Dan's Blog

Paul Pope previews a project he’s working on:

Battling Boy is the son of a god or a super hero—it is left unspecified—who comes down from the top of a mountain (or rather, from inside a cloud/UFO contraption/contrivance from above a mountain top) at this father’s behest, in order to rid a giant city from it’s plague of monsters. Hercules had his labors, Batman has his Gotham, Battling Boy has his Monstropolis.

Monstropolis is a city the size of an entire continent—and it is absolutely overrun with monsters. These are horrible, Grimm’s fairytale, Beowulf-ish monsters, awful things. Child-stealers. Plus some of the vampires and mummies and wolfmen we remember from the old black and white Hollywood horror films. Which—if you remember—aren’t very funny. And they don’t all like each other, either. Even a monster can’t stand another monster, this has been proven time and time again.

I can’t wait! (some small images at the link, too)

HT (1) + GD (2) = TP (3)

(1) Herb Trimpe
(2) Guy Davis
(3) Toilet Paper

http://heavyink.com/lists/2

I had no idea Barry Allen was dead, either.

I’m two decades behind on my super secret crisis invasion wars, I guess?

I liked Eccleston, but I’m all “Ehhh, whatev” about Tennant. If they’d hired Jason Statham (see the end of this Grant Morrison interview), and wrote scripts appropriately, I doubt I’d ever miss an episode…!

Oh well.

...but it would have been funnier if they’d trusted us to get it.

This looks like a hoot.

Eliot Spitzer spent 80 grand on hookers!

OK.

But how much did he spend on COMICS?

I’ve run at the mouth a bit here, using a question Pete asked me as an excuse.

The Virgin Read is second to none. I completely agree with both of these reviews (though that’s not why The Virgin Read is second to none). Those were the best two comics that came out recently, at least among the ones I read.

Garth Ennis likes his nadshots. None from Preacher, though – there must have been nadshots in Preacher!?

Dave on inking:

3. Yes, the Gillott 290 pen nib. According to Tom Roberts’ new ALEX RAYMOND HIS LIFE AND ART book, Raymond used them as well. You can get them online at John Neal books somewhere in the Carolinas.

They are time-consuming to use because they don’t have the latitude on either side that the Hunt 102 does. Unless you have both flanges touching the page at the right angle, you aren’t going to get an ink line out of it. So it’s a self-disciplining tool: it makes you pay much closer attention and to be very specific in your touch. As a result when you do get a line out of the 290, it’s a perfect line. But it does mean you have to wash it off and dry it a lot of times without having gotten anything out of it. That’s where Neal calls it an instrument of the devil. You feel like screaming at it, “I do TOO have both flanges on the page!” Uhuhuh. Not EXACTLY both flanges. Not at the proper angle.

But when you get into a groove with it? Lookitme Ma, I’m Neal Adams, I’m Dick Giordano, I’m Al Williamson! Absolute heaven. I used it a lot more on Secret Project One than on glamourpuss because ofthe scheduling thing. If you’re just learning to use it, it’s best for repeating patterns—Berni Wrightson style vertical hatch-lines. Anything you do over and over and over and over because you do get into that groove

4. Pretty much the same with the exception of more thin brush inking. On CEREBUS I’d use the 102 like a brush—hold it a little further back on the penstock and almost level with the page and then pull it alternating the pressure. You can open the flanges up without breaking them or bending them permanently. Ger still maintains that isn’t possible.

Hmmm, interesting.

Brian! says:

Most people who work in comics are comics fans. It only makes sense. I mean, you don’t become a auto mechanic if you hate cars. And this is what’s wrong with most comics. They’re written and drawn by people who think comics are doin’ just fine. If Atomic Robo has any kind of advantage, it’s that its co-creators kind of hate comics.

Good thing, too – the only thing that will get comics out of the art ghetto is comics that don’t suck. Clear away the tired old shit that doesn’t work, and make something new and good in that now-empty space.

Read the whole thing.

(subject line reference)

Two more boxes sorted. Grimjack, American Flagg, Nexus, Jon Sable, Freelance, Scout, Miracleman, and I think some others that I’ve already forgotten.

One or two more passes through the remaining boxes should do it.

