Robert Kirkman took to the bytewaves at CBR yesterday to deliver a video editorial explaining that he left Marvel Comics to save comics. The basic thrust of the piece (once you get past the alarming DELIVERANCE-style banjo picking at the beginning) is that prose writers don’t aspire to write Moby Dick II, so why should comics scribes aim for JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #756? Creator-owned is the way to go.

A comic industry where there are more original comics, so there’s more new ideas, more creator-owned books by totally awesome guys that are selling a ton of books. Those books are mature and complex and appeal to our aging audience that I count myself among who are keeping this business alive. And we also have a revitalized Marvel and DC who are selling comics to a much wider audience than ever before. And that audience, as they age, may get turned on to some awesome creator-owned work eventually. So everyone is happy.

Obviously, given recent discussion of Elvis, Col. Parker, and so on here and elsewhere, Kirkman’s vision of an industry where Marvel and DC satisfy the kids while mature, creator-driven work expands horizons, popularity and licensing opportunities is pretty utopian…but who’s to say we don’t already have the tools in place?

Vintage Grant Morrison in an interview with A. David Lewis at PWCW:

GM: Yeah! Because it’s the obvious, isn’t it? Again, this isn’t a mystical concept, because I’m not a mystical person sometimes. I got into magic to see if it was real. If someone says, “Ok, a demon will appear if you do this spell,” I just say, “Bullshit.” So, I did this spell, and then the demon appeared. So I had to revise my vision of what the world was and how it worked. Again, that’s another element of magic for me, trying to figure out, why do these things happen—what are we doing to our nervous systems to make us believe a demon has entered the room? It became to me about the actual “nuts and bolts” of it, not the fantastic thing or the mystic thing or the names of angels. I became interested in what’s actually going on.

PWCW: But you tried it out, and a demon did appear?

GM: Yeah!

PWCW: Wow.

So, I’m cleaning and I find a random issue of AMAZING HEROES from 1989. I leave it out and save for…bathroom reading later in the day. I see that THE BEAT (before she went by that name) has a column in this issue and one of the subjects is BAT-MOVIE HYPE. How timely. So, here’s what “the Princess” had to say on the topic back before some of you kids were even born.

batmania: I swore I wouldn’t write about Batman anymore, but I can’t help it !!! Batman is everywhere! At Once.

Here in LA, the bat symbol has become synonymous with the city’s underground scene. Just as the (no doubt at least sub-consciously WATCHMEN-inspired) happy face was the symbol of last year’s Acid House music craze in Britain, the Bat Signal rules in LA. A little giveaway touting a hotline for the hottest new dance clubs is called the Batline and sports that ever-ubiquitous Bat Signal. the LA club scene is littered with kids in bat-shirts and hand-painted Joker jackets. Warner’s must be spending all of the profits from the Batman comic just on policing the bootleggers and trademark-infringers.

A recent tour of Melrose Avenue (LA’s Mecca of overpriced haute camp and black-dressed hipness) reveals that it should be renamed Batman Boulevard. An antique shop features nothing but honest-to-gosh 1960’s plastic Batman toys in its front window. Bat-symbol rings, t-shirts, and earrings appear in every gloom-rock boutique worthy of the name. The Golden Apple reigns as “Bat-man T-shirt headquarters” selling a dizzying assortment of styles.

Batman is so hot he sizzles. I dunno, it’s kinda weird…almost like the Sons of the Batman have come to life or something.

Of course, it’ll all end when the movie comes out…

Posted by Mark Coale

Man of Action, the team behind Ben 10, and many fine comics, has stuff for sale at San Diego!

Man of Action Studios, the creative development company formed in 2002 by comic book iconoclasts Joe Casey (Godland), Joe Kelly (Spider-Man), Duncan Rouleau (Metal Men), and Steven T. Seagle (American Virgin) will be in full force at the 2008 Comicon International. Fans are welcome to come by booth 2007 for autographs and exclusive advance looks at upcoming Man of Action comic and media projects.

Man of Action are the creators of the record-shattering BEN 10 series for Cartoon Network, and have created for diverse clients such as Activision, NBC/Universal, Animal Planet, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, SAMG Animation, Warner Brothers Feature Films, Paramount Feature Films, FOX television, Mainframe Animation, 4Kids Entertainment, and Speak Theater Arts.

