A personal diary keeping people abreast of what I am working on writing-wise.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

JUST A SMALL TOWN BOY, BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH DETROIT
TOOK A MIDNIGHT TRAIN GOING TO EMITOWN


Success! I have finally made it in this business we call show. I got an EmiTown cameo.

I am adorable. Though, frankly, I recall being a lot more perky when she came by.

Follow the bouncing image to the full strip...



Current Soundtrack: Bloc Party, "Ion Square;" Primal Scream, "Higher than the Sun;" Portishead, "Requiem For Anna (Un Jour Comme Un Autre - Anna);" Gorillaz, "Ghost Train"

Sunday, September 27, 2009

THE BLACK MARKET ON THE SIDE

Joëlle has a new gallery up at Comic Art Fans to promote the sale of her artwork. It features work from nearly all of our collaborations, as well as Token. Go here and check it out.

She's also updated her blog's "for sale" document to include pricing for all the available You Have Killed Me pages. Click this link to download.

Current Soundtrack: The Colourfield's second album, Deception, which I recently discovered could be purchased for download! I've owned it on cassette, currently own it on vinyl, but it's always been impossible to come by on CD. At last, it can go on my iPod! I'm excited. I'll even forgive them for getting the title of "From Dawn to Distraction" wrong.



Speaking of music...I'll be spinning digital ones and twos this Friday under the moniker DJ Icky Animal. Stay tuned for details...

Thursday, September 24, 2009

VIOLET STARS HAPPY HUNTING!!!



If you've got movies you've been waiting to go out and see, you might want to do that this weekend, because I have three reviews in the pipeline for absolute must-see movies that open next Friday, and I still haven't even seen everything that is coming. It's one of the most packed release calendars of the year. Consider yourselves...warned!

IN THEATRES...

* Bright Star, Jane Campion's portrait of the romance between John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish).

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* The White Sheik, Fellini's first solo film feels like more of a warm-up for the next big race.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Castle: The Complete First Season, the fun cop drama with Nathan Fillion as a mystery writer shadowing a real-life police detective, played with moxie by Stana Katic.

* Observe and Report, Jody Hill's divisive dark comedy. It made me laugh.



Current Soundtrack: The Daily Show, 9/23/09 episode; Paul Heaton, "Mitch (Virgin Radio Session)"

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY

The final issue (for now) of Madman Atomic Comics goes on sale today. In addition to the main story, #17 has pin-ups by Craig Thompson, Barnaby Ward, Joe Quinones, Toby Cypress, Dave Cooper, Garbriel Ba & Fabio Moon, Laughead, Rafael Grampa, and Dave Johnson.



CBR has an eight-page preview.

Current Soundtrack: Oasis, "Little by Little/She is Love" CD single

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

THIRD GEAR, HANG ON TIGHT

Natalie Nourigat's new web diary, Between Gears, is underway. Everybody read it and then bug her about it and make her feel the pressure to keep updating.



Also, be sure to compliment her on her developing brush inking style. Her manga influence is morphing into an indie comics influence that is being overtaken by something totally Tally. ToTally.

Oh, and her mother is wrong. Nice gets you nothing! NOTHING!

Current Soundtrack: TV and the fan
LET THEM ALL TALK

Mike Allred answered some questions for CBR, sharing in a roundtable with Jimmy Palmiotti, Jason Aaron, and Ben McCool, all talking about Liberty Comics #2. You can read the whole thing here.

They also have another page to preview from our story. This one:



The comic is on sale October 14!

Current Soundtrack: Trash Can Sinatras, Weightlifting


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Monday, September 21, 2009

EVERYTHING'S JUST WONDERFUL

Nico's roughs for the last chapter of the first Spell Checkers book, the girls in their party dresses. Plus, joking around with a more emo nerd look.






Current Soundtrack: Castle: The Complete First Season, commentary on episode 1



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Thursday, September 17, 2009

IT'S A LEGAL MATTER, BABY! - Part 2

Wow, the Image marketing machine is in full gear today. Not long after I posted the entry about Liberty Comics earlier, I had to update it with a link to the Paul Pope and Chynna Clugston-Flores' previews.

Now CBR has an amazing look at Jim Lee's remarkable interpretation of a Neil Gaiman poem. Check the article out here. It shows you how the piece below came about, as well as sharing another page from the gorgeous six-page collaboration.



