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ComicMix Six: Best NYCC 2010 Announcements

  • Uncategorized
  • October 11, 2010

nycc-logo-lo-res-8268522The ComicMix team was on the ground at New York Comic Con this past weekend – but we were having too good a time bumping elbows with the luminaries of the comics industry to report on every panel. But now that we’re back on the grid, here are the ComicMix Six best announcements to come out of the weekend.

Holding The Line At $2.99 – Easily the most-discussed announcement of the weekend were the Big Two each announcing their own initiatives for keeping their publishing line at a $2.99 cover price. DC is doing it by cutting story pages from 22 down to 20 and eliminating most co-features in their most popular titles, but reserving the $3.99 and up price points for “premium” titles like annuals and specials. For Marvel’s part, they’re not going as far, with only a commitment that all new titles launched in January will be $2.99 – but they say that they can be flexible on that price because of the success of their digital comics program. Which is a nice segue to…

Dark Horse, DC Destined for Digital – Dark Horse announced that rather than partner with Graphic.ly or other digital comics providers to serve as distributor, as the other major publishing houses have, they’ve put together a “proprietary bookshelf app” for web browsers and Apple iOS devices. The benefit of rolling their own store? No censorship and a $1.49 price point for single issues. Additionally, while specifics are hard to come by, Dark Horse says that they’ll be providing brick-and-mortar comic book stores with “exclusive digital content.” Meanwhile, DC reaffirmed their commitment to making digital copies of comics from their archive available and announced expanded support for day-and-date digital releases. DC also announced a Google Android app for their comics will be made available in the near future. 

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MOONSTONE MONDAY-INTERVIEW WITH NEW CAPTAIN ACTION WRITER AS ANNOUNCED AT NYCC!

  • News
  • October 11, 2010
MIKE BULLOCK, New writer, Captain Action: Season Three, Moonstone Books

AP:  Mike, thanks for stopping by ALL PULP again, especially after your busy weekend.  Tell us a little about New York Comic Con?

 Mike Bullock: The show was a lot of fun. We started off Friday night with the Lions, Tigers and Bears panel put on by the fine folks at our new publisher Hermes Press where I was able to spend time with some great fans of the books. The convention wasn’t too crowded on Friday and it was pretty easy to find your way around and see some of the wild things going on.

Saturday, I think half of NYC crammed into the building, or so it seemed. I spent some time in artist alley talking to a lot of fine folks, then did several interviews and finished off the day by signing Phantom, Captain Action and Savage Beauty swag at the Captain Action booth.

My lovely wife and I spent Saturday night and Sunday bopping around Manhattan and Brooklyn, doing the tourist thing. I can certainly see why so many writers want to live in NYC. I can’t imagine ever running out of story ideas when you can walk through Time’s Square, Chinatown, Central Park, SoHo and Brooklyn Heights all in the same day.

AP:  Now, you weren’t at NYCC just for fun and giggles?  Share with our audience the major announcement that concerned you.

MB: Well, there were several. First was the news that my all-ages series, Lions, Tigers and Bears has moved over to Hermes Press as the flagship title in their new line of original graphic novels. We’re putting out the long awaited LTB volume III in March of ’11 and artist Michael Metcalf and I are already laying the groundwork for volume IV. Pulp fans should certainly have Hermes on their radar already, as Hermes is putting out the Phantom and Buck Rogers newspaper strip reprints, among other things. They debuted an awesome John Buscema book at the con, also. It’s something every comic art fan should own.

Next up was the announcement of the format for Savage Beauty #1, which is now an oversized 40-page book, featuring a 22-page main story, a golden age Sheena back up tale and other goodies all for the low cover price of $2.99. There was a great buzz for the book going on, which was certainly exciting. I think I signed more SB shwag than anything else.

The third announcement was that I’ll be taking over the writing on the main Captain Action title beginning with #1 of season III that should hit shops later on in 2011. Steven Grant, the writer for season II has done some really incredible things (wait until you read #3 & 4) and I’m excited to build off that for the future of the A.C.T.I.O.N. Directorate’s top agent.

