Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Monday, March 01, 2021

Meet a Lunatic: A Chat with Graphic Novelist Dan Mazur

by Mike Rhode

Out of nowhere last fall, Dan Mazur sent me an advance copy of his excellent wordless fantasy graphic novel, Lunatic. Lunatic is the story of a late-Victorian woman obsessed with the Moon, or perhaps more correctly, the man in the Moon. I recommend it highly. In fact, I liked it so much I bought a copy for myself when he did a book talk, and sent the first one to Michigan State University's Comic Art Collection. I also reached out to thank Dan, and asked him to do an interview.

 First, here's the official description of Lunatic

The moonstruck Lunatic is an unusual and striking graphic novel in the tradition of wordless books by the likes of Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward and William Gropper. Part fable, part classic adventure in the tradition of Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Méliès, the tale is told in nearly 200 full-page, wordless images in a variety of media from pencil, pen and ink, ink wash and paint that lovingly evoke the artistic styles of its period setting, and classic illustrators from Charles Dana Gibson and Toulouse Lautrec to Edward Gorey.

The word “lunatic” derives from Latin, meaning “of the moon”, or “moonstruck” and in this sense it describes the protagonist of this story: from infancy she develops a magical, almost intimate relationship with the moon itself, a celestial being who acts as her friend, lover, mentor. Our heroine is a dreamer, an outsider, never feeling like she quite belongs to this world. We follow her through the stages of life, infancy, childhood, youth and adulthood, at each point guided by the moon toward a fateful journey and an unexpected destiny. A timeless and charming story of longing, loneliness and the pursuit of dreams.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

Different kinds, but all of it independent. For my own creative work, I work almost completely independently, and mostly self-published.  So I write and draw, whatever I feel like doing.  I’ve done some historically-based comics, and some fantasy, some super-hero, but with an ironic take on the genre.  Most recently I did my first long-form graphic novel, “Lunatic,” which was published by Fanfare.  It’s black and white, a “wordless book,” with one image per page, so pretty much on the arty side of things. But totally accessible, I hope!  It has a children’s book feel, but it’s not a children’s story really – at least not by contemporary standards.  It’s really a sort of fantasy/fable about life, dreams, disappointments…

cover art by Kurt Ankeny

I also work within the Boston Comics Roundtable, which is a collective of cartoonists here in Boston (like what you all do in DC), and I have edited quite a few anthologies within that group, currently working on Boston Powers,which is an all ages superhero anthology, all set in and around Boston.  Recommended even for kids not from Boston, though!  I’ve also edited and published some themed anthologies through Ninth Art Press, which is my own micropress. 

And lastly I do some historical or scholarly comics writing, such as co-writing with Alexander Danner, a few years back, a book called “Comics: a Global History, 1968 to the Present,” and last year an article on The Comics Journal, “Ibrahim Njoya: a comics artist in Colonial-era Cameroon.” 

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

Mostly traditional, pen, brush, ink, ink washes etc., though I make liberal use of Photoshop for touchups, corrections, sometimes combining images.  But pretty much I always start with as fully finished a traditional drawing as I can.

In your new book, Lunatic, you used multiple sets of techniques - how come?

It’s partly a conceptual thing: since the book is divided into chapters about different ages in the character’s life, from infancy to middle age, it seemed to make sense to change up something stylistically in each phase of the story. So the changing styles hopefully reflects the changing way the character sees life at different stages. 


Also, it was the longest project I’d ever taken on, so I think that I decided to change things up from chapter to chapter to keep my own interest fresh.  It was more like doing 8 or 9 short projects in that way.

Is Lunatic an homage to silent movies?

Partly – I couldn’t help but think about Melies’ Voyage to the Moon, and the innocence of early science fiction movies…just building a big rocket and flying to the moon, walking around on the moon as though you could breathe there.  The face in the moon of course.  And my chapter heading pages are modeled on silent movie caption cards, with the ornate border.  It was probably more just a love of the past and the Victorian aesthetic in general, but wordless story-telling in comics relates to silent movies, the purity of it.  I had a friend once who was really into silent movies, and she was about my age, so grew up with talkies like everyone else alive today, but she used to say “sound ruined the movies.”  Joking, but I like the purist approach.  Not that I prefer silent movies myself, or have any scruples about words in comics.  MOST of the comics I do have words.

Why did you make it wordless?

