosting of my comic. I'd have to do more setting up of the page and such. But maybe it's about time I do that.

So yeah, I'm leaning towards making up my own site for some comics and maybe using the Duck as a mirror.

Grinds My Gears

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when a new comic book gets announced and it's the same title of a webcomic idea you've been wanting to do for a while.

Fortunately the premise is different.

Comic Con

2011-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

So Comic Con is about to begin (for some people it already has in some ways) and I'm not there. I keep telling myself that I'm probably better off. The huge crowds, the shifting focus to Hollywood, not being able to really interact with people, the enormous crowds (worth saying twice), the lines, etc, etc. And when it comes to following the comic book announcements I'm almost better following along with online reporting of them instead of fighting crowds to try to get in to the many panels that will be going on. On the other hand, I think I'd like to experience it at least once.

But I'll have to wait until Fan Expo Canada. I hate wishing the summer away but the end of August can't come soon enough.

DrunkDuck is back up and running (mostly)

2011-07-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

So they were able to finish the migration and get DrunkDuck (soon to be renamed "The Duck" I believe) back up and running for the most part. There are still plenty of issues to be resolved but I'm glad the migration is done and we're off the old server(s). I'm glad that it's back up as I can get back to actually posting the pages I've been working on.

It's actually been a rough time for me while they did this. I've had some friends go through some medical issues (one, the guy who actually got me started on DrunkDuck, is recovering from brain surgery). But on a less serious note, I just haven't been in a good frame of mind when it comes to working on the Bluenoser. I've been rushing pages, not really putting in the effort I should, and have been going through my usual questions of why I do it and whether I should continue. I often say that not looking to make money from it makes things quite a bit easier on me but it definitely brings up the question of why do it then. Yeah, there's the love of comics and yadda yadda yadda but I can't help but question it some times.

I know I've talked about this before, I guess I just feel the need to vent when I get like this. And hopefully getting back to posting the pages I've done and getting some feedback will get me back to the right frame of mind.

The Unnoticed

2011-07-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

One good thing that has come from waiting for DrunkDuck to come back online is that the buffer of pages I have done for the Bluenoser has grown. I have enough to get me through until August which is when my vacation starts and hopefully I'll be able to build it up even more. But I'd like to see the Duck back soon, it's getting to be a bit too long for it to be down.

But the real reason for this post was just a quick rambling of something that I have been thinking about while drawing those pages I mentioned. It's the unnoticed parts of drawing, and in particular it's something that I say "Wow, I nailed that!" yet nobody will notice. Some times it's the things that can cause me problems (like feet which I know is silly) and other times it's just a little touch I add to someone's expression. When I post the page I almost want to say "Hey, look how good that guy's foot looks in the fourth panel!" but that would just be weird. Of course nobody really notices these things, it's usually the things you don't do a good job on that are noticed.

So I think that's something to think about when reading comics. Don't just appreciate the parts that stand out, appreciate the subtle aspects of the art that don't stand out but are an important part of you enjoying the story (and not getting distracted by something that stands out as awkward). Just don't get too hung up looking for those parts, that would kind of ruin the whole purpose of them. :)

Oh yeah, Fan Expo Canada

2011-07-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Completely forgot to mention the other bit of news. My tickets to Fan Expo Canada have been purchased and I can't wait. I know there has been some talk of a slightly disappointing celebrity list (especially compared to last year's Shatner/Stan Lee double bill) but I think the celebrity list looks like a great variety of talent for the various tastes. Everyone seems to have at least a couple people they're hoping to meet. For me, the main celebrity I'm interested in is Eliza Dushku but Robert Englund and John Astin are also really cool.

But for me, it's more about the comic book people. Jeff Smith, the Kuberts, Jill Thomspon, Dale Keown, Andy Belanger, Caanan Grall, ... There are just too many to name. I know I won't get a chance with some (like the Kuberts and Jeff Smith will be very busy) but the whole atmosphere is always great.

Drunkduck migration continues

2011-07-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

DrunkDuck was supposed to be back up on Tuesday but the migration of the data is taking longer than expected. That's not unusual, it's always tough to say how long it will take to migrate so much data, especially when dealing with funky set ups between companies. I just hope the migration goes well and things improve as the Duck has been having quite a few issues as of late.

Which makes me think about how interesting Webcomics are. You are at the mercy of the technology. When servers die or internet connections falter the medium fails. And as Caanan is learning with Max Overacts, sometimes success can have its penalties (high traffic has nearly shut him down and he is now dealing with moving over to another provider instead of focusing on making comics).

This is not to say print is better, it has its own problems. But technology has a lot of new problems that some comic people aren't prepared to handle at the moment. Hopefully it's just a blip on the road and we all learn from the problems of the current webcomic makers.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm glad I'm not trying to make a living off making comics. And I wish all the best to those who are.

And as an aside, I'm starting to get more involved in funding projects through KickStarter. I only wish that it was available to Canadians (without requiring a US bank account and US address) but maybe one day. I definitely recommend checking it out as it's a great way to support up and coming (and some established) creative people and some outstanding projects.

"Death of Spider-Man" 2

2011-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

So I talked about this story previously but I wanted to go back to it for a minute. I somewhat expected Marvel to spoil the story in the media and sure enough they didn't disappoint. But what I was a little surprised with was that they've come out to justify spoiling the story (even giving news organizations the last couple pages to post). I'm not surprised with the content of their justification, just that they went public with what we all knew. But it just reinforces to me so much of what I've come to hate about the Marvel, DC, and to some extent the other publishers like Image as of late.

First up, it's all about getting non-comic readers talking about it and coming in to buy the comic. Now I'm all for trying to grow your audience but I'd like to see them do it without screwing over those who are already buying your product. The ones who don't want to know how the book ends. This just feels like a kick to the crotch for them. And does this truly grow your audience? Maybe a bit. I see people coming in to buy the book who don't usually buy comics but why are they doing it? A lot are doing it in the hopes the polybagged comic will become a collectible to sell. They won't read it, they won't be back, and they just reinforce the idea that comics aren't really for reading, they are a collectible you can hope to make money on. Not very productive for the industry in my mind (and I think the 90's confirmed that). Then of course you get the regular reader buying more than one copy because they want a readable version and a "mint" edition to hold on to.

To me going out there and spoiling it is like telling me the story really isn't worth reading without the gimmick of the death. Now maybe the story is worth reading, I don't know because I didn't read it. Why? Because at this point death in comics always feels like a gimmick to me. And this spoiling just reinforces that. It's saying the story doesn't matter, it's the gimmicks that I should be interested in. And I think that's bad for comics in general. Does this make people think there is actually value in the stories that comics can tell? I don't think so. Does this make kids or their parents want to pick up comics? I don't think so. It makes comics look like they are still stuck in the same old "We're going to kill him or do something 'shocking' just to try to get your attention" methods of the 90's.

I really don't want to rant too much on this, because I know I can be shot down so easily ("You aren't even reading it so why do you care?", "The sale on the book were huge.", etc) but for me, this is just frustrating. With companies having so many tools at their disposal to get their product out there and get people interested in the actual content of comics they are going for "cheap pops" that make the comic industry look bad. I guess this was always the way and I just had all I can take of it.

25 Pages And Counting

2011-06-21T09:40:00.000-07:00

So my latest webcomic, The Bluenoser, has hit 25 pages posted (with one "filler page"). Not really a regular "milestone" but that's how DrunkDuck works (to avoid people creating their own milestones to get in the news section they limit it to every 25 pages and finishing a comic) so I guess I'll follow along.

I have to say that it's been very different than my experience with my first webcomic. The reaction has been better and maybe one day I'll go into some rambling trying to explain why I think that is so (better art/writing, shorter stories that are easier for readers to get into, having some carry over from Divine Leap, etc). Though one thing that hasn't changed is that I have done almost nothing to advertise it other than letting readers of Divine Leap know. I'll just keep telling myself that it's okay as I'm not doing this to make money or get noticed anyways.

From my perspective it's been more fun to write and draw. I get to focus on short, condensed stories that are fun to come up with and draw rather than some 400+ page storyline. I was worried when I started that I would have trouble with it, to come up with a bunch of stories that still felt like they continued the narrative. But so far I've been pretty happy and I have a lot of ideas brewing in my little bedside notebook.

So I guess it's off to get the next 25 pages done... After I'm done at work that is. :)

Spoiling the creature of the day

2011-06-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've read a bit of reaction about people searching out spoilers for what the creature looks like in the new Super 8 film and it's got me thinking yet again about these movies being advertised as they are (Cloverfield and Godzilla are just two of the movies that come to mind). I have not seen Super 8 or Cloverfield so this is not a comment on them, just the advertising and set up around them.

Some people are pointing to the people who are posting these spoilers and those looking for them as ruining it for everyone. I disagree, as long as it's being done without spoiling it for those who don't want to be spoiled then I'd argue it's okay. And then some have said it's stealing money, getting to see the creature without paying. So are they admitting the only reason to go see this film is to see the latest CGI creation? Am I also stealing every time I look at a picture of Jason or Freddy and not buying Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street?

It actually does feel to me that the advertising pushes this idea that the reason to come see these films is to see the creature. We see the usual clips of government conspiracy, animals reacting (dogs barking, cats hissing, etc), and yes, we get some clips of a few actors reacting to something. It's all building the trailers to be "Ooh, we have a creature and look at all these people reacting to it but we aren't going to let you see it without paying." Of course, you say that to someone and the first thing they're going to think is "Oh yeah? Well I'll see it just to spite you."

The same applies to non-visual twists, etc. When movies get advertised with "You'll never guess the ending" or "Biggest twist ending ever, you'll never see it coming" then you've done two things:
- You've revealed to your audience that there is a twist (this has ruined many a movie for me as it becomes predictable what that "twist" will be).
- You're acting like the high school student who brags about a piece of gossip but won't tell, of course people will find any way to discover the big secret and the easiest way is to not pay you for it when you have so many people willing to put it out there for free.

I just hate advertising like this. Let the movie sell itself. Have a well thought out story instead of these gimmicks. Because really, I'd rather a movie I can watch over and over again 5 or 10 years from now and not just a picture of some stupid monster. That actually boils down my point, you're making a movie, if a picture/drawing of a creature ruins it or can sum up the movie in one shot then you're not making use of the medium and you should just release pictures of monsters instead.

Some Random Comic Reviews

2011-06-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

I guess there hasn't been anything pushing me to do regular reviews since my weekly purchase of comics is gone. Instead, TPBs come in every now and then, I read them thinking I could maybe post a review or two but it just never happens. But before I start I'd like to point out Max Overacts is back!

So here's a recap of a few of my most recent reads:
Scalped volumes 1 through 3 -- I had been hearing great things about this series but I didn't really think it was for me. But as I was feeling a lull waiting for TPBs of other series to come out I decided to check out volume 1 and I'm really glad I did. Extremely well written, compelling story with interesting characters, and visually off the charts.

DMZ volume 1 -- This one was recommended to me by a friend, the same friend I got hooked on several books recently. It creates an interesting picture of the island of Manhattan becoming a demilitarized zone. I think it was to bring the feel of real world places to a more local place. Perhaps if I was more familiar with New York it would have more of an impact on me. It is pretty well written though and I've decided to check out a couple more volumes. And now that it's being cancelled I may be more likely to just give the whole series a try (weird logic I know but if I know there's a conclusion coming and it's not like I'll have to keep spending money on it I'm often more likely to spend the money).

Deadlands: The Devil's Six Gun one shot -- I was fortunate to get an advance copy of this. I'm not familiar with the game (not much of a roleplayer) but this was an interesting story. I think David Gallaher and Steve Ellis executed it very well, I think they've improved as a storytelling team since High Moon started (not that High Moon was anything to complain about). I don't think I'll be rushing out to pick up any more Deadlands stuff but this was a great story to check out.

Darkstar and the Winter Guard -- Speaking of David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, this book had been sitting on my Amazon wishlist for a while but I kept putting off buying it. I think reading their Deadlands one shot pushed me to finally order it. Other than a Hulk appearance or two I hadn't really cared about the Winter Guard. I'm actually not quite done (on the last issue now) but the characters are more interesting to me now that I've read this. It touches on a fair amount of Marvel history while still being readable if you're not an expert. I don't think I'd be looking to pick up a series for them long term but this has been good so far.

And I think that's it for now. I know there are a few I'm missing (Invincible and Fables, both very good) but I'll try to get back to posting reviews more frequently.

One last aside, I'm really looking forward to Fan Expo Canada again this year. I've heard a few complaints about things (higher prices, some people feel there haven't been what they see as big name announcements, last year's issues, etc) but I've really enjoyed myself the last two years and I'm happy with how this year's is looking. But then again, I don't really go for the celebrities as much as others.

DC's Big Thing

2011-06-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Well since everyone is giving their two cents on the big DC news I may as well throw my thoughts out there. My first thought was that DC was being pretty daring, revamping their entire comic run (including books that are doing very well like Green Lantern) to give a new status quo as well as going same day digital. My second thought was wondering if I'd be looking at picking up any of the books. I've never really been a fan of any DC characters. I've been mildly curious in the big three, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, from time to time but never really enough to get into their ongoing books (other than for an couple issues here and there). I have bought a few of the non-canonical books (Red Son, The New Frontier, Joker, etc) and enjoyed them but that's about it. So I had my doubts but I was also curious enough to keep listening. But the more I hear the less interested I am. But as I've said, I come in to this with a history of not being all that interested in these characters.

First up, the price of digital. I've given up on monthlies and I don't want to have to buy physical copies of these books just to try them out. So I was glad I could buy them the same day digitally, avoiding spoilers and being right there with everyone else as the books launched. But I just won't pay the same price for digital. I know there are expenses to be considered but with a physical book I am buying a physical thing that is now mine. With digital as it is I'm just paying for the ability to read it, and only so long as the companies will allow (or maybe until they are out of business). So yes I'll have the experience of reading it but it still doesn't seem like a good deal to me. I can wait until the price gets down but then what's the point, the wave of the relaunch has already passed me by and I'll have had weeks of everyone around me talking about it while I sit there and have to wait. And really, I'm just looking to test the waters of these new books. At least the first issues could be cheaper to attract me. So in short, the pricing just doesn't seem right to me.