AP:  That’s fantastic!  Getting a new gig is always a big deal, but is there something special for you about getting to write the further adventures of Captain Action?

MB: As a kid, I missed the Captain Action boat by a few years (I was a die-hard Big Jim kid) but when I discovered it later on in life I felt like I really lost out on something special. I mean, what kid in the ‘70s wouldn’t want an action figure that could turn into the Phantom, Spider-Man, Flash Gordon or Batman? Once the Captain Action comics started coming out through Moonstone, I really liked what they were doing and loved the premise of the character that Fabian Nicieza had crafted. Then, when I got my turn to write a story with Cap (The Phantom/Captain Action miniseries) it really seemed like writing Captain Action would be a lot of fun. He lands somewhere between James Bond, Big Jim and all my favorite superheroes mixed into a giant vat of little boy wish-fulfillment, which are all things right up my alley. So as you can imagine, I’m pretty jazzed to write this book.

AP:  As a writer, what do you think you bring to Captain Action that will make it stand out as similar, but different from what’s come before?

MB: Honestly, I don’t know that I’d ever thought of it in those terms, so I’m not sure I can give you an answer that suits the question. But, the 8-year old inside me will certainly have a blast playing with the original A.C.T.I.O.N. hero in the pages of comics. I’ve never done spy stories, so I’ll have to stretch myself/challenge myself, which is good, too.

AP:  Any major plans (or even hints and teasers) of what’s to come for Captain Action and crew from the pen of Mike Bullock?

MB: Well, you can expect to see new villains, new heroes, new threats, the return of some familiar faces and a mission that’s out of this world, literally.

AP: Thanks, Mike!  Can’t wait to see what happens with Captain Action!

MB: Thanks for having me!
                                           ________________________ 

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National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day 10: Can conventions get your graphic novel written, part three

  • News
  • October 11, 2010

nagranowrimo-8349597Day ten, and also day three or four or ninety-seven of the New York Comic Con… and the sad truth of how they can wreck your schedules. So let’s pick up a few quickies:

For those who find they are having a little trouble there are a number of tips online that can be helpful. Below are a few tips that professionals in the industry have posted on blogs and news sites over the last couple of years.

Online at the Clockwork Storybook blog site is a nice in depth look at the writing process by Bill Willingham (writer of Fables). This takes a whole look at scripting keeping in mind that this must also be interpreted by the artist.

On his personal website Warren Ellis (writer of Transmetropolitan) posts an helpful answer to character motivation and action concerning “Want/Get/Do“.

And from our own site archives: two years ago John Ostrander (writer of Suicide Squad) posted an article with writing tips all writers can benefit from, covering the creative process and what being a writer means and does to you as a person.

Also: Dennis O’Neil did a more detailed write up on the differences between the full script method and the Marvel method which is much better than mine, and I should have lifted it directly. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.

Instead, I’ll lift his RECOMMENDED READING and suggest his book, The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics, which somehow wasn’t included on our first list of writing books to look at. It’s truly excellent, and the only reason I can think of that it slipped my mind is that it’s constantly out on loan to other people who are using it to become better writers themselves.

Hat tip to Kyle Gnepper for the assist on tracking down articles. Remember: you can follow all the NaGraNoWriMo posts here!

METEOR HOUSE OFFERS SALE ON ‘THE WORLDS OF PJF’!!!

  • News
  • October 10, 2010

From Michel Croteau, the webmaster of The Official Philip José Farmer Home Page

For the first time, Meteor House has put THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER 1: Protean Dimensions on sale for 10% off; through October 17th only. Still not convinced you need this book, check out this excerpt from Randall Garrett’s essay, “The Bite of the Asp,” which you may not have known was Phil’s original title for the story, “The Biological Revolt.” Just how unhappy was Phil with this story? It has never been reprinted. And fifty years later, as we were putting together the mammoth collection of rarities, PEARLS FROM PEORIA, Phil still refused to let it be reprinted. And, just in case you missed them, there are also excerpts online from A Kick in the Side by Christopher Paul Carey, and the Editor’s Preface by Michael Croteau.

