700 pages of bad sidekicks on Planet 999

Strippin' again!

A little radio, some more Lost Season 2, and I've got a couple different projects to work on, especially a "secret" one that I'm not really revealing any details on, but should be pretty awesome when it's ready. I'm still writing it - and then the artwork might take a little while, but this one I'm looking for a quick single publication. I'm really excited for it!

Here's Page 67 of "What happened in there?" and I'm introducing a quick setup for the "where there's smoke there's fire" lesson that's going to play a bit of a role later on in this act. Sometimes I fear the pages get posted so far apart (it just takes a long time to find the time to get down to publishing pages) that remembering the finer details in the story and script are lost by the time they're useful again - which is why I encourage re-reads!

Dr. Howard Bolam finally catches up with Ian Escutcheon, but their meeting is cut short by an devastating interruption in Why, what happened in there?

See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,
  
• King Street Capers
• General comics
• Tomb of the Undead (updated Dec. 21), or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)

Graphic novel news
Got a few fresh links about writing good sidekicks, OR avoiding writing a lousy Robin character. There's also a neat photoblog to check out that's more of an interesting concept than a graphic novel, but .. it appeared in my google results so now it's in the blog. Also read an interview with someone who wrote a almost 700-page graphic novel. Check it out!

How to Write a Good Sidekick
B. McKenzie
superheronation.com

A bad sidekick aggravates readers and weakens the story. Over the past 20 years, the two-live action Batman movies with Robin have averaged 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. The four without Robin have averaged 82%. Here are some tips that will help you write a sidekick that will excite readers rather than make them want to stick their brains in a blender.

Click to read more.


Presidential Landing on Planet 999 (The Graphic Novel that you write)
unknown author
beckermanphoto.com

This is just a photo blog of New York City, which is cool, and the idea that it's something of "graphic novel" created by the many, sometimes-anonymous contributors makes it all the more interesting. The extraterrestrial motif is fun, too.

Click to read more.

Former Milwaukeean pens graphic novel masterpiece
Molly Snyder
onmilwaukee.com

Graphic novelist Craig Thompson

OMC: "Habibi" is almost 700 pages long. Did you set out to write a graphic novel this lengthy or did it just naturally evolve into such a long novel?

CT: I started out with modest goals and expectations. I thought it would be between 200 and 300 pages, but then it spiraled out of control. But this is a necessary matter of working. If you knew how much work something was going to be from the beginning, you'd never get started. Simple goals got me going, and then letting it spiral was part of the pleasure.

One of the drawbacks of the comics medium is that it's too abbreviated.

Click to read more.

Serial killer's debut in Korea published posthumously

Strippin' again!

Tonight, more Lost season 2, 'cause the Leafs aren't losing hockey games on the radio right now. For the record, I thought this scene was pretty sweet.

Dr. Howard Bolam finally catches up with Ian Escutcheon, but their meeting is cut short by an devastating interruption in Why, what happened in there?

See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,(updated Dec. 20)
  
• King Street Capers
• General comics
• Tomb of the Undead, or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)

Graphic novel news
Read about a French novelist's debut in S. Korea, how a serial killer beat a Nobel laureate and posthumous publications.

French novelist’s science graphic novel to debut in S.Korea
Lim Jong-uhp
The Hankyoreh

French novelist Bernard Werber is publishing a book this summer tentatively titled “Bernard Werber’s Science Graphic Novel.” Consisting of 21 volumes in all, this series is debuting not in Werber’s home country of France, but in South Korea. The project was first proposed to him by Open Books, the publisher of the series. Werber added some scientific knowledge and imagination on top of the outline for his previous novel “Butterfly,” while Korean artists provided the illustrations.

Click to read more.

Serial killer novel wins Independent foreign fiction prize
Alison Flood
guardian.co.uk

Peruvian novelist Santiago Roncagliolo, who cites Alan Moore's graphic novel From Hell as a major influence, has beaten Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk to win the Independent foreign fiction prize for his novel Red April.

Click to read more.

New graphic novel by the late Harvey Pekar features a chapter about Cleveland Heights resident Steve Presser
Lindsay Betz,
Sun News Sun Press

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS -- Steve Presser is honored and humbled.

“Huntington, West Virginia ‘On the Fly,’” the first graphic novel by Harvey Pekar to be published since his death last year, features a chapter on Presser and his attempt to open a diner in Cleveland Heights.