Also, I don't think I ever linked to the page the Beat shared from Brian Wood's Channel Zero story. Look!

I also like this little tease Brian gave us on his Flickr account:



The printed version will run as two double-page spreads.

Current Sountrack: Ian Brown, The Greatest

YOUR SPINELESS MASS AND YOUR SPINELESS MAN



IN THEATRES...

* The Baader Meinhof Complex, an involving docudrama about the 1970s campagins of the European terrorist organization, what Luke Haines called a "Hate Socialist Collective." Opens this weekend in Portland at Cinema 21.

* The Informant!, my favorite movie of recent memory and one of the best of the year. Steven Soderbergh delivers another winner in this offbeat comedy starring Matt Damon.

Jason Bailey also has a good review of the film on his blog.

* World's Greatest Dad, an unfunny black comedy from director Bobcat Goldthwait and Robin Williams. I am surprised by the reviews of this, as I am apparently the only one who found it execrable. I didn't laugh at all, and seeing Robin Williams' penis...well, that speaks for itself.

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* The Human Condition, the epic Japanese movie detailing a pro-Communist soldier's travails in World War II. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Mad Monster Party: Special Edition, a new reissue of the Rankin-Bass horror send-up, one of my favorite movies from my childhood.

* That Hamilton Woman - Criterion Collection, wherein Alexander Korda teams Hollywood's most scandalous couple, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, to play one of history's most scandalous couples, Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

* Treeless Mountain, the second feature from director So Yong Kim. This quiet tale of two young sisters and their private world is wonderfully observed and poignant.



Current Soundtrack: The Monkees, Greatest Hits disc 2 - another socialist collective, those guys

IT'S A LEGAL MATTER, BABY

Chris Arrant talks to myself, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Jason Aaron about our work on Liberty Comics #2.

Follow the picture for the link:



FURTHER UPDATE: Take a look at some of the work by Paul Pope, Jim Lee, and Chynna Clugston.

Current Soundtrack: Dot Allison, Room 7 1/2


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

LES BICYCLETTES DE BELSIZE

Here is another little tease of "Two Wheels, Two Feet," the short I am doing with Megan Levens. Some inked panels:

megan levens early inks-sample1

megan levens early inks-sample2



Megan will be coloring these herself, so some finer details are being left until that stage. The reason I'm not showing you the full pages is that there is a recurring visual motif that will also be laid in when she colors it (you can see the marker for that where the gray "noise" pattern creeps in).

The second sample is what we saw in the pencil stage, too.

Folks looking to hire a comics artist should get in touch with Ms Levens. Though, if you're a dirtbag, I'll likely tell her so, so have a good hard look in the mirror before going through with it. ;)

Current Soundtrack: Thom Yorke, "All for the Best"

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Monday, September 14, 2009

ALL TOGETHER NOW - NOW IN COLOR!

Here is the colored and lettered version of the first page of the "Mr. Gum" story I showed the inks to last week.



As I wrote prior:

This is the first page of "Mr. Gum: Who Sell Out? You Sell Out!" It's written by me, penciled by Mike Allred, inked by Dave Johnson, and is to be colored by Laura Allred. All part of the second issue Liberty Comics, a 48-page one-shot where comics people of all different stripes come together to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. More details here.

All the stories are in on this thing, Comicraft is prepping it for printing as I type.

Current Soundtrack: Yim Yames, Tribute To

Sunday, September 13, 2009

BAD MAN'S WORLD

Comics Should Be Good! at CBR has a new review of You Have Killed Me, which in itself is like a little homage to noir all on its own. I thought it was going to go one way, and then it goes another with a twist ending! Thank goodness. I was braced for a slaughter.

[Joëlle] Jones does a nice job contrasting the seediness of Mercer's life with the high society in which Jennie lives, as well as showing how innocent Mercer once was and the change in him from the past to the present. Again, this is standard noir stuff, but Jones brings it to life beautifully. As the book moves to its climax, her pencils get a bit rougher and a bit more frenzied, bringing the mood up to where it needs to be. The book doesn't turn into a horror show, but bodies do pile up a bit, and Jones is able to match the intensity of the narrative with her art.

[...]