It wasn’t a decision I thought through.  I like wordless comics, and have done a few before.  Sometimes I just naturally think of a story, and it’s purely visual.  Other times the idea couldn’t be done wordlessly. 

How long have you been working on it?

I started Lunatic in mid-2016 and finished in early 2020.  It was a long time, a lot longer than I thought it would take.

How did you hook up with Fanfare, a publisher that more typically translates work from Europe into America? Is your book for sale by them overseas?

I’ve always liked the kind of books that Fanfare puts out… I happened upon a book of theirs called “A Patch of Dreams” by Hideji Oda, which was the first “alternative manga” type thing I ever saw, and I loved it.  Years later, I met Stephen Vrattos, who is Fanfare’s US person… I met him at SPX in fact, and bought some stuff from him, and we hung out a bit… then I think I met Stephen Robson, who runs the company in the UK, also at SPX.  I really liked the production quality of their books and their taste.  I hadn’t actually submitted a comic to a publisher before ever (except for anthology submissions), so when it came time to “shop” Lunatic I chose a few publishers where I personally knew someone there.  Fanfare was top of my list, so Stephen V. helped me get it to Stephen R., and luckily he liked it. 

They’re selling it in the UK.  So far not in any other countries as far as I know.

So, returning to our standard biographical questions, when (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

December 19, 1959.

Where do you live now?

Cambridge, Massachusetts

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I was a fine arts major in college, but as far as cartooning it’s all self-education and training… I took a few classes years ago at a school called “Associates in Art” which were actually quite helpful.  And of course, the input and examples of other cartoonists, especially the ones I know through Boston Comics Roundtable.

Who are your influences?

I think like most people I have hundreds of influences from a lifetime of comics reading and other input. 

Childhood influences: DC comics (Neal Adams & Kirby’s Fourth World especially) and MAD of the 60s and 70s and Peanuts, as well as lots of different children’s book illustrators.

Youth: R. Crumb and other underground cartoonists – but especially Crumb. Not his sexist/ racist stuff as much though… there IS a lot of Crumb work which is neither.  The French artists introduced to the US by Heavy Metal, especially Moebius and Nicole Claveloux.

Later on, it was a real revelation to discover Love & Rockets, which brought a lot of the threads I liked in comics together – mature and smart, but also playful and fantastic, and amazingly well-crafted and expressive artwork.  I also really got into Scott Pilgrim when that came out, for its playfulness and zaniness and energy, and incorporation of manga ideas. 

When working on the Comics: A Global History book, I discovered lots and lots of artists I never really knew about who’ve had a big influence. Shojo manga of the 70s, the “Year 24 group,” for their formal innovations and emotionalism.  Yumiko Oshima is a favorite, though her work has never been officially translated. She is less “over the top” than some of them like Moto Hagio or Ryuko Ikeda (who I also love), but has a “quieter” softer approach… makes great use of negative space on the page, her comics are sad & moody and wistful.

Alberto Breccia, the Argentinian artist – just one of the greatest artists who ever worked in comics, and he experimented with different styles and media his whole life, never got into a rut.

Oh but also, there are project-specific influences… so on Lunatic I looked at different types of artists – mostly if not exclusively non-comics artists – for some of the different chapters.  I’m working on something new now, and my model is the French artist Fred, and very particularly a comic he did in the early 60s, Le Petit Cirque, which is wonderful and quirky and not like anything else I can think of. To “warm up” for the project I’m doing studies of that comic, just copying panels from it as closely as I can, and hopefully something will rub off on me. 

By the way, maybe that’s a good answer for “cartoonist’s block”: copy something you really like.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

Well… I guess I would have gotten serious about comics a lot earlier… in the late 70s/early 80s when I was in school, there was little encouragement in the culture for comics as art, and I didn’t have the guts to do it anyway – I have huge respect for the artists of my generation who did.  I think I understood the potential of the medium then, but just didn’t have the independence of mind to follow it as a passion.  But maybe that means I just wasn’t ready, so it’s just as well.   I’m kind of glad to be able to publish my first graphic novel at 60… at least I’m not going to get jaded.  So, the answer to your question is really “nothing.”

What work are you best-known for?

Ha ha ha.  I don’t know.  I have the same name as a major mountain climber.

What work are you most proud of?

The next one.

Your last book before Lunatic was a history of comics. Can you tell us about it?

