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07.23.08 - QUICK DFW BLOG ON COMIC-CON
Dan Koller with Quick DFW asked members of the Dallas-area comic book community what they're looking forward to the most and what they're dreading the most with this week's Comic-Con. (click here to read)
Attn. Dallas-area comic book creators
Awhile ago, several Dallas-area comic book creators would meet on a monthly basis for lunch on Saturdays. It was nice. However, it's been some time, and we may have outgrown lunch. Thus, I'm planning something new... FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH... MEET AT LEE HARVEY'S FOR DRINKS FROM 8 PM TO 10 PM. STARTING AUGUST 7TH. You can stay later if you want, but 8 PM to 10 PM keeps things simple. This is not a sketch group. This is not a "networking" event. We're not planning an anthology. Just some people who share a mutual interest in writing and illustrating comics gather to have a drink or two. Note: They do serve food at Lee Harvey's until 11 PM on Thursdays, if you are hungry. HOW DO I GET THERE? Lee Harvey's http://leeharveys.com -and- http://www.myspace.com/leeharveys 1807 Gould St. Dallas, TX 75215 214.428.1555 WHO IS INVITED? This is an inclusive event. There is no velvet rope. If you make comics, you are invited. I don't know your drama. I like all of you. If you make comics, you should come, at least once -- and enjoy each other's company. Even if no one is else there. Fear not. I will be there. :) I sent out an e-mail earlier today. If I forgot anyone, please let me know or forward this message along. It wasn't intentional. There are a lot of you. WILL WE CHANGE LOCATIONS EACH MONTH? Probably not. Consistency is good. It's a thirty minute drive for me, and I'm sure it's a longer drive for some of you. I assure you I put some thought into the locale. Lee Harvey's is a good bar. Hope to see you there. Mark your calendar. I'll send another reminder the week of.
I saw this survey on Wes Molebash's site. He found it on Bryan Lee O'Malley's journal -- who found it on Brian Evinou's journal. Questions by Jake Hopper.
PART ONE: COMICS PERSONALITY TYPE Name: David Hopkins Age: Thirty-One Sign: TAURUS Introverted or extroverted? Fairly extroverted What are your top 5 procrastination tools? 1. Checking email 2. Re-organizing my book shelf 3. Snacking 4. Playing Age of Empires III 5. Watching DVD extras What gets your juices flowing? Going for a walk or driving in the car PART TWO: COMICS CONSUMER What kind of comics do you like to read? I read a lot of different titles -- mostly independent/small press and European comics. Although, I've started reading more manga. What kind of comics do you dislike? I've never been a big fan of the stuff published by Top Cow or Zenescope. Sorry guys. When were you first introduced to comics? When I was 10 years old, I was terrible at soccer and spent most of the time on the bench. My friend Tony Hawkins also sat on the bench, and we'd read comics. It's funny to think that my mom and dad would show up to games on Saturday morning just to watch me read comics. What were some of your first comics? Cloak & Dagger, Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, and X-Men. Pretty much anything written by Bill Mantlo, Louise Simonson, or Chris Claremont. The Fall of the Mutants storyline made a huge impression. What is your favorite animated movie? Everything by Hayao Miyazaki, it's hard to pick a favorite. Seriously. What is your favorite anime series? Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Serial Experiments: Lain, or Gunslinger Girl PART THREE: COMICS CREATOR What kind of comics do you make? All sorts. I am bound by no single genre! Most of my stories are like a broken-down RV: they usually involve families and the trip never goes as expected. When did you first start making comics? About six years ago. What are your favorite comic artists right now? Andi Watson, Kazu Kibuishi, Darwyn Cooke, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Nick Derington, Dan Hipp, Dave Crosland, Paul Maybury, Christine Norrie, Kristian Donaldson, Scott Wegener, Chad Thomas, Jim Mahfood, Dan Warner, Chris Mitten, Tom Kurzanski, Brock Rizy, Brent Schoonover, Diana Nock, Cal Slayton, Paul Milligan, ZeeS
A graduation speech given by Patton Oswalt to his old high school on June 18th. (click here to read)
"Reputation, Posterity and Cool are traps. They’ll drain the life from your life. Reputation, Posterity and Cool = Fear.
Mark Murphy's TIKI JOE MYSTERIES from SLG Publishing will be in stores this Wednesday (click here for a preview).