Man Of Action launches its own line of original comics and graphic novels under the Image Comics banner this year including Krash Bastards, Charlatan Ball, Four Eyes, I Kill Giants, Soul Kiss, and The Great Unknown. Copies and preview copies will be at the booth. Man of Action will also have Ben 10 DVDs available as well as the full library of Man Of Action trade paperbacks.

The winners of this year’s Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing have been announced, and worthy ones they are: Archie Goodwin and Larry Lieber. . The award is presented each year to writers to spotlight their accomplishments. PR below

Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and popular arts event in the United States, is proud to announce that Archie Goodwin and Larry Lieber have been selected to receive the 2008 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. The choice was made unanimously by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by writer and historian Mark Evanier.

The Bill Finger Award was instituted in 2005 under the supervision of comic book legend Jerry Robinson. The awards committee is charged each year with selecting two recipients, one living and one deceased.

“With all the writers who seem worthy of this award, you’d think it would be an impossible decision,” Evanier explains. “But this year, two names just jumped off the list of candidates. Much like the late Bill Finger, Larry Lieber and Archie Goodwin did important, groundbreaking work in our field that has not received the recognition it deserves. We’re hoping to rectify that a little with these awards.”

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Thanks to all who sent me the link for the word “Fanboy” entering the Merriam-Webster dictionary along with other useful terms like “edamame” and “webinar”. The word is cited all the way back to 1919, doubtless in some kind of “He’s totally a fanboy for Baroness Orczy!” kind of way.

However, Gia Manry was incensed at the lack of inclusion for the distaff term “Fangirl” but was quickly told by lexicographers that it was too soon, too soon:

I did a quick check of our citational database, which house upwards of 17 million citations of words in context, and we only have a handful of citations for “fangirl.” I’m afraid that without more citational backing (and a longer usage history), it’s currently not eligible for entry.

BUT…see comments thread!

What with WANTED’s very strong debut, original scribe Mark Millar is having his day in the sun, and you know what? He’s earned it. A few days ago, the UK Evening Times profiled him:

JET lag is an occupational hazard for Mark Millar. That and other hardships, like having Angelina Jolie rub suntan lotion on his face, being brought tea by Claudia Schiffer and making Jessica Alba gush happy tears.

It’s all in the line of work for the globe-trotting, Coatbridge-born comic book guru whose million-selling, graphic novel Wanted has had a Hollywood £55million blockbuster treatment, going on general release tomorrow.

“Comic-book guru?” Pretty good for a lad from Coatbridge, In this article and several others, Millar suggests a WANTED sequel is already on the way.

Millar also added that he’s been approached by Universal about concocting a sequel. “They’ve asked me how I can develop some of the other stuff from the book into the sequel. We’ll see what box office is like at the weekend, but everyone knows this is going to make a LOT of dough. Wall·E permitting.” (He actually has a few choice words for the hapless robot, who really shouldn’t be held accountable for his release date.)

Even if WANTED 2: STRONGLY HANKERED FOR doesn’t get made, Millar’s Icon book KICK-ASS is already looking good for the cinema, with Matthew Vaughn (STARDUST) on board to direct:

“I’m working as a producer on [’Kick-Ass’] as well, so I’ve been involved for about eight months, believe it or not. The comic didn’t come out until February, but we made the deal on the movie back in December. The script was finished six months ago, and it starts filming on location in New York in August. So it’s moving really fast.”

Even bearing in mind Millar’s wee penchant for, well, stretching things a bit, he’s got to be riding high and his projects in the pipeline are sure to get a boost as well. It’s all good for now.

UPDATE: A perfect example of Millarism in action, as he discusses the Superman movie he’s writing.

Brian K. Vaughan, who is now a “beloved comics figure”, makes an incredibly rare signing appearance this Thursday at Midtown Comics:

Midtown Comics in New York City will host a comic book signing event with beloved author Brian K. Vaughan. BKV, as he is affectionately referred to by his fans, is the award-winning creator of Y: The Last Man, Ex-Machina, Pride of Baghdad and Marvel Comics’ Runaways. These titles are among the best loved and respected comic books published today, and the collected editions are among the most popular graphic novels in print.

Comic Books have rocketed to the front ranks of pop culture, and Hollywood is mining comic books for source material like never before. The work of Brian K. Vaughan is no exception. Y: The Last Man will be produced for the big screen by New Line Cinema, with Shia LaBeouf being considered for the role of Yorick Brown, the title character, and Marvel Studios (batting a thousand so far with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk) will produce Runaways.