Alexander Danner and I co-wrote it, as I said.  I had this idea that comics history, as opposed to history of any other art, tends to be very nationalist and parochial… separate history of comics in separate countries, and here in the US we don’t know much about comics of other lands, especially if they’ve never had a commercial existence here in the US.  That was much more true 10 years ago when the book was conceived than it is now, happily.  This seemed very different than art history, or film history, or the history of literature or music, where if you know the first thing, you’re likely to know quite a bit about European work, and probably some Asian as well.  And the artists along the way in all those fields did too, so there are international trends as well as national “schools” of art, etc.  So we set out to do sort of parallel chronologies of what we deemed to be the three major comics cultures: Japan, U.S. and Europe, and especially looking for moments where there were connections and influences between the cultures. It was going to be the ENTIRE history, starting in the middle ages, or whenever, but the publisher Thames & Hudson decided that was too much for one book, so we split it in two, choosing 1968 as the dividing point, for various reasons.  And they wanted to do that one first because it had more commercial appeal... but so far we’ve never gotten round to doing “volume one,” which is sort of a shame. On the other hand, it was an enormous amount of work, so I’m sort of content with letting it stay one volume.

I have to say now that I think that while we were trying to bring world comics together as a single field, we left too much out… It was probably as much as we could handle, but I feel bad that there is nothing about the Philippines, Africa, India… I’ve learned SINCE finishing the book how much we left out.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I have other projects lined up… they continue the completely self-indulgent, whatever-I-feel-like approach.  I just hope for variety, and not to bore myself… so there isn’t another wordless book in the near future.  But experimenting with different styles and formats will always appeal to me.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I get down on myself and anxious for a while… then I force myself to sit down and just start.  I don’t know any secrets or tricks or rituals, I just find that brute force to get yourself to start is the only way, and then it will work out.  I remind myself that anything Is better than nothing.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

I’m hopeful for the future of the printed comic as cherished object, even with the rise of digital comics.  I think there will be a place for that.  I’m hoping that comics shows will come back after the Pandemic, since that’s an important way for independent comics to find their readership.  Honestly, I just hope that the world and humanity survive in recognizable form.  Telling stories with drawings will survive if it does.


What cons do you attend?  What are your thoughts about SPX? Can you discuss MICE and how you came to found it?


When I started working in independent comics in the aughts, I discovered comics shows like SPX, APE, MOCCA etc., and smaller shows, zine fairs, and loved everything about them.  The variety of work, the interaction with the crowd, the fellow-feeling with other cartoonists.  Shelli Paroline and I were in BCR at the time, and we felt that Boston should have a show like that.  We got involved with the Boston Zine Fair… which in its then-current incarnation was on its last legs, and as it sort of disintegrated, we morphed into MICE (the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo). I was teaching comics at the Art Institute of Boston, which was then part of Lesley University, and they agreed to host the first one in 2010, and Lesley has been our home for the show ever since (in Cambridge).  Its grown a lot, but I think it retains the qualities we were going for to begin with :  a warm celebration otf independent comics, like a big creative party for cartoonists and readers. 

SPX is the gravitational center of independent comics show, I think.  I’m not sure if it was the first, but it’s outlasted some of the others that I first went to (we’ll see which ones return after Covid --  I hope they all do), and it’s a lot of fun because of being held in the hotel where most of the exhibitors stay… a big comics party!  I hope to be there again soon.

What's your favorite thing about visiting DC?

I’ve visited DC some over the years – my wife lived there before we were married, back in the 80s so I saw it most back then.  When I go to SPX I mostly see the inside of the hotel in Bethesda.  But what I like most about DC are the museums – the Hirschhorn, the Phillips, National Gallery, etc.  Also a great food town…

Least favorite?

the original drawing done in my book ordered from HBS

I guess the whole area is so spread out, so going to SPX I see Bethesda… I have family in McLean, and we go there almost every year for Thanksgiving, and pretty much never get out of McLean, which is a nice place to live, but not much to visit (though we walked past Lyn Cheney’s house, I think).

What monument or museum do you like to visit?

I haven’t been to those art museums in a long time… I guess the Phillips was my favorite, it’s sort of like the Gardner here in Boston, in an old house and based on one art collector’s tastes and vision, from a great period, early Modern Art.

How about a favorite restaurant?

