RANTS (OCTOBER 2006 - MARCH 2007)
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Dateline: March 28, 2007, 9:47 EST OLD VS. NEW When it comes to the comics (sequential art) medium: embrace the time-worn traditions, accept the innate limitations. Find the “new” inside the “old”. That is the challenge… |
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Dateline: March 27, 2007, 3:09 EST POP AND SLOP Beware the Pop Music / Pop Culture references that come off as fresh and funny as a Victor Borges skit. Then again: humor, like taste in crooners, is subjective… |
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Dateline: March 26, 2007, 8:31 EST ORDER AND SANITATION To celebrate the changing of the seasons (and the one-year anniversary of our techno tell-all), we’ve cleaned out some of the old, dusty and diffuse entries. The archived material is now organized into four categories: Rants (truisms, false-isms, miscellaneous in-faux-mation), How-To-Write-A-GN (self-help, reference), Lists (self-explanatory), S+B Commentary (self-explanatory). Might add a Travel section down the road…we shall see. Hard work, this blogging is, hard work… |
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Dateline: March 25, 2007, 11:17 EST JOKES ‘N’ PICTURES VS. PROSE Which begs the question: can the graphic novel reading experience be compared favorably to that of traditional (prose only) literature? Of course…separate but equal. |
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Dateline: March 20, 2007, 9:58 EST PRETTY GOOD DISGUISED AS GREAT So, we just burned through a recently released graphic novel (not saying which one) and our initial reaction was “Pretty Good”…except for the ending, which was “Great”. But after thinking it over, our opinion changed: the entire book was “Great”…except for that one part in the middle which was “Pretty Good”. Which begs the question: can a book be both “Pretty Good” and “Great”? Can the memory of a book be more pleasurable than the actual reading? Strange. |
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Dateline: March 19, 2007, 12:06 EST MOOD & EMOTION, VOL. 2 When depicting Fear: ambiguous / atmosph-fear-ric / cross-hatched artwork is often preferable to clear, clean lines. In other words, scratchy and weird are effective alternatives to polished… |
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Dateline: March 17, 2007, 7:26 EST INCHING FORWARD Like a snail moving uphill at low-speed, our output slinks along. If all goes well, we hope to have an excerpt from our new funny-book ready in time for the MoCCA extravaganza in June…and this excerpt will be short and small. A 300-issue bi-monthly series, you ask? Err, no. Not exactly. Slow going, folks…sloooooooooooow… |
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Dateline: March 16, 2007, 4:45 EST FEAR FACTOR Yes, we are afraid…afraid of big, blowsy women showing way too much cleavage…and portly gents in Stromtrooper outfits…and that guy in the Incredible Hulk tee-shirt who’s been walking back and forth in front of us around two hundred times over a span of thirty minutes. Our solution to these traumatic situations: think happy thoughts…and avoid eye contact at all costs! |
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Dateline: March 14, 2007, 11:43 EST NOT YOUNG, NOT CAREFREE Old and serious: and we’re having technical difficulties…apologies for the sporadic postings… |
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Dateline: March 13, 2007, 8:27 EST AND TODAY HE’S FORTY YEARS OLD GOING ON TWENTY… Two score. The half way point of life, more-or-less… |
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Dateline: March 8, 2007, 4:31 EST 50 YEAR OLD ARTIST VS. 50 YEAR OLD WRITER, VOL.2 Which is to say that five days from now (3.13.2007), we will have exactly 10 years before said paranoia settles in… |
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Dateline: March 7, 2007, 11:39 EST 50 YEAR OLD ARTIST VS. 50 YEAR OLD WRITER The 50-year-old artist is at the top of his game: he knows all the tricks, has perfected his style and is generating some of the most beautifully crafted work of his career. The 50-year-old writer is washed-up: his ideas are gone, he’s duplicating his previous output and he’s utterly paranoid about his “reputation”. |
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Dateline: March 1, 2007, 1:26 EST IDEAS, EXECUTED IN BLACK INK ON WHITE PAPER Thumbnails, outlines, sketches, plans, diagrams, lettering, jokes, dialogue! Folks, we are big, BIG fans of our “in-progress” notebook…four hours a night with that fat f*cker in our greasy little hands. |
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Dateline: February 28, 2007, 12:08 EST MOOD & EMOTION Just short of wide-eyed fear are a range of emotions: anxiety, worry, obsession, trepidation. We are major “Mood Art” fans (B. Wrightson / D.Clowes / J. Kamen et al). In other words: we’re interested in the nuance of fear. |