 Las Vegas, 1959. WWII veteran, Joe Halliday is enjoying the good life. Running Tiki Joe’s Restaurant, courting a beautiful girl and making time with steadfast friends. It’s all good until the local mob moves in with demands for protection money. When the police are unable to help, Joe calls in a few old army friends. Together they decide to pay the mob off....in lead! Tiki Joe is a graphic novel set in Las Vegas, using Polynesian pop-culture and Las Vegas kitsch as a background. Part murder mystery, part hard-boiled thriller by newcomer Mark Murphy.You don't know how happy it makes me to see Mark Murphy described as a "newcomer." With his very hip HOUSE OF JAVA graphic novel series from NBM, he's been creating comics a lot longer than I have! Murphy is one of those Dallas locals, along with Cal Slayon, JE Smith, and Nick Derington, who originally encouraged me to get into comics. If he's still considered a newcomer, then I don't feel as anxious about what little I've been able to accomplish in the past few years. Murphy is incredibly talented. You need to get his book.
MINE ALL MINE is available for sale online at Zeus Comics. The print run of this minicomic was rather limited. Copies were given to the creators, sold at CAPE, and sent to a few select stores. You want it? Here's your chance.
If anyone else has seen it online somewhere, let me know.
With it being summer and me being a teacher, I have June, July, and half of August away from my classroom. It's nice. One would think I'd get a ton of writing done during this time. Although the past few years have proven, contrary to popular reasoning, I actually get less writing accomplished. Maybe it's because I'm out of my routine, or maybe it's because I have Kennedy during the day and she keeps me occupied? Whatever the case may be, I tend to get restless during this time.
I have a few proposals that are more or less complete -- some with artists, some without. I'm in the finding-a-publisher phase, which is the most frustrating part. I can't really do more work on any of these stories until then. NOTE: I decided awhile ago that it doesn't make sense to script every single story idea I get from beginning to end. After I've written a decent synopsis and scripted the first chapter, I should probably move on to finding an artist or a publisher. Then once those things are in place, I can finish it. After all, with my synopsis, the story is all there and the script will come. Also, I don't always know which stories to focus on until I get some confirmation through finding an artist or a publisher. Make sense? * The BOLIVAR proposal looks beautiful. Diana Nock illustrated the first sixteen pages, and she did an amazing job. Who doesn't want a wonderland fantasy story involving animal spirits, pirates, cannibals, a mysterious light house, and true stories of my family's experience during World War II? * FRONTIER is without an artist, so is DELTA COUNTY. I have some people in mind. Epic in scale. I don't want either of these stories to fall in the cracks. * If you keep track of my blog, Greg Zadrozny is the artist for OMISOKA BRIDGE. He's been busy with his freelance work, but the guy is too perfect. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But right now, I can't imagine anyone else doing it. * I've been wanting to work with Cal Slayton for awhile now. THE LAST BABYSITTER seemed like a perfect project. However, I had a difficult time selling my "quirky caretaker" story -- Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee, but with big guns and grenades, fighting off the robot uprising. The apocalyse, but for kids. It's just as well: Cal is working on his own story Spookytown, which is very cool. I'm excited for this one. It's hard to keep track of everything. I've thought about finding a manager or agent. Antony Johnston discouraged the idea. He told me, comic book writers make so little money, why split the percentage even further? I simply need to find a better system for keeping everything organized. Who knows? If something hits, it might be easier to sell some of the previous stories. For stuff that's already written, Brent Schoonover recently finished the first chapter of ASTRONAUT DAD VOL. 2. Tom Kurzanski is busy on KARMA INCORPORATED VOL. 2. Both should be in stores by the end of the year. Both look great. It hasn't felt like I've been busy lately, but the past twelve months have been more productive than I originally thought. I scripted four issues of LAKE ARCHER, a side project never intended for publication. I wrote "50 Miles to Marfa" (illustrated by Dan Warner), tentatively scheduled for PopGun Vol. 3 and "Of All Time and Forever" (to be illustrated by Chris Mitten), part of an upcoming anthology project. I don't want to say too much about these short stories, since nothing has been finalized. Around Free Comic Book Day, I released a 16 page mini-comic MINE ALL MINE, which featured several of my favorite artists. And every other month, Paul Milligan and I produce SOUVENIR OF DALLAS for D Magazine. Still. None of this has the momentum of a "next big project." In the meantime, I've been restlessly friending people on MySpace, twittering, visiting other people's blogs and webcomics, and scheming, definitely scheming. With a notepad and everything. Currently reading: DEATH NOTE VOL.1-12 ATOMIC ROBO VOL. 1 GOOD IN A ROOM
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