Although, as I mentioned, in many ways this is a typical noir story, I tend to like noir stories, so I like this. In other ways, it rises above the typical noir story, and that might appeal to people who don't love noir. Either way, it has a nifty little mystery that has a good number of twists, and it features art by a rising star.




Current Soundtrack: Muse, "Uprising (Does It Offend You, Yeah? Mix)"

Thursday, September 10, 2009

PROPHECIES & REVERSE MEMORIES

Don MacPherson over at Eye on Comics has an article looking back at the 9-11 benefit comic books, and talks to Kurt Busiek and I about our contributions. Read the article here.

I am not sure I have more to say, other than that I think I sound a little like a dick, but it doesn't make my sentiments any less true. So, instead of saying more, here is Chynna's art, which you can also see on Don's blog:



Current Soundtrack: The Dandy Warhols, "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey"
NINETY-NINE AND A HALF WON'T DO



IN THEATRES...

* 9, the new animated film from Shane Acker turned out to be one of the most disappointing movies this year. Pretty, but pretty vacant.

* Big Fan, the Patton Oswalt-starring drama is a good portrait of one man's chosen isolation and obsession, though it may be getting oversold in the hype.

Portlanders, this starts at Cinema 21 this weekend. Since Patton is in town performing on Sunday, he will also be stopping in at Cinema 21 to answer questions after the 4:30 p.m. showing. He's really great in the flick and knows his shit when it comes to movies, so it should be worth it.

* Extract, Mike Judge's new comedy. Some big laughs, but ultimately too uneven.

* Lorna's Silence, a suspenseful drama from the Dardenne Brothers.

* Whiteout, the Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber comic book comes to the big screen. As an original editor on the comics, what did I think...?

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...



* Last Holiday, a 1950 film in which Alec Guinness goes looking for one final hurrah after being told he only has a couple of months to live. A bittersweet comedy.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Chris Isaak: Greatest Hits - Live, an excellent 2005 set from the crooner.

* Homicide - Criterion Collection, David Mamet's complex police drama starring Joe Mantegna and William H. Macy. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

* Important Things with Demetri Martin: Season One, a pretty good attempt at a thinking man's sketch comedy show.

Important Things with Demetri Martin
Brains - Greatest Minds
www.comedycentral.com
Joke of the DayStand-Up ComedyFree Online Games



Current Soundtrack: Ocean Colour Scene, Scissor Sisters, the Wright Specials

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

AFTER THE SHOWERS CAME FLOWERS

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've started officially writing the second volume of Spell Checkers, and as of yesterday, am already up to page 22. It's enough now to have a solid grasp on it, and I think I may pull back and try to do an actual outline of sorts. I am not a big outliner, but I had actually written a fairly detailed summary of the first volume when I pitched the book, and it worked pretty well when I sat down and finished the script--which, now that I think of it, since I wrote the first "issue" before anything else, it means I started with 22 pages of script and then outlined the rest. Weird. Don't change what works!

By the way, Spell Checkers, Volume 1 is already on Amazon for preorder, though they haven't posted the cover yet. Nico is pretty far into it and on a steady course to finish, so this book is really rolling. We're in early talks to go with Oni to this show in Chicago and debut the book there. Hopefully all three of us: Nico, myself, and Joëlle.



In other comics news, Megan Levens is currently inking an eight-page story I wrote a while ago called "Two Wheels, Two Feet." The story was written once on a lark, based on an idea I had after spotting some interesting graffiti, and earlier this year I showed it to Len Wallace when he told me he was putting together an anthology of romance comics. At one point, Tally was going to draw it, but she got her own story accepted into the anthology.

Then I met Megan. Or I met her again, as it were.

It was at Comic Con on Saturday. She was lurking around the Oni table looking at my books at the same time I was lurking around the Oni table waiting for someone to look at my books. When I moved in for the hard sell, however, she noted that we had met before. She said I had come to her school, the Savannah College of Art in Design, in 2004 and reviewed her portfolio.

I braced myself. "Was I nice to you?"

"Yes," she said. "As a matter of fact, you were the one person who looked me in the face and told me I would draw comics someday, no question."

Intrigued, I pulled her aside and asked to see her work again. From the first page, it was obvious why I had been so enthusiastic. I immediately thought of "Two Wheels" and asked her if I could send her a script. Plus, you know, I hate to be wrong, and this way I can prove I knew what I was talking about all along.

