IMAGE FANTOME: 12 REASONS FOR JOELLE'S BIRTHDAY

Today is the birthday of the most splendid Joëlle Jones. To commemorate, Nicolas Hitori de drew this lovely rendition of Gwen, the leading lady from mine and Joëlle's first book together, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOELLE! xoxo

Current Soundtrack: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC

I think I have come to the tail end of what turned out to be more labor-intensive for an obsessive-minded music nerd such as myself than even I anticipated.

Given the positive reaction to the Spotify playlist that I created for Bobby Pins and Mary Janes, I decided to backtrack and rebuild the playlists for all my books that had them or could have had them.

For instance, if I had a Cut My Hair mix, it was on cassette. There was no such thing as iTunes or Spotify back then. So, for that book, I just pulled out a copy and flipped through the pages, building a rather long playlist based on chapter titles and significant songs. You can access the results through this link if you have Spotify.

It's not as complete as I'd like. A couple of songs are missing. In fact, a lot of the playlists I have built are incomplete. Some of the more obscure Britpop that makes up a lot of The Everlasting's original list is just not available in the States. Neither is the Faye Wong track that should be on the Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? list, not to mention the Geneva title track. Same goes for My Life Story's "12 Reasons Why I Love Her"--in fact, 12 Reasons has such a bad batting average, I was forced to actually label the list as "incomplete."

On the other hand, almost all the songs from Love the Way You Love are there, and you can hear tracks from all three Spell Checkers books, including the one that isn't out yet.

The Spotify interface is a little weird for getting the urls for individual lists, but essentially, if you got to the Cut My Hair list or Bobby Pins and Mary Janes version, and then click on my profile name, you can see all of my public lists. The books covered are:

* 5 1/2 - the book in progress
* 12 Reasons Why I Love Her
* Cut My Hair
* The Everlasting
* Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?
* Love the Way You Love
* Spell Checkers

It should be noted that I don't actually like all the songs in Spell Checkers. I picked that Lady Gaga one for the party scene in volume 1 because the lyrics are so bad!

Current Soundtrack: take your pick!

RADIO GA GA II: WORDS & PICTURES NOW ONLINE

To follow up on the previous post, the interview Joëlle and I did on the local radio station yesterday is now online for listening. It's a pretty good half hour, covering a variety of topics, including some good questions about craft.

Listen and download here.

I have a cold so I was doing my best to talk quietly and without inflection so I wouldn't cough. I think it kind of works for me. It helps me balance the marbles in my mouth.

To go along with it, I've also uploaded the "Love the Way You Love" song to Tumblr, in case you haven't heard it.

And if you want to put faces to the voices, I quite like this photo Deborah Curtis Lipski took at Emerald City...

Current Soundtrack: Etta Jones (a.k.a. "Not Etta James") - "Don't Go to Strangers" (via Old Hollywood)

My goodness, I am tired. Back from Emerald City Comic Con today, and it was a fun show. Thanks to all of those who came to see us, bought books, got autographs, or generally just said nice things. You were all lovely! And, as always, the ECCC team was fantastic. Their staff of volunteer "minions" kill it every year.

While we were gone, Karl and Jason uploaded the podcast of our interview with them from a couple of weeks ago. Listen on the site or download the mp3. (I think it's also available on iTunes.)

The Karl Show! starring Jason, featuring Jamie S. Rich and Joëlle Jones

Jason claims I say some "regrettable things." You decide!

While listening, enjoy a couple of photos from the show, including scenes from the karaoke purgatory that Mike Allred took us to.

NOVEMBER LINKS!

Apologies for the radio silence. It's been one of those months. Lots of traveling, lots of personal responsibility, and a general lack of anything of great import to say.

A bit cheap, then, to throw out a post full of nothing but links, but here it is, a post with nothing but links:

* I participated in Robot 6's annual gift giving guide. My picks for the top 3 gifts everyone should give this year, and the 3 things I wish someone would give me are right here.

