Thoughts and Changes

I have really been thinking about my current comic concepts and have been seeing them in a new light. I personally really like superhero stories, but I do realize it's extremely hard to get a traditional superhero yarn off the ground in the indy world. Invincible is the exception rather than the rule. And while I do have two or three superhero concepts in the works I am really focusing on other genres at present.

One title I have some completed art for I feel really fits into the vain of a certain trend that seems to be taking off in some circles. I liken it to stuff like Hunter-Killer or V.I.C.E. in the look and feel of it. I'm not going to pretend I'm as a good a writer as those writing the aforementioned titles, but I'm not going to say I'm not either. :) Confidence without Arrogance I always say.

Anyway, I hope it does well. We are really working hard on it to make it something special.


Another title of mine I have drastically changed from what it originally was, and I'm much happier with it. Originally it had a mix of costumed and regular characters within a superhero universe. Now it could still be in a superhero 'verse if I wanted it to be, but it's much more gritty and realistic, yet it still has those extras that fit it into the world of comics.

Maybe it's my tastes changing or my getting tuned in with the current market, or just being realistic to what will work right now, I don't know. I like to think it just works better for the story I want to tell, but I'm not naive enough to believe my own hype and think, like a lot of writers I've come in contact with one way or another, that I just have all the answers and know the logistics and technicalities of every little instance in the creation process. Nor am I going to limit myself to the confines of writing procedures, techniques and principles laid out in any number of books out there. I like to think writing comes from a deeper place than a typeface and text book, but that's just me.


Anyway, the point is my work is going through changes right now, and I'm very excited about that. I'm very happy that my horizons were expanded beginning with the Crossgen Universe, which opened my eyes to comics beyond superheroes, Archie and G.I. Joe.


Speaking of Crossgen, many people loved it, many people bagged on it, but noone can deny what an impact they had on the entire industry. They changed the status quo. They opened the door for creators and properties other than superhero fare to hope to have the spotlight. Sure there may have been some exceptions, but by and large before Crossgen indies were the dirty, unmentionable cousin to the mainstream heroes. Now indies get a lot of coverage and sometimes outshine the hero books.

I personally loved everything about Crossgen. There is nothing I have to complain about. I wish they had been able to pay their creators and stay in business. I think they still would have been one of the top five had they not run into problems. And I really hope Disney at least does something with the properties. There is too much good stuff there to let it die. It doesn't have to be connected. Each of their books was excellent on its own as well as a part of the bigger tapestry.


In other news, I may have found another artist to work with. I pitched him some concepts this morning, one of which is mentioned above briefly, so we'll see. I hope it works out.


I finally watched White Chicks last night. It was a decent movie. It wasn't great, then hardly any of the Wayans work is. Their humor is definitely unique and an acquired taste. It kills me how smooth Shawn thinks he is when in reality he's a total dork. lol. I love Marlan though.

And let's not forget the Wayans have a comic coming out, or already out, I don't remember which. It started off as a movie, but they felt it fit into a comic, so that's what they did. I don't remember the name of it off the top of my head and don't feel like hunting it down at present. Maybe next post. I'm pretty sure it was something like Super Bad Dynomite, but not quite that. Oughtta be interesting to say the least.


I started a bunch of new game threads over at the Creatorfuze forums last night. If you get a chance head on over there (link is in the sidebar under Favorites). We really do have awesome discussions over there about everything. There's a forum for Marvel, DC, Independents, Blogs, Columns, News, Jason's personal stuff, Music, TV, Movies, and the Couch for everything else. We also have fun competitions for No Prizes and an occasional contest for books. The only rule is you have to be respectable and civil, and no flaming, that type of stuff. We have a great environment there that is free of the crap that goes on at most messageboards like Digital Webbing, Newsarama and others.

Don't get me wrong, I love DW and go there multiple times daily, but in the past several months it has gotten almost unbearable to post there. There are some people there who's only purpose in posting is to start stuff, and that kind of crap gets old fast. If you're going to do that then just stay off the board! We don't want you! If you want to express a negative opinion do so in a constructive and respectful manner instead of being a total butthole about it!


But I digress. Today I intend to finish up the first few pages for my latest lettering gig. I also have to get DLS White lettered by the weekend, and an 8 page project for a friend before the New York Con. He's meeting with several companies about the project, including a company I just sent samples to, so they get to see my lettering a second time!

Not much happening on the homefront or elsewhere at present. My Papaw's birthday is coming up this weekend. He's either going to be 86, 87 or 88, noone's really sure as there was a descrepancy on his birth certificate. I swear the man's too stubborn to die! He has had several strokes, several types of cancer, has had brain surgery, several falls, a broken hip, and had some...delicate parts removed because of the cancer, and he still has spells, but he's still kickin'. His short term memory is all but gone, but at times he has very lucid moments and can recount stories from World War II like they were yesterday. It wasn't a pleasant experience for him. He was mainly stationed on a boat even though he was in the army. I believe he was in Korea. But the thing is he couldn't swim. Why on earth they put him on a boat I'll never know. And can the man sing. He sings like Bing Crosby, and it's not often we get to hear it anymore. But at Christmas time he starts breaking it out as soon as you play the piano or play a Bing song on the cd player. He used to draw really well also. His talent was passed down to several of us. Several of us are pretty artistic, creative and musically gifted. So even though he's never looked at a computer, I want to wish him a very happy birthday!

And on that note...

B-Out