Also, Michael had some good things to say about a certain website, that the Spectacled Seven definitely appreciate…

“Speaking of Win Scott Eckert, he was recently interviewed at the All Pulp. Just click on that link and scroll down to the headline: WIN SCOTT ECKERT AND ERIC FEIN, Writers of THE GREEN GHOST, for RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS. After reading the interview, go ahead and kill an hour or three at this excellent website. “

 

PULP ARTISTS’ WEEKEND continues! Interiew with Kelly Everaert!

  • News
  • October 10, 2010
Kelly Everaert, Pulp Artist
AP: First, ALL PULP is tickled pulp to have you here today, Kelly. Can you share with us a bit of personal background about yourself?
KE: Well I grew up in southern Ontario, Canada where I was feed a steady supply of monster movies, comic books and pocket novels. I went to college in London Ontario where I graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts. Shortly after that I meet my wife Michelle and we decided to take a road trip across Canada in 1995. I fell in love with the mountains on the west coast so we ended up settling in Vancouver, British Columbia where I try to make a modest living as a freelance artist working for a variety of clients producing book illustrations, storyboards and concept drawings for the film industry. I also work on my own comic books and paintings.
AP: You’re an artist, some would even say a pulp artist. What sort of work have you done in the pulp field art wise?
KE: I’ve done a cover for Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ The Eternal Savage quite a few years ago and some illustrations in various pulp related fanzines. Currently I’ve been illustrating some books for Airship 27/Cornerstone books. The books available so far are “Dan Fowler G-Man” and “Tales of the Bagman”. Both can be found on the Airship 27 website – http://www.gopulp.info/
AP: Pulp Artist. Do you think there is something that sets a pulp artist apart from an artist in other, perhaps more traditional fields? Is being a pulp artist different somehow?
KE: I guess pulp art would fall under the illustration category. The definition of what work is considered ‘illustration’ and what is considered ‘fine art’ has always been up for debate. For me the only difference between them is, illustration artwork is done for a specific purpose usually with a commercial application while fine art is done with no real purpose other than the artists desire to do the piece of work for themselves. Of course the definition isn’t really that simple, I could go on all day about this. While every artist’s main goal is to catch the viewer’s eye and pull them into their world, it is an even more critical part of an illustrator’s job. You want the casual browser walking by to stop in their tracks. If you look at the old pulp covers from the 1930s and 40s you can imagine what an awesome field of bright colours the old news stands must have been. All designed to attract the attention of anyone strolling by.
AP: Do you have a certain technique or approach to pulp art? Do you do anything special to get in the right frame of mind to do a pulp piece? What process do you go through in getting ready to complete a pulp piece?
KE: Every piece of work is a little different. I guess there is always some outside stimulation that influences any piece of work I do. It may come from a book I’m reading or a movie I’ve watched, a conversation, going for a walk, anything can spark ideas. However the pulp artwork is usually done for a specific project so I just read the stories and other material that the publisher sends to me. I usually get a copy of the manuscript from the editor with notes detailing where they need a drawing. I skim through the stories to get a feeling for the writing style, every writer is different so I try and tailor my work to best compliment the story. I start off with some quick sketches and I jot down a lot of notes for anything I need to reference. Most pulp stories take place in a specific time period and location so I always need to find reference for old cars, clothes, buildings and so on. Google images is great for this, I used to have to make many trips to the library for reference. Once I have a good rough sketch done and I’ve worked out the composition and black and white areas I start in on the full piece. Sometimes I do a lot of the rough work on the paper or board I do the completed drawing on especially if I want to keep the piece loose and energetic. If I do too many roughs the final piece usually ends up being to stiff and you can lose interest in it pretty quick. I also like listening to old radio shows while drawing, they can really get the brain juices flowing particularly with the pulp stuff.
AP: Any characters you haven’t worked with yet that you would give your pen and ink to put your signature on art wise?
KE: There are quite a few. Any of the jungle adventure characters would be great to work on since I love the jungle genre. I’d also like to work on some of the horror pulps, another favorite genre of mine. And characters like The Shadow, Domino Lady, The Spider, and The Black Bat would be a lot of fun. And being Canadian, it would be great to work on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police pulp as well.
AP: Why is art tied to pulp at all? Of course there were the great covers and illustrations of the past, but it seems that there’s more to the relationship between words and pictures for pulp than just past association. What do you think?
KE: Aside from the fact that the covers were designed to attract as much attention as possible, I think the illustrations where present to really add to the story telling. Pulp yarns are fast paced white knuckled thrill rides with little room for long descriptive prose. Pulp writers didn’t waste a lot time on describing each character or setting in complete detail, they chose their words carefully and got right to the meat of the story. The illustrations add those extra details the reader needs and they can get them with a quick glance while racing through a tale and never slowing down. A picture’s worth a thousand words after all.
AP: Any pulp type art in the coming days, weeks, and months you want to discuss?
KE: I’ll be starting another project with Airship 27, unfortunately I can’t discuss the details yet but it’s one of the things on my list I’ve been itching to work on. I’m also working on some other great pulp style comic book projects of my own, Jungle Tales and Trilogy of Terror with my wife Michelle who writes all the horrific yarns. And a comic I’ve been working on with my friend and fellow artist Robin Thompson called Frenzy Comics, an anthology of terrifying shark stories. You can always visit my website to see what’s new – http://members.shaw.ca/kelticstudios/Keltic_Studios.htm
AP: That’s great, it’s been awesome to visit with you, Kelly.
KE: Pleasures all mine. Keep reading pulp!

