Monday, February 28, 2011
Sixteen Panel Grid: Will A Revolution Be Illustrated?
It’s just about raising awareness and trying to get the industry to support diversified content in order to grow instead of shrink...I would just like to see good quality, original material in any form. We can bitch and moan about creator-owned comics not getting the credit they're due, but the first step is to work hard to make a quality book that people will want to read.
Powell’s video depicted an Eisner Award-winning cartoonist submitting to the editorial mandates of a fictionalized ‘Dildo Comics’ in order to support his family. A gag about being bent over aptly supported the ‘inconvenient truth’ encapsulated by a decade’s worth of dismal sales statistics for non-Marvel/DC comics. Many superhero readers found themselves offended by the means that Powell used to illustrate his lost point. Finally, the video was pulled offline.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Dwayne McDuffie, Rest in Peace
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| [Dwayne McDuffie photographed in Central Park, NYC, 2/13/11] Words: Christopher Irving Picture: Seth Kushner I can't begin to tell you how excited we were to get Dwayne McDuffie on board for Graphic NYC, and for inclusion in our book, Leaping Tall Buildings. We lucked out in getting an hour or so of Dwayne's time a week ago to shoot his portrait and get a career-spanning interview from one of the true unsung geniuses of comics. It has long been a determination to get Milestone Comics represented in Leaping and, thanks to Dwayne, we'll have the inside story of the exceptional and ground-breaking comics imprint. Next week, keep an eye out for our profile on the gentle, generous, and outspoken Dwayne McDuffie. Down the line, I promise that I will do something on the man to honor not only his contributions to the comics industry (in both print and animation), his mission for equality amongst superheroes, but to the kindness he showed to total strangers and comics journalists like Seth and I. We were damn lucky to get you, Dwayne, and you will be so terribly missed. -Christopher Irving, 2/22/11 |
Friday, February 18, 2011
Dave Ryan's Erased Kirby
Ingesting influences invites indigestion.
As a forty five year old artist, well read on Fine Art history and an all around comic book geek, I unsuspectingly accessed a portal of persuasion as I dove into the behemoth project in 2005 that we’ve come to know as War of the Independents.
As a fan, comic book annuals and mini-series were rare and looked forward to. I mean, who didn’t like to see their favorite heroes band together in an unbelievably big event before returning to Yancy Street for a one-on-one with the local rival?!? Yet it wasn’t stopping, in fact, it was getting bigger, spreading like Wildfire out of his costume. One majestic marvelous milestone followed lead into another with more tie-ins than a barrel full of Grodds. I’m sure profit holders were smiling as sales grew, which is much needed in this industry despite the gripes, but it’s wave drowned the already dog-paddling indie market. Still in it’s birthing stages, online and digital media, which are still trying to find their niche, were just a glimmer of hope at the time. The indie market was gasping for air.
Something had to be done.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Pop Culture Valentine's Special: The Ladies of the Eighties
“Let’s hear it for letting someone totally ruin your life — Let’s hear it for love”
The Smoking Popes
Words: George Khoury
Friday, February 11, 2011
Ink Joltin' Joe Sinnott!
ATTENTION ALL PROS!
The Inkwell Awards, created four years ago to celebrate the unsung heroes of the comics industry--the inkers--has just announced the Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge. Sinnott has drawn both Namor and Dr. Doom, shown above and below, and the Inkwell Awards is asking for professional inkers to contribute for both the merit of the challenge, and for an art sale with all proceeds benefiting the Inkwell Awards and the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund to the students of the Joe Kubert School.
Aside helping out the Inkwell Awards, it's a chance to delineate over the long-time Marvel ink-slinger.
The extended deadline is March 15th. Please contact Inkwell's Bob Almond at balmond@inkwellawards.com with your inking credentials, and he can provide hi-res blueline files.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Koren Shadmi's Top 5 Non-Comics Influences:
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| [Koren Shadmi's webcomic, The Abaddon] |
Words: Koren Shadmi
Ingmar Bergman
First time I saw a Bergman film was by chance - 'Hour of the Wolf' was playing on TV. It was like nothing I've ever seen, a ghost story that was so sparse and stark yet so beautiful and haunting, I was hooked. Bergman films, especially his later ones, are very minimal, a few characters, limited settings - they almost feel like a play. But behind the simplicity there is a deep an complex universe, and a powerful philosophical undercurrent; Bergman is not afraid to deal with some of the biggest questions in human existence such as; death, sexuality, morals and religion. There's also something brutal and gut wrenching in the films - The rape and murder scene in 'A virgin Spring', for instance - most often though, the horror is shown in the form of absence, as in 'Through A glass Darkly' where the young woman describes her haunting encounter with god - who according to her is a giant spider. Bergman understands that true horror is unseen and sometimes withholding elements from the viewer can be quite a powerful tool.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
GNYC Q&A: Chris Miskiewicz Everywhere
Words: Seth Kushner
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| [Horses: Andrew Wendel] |
Please read the following - in your head - in your best Rod Serling voice: Imagine if you will, a situation where a single species of animal, be it spiders, horses, kittens, etc., are running rampant, for no discernible reason. Okay, Serling voice off.
Everywhere, the new webcomic anthology on ACT-I-VATE.com is the brainchild of writer and actor Chris Miskiewicz, who you might recognize as the guy standing behind your favorite star in too many movies and television series to name, or the guy standing behind you at your favorite watering hole, possibly talking your ear off with tales of animals run amok.
Full discosure: Miskiewicz is a friend of mine and I know all about his new series to the point where I’ve heard him drone on and on about it for the past year. In fact, I’ve even contributed to the series with the upcoming photocomic installment, "Spiders Everywhere." But for the sake of those unfamiliar, l’ll walk that fine line of journalistic integrity and play dumb and pretend to be completely unfamiliar. Hey, don’t judge, if I didn’t think was a worthy and valid series, I wouldn’t be doing this!
What can you tell us about the The Everywhere Anthology coming out on ACT-I-VATE?
It’s basically a b-movie animal disaster comic with a Twilight Zone kind of twist. You wake up and there’s a single animal species “Everywhere” around the world. It’s just these offbeat slice of life stories of people thrown into the middle of craziness.
Knowing you as I do, I have to ask, how much of a role did alcohol play in the creation of Everywhere?
I can’t remember.
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