Secondly, this whole "is it a reboot, a relaunch, a renumbering, whatever" talk, it's turning me right off. It doesn't help that they are saying it'll make sense when you see what happens in Flashpoint. So I have to be reading this series from the current DC universe and goes back in DC history to see what's going on with this relaunch? I may be proven wrong but so far that seems rather unfriendly to someone who hasn't already been reading DC comics. I get it, they can't really just wipe out the current DC universe, there has to be something going on. And they really want to advertise it but in the end it just seems unappealing to me.

Third, I'm cynical. Now you can say that this is my problem but I'm not the only comic reader who is thinking "How long until we're back to the status quo?" Yes, Crisis stuck (for the most part) but how many times have we had universe altering, status quo changing, Earth destroying events that lasted what, a year, before things were back to normal and we have Superman back to the way he was? We've heard wolf cried so many times that you really can't blame us for saying "yeah sure, this time it's a wolf".

So those are the big ones. But it's early and a lot can happen between now and September so I'll try my best to keep an open mind. Though DC may be making a lot of their current readers very unhappy I do appreciate that they are trying to clean things up and make their books more accessible to new readers or those who left and couldn't be bothered to try and get back into it.

Dialog Free Comic Day

2011-05-13T19:57:00.001-07:00

I found out yesterday that today is "Dialog Free Comic Day". Unfortunately playing 9 holes of golf yesterday after work and watching the Smallville finale tonight has left me very little time to do much for it but I did sketch up a quick little one-pager featuring the Bluenoser (the title character from my new webcomic). I don't normally like posting my rough work but here goes:

Free Comic Book Day 2011

2011-05-12T09:06:00.000-07:00

I kept meaning to post about Free Comic Book Day but never actually getting around to it. I got out a bit earlier this year than in the past and long story short, it was similar to other years. Out of the two downtown stores I visit one had a full on event with costumes (employees plus they were giving a discount to anyone who dressed up), a sale, cheap comics out in front of the store, and boxes and boxes of free comic books. It was incredibly busy so I grabbed a couple free comics I was interested in (Atomic Robo, Mouse Guard, and Super Dinosaur) and bought the latest volume of Fables and booked it to the other store to see how they were doing. They were not nearly as busy as they really don't put themselves out there but they had quite a few more people than usual in the store. That store really isn't laid out for a big crowd anyways I suppose, where the first store has an area at the front that they can put up tables with boxes of free comics and have people walk around this store has a small counter space with the comics in piles that you had to nudge your way up to. I decided just to pick up volume 1 of DMZ and take off. But in the end, both stores seemed to be doing better than usual with people actually buying stuff. It helped that both stores had a sale on.

I didn't go by the third store that is closer to my house. I had planned to but it's a long story. They are located inside a mall and typically don't do much. They put up two small 8x10 pieces of paper in their windows with "Free Comic Book Day" written in tiny font and usually have one person working the store for it. My brother had asked earlier in the week if they might have copies of the Dark Crystal/Mouse Guard and it turns out they ordered 1 for someone who had requested it before hand. It's hardly a good way to get new customers in but the manager of that store doesn't really care about comics anyways. He keeps them because it's constant income from his regulars but his store is more about sports memorabilia and nicknacks now. He usually only orders enough comics to cover his subscriptions.

But here are a few extra thoughts.

Upon arriving at the first store I noticed right away people coming out carrying piles of the free comics where it was clear they had grabbed at least 3 copies of each. Now for some of them I have to think that maybe they have/had 2 or more kids or maybe both the husband/boyfriend and wife/girlfriend wanted their own copy but the sheer number kind of made me question it. Same went for the Green Lantern Heroclix, with people grabbing a handful of those. And upon leaving that store they were on their way to the other comic store to pick up more.

But there were also a lot of people buying stuff, more so at the first store. Funny story, the guy in front of me in line had a few issues of Dr Who that were labelled $7.50 and he was frantically trying to figure out what they'd come to after the discounts to see if he had enough money. The look on his face when the cashier rang them in and said "that'll be $2 please" was pretty priceless.

Then there was the kid factor. The first store had quite a few kids. Some were being dragged along by their parents who were more interested in the comics than the kids were but others were pretty excited. And I think that's important for the comic stores, to get the next generation excited about comics. The second store had fewer kids but still had a couple.

Then there was the overall atmosphere. I had mixed feelings about this. At the first store the staff was pleasant and interacting with people with some of them in costume. But the store was so packed that it's not like you could really stand around and talk or anything. It was mostly just apologizing as you squeezed your way through the aisles. The second store had two staff, one in costume and the other sitting behind the cash being his usual not-so-talkative self. And there wasn't really an overwhelmingly happy feel to the place.

So that's my take on the day. I really didn't spend too much time at either store so I can't talk about the whole day but like other Free Comic Book Days I took away some positives and some areas where I wonder if things could be better.

The Bluenoser goes live

2011-04-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Enough talking about it I guess. I've started posting the Bluenoser on DrunkDuck (for now at least) and the preview starts here.

"Death of Spider-Man"

2011-04-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Any minute now I expect the emails to start coming in from friends asking "Did you hear that they're going to kill Spider-Man?" To which I will sigh, shrug, and respond "Yeah, I did hear about it." And then the conversation will most likely lead to what other "death" storylines in comics we've had over the last few years only to either not be a death or to bring the character back in a few months. And of course there will be the discussion that this is the "Ultimate universe Spider-Man" and not the "real" Spider-Man. At many points during this discussion I expect my friends to laugh, get frustrated, mock me, and do a whole host of other stuff but in general, they will lose interest (though a couple may go into the comic store to buy the "death" issue still convinced they'll be able to sell it for lots of money one day) and end with some disparaging remark about me still reading comics.

So yeah, Marvel's getting a lot of press and I keep hearing that getting press is good for comics but you'll forgive me if I'm not overly optimistic about the whole thing.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like to take any story off the table. So if there's a good story to be told then great. But again, forgive me if I'm not overly optimistic.

Digital: It's just a matter of time for me

2011-04-19T10:16:00.001-07:00

I know I've talked about it in past blog posts, going digital for comics at some point, but I still haven't gone that route (at least not fully). I've tried out a few readers, bought a couple digital comics, and read way too much on the move to digital but I still feel I'm just poking a toe in the waters. Besides the odd dip in the digital pool I'm currently doing the TPB thing and buying an occasional issue (like Captain America: The Fighting Avenger which was really good by the way). But the more I think about it the more I think it's just a matter of time before I move to more digital for comics (while picking up only a couple in TPBs) and other reading material.

A big reason is the issue of space. Books are really starting to build up around my place and I have to keep getting creative with my bookshelves. It's not all comics, I do buy other books as well. Perhaps one day I'll get off my butt and finally take some of them to a local library (I'm a bit of a packrat and also like having the books around just in case I want to re-read something or share it with others) but digital will keep me from building them up in the first place.

So why haven't I gone digital? I guess there's still some issues I'm having. I've tried out various readers (for my iPhone and laptop) and it seems ComiXology is winning me over so that's partly resolved. But I just don't feel that reading comics on my laptop or iPhone is as "comfortable" or enjoyable as reading a book. Perhaps buying a tablet could fix that but then comes the cost of buying a tablet just to read comic books on.

Then there's the other costs. Digital comics still seem to be rather expensive. I've heard it's part of the "early adopter" thing (prices high at first to offset cost of software development but will go down eventually) or Apple taking a cut of the revenue in some cases but it still seems rather pricey to me. And it doesn't help that for most digital stuff I don't really "own" it. Most systems are set up so that if they want to pull the book from me for any reason they can. And if ComiXology (or whomever) goes out of business I may lose whatever books I've "purchased". So paying so much for a "rental" seems a little off to me. But maybe that's just the collector in me putting value to actually owning a physical object. I've also found having the physical comic useful as I do tend to lend out books quite a bit. I've got friends hooked on various comics by lending them a couple TPBs.

There's the delay as well (digital not being released at the same time as print) but that doesn't really matter too much to me. I'm already behind due to going to TPBs so waiting for digital (provided the books I want do make it to digital) won't be a huge difference... I hope.

But despite the cost and still not feeling there's an experience as enjoyable as actually reading a physical book, I still see it as just a matter of time before I break down, buy a tablet (or something) and go digital for my reading. I just wonder when I'll finally get off the fence about it.

Coming soonish

2011-04-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

My plan was to post my new webcomic on DrunkDuck but the recent turmoil (many images were lost and there was an extended time where some things weren't working) there had me rethinking that. But I think I'll go back, hoping they'll have things worked out. The downtime did give me an excuse not to be posting pages while I build up a buffer though. :)

I still have an issue of getting pages done. I'm currently able to get only one page done per week. Maybe as I get into a routine or perhaps I'll find some way to change my style to increase that but it's unlikely at the moment. So I'm thinking of posting a batch of pages to get into the story and then going one page per week. I just have to make sure each page is worth the wait. That each page has enough going to move the story along for the whole week. I actually contemplated revealing the page panel by panel throughout the week (maybe even limiting myself to 5 panels per page) but I think that would be a little too gimmicky, too limiting, and just not the right fit for this particular comic.

One other thing that this time has allowed me to do is really think about where I want to go with the story. I've come up with some ideas that I'm really looking forward to writing up. Some of the ideas are not quite as upbeat and optimistic as I originally intended but I think mixed in with some lighter, fun stories that it will work.

A Quick Update

2011-04-03T17:48:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while since I mentioned working on a new webcomic. To make a long story short, I went through a period of time where I was having a lot of doubts as to whether I wanted to get into doing another webcomic and having a lot of second thoughts about it. But I think that's behind me now and I am working on it. I'll have to figure out the art, changing things up as I go. I need to experiment a bit in order to get the pages done a lot faster while not sacrificing quality too much. And I figured I may as well experiment as I go so I can at least get posting some pages. So it may not be consistent but we'll see what works and what doesn't. I'll probably also play around with costumes and such too.

The synopsis so far: A veteran superhero returns home to fight crime in a city that's seen as too small and unimportant by the other superheroes. Though there may be serious tidbits I'll be trying to keep the tone fairly light. It's not like the city will be overrun with criminals or anything like that.

Getting Back to "Work"

2011-03-07T12:46:00.000-08:00

Since the end of Divine Leap I've been debating doing another webcomic. There are the cons like it ate up a lot of my time and I learned that I really sucked. The benefits included learning a lot about making a comic (or webcomic in this case) and why I sucked, getting to know some DrunkDuck members who came across my book, and having some fun along the way.

I had a few ideas that I was playing around with as Divine Leap was coming to a close but once I was done they just didn't feel right. Some were sweeping stories that would require 400+ pages to tell and I didn't really want to do that again. Others just didn't feel exciting enough. Then this past weekend I had a thought (yep, just one). I got into comics reading "simple" superhero comics so why not do a simple superhero comic. Not "something that nobody has ever seen before". Not "something that will blow your mind and make you second guess your sanity". Just a superhero story. A good guy (well there will be more than one good guy eventually but we'll concentrate on one) versus some bad guys. And I could do it in small, 10 or so page, stories. Just get back to doing something small and simple. I think even for the art I'll try to be "looser" and let myself play around a bit more (less time sweating the small details).

So the designs are getting drawn up. The first 7 pages of the first 10 (or so) page story are written. The second story is currently building up in my head. And hopefully it'll be fun.

To be continued...

A Hulk Sketch

2011-03-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

I really hate/suck at colouring.

Visiting the Local Shop

2011-03-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

So after not setting foot in my local comic shop for a couple months I decided to make the trek downtown. I was reminded of what I miss about the shop (the friends, the comics) and what I don't miss.

The first thing is that I'm not entirely at my best in crowds or even small groups. So when the numbers start growing I feel pretty out of place. But secondly, I don't have the thickest skin and one of the things that gets through that skin the fastest is people not listening, talking down to me, and treating me like I don't know what I'm talking about. And I find that happens quite a bit in comic stores, I could probably find at least a few people who feel I've done it to them. So I guess I deserve it but that doesn't make me feel any better when it happens to me.

So yeah, a nice visit ends up with me grumbling to myself on the way home. Did I mention that I tend to hold a grudge with that thin skin of mine?

Done! ... Now what?

2011-03-01T12:31:00.001-08:00

So last night I finally finished Divine Leap, completely. I had finished the main book (with some lettering I had put off until the end) over the weekend so it was the side story I finished last night. And it all gets posted tomorrow night. It took me a long time to get here (too long in my opinion, I've lost track of how many years it took) but over 460 pages later it comes to an end. It's going to feel weird going home after work and not thinking "I really need to get that page of Divine Leap finished tonight." Or worrying about my buffer of pages shrinking and wondering if I should change my update schedule.

It was quite the experience. I quickly learned just how I little I knew about making comics and how naive I was. But I definitely don't regret it, I appreciate so much of the medium that much more and made a few friends along the way.

So I'm left wondering "What now?" I've had a few ideas brewing in my head but I don't really know which one I want to tackle first. I know I don't want to take on another 400+ page comic, that's for sure. So perhaps something that fits into individual strips. Or perhaps short little 10-15 page stories. But I think first off it'll be a little bit of a break for me as I really mull over my ideas and see which one really shines for me. And perhaps I'll actually post on this blog a bit more often.

Promoting Your Webcomic

2011-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

The creators of the webcomic "Smash" asked on Twitter what days work best for webcomic updates, especially if you were doing two pages per week. My advice, right or wrong, was that I find the day of updates typically doesn't matter. If people like you're work they'll check it out on days that work for you. I would point out however that updating on DrunkDuck did lead me to updating on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I had noticed Mondays and Wednesdays were particularly busy so you got bumped off the "Most Recently Updated" list on the front page. But that tended not to matter too much as less and less people went to the home page on DrunkDuck and just went straight to the comics they favourited/subscribed to/whatever. And if you're on your own website then this matters even less.