Ugh. Took a first pass through nine long boxes tonight. Result: 2 longs full of sorted stuff (Hellblazer, Cerebus, 100 Bullets, Lucifer, Amercian Century), 1 box marked “junk to sell” * . Next pass, tomorrow AM (Okay! Okay! Afternoon! Shut up, people-who-know-me!), which will hopefully in another two sorted and another one marked “junk to sell” * .

( * where “sell” may mean “store for some future time when HeavyInk adds a ‘click here to sell your comics’ feature”, “give away”, or “set on fire in the middle of the street”, depending)

This WTF (NSFW on account of Zombie cow-fucking) was nothing compared to this one. I mean, WTF???

Dave Sim braves TCJ’s message boards to promote his new Glamourpuss. Not unaware of the state of the marketplace and difficulties facing indie works wanting to attract attention and dollars, he really steps up to the marketing plate:

It was a lucky coincidence that Phil Boyle of Florida’s COLISEUM OF COMICS (seven great stores to serve you in the Orlando area) happened to write his “Advice for Publishers” in the Sept 07 issue of COMICS RETAILER right when I was amusing myself producing pages of what would eventually become glamourpuss No.1:

“I have the option to sell more than 5,000 items a month from PREVIEWS to my customers, so why should I carry your product, especially on a non-returnable basis? What are you doing to bring new customers into my stores? Are you creating fans of your work outside the comic store? Are you creating an excitement about your work so that fans will be looking for your new book when it launches? Are you pushing those customers to ask retailers to buy copies of your book so that we can sell them to those new rabid fans? If you’re taking out an ad in PREVIEWS and hoping that retailers will be standing in line waiting to hand-sell your book then you’ve brought your appetite and nothing more. Retailers will happily and eagerly work with publishers but it has to be a 50/50 split to make it work.”

That was when glamourpuss became an intellectual exercise for me that eventually evolved into the 1,500 copy mailout of the FPE (Fashion Preview Edition) to the entire mastheads of a dozen North American fashion, lifestyle and women’s magazines as well as 200 or so Indy friendly US comicstores, the 100 copy mailout of the CPE (Comics Preview Edition) to comic stores in Canada, the month-long phone campaign, the website (www.glamourpusscomic.com), the 4500 copy CPE insert in Diamond Dateline. Perhaps most important, signing off on trademark and copyright on any of the images in the first issue and on the website for any comic store wanting to use them in any way they see fit.

I agree with Phil Boyle and the watchword for Aardvark Vanaheim entering its 31st year is:

Shared Risk, Shared Responsibility, Shared Rewards.

And also, he made Neil Gaiman cry.

A great review of The Losers.

If you happen to read this, but aren’t following the forums, I’ve pulled the curtain back on Heavy Ink’s Web 1.0 origins.

My mother (who introduced me to comics back in the early 70s) ran across a bin full of old comics at a bookstore the other day, and picked some up for me: Green Arrow #32, Green Lantern & Green Arrow #47, Star Trek #55, Wonder Woman #81, and Dakota North Investigations #1.

I was not aware that human beings were capable of producing such utter shit. Live and learn, I guess.

A three-page gallery of covers of adult Mexican comics. NSFW – unless you’re as self-employed as I am.

(and for those not in the know: Frederick Wertham)

Brian Wood’s design is SO MUCH BETTER than his writing! (or, to be fair, better than his writing in DMZ and Northlanders. I suppose should give his other stuff a try.)

and changed my avatar to reflect my age.

The best review title ever.

Occasional Superheroine (a former DC editor of some sort – there’s a sordid tale or two involved, from what I recall of reading her blog last year) has advice on how to market your comic. (note to self: make a comic to market!)

I assume that a future version of this list will include Heavy Ink right in there with Facebook and MySpace.

I’d be surprised if Dave put this much thought into it, but… maybe he did? Interesting, anyway.

Sean T. Collins liked Vasilis Lolos’ The Last Call almost as much as I did.

Dirk Deppy’s 52 favorite comics of 2007. Only two superhero comics. Warren Ellis appears TWICE!

...we just live in it read about it. Here’s a tribute.

Is this thing on? Just testing.