Six years ago, an unknown author signed Y: The Last Man #1 at Midtown Comics’ Times Square location, and now he’s come full circle, considerably more famous, signing at Midtown’s Grand Central location.

Midtown Comics opened its first store in 1997, and is now the industry’s leading retailer of comic books, graphic novels and Manga, with its online store as well as two landmark NYC locations in Times Square and Grand Central .

Speaking of Vaughan, in all the excitement we missed the news the other week that BKV is now a big time screenwriter:

Resolving a heated bidding war, Brian K. Vaughan has sold his supernatural comedy spec “Roundtable” to DreamWorks for $650,000 against $1 million. Several competing suitors attempted to yank Vaughan’s sword out of the rock, including MGM.

Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald are producing.

In “Roundtable,” Vaughan tries out yet another tweak on the oft-revised King Arthur legend. His spin, more “Ghostbusters” than “Excalibur,” revolves around Merlin assembling a bunch of modern-day knights to battle a resurrected ancient evil, only to discover that today’s knights are all washed-up athletes, cowardly scientists or Academy Award-winning actors.

CAA-repped Vaughan also will serve as executive producer.

UPDATE: Well well well. The Diamond figures for the month are out, and Secret Invasion #2 came in at #1 with Final Crisis #1 coming in at #2. We can’t imagine anyone at DC is very happy about that.

The recent departure of Chuck Dixon as a writer at DC has spawned a cottage industry of speculation, but Dixon himself spoke out on The Dixonverse:

Just to counter some nonsense I’ve seen “reported” on other sites.
I did not quit.
I do not believe it had anything to do with politics.
My involvement with Robin ends with issue 174.
I think my BATO run is over with #10.
My Booster two-parter will still be appearing.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Storming Paradise continues on schedule.
For those keep score, yes, I was way ahead on both of my monthlies. Down the road perhaps I’ll offer those scripts and you folks can help out Books for Soldiers as you so generously have before.

Presumabely the “politics” above refers to Dixon’s generally conservative leanings, whch have sometimes gotten him some hear. However, a long, well-written post by Greg Hatcher speculating on various recent DCU editorial gaffes draws much speculations from fans, and even a few comments from Dixon himself:

Don’t blame my editors.
DC, currently, is run from the top down in a way that makes Jim Shooter’s aegis at Marvel look like a hippie commune.

Oh snap! Dixon continues on with several comments in this vein, closing with:

I’ve worked under tyrants and I can say that I’d prefer to work under a talented, knowledgeable tyrant with a successful plan than a directionless gladhander with a ouija board any day of the week.

Rumors that the state of DCU editorial resembles something out of a Smiths song are pretty much common knowledge these days. So much so that the upcoming Ambush Bug mini even makes fun of the rumors as shown in an upcoming DC Nation editorial page (above, click for larger version, and on link for the whole thing.) Speculating on potential replacements for Dan DiDio are a common pass time around town: A recent column by Todd Allen even ran down a scorecard for candidates:

You may have heard rumblings that DC is in the market for a new Executive Editor. Dan DiDio’s contract is up this year, and its common knowledge on the street that DC has been looking for a replacement. The last rumor I heard was that DC wasn’t happy with the candidates they identified to replace DiDio and are talking with him about a one year extension, while they do a more exhaustive search to find his replacement.

We can state with some certainty that at least one of the most popular candidates —at least in the comic book version of the Hot Stove League—to take over DC should DiDio move on to greener pastures isn’t on Allen’s scorecard, but it’s all pure speculation anyway — as Joe Quesada said long ago when he took over the Marvel EIC job, running a comic book company is a job that comes with a shelf life. There’s a 100% probability that both Quesada and DiDio will be gone someday…it’s just the time frame for someday that’s the question.

Or so says this post at the Dixonverse Message Board:

I am no longer employed by DC Comics in any capacity.

Dixon was currently writing Batman and the Outsiders and Robin.

UPDATE: Kevin Melrose reminds us that Dixon had abruptly replaced Tony Bedard as writer of BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS before the book came out, and has just as abruptly been replaced by Frank Tieri as writer.

The D&Q blog runs this picture of cartoon master John Stanley when he was a teenager. It’s always refreshing to see a great artist captured in the full bloom of youth; our ideas of Stanley are mostly of the older, curmudgeonly but still insightful playwright of the heart.

