Month: September 2007

My wife and I watched a film noir last night, called “Somewhere in the Night,” about a man with amnesia trying to find his past, and getting mixed up with thugs, a private detective, and a dame. I hadn’t heard of it before. I thought it was really good, and it got my imagination racing. All these fantastic elements, and great mystery. Kept you wondering. So I of course began thinking, How would I have done this story differently? Which translates to mean: How can I take this story, literally steal it, but make it my own, so it’s an homage instead of an outright theft?

This is a technique I took to heart, learning from the Coen Brothers, with their fantastic film, “Miller’s Crossing,” which is literally just a blatant rip-off, story element for story element, of the fantastic book, “The Glass Key,” by Dashiell Hammett.

The newspaper strip format has never appealed to me, because first off, all you can really do with it is “a gag a day,” and honestly, how long can you keep that up before you and everyone who reads it has had enough. It seems so limiting, and personally everything in newspapers now feels fairly flaccid to me. I’ve enjoyed newspaper strips in the past (I loved Peanuts and Garfield as a kid, and Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and Bloom County maybe in high school), but it’s been some time since I’ve had any interest in reading them, and on the few occasions I’ve tried, I’ve wondered why I bothered, because I didn’t enjoy anything I’d read.

There have been a few comic strips I continue to thoroughly enjoy, but they aren’t in papers anymore, and haven’t lasted historically for some reason, and they are the action serials. I of course in my pessimism toward humanity assume the reason they haven’t lasted is that they were replaced by blockbuster films and video games, and that people just generally want the quick, vapid, easy laugh from their comic strips now, and anything more than that is more commitment than they care to put in. I love the Chester Gould Dick Tracy comic strip in particular, because they were brutal and crime-ridden, and that’s the subject matter I enjoy most. And I thought, if I were to delve into the comic strip format, that is the one I would explore. And of course, it’s once again the least likely to generate any interest, since it’s a long-dead genre.

But I like playing with genres and formats, and I realized that this format would work nicely as a web comic, as well. I liked the idea of combating the challenges you face with a three or four panel story advancement per installment.

With all that in mind, I’ve wanted to get started on a Dick Hammer: The Dailies, for some time. I thought the daily comic strip format would be great for Dick Hammer. With Dick Hammer, that would mean one gag per strip, but also keep a continuous crime-mystery going. But all this time that I knew I someday wanted to do this, I had to wait on a good story to form itself in my head. One that would adopt itself to this limiting format. But one that would be epic enough that it could sustain itself for many installments.

I knew it would be a nice way to keep, even if only somewhat, my work in the public’s eye, while the time passed before I finished the project, as well. I always looked at it as a book in the end, but one that could be publicly posted along the way.

After watching “Somewhere in the Night,” I went to bed, thinking about how I could try and translate this story into Dick’s Dailies. My brain was racing. Finally I got out of bed, went into another room, turned on the lights, got a pencil and paper, and wrote out all the characters I would need involved, and how they’re involved and interrelated within the story. I think I’ve got the basic premise mapped out, and I’m excited to start scripting things, so I can start drawing.

The story is pretty complicated, though, and it will take some time to iron everything out. When I say I have the basic premise, what I mean is, I know this has to happen, and this, for the story to advance. But it doesn’t always make sense why those people would do this, so I need to brainstorm, and come up with the reasons to justify their actions. This is the way I write mysteries. I come up with these crazy things that I know I want to have for the actions, but then it takes me some time to come up with the reasons, so that the story makes sense, and is cohesive. That’s what takes the time.

The next morning, I told my wife the basic story idea. It took a long time, because there are so many odd weavings and intricacies, and I had to explain and re-explain a number of sequences, and how they fit into the big picture. Because it was such a long explanation, we wound up coming and fading from the discussion, as our day went by and we had to do other things. Finally she said, Just how long is this going to be? But that’s the beauty. If it’s a web comic, I’ll just do a few panels a week, and I’ll just go until it’s finished. That way it’s a relatively small commitment, but it keeps my chops up. I’m advancing a story in public, so people know I’m still working, but it’s little enough work per week that I can continue to work on other projects. So it won’t matter how long it is. But it’s going to be pretty long. And if I only do a few panels a week, it will take forever. Can’t wait.

Sort of feeling out of sorts this last week or so. The Lump trade is out, and I haven’t really gotten any attention from it. I got one review from a previous reviewer, who seemed to think it was all right. If I were a pessimist, I would say either that no one bothered to read it, or that no one realized it was even out (since no one really ordered it), or that a few people read it and didn’t really think anything of it. No attention.

I’ve probably said it before. I vacillate between feeling like a superstar and a nobody.

When I look at nice reviews I’ve gotten, and artists I’ve managed to get to contribute pin-ups, I feel like a superstar. When I find out my book sales numbers, or try to be a businessman, I feel like a nobody. I assume this will continue as long as I do comics, no matter how successful I get.