So what did work for me in terms of getting attention? Now I have to say I suck at promoting myself. Heck, I used to avoid talking about my comic here and at one point I even had the link on the right listed as something like "My crappy little webcomic..." I'm still pretty hesitant to talk about it as I actually hate people looking at how bad it was to start. But that's another story.

So again, what did work for me? Participating in the community. Commenting (and not just blindly) on other people's comics, offering constructive (and keeping them positive) comments, posting in the forum discussions (and not necessarily about my comic), taking part in forum games or networking events (Secret Santa is always a hit), doing up some fan art for others, and just being involved.

And I think to go beyond DrunkDuck I would (and did) suggest getting involved in "comic community" stuff. I'm sure the artists who work on The Line it is Drawn on CBR or in other communities for artists to show their stuff do benefit from that. Though yes, you have to make sure people don't take advantage of you and you really are benefiting from the time you spend on these things (don't get sucked in to doing art for your friend's company's website because it's "good exposure" for you, it's not). And putting up your portfolio on one site (like deviantart or something) is a good thing, promoting your art on various sites with new stuff they can't see there along with other artists seems like a good idea to me.

Now what about Twitter/Facebook/whatever? Sure, they have some benefits. Have a few followers on Twitter or a fans on Facebook, post some pictures and hope they retweet or pass them along (I tend to avoid flat out asking for retweets, but that's just me). But I don't know how many people really are actively looking on Twitter for new artists or webcomics to check out. They have the people/things they follow and periodically they find someone/something new through them but it's not guaranteed. They may see some art that gets retweeted or passed along but a lot of the time they won't look beyond that or the information about who drew it and where you can see more is lost (filtered out by someone who passed it along but didn't think to credit the source). I'm sure some people will have different experiences from Twitter or Facebook but that's just how I see it. They can be good for getting the word out but they aren't perfect and they shouldn't be all you rely on. In the end, I find they're more about engaging with the fans you have and letting them do the promoting for you.

And conventions? Well again, you'll get some people picking up a free bookmark from you or maybe buying a commission (these are comic fans after all) and that's great but just doing a couple conventions isn't going to be the end of the road. Not to mention how pricey some can be for a table. And by the way, please have something, even a cheap business card, to give to people that has your URL on it. I see too many comic/webcomic people have nothing to give out to promote their work so unless I have something to write down the URL and something that reminds me as to what the URL is by the time I get home I've completely forgotten about it.

So yeah, the way I see it, just being active in the comic/webcomic community is your best bet. If you're producing good stuff then someone will eventually notice (I hope) and it won't really matter what days it comes out.

This may not appear to help the writers out there but I'm sure if you're writing a couple webcomics and the artists of those books are out there getting attention, the webcomic and your writing will get the attention it deserves as well (at least I hope that's the case).

So any thoughts on the subject? I know I'm sort of all over the map there but am I way off base or is there a nugget of truth in there somewhere?

A little late...

2010-12-26T12:13:00.001-08:00

Sorry, I meant to post this earlier and just forgot. It's a little piece of fan art for Caanan Grall's Max Overacts. He posted it on his site as well but in case you missed it:

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

Some Christmas-y art (sorta)

2010-12-20T12:11:00.001-08:00

For the annual Drunk Duck Secret Santa project (though I guess it's not annual since they started doing a summer one that I missed) I got Salsa (that would be his username) who had asked for Christmas themed "nose art". I had to double check what nose art was (artwork for the nose of an aircraft/shuttle) and still not really knowing too much about it here's what I came up with:

And with a little bit of red:

2010

2010-12-14T07:32:00.001-08:00

I'm starting to see more and more "2010" stuff coming out. Such as the "Best Comics of 2010" or whatever else. So I considered doing something myself but to be honest, I'm not sure what I could come up with for "Best of" lists. For one thing, many of the books I'd put as the best books I read this year were ones that came out in 2009 (*cough*Asterios Polyp*cough*) and I found out about from other "Best of 2010" lists. So I guess I'm just behind the times and who wants a list by someone who's late to the party. So in the end, here's a breakdown of my 2010.

The most memorable would probably be Fan Expo Canada. There were parts that were horribly organized but getting to spend three days geeking out is just too much fun. The Stan Lee package was worth it (though I've heard from others who felt otherwise) and getting to meet him was a big moment for me. The brief pass by William Shatner's table as he signed my photo was a little disappointing. But hey, I'm one of those really weird guys who enjoys being able to say I saw these celebrities in person. And a few of them really made the experience better. Felicia Day was very nice and outgoing. Summer Glau was very friendly. And I heard experiences from other Convention goers that many of the celebrities made it well worth the hassles we went through (for the most part). And of course there was the comic creators for me. Getting artwork from Darwyn Cooke, Andy Belanger, Caanan Grall, Steve McNiven, and others was awesome. The panels (the sketching duels, Darwyn Cooke's panel, etc) were all very entertaining. It was just a great weekend and as soon as I got home I couldn't wait for next year's Fan Expo.

As for comics, after hating Jeph Loeb's Hulk run I was glad that Greg Pak got the Incredible Hulk series back with the big green guy front and centre (with a somewhat new supporting cast). But as I moved to TPBs this year I haven't read the book in a while (since World War Hulks ended). Despite being a lifelong Marvel fan, The Incredible Hulk and possibly the She-Hulks series will be my only two Marvel books.

My favourite "new to me" series would be Atomic Robo. It's still a fairly new series with just a few TPBs out but I definitely recommend checking it out. You can even grab the Free Comic Book Day issues off the web.

In terms of WebComics my favourite remains the Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kerschl. Absolutely beautiful artwork with a great mix of strips, from funny to heartbreaking. My favourite new strip would be Max Overacts by Caanan Grall. A fun storyline with unique characters and it keeps getting better and better.

And while we're on the subject of WebComics, we saw Zuda come to an end with several of their books going to ComiXology which obviously had a lot to do with the release of the iPad. You'd think I'd have a lot to say on that but I think I'm talked out about it. And the truth is that although I've read a few comics that were available for free on ComiXology I've never bothered to buy one there. There are a lot of factors that lead to this (not owning an iPad, the price, that I prefer to physically own books so I can feel confident that I'll be able to pull them out and read them 10 years from now, etc) but I don't really want to get into that either.

One thing I'm starting to get into is the online studios or whatever you call it. Where a group of artists share a location (a blog, a webpage, or whatever) to display their artwork. They'll often pick weekly themes or something to add some consistency. Some of the ones I really enjoy include the Comic Social Club, Comic Twart, and The Line it is Drawn on CBR (which is something a bit different but really cool). I think this is a great way for artists to get their work out there and for fans to see some really nice stuff. I just hope it works in helping the artists find a source of income for their work and not just a place where people steal artwork from for their own blogs or webpages. But that's a rant for another day.

Moving off comics to movies (and comic based movies) we had Iron Man 2, I'd agree it may not have been as good as the first but I still enjoyed it. Toy Story 3 may have been the best movie I saw this year but I don't see many movies. And as for Inception, I didn't care for it. It was pretty and had some cool scenes but I couldn't get into it. Though to be fair, by the time I saw it the ending was pretty much spoiled for me (nobody told me outright but I had it figured out).

And lastly, in terms of television I seem to be watching less this year. And the shows I am watching I don't even give my full attention (usually drawing while the TV is on so I can listen to it). I do still enjoy the Big Bang Theory, I know some "geeks" hate it for the stereotypes it pushes but I know so many people (myself included) who have little bits of each of the 4 guys in them. There was also the Walking Dead. I've been reading the book for a while now but I don't find it really thrilling me as much as it did early on. There's some intriguing stuff happening but it may be wearing a bit thin for me. Seeing it on TV was interesting but I wonder if the show will end up wearing thin for me as well, or maybe I'm just not giving a fair chance because of my feelings for the books. Either way, I'll be giving the second season a go.

I can't really think of anything else from this year which is rather sad. But I suspect that as I start seeing more of the "best of 2010" lists coming out I'll be finding new comics to check out. So feel free to let me know what you thought was the best of 2010, whether it's comics, TV, movies, or just important stuff that happened in your life.

And have a happy holiday whatever that holiday may (or may not) be for you and a great (and safe) New Year.

Cheers!

Branding

2010-12-01T10:12:00.001-08:00

I know, I haven't been doing a very good job of blogging. I guess Twitter is winning out for me. But here's some rambling if you're looking for something to read.

I don't know if it's just me but I seem to be seeing a lot of blog posts, tweets, news articles, and whatever else focusing on market share, units sold comparisons, and other business type analysis. Of course these were always around but I normally felt they were the focus of guys in business suits who were financially invested in the companies or something like that. Now it seems like everyone's getting in on it. It makes me wonder why. And here's a few of the reasons I'm noticing.

Companies seem to be doing a really good job of getting people feeling like they're somehow connected to them and their success. Whether it's "I'm a Mac" or being a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society (showing how comics have been doing this for a while, Stan Lee seemed to be one of the ambassadors in that area) they're connecting with their customers (somewhat) and making them feel like the companies success is somehow their success as well. And if someone says something bad about the company or their product, even if they may be right, they'll fight tooth and nail to prove them wrong.

I feel others seem to rely on these things to justify themselves and their spending. Almost like "I must have made the right choice buying that iPhone because the majority is doing it, right?" It's not even a question of which product may be right for you. So you want to point to these things and say to anyone who didn't buy the same as you that they are somehow in the wrong because they aren't part of the majority.

Some are looking to see trends so they can maybe predict the future, and not always for financial gain. Some just want to be able to throw stuff out there so in a few months they can look at the new stats and say "See, I was right! I'm so smart!" And some just want to appear smart by looking at this and just saying the exact same thing that every other blog and tweet says about the data.

And I think the media is playing its part as well. They are falling in line with companies spouting phrases like "game changer", "the future is here", "this will change everything", etc, etc (or if you go with comic solicits it's "universe changing", "nothing will ever be the same", "the new status quo", etc, etc). And they want to appear cutting edge so they bring out data in bar graphs, pie charts, and cute little cartoons.

Of course there are many reasons behind it all but here's where I'm at. I'm done with looking at that stuff. I don't care if a comic or a phone is the big seller, I want the one that's right for me. I'm not going to feel ashamed or "wrong" if it's not the one everyone else bought. So all this talk of market share and units sold doesn't mean much to me. And I'm sort of tired of people focusing on it and throwing it around like it's proof of something other than a company was successful in getting their product (whether it be good or bad) into the most hands (good for them).

So yeah, when Marvel puts out a crappy book I'll say that I thought it was crap. When Apple decides to do stupid censoring of apps and their content I'll say I don't want to support that. But yeah, feel free to tell me that I'm wrong because the Marvel book I think is bad outsells everyone else and Apple sells more iPhones than its competitors, I just won't care.

My Weird TPB Quirk

2010-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a weird quirk I have that I felt like sharing. Whenever I meet comic creators (mostly from my two trips to Fan Expo Canada) I feel the need to apologize for reading the TPBs instead of going with the single issues. I guess it comes from the feeling that I'm not fully supporting them by buying continuously (after all, a series may get canceled based on these monthly sales before it ever reaches TPBs). Sometimes it just comes up like when I was talking with Jeff Lemire and I saw a Sweet Tooth picture I didn't recognize so I asked, turns out it was for a cover of an issue that is in the next TPB. So I felt the need to explain that I did read Sweet Tooth, I just hadn't read that particular issue yet because the TPB isn't out. And I felt the need to apologize for this. When talking to Andy Belanger about Kill Shakespeare I had to admit to having not ready any of it yet as I'm also waiting on the TPB there. And again, I felt the need to insert a "Sorry" there.

It's completely weird isn't it? I guess some of it goes back to the early days of TPBs. Some creators expressed disapproval of people waiting for TPBs of their books because they were worried the monthly sales wouldn't be good enough to keep the series going. And maybe I keep thinking back to that. But on the other hand, should I really feel bad about doing the TPBs? I am buying their books after all (and not pirating), I'm just doing it in a format that works better for me. And in the case of a lot of books, I don't really know if I want to buy the series until I hear enough good things about it and then I want at least a few issues to get an idea of how good it is. Should I go digging up the single issues on ebay (doing nothing to help the creator) or just pick up the TPB?

Or in the end, I should probably just not worry so much. I want to support creators/books I like and if I do so by picking up TPBs then I think that should be enough shouldn't it? And from there, it's up to the comic companies to figure things out.

I'm not helping am I?

2010-09-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

I recently installed some ad blocking software. I was just tired of the annoyances ads were causing me from the slow load times to annoying popups/redirects to trying to install malicious software on my machine. And so far it seems to be working quite well for me. But here's the issue, I'm a webcomics reader and quite a few webcomic creators and sites hope to make money off their advertising. So by blocking their ads I know I'm accessing their content while closing a source of revenue for them. Same goes for other news/comic sites I visit. I browse their free content and they get some page views but no ad revenue. I could start letting ads through from these pages but as much as I trust them I don't trust the people running the advertising.

Now in some cases I can provide support in other ways. In the case of webcomic creators I could donate money or buying print versions or commissions but in most cases I don't. I don't buy the print versions, merchandise, or commissions because I really don't usually need them lying around my already cluttered condo (though I have bought commissions at conventions). Or sometimes it's other things (like paying $20 plus $40 shipping/handling to Canada for an 80 page book that I don't really need/want in print). Donation seems like the way I should go yet I always seem to find an excuse not to do that as well. I either say it's because I don't want to pay the overhead (or have the creator lose money paying for the overhead) because of the fees the banks and other companies put on the transaction.

And let's face it, I still feel a little weird just giving people money. I know I'm supporting their ability to make a comic but I've already read it so I still feel like I'm just giving away money and not getting anything in return. I know I've already got the enjoyment and if I give them money and they're able to continue (though there's no guarantee that they will) then I'll continue to enjoy it but it just doesn't feel substantial enough return for my money (I know people will want to argue that it is substantial and I would agree but for some reason it just doesn't feel it, I guess it's still just too new for me or something).

So yeah, I'm not really helping.