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Dateline: November 14, 2006, 11:16 EST SERIOUS COMIX, Vol. 2 Seriously, we’re writing adult comics…and due to the graphic nature, we don’t expect to find our way into local libraries anytime soon. In other words: the eyes of the innocent must be protected! |
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Dateline: February 22, 2007, 9:58 EST LIMITS OF CREDIBILITY We submit that “Realistic” Pulp Action Comics ought to stay within the boundaries of probability / believability to remain compelling and effective. The temptation by the writer to overstep this border of plausibility can lead to a wholly unsatisfying reading experience. To exemplify: the spaceship which rescues Tintin from the exploding volcano in Flight 714 just doesn’t make any sense. Sorry, but what the hell was that ending all about?! |
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Dateline: February 21, 2007, 10:02 EST A DAMN GOOD WRITER It’s the 21st century, and all those old arguments / bogus categories need no longer apply. So, whether your output is postmodern hiku / space sagas / art criticism / literary manga…a writer is a writer is a writer… |
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Dateline: February 18, 2007, 8:01 EST GO NEGATIVE... …as in negative space! Folks, two-tone, black and white comics do have certain advantages over 4-color glossies: silhouettes, shadows, “negativity”. Go negative! Stretch the limits of one-color composition! |
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Dateline: February 16, 2007, 11:32 EST ROMANCE ON THE ROPES, Vol 2. We say bring back the chicks in uniforms: Nurses! Stewardesses! Fashion Models! |
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Dateline: February 14, 2007, 5:03 EST FANTASY VS. REALITY Without over-simplifying too much, we contend that pulp action comics can be separated into two camps: Fantasy (Science-Fiction, Horror, Zombie, Science Fantasy, Capes, Horns, Sword & Sorcery) and Reality (War, Crime, Western, Sea-Faring, Historical). |
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Dateline: February 13, 2007, 11:45 EST DINOSAURS VS. TANKS! “Who will win the war of armored giants?” The apotheosis of clashing genres: Fantasy AND Reality! |
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Dateline: February 10, 2007, 6:45 EST 9/11 COMIX Although we are exceedingly ambivalent about exploiting tragedy for personal gain, the sad truth remains: September 11, 2001, was a big deal for us. Was?? Try still Is!…just typing the date brings a chill. |
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Dateline: February 9, 2007, 11:32 EST 100% UNDERGROUND…WITH A BAR CODE So, we’re peddling unfiltered, uncensored underground comix…at $19.99 a pop. And this is a genuinely disheartening commentary on the current “under-alt” scene…but what the hell, these days even R. Crumb has an accountant. |
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Dateline: February 8, 2007, 9:19 EST CLEAR COMMUNICATION WITH THE READER Don’t make the reader work overtime to understand your visual vernacular. Keep the composition straight-forward, clean, unambiguous. Experiment…but do so within the time-worn traditions of the medium. |
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Dateline: February 5, 2007, 11:27 EST REALITY, RENDERED IN GLORIOUS BLACK & WHITE Forget about those fancy, upscale, pseudo-hip, four-color, Superhero glossies…we’re peddling one-color exploitation funnies about “Real Life”!! |
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Dateline: February 4, 2007, 2:45 EST GET-RICH-QUICK COMICS Properties, trade-marks, franchises, tie-ins, spin-offs, branding, licensing, rights, RIGHTS!! At this point, our aspirations are slightly more modest: focus on the work. |
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Dateline: February 1, 2007, 2:31 EST ROMANCE ON THE ROPES, Vol 1. We offer one theory to explain the decline of the Romance genre in comic books: pornography. In other words, how the hell is Mary Worth going to compete with Vivid Entertainment!? |
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Dateline: January 30, 2007, 4:21 EST MYSTERY VS. ROMANCE There has always been a fine line between the Romance and Mystery genres: comic book soaps from yester-year often employed elements of suspense / ambiguity to keep the pages turning (for example, see: The Heart of Julia Jones or Mary Perkins, On Stage). In Romance comics, the pay-off is reconciliation between the lovers and a happy ending. In Mystery (Crime) Comics, the pay-off is death! |
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Dateline: January 26, 2007, 11:25 EST ATTRACTIVE HEROES VS. GROTESQUE VILLAINS As our emphasis is primarily on “realism”, we tend to avoid these time-worn formulas…plus “beauty” can be so damned subjective! |
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Dateline: January 25, 2007, 1:59 EST SQUARE JAW, SOLID FIST The two great American comic book detectives of the 20th Century: Remington “Rip” Kirby & Dick Tracy. As an ex-Marine, Kirby was undoubtedly a Republican. Dick Tracy most likely started out as a Democratic and switched allegiance sometime around the HUAC Hearings in the late 1940’s along with everybody’s favorite cartoon President, Ronald Reagan. |