Here are some sample pencils that will make that title self-explanatory:

twowheels-sneak



To use a cheap comparison, her work makes me think of Adrian Tomine drawing 1950s Romance comics.

No word yet on when the book will be out. I'll post here once there is more news.

**

In other news, expect a big movie review post tomorrow. I hadn't banked a lot of reviews before last Friday, and since a couple of movies are coming out today and a couple this Friday, I decided to do one big post for the whole shebang. If you are curious if any of the movies in theaters now were reviewed by me, you can always check here. You'll also see what DVDs I am currently assigned, though it won't tell you that the epic The Human Condition is taking all of my time right now, as that's for my Criterion blog.

Current Soundtrack: Pink Floyd, Echoes

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon * I am on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, just look if you're interested...

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

READERS & WRITERS

The front page of the Multnomah County Library website today...

Today's front page for the Multnomah County Library website



This is Portland's library system, our hometown. Note that they have Joëlle's book Token as a featured item.

By the way, Ms. Jones has plenty of copies of that book if anyone ever wants to get a signed one. I can totally hook it up.

Current Soundtrack: first disc of the new Big Star boxed set, streaming on NPR

Monday, September 07, 2009

ALL TOGETHER NOW

Talk about comic book collaboration.

This is the first page of "Mr. Gum: Who Sell Out? You Sell Out!" It's written by me, penciled by Mike Allred, inked by Dave Johnson, and is to be colored by Laura Allred. All part of the second issue Liberty Comics, a 48-page one-shot where comics people of all different stripes come together to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. More details here.

Mr. Gum page 1 - for Liberty Comics #2



You can follow the link in the picture to see bigger versions. And yes, Madman will make a cameo.

And you saw that I said Dave Johnson, right? The Dave Johnson. The guy who did all those 100 Bullets covers. I still can't believe it.

By the way, I am editing the damn thing. It's almost to bed. Thank goodness. It hasn't gone entirely smoothly, but I am also a rusty old horse. Anthologies are rough beasts. I feel like a retired football player who after five years of sitting on his ass decided to come out of retirement for the Super Bowl. Yet, the two-minute warning is in, and I am going to win this thing yet!

Current Soundtrack: The Beatles, Let It Be
FIX UP, LOOK SHARP



The Comics Reporter has posted an interesting look at the state of comics scripting in mainstream comics, an article of some depth written by Ng Suat Tong. If you click over, fair warning: you may be annoyed, as I was, that the script examples were not big enough to read, and then more frustrated when you discover a button at the bottom of the page, after you've read the whole thing, linking to bigger versions of the files--which are presented out of order and so large as to go right off the screen. Oy vey.

I also had some follow-up thoughts regarding a couple of the points made in the article, which is not a piece I am endorsing as something I agree with entirely, but rather an interesting beginning point for discussion. I do think the writing process and the collaborative process should be discussed more, and I do agree that the writer's name being bigger than the rest is unfair and downright wrong. On the other hand, I specifically felt there was a failing in the representation of Brian Michael Bendis, and I sent the following note to the blog.

Tom -

Ng Suat Tong's survey of mainstream writers and their approach to scripting made for interesting reading, but I think there are two things in regard to Brian Michael Bendis that should be noted. One is an observation, the other a correction of sorts.

1. It seems any meaningful look at Brian's work should have taken into account that he is an artist himself, and though he has all but abandoned cartooning since, by his own admission, draftsmanship was not his strength, one can clearly see a continuity between how he told a story on his own and how he does so in collaboration. While Brian's scripts can be sparse, his role as someone who thinks visually about page construction should not be diminished. Arguably, his arrangement of dialogue from panel to panel, page to page, has been one of the most influential developments in the last ten years or so.

2. In regards to the Daredevil Omnibus, I am pretty sure the image being shown on your site is the dust jacket cover prior to a replacement version being reprinted. The initial shipment had a (c) symbol smack dab in the middle of Daredevil's face, and when Marvel printed loose, corrected versions to ship to customers, Bendis demanded they change the cover copy to include not just the artists, but I believe the colorist, as well. Mr. Tong suggests that Bendis would not likely support such a divide, implied or otherwise, between the importance of the contributors, and that is indeed correct.
___