* Michel Fiffe shares the process on an epic party scene he drew with Mike Allred for one of my gift picks, the forthcoming Madman 20th Anniversary Monster, due December 14 (though it may get bumped to December 21). It's a massive collection, 11 X 17, full of new stories and tons of pin-ups. I wrote the two-page framing sequence, which Jim Valentino pencilled and Mike inked. MIchel's page caps the whole book, and it features characters from 12 Reasons Why I Love Her and Love the Way You Love.

Panel from my story with Valentino & Allred

A detail from Michel's drawing.

The book is currently 48% off at Amazon!

* Dan Christensen teases more from our forthcoming book. His blog, and the image here:



* Natalie Nourigat has her comics diary Between Gears collected this coming February, in one giant volume from Image Comics. I believe I have a blurb on the back cover. Find out more on her blog.



Natalie is going to be done with our comic by Christmas. I can't wait for everyone to read it. We really have something going on here, if I do say so myself.

* Joëlle Jones has a new book coming in April. She illustrated an adaptation of O.T. Nelson's The Girl Who Owned a City. I have seen the pages, and they are amazing, some of her best work yet. You can read a review of the book here, or just go ahead and order it from Amazon (The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel (Single Titles)) and earn me a couple of pennies for each sale made through the link. :)

* Marc Ellerby has brought back his Polar Opposites web comic for the month of December. The details.



* December 14 will also see the release of the Marvel Holiday Comic 2011, an anthology of holiday-themed shorts. I wrote a Thing story, illustrated by Paco Diaz. It was pretty fun. Here is a link to Marvel's site, and the solicitation.

MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2011
Written & Penciled by VARIOUS
Cover by TIM SEELEY
• Four new holiday adventures featuring your favorite
Marvel super heroes!
• Wolverine finally learns the Canadian art of ice hockey.
• Written and illustrated by some of Marvel’s hottest talent!
• Collecting MARVEL DIGITAL HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2011 #1-4
from Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+... $3.99

And the cover:



Current Soundtrack: Tiger Boy starring Sabu




e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Midi-Confessions123 * Criterion Confessions * Live Journal Syndication * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll [old version] * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2011 Jamie S. Rich

THIS IS WHY WE FIGHT...

...for podcasts like this.

The folks at Tales from the Parents Basement have done an all-Oni Press episode, and the final quarter or so is devoted to my work with Joëlle Jones, and a little Nicolas Hitori de love thrown in. Seriously, shout outs to 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, You Have Killed Me, and Spell Checkers.


Go here and listen to Jim and Ryan cover all things Oni.

I think it was last year at Emerald City Comic Con that we first started talking to those guys. So, maybe we'll see them next weekend. Which is a good reminder...Emerald City Comic Con is next weekend.

Current Soundtrack: The Decemberists and their kind of blah The King is Dead

THE CONCRETE AND THE CLAY BENEATH MY FEET

Paul Chadwick is one of my favorite people in comics. Few people know this, but my first paid freelance job was doing a Concrete timeline for one of his short story collections. Talk about an awesome gig. I got every Concrete book for free and was given money to read them. All I had to do was put the stories in order. Yeesh, way to put me through the sweatshop.

So, to have Paul pop up in my google alerts this morning saying:

"As for favorite titles, my mind rushes back to my childhood, which seems irrelevant. We’re in such a rich period at present, everything we could have dreamed of for our medium during the dark days of the seventies, when it seemed to be a dying ghetto. Right now I’m reading Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones’ graphic novel You Have Killed Me, and enjoying it quite a bit. And speaking of Shane White, everyone should read his autobiographical book, North Country."

Well, I couldn't be more chuffed by this. Paul has actually been so amazing and supportive to me as a creator, just by the simple act of finding me at conventions and saying hello and telling me that he reads the books. The first convention Joëlle and I did together, actually, he gave marvelous feedback on 12 Reasons, the kind of response you can only get from a master storyteller.