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Dateline: January 24, 2007, 5:59 EST STYLE EXPERIMENTATION It is not uncommon for an artist / cartoonist to constantly experiment with style. This can present a challenge when creating a graphic novel…the ever-shifting variation of rendering techniques over the course of months/years. Our solution: Trust the artist! |
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Dateline: January 18, 2007, 5:08 EST LOOK BACK IN MANGA Essentially, we know nothing about Manga…and given our current schedule, we don’t anticipate this changing any time soon. Perhaps someday someone will enlighten us about this so-called “Manga Revolution”…and explain to us why Tokyo Pop provides MASSIVE WHITE SHOPPING BAGS for their teeny tiny books! |
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Dateline: January 17, 2007, 2:45 EST THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRIME COMICS, Vol. 4 Folks, we are only half-facetious in presumptuously proclaiming this moment as “golden”. The fact is, there has never been a better time to create crime comics. The traditional (prose only) crime novel is more-or-less moribund, spandex is on the ropes, and censorship / interference from the Federal government seems unlikely…knock on wood (& paper pulp)! |
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Dateline: January 16, 2007, 8:02 EST THE 77% SOLUTION Wanted: female artists! There has always been a shockingly small representation of female artists in the comic book biz and that’s not good. Inclusion, variety, new voices are essential for the future and talented women must be given an opportunity. For the record, this problem does not only affect the funny book industry: the percentage of women exhibiting in New York museums and galleries (for the last 6 months of 2006) is around 23%. Hopefully this lopsided situation will change in the near future. |
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Dateline: January 14, 2007, 5:21 EST PULP ACTION COMICS VS. LITERARY GRAPHIC NOVELS When it comes to genre trappings: we really don’t care how our fat floppy fable gets labeled / categorized, so long as it isn’t referred to as…Literary Manga! |
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Dateline: January 13, 2007, 7:55 EST STRANGE VS. NORMAL Truth be told, we prefer the art of Fletcher Hanks to the art of Hal Foster. Comparing these two legends represents a classic example of why artistic “skill” is less important historically than artistic surprise / obsession / originality. Forget about the anatomical imperfections…ol’ Fletcher took weird to a whole new level! |
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Dateline: January 12, 2007, 3:19 EST FLUFF AND FLOWERS Throw those fancy adjectives away. Strip it bare. Keep it simple, short and blunt. |
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Dateline: January 10, 2007, 4:33 EST DOUBLE MEANING Words + Pictures = twice the impact! |
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Dateline: January 8, 2007, 11:45 EST CLICHÉ-ITIS We admit it! We used many, many clichés in our freaky funny book…and we don’t apologize! Let’s face it, the past 6 years have witnessed the utter debasement of language in America and the cliché should now be recognized as the perfect means of expression for all connoisseurs of sloganeering, mule-headed pedantry and bumper-sticker logic. Folks, when it comes to this topic: you’re either with us…or against us! |
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Dateline: January 8, 2007, 9:41 EST THE WAITING GAME It’s true: in comics, everybody waits (publisher, writer, reader). Anticipation is part of the game, constant waiting for the artist, for the next issue, the next convention. Like Lou Reed says, “first thing you learn is you always gotta wait”. What in the…?! An entire industry built on…Patience?! |
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Dateline: January 3, 2006, 3:13 EST PRIMITIVE RELIGION We’re still waiting for that one penultimate funny book which will inspire a new religion…that funny picture floppy which will serve as the “Essential Text” for wealthy, well-connected Hollywood disciples who need to pray to their newly-discovered deity inside some gated, Golden State headquarters. Our prediction: it will happen sometime in the 21st century… |
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Dateline: January 2, 2006, 11:45 EST HERO WORSHIP VS. BULLY ENVY The debate is as old as The Man of Steel himself. |
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Dateline: December 10, 2006, 7:43 EST CO-LABOR Unless you are a virtuoso (or an ego-maniacal control freak) collaboration is a necessary process in creating a funny book. There is much, much work involved and sharing the labor is a time-worn tradition. Further to the point: the more people “co-laboring”, the sooner the completion date. |