Jamie S. Rich




I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this topic should come up, since the #1 question promoting You Have Killed Me was in regards to how Joëlle Jones and I collaborate. It's been bubbling through the zeitgeist for some time now. (Also: debates about the role of an editor, for example here and here.) In fact, I had become so conscious to the curiosity regarding this, it inspired that piece I did for Robot 6 where we showed the difference between my script and what Joëlle drew (revisit it here). As you'll see, I am blessed with an artist that doesn't simply rest at "conveying as little mood or sense of place as is present in [the script's] instructions," as Mr. Tong describes. (I actually object to the word "instructions;" that suggests more of authoritative stance than it should, like a writer just tells the artist what to do.) As I've said all along, I only get super visual when I think I have a layout idea or a suggestion of angle or technique worth communicating; that doesn't mean, however, that I am ignoring the nature of how a page works. I seriously doubt that some of the more maligned writers in this article do, either. Looking at Tong's examples, I actually find it interesting that what he considers one of the most successful collaborations, that of Frank Miller and David Mazuchelli, comes from some of the most sparse scripts of all. One need not write a page of script for every panel a la Alan Moore in order to have successful communication between word and image. (Confession of this comics fan: I'd reach for a Miller, Brubaker, or Bendis comic before I'd reach for a Moore comic any day of the week. Throw your stones now.)

Truthfully, if I may be permitted to go slightly off the path, I think the idea of the superstar writer is far less pervasive than is often suggested. There are, sure, a handful of guys that get promoted up top, but I find in this age of the cartoonist, there is actually a strange mistrust of collaboration. Despite the classic comic model being one of team effort, there has been this elevation of the "one guy does it all" concept that I think has often been detrimental to some talented people who rush to do it all when maybe they shouldn't. As a writer, I know better than to try to draw; there are many artists who can't say the same about writing. It should be about what best serves the story, not about what best serves someone's reputation or the consensus of wags on the internet as to what constitutes more important works. (The hive mind amongst the readership also points to a certain dour mini-genre of cartoonist-driven comics, which should no more be the full representation of comics than the capes and tights.) There is no one way to script, just as there is no one way to outline your panel borders or one font to letter. It's all different.

Though a cinematic reference will likely be poo-pooed, I am reminded of a famous Orson Welles quote that is often used to counter the auteur theory of moviemaking: "A writer needs a pen, an artist needs a brush, but a filmmaker needs an army." This statement is actually quite appropriate if we link it to the similar proliferation of the auteur theory in comics. If anything, the greater reverence for the cartoonist has inspired a stronger sense of collaboration in the trenches, and if writers have pulled back on the descriptions in their scripts, it's because they have a greater trust in the people they are working with, not because anyone thinks they are superstars. There is a greater respect on each side for what each contributor does best.

In the back of the recent reprints of The Amazon, there are conversations between Steven T. Seagle and Tim Sale regarding the creation of the series, which had originally been published in 1989, just prior to the emergence of Vertigo. Seagle mentions how Alan Moore's Watchmen scripts had made all the writers feel they must get verbose, to the point where it was practically a competition to see who could write the longest manuscript for a 22-page comic. Eventually, Seagle realized how much he was bogging the artist down with useless information, which then caused things to swing back the other way for him. Sure, there is something fanciful about this idea that a writer can present every tiny piece of information pertaining to his vision, but what's the point if it's agreed on up front that it will never all make it to the page? That's a lot of work for the writer to put it all down and then a lot of work for the artist to cut it all out. To what purpose? Because it sounds neat that the script was so huge? I can either edit to the essential, or I can take the idea and write a prose novel. Trust me, I've never gotten exactly what I wanted in a comic book from overwriting, but I have from effectively communicating the goal.

And effective communication is what all writing is about anyway.

Then again, these days we can also go the opposite. Apparently 140 characters or a Facebook window is supposed to be the ideal length for expressing a thought; yet, I couldn't even fit my first paragraph of this essay on my Facebook profile, and so instead of posting a simple link with a tiny explanation about the images in that link, I came here to have a little more room, and look what the hell happened!

Current Soundtrack: Ian Brown, Solarized; God Help the Girl, Stills EP



e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon * I am on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, just look if you're interested...

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Thursday, September 03, 2009

CAN YOU, MY DARLING, CAN YOU PICTURE THIS?