It’s been too long to remember the names of them… but DC was where I discovered Ethiopian food… I think there was a place called Red Sea – it was ages ago but it’s a safe bet there was an Ethiopian restaurant called Red Sea. More recently but still a few years back, I went with some fellow cartoonists to a really good Ethiopian place in walking distance from the Marriott after SPX one year… I think it was called Sheba, at least that’s the only Ethiopian restaurant I can find on Google maps near SPX. If it’s a different one, it looks good anyway.

How has the pandemic affected you? 

 I've been fine, personally, and able to work at a reasonable pace on my own comics.  But a bad time to be coming out with Lunatic and Boston Powers -- that one in particular was pretty much designed to sell to kids at comics shows.  I'm looking forward to live events being possible again!

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Jeffrey Thompson illustrations in a new fantasy novel

I was reading The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp, a fantasy novel about magicians and luck gods in New Orleans this week, and thinking something looked familiar about the interior illustrations.



It turns out that they're done by Jeffrey Thompson, of Baltimore. For many years, Jeff was the Wednesday staff at Big Planet Comics Bethesda and I've followed his illustration career for years. It was a good feeling to see these illustrations in a brand new book. I didn't photograph them all, but the Tarot Card concept is integral to the plot.

I enjoyed the book quite a bit, and I've seen it compared online to American Gods which seems reasonable. I'd recommend it.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Interview with Greg Pak (Incredible Hulk, Kingsway West, Eternal Warrior)

by Mike Favila (Guest Writer / ComicsOnline.com Senior Editor)

My neighbor (and Editor-In-Chief) Mike Rhode is taking his daughter off to college for the first time, so I'm taking a second away from my duties at ComicsOnline.com to interview writer Greg Pak for ComicsDC.

If you're not familiar with Greg Pak's work,chances are you probably just haven't been reading the credits that tightly.  I've mostly recently read his stuff for the relaunch of Eternal Warrior through Valiant Comics, but he's the man responsible for the awesomely out there World War Hulk storyline.  I didn't know this until I read his Wiki, but he also created Amadeus Cho.  Not too shabby.

Thanks for taking the time to chat.  Here's a few questions to start with:

What was the genesis for Kingsway West?  Obviously there's been different pieces of fiction relating to the Chinese people in a Western setting, but the fantasy elements are way more pronounced than anything I've read before.  

I first started thinking about about telling a story with a Chinese gunslinger in the Old West over twenty years ago. I grew up in Texas and loved Westerns, and when I learned about the real history of Chinese immigrants in the Old West, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. So this was my dream project when I started film school in the '90s. And after I started writing comics, I worked on different comic book versions of the story, doing a couple of short stories for the OUTLAW TERRITORY anthology with artists Ian Kim and Sean Chen. But I always wanted to do a longer version of the story, and eventually started talking with editor Jim Gibbons at Dark Horse. Jim loved the characters and story I pitched, but asked if there was something more I could bring to the story to push it over the top. And I thought about it for a while, and found myself thinking about fantasy and magic. I'd loved Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons when I was growing up for some of the same reasons I'd loved Westerns -- that kind of big, epic, outdoor adventure is part of both genres. And the more I worked on it, the more it made sense to merge those genres in a story about a Chinese gunslinger searching for his wife in an Old West overrun with magic.

How did you get together with Mirko Colak?

Mirko and I worked together on Marvel's RED SKULL INCARNATE and Dynamite's TUROK, both books that involved realistic, historically based material. I knew he'd absolutely kill on a Western. He's been tremendous. And I should add that colorist Wil Quintana and letterer Simon Bowland are doing amazing work on the book as well. I'm so lucky and happy!

How did you end up publishing at Dark Horse?

If I'm remembering correctly, I think Mirko had met Jim somehow and made the introduction. As soon as I started talking with Jim, I knew I wanted to do the book there. Jim asked all the right questions to push me to make the book better. Jim since left the company to work for Stela, but Spencer Cushing has taken over as editor and Spencer's been fantastic -- just a tremendous sounding board and advocate and hustler to keep the book on time and make it as good as it can be.



How much of the arc do you have planned out?

I've written all four issues of the miniseries. I've got my fingers mightily crossed -- if the numbers are good enough, we may be able to do a second volume. So if anyone reading is interested, please do ask your local comics shop to order the books for you, or go to KingswayWest.com and pre-order there!

I loved the relaunch of Eternal Warrior, and was impressed with your take on it.  Were you a fan of original Valiant comics?  How did you get involved?