                              ___________________  

Building Beauty’s Beast

  • News
  • October 10, 2010

Glen Keane, one of Disney’s current Nine Old Men and a master animator, spoke with the press on Tuesday, the day Beauty and the Beast made its debut on Blu-ray. Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided ComicMix a transcript of the discussion, moderated by Mindy Johnson,  and below are excerpts from that discussion.

Mindy Johnson: Ttoday we’re going to get a rare opportunity to take a look at the building of Beauty’s Beast, one of the most iconic characters today.  And here we are with Glen Keane, who is just freshly back from Paris, and you spent several weeks there, Glen, preparing for an upcoming show.  Is that correct?

Glen Keane:  Yes.   Yes.  I’m actually having a – my first art show, where I’ll be showing a little bit of a retrospective of my animation drawings, my rough drawings, some from Beauty and the Beast, as well as the rest of my career.  And then, that’s a third of the show.  The other two-thirds are actually drawings from my sketchbook, speaker drawings, things that I’m going to actually be selling. 

But the idea is to give an insight into what goes on in the life of an artist who is an animator and where do you get your inspiration.  And actually, those are a lot of the things that we’ll be talking about today specifically about the character of the Beast.

But this show is at the (Arloudic) Gallery on the Ile Sainte Marie in Paris on November ninth, yes, so I’m excited about it.  If you’re there, you’re welcome to come to the (Vernusage) and it will be there for, I don’t know, a good month.

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National Graphic Novel Writing Month, Day 9: Can conventions get your graphic novel written, part two

  • News
  • October 9, 2010

nagranowrimo-2615364Day nine, in the middle of New York Comic Con, and pointing out that comics conventions can be good for your graphic novel.

You can see who else is out there. A quick trip through Artists Alley will find you numerous styles and artists who may inspire you, and if you strike up a chat with them, some may even be willing to collaborate with you.

You can attend various panels on the craft of writing, and hear how some of your idols solved some of their own writing problems.

You can make industry contacts, people you may be able to show your finished graphic novel script.