[NOTE: I can say there have been a few webcomic creators I have helped, but it's a small portion of the webcomics I read.]

I'm a glutton for punishment (ie. Why I do a webcomic)

2010-09-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

There is a thread in the DrunkDuck forum asking why webcomic creators do the webcomic thing. But I figured I'd ramble about the topic here since I don't post nearly enough on this blog. I'm not even sure if I've already posted this but what the heck, might as well ramble.

History 101
Okay, here's the backstory. I'm one of those typical comic geeks who enjoyed doodling Hulk, Spider-Man, Batman, etc in class or whenever else I got the chance. I even had dreams (when I was young) of drawing comics professionally. And some friends would compliment my doodles and I started to get it into my head that I was pretty good. As I got older though those ideas disappeared pretty quickly. Some of it had to do with some people (teachers, school councilors, other elders of some authority) bringing me down to Earth, that my art wasn't really that good and that I was better off going in to something that I could actually make a decent living at. Not that it all had to do with others, I never really put the work into my artistic endeavors. Not that I put much into my other endeavors either. So I eventually went the computer science route.

The Seed is Planted
So after spending 5 years doing an undergraduate degree (the co-op placements added a year to the 4 year degree) I started getting the drawing itch again. Ideas for comics had been floating around in my head for a while but I never really put them down on paper. But I suddenly had the urge to start thinking about doing a comic myself. So I started doodling new characters, different scenes, and jotting down story ideas from time to time. But I still didn't really think about putting anything together. So it got put away again as I finished my Master's and entered the "real world" (ie. getting a job, a place to live, etc). It wasn't until a couple years later that two friends who worked at the comic shop I go to told me about their comics that they had on DrunkDuck. I have to admit, I had flashbacks of friends in highschool complimenting my doodles and I thought "Hey, if they liked it I must be good. I can put something together, no problem." I even had the audacity to think it would be easy to put out something that people would be blown away by (I can imagine how any creator reading this is cringing and/or wanting to kick me in the nards right now). And posting them on the web for all to see? That seemed somewhat scary but also pretty simple enough. So I started working on Divine Leap, but I didn't tell anyone just yet. It was a few months later that I told one of my comic shop friends and he encouraged me just enough that I started posting some pages.

It Begins... With a Whimper and a Shot of Reality
So there I was, with my own webcomic started. I actually figured I'd read enough comics to know how to put something good out. And I had a few compliments come my way, mostly from the two or so friends that I had informed of my adventure in webcomics (including the friend that had encouraged me). But it wasn't long until I fully realized what an ignorant ass I was. First off, I had severely underestimated the time that would be involved, even in getting something so simple out there. I also quickly discovered that not even friends would keep coming back to a comic that was so amateurish, something with no backgrounds, lazy art, horrible lettering, poor inking, etc, etc, which meant investing more time to improve on some of it. And it wasn't like readers were clamoring to read any crap that was out there. You had to put something good out and then shout/advertise/network/sell yourself like hell for people to notice your work. I decided to skip that last part though and concentrate on at least making my comic good enough that I wouldn't be ashamed of it.

Improving (though I guess that's debatable)
So I began looking to improve. Mostly through books though a few people on DrunkDuck were kind enough to critique my work as well. So I went with Scott McCloud's books, Will Eisner's graphic storytelling books, books on writing for comics by Alan Moore and Peter David, a book on perspective for comic artists, the Art of Inking, lettering tutorials, the Wizard How To books, and a bunch of other stuff thrown in. There were plenty of times where I felt like giving up on it, after Chapter 1 I took a hiatus because I still wasn't happy with the quality of the comic and if I wasn't happy, and nobody was reading it, then why was I doing it. I eventually decided though that 1) I really wanted to finish the story I had set out to do and 2) I did enjoy making comics and the only way I was going to improve is if I saw this through. If I gave up on Divine Leap I figured I'd just give up on making any comics and that didn't seem acceptable to me. I love comics. I love reading them and I love making them, even though I don't have the talent to do it professionally. And I do believe I have enough talent and knowledge to put out something that isn't so painful to read. Something that at least a few people may enjoy.

In Conclusion
So why did I start making comics? Because I love comics and enjoy reading them, always have and always will, and I had the crazy notion that I could put out something that someone else would enjoy. Why do I continue? Because I still have the crazy notion that I can put out something that someone else would enjoy. Maybe not now but one day. I have no plan to try to make a living (or any money) out of it and I have the utmost respect for anyone who does because I now have a much better idea of what that entails. I still haven't got around to the advertising/shouting/selling myself thing, not sure if I'll ever have that conquered but if I can at least get a few readers and make a few friends along the way I'll be happy.

And that's why I do the webcomic thing. Now I have to go and prepare tomorrow's page, my 400th by the way.

Fan Expo Canada 2010 is done!

2010-08-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

So it's back to work after the whirlwind that was Fan Expo Canada 2010. Talk about a crazy weekend. I tweeted throughout but here's a bit more details about my weekend (and my brother's as well for some of the stuff). Both of us went with premier passes and the Stan Lee package.

We weren't 100% sure what was going on for the opening on Friday so we got there around 10:30 thinking they'd process tickets at 12 and line us up again to enter the building. Long story short, the next few hours were spent waiting and confused but we did get in a little after 2. Our first stop was Stan Lee's booth where the Stan Lee package tickets came in handy (jumping us to the start of the line). To further take advantage of the early entrance I decided to snag a couple autographs like Dean Stockwell's (I'm a Quantum Leap fan, I had to ask him if he got to keep any of his wardrobe from that show) and Felicia Day (thanked her for linking to this blog back when I did the Codex sketch, she was really nice about it) and Amy Okuda. I also snagged artwork from Darwyn Cooke (who wasn't doing commissions but fortunately for me had a Hulk piece in his portfolio) and signed up for commissions from Jeff Lemire (of Sweet Tooth fame) and Craig Yeung (getting Hulk drawings from each of course). Then it was time for the Jim Valentino versus Wilce Portacio sketching duel. They were great, the moderator wasn't. Then off to the Stan Lee photo where again, the Stan Lee package helped us out a lot! Somewhere in there I also found time to say a how-do-you-do to Andy Belanger and Caanan both of whom I met at last year's Fan Expo. At some point I signed up for another Andy Belanger Hulk pic and bought Caanan's Max Overacts book. The night was finished with the Stan Lee meet and greet. It was a crazy time and I know it was very disappointing to some who didn't get the quality time they wanted with him but my brother was fortunate enough to get a few pictures with him and I shot some video as he walked by me so it was great for us.

Saturday was a slightly different day. I attended the "Future of Comics" panel in the morning, the Stan Lee panel at 1pm (again, Stan Lee package came in handy and Stan had the crowd in the palm of his hand), then somehow managed to make the Olivier Coipel versus Gary Frank sketching duel (great duel with a much better moderator than the other one I attended) despite the unbelievable crowding on that floor, and Darwyn Cooke's "how to" panel. Other than that it was browsing the Artist Alley (picking up some of the art I'd ordered) and merchandise sections. It was a crazy day at the Expo crowd-wise and I'm glad we brought food so we didn't have to leave the building. I'm also glad I didn't go for any celebrities that day.

For Sunday we decided we wanted to focus on Shatner. We had talked about it on Saturday and my feeling was that if we could get in early enough we could go straight for an autograph if he was signing right away. I thought about the photo but I figured it would be too crazy and I'd be way too exhausted by that point (5pm). Unfortunately he wasn't signing right away but after buying our autograph tickets I decided to spend the next 3 hours waiting for him. Brent wandered for a bit but I didn't really feel like it all that much. While waiting (and after getting to know those around us) we got to watch the celebrities be taken from one location to the next (we were lined up in a back area of the con). I have to admit that I sort of like celebrity sighting so it was cool to sit there and say "Hey there goes Adam West/Summer Glau/James Marsters/Felicia Day/etc". After the Shatner autograph (which was a whole lot of confusion and madness) I was pretty much done. I snagged a couple more things in Artist Alley (a Steve McNiven headshot of Nemesis and sketchbooks from Dale Keown and Jill Thompson) and a couple toys for my nephews and that was it for me.

And with that, it was dinner and a 9pm flight to get me home at 11pm. My brother and I both had a great time (I know others didn't and I do feel for them) and now it's back to the somewhat less exciting normal life of work and other stuff.

Comic Reviews for August 20th, 2010

2010-08-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

I know it's been way too long since I posted here. And it's going to get worse, I'm finally making the move to stop monthlies altogether and just pick up the TPBs. But here are a few quick reviews of books I read recently.

Incredible Hulk #611 -- Great writing, amazing art, really good story. And the nice thing for me, you didn't have to be reading the World War Hulks stuff (that I didn't like) to enjoy this issue. One of the best Hulk issues I've read in a good long while.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Riley one shot -- I haven't been enjoying the Buffy series as of late and I'm not a big Riley fan so I was reluctant to pick this one up. I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. I thought it was better executed than some of the issues of the ongoing. Not sure I feel it's worth it though, it's really just a long discussion between Riley and his wife. Good characterization but doesn't really feel necessary as a full one shot.

The Man with the Getaway Face by Darwyn Cooke -- I really enjoy Darwyn's work and I thought the first Parker book he did was really well done. It wasn't really a genre that I'm particularly keen on but it was an enjoyable book to read. And I'd say the same about this book, very well done, enjoyable to read, makes me wonder what the next book (coming out this fall I believe) will be (as I know nothing about the original stories).

Next week is Fan Expo Canada and I'm really looking forward to it. I really enjoyed myself last year. I'm looking forward to seeing a few of the people I met last year like Caanan Grall and Andy Belanger. I also bought the Stan Lee package so that should be fun.

Sorry

2010-07-28T07:51:00.001-07:00

Wow! Have I ever been neglecting this blog. I guess I just haven't had much to say that couldn't be said in 140 characters on Twitter. But now for a few ramblings that won't fit in there.

I've seen the "Are Webcomics Dead?" debate is building steam yet again with the iPad out, Zuda closing up (more or less), and the whole webcomic thing seeming to hit a lull. I think a lot of good things have been said in the discussion, even if there are no real answers. Here are a few of the highlights in my opinion:

Webcomics aren't really taking full advantage of the platform where as apps for the iPad do. But here's the thing for me, the more you take advantage of the platform the more expertise you require, the more time it takes to put out a comic (and a slowly updating webcomic is usually dead before it starts), the more costly it can be, and the more restricted your audience can become (when a comic is created specifically to work with the iphone, and I mean gearing everything like panel structure, layouts, and your narrative to that device, the reading on other platforms can suffer just as writing for a print comic will have issues when taken to the iPhone or even the iPad). I don't think there is an easy answer here.

The iPhone and iPad currently don't appear to be equal playing fields (from what I'm hearing, the validity of this may be debatable). On the one hand, you have the large companies who can afford to create their own apps jumping in while independents are a little slower or require help. ComiXology seems to be the winner here but there are reports that there are independent publishers waiting for their comics to get processed and posted while the big name companies get priority. Also, some independent books have been blocked for issues Apple had with their content while the big companies don't seem to be hitting this issue. So for a small publisher it seems going the iPhone/iPad route has some hurdles that may not be worth it in the long run when they can more easily get their products into a larger audience by going web based.

Now I don't have the numbers but I'd guess the number of webcomics aren't necessarily going down. But is the quality going up or down? The great thing about webcomics is pretty much anyone can get one started (so long as they aren't going the iPad/iPhone route at least). The obvious downside is that anyone can get one started. How do you find good ones? Most of the attempts include evaluation based on voting or by traffic but there's usually so many ways to cheat the system. So anyone looking through webcomics gets hit with a lot of crap. Yeah, I'll say a lot of them are crap but I don't want you to take that as me thinking those people should stop, you have to try in order to get better. Though the ones who aren't even trying to get better should probably stop.

Money. Everyone brings this one up, "how do I make money off my webcomic?" The answer doesn't seem to have changed in a long time. It's mostly merchandise (t-shirts, print versions, commissions, etc), some advertising (if you have a lot of traffic), etc. But what if your book doesn't really lend itself to merchandise? Then it's a bit tougher. And if you aren't willing to put the effort into these other things and just want to make your comic then you're most likely screwed money-wise. So what happens with a lot of the successful webcomic makers? They stop to make money. Either they get in with a publisher and start getting paid for print comics or more often they realize the webcomic is taking up so much time and going nowhere that they have to stop to focus on their paying job and family. There's often the promise of getting back to the webcomic eventually but let's not fool ourselves. Now I think a lot of people were hoping for things like the iPad or Longbox Digital to change that, I don't see that happening any time soon.

I don't know any answers to any of the questions that the discussion is bringing up. I don't even know if my observations are valid in any way. But I do enjoy the discussion. In my opinion, are webcomics dead? No. The web will always the be the most accessible way for creators to get their ideas out there and I don't see that changing. Are webcomics the future? With iPad opening the door even further web or digital comics will be a big part of it. But will we see much innovation or ideas blowing us out of the water? Well probably just like print comics we'll probably see the standard quo being most successful while the odd example of something really incredible will come out and Marvel and DC will mimic the hell out of it until we never want to see anything like it again.

No Reviews Yet

2010-07-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Due to Canada Day (Happy Belated Canada Day!) I haven't been able to pick up my books for this week yet. I'm hoping to make it down there on Sunday. So they are coming.

In other news, I have purchased my ticket to Fan Expo Canada already. Should be a great time again this year. And the DrunkDuck Awards have entered the nomination phase.

Oops, forgot one

2010-06-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry, forgot about one other book I read.

Sweet Tooth volume 1 -- In some ways this book feels a little slow moving but on the other hand, you're really getting in touch with the character(s). It's really well written but I thought the art could have been a bit stronger in some parts. It was some of the real close ups that seemed to miss for me the most. But definitely worth a look.

Weekly Comic Reviews for June 23rd, 2010

2010-06-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

I didn't have any of my regular books this week but I did crack and buy Hulk #23 despite my dislike of this series. I couldn't help it after seeing the line up of artists they got. I also picked up Jack of Fables Volume 7 but I haven't finished it yet. I have read a few other books so I'll throw in some quick reviews of those.

