June 10, 2010
Crazy Kids in Collinsville, IL
Yesterday my summer season of personal appearances got its kick-off at Collinsville Memorial Library here in Southern Illiniois. For 90 minutes I talked and sketched for about 30 kids and parents, and I think it's safe to say everyone had a great time—especially me. Honestly, there was so much laughter and enthusiasm in the crowd that I can't remember ever having a better time at one if my events! Kids from six to twelve were there to participate in the superhero quiz I gave to start the program (winners receive the large sketches I create during the show), and then everyone participated and sketched along as I demonstrated how to draw faces that go with the personality of the character you're creating for your story.
As usual, the biggest reaction from the crowd came when we all designed superheroes together. This is where I draw an original (to put it mildly) superhero or heroine by taking suggestions on powers and costume details from the crowd. The kids always seem to find a way to challenge my design skills with their frequently loopy requests. Some examples from the creation of "Super Librarian": boomerangs to throw at the people that make too much noise in the library; high-tech googles that enable the "sentinel of the stacks" to hear with his eyes; then, of course, it was suggested I add a helmet that would enable him to see with his ears. Really, I'm not making this stuff up (the kids did)!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone that attented, and special thanks to Alison Donnelly, Collinsville's children's librarian, for inviting me to meet with her patrons. I hope to make it back soon.
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June 3, 2010
Plagiarize, Don't Shade Your Eyes!
Early comic book artists cribbed from their betters with great frequency. Considering the youth of the artists involved, and the "Wild West" atmosphere of Golden Age Comics, I've always thought such plagarism to be driven more by admiration for a fellow artist rather than by baser motives. Certainly this applies to the countless times that lowly Golden Age comic book artists aped panels from one of the holy trinity of newspaper strip artists: Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates), Hal Foster (Tarzan, Prince Valiant) and Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon). These three artists set the standard that virtually every comic book artist aspired to. Hey, I still aspire to the level of these three artists!
I've been reading The American Library of Comics beautiful new collection of Alex Raymond's Rip Kirby, his Post WWII daily strip. One panel stopped me cold because of it's surprising familiarity. I suspect it's familiar to a lot of folks that have read collections of old Superman reprints released over the years:
The first panel shows Raymond's detective, Rip Kirby, lamenting his vulnerability to the whims of his female clientele on November 6, 1947. The second panel is a splash page from Superman # 53, the July-August 1948 issue. It's drawn by obvious Raymond-admirer and long-time Superman artist Wayne Boring (with Stan Kaye on inks). This Superman story has been reprinted many time since it's the first complete telling of Superman's origin. (If you're interested you can find it in DC's current collection, Superman in the 40s.) Imagine my surprise to accidentally run across Boring's inspiration for one of the Golden Age's most famous portraits of the Man of Steel.
So this is the kind of wonky discovery that gives art/comics guys like me a secret thrill. For more on the source of Wayne Boring's inspiration take a look to the Recommended Reading column at left.
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May 3, 2010
There's no place like Home(town Comics)
This is a quick hello and thank you to Doug Dial, owner of Hometown Comics in Edwardsville, Illinois. I spent most of Saturday in Doug's fine funny book emporium meeting the customers that flocked there for Free Comic Book Day (a nationwide promotional event supported by the whole comic book industry every year around this time) and signing copies of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies and the two Atomic Ace books, along with doing sketches for visitors. The next time you're in Edwardsville you should check out Hometown Comics, located right in the heart of town at 110 East Vandalia. Doug works hard to keep a very wide range of the latest comics and graphic novels on his shelves, along with tons of other cool stuff. I actually blew all the money I made that day on merchandise from the store—easy come, easy go!
A special shout-out to my new pals, Doug's great little girls, Bonnie and Lily. The girls were around to give cookies to the crowd waiting outside for the store's doors to open, and to generally lend a hand making sure visitors got their free goodies (Lily was distributing loot bags, Bonnie was on balloon detail). The girls and I hung out and exchanged sketches during lulls in the action. They got sketches from me of Wolverine and Wonder Woman, and look what I got from them...
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April 25, 2010
Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try.
I had dinner the other night with a couple of friends who are fellow comic book nuts and have worked as artists in that field for many years. We began to talk about all the attention the mainstream children's publishers are lavishing on what they seem to regard as a new medium—graphic novels. After some eighty years of being regarded as trash, the great American art form formerly known as "funny books" seems to have suddenly gained the repect of the publishing industry. This is a good thing. At the same time, the traditional comic book industry has pared its interest in actually publishing comics down to the bare minimum—comic book companies are more focused on the merchandising and movie rights of their "properties" than on their character's comic books. Comic book editors also seems to be closing their doors to veteran artists and writers in a very despiriting display of ageism. This is a bad thing.
But the confluence of these two trends means that there's hope for a lot of very experienced and talented graphic storytellers out there who are having trouble getting the time of day from Marvel and DC. Provided these veterans are willing to change their mindset a bit and draw something besides hoochie mamas and steriod cases in spandex, there are publishers that seem very interested in graphic storytelling but who are new enough to the field that they don't know where to find talent that can do it well. I've heard some of comics' creative war horses say they wish they could do something besides superheroes—westerns, historical fiction, biography, fairy tales, romance, etc.—but the mainstream comic book companies have lost all interest in these genres. Ironically, this is the stuff children's publishers are hot for!