Which Paul is. I was lucky enough in my time at Dark Horse to be there when Paul gave the editorial department a lesson in storytelling. He used some of his Concrete pages as an example, and worked us through the process panel by panel, explaining his choices and detailing how he intentionally lead the reader's eye to follow a specific visual line. If you are ever in a situation to get the same kind of sitdown, do it. By all means, DO IT.

And of course, read all of the Concrete books and buy Paul's collaboration with Harlan Ellison--who is, of course, a personal hero of mine--as soon as it comes out. The Concrete series is one of the most human, thoughtful, and creative series in all of comics. You won't find a more fully realized metaphor than the main character's predicament, nor a concept executed with such sophistication and flair.

And read the interview where the excerpt came from right now. It's over at Guerrilla Geek.

By the way, I have said this before, but my first actual freelance gig was writing the backs of the Madman Trading Cards, but I didn't get paid for them. I only got paid for the second set, which came after the Concrete assignment. Just in case someone wanted to call out for a continuity error. (Like anyone is paying that much attention...haw!)

Current Soundtrack: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday Deluxe Edition

CHAMPAGNE GIRLS I HAVE KNOWN

The excellent Readergirlz blog picked 12 Reasons Why I Love Her as one of their books for October, and so I provided them with a special thank you/intro piece, discussing the rarely disclosed secret origin of the book.

Here is the lead paragraph:

"It all seems so simple now, I can barely believe it. It was a Saturday night, I think in 2003, and I was bored and trying to think of a side project to write during breaks from my second novel, The Everlasting. I am a big fan of good romantic movies, particularly Hollywood classics with Cary Grant or the Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy pairings, and I started to think about the modern equivalent. If it were possible to write a movie like The Apartment or Two for the Road now, how would I do it? I don’t know if I was conscious of the Two for the Road connection at that very moment, but Stanley Donen’s 1966 masterpiece would end up being a real inspiration for what I was about to cook up. In it, Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney play a married couple who are heading for the rocks, and by criss-crossing several narrative timelines at once, Donen lets us compare and contrast and see how they got from very young love to very old love by drawing ingenious parallels between the jumbled stages of their life together."

Read the rest in the link.

Thanks to Little Willow for including us!

Current Soundtrack: Taylor Swift, new singles: "Back to December/Mean/Speak Now"

HOLD ON TO YOUR FRIENDS

Our pal Joëlle Jones got a couple of great plugs over the weekend. This coattail-riding thing I've got going on is totally going to pay off.

First, Robot 6 lists her as one of their top 5 working artists with the name Jones.

Second, the OC Weekly has her on their rundown of female comic book creators making inroads into an industry once thought to be dominated by men.

Joëlle has some pretty amazing things in the works. Just you wait. She's going to be your favorite Jones soon if she isn't already.

Current Soundtrack: Tindersticks, "Just Drifting;" The Chiffons, "Nobody Knows What's Going' On"

WE'VE GOT FIVE YEARS, MY BRAIN HURTS A LOT

From this blog, entry dated September 3, 2005:

"Yesterday (Thursday [Sept. 1]) was a great day where I met with a woman who may sign on to be the artist for 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. She's new, but she's really good and had come highly recommended by a couple of heavyweights. Weirdly, she lives three blocks from me and we clicked on a lot of things, like our cats, Audrey Hepburn, Pulp, and Suede (though she is the first person I've ever met who is a fan of the band and calls them the London Suede; I'll have to fix that)--meaning there will be no communication problems. So far, we understand each other quite well."

It doesn't feel that long ago, but yet it's hard to remember a time before this. I still remember sitting in the corner of the coffee shop and spying Joëlle Jones in line with her art portfolio. And I remember going home scared that she wouldn't like my script as much as I liked her art and not knowing what the hell I'd do if that were the case. (Part of me suspects her dark secret is that it was the case, but she drew the book anyway, bless her black heart.) Since then, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her has gone through multiple printings, been translated into three languages, and we've created two franchises and multiple short stories--including one featuring that same coffee shop where we met ("Gone Doggy Gone" in Portland Noir). Not bad.