Thanks so much for the kind words! I actually didn't read many of the original Valiant comics -- they came out during a window in time when I wasn't buying a ton of monthlies. But I always loved the concepts. I got pulled on board ETERNAL WARRIOR by editor Warren Simons, with whom I'd done MAGNETO TESTAMENT over at Marvel. I loved working with Warren and was thrilled to have a shot at working with him again. And the Eternal Warrior character was up my alley -- again, as a fan of outdoor adventure and fantasy. I'm particularly proud of the second arc we did on that series, drawn by Robert Gill, in which we jumped a couple of thousand years into the future. Had a huge amount of fun with the worldbuilding there, and I loved the emotional story between Gilad and his granddaughter.

Did you have to coordinate with the other titles launching for Valiant, or did Warren provide a lot of the parameters?

I definitely read the other issues that had referenced Gilad before I started. And Warren definitely kept it on track continuity-wise. He had a great eye on the big picture all the time -- he's just done a tremendous job herding all those books.

As a Filipino, I've always been drawn to the names of the Asian creators (like Whilce Portacio or Frank Cho) that have been on the credits of the comics I read growing up.  It seems like seeing realistic Asian characters portrayed on the page(such as the Amadeus Cho Hulk) is the natural next step.  Do you feel that this is just a reflection of society today, or did that require a concerted effort on the part of comic companies/creators?

I've been writing comics for over twelve years now, and from the beginning, my editors have always supported my working diverse characters into the casts of my books. My very first published comic was the WARLOCK mini in 2004, which starred an Asian American woman named Janie Chin. And artist Takeshi Miyazawa and I created Amadeus Cho eleven years ago, and I was able to write him as a supporting character in the Hulk books and eventually as the co-star of the INCREDIBLE HERCULES series, co-written with Fred Van Lente, for over four years. And over the years I also created S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Jake Oh and used Suzie Endo in the SILVER SURFER book and created a half-Japanese alternative-world Namor in X-TREME X-MEN and used Sharon (played by Grace Park in the television series) as the central character in the second half of my BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series and wrote a bunch of book starring other people of color. So in my experience, working with the awesome editors I've had over the years, the door has always been open -- I just had to walk through it.

But I also think we're living at a time when more and more people are aware that audiences want more diverse casts and more and more creators of different backgrounds are breaking in and blowing up in all kinds of great ways, which is great. Fifteen years ago, when I was speaking at film festivals with my films, I used to say that in fifteen years the changing demographics of the country would make it a no-brainer to make media with diverse casts. We're in the middle of businesses waking up to that right now, and it's very exciting.

Less related, but also curious: How are you involved with Fresh Off The Boat?  I saw something on your Wiki, but I had no clue that you had a hand in the show.

Oh, I love the show, but I'm not at all involved in its creation or production. I was a lucky participant on a panel discussion about it when it premiered. I'm thrilled it's done so well -- it's time, huh?

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Jasmine Pinales

by Mike Rhode

Jasmine Pinales exhibited at the DC Zinefest and agreed to answer our usual questions afterward. She will be at SPX this fall if you'd like to meet her, and her comics are for sale now on her website. (All images are taken from her website).

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I write and draw fiction and autobio comics.


How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

My work is all traditional. I pencil, ink and letter on paper. I've used ink, markers and watercolor for my final pages depending on what best fits a project. I have produced some digital art but it never feels as strong as my traditional art, I don't think it's the best representation of my art. I lay out my comics on computer and do corrections and clean up.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

1988.

Why are you in Washington now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I live outside of DC in Fairfax County. We moved here when I was 3 and I've been here most of my life. I went to Norfolk for college then returned.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

Most of my comics work is self taught. I spent my childhood reading the WashPo comics section, collected Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes and other strips. In late elementary school I got interested in anime and manga and started copying that while still be interested in  American cartoons and the eventual rise of webcomics on the internet. I've never taken a comics class, I've learned by example and reading all of the backmatter in comics about how pages are made. I've got Eisner's books on comics, and McCloud's which gave me more concrete ideas on how to make better comics. I have a BFA in Studio Art where I focused on comics for my Senior Show, so I have art training.

Who are your influences?