But the important word back there is finished. You have to have a script ready to drop in the mail the second that an editor or publisher says, “sure, send it to me”. More, you have to have your graphic novel so well put together in your own head that you can verbally deliver what it’s about– one, because carrying around a script is awkward and geeky, and two, because knowing it means you can tell it.

So make no mistake, the goal is to finish writing. A convention can help you, and can certainly help your career, but you can’t have a career without something to base your career on.

Remember: you can follow all the NaGraNoWriMo posts here!

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Review: ‘He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown’

1000116765dvdlef-2839417When Charles Schulz created [[[Peanuts]]] sixty years ago, he never imagined that Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s beagle, would steal the spotlight and overshadow the strip in future years. Much as Snoopy overran the comic strip and merchandising, so did he loom large in many of the animated specials which ran for decades on CBS. Warner Home Entertainment has collected two of those dog-centric specials in the just released[[[He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown]]].

The disc contains not only the title special, which first aired on February 14, 1968, and was last collected in 2009’s Peanuts 1960s Collection, but also [[[Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown]]], a 1980 special that has not been remastered before. The latter was the 20th special and is making its DVD debut here, and it was clear the energy and creative spark was long since gone.

The first story focuses on Snoopy being terribly disobedient and a general pain in the neck to the gang. Charlie Brown calls the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm , the obedience school that failed to do its job, notifying them the dog is being sent back for remedial lessons. Then, he sends Snoopy across town, asking Peppermint Patty to let the “shortstop with a big nose” stay over one night. Snoopy stays and never leaves until Patty complains. Charlie collects the dog, who promptly escapes but this time Patty makes the dog work to earn his keep. He comes to miss the cushy life he had and returns home. Meantime, the gang has come to miss the annoying pet.

I suppose Snoopy learns his lesson, at least for a little while, but none of the other characters, even Patty, get to do much of anything except complain so its not one of the better uses of the ensemble cast. Neither is the second feature from October 24, 1980. Here, Snoopy accidentally winds up joining a trained dog act when the circus comes to town.  He’s infatuated with Fifi, the star poodle so let Polly the trainer take him in and turn him into a performing star.

Charlie Brown is somewhat distraught to see Snoopy leaving with the circus en route to Omaha but does nothing to get him back. Instead, we see Polly getting orders from the Colonel, the circus’ owner, and slowly it becomes clear the life of a star attraction is not all its cracked up to be and he breaks free, taking Fifi with him. In the end, though, she decides the return to the only home she knew, as Snoopy parts heading for home.

Watching the two back to back, you see the quality of the animation and voice casting clearly deteriorate along with the cleverness of the humor and storytelling. While the strip stopped being interesting years before, the television specials were finally matching that creative drought. The remastering job, though, makes them look terrific so Peanuts fans will be pleased.

The sole special feature is the 22 minute “Snoopy’s Home Ice: The Story of the Redwood Empire Ice Arena”, an extended look at the arena Schulz and family saved from ruin and how it has maintained that special Peanuts legacy as a testament to the creator. Animation guru Lee Mendelson, Kevin McCool (operations manager), Craig Schulz, Skippy Baxter (professional skater/director), Jean Schulz (Charles’ widow), Lisa Illsley-Navarro (skating professor), and Jim Doe (general manager) all appear on camera.

NEW PAGE-THE PULP ARTISTS’ WEEKEND GALLERY!!!

  • News
  • October 9, 2010

Welcome to ALL PULP’S  PULP ARTIST’S WEEKEND GALLERY!!!  This is where artists delving into that wonderful, wild world of Pulp Art can display their work!  Each weekend more art will be added, both the art of interviewed artists as well as art of those who simply want their work shown!  Please enjoy your time amongst the awesome artwork you are about to view and remember, pencil and paint mean as much to pulp as pen and typewriter….
Today’s Featured Artist-Tom Floyd!   Come on, there’s too much goodness to post on the front page, go to the Gallery…wait, you see you want a hint…a taste..well..okay…

So, go already, will ya!!!                                             

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