It's time for a new mindset among those of us that love telling stories with panels and word balloons. Saddle up, amigos and trail buddies...a whole new world is calling our names.
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February 7, 2010
Recipe for fun and adventure
I'm currently working on a new graphic novel proposal for a major children's book publisher and I'd like to share a little hint of what I'm up to with you. I can't say too much about the project because it's still in a pretty early stage, but a few frames from the opening pages might intrigue you. Here's a very first peek at The Appentice of Dragonrock Cavern.
As this thing progresses I'll be letting you know more and more about its evolution, from how I create, illustrate and write it, on through to how it fares once it reaches a publisher's desk for a thumbs up or down. I expect it to be an interesting look at how books come together, or how they sometimes go down in flames. I hope all you aspiring writers and illustrators find it insightful. Feel free to email me with your questions and comments. I'll answer your quiries as things go forward. Stay tuned for further developments!
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January 24, 2009
Heroes and Villains and Mutants, oh my—continued!
A while back I wrote about a workshop my wife Kim and I conducted at SudioSTL, an organization in St. Louis that promotes the joys of creative writing in kids of all ages. We assisted a group of about twenty kids in creating their own superhero or supervillian — complete with a character sketch and a description of the character's powers, weaknesses, origin, etc. After all the kids completed their work, we took what they'd generated and turned them into a set of double-sided trading cards to send to the participants. Below are some of my favorites from that session.
The folks at StudioSTL report that feedback from this workshop, from both kids and parents, has been effusive. A great time was had by all, including Kim and myself! As you can see below, the kids got very creative — not only with the design of their characters, but with imagining a backstory that made the their brainchildren come to life.
Take a moment to glance at these cards and read the description the kids came up with for their characters. I think you'll get a kick out them!
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January 1, 2010
Early honors for Thunder From The Sea
Good news has arrived from the Junior Library Guild. My new graphic novel, Thunder From the Sea, has been chosen as a Spring 2010 selection by JLG! This means that you can expect to see Thunder in a lot of libraries across the country once it's released in May of this new year. Of course, this shouldn't keep you from buying your very own copy, but you'll certainly be forgiven for checking the book out from your local branch if you're so inclined. It's a swashbuckling adventure story of a boy on board a British naval frigate during the Napoleonic War, who quickly finds himself in the middle of history-altering events. You can read more about this upcoming release from G.P. Putnam's Sons by clicking here and scrolling down past It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Zombies! (now number 16 on the New York Times non-fiction bestsellers list). You can even see a few preview pages from the book on this page by clicking on the art sample icons on the bottom left. Enjoy! And whether you find it at your local library or your favorite bookstore, be sure to track it down later this year. I'll have more info for you on this as the release date approaches. Stay tuned.
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December 19, 2009
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Work and Christmas preparations have kept me away from posting for a week or so, but I wanted to make sure I took time to say hi and Merry Christmas to anyone nice enough to check in here before the holidays. A few years back I produced a holiday image for my pal, Gary Carlson of Big Bang Comics. I re-present it here for your yuletide amusement. Consider the image below my personal Christmas card to you this year.
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December 6, 2009
Heroes and Villains and Mutants, oh my!
As I mentioned in the previous entry, on Saturday my wife, Kim, and I held a workshop for about seventeen grade-schoolers at the HQ of StudioSTL, an organization dedicated to getting kids excited about expressing themselves through writing. We were helping the kids design their own superheroes, and the results will be collected in a set of trading cards that will be sent to the participants. The following are a few snapshots from the proceedings.
The Professor at work turning the kids' ideas into a character sketch.
The result was a villain the group named Night Strike.
A universal rule: kids love superheroes!
And they were fascinated by watching me draw one based on their suggestions.
We had the DC and Marvel character encyclopedias along to help the participants generate ideas for the heroes and villains they were creating. Who says kids hate to do research?
The glorious results of a misspent youth—or at least a morning's worth of the same— entertaining frivolous thoughts of fantasy and wonder...and loving it!
In a couple of weeks I'll share some of the fruits of the day's efforts by unveiling a few of the finished trading cards. Stay tuned.
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November 28, 2009
Designing Superheroes at StudioSTL
On Saturday, December 5, my wife Kim and I will be conducting a workshop for grade-schoolers at a fine organization called StudioSTL. StudioSTL is a literary arts center for children in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Their mission is to get kids interested in expressing themselves through writing. You can find out more about them and their work at studiostl.org.
In this workshop called Superhero Snapshots, we'll be helping kids come up with their own superheroes. I'll start out by taking suggestions from the audience as I draw a new superhero based on their recommendations for super powers, costume details, etc. The kids will have a superhero figure template to draw on so they can follow along. After we design a character or two together, the kids will create their own hero or villain, not only drawing their new creation, but also dreaming up background information on the character: things like secret identities, origin stories and a list of friends and foes. The best part is that in the end we'll take all the character designs and make a set of trading cards of all the group's characters. A week or so later, StudioSTL will mail a set of these cards to each participant. And all for free! It promises to be more fun than an invasion of evil robots (a little Atomic Ace reference there). I'll tell you all about it next week, so stay tuned.
So if you live anywhere near the St. Louis area, be sure to check out StudioSTL and all the terrific things they have planned to get kids enthusiatic about writing.
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