Everything. I really got into Will Eisner's work between The Spirit and his more personal projects after he was done with that. Piet Mondrian is one of my favorite painters, I love Dali and Caravaggio. Yuko Ota and Meredith Gran have some of the best comic timing and gorgeously clean art. Takako Shimura has comics fill of emotional characters and art that has a nice weight to it. So many cartoons, I loved The Weekenders and Recess as a kid. I've pulled visual cues I like from Jen Wang, I really like the was she draws eyes. Craig Thompson's work is gorgeous and made me want to try harder with brushes/brush pens. Internet discussions have made me more confident and inspired to try a broader variety in body types and more diversity, even though plenty of my early characters had variety.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

 All of my past experiences have brought me to where I am now and things would be different if I changed anything. That said, it'd be interesting to see how things could be different if I had gone into college focusing on comics and art and not transferring to comics after a few years in science.

What work are you best-known for?

I don't think I'm known for anything at this moment.

What work are you most proud of?

"How to Make Friends and Captivate People", it's my longest comic to date at 28 pages or so, the printed book has 40 because of an extra story. It was a struggle to produce as I had never tried such a long narrative and I misjudged how long it would take.

What would you like to do  or work on in the future?

 I'd like to continue working on my various stories and characters. I have a female knight and prince story; a group of theater nerd kids; a depressed robot and a myriad of others that I'm sketching out and thinking over slowly. I have a lot of ideas and just need the money and time to focus on them.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I'll step away from a project and create differently. Changing media or tools helps to reinvigorate me to focus on the main projects I'm working toward. This year I got into Hamilton and drew a mess of art, sketches and comics and in the past few weeks I've been listening to the audiobook of Jurassic Park and have had a wealth of ideas for mini comics about the first book that have relatively little to do with the movie. Sometimes indulging and receiving media is necessary to get a new spark, you'll see the right turn of phrase and everything starts turning again and you can keep creating. Another thing I've done, in 2013 after college I stopped drawing just to take a break and I felt awful not drawing anything after a few months so I forced myself to do a little sketch before bed.

 Those sketches turned into a sketchbook I have a shows for sale as I worked through being burnt out and getting back into the groove of production. In 2014 I did a daily sketchbook where I tried different ideas in the small spaces I had. These were for me but sharing them was a great experience too as I became more comfortable with what I could do in the space provided and looked up new topics.

What do you think will be the future of your field? 

More independent creators and creator owned work becoming popular and bigger powerhouses in comics shops. Image does an amazing job putting creators first and Fantom Comics in Dupont Circle works so hard to promote creator own material even as they stock DC and Marvel. They're still big in supporting local DMV creators.

What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

I've attended SPX since 2012 and this is my first year tabling it, I'm excited. It's a lovely show to attend, a large crowd but there's so much positivity and love for comics in everyone attending and tabling it's great. I'll have at least one new book there that weekend that I'm working on. I'm at L7.

BMore Into Comics in Baltimore is a fun little day show. It's tiny -- in a bar -- but as an attendee you would have plenty of time to talk to the local artists who are tabling. An upside to small shows over big shows and some great local creators go there.

The DC Zinefest - I've shown there since 2015, the audience is very enthusiastic. It's great seeing how many female creators there are.

The Richmond Zinefest, I've tabled there two times now, and it's been in different venues both years, but has been going on for a while in its previous venue. The way it was set up in the library felt confusing as a tabler, maybe it was better for someone who knows that library better, but I heard from many people as they stumbled to the room I was in they were surprised there was another room.

Locus Moon in Philly, I showed there in 2015, it was a ton of fun. Great creators and audience. Everyone there was super enthusiastic. I've heard they're focusing more on publishing and I'd like to go to the show again, not sure if it's happening anymore.

Comics Arts Brooklyn - a small show in a church in Brooklyn, NY. Like smaller shows you get a great change to meet and talk to a creator for a while. Attendance has been enthusiastic and it's at a pretty good time of year in November, chilly but not too cold.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

The variety of people and things to do.

Least favorite?

Metro. Also driving around here is a hassle, not always a direct way someplace. I can drive from where I am to Maryland in 30 minutes or to the middle of the city in 45.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

I don't have many visitors, I'd want to show them the [National Gallery of Art's] East and West Galleries though; I'm a big fan of art history.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

Daikaya in Chinatown. Both the upstairs Izakaya and the downstairs ramen bar.