I COULD BREAK YOUR HEART ANY MONTH OF THE YEAR

Still don't have 12 Reasons Why I Love Her? Then now is a good time to tell your comic book retailer to order it for you. Tell him or her that it's offered again in this month's Diamond Previews amongst Oni Press' November titles. You can see it right there on page 284.

12 Reasons resolicit - November 2011
Bigger sizes through the click



I'm also hearing good things about the Len Wallace book Love Buzz, the new item we are coupled with. More info here. You can go and make it a romantic Thanksgiving by ordering both. Len's blog here.

Current Soundtrack: Mandy Moore, Amanda Leigh ($6.99 download)


e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon * I am on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, just look if you're interested...

All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

HEY, HEY, ZOMBIE MAN

Guy Davis dropped me an e-mail to let me know that he sent a couple of pages from our story from The Dark Horse Book Of The Dead for the gallery show going up tomorrow at Floating World Comics. Though the show will mainly be pages from The Marquis and B.P.R.D., the zombie that emerges at the end of "Kago no Tori" fits in there pretty well.

I am not sure which pages he sent, but out of my files, I chose page 8 to post here. Funnily enough, I don't have jpegs of the inks, so I only have the pencils and Dave Stewart's colors, so if you go down to Floating World after reading this, you can see the stage in between these two.





One page you won't see is the 4th, because that's hanging in my bedroom.



I can state from experience that seeing Guy's originals are a true wonder. His meticulous inking, his hand-laid zipatone, there's very little to compare. I was actually an editor on Oni's early Marquis comics, and much to my eternal professional regret, I let my ego get the better of me and removed my credit in a huff. I felt locked out of the process, and instead of adapting to the situation like I normally did, for whatever reason, I decided to draw a line in the sand. Stupid, really, and barely worth explaining. As a result, the history of Guy's very cool comic will likely be told without me...but you know, I did it to myself. Sometimes screwing up is the only way to learn.

Don't do the same to yourself! Don't regret not going and seeing this show!



Current Soundtrack: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson, "Someday;" Catsanovas, "Flight Stewardess/I Want to Be Loved;" Bob Dylan, "Blowin' in the Wind;" Primal Scream, "Zombie Man;" The Warlocks, "Zombie Like Lovers"
LONESOME WORDS/CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

Johanna Draper Carlson's Publisher's Weekly article about me was actually culled from a much larger interview, which she has now posted in its entirety on Comics Worth Reading:

How is this book something only the two of you [Jamie S. Rich & Joëlle Jones] together could do?

Creative chemistry is just so important. There are just certain things that happen when two particular people get together to make art. You know, like I’m Martin Scorsese and Joëlle is Robert De Niro. Or maybe I’m Paul McCartney and she’s John Lennon--or would that be the other way around? It’s hard to say what exactly happens, but it has to do with point of view, the philosophies we share and the ways we differ, and how those things intersect to make something unique. It’s also that level of respect for and excitement about the other person’s work. I know people think I am being facetious or self-deprecating when I say these things, but it’s true. I adore Joëlle’s drawing, and I want to write to meet her level of craft. It’s not a competition, but it definitely is a mutual challenge.


And a second selection:

Spell Checkers is what I like to call a shower idea. I get these vivid ideas when I am in the shower, I don’t know why. I think it’s some curse, like I am doomed to have my best ideas at times I can’t write them down. When I’m exercising, too. A lot of You Have Killed Me arrived as inspiration on the exercise bike. For Spell Checkers, it was like the day after we had that conversation about the sketch that I was in the shower and saw the first three pages in full detail, and those are still the first three pages of the book. Same thing happened in You Have Killed Me, there is a scene at a horse race where Mercer thinks he has seen something, and the page where that happens, I had an image appear in my brain — which is not that different to what happens to Mercer on that page, when you think about it. It’s an important moment, a turning point in the story and definitely a turning point during the writing, where the book started to really come alive. Usually I thumbnail visions of those kind, I sketch them out, as it’s the fastest way to get them out of my head and stop thinking about them. I did it with Spell Checkers, I did it with the first page of “The Jailhouse Swing,” our story in Popgun volume 3. I never show those thumbnails to Joëlle, the most I’ll do is try to type up how I see it, explain the layout, and it amazes me, but every time it’s one of those scenes, what she draws is exactly what I saw. It’s uncanny.


Current Soundtrack: Gruff Rhys, "Skylon!"



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All text (c) 2009 Jamie S. Rich