Jeet Heer takes the oppotunity of D&W’s thrilling announcement of more John Stanley reprints to take on the great debate:Stanley vs. Barks:

There are not many cartoonists who have claims to greatness; perhaps a dozen or a score. Of this elite group, the least known to the general public and most underrated even by the cartooning cognoscenti is John Stanley (1914-1993). To the extent that he’s remembered at all, Stanley is known as the writer for the Little Lulu comic book series published Dell Comics. Stanley worked on the series from 1945 till around 1961 but during his long tenure at Dell worked on many other titles, ranging from characters created by others (Tubby, Nancy, Andy Panda) as well as characters he himself invented (the horror-spoof Melvin Monster, as well as teen comics like Dunc and Loo, Thirteen, and Kookie).

Heer judges Stanley to be the better writer, an assessment we agree with but only by a whisper. And that whisper could change when the wind does. Such comparisons are not really necessary — in the shorter stories of Walt Disney Comics & Stories, even those starring bit players like Gyro Gearloose and Gladstone Gander, Barks showed a mastery of relentless destiny and stinging irony that few could surpass. Let’s just say they are BOTH great and reprint everything they ever did in living color!

About Comics has just announced a collection of Gail Simone’s HIGHlarious “You’ll All Be Sorry” columns, originally published on Comic Book Resources. The cover is by Scott Shaw! (left):

The entire comics community will rue the day they entertained Gail Simone when she unleashes You’ll All Be Sorry!, a collection of her hilarious prose pieces. Featuring a mixture of classic entries culled from her popular online column and brand new pieces, this About Comics paperback will delight Simone’s growing legion of fans.

Behind a Scott Shaw! cover, readers will find dozens of articles as Simone turns her sharp wit on Wizard, Watchmen, Whiteout, bad Batman fan fiction, and even the Internet itself. This was the work that launched her comics writing career, leading to her writing first for Bongo, then for Marvel and now DC, where she has gained acclaim for her runs on such books as Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, and her original series Welcome to Tranquility.

In addition to the original pieces that Simone built her career on, the book features original articles, including the revelatory “How to Write Comics (with food and boobs) the Gail Simone Way!” Readers will also be invited to “Choose Your Own Crossover,” and Gail has also blackmailed a bunch of her pro friends into crafting an all new set of “Condensed Comics Classics”. Each piece is being freshly laid out to reflect the material being parodied, and many come with illustrations.

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Never let it be said that Stan isn’t down with the kids.

#1. Grady Hendrix talks about Gerber changed comics :

But Gerber himself was trapped in a vulturelike publishing industry. A dispute with Marvel over payment terms for the artist on the Howard the Duck newspaper strip led to Gerber leaving the book, only to realize too late that his creations were all work-for-hire, property of Marvel Inc. He engaged in a protracted legal battle that was eventually settled, but the comics industry broke his spirit. When novelist Jonathan Lethem was hired by Marvel last year to revive Omega the Unknown, a series created by Gerber and collaborator Mary Skrenes, Gerber blasted the younger writer for validating the theft of his creation. Even after meeting with Lethem, he said, “I still believe that writers and artists who claim to respect the work of creators past should demonstrate that respect by leaving the work alone.”

#2. Stuart Moore remembers Gerber:

But for a brief moment, Steve’s desire to do one more Howard series coincided with Bill Jemas’s own particular form of madness. Faced with the problem of the duck’s design — a legal settlement with Disney had left us with a very specific, not terribly attractive look that had to be adhered to — Bill embraced the idea of transforming Howard into a variety of other animals. (I don’t remember now whether this was originally Bill’s or Steve’s idea.) It was Bill who suggested the first issue’s cover, depicting a pissed-off mouse under a large Howard The Duck logo, and Bill who came up with the tagline: DON’T ASK. And Steve didn’t just go along with it; he ran with it, gleefully.

#3. Last week’s remembrance by Steven Grant:

Howard’s also of the most important characters in the history of comics because Steve became the first major figure in modern comics to sue a comics company over who really owned the character. It was eventually settled without trial, leaving Marvel in control of Howard and Steve scrounging to pay off massive legal fees, and by that point Howard’s value had been gutted by its notorious movie version, which, in Hollywoodizing the Duck, missed his appeal completely. Which isn’t surprising, since Marvel, despite several attempts to revive the property, missed it as well. Howard easily survived artist changes, but if there was ever a character who functioned almost purely as an expression of his creator, it was Howard the Duck.