Hulk #23 -- This book wasn't as bad as I thought it might be going in. You get some flashbacks going pretty far back, some of which are done by artists who were drawing the series during the times of the flashbacks so that's cool. I had the Red Hulk thing figured out so there weren't really any surprises to the story so it felt a little needless to go back over some of the details to explain them in such length. It also felt a little off to hear that Samson had been working with MODOK for that long. And the Grey Hulk's dialogue (or lack thereof) for the Tim Sale pages, that did sort of bug me a bit. Lee and Kirby's original Hulk wasn't really the "Ross bad!" sort of guy. But overall, it wasn't bad and finally outlined exactly who is the Red Hulk as well as "how" and "why". And the art is a great touch for the long time Hulk fan.

Pinocchio the Vampire Slayer volume 1 -- I decided to give this a look after hearing about the sequel coming out. It was okay but not really anything special in my opinion. I thought the story and writing started off decent but found it got rather predictable and dragged on a bit. It doesn't make my recommended reading list but I don't really regret trying it out.

The Pro -- I knew going in that this was an adult book and yep, it definitely was. It was pretty funny though and really well done. It does have some gross out humour and dirty jokes so if that's not your thing then you may want to avoid it. But it is a pretty original story with great art so it's a pretty enjoyable book (if you're into that sort of thing). I'd recommend this book but only to certain people.

Thinking About Garbage (a non-comic post for once)

2010-06-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

So a new program at work is getting me thinking about garbage. The program involves taking away our garbage containers and giving us tiny ones that hook onto our recycle bins and I guess the idea is to encourage me to reduce the amount of garbage I toss out at work by limiting how much I can put in my garbage can. My first thought was what about throwing out the larger items that won't fit in there and aren't recyclable. I guess the idea is that I shouldn't be having anything like that but that seems a bit unrealistic at times. So I asked co-workers what they're plans for such items would be and the response was always the same (even with people who have gone through this before), that they would take it to a communal garbage can (the one near the kitchen) which tend to be large or if they get rid of those, take it home. And if they take it home then management can point to the numbers and say "Look, the program worked as we're generating less waste" but in the overall picture, the garbage is still going to the landfill. It's just taking a different/longer route.

This ties in to a complaint I've had, that it's sometimes a pain in the butt to recycle or do the right thing with waste. I'm not talking about the hassle of needing to separate paper and plastic. The thing is that I'm told I shouldn't throw out batteries, the new light bulbs, and other stuff, that I should take it back to some stores and other times I'm not told what I should do with it. The problem is I go to the stores and get the confused clerk who looks at me like I'm asking them to disable a nuclear device. They'll sometimes say they heard talk about a place I could take them on the other side of the city like it's some mystical place that nobody has actually seen. So they expect people to drive (or in my case take the bus) across the city to get rid of a couple light bulbs?

So what I'm thinking, companies probably shouldn't get caught up in the numbers and actually implement more helpful programs. Have spots at work where your employees can dump off batteries, electronics, or what not. It may be a little more costly and some people may look at the "waste" coming out of your building and see it higher than others but on the other hand, you'll be actually helping your employees to do the right thing but making it easier on them seeing as how work is someplace they go anyways instead of making them trek all over the place to throw stuff out.

But I guess that's just me wanting others to make my life easier (even if it also encourages me to do the right thing environmentally).

Weekly Comic Reviews for June 16th, 2010 -- POSSIBLE SPOILERS

2010-06-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum. I only had one book this week, the Incredible Hulk #610, but I also read volume 2 of Chew. I may have a few more TPB reviews after this weekend.

Incredible Hulk #610 -- Just to get it out of the way, I love Pelletier's pencils and this book is intense visually. The detail but into the work was amazing and the big two page spread at the end was everything you could have wanted it to be. I thought the writing was good but I really haven't been a fan of this World War Hulks storyline. There were a few times I found myself questioning the overall story and then just deciding not to worry about it. I did find it funny that in a room filled with the smartest people that it was Samson who saw a weakness in their machine beforehand (though I guess he was the one responsible for building that part, at least I think he was). Speaking of Samson, I may have to go back and look up how and why he got hooked up in all this to begin with. Anyway, it's a great book in what I found to be a lackluster story. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. We saw that Skaar doesn't want the dumb Hulk so either he's changed his mind or he's thinking this isn't the dumb Hulk any more.

Chew volume 2 -- I decided to give this series another try. In my review of the first volume I thought it was well done but possibly not for me and I figured why not give it a bit more time. Unfortunately I felt the same way after this volume. Really well written and drawn really well but just not working for me. So I think that's it for me on this series. Definitely worth checking out but possibly reserved for those with a particular taste in comics (see, I made a funny... Okay, only those who read the books may get it and it's not that funny but I'm tired).

So that's it for now. And I know I haven't really been burning up this blog with posts, and I'm really trying to work on it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for June 9th, 2010

2010-06-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

I had no "monthly" books this week but I did pick up Irredeemable volume 3 so I figure I'll give that a quick review.

Irredeemable volume 3 -- Volume 2 sort of disappointed me slightly but I was hoping volume 3 would turn it around. Unfortunately it didn't really work for me. My biggest issue with it was that there seemed to be so much build up about one character's big dark secret that seemed rather forced, like they were hitting me over the head repeatedly with this idea of a big dark secret that was going to tear everyone apart, and by the time it's revealed I was sort of like "meh". In some ways it's like the solicitations that say "this is the biggest event ever" and then you read it and think "well, it was okay I guess". And there just didn't seem to be enough advancement in the story or the characters (and the introduction of a new character that I didn't really feel anything for) that this volume just left me a little empty. I don't see myself buying volume 4. I have heard that this series is working for some though and I would say it might be worth checking out, I just don't find it working for me.

Weekly Comic Reviews for June 2nd, 2010

2010-06-03T17:54:00.001-07:00

Only the one book this week.

Serenity: Float Out #1 (of 1) -- I don't want to spoil anything but I knew it! I absolutely knew it. I had an inkling after watching the series on DVD and was absolutely convinced after the movie. So having confirmation on the last page felt nice. But getting to the book, if this was a single issue of an ongoing series then I'd say it was a really good filler issue. As a stand alone that doesn't really tie into anything at the moment, it felt like just a little tease of what we could be seeing. The story was nice though I thought the execution in some parts could have been a bit better, like the story with three ships, I was a little lost through parts of that. Overall, an important read for Serenity/Firefly fans but it would be nice if it was part of something more.

Just a little depressing

2010-06-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

So the other night I'm talking to one of my aunts on the phone and she starts telling me about how a friend of my cousin (her daughter) was found dead in his apartment from a heart attack. She tells me about how he was 49, always lived alone, never had a woman in his life, didn't have many friends, and always tagged along with my cousin's husband and their family. And then she says "So of course I thought of you" and began telling me to look after myself and such. Though to be honest, I couldn't really tell you what she said because I was so taken aback by that line.

Of course she only sees me every 5 years or so and doesn't really have any clue what's going on in my life but it makes me wonder what "reports" she's getting from the local family members that would make her think of me. That's how that side of the family works, someone stubs their toe and suddenly the phones light up with reports of possible loss of limbs and then the rumours about how you did it on purpose start circulating and growing.

I guess I should be happy she thinks about me at all. :) The joys of family, gotta love 'em.

"It's my style"

2010-05-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

The recent discussion of the lettering in a certain vampire themed comic has brought this argument up to the forefront of my brain again. When is it an artistic style or choice and when is it just wrong? Unfortunately, I don't think there's an answer even though I've been told otherwise. I look at books that have horrible layouts, artwork that is filled with traced celebrities who do not reflect the emotion or action of the comic, no feet, and lettering that looks like it was randomly thrown on the page covering up a good chunk of the art and I think "No, this is all wrong." But then the creators come back and say it's their "style" and the 100,000 readers who are buying it up are quick to jump to their defense because they loved it. So can something that seems so wrong to me (and usually a handful of others) really be that bad if it's working for so many people?

Some might say that yes, that it and the people enjoying it are wrong. Just like how TV shows and movies are always wrong despite working for millions of people. But at some point, it's art and part of that is connecting with the viewer/reader. Even if they seem to be doing it wrong to some of us, they must be doing something right to reach that many people to the point where they will tune in week after week or shell out another $13 to see the movie again (and $30 for the extended director's cut DVD).

This is why I often leave disclaimers like "in my opinion" or "didn't work for me" in my reviews. I know I can sometimes have a pretty analytical approach when I read some comics, picking out times where and reasons why the art or writing failed to connect me with the story in some way. And I know a majority of readers aren't like me but I can only speak for myself.

So I guess the way I see this sort of thing is that I'll try not to say anything in the writing, drawing, colouring, lettering, etc of comics is really done "wrong" but maybe "wrong for me".

But here's where I flip it. I think any comic creator who comes out saying "no, that's my style" is missing an important point. When someone says their stuff was done wrong it means at the very least it was done wrong for them, it took them out of the art and story and ruined the experience to some degree. Now you can decide this was just one, two, or a handful of people and write it off but to simply dismiss it is doing yourself and your future work a big disservice. You're depriving yourself of learning what works and doesn't work for people. You're limiting yourself of never producing anything better than what you're doing now. At a computer conference I went to a while back they had "fly on the wall" sessions where people discussed your paper and you weren't allowed to respond to their feedback. The idea was that your paper had to be good enough to get the point across on its own without you there to defend it. It was a great experience. Sometimes artists need to take that approach to, you can't always be in every reader's ear telling them how they should be experiencing your work, your work should stand on its own. And if it's not working for someone then listen to why and decide for yourself what that means for your work, both current and future.

But this is all just my style and I'm probably doing things all wrong.

Weekly Comic Reviews for May 26th, 2010

2010-05-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of quick reviews this week.

Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks #3 -- As you may or may not know, I haven't been a fan of the whole "Fall of the Hulks"/"World War Hulks" stuff but I did like this particular issue. Solid art and good story telling (though the time travelling nature of Lyra gets a little weird for me). The ending felt a little weird and reminded me that this is just a side story to the major battle. Overall, I enjoyed the series and I'm glad I decided to pick it up.

The Guild #3 -- Like the first two issues, I found this one to be well written. I sort of felt the art in the "in game" parts could have been a bit better in parts but it was still effective in its storytelling. I enjoyed this series as much if not more than the original web episodes. If you're a fan of the series or a gamer you may be interested in checking it out.

Quick TPB Review (Spoilers for Ex Machina)

2010-05-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

I read the latest Ex Machina TPB (volume9, "Ring out the Old") and I have to admit, I was actually a little disappointed. But be warned, this post will contain spoilers

I have enjoyed this series and one thing I've actually liked about it was avoiding making the story about his superpowers and instead focusing on his role in politics and the people around him with the powers remaining in the background. So I enjoyed the first bit of this TPB that dealt with finding a comic team to tell his story in comic form or the environmentalist story but once it got into talk about magic cubes and preparing Earth for invasion I started to lose interest. I suppose they have to eventually reveal the secrets of his powers but it felt like the story was getting away from what I liked about it. I hope I'm wrong and the next volume changes my mind but we'll have to wait and see.

And please, if you're reading this monthly please avoid posting any spoilers in the comments.

Another week with no reviews

2010-05-21T06:50:00.001-07:00

I had no new books out this week but I did grab volume 2 of Atomic Robo. I'm not sure if I enjoyed this volume as much as the first but I still really enjoyed it. I found myself laughing quite a bit throughout (though it also had a few more serious or touching moments, like in the short stories in the end for example). The art, the writing, it's all really great. So it's official, I'll be picking this series up (in TPBs, I'm still planning to stop collecting individual issues once Buffy's done). I also lent volume 1 to a co-worker and it looks like he'll be picking up the series as well. So yeah, I recommend checking it out. And hey, they have free stuff to try on your iPhone (in the free Comixology app) or online at their site.

I also have the latest Ex Machina and volume one of Promethea to read.

Weekly Comic Reviews for May 12th, 2010

2010-05-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

I'll refrain from spoiling the big reveals this week. I only picked up one book, Incredible Hulk, but I also know what was revealed in the other Hulk book.

Incredible Hulk #609 -- Just to get this out of the way, the artwork (from Pelletier's pencils to the colours) was awesome. High energy and great expressive emotion. The writing was good as well and I enjoyed this issue but I'm still just rather tired of this World War Hulks storyline and the whole Red Hulk/Red She-Hulk stuff. I'm glad that after 3 years we finally have the answers but I don't care and it was just painful to go through (not in a "Oh, I need to know way", it was just painful to read what I felt were poorly written stories). As much as I like this issue I just can't recommend it as I don't really care for what's going on in the Hulk books.

And that's it. It also looks like I won't have any books to review next week. In other news, my shop is now selling their TPBs and hardcovers at 20% off the US price which is a huge deal. I guess it's their way of taking on Amazon and other online retailers. I'm definitely going to try to support them in their attempt.

Fan Expo Canada 2010

2010-05-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

I know it's a little sad just how excited I get for Fan Expo Canada but it's the only convention I get out to (the "comic conventions" in Ottawa consist mostly of stores selling their back issues, unless you are in to Manga/Anime, they have better conventions for those) so I have a full year of build up for it. And now that they are updating their guest lists on their website I'm getting more excited. The horror list didn't really do much for me but I'm not much of a horror fan. The sci fi list on the other hand, I am pretty stoked about. William Shatner, Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, James Marsters, Felicia Day,... It's going to be an expensive 3 days for me. Would it be too cheesy to get Felicia to sign a Codex sketch drawn by me? :)

Weekly Comic Reviews for May 5th, 2010

2010-05-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #35 -- First off, thanks to some websites putting up a teaser image for issue #36 without hiding it behind spoiler notices the end of this issue was ruined. So thanks again for spoiling something in this series (though not as big as the Twilight reveal). *sigh* I've been tempted to stop reviewing this series because I really haven't been enjoying it but I do have to say, as a single issue this one felt a bit better than the last few. We finally get people actually trying to explain things instead of just speaking cryptically for 2 straight issues. And stuff actually happens. But I'm still not enjoying the story and the end just makes this feel more and more like fan-fiction. I'm actually happy that there's only 5 more issues to go and I just hope it gets turned around somehow.