The above is one of the first sketches Joëlle did for 12 Reasons. It was a pretty easy approval process, she nailed Gwen and Evan pretty much immediately. As noted in the quote, communication has never been a problem when it comes to our collaboration. It's like she's unpacking the artifacts of my skull whenever she puts ink on the page. I've been amazed at her growth over the years, too. I've seen stuff you guys haven't seen yet that is going to make you realize that, for as much as you like the work Joëlle has done, you haven't given her nearly enough credit for how great of an artist she is. I only wish my progress as a writer was nearly half as pronounced as her progress as an illustrator. There are days when I am convinced my career would be toast if she hadn't kept drawing my junk.

I mentioned to Joëlle last week that our working relationship was having its fifth "birthday," but I'm sure she forgot already. I'm the sappy girl of this group (obviously). Even so, it was pretty close to midnight last night when her first pages for Spell Checkers vol. 2 landed in my inbox, a momentous occasion unto itself. They are exceptional. I couldn't ask for a better creative partner.

It's been a good five years of harassing that girl. And one day I'm gonna smack her with that dead rat, just you wait!

Current Soundtrack: The Velvet Underground, Peel Slowly & See discs 2 & 4

IT'S CALLED A HEART

Multiversity Comics have kicked off their new "Off the Cape" column with a stellar review of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her.

A partricularly salient snippet:

"While in another creators hands, the abandonment of chronological storytelling could be messy in execution and painfully trite when read. Rich has proven himself as a creator who has a wonderful grasp on storytelling, no matter how traditional (or non-traditional) it may be. Telling the story out of order immerses us in Gwen and Evan's relationship from the get go, giving us the bad to go with the good to give the story the sense of reality necessary to make it a successful venture.

The individual stories themselves range, telling tales as disparate as how they met, their first date, their one-year anniversary, and in a particularly charming sequence, the truth about Gwen's dreaming habits. There is a lot more in there, but no chapter felt more intimate and alive than Evan recounting when he first found about Gwen's dreams, or the lack there of. The language blended with the visual representation from Jones is impeccable, especially one page in particular featuring a simple but powerful image of a striking leg departing a car. I spoke about this in my review for You Have Killed Me, but I think this is an important point to note about this book: Rich and Jones work in tandem as well as any writer/artist combo out there. The images Jones creates from Rich's scripts only bolster the power of them, and vice versa, just the way all successful pairings should be."

Read the whole thing here.

Current Soundtrack: El-P, Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 [full album stream]




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) 2010 Jamie S. Rich

DEAD AGAIN

It's hard to imagine that it was only a year ago that You Have Killed Me debuted at San Diego Comic Con, an important component of what was easily my best time at the show. That said, I'm not at all sad reading about people packing and preparing to leave for this year's convention, which starts tomorrow. Pffft, you can have it.

And don't forget: Spell Checkers shirts at the show. They sadly neglected to mention them by name in the Oni Press convention schedule. Nico's signing times are listed, though, so get him to sign your book!

Anyway, it's weird that the book is suddenly getting reviewed again. This time, we get a write-up from R.C. Harvey at the Comics Journal (and who I also used to read in CBG as a teen). Harvey is a pretty tough critic who specializes in classic cartooning, so it's not bad, considering:

"This might be counted as a signal flaw in the tale if Rich was regaling us with a simple mystery, but he isn’t. Instead, he’s producing an imitation Raymond Chandler story. The detective is sent on numerous errands, and, like the Continental Op, he picks up scraps of information as he goes, and he’s menaced along the way by some the ungodly, so there’s enough threat of violence to keep us in suspense and engaged. Mostly, we become acquainted with a thoroughly unsavory amoral society, a Chandleresque milieu. And since acquainting us with this lot of failed humanity is the chief purpose of the story, we must conclude that Rich succeeds."

Full review here.

I've noticed a few things about how people respond to the book. I think there are lessons to be learned in how people respond to any of my books, actually. For instance, I'm fascinated by how there was a pretty significant shift down the gender lines in reading 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. Women tended to sympathize with Evan's anger and forgive his bad behavior, whereas men seemed to get really pissed at him. All I can conclude is the ladies are used to men's bullshit, while guys can't handle seeing dudes screw it up with the hot chick (to phrase it in the colloquial).