One for the road: Mark Evanier talks about a Burbank gathering to remember Gerber:

Not much I can say about it other than a great time was had in spite of the reason for the gathering, and I think it brought a little sense of closure to some of us. One hopes some of the anecdotes that were told will find their way to the Comments sections of this blog, hint hint.

Technorati Tags: Steve Gerber

The “tweener” generation of comics readers and creators — of which I’m one — were lucky enough to come of age in an era of comics struggling to break out of a chrysalis. Nurtured on the canny, mythic cosmic melodrama of classic Lee-Kirby-Ditko Marvel, the next generation yearned to break out to the next level, to go from the child’s colorful fairy tale to the adolescent’s poetic angst. If early Marvel was the timeless struggle to be human despite the powers and guise of a monster, the next wave was struggling to be human despite the oppressive nature of human corruption. In a country made cynical by a failed war in a rotting jungle and a president who thought nothing of personally authorizing thugs to win an election it was time to question heroes.

In comics, a generation of writers emerged for whom the greatest threats weren’t space aliens or giant lizards — it was the evil at the core of a corporation, the greed of exploitation.

As a teenager in the 70s, my own comics reading grew up in the space of several short months. I was immediately hooked by the colorful dash and humor of Spider-Man, the clean adventure of the Fantastic Four. It was all fun and exciting. My trips to the spinner rack at a local department store were a search for new adventures, a world I knew nothing of, but was quickly learning about due to footnotes and letters pages.

I had only been reading Marvel comics for a few months when I found something called Howard the Duck. It was already up to issue 9, but back in those days every issue was a jumping on point. I was a little confused because Howard was dealing with the effects of an ill-advised presidential campaign and his relationship with a beautiful woman named Beverly was already in the middle stage of mingled attraction and bickering that actual human relationships were made of. After his disastrous campaign, Howard was forced to flee to Canada and fight a giant beaver. It was full of wacky humor, clever dialog and startling, original characters. I wasn’t very experienced in the ways of comics, but about five seconds in, I knew this was something I could relate to and make my own special comic.
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From the New York Times:

J. K. Rowling blocked the Finnish publication of her latest Harry Potter novel on paper from Finland because it lacked the ecologically friendly certification she favors, Agence France-Presse reported. Her Finnish publisher, Tammi, said that Ms. Rowling insisted that it import paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as being derived from wood grown and harvested in a way that promotes sustainable forest development. Sinikka Partanen, a spokeswoman for Tammi, said the first Potter books in Finnish were printed on recycled paper. “This time it’s a more specific demand,” she said. The Finnish-language version of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is due on March 7.

Posted by Mark Coale

§ Paul Dini explains the “animation feature template”:

Your primary objective as a modern animation feature storyteller is to get the audience members emotionally charged (i.e., distracted from logic gaps and not thinking too much) so they will be ready for your big finale. This usually consists of the hero defeating the villain (almost always by some initial violent action of the villain that the hero has “cleverly” used to boomerang back on the bad guy; real heroes never being allowed to slay dragons on their own these days) and the villain falling to their death from a great height, the only acceptable way for a baddie to meet their end in a cartoon (Gaston, Frollo, the bear in “The Fox & The Hound,” Scar, the poacher in “Rescuers II”, anyone notice a trend here?). If the villain can trip over the edge while trying to get in one last cowardly stab at the hero, so much the better. The demise of the bad guy puts everyone in a good mood, so the sidekicks fire up the juke box, or strike up the band, or simply break into song, and while the hero and heroine share a modest kiss, everyone rocks out over the end credits.

By the way, when we worked at Disney we called this “Death by topple.” It is lethal to bad guys.

§Josh Neufeld talks about working with Harvey Pekar:

Way back, when I did my very first Splendor story, I got Harvey to send me reference photos of one of the other characters in the piece. But as the years went by, I just began winging it, or swiping characters and interiors from previous issues of American Splendor. The only “reference” I use now are some shots of Harvey I cobbled together from the Internet, the work of other artists, or — horrors! — popping in the DVD of the film and using that. And even though I’ve drawn many stories set in his house, I tend to be dissatisfied with what I’ve done before and usually do something different each time. In essence, every time I draw a new A.S. story, Harvey’s pad undergoes an extreme makeover (sans Ty Pennington)! The only consistencies are the books, magazines, and newspapers piled everywhere, and the general air of post-bohemian shabbiness.