Goats Webcomic

2010-05-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Rosenberg has announced his 13 year old webcomic Goats will be going on hiatus until he figures out what he's going to do next. To be honest I've never read this webcomic but wow, 13 years is damn impressive. I find it sad every time a webcomic has to come to an untimely end because the creators just weren't able to find a source of continuous income, especially when it's clear that the creators have put as much effort into it as Jonathan has.

And I think Jon does bring up a good point, webcomics focusing on long running storylines often are harder to keep going financially. People looking through webcomics have so much to look at and they want that instant gratification instead of having to read through hundreds of pages to understand what's going on. And merchandise based on your comic (like t-shirts, prints, etc) may not do as well against the cute zombie kitten or whatever other novelty the next webcomic has. Not to mention that it will take quite a bit of your time and focus off your comic, always trying to keep in mind "How can I sell this on a t-shirt" while you're coming up with your next few pages.

I don't have any answers to this. Obviously we can't financially support every person who wants to make webcomics/comics for a living, and some really aren't good enough that they should be supported. But it would be nice if there was a slightly easier way for creators (writers in particular) to make a living without their webcomic taking a back seat to the t-shirts, prints, and whatever other merchandise they're currently relying on to make a living.

I guess I should just be happy that I have my full time job and wish Jon and all those other webcomic artists trying to make a living at it the best of luck.

A Couple of Fan Art Sketches

2010-05-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do up some fan art for a while now but just haven't had the time. So I decided to cheat and double up the sketches. All characters are owned by their respective creators and were used without their permission.
First up we have Smash from the "Smash" webcomic by Chris and Kyle Bolton and the Araknid Kid from "The Araknid Kid" by Josh Alves (though Josh is currently working on Heropotamus at the moment).
And next we have Billy Butterman from Andy Belanger's Bottle of Awesome (hence the bottle) and Sam (as the Peanut Butter Genie, hence the peanut butter jar) from Caanan's Celadore (Caanan is current working on Max Overacts).

A Couple Quick Reviews

2010-05-03T12:58:00.001-07:00

Going through my Free Comic Book Day pick ups (including the freebies and the ones I bought)...

WE3 -- I think you know where this story is going right from the start for the most part. The question does remain as to exactly how it will end though. And it does do a good job of going through the story. I'm not always a fan of Quitely's artwork but I enjoyed it for the most part here. I'd say it's worth checking out but it didn't really blow me away or anything.

Atomic Robo volume 1 and Free Comic Book Day issue -- I read a couple of the older Atomic Robo Free Comic Book Day comics on my iPhone and it seemed like a fun read. Sort of a less intellectual/spiritual Hellboy in my opinion. Both the free comic and the first volume were enjoyable with witty dialogue and nice artwork. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll be picking up any more, perhaps if I need a book to put me over the $39 limit for free shipping on Amazon one of them may find their way into my order.

Mouse Guard Free Comic Book Day issue -- I've read elsewhere about how this book didn't really fit for kids which was a bit of an issue as it came with some Fraggle Rock stories. I do sort of agree, the narrative story telling was more for the older readers. I think it was great for older readers, it recapped the stories we've seen and led in to the stories to come, but coming with Fraggle Rock and being about little mice I think parents may have been a little surprised by it. Still, I enjoyed it.

Stuff of Legend -- I don't know if we really got to see much of where this story is going. We get a few character moments but nothing that gave me a real sense of "Oh, here's where the story is going in this chapter", at least nothing that really stuck with me. I'm still looking forward to this series continuing, I guess I was just hoping for more from this book. And that's probably unfair in some ways.

So that's it. Anyone else find anything of interest to them on Free Comic Book Day? How did the event go down in your area?

A Quick Free Comic Book Day Follow Up

2010-05-01T11:23:00.001-07:00

Back home from Free Comic Book Day. Just wanted to touch on something Caanan said in the comments section of my previous post. I understand stores are losing money on giving away these free comics, and I understand how frustrated they should be when people are coming in to grab stacks of the free comics never to be seen again (and not even thanking the store for the comics) so limiting the comics is understandable. Putting a limit of "You have to spend $10 to get one free book, $20 for two..." seems like it may be going too far. And really, if you want to bring in new readers to your store that's probably not the way to do it. You're almost guaranteeing that they won't be back.

Of the three shops I went to two of them were saying one copy of each book per customer which I felt was generous. One (the store I usually go to) did keep some of the free comics (the non-gold ones) behind their counter though and you had to ask for them. He said he did this because in previous years people came in grabbing every book they could but they really had no interest in all of them, they were just grabbing what they could. Limiting it to people who knew about them and asked for them seemed to limit that. I saw that first hand when I went to the other store, they had all their books out for grabbing and when I asked the owner about some of the non-gold books (Atomic Robo for instance) he said that they disappeared early. He bought a lot of them but not as much as the cheaper gold books and with everyone just grabbing everything they could they disappeared quickly.

The crowds were also very different. The local store was quiet as expected. Their advertising for the event consisted of two 8x10 pieces of pink paper in their windows with "Free Comic Book Day" in small print. The second (my usual shop) was also fairly quiet when I went in but the manager said he was getting steady business. It had a couple families in there shopping and it was cute to see the kids expressing interest in some comics. The third store was a mad house. They had a lot of people in costumes having their photos taken and there were a lot of families with a lot of kids in the free comic book area of the store (the front part). There were also a fair amount of people browsing the comics (further back in the store).

In the end, I ended up buying Atomic Robo volume 1 and We3. And of the free comics I got the Mouse Guard, Stuff of Legend, and Atomic Robo (which I ended up finding in the closest/quiet store).

Free Comic Book Day

2010-04-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know or forgot, tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. Details can be found here. I'll be dropping by my local shops to see what's going on. I'll be honest, I'm hoping to grab two free books in particular (the Mouse Guard one and the Stuff of Legend one) and since I feel bad just grabbing the books for free I'll probably find a graphic novel or two to buy. I feel a little mixed on grabbing the free comics. I know it's mostly to get new readers in to the stores and buying these books but I really want to read those two in particular.

There are three participating stores that I can get to with some ease (one is very easy, the other two are a bit of a trek) and I'm generally disappointed with two of them when it comes to Free Comic Book Day. Perhaps I just see what some stores do online with people coming in to sign or draw sketches and I should just be happy these stores are taking part but on the other hand I just get disappointed that they aren't really putting much effort in to getting more people into their stores.

The first is very close by and in a mall. I don't really get along with the owner so perhaps I'm biased but in the past he has limited his orders to the gold books for the most part but does order quite a few. He puts the comics on the counter inside his store and sometimes puts up the small sign in his window amongst all the sports memorabilia put up there. He then grumbles that he has so many left over. He's in a freakin' mall in a pretty high traffic area. Put the comics out front or at least the advertising of it in a prominent area where kids and parents can't miss it. He also has a lot of space out front of his store (in the mall) where he could be doing so much. People in costumes or something to advertise it. But comics don't seem to be a concern for him, they're his steady income but most of his store is sports memorabilia now.

The second is the store I normally shop at. It's out of my way but at least it's a comic store, as opposed to the first. They don't do very much either. Though maybe that's not fair. They'll have more prominent posters in their windows, they'll order more variety than the first store, and they'll usually put some of their toys and graphic novels on sale. But it doesn't really feel like an overly friendly or exciting place to go to. I find they rely on their core customers.

The third goes the extra mile. To start, I've been hearing advertisements on the radio for their two locations. They'll have people in costume like the Star Wars guys, maybe a couple other models in Supergirl/Wonder Woman costumes, and their staff usually dress up. And they have plenty of staff on hand which is nice. Their store is actually more open with space for these people to hang out and get pictures with the kids. The odd time they've had people (comic writers or B-movie directors) come in. I've also seen sales on their stuff for the day. It's open, it's friendly, and there's some excitement about shopping there. The only thing I might suggest is having some local comic artists (even if they aren't professional) doing free sketches for the kids or something.

I'll probably drop by all three shops, just to see what's going on this year. But I think the third store will win out again in my opinion even if it does cost them a bit in the short term (giving out more free comics than the others, though perhaps their increase in sales for that day compensates for it, I don't know). I hope more store owners go this route, actually putting the effort out there to attract customers by making comic buying a positive experience.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 28th, 2010

2010-04-29T18:25:00.000-07:00

Before I get in to the reviews I just want to mention a new webcomic coming out by the name of Max Overacts. It's by Caanan who also did Celadore on Zuda comics. I had the pleasure of meeting Caanan in person at last year's Fan Expo Canada and got a great Hulk sketch from him. He's a great guy with a lot of talent and the cartoon is off to a strong start so go check it out.

Now on to the reviews, they'll be short though, I promise.

The Guild #2 -- So we get to see a bit more of how the Knights of Good came together and just where Cyd's real life relationship is going (we know where it's going to end up in the long run but there may be a twist or two on how we get there). Solidly written, good dialogue, nice art that tells the story effectively (in both the game and real world), and an all around good issue.

Hulked Out Heroes #2 (of 2) -- I really shouldn't have picked up this series. I knew I shouldn't but I did. I guess there may be a chuckle or two in there as the world gets re-worked but it's rather pointless. So not a bad book I guess but I just wish the Fall of the Hulks/World War Hulks stuff would go somewhere instead of spinning its wheels on this type of story. If you're looking for some silly Deadpool fun then you might enjoy this, I just regretted buying it as I'm not looking for that.

A Few Links

2010-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Scott McCloud recently tweeted about a post on his site with an interesting video discussing Kick Ass. I was initially turned off by the blanket statements of comics being this or that (especially the negative "this and that"'s) but I thought it was also an interesting conversation in the end and I think several people made some good points. Do comics live up to their potential? I'd say no and I'd say no medium ever truly does or there wouldn't ever be any room for growth. And I'd also say if you limit yourself to reading a few popular books and writing off all comics as being like them then you're missing out on so much of the great work that is being done to explore that potential of comics. But I do appreciate people having a real conversation about comics.

The whole thing about "geeks inheriting the Earth" also raises a few issues for me that maybe I'll talk about later.

But I really want to point out the great comic he links to at the bottom and Luke Person's blog. I suspect I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the near future going through his archive of material.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 21st, 2010

2010-04-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Two books to review this week, Elephantmen #25 and Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks #2.

Elephantmen #25 -- I understood that they brought in a lot of artists to celebrate their 25th issue but I was initially a little disappointed that the story was being told with splash pages. With that, it relied heavily on the narration. I think they pulled it off in the end and it was enjoyable but it also felt a little gimmicky, though I was also having flashbacks to the death of Superman so that might be why I'm saying that. It really did work better than I'm probably making it sound but I think if you were looking for the best way to tell this story it wouldn't be like this even if most of it was flashbacks to stuff we've already seen or known. Still a recommended pick up, it may serve well as a starting issue for some readers, and I still recommend this series to everyone.

Fall of the Hulks: The Savage She-Hulks #2 -- I think this issue felt a little stretched out for the story it contained. Perhaps we could have cut one or two of She-Hulk's flashbacks or Lyra's. Or just moved it along instead of having the two of them sitting around for the first half of the book. And when the action started we had a change in artist and I felt the first half was the stronger artistically. Having said that, the issue does move the story along giving us some information to what's going on and what some of the characters may be thinking. So I'm still looking forward to the final issue of this series despite my disappointment with the overall Fall of the Hulks storyline. Not really a highly recommended book for me but a good one nonetheless.

Another Positive I Forgot To Mention

2010-04-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

I forgot to point out this video of Tim Gunn discussing Superhero Costumes courtesy of Project Rooftop (which I highly recommend following).

Now For Some Positives:

2010-04-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

And since my last post was so negative, here are a few positive things of note (mostly comic). Warning, some of this is very old news but it's stuff I've been meaning to mention.

- Heropotamus, a webcomic by Josh Alves, continues to move along very well.

- Pre-order the print edition of Karl Kerschl's webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher and get some bonuses. I've already pre-ordered the Master Edition which comes with a sketch. I'm not sure which character I'm hoping for with the sketch. Obviously Charles Christopher makes sense but there are lot of characters I like from this webcomic, the crazy bird for one.

- The deadline for the Harvey Award nominations is tomorrow and Valerie d'Orazio's Memoirs of an Occasional Superheroine is eligible. Not being a comics professional, I can't take part but I do have my favourites.

- Caanan posted some of his character designs for a superhero themed Zuda entry over on his blog. An incredibly talented artist with great character designs, I hope he gets a new ongoing comic soon.

- Stan Lee is coming to Fan Expo Canada, I'm really excited about this and I'm already hoping for an autograph (probably my Hulk Omnibus) and a photo. Yes, I do go for that sort of thing. Not for everyone but come on, it's Stan Lee. Of course I'm also looking forward to mingling with a few artists in artist alley again (though I expect to come out pretty empty handed on the sketches) and taking in a few more of the sketching duels.

- And despite my earlier comments about Montreal, considering the total overhaul of the team last summer they did pull it together enough to make the playoffs so even if they should lose the next game in Washington the season was not a complete bust and they did play hard. So congrats on that.

A Few Pet Peeves

2010-04-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to rant for a bit, feel free to ignore. Here's a list of current pet peeves:

- A person starting a webcomic when they have 4 others that just stopped updating suddenly. I know some webcomic creators have to stop when paying jobs come up or what not but if you're starting a webcomic and you already have a bunch that you've already started with no resolution don't expect me to want to read this one because I'm not going to want to read something that's probably not going to finish when you lose interest in it. And if you are looking for a job, it's not a good sign if you can't see things through and at least give your story a proper ending instead of just giving up.