One funny thing in having written a crime story that has a bit of a "whodunit?" mystery is that folks who got immersed in the experience are excited to tell me they didn't see the end coming, while people who figured out who the killer was early on can't wait to tell me how much smarter they were than me. I have to admit, I didn't try very hard to hide things, because it's something I'm still learning how to do and I wasn't concerned with forcing the story to rely on a big "Ah-ha!" I just hoped people would go along either way.

Another is how often people get the details wrong, especially critics. I understand the latter, because I know that in rushing to review, you often only have one time to examine the material and then the text is due (I get e-mails all the time from readers pointing out detail errors in my movie reviews). I've heard various character traits misrepresented--one writer thought Mercer was from a poor background, for instance--and also various story elements misconstrued--yesterday's reviewer thinking the book was East Coast based. Harvey isn't the first person to wonder why Mercer wasn't dead after reading the title line in the prologue, and it's one question that still surprises me. I never expected anyone would think he really does die. Sorry, I don't consider that a spoiler. It was just meant to be one of those "Dun-dun-dun" openings.

The other thing Harvey misses pertains somewhat to the excerpted quote. I think the fate of Julie is explained in the end. I would go deeper in my explanation on that here, but then I'd really be giving out spoilers. But it's there in the conversation with the killer, and then in the conversation with Tynan, the cop. No, I don't lay it out piece by piece in one go. That would just get me nailed to the wall for being overly expository!

Anyway, just ruminating. I am not grousing at all. Like I said, I find how people interact with the material fascinating and informative. I'm pleased that they are interacting with it at all and willing to ponder the book once the covers are closed. Plus, if someone, anyone, is confused by something, it does give me something to consider in the future when working on the next script. How ambiguous is too ambiguous? I actually hope to build something with Mercer. We'll get to know him more with each book, know more about where he comes from just as we watch him change. Through here lies darkness...

Current Soundtrack: Gwen Stefani, "The Sweet Escape (Konvict Remix - featuring Akon)/Wind It Up/Yummy (Ft. Pharrell) (NRC Step Out Mix);" Gwen & Eve, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind;" N*E*R*D, "Hot and Fun (Yeasayer Remix) & (Boys Noize Main)," both feat. Nelly Furtado; Metric, "Gimme Sympathy/Help I'm Alive (Dayrotter Session)" (download)

I'M YOUR FAN vs. HOLLYWOOD GIRL ON THE FIRE ESCAPE: Kimball Davis & J. Eric Lee

Before we get started, I want to point out that there is now a Spell Checkers fan page on Facebook. Stop by and join up.


Okay...

Some new art landed in my inbox today.

First up is a piece from Kimball Gray Davis, featuring Kimmie from Spell Checkers. Kimball also colored the cover of the first volume of the series and contributed to my Audrey Hepburn portfolio once upon a time.

Check out Kimball's Deviant Art gallery, and consider ordering his beautiful book of collected works.

My new Audrey comes from J. Eric Lee, whose comics I reviewed earlier this week. In his interpretation, Audrey Hepburn has fantastic taste in books.

Current Soundtrack: Trash Can Sinatras, "Earlies (Glasgow 11/09);" Tom Jones covering Bob Dylan, "What Good Am I?" (free download)

FOR REAL THIS TIME...YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE WE ARE MAGIC

Jumped the gun when I posted this thinking it was in the previous catalogue, but this time these pages are serious in the new Diamond Previews that came out yesterday. Also out yesterday, Joëlle's Madame Xanadu #19! And Mike Allred's band, The Gear, has their new album, Left Of Center Of The Universe. Cool space-age psychedelia!

Anyway, to the repost:

* * *

Solicited for April 2010 from Oni Press, Spell Checkers vol. 1, written by Jamie S. Rich and illustrated by Nicolas Hitori de & Joëlle Jones.