§ Rediscovered hot cartoonist Frank Santoro is interviewed at Blog @ and remembers the 90s:

There was no Giant Robot. They had just started actually. APE had just started. I went to the first couple of APEs. Everything was positive, it was cool, but it was just … I got a call from Mike Richardson in ‘96. Mike Richardson at Dark Horse called me. “Loved the story. It was a great book. Let us know what you’re up to.” I felt like this was great, I have an open door whenever. Then, when I knock on their door a year and a half later with whatever I was working on, the industry was falling apart. Heroes World and all this shit with the distributors was going on. I had a conversation with Gary Groth a couple of years ago, he found a letter from me and a sample from 1998. He had never opened it until 2004. Those guys were busy worrying about whether their companies were going to survive more so than putting out new work.

§ We never remember seeing an in-depth interview with with IDW Publisher Chris Ryall before:

Well, it’s safe to say that “Transformers” outsells books like “Supermarket” or “Smoke,” but as far as attracting attention goes, I’d say that that varies on the buyer. What I mean is, to the “Smoke” or “Supermarket” buyer, those are the kinds of books we publish. They’re maybe not as likely to also be reading “Transformers” comics. People that like our horror comics probably feel the same way. So all these books attract their own types of attention, and don’t really take away from one another. I think the sheer array of books you cited above shows a nice balance, just in the types of material we make available. We used to be primarily seen as a horror publisher, but now we offer so many different types of books to different audiences. I’m really proud of that fact.

AND: § Walt and Weezie Simonson profiled
§ Watchmen extra spills guts
§ There are many interviews with Marjane Satrapi floating around. Here is one of them.

Marv Wolfman writes to tell us that HOMELAND, his graphical history of Israel, illustrated by Mario Ruiz and William J Rubin has been winning a slew of honors of late, including National Jewish Book Award, the latest in a string of honors for the book:

Homeland has previously won the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for non-fiction, the USAbooknews.com adult award for history/politics and last week received a Notable Book for teenagers by the Sydney Taylor Book Award for the Association of Jewish Libraries. That means the comic-based book, actually inspired by my old History of the DC Universe book, has won non-comics acclaim for kids, teens and adults. As I say I don’t yet know the category for the National Jewish Book award but in that world this is the big one.

Marv with friend in 2007

While he’s still going strong with the recent Raven mini-series for DC and racking up the awards, Marv also recently celebrated his 40th anniversary as a professional writer. We thought it would be nice to check in and get some insights on his time in the comics business — few people have seen its inner working from such a wide perspective.
What are you working on in 2008?
I’m working on a number of different projects. I’m writing several video games but unfortunately I can’t say what they are right now. Hopefully soon. But they’re a lot of fun. More than one realizes because it forces you to rethink everything. Nothing is by rote because the stories aren’t and can’t be linear in the same way we’ve all written all our lives. Forcing you to think, forcing you to challenge yourself, forcing you out of any possible rut, is exciting and I think actually makes the work itself better. Plus, on top of that, the stories are fun to do.

I’m also scheduled to do a couple of graphic novels, but I’m not sure when they are supposed to begin. In comics, I should be working on the new Vigilante book for DC as well as a few smaller projects which haven’t been announced yet. But the five-part Raven mini-series I did last year will start coming out either in February or March. I’m also scheduled to write a novel, but again I don’t know exactly when that’s supposed to begin.

If everything happens the way they should I’ll be busy, but I’ve learned long ago that rarely happens. Life of a freelancer.

What’s the BIGGEST difference about being a freelancer now and 40 years ago?
Well, for me, I was usually on staff which means I knew exactly what my next assignments were. These days as you can tell from the above, I know what I’m supposed to do, and I’ve actually been paid for some of that, but until I’m told to start I don’t know when. But I’m absolutely thrilled that after all these years I’m still working. And even more, still loving it. Taking a few years off of comics writing actually made me love doing it more than ever. Sometimes you need to get away and recharge the batteries. Last year, 2007, was probably the busiest I’ve ever been. And that includes the year I was writing Titans, Crisis and a dozen other titles… while working on staff and doing my first animation scripts.
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Above: Illo for the MySpace page for Lynda Barry’s Writing the Unthinkable writing seminars.