- Constantly asking for people to "retweet" on twitter. Seriously, most people on Twitter know how it works or learn rather quickly. You don't need to add "Please RT" to every one of your messages. Fine, if you are really trying to promote something (your webcomic, some charity thing, an amber alert, whatever) then maybe once in a while ask for a bit of help promoting it but if you say something to me and then add a "please RT" then you're just trying to boost your own friggin' ego hoping for more followers or whatever so please stop. And if it's part of everyone one of your messages then I'm just going to ignore you. Come to think of it, I have a few Twitter issues, perhaps I should make that a post on its own.

- Spammers. This one speaks for itself.

- People on the bus who refuse to move back to make room for more people getting on. If you're getting off at the next stop I can understand wanting to stay close to a door but try to allow others to get by. And if you aren't getting off soon then MOVE BACK!

- The Montreal Canadiens. You really have to make some changes for next year because the team you've got just ain't working. No size up front, inconsistent play, stupid penalties, turtling and then falling apart for the last 10 minutes, etc, etc. It's getting old. As a Habs fan I ask that you please fix this ASAP.

- Maple Leaf fans who gloat about Montreal losing in the first round of the playoffs. So where are the Leafs? Oh but they'll get a good first round pick right? Oh yeah, you traded that away already. And those who now deny being Leafs fans are worse, pick a team and stick with it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 16th, 2010

2010-04-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

Only one review this week and it'll be a short one.

Hulked Out Heroes #1 (of 2) -- I should not have picked this book up and I knew it. I really did try to keep an open mind and there's nothing really badly done about this book, it's just that I have no interest in the story or the characters. I had hope that something in here would make me feel better about the World War Hulks but there really wasn't. I understand why some people are enjoying it, but it's just not for me. So with that, I think it would be unfair for me to really go in to any more detail.

And for the time being I'll be moderating comments to this blog. I really hate spammers and I don't want their posts making it on here. Though the spam software yesterday was hitting some very old posts that nobody would actually be looking at anyways. :)

Spamming

2010-04-15T06:24:00.001-07:00

Due to a recent spamming of this blog I've changed the commenting settings temporarily.

Some quick iPhone thoughts

2010-04-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back I decided to enter in to the new age and get an iPhone. I figured that the monthly rate wasn't much more than what I was paying for my cell phone which didn't have any of the bells and whistles (didn't even have a camera or adjustable sound levels, yes, it was a piece of crap). So what was the first thing I did? Searched for games. But after that, it was comic time. I decided to try out two apps, the Marvel app and Comixology. Yeah, pretty much the same thing I know. But different content. And yes I realize that with the iPad out (in the US at least) I'm already behind in the tech.

I had read through some of Darkness/Pitt #1 on a friend's iPhone a while back. This time I went with Spider-Man #546 on the Marvel app and Box13 (all the chapters) on the Comixology one. I won't go in to a review of them, this is just about the reading experience for me.

Overall I found that they really tried to make the reading experience as good as they could and it was okay. But with the Spider-Man issue and especially the Darkness/Pitt (which had so much detail from Dale Keown in such large panels) I felt the experience just wasn't as good. It was clear that the book was meant to be read as a full page and I don't think anything the iPhone can do could make up for that. I don't think I'd mind reading a few books like this but for the books I really want to experience in all their wonder (Fables, Elephantmen, Invincible, etc) I just can't see myself reading them this way. Box13 on the other hand was made with the iPhone in mind (as far as I know at least) so the panels fit nicer, you didn't have to turn the iPhone back and forth (vertical/horizontal) as often (I know some readers don't mind, I think anything that takes me out of the reading experience is not good), and as it went on it seemed it started to take more and more advantage of being on the iPhone.

So for me, I can take reading some originally print comics (ie. comics that were made for print and then transferred to the iPhone) on the iPhone, where I just want to see what happens basically. But comics made specifically for the iPhone I find easier to read on the device. But here's the thing, does anyone really care? A lot of people seem to have already made up their minds that they want their comics on the iPhone and discount any difference in reading them on their as compared to the print versions (and for some people this is quite likely true, I have learned over and over again that I often have a far too critical eye when I'm reading a comic). Other have already decided that print is the only option for them. And really, who am I to try to convince them otherwise. They like what they like.

Now a lot of the issues I have with reading comics on the iPhone can be fixed by going to an iPad but you still have some differences between print/digital. I can't remember who tweeted it but one comic writer mentioned the iPad helping those writers who couldn't time their big reveals to even page numbers. So friends have been assuming I'll be going with an iPad. The truth is I won't. At least that's the plan. Currently my life is mostly sitting at work (with several computers including a laptop) or sitting at home (most often with my laptop and cintiq with my TV on) or on the bus (with my iPhone). I recognize that for some people there's a gap between their laptop and cell/smart phones but for me, I just don't see it at the moment. And so I just can't justify spending the money on something I'll use only occasionally to read comics. That's not to discount the iPad, I think it's a great step forward and I'm somewhat jealous of those who have one or will be getting it. I just don't see myself owning one.

Anyway, that's just some ramblings I wanted to get out of my head. There's more but I doubt very many people have read this far. :) And yeah, I am still wondering if Longbox Digital or something else can fill some of my comic reading via the laptop instead of the iPhone. But reading comics on the iPhone did seem a little nicer than when I've read on my laptop.

And as a warning, with my weekly comics purchasing at such a low I'll probably be posting more of these ramblings from time to time.

Weekly Comic Reviews for April 7th, 2010 -- SPOILERS

2010-04-09T07:09:00.001-07:00

Two reviews this week and be warned, I did not like either of them, at all...

World War Hulks #1 (of 1) -- I knew going in to this book that it wouldn't feature Banner or the Hulk or even the Red Hulk (who I hate so I don't know if that would have been better) so I was a little reluctant to pick it up to begin with. I should have skipped it. It felt like a weak book that didn't really build up the story going in to World War Hulks. I didn't feel like it progressed any of the stories (other than maybe the Dead/Hulk-pool one) or gave me any useful information on the characters. The Red She-Hulk one seemed especially annoying as it's hard to feel for a character you don't even know. Die hard Hulk fans (of which I used to be) may get something out of it but I'd say skip it.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #34 -- The much talked about issue due to the somewhat graphic content. The Buffy/Angel stuff felt like softcore fanfic and the conversation between Giles et al just felt non-Buffy-ish. I can't believe that between Angel, Giles, and Willow they've spread this babbling on for what, an issue and a half now? And for what reason? Giles has a history of rambling a bit but normally we get Xander or Willow there to break it down moments later. This feels like the characters are just dragging it out to torture the reader (or give people looking for the Buffy/Angel hookup more time). Personally, I was really disappointed with this issue and feel the story really isn't coming together yet. I still hope it does but I'm not as optimistic as I was. And it's too bad as I felt Meltzer had a better start than some of the other writers who've worked on this series.

So yeah, a rather disappointing week for me. Perhaps I should have picked up the SHIELD book or the Thor and the Warriors Four, both of which I've heard good things about. I know the SHIELD book was sold out at my comic store, not sure about the Thor book but I didn't notice it.

More reviews -- Planetary

2010-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I finished reading Planetary (re-reading volumes 1 through 3 and then reading volume 4). I have to say to start that it's a beautiful series to read. The entire art team starting with Cassaday really does a great job. The writing is a bit mixed for me. Some parts of the story I love, other parts don't necessarily do it for me. But really, that's to be expected. On the one hand, there was some really interested parts to it but on the other, I'm not always a big fan of this sort of story where so much is based on other comic characters and stories. I find I get distracted looking to see who each of the characters or stories are different versions of, whether it's the FF, the Hulk, Galactus, or whoever else, and I get taken out of the story. This happened with this series for me, possibly less so on the second reading though. I think it's a series I may recommend to some but I wasn't really blown away by it (other than some really spectacular artwork at times).

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 31st, 2010

2010-04-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yet again, only one book to review this week. Despite my dislike of one-shots I decided to pick up the She-Hulk Sensational after seeing that it had a story featuring Stan Lee written by Peter David. Sooo....

She-Hulk Sensational #1 (of 1) -- The first story (the above mentioned Peter David portion) was just fun. You had the classic breaking of the fourth wall, special appearances by Spidey and Dan Slott, and artwork that I felt fit the mood of the story. Peter David can tell a fun story and it works here. The second story felt a little more like filler. It wasn't really an anniversary story so much and felt a little awkward right from the point where they had to tell you where the story fit in relation to Secret Invasion. But having said that, it wasn't a bad story and it was well done. And besides, we already had Peter David's "anniversary story", did we need another one? I guess not. Then there was a John Byrne issue that to be honest, I haven't read yet. I didn't read the series back then and I'm not sure I'm interested in a single issue plucked out of it (though I'm hoping this is a stand alone issue). Overall, it was an enjoyable issue especially given my usual dislike for the one-shots. Not overwhelmingly good but I think fans of She-Hulk will enjoy it.

I picked up volume 4 of Planetary as well but I think I'll go back to re-read the first three volumes before reading it. Hopefully I get some time over the weekend to do that.

Happy Easter everyone!

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 24th, 2010

2010-03-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Just the one book this week.

The Guild #1 -- I was a little worried going in to this book because I wasn't sure what to expect. I find it can be very hit or miss when a celebrity writer does their first comic. Sometimes their inexperience with the medium really shows, at least for me. That was not the case here. There were quite a few scenes that were done very well, that took advantage or at least were written for the comic format. The art was effective, it fit the story with the different styles working well between the "real word" and the game world. I think I may have been looking for a bit more of a distinction between the two (not really sure what, maybe different borders or a more contrast colour palette) but it was effective as is. The story had a good mix of highs and lows to keep the reader feeling for Cyd and wanting to see what comes next (even if we know things won't end well in some respects). Definitely a must read for fans of the show, and I'd say it's good enough to stand as an intro for those who haven't watched the show.

More Comic Reviews

2010-03-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

I think Jimmy Corrigan is going to take me a little while longer to read than most books. There's a lot to take in there. So last night I took a break from it and read Astounding Wolf-Man volume 3 and Irredeemable volume 2. The Irredeemable review will contain SPOILERS, though I'll try to keep them to a minimum.

Astounding Wolf-Man volume 3 -- I started this series because I'm really enjoying Invincible but there's just something missing here. I just can't get in to the story as easily or really connect with the characters like I can with Invincible. This isn't that I'm using Invincible as the measuring stick for what I'll read, it's just that overall I can't really get into this series that much. It's interesting and enjoyable enough I suppose but it's not really something where I'm eager for the next volume. In fact, if the series wasn't ending with issue 25 I'd probably have stopped picking it up but now I'm a little curious to see how it finishes off. It's still a good comic and probably worth checking out, I just don't think it makes my reading list.

Irredeemable volume 2 -- I enjoyed the first volume more than I expected to. This one had me hooked up until the Plutonian's tipping point was revealed. There was such a build up to the story and you really saw the Plutonian's mental state getting pushed to the edge but then the scene with Samsara popped in and it just felt a little off. I know it was everything else going on and the Samsara thing was just the straw that broke the camel's back but without a build up of the relationship between the two of them or even just Samsara that straw felt extra weak. It was disappointing given everything else that's going on in his life. The scenes with the Plutonian talking to the people through the TVs, radios, etc was pretty scary though. This book does a great job of really giving you a sense of fear and horror, and that may be why the Samsara stuff just felt a bit off. I'm interested in volume 3 and still recommend checking this book out (at least for the first volume, don't write it off too early) but we'll see where it goes from there.

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 17th, 2010 -- SPOILERS

2010-03-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Again, just one book this week. Be warned though, the review may contain spoilers for the Fall of the Hulks.

Incredible Hulk #608 -- Not reading the other Hulk book kind of hurt here with the events taking place at the same time but I refuse to pick that book up. It wasn't a total wash though, this book was still easy enough to follow (ie. the Red Hulk failed). And the set up for the upcoming "Hulked Out Heroes" wasn't as bad as I was expecting. This issue had a nice number of twists and turns, and flowed nicely. Every aspect of the art, from the pencils to the colours, was really well done. I really would love to see Pelletier become the regular Hulk artist. The story is still not blowing me away but it looks like it's going somewhere interesting.

I guess that's all I have to say on that. Next up on my reading list is Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth.

LongBox Digitial Public Beta

2010-03-16T09:20:00.001-07:00

LongBox Digital went "Public Beta" yesterday so I immediately downloaded it to my new macbook pro. Rich Johnston over on Bleeding Cool has a good rundown of his initial use of the application, much of it applies to my first use but I figured I'd comment on it a bit more here.

After creating my account I went to check out ordering and reading a book. It all seems easy enough though there is not much there to begin with (I understand why and hope more will be coming soon) so I decided to give the Darkness a try. I didn't really want to experiment much with the viewer, I'm not really the kind to play around much with software, so I just found settings that seemed to work enough for me (which didn't take too long) and started reading. The reading experience wasn't bad though there were a few times where it was obvious the page layouts were either designed for a long page or just not all that good (and these may have been highlighted more by reading it here). But in a way, I'm not really expecting a perfect reading experience here, just something good enough that I can give some comics a quick read to see if I'm interested in picking up the series in TPB or to catch up on some one-shots that I usually think are over-priced for the content they deliver.

So my initial experience hasn't turned me off and I'm really looking forward to updates (both to the software and the books available).

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 10th, 2010

2010-03-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

Let's just get right to it shall we...

Elephantmen #24 -- It's been a little while since the last issue so it took me a bit before I could really get back into the story and everything that's been going on. The beginning narration, explaining the devices implanted in the Elephantmen was helpful and interesting, I just don't know if that much narration (when combined with the initial radio dialogue) made the first few pages a little too word heavy. I think I could re-read that portion and think it went well one day and feel totally different the next. In the end, it just is. Getting to the point, we have the start of what promises to be an emotional storyline for Hip and Ebony as well as a couple other stories getting massaged a bit. More solid writing, solid artwork (both in appearance and storytelling)... My reviews of this series really are sounding like a broken record at times. :)

100K

2010-03-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

At some point on the weekend (while I was dealing with a nasty sickness that you really don't need/want to hear the details of) Divine Leap hit 100,000 page views. I had mentioned it in my author comments on last week's page and for a few days it looked like I jinxed it as my daily page views dropped to below my average but a weekend push put me over.