Click to read more.

Strippin'

Leafs game on the radio and a few sketches to wrap up - should be a good night!

Here's a page from a few nights ago that didn't get published till this morning:

It's received some good reviews - so that's nice.


See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,
  
• King Street Capers
  
• Tomb of the Undead, or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)
• General comics
  

Strippin'

Good time today - wrapped up Lost season 1, watched the bonus features on the bonus dvd, and there's even some hockey on this afternoon - so a good showing all around.

I've got six more pages ready to finish - the next scene is a long one. Here's a sample of the next page to "Lazarus is Poisoned."


See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,
  
• King Street Capers
  
• Tomb of the Undead, or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)
• General comics
  

Strippin'

I am strippin' a.k.a. working on comic strips. As usual I've got an old Lost DVD in the player, I'm at my desk in the basement, and I'm sketching away.



You can expect to see this image some time in the future. In any case, I've scanned two more comics for tomorrow and next week, and have a great Christmas idea, too.

See more by following the links:

• Fundraising Faux-Pas,
  
• King Street Capers
  
• Tomb of the Undead, or the
• Mugabe comic strip (Pinocchio parody)

A full moon tonight, too - ... should be fun!

This evenings' results ...

Supernatural cops, Castle and applying Marshall McLuhan

This was an important part of the story I was eager to get to - it finally introduces a dangerous force that will be the source of conflict for the story. In a better story this might come up sooner than later - but I hope there were enough dramatic characters, like Starkwood and Bolam, to keep things interesting.

Speaking of Bolam, it was nice to finally get him back in the story - it'd been too long since we've seen him.


In any case, here we've got growing tension between Miller and Bolam finally having a confrontation, and a mysterious shooter raising the stakes. Check out more at Stretch My Legs. I hope you like it.

Graphic Novel News
Persepolis and it's political motives, which John Pavlus says is a graphic application of Canadian Marshall McLuhan, ABC's detective show Castle is set to get its own graphic novel, which should be interesting, and speaking of detective novels, read about Awakenings, a supernatural detective story set in a futuristic New York City.

A Graphic Novel Unlocks How The Media Manipulates Facts [Video]
John Pavlus
www.FastCodeSign.com

We tend to talk about "the media" as a monolithic force of nature, like mountains or the wind -- but it's a fallible human endeavor, constantly mutating in unpredictable ways. That's the guiding principle of NPR's On the Media, and also the premise of a new book by that show's host, Brooke Gladstone, called "The Influencing Machine." But this is not your father's media manifesto: Gladstone conceived it from the start as a comic book, and she's a character in it herself. To pull it off, she teamed up with illustrator Josh Neufeld, whose own highly acclaimed comics similarly blur the distinction between art and journalism. The result is part Persepolis, part Marshall McLuhan, and totally engaging.

Click to read more.

Marvel Comics To Publish ‘Castle’ Graphic Novel
Henchman21
www.GeeksofDoom

Marvel made a big announcement on Monday that they will be releasing a graphic novel based on the popular ABC detective show Castle. Titled Castle: Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm, the 112-page hardcover will feature a story written by Brian Michael Bendis (Powers, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) and Kelly Sue DeConnick (Osborn), and will feature art by Lan Medina (Fables) with a cover by Carlos Pagulayan (Hulk).

Click to read more.

Robot 6 Q&A | Eric Hobbs on Awakenings
Brigid Alverson
www.Robot6.com

Writer Eric Hobbs made his bones last year with The Broadcast, a graphic novel about neighbors gripped by the panic caused by Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast. This week sees the release of a new graphic novel, Awakenings, penciled by Gabe Pena. Awakenings is a supernatural cop story set in a future version of New York City and featuring a cop who is accused of murdering his own son. Hobbs self-published Awakenings as a black-and-white comic before it was picked up by Arcana, so I asked him to tell me a bit about his experience with self-publishing and the evolution of the story.

Click to read more.

Reconstructing the Napoleonic wars with dragons

Having interesting backgrounds can be a challenge, but again, using GoogleMaps I was able to find some legitimate stuff to put in the background that's inspired by realistic streets of Marseilles, which is pretty neat. See what I mean on Page 64.

While the characters are physically getting from one location to the next, I tried to put in some character development - if you ever read the Dan Brown novels that were so famous for all those years, he did an excellent job of balancing exposition, escape and mystery - unfortunately, it became a predictable pattern.