Do you have a website or blog?

jasmine-pinales.com also meisterjdraws.tumblr.com

Monday, September 21, 2015

Chatting with Scott Reichert about Indigo Comics

by Mike Rhode

Donna Lewis, the DC-area cartoonist behind the Reply All comic strip who suggested that our readers might be interest in the work of a fledgling company partially-based in nearby Baltimore. Since the Baltimore Comic-Con is coming up in a few days, we chatted with writer Scott Reichert about the company's first comic book which will be available at the show.

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?  

My brother, Robert, and I operate a digital publishing studio called Indigo Comics and recently released our first full length book. We do superhero type stuff in the Marvel/DC tradition. Our main book, Zachariah Thorn is a macabre horror/mystery steeped in the occult.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born? 

We are children of the 80's.

Why are you in Baltimore now?  What neighborhood or area do you live in? 

 I live on the southwest outskirts of the city in a neighborhood called Violetville.  My brother, Robert, has been based in southern California, near Los Angeles, for the past 8 years.

How do you do your comic?  As the writer, do you do thumbnails, or a full script before passing it along to the artist? And then is the art done in traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
So the original concept for Zachariah Thorn was to do a story about a teenager who gains magical powers but who's powers change from issue to issue to, hopefully, comedic effect. The more I worked on the idea the more the task of changing the powers from issue to issue became more of a chore in my brain. Then a few years ago, around the time I posted on digital webbing and found our artist, I was feeling down about not having been doing enough work on creative projects so I told myself I need to power through a finish one project all the way to the end.

Zachariah Thorn was the most manageable story idea I had as far as the world and basic mythology were concerned. So, I abandoned the idea of the main character having a revolving door of powers and decided to set the first issue 10 years after he gained his power. That allowed me to just jump in without worrying about going through the origin, and instead pepper in clues about his origin through flashbacks and dream sequences. There are a lot of themes that I hope to explore should we have the opportunity to keep making more books. The main character is constantly at odds with himself and his struggle in dealing with his dark powers would be used as a metaphor for depression and mental illness.

As far as the nuts an bolts of my process, I like to use process flow mapping software like Visio to map the key moments in the story. Once I have those thoughts organized chronologically, I begin filling the spaces in between while scripting. I write my script up just like a film screenplay. I "cast" all of the characters in the story and send the artist pictures of the actors I would use if I were casting a movie or TV version of my book. Lastly, if I have a specific ideas in my head of how something should look, I will do a google image search and paste the image inside the script for the artist to use as reference.

Our artist Bonkz Seriosa then works with pencils and boards. He sends us the hi-res jpegs that my brother, Robert, digitally inks and colors. We have a technique to get an inked look by adjusting the value levels of the pencils, and then retouching the result.

Where did you find Bonkz?

A few years ago, after several kind of starts and stops to the comic making process, I decided I was going to press on with my goal of creating something and seeing it through to fruition. My brother Robert does a lot of work in the industry and suggested I try posting a paid job offer to www.digitalwebbing.com. I received dozens upon dozens of submissions but Bonkz's work really resonated with my tastes. I have been working with him on this project on and off for a few years now and he is a delightful fellow who is always enthusiastic and engage with the work we are doing.
Bonkz is from the Phillipines. His real first name is Jergen, but he likes to be called Bonkz and he signs his artwork that way as well. If you look closely at the last page of our book he cleverly put his name on the tombstone in the foreground as his way of signing the art.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?  

Robert is a graduate of the design program at California State University and has been illustrating since he was a child. I do not have a single artistic bone in my body.

Who are your influences?  

Joss Whedon, Robert Kirkman, and Brian K. Vaughn when it comes to writing. I've also always been a big fan of Terry Dodson, Tony Moore, John Cassaday, Ryan Ottley, and Frank Quitely to name a few artists.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?  

I would have pursued a degree is creative writing so I could sound as accomplished as all the wonderful people who have collaborated with me and helped bring this project to life! 
What work are you best-known for?  

Hopefully for Zachariah Thorn!

What work are you most proud of?  

Zachariah Thorn#1 for sure as it is our first full length release and represents several years of work finally coming to fruition. 

What would you like to do or work on in the future?  

My dream would be to build enough of an audience to simply offset the costs of creating more original books. Anything beyond that is gravy.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?  

When I have writer's block I usually take a step back from what it is I am working on for a day or two and revisit it when I am fresh. I also find it helps to move over to other projects and give them some attention for a bit.

What do you think will be the future of your field?  