I've had mixed feelings about this "milestone" but now I think I need to say "screw it" and just embrace it. I've been way too depressed about, well, pretty much most things and I know people are getting tired of it. I know I am. So in that spirit, I will be doing a special "Thank you for the 100K page views" sketch and I'll be taking suggestions for this sketch (either here or on the Divine Leap page or email or however) up until midnight Friday. After it's done (hopefully this weekend) I will post it and then send it out to the person who suggested it if they want it.

Weekly Comic Reviews for March 3rd, 2010

2010-03-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

I decided to pick up the first issue of the Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks series, so two reviews for this week.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #33 -- I thought things were improving with this series, this issue brought me back down again. I will admit, I'm upset with the Twilight reveal and wasn't too happy going in to this issue. And it made the first part drag on as I knew the reveal. Then the second half of the book just seemed to be a lot of confusing dialogue because you can't have the characters just come out and say what's going on can you? There were a few moments that made me smile or felt Buffy-ish but all in all, a fairly disappointing issue for me.

Fall of the Hulks: Savage She-Hulks #1 -- I admit it, I didn't like the idea of Lyra taking on the title of "She-Hulk" but I have been pleasantly surprised. So even though I haven't been impressed with Fall of the Hulks so far I decided to give this series a try. On the one hand, I like the characters and felt the writing was good. On the other hand, for me, it's still tainted by the Fall of the Hulks storyline. I do have to say, the good outweighs the bad for me on this one so I'll be picking up the rest of this series.

The Walking Dead Volume 11

2010-03-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

After a few issues with Amazon I finally got volume 11 of the Walking Dead. The revolving door of characters can be a positive (giving new perspective and keeping it from getting stale) and a negative (at least for me in that it's been so long since volume 10 that I can't remember who's who). So it took me a few pages to get back up to speed in this volume. I really enjoy this story for the character moments and their interaction with one another in the face of the horrors around them (zombies and others). On the one hand the story of what was happening with this latest group they come to meet didn't really do much for me. It was definitely horrific but with everything else in this series, I guess I must be desensitized to it. But the levels it pushes the main characters to is extremely emotional and the last few pages really bring it to a head and is really well done by both, writer and artist. Now I just have to wait for the next volume to come out.

Asterios Polyp review

2010-02-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

So yes, I continue to pick up books that people seem to be putting high in their "comics of the past year" lists. "Asterios Polyp" was one that seemed to be popping up a lot so I decided to give it a look. Here's my quick review of it.

One of the best books I've read in a while. And I've been reading some good books lately. Yes, I suppose that I may be basing this slightly on the fact that I love the comic medium and this book really illustrates a wide range of things you can do in that medium and I just loved seeing that done with a story I could enjoy. It's really a great story of interesting characters told amazingly well. Normally I don't read books twice or if I do there's a large gap between readings. This one I plan to start reading again this evening just to absorb more of the work and see details in the story and art that I may have missed the first time.

Now I know this book won't work for everyone. Not everyone will enjoy reading a book like this but I absolutely loved it.

So that's it. I may or may not make it to the comic store tonight. I don't think I have any books this week anyways so this may be my one review of the week. But we'll see.

Weekly Comic Reviews for February 17th, 2010 -- May Contain SPOILERS

2010-02-19T08:44:00.001-08:00

A whopping one book for me this week, which may be one more than I'll be picking up next week.

The Incredible Hulk #607 -- On the positive side, I am enjoying some of the intellectual dueling between Leader, Modok, Pym, Banner, etc, etc, the dialogue and twists and turns are great there. And the art is absolutely beautiful stuff. But there still seems to be something missing for me. I'm not even picking up all the books of this event (no "Hulk" and no "Red Hulk") and it already feels like it's dragging. This is just the prelude to the whole "War of the Hulks" stuff and I don't think that can come soon enough for me (though from what I've seen of the post-Fall of the Hulks books I'm not so sure what I'll think of the books). As for the She-Hulk second story, that felt painful to me. Having the characters talk in such a way as to avoid saying who she is as well as the Red Hulk (or making really lame excuses for not saying it) turned me right off that one. I'm sticking with the books I'm picking up for now but the Fall of the Hulks is not really winning me over yet and it wouldn't make my recommended reading list.

More Reviews

2010-02-15T09:41:00.001-08:00

I polished off two more books while watching some of the Olympics. So let's have some quick reviews shall we...

Blankets -- A beautifully illustrated very touching story. I'd put this one in my highly recommended/possible must-read stack of books. One of the best books I've read in quite a while, and I've been reading some really good books (in my opinion).

The Great Fables Crossover -- I wasn't sure how I felt about the Literals and such, and in a way, I still don't. But I still really enjoyed this story. The characters are all great, the story is interesting, and it's all written and drawn very well. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the ending, usually I feel a bit of disappointment but not here. Fables and Jack of Fables continue to be on my recommended reading list.

And that's all I can afford at the moment as it's back to work for me. Currently sitting on top of my "To Be Read" pile: Asterios Polyp.

No Comic Reviews for the February 10th, 2010

2010-02-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

I don't think any books came out for me this week and I can't make it down to the store anyways, I haven't left work early enough for me to make the trek downtown in time before the store closes.

So talk amongst yourselves, I'll give you a topic: The Olympics, will you be watching any of it?

Extra Reviews

2010-02-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

Two things I did over the weekend were watch the Planet Hulk DVD and read "Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke. So why not do a couple quick reviews.

Planet Hulk -- This movie jumps right in to the middle of things which I was a little surprised at but does someone who hasn't read the books really need to know more than "You're a danger, we're sending you off planet, Nuff said"? It does tweak a few things, dropping stuff here and there and picking up a few new things. But in general it does stick nicely to the original storyline. The animation is good, the story is good, and I enjoyed it. Non-Hulk fans may be wondering who this green talking guy is but I liked that they at least left him intelligent. I'd say it's worth checking out.

"Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter" by Darwyn Cooke -- I've really enjoyed some of Darwyn Cooke's other works and I've heard quite a bit of positive feedback on this one so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't disappointed. Cooke really has a lot of talent to adapt his art and storytelling to different genres. The story is interesting with enough twists and turns to keep your interest. I really enjoyed this so I'll most likely be looking to pick up the next volume. It may not be for everyone though, I do have to say that.

And that's it for now. :)

Weekly Comic Reviews for February 3rd, 2010

2010-02-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I had one book come out this week. It doesn't look like I have any for next week but it's all good because some of the TPBs I ordered are starting to come in. So I'll just review those... And maybe a few webcomics or something.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32 -- Right away I felt this book was written by someone who is more adept at writing for the comics medium. It just felt smoother, more right, and easier to read. As for the story, it felt a bit like a first issue and a slow one at that. Some jokes get dragged out a bit, they introduce us to the new status quo in some ways but also feel a bit long. And there's the Kittty Pryde humour that was a little too in your face in my mind considering it may have missed the mark on a fair amount of the audience. Having said all that, it did feel like a better issue than it has been and I did enjoy it. The art didn't really blow me away and I felt there was a few areas where it could have been better but overall, it told the story effectively. In the end, I think this gives me hope for Meltzer's run on the book.

And on the TPB side of things...
Chew Volume 1 -- A lot of people seemed to be saying how great this series was so I decided to give it a try. When I first heard the general idea I thought it was somewhat interesting but wondered where they'd go with it. I was pleasantly surprised with the direction it took. The series is well written and has a lot of unique ideas to it (and some only "mildly unique", but still good). The book and story flows well and keeps your interest throughout. And the art style definitely fits the book, it has a lot of energy and it tells the story very effectively. So a very solid book and definitely worth some praise. And yet in the end, I don't know if I was completely sold on it. I'm not sure what it was, the writing was good and the art was solid, yet I'm not completely sold on picking up another volume. I may if I'm looking for something to read but I guess in the end, the story just wasn't something I was looking to read, at least at the moment. It's a book I'd recommend reading but I'm not sure if I'll continue or not. If that makes any sense. :)

No Comic Reviews This Week

2010-01-29T06:08:00.000-08:00

No comics came in for me this week and I'm still waiting on a few Amazon orders so I have nothing to review at the moment.

I'm also still trying to collect my thoughts on the iPad. I think it's an impressive piece of technology and it has people excited about what they can do with it. But I don't see myself owning one any time soon if at all. I think it may just be one of those things I watch from the sidelines to see where it goes.

DrunkDuck and EZ Prints

2010-01-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

So it seems that the DrunkDuck server upgrade (which has resulted in several weekends of semi-downtime, comics viewable but nothing else) is connected to a deal struck between Platinum Studios and EZ Print to connect DrunkDuck (and its users) with EZ Print so they can sell merchandise for their comics more easily.

My first thought was that this seems kind of nice for some people. Users who may not know about setting up a store on other sites similar to EZ Print, who don't know how to go about it and are a little scared or reluctant, may go for EZ Print (if they are convinced it's as easy as they're saying it will be). And users who don't want to set up with EZ Print (for whatever reason, such as the ability to set your own prices/markup which it appears EZ Print will not allow DrunkDuck users to do) will still have the option of linking to other stores/sites on their DrunkDuck comic. And so people may be able to sell a few things to make a bit of money of their hard work.

Though some of the optimism I'm seeing seems a little rushed. When the feature goes online there will most likely be a rush of DrunkDuckers putting up merchandise in the hopes of quick money. If you're not already making money off your comic than this seems really unlikely to me, there just won't be the demand for merchandise from so many of the comics. Sure, you'll probably sell a couple things to friends or the few followers you have and it'll be nice to get a bit of extra money, but I think that will be it.

Obviously, it also depends on your comic. Some comics people enjoy reading but they may not be up for wearing a shirt or buying a coffee mug from it. Other comics, people probably don't read but if they have cute zombie teddy bear ninjas that look cool then you may do okay.

In the end, I like that they're adding the feature. It seems okay and may help some webcomic creators on there. And considering how slow Platinum has been in doing anything with DrunkDuck (other than keeping it running) it's nice to get something from them. But I don't necessarily see it as a game changer.

My Webcomic Sucks... Yet I Keep Going

2010-01-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, I don't know if I should really say it sucks, it's just not that good. When I started it I was naive. I didn't really know what I was doing or just what it takes to make a good comic. But then again, I wasn't looking to make a living off it or become some sort of comicbook superstar. I just wanted to make a comic and I thought I had a decent idea for a story or at least a story I wanted to tell even if I didn't know who I wanted to tell it to. So given my opinion of my work, why do I keep going?

Over the years (yes, "years") I've been working on it I've had ups and downs both in my personal life and in doing the comic. I've learned a lot about making a comic, either through trial and error or through very constructive criticism I've gotten or through reading some really great advice (either online or in various books). I know I still have lots to learn, and I really have to do a better job of applying what I've already learned, but I like to think I've improved. And despite some depressing times, times where nobody seemed to be reading it and yet I was spending so much of my free time doing it, I kept pushing through (other than one break after chapter 1).

So I guess in the end I continue to do webcomics because I have ideas, ideas I think would make for good stories (whether others agree with this remains to be seen). And I want to get better so they get told in a way that does them justice. Why I continue to work on my current webcomic instead of starting over (either on it or on a different story), it mostly comes down to wanting to finish it. I started it believing this was a story I wanted to tell and I still feel that way. I want to see it through to the end despite it's very shakey beginnings (can't stress that enough, I sometimes go back and cringe at some of the art and storytelling). There will be no money for me (I'll definitely be in the minus on this one with the stuff I've bought to do the comic) and I'll never have the readership of a successful webcomic but it will be something I can say I did.

Plus, if I just stop and start over it's just one more step to never being satisfied with my work to the point where I'll never put any of it out. I've always had issues with not being satisfied with my work (which you can probably tell from this post) so if I wait until I'm happy with my own work, it'll never happen.

And so Divine Leap continues. Just wanted to get some of this off my chest.

Weekly Comic Reviews for January 20, 2010

2010-01-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

A whopping one book came out for me this week. Though that appears to be one more than next week. And with my usual Zuda reads either ending or taking a break it seems like I'm hitting a lull in comic reading.

Incredible Hulk #606 -- First up, I usually like Paul Pelletier's art but he, and the rest of the art team, really knocked this one out of the park. Absolutely beautiful art while not sacrificing storytelling. In terms of the story, I often seem to have mixed feelings of Pak's work. I like his stories and in the end, I find them satisfying. But in terms of the issues I often feel like I'm playing catch up or missing something as things seem to jump around. Sometimes this can work, but not in every story. As Banner jumps around in this issue I felt that way. In the end there was some cool stuff but some confusing moments. It gets the Fall of the Hulks storyline off to an interesting start. I won't be collecting all of the Fall of the Hulks (at least not the Red Hulk or the Jeph Loeb Hulk series) so we'll see how that goes for me. This book was good though and I'm curious to see where things go.

Weekly Comic Review for January 13th, 2010

2010-01-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Only one book this week...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #31 -- I have to say that this issue was better than some of the previous issues. It flowed a bit better and was a little easier to follow along. Though I did feel the dialogue was a little awkward at times, but maybe that's just Buffy being Buffy (and I just didn't have this problem when I was watching it on TV for some reason... which seems odd, you'd think comic dialogue should be easier). Having said that, this issue still seemed awkward to me. Not necessarily in the storytelling but in the story that was told. It felt more like "Hey, we have to cover a few story elements that we need set up by the next storyline, we'll just fill an issue with them." Not a bad issue, but not really bringing the story out of its funk either.

And as an additional comment, I have to admit that I'm really upset with Dark Horse's handling of Twilight's identity. They keep saying that there's more to the story and promoting the spoiler doesn't ruin anything but I have to disagree. I don't want any of the story spoiled, I want to experience it as it should be (ie. reading it in the comic). Revealing the character's identity outside of the comic just weakens the comic in my mind. And it's not like I went looking for spoilers, they put it out there. To be honest, it felt like a complete slap in the face to someone who's been reading this series for the last 4 years waiting for the reveal. I've said that I'll be stopping with the monthlies once Buffy is done but them doing this made me consider dropping them earlier.