In any case - I'm in no way comparable to Dan Brown, nor his work, but he was definitely an inspiration for how this story was put together - read more at Stretch My Legs!

Graphic Novel News
Disney's new Amulet, America's hunt for Osama Bin Laden is capture in the graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo, and read who Stephen King and Peter Jackson are heaping praise on for their reconstrution of the Napoleonic wars with dragons!

Rob Edwards to Pen AMULET for Warner Bros. and ANIMATED AMERICAN for Disney
Dave Trumbore
Collider.com

Perhaps best known for his work on Disney’s recent animated flick, The Princess and the Frog, Rob Edwards has been slated to write two new films for Warner Bros. and Disney respectively. In Warner Bros.’ Amulet, based on the graphic novel series by Kazu Kibuishi, two teenaged siblings find that they are the last surviving guardians who must learn the secrets of a powerful amulet to save a magical realm. In Disney’s Animated American, a live-action/animation hybrid, a flesh-and-blood family raises an animated baby until he turns 18 and sets off to find his real family. Robert Zemeckis is set to produce Animated American alongside Bob Cooper and Dan Fogelman. Neither film has a start date as of yet.

Click to read more.

San Diego-Based IDW Publishing Releases Book on SEAL Team Six Raid
Kristina Houck
ComicBookResources.com

As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks draw near, readers can gain a better understanding of the hunt for Osama bin Laden with the newly released graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo.

Written by retired Marine Capt. Dale Dye and his wife, Julia Dye, the San Diego-based IDW Publishing book chronicles the actions taken by SEAL Team Six to prepare for and complete their mission.

Click to read more.

Naomi Novik: How to write a graphic novel!
Betsy Mitchell
Suvudu.com

Naomi Novik is best known for her delightfully gripping Temeraire series, which reimagines the Napoleonic Wars with dragons serving as the air forces. British Aerial Corps captains and their dragons form a tight bond, and dragons are bred to perform various specialized tasks: reconnaissance, high-altitude bombing, firestarting, etc. Stephen King called the first novel, His Majesty’s Dragon, “Terrifically entertaining,” and Peter Jackson has bought the film rights to the series. If you haven’t read His Majesty’s Dragon, you can read the first chapter here.

Click to read more.

Super Dinosaur's Barber Spaceape

I was having fun using GooleMaps to doodle the French landscapes - granted only the sights that are roadside. I was pleased with how the car pictures came out - drawing vehicles has never been a strong point of mine.

I'm a little embarrassed that I'm so far behind in these updates on the blog - I mean this page was published back in June, 2011 - almost a half year ago. No matter - check out the link while you've got the chance, there's lots to check out there - read more at Stretch My Legs!

Graphic Novel News
In the graphic novel news, find out what link Garfield has to Bonnie Barber, the source of inspiration of Super Dinosaur #1 and read how hipper people than I are using graphic novels to put pictures to their music.


Bonnie Barber
GraphicNovelReporter.com

This summer, on July 14, the public library in Carrollton, Texas, will host an innovative 39 Clues-themed tween event. They’ll also incorporate the audience’s love for graphic novels and manga into the daylong event, which is being coordinated by youth services librarian Bonnie Barber. We talked to Bonnie about her love of comics. (For more information on the upcoming event, check the library’s website here.)

Click to read more.

Super Dinosaur #1
Doug Zawisza ComicBookResources.com

Robert Kirkman, the creator (or co-creator) of “The Walking Dead,” “Invincible,” and “The Astounding Wolf-Man,” has added quite a few gems to the comic book landscape, and does so again this week with his artistic co-creator Jason Howard. The story of Super Dinosaur’s origin as a character isn’t covered in this largely expository issue, but according to Kirkman, the concept of Super Dinosaur came from the mind of his co-creator’s son.

Click to read more.

Kode9 & The Spaceape: Under the Black Sun
Bram E. Gieben
TheSkinny.com.uk

The videos from Memories were very impressive – who are you working with on the visual art and videos for Black Sun and why did you choose them?
Kode9: We developed a mini graphic novel with a friend of mine Raz Mesinai [also a musician under the name Badawi] which tells the back story of the album in picture form. And we worked with Manny Optigram of Citinite, who does most of the Hyperdub artwork, to do the cover.

Click to read more.