Interactive/motion comics. I think if you look at what Madefire is doing you will see the future of comic books (at least in the style that we are creating). They are so immersive. I truly believe something is going to come along like The Walking Dead that is going to be a big hit in popular culture that will launch interactive/motion comics as the new standard.
by Mike Rhode


What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo or others? Any comments about attending them?  
We will presenting at this years Baltimore Comic Con (September 25th, 26th, & 27th), Artist Alley Booth #A53. We are really excited. This is our first time actually presenting so we aren't sure what to expect! We plan to have printed copies of Zachariah Thorn #1, some posters, stickers, wristbands, and postcards. We may have gone a little overboard on the schwag!


What's your favorite thing about Baltimore?  
Seeing a ballgame at Camden Yards and karaoke at the Hippo before it closed.

Least favorite?  
Aside from some of the more painful realities that plague Baltimore (they are way to heavy for someone as dumb as me to speak on) I would have to say the severe lack of parking.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to? 
The Walters Art Museum for sure and Camden Yards!

How about a favorite local restaurant? 
Los Portales, best Tex Mex in the area!

Do you have a website or blog?  



Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Meet a Local Cartoonist: Garth Graham


 Garth Graham was at last fall's Intervention con and answered my usual questions.

Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

Garth Graham: I'm a webcomic artist. Right now I'm working on an urban fantasy, before that a slice-of-life comedy strip, next up who knows! Something in space maybe.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I used to pencil and ink by hand, but these days I do everything digitally. I use a Wacom Cintiq, do my line art in Corel Painter and all of my color work in Photoshop.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in '83. I'll leave you to guess which century.

Why are you in Washington now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?

Actually I live in Virginia, down in Stafford. I came here when my parents moved here and haven't found a particularly compelling reason to move away yet. The greater DC area is very centrally located to a lot of the conventions I go too, and there's quite the wealth of comic artists in the area.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I don't have any formal training in cartooning. I went to Virginia Tech to get my degree in Industrial Design, which overlaps a surprising amount with what I do. But the art and the story telling and all the comic-specific skills are things I've worked at and built up on my own over time.

Who are your influences?

Probably too many to list, but chiefly among them reside Mark Silvestri, Phil Foglio, J Scott Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, Douglas Adams, Robert A. Heinlein, Peter F. Hamilton and many many others.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

That's a hard question. I don't really know if I'd change anything. Hindsight says I might have been better off if I had timed some things differently (launching new titles right as the housing market crumbles for instance), but there isn't really a moment that I wish I could go back to and re-do.

What work are you best-known for?

I am probably best known for my series of twisted faerie tale art prints.

What work are you most proud of?

Whatever is most recent. Every new page, every new print. Each piece I feel is better than the last, and that's what I'm most proud of.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

In the future I'm hoping to work on some more sci-fi kinds of stuff. Science fiction is what I grew up on, and while a lot of people consider me a steampunk artist, sci-fi is still my go to source for awesome and wonder.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I go do something else. Anything else. I boot up the xbox, I go for a jog, or go to the gym to do some rockclimbing. Something that works a different part of my brain, or no part at all. I let my subconscious churn it over for a bit and it always comes back to me with a solution.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

I think, given time, all comics will be webcomics. They'll be in print too, absolutely, but the first point of distribution will be digital, will be on the web. I think this will allow for a real surge of independent (i.e. not Marvel or DC) comics into the public eye. The Marvel and DC universes won't be the entirety of what make up American comics in the minds of the general populace. It's going to be a wild trip.

What local cons do you attend ? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

Local to DC, I attend Intervention and Katsucon regularly. AnimeUSA is another local con I've been to in the past. I'm hoping to get into SPX next year.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

Let's be honest, there's a LOT of cool stuff going on in DC. Not just history and politics and the center of power of what is arguably still the most powerful nation on the planet, but there's enough social life going on that no matter what your interest or inclination you can find it happening somewhere and join in the party.

Least favorite?

The traffic.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

I've a long standing love of the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, both the one in DC and the big one out by Dulles.

How about a favorite local restaurant?
While not technically in DC proper, I'm a big fan of Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring. Great atmosphere, great food, wenches, sea shanties, fire shows, and belly dancing. What more could you want?

Do you have a website or blog?

Several, in fact! My most actively updated website is, of course, my current comic Finder's Keepers which can be found at http://www.finderskeepers.gcgstudios.com/ . My former site is http://www.gcgstudios.com/