Now is the time to tell your comic book shop owner that this is the book you want, that they should preorder a copy for you.

[click images for larger views]

Oni is also resoliciting my other books with Joëlle. You can get everything in one fell swoop.

Current plan is for us all three to attend Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo April 16 through 18. I'll keep you posted as that gets closer.

Joëlle and I are also scheduled for Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on March 13 and 14 and want to do Stumptown here in Portland on April 24 and 25.

Current Soundtrack: Brett Anderson, Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall

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) 2010 Jamie S. Rich

YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE WE ARE MAGIC

Solicited for April 2010 from Oni Press, Spell Checkers vol. 1, written by Jamie S. Rich and illustrated by Nicolas Hitori de & Joëlle Jones.

Now is the time to tell your comic book shop owner that this is the book you want, that they should preorder a copy for you.

[click images for larger views]

Oni is also resoliciting my other books with Joëlle. You can get everything in one fell swoop. [NOTE: Turns out, this is in the catalogue coming out in early February. These pages got sent to me early.]

Current plan is for us all three to attend Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo April 16 through 18. I'll keep you posted as that gets closer.

Joëlle and I are also scheduled for Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle on March 13 and 14 and want to do Stumptown here in Portland on April 24 and 25.

Current Soundtrack: NPR's Fresh Air, "TV 2009: David Bianculli On The Best ... And The Rest" (as recommended to me by Joëlle)



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) 2010 Jamie S. Rich

BREAKIN' DOWN THE WALLS OF HEARTACHE

All About Book-Reviews has posted a new review of an old favorite, 12 Reasons Why I Love Her.

Here is a snippet, with the full review in the link:

"The book is made up of twelve vignettes illustrating Gwen and Evan’s relationship. It’s not overly-complex, it’s not new, but that might be why it’s enjoyable, in a way. You can guess what’s going to happen as soon as you meet the characters, but it’s watching the story unfold that is appealing.

Not that I know a ton about art, but the art is as simple as the story, and refreshingly so. The book is black and white, and Joelle Jones denotes the requisite sentimental flashbacks with rougher sketch-like panels which, again, is simple but effective."

Current Soundtrack: The Band, Greatest Hits

FALLING IN LOVE WITH MYSELF AGAIN

Both collected volumes of Love the Way You Love are listed alongside 12 Reasons Why I Love Her in Diamond Previews this month, part of an Oni ad campaign to push their romance comics for February and Valentine's Day. If you've been putting off having your comic book shop reorder these books for you, it's never been easier than right now:

Note that You Have Killed Me is also relisted this month. This ad here is on page 258 of the catalogue, and Killed Me is the top of 260.

My partners on these comics have things going on, too.

Joëlle Jones continues to get good reviews for Dr. Horrible, from the likes of Comixtreme:

"...the art plays a huge role, and Joëlle Jones manages to bring a look to the characters that is both its own thing--they look and feel like comic characters--and yet captures a look that evokes the appearance of the actors that played the live-action versions."

And Mondo Magazine:

"Jones’ art is utterly fantastic. She just nails facial expressions and the comedic timing of the show. Surprisingly awesome, a definite buy."

Marc Ellerby is selling the second issue of his awesome Chloe Noonan, Monster Hunter series and a new set of buttons/badges at his site. The Space Between Panels thinks you should buy the comic.

"If you've ever read Ellerbisms, you already know that Ellerby has a knack for bringing instantly likeable, warm and real characters (OK, people in Ellerbisms) to the page. The inhabitants of Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter are no different. I'm already pretty scared that if I ever meet Chloe's mate, Zoe Fox, her teeth will do something bewitching to me and I'll find myself listening to My Chemical Romance and crying at teatime.

The other thing I would say is that the polish Ellerby delivers is impressive. I see a lot of small press stuff that looks... I'll say 'rough around the edges' - not this, though. The printing and overall presentation of the issue - like in the one before it - are on a par with what you'd expect from one of the bigger indie publishers like Oni Press."

So, there.

Current Soundtrack: Bloc Party, Silent Alarm

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...

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.

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

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