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Dateline: December 3, 2006, 8:11 EST …AND ROMANCE TOO And we would be remiss not to mention the preponderance of “Romance” in our fatalistic fairy-tale. Romance makes great filler and it’s easy on the brain. |
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Dateline: December 2, 2006, 2:47 EST THE MEAT GRINDER EFFECT… Part of what we’re doing is making up for lost time. There’s a huge gap in the crime/horror genre (roughly 40 years, dating from the time EC comics went bust to the early 1990’s). And part of what we’re doing is good old-fashioned butchery. Yes, it’s true…we love meat grinders. |
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Dateline: November 30, 2006, 6:13 EST STYLE VS. STYLE Style makes great fights…and great comic books! And the collaborative process can sometimes resemble a Fifteen Round brawl! |
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Dateline: November 18, 2006, 11:24 EST NO PRODUCT PLACEMENT… We are slightly baffled by the “product placement” trend in the funny book biz. Perhaps the marriage of corporate comics + corporate America was inevitable…but you can count us out. Folks, we’re not looking to peddle any products…and the only thing we’re advertising is ourselves! |
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Dateline: November 16, 2006, 9:11 EST KEEP DIGGING We plan to keep digging for years and years and years. Currently, our ditch is muddy, deep, rat infested. Progress is slow…difficult to say if conditions will ever be sanitary. |
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Dateline: November 13, 2006, 2:32 EST ALL ABOUT THE SPINE For too long the “spine” has been ignored or taken for granted in the funny book biz. After a fair sampling of graphic novels, we’ve noticed that the publisher’s logo on the book spines are way, waaaaaaayy TOO BIG. Furthermore, the author’s names are typically tiny in comparison. In the end, who cares about the publisher? The authors deserve the credit…and the top billing. |
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Dateline: November 9, 2006, 6:56 EST THE INITIALS PLEASE No, the “F.O.E.” acronym does NOT stand for “Frequently On Ecstasy” or “Friends Of Ellroy”… |
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Dateline: November 4, 2006, 1:23 EST SERIOUS COMIX Seriously, we are absolutely, 100% serious…and we want our serious funny book to be taken seriously…all kidding aside! |
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Dateline: November 3, 2006, 2:29 EST THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRIME COMICS, Vol. 3 A dangerous gentleman. A black suit. A big gun. Somewhere in America. |
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Dateline: October 24, 2006, 2:29 EST THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRIME COMICS, Vol. 2 No gimmicks. No magic bullets. No flying broomsticks. No sorcerer’s spells. |
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Dateline: October 23, 2006, 4:01 EST THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRIME COMICS Forget the spandex. Forget the romance. Crime, baby…crime!! |
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Dateline: October 20, 2006, 2:22 EST NO APOLOGIES, NO EXCUSES After you pour your heart (and soul / skin / sweat / tears) into your masterpiece, after the book is printed and ready for mass consumption, after all this…your responsibility ends. Folks, we offer no apologies and no excuses. Love it or leave it…there’s nothing we can do about it now! |
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Dateline: October 17, 2006, 1:43 EST LOW BUDGET EXPOITATION COMICS, Vol. 2 Dirty / ugly / ambiguous / imperfect / vicious / strange / experimental / polemical / bizarre / thought provoking / nightmare inducing… |
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Dateline: October 16, 2006, 8:22 EST LOW BUDGET EXPOITATION COMICS …or, “B-Comics”. Folks, they ain’t meant to be pretty… |
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Dateline: October 13, 2006, 1:41 EST FAMILIAR THEMES First person narration? Nope. Single point of view? Nope. Protagonist with a moral code? Nope. Noir clichés? Indeed. Stylized art? Absolutely. Two-dimensional supporting cast? Difficult to say. Crooked cops? Not necessarily. Hard-living? Of course. |
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Dateline: October 5, 2006, 3:11 EST SHOCK OF THE (ALMOST) NEW Strange that something so new…can be so old! What the hell?! It has been four years since work began on S&B…four long, dismal years!! And even though the bound books have yet to see the light of day, the fumes of nostalgia are starting to stick. |
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Dateline: October 2, 2006, 1:56 EST DEFINITION PROBLEMS Literature vs. Genre / Fiction vs. Non-Fiction / Crime vs. Romance / Whodunit vs. Psychological Thriller / Comic book vs. Graphic Novel / Anti-hero vs. Superhero / Real vs. Fantasy / “High” Art vs. “Low” Art. |