Paul Pope blogs at the First Second website:

Each facet of the comics medium is important and deserves its own special consideration, but it’s the writing in comics I’m thinking about right now. I often wonder why we don’t see more literary quality in the comics being published today, why we don’t have a John Steinbeck or Robert Penn-Warren in our medium, authors who can unfold a filagreed theme across an extended storyline and touch on that ineffable shade we call “the human condition.” Where are our Sam Hamiltons, our Willie Starks, our Jack Burdens, our Cal Trasks? It may simply be that good writing is rare. It is also entirely possible that most comics creators are simply unconcerned with developing literary themes in their work, favoring instead sweeping epics of good versus evil, populating their paper worlds with colorfully costumed heroes and villans invested with very little psychological complexity or self-awareness. It may be that most people who are attracted to the medium want very little more out of life than to draw pretty pictures, tell exciting, splashy stories, and get paid for it.

The WGA strike goes on and on with no early end in sight, as everyone sticks to their trenches. Patrick Goldstein at the LA Times has the very gloomy prognosis:
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Yet another best selling author James Patterson, is setting up his own toon/graphic novelly/manga deal. Patterson has sold some 140 million books, so that is a lot of books. One deal is with Yen Press (PR in the jump) which will serialize his “Maximum Ride” YA series in their manga anthology, Yen Plus.

He’s also pacted with with Curious Pictures:

…the Gotham animation studio known for Disney’s “Little Einsteins,” is teaming with James Patterson Entertainment to produce longform animated media based on the author’s books, graphic novels and original concepts.

The pair’s first project is the film “Beer Belly and Fat Boy,” about a slacker who is secretly an assassin controlled by evil corporations. Like “300,” the pic will blend human actors with all-digital backgrounds, aiming squarely at the vidgame-and-comedy-inclined young male demo.

As interesting as all that is, the article also contains this little nugget:

[Curious] is doing animation work for a toon Michel Gondry is co-directing with his son, Paul, an up-and-coming artist.

Michel Gondry ‘toon! We are there.
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At his LJ, Greg Rucka casually mentioned he wouldn’t be upping his DC exclusive

I was in LA on personal business the last two days, and I got to spend some time with my brother and his bride, and I got to see Andrew and Xtie, and that was good for the soul, especially opposite the contortions I’ve been going through the last several weeks. I feel better. I’ve made some decisions. One of them is that I’m not renewing my exclusive with DC. Others less deserving of announcement at the moment, but of no less import to myself and my family.

This led to yet another commotion in the blogosphere. Wow, JMS and Rucka both sort of “speaking out” in two days. What happened to the happy family?

You know in this day and age — and we are NOT looking into Rucka’a mind here, just engaging in complete speculation — why would anyone with a spouse with health insurance want to be exclusive? Esp. someone in Rucka’s position. When new comics companies, some with fat bankrolls to be rapidly deplated, are springing up every month, it’s a good time to be a free agent if you have much on the ball. Of course, both Marvel and DC often allow creators to work on personal projects - an exclusive often means in practice, “Don’t work for the competition.”

Still, Rucka hasn’t been entirely silent on his discomfort with DC comics over the past year or so. Will anyone ever REALLY recover from 52?

Paging every screenwriter who is eyeing the comics medium: PLEASE READ THIS:

Do you really have to pick shots? Think hard on this one. Do you really have a good sense of what will make a good picture, or do you just feel like you’re supposed to do it because it’s your job? Because it’s not, necessarily. You can almost always tell an artist what really needs to happen in a scene, and she will have opinions on how that should all go down. And she’ll be taking composition into consideration, and balancing lots of visual elements. Can you do that? It’s not really necessary with a good artist, she’ll do it anyway. But if that isn’t a strength of yours, then don’t impose such notes on our artist.

As the writers’ strike enters day number (something like 21 or so, forgive me it’s late), folks are finding new ways to keep busy.

We saw last week that some of the Daily Show writers were doing their own show on YouTube.

Now, it’s the cast of Saturday Night Live performing on, well, Saturday night, just not on TV.

The NYTimes has an article today about the Not Ready for Prime Time performance, guest-hosted by ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and SUPERBAD star Michael Cera.

Apparently, 30 ROCK will have done the same thing by the time anyone reads this.

Best of all, proceeds from the show (tickets were being scalped like crazy) went to the show’s production staff that were affected by the strike.

Posted by Mark Coale