I poked onto the Comic-Con website to see if the Russ Manning newcomer nominees had been posted. Since I sent in a request for consideration, I felt like this might be one of my few hopes to win any awards, since I’d be up against other “beginners” like myself. After this award, I realized, the only awards to win are up against the actual artists. Could I ever have a hope against real artists? Maybe not, but I might have a fighting chance with “newcomers.” But this year would be my last and only chance, because next year, I won’t make the “newcomer” restrictions any more. And sure enough, the nominees had been chosen, and I was not one of them.

I remember thinking, speaking with JH Williams III, that there are a lot of talented, hard-working comics artists in the field, putting out a lot of great work. And I’m sure they all deserve to get awards for their hard work and talent, but only a few will get those awards every year. Who am I to hope it could be bestowed on me? Who am I to dream I could be the year’s single greatest artist, or writer, or artist of a short story or humorous story or limited series, or whatever? It’s a long shot even for the fan-favorite veterans, going against other fan-favorite veterans. They have a fan base, and popularity. They have experience, and know-how. They have talent that’s been honed for years. And they have the votes. So why should I bother to hope maybe I would be honored with such prestige? It should be okay if you don’t ever win. There’s just so much great talent. Sam Kieth told me he hasn’t ever won, except when he first started out, he I believe received a nomination for new inker on Matt Wagner’s Mage.

I finished the Dr. DeBunko collection this week, and was really excited and proud that Michael Shermer agreed to write a blurb for the book. Michael Shermer was my idol before I knew he existed. I had this image of an idol in mind. Someone who debunks all the crazy-assed bullshit that crazy-assed morons in our world believe. Then I heard him on the radio and realized, he was the one. He was better than the one, because he’s respectful of others’ beliefs, and thoughtful, and tries to educate instead of belittle, which makes him a much better man than I find myself to be. So he was that magical one for me. How invigorating, and rewarding, and legitimizing, that he would be willing to say such kind words about my comic.

So with Dr. DeBunko behind me, it’s a few more pages of Doris Danger, and then suddenly on to new projects. What will the future hold…

 

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NOTE OF  ATTITUDE
Hi Fans,

Rob Oder, Editor-In-Chief, here, with a quick editorial comment about the mood swings of our own artisic hack, Chris Wisnia! It’s come to our attention, especially in the entries building up to San Diego 2006, that some folks are concerned by the fly-by-night, off-hand, stream-of-consciousness, no-apologies style of writing Chris utilizes in the creation of his blog! You’ve seen him get really pissed and say really stupid things that make him look stupid, that he should have kept his mouth shut about! You’ve seen him speak derogatorily or frustratedly about himself or this wonderful comics industry! You’ve seen him curse his own very existence and the existence of all those loved ones around him who have supported and nurtured him! Well we wanted to answer the question everyone keeps asking! No, he isn’t getting medicated, and we are still unable to convince him he needs to be!

The point is, being an artist, as well as a comics professional in a very difficult industry, he feels intense mood swings, violently bi-polar highs and lows, ranging from self-doubt, frustration, anger, fear, happiness, pride in his work, desolation, uptightness, stress, questioning or lacking self-worth, worthlessness, self-loathing, and great personal reward! He can be negative, sarcastic, mean, exaggerating, or flippant!

But don’t take it so seriously! As a creator of fiction, it shouldn’t and can’t be any other way! Why not? Because most important of all, these diary entries are intended to entertain! They’re less an actual diary, and more of a marketable means to get readers to his website! And thanks to this style of entertainment (as opposed to the poorly crafted entertainment of his comics work), his blog is more popular, literally by the thousands, than any other pages at his website or comics he has produced! And anyone who’s read a book, watched a tv show, or taken a class in creative writing knows it’s more entertaining if there is tension, and drama, and conflict! And it’s funnier if there’s lots of stupidity and failure and ranting!

So don’t ever take Chris too seriously! Because all of it, ALL OF IT, the drama and entertainment and humor and fun, is just a front, to get you to his website, in the hopes you’ll buy one of his comics while you’re here!

Enjoy,

Rob Oder, Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

Every year, my local comics shop, A-1 Comics has been hosting a “Small Press” Day, where indie artists hang out, visit with customers, and maybe sell some of their books. Even before I had self-published anything, I remember the shop telling me I should come check it out.

Usually they had the day coincide with Free Comics Day, and that way, there’d be a guaranteed crowd of people coming into the shop. On top of that, A-1 tends to run a nice sale on the same day, too.

This year, they decided to run a sale, but have Small Press Day separate from Free Comics Day. Before the event, I was emailed and asked about contact info for some other indie guys like myself. I wrote back that I could try and get some of my other artist friends to come up to Sacramento to join us as well. I emailed a half dozen self-publishers, and sdome bigger name comics artists, to see if any of them might care to come up to the signing and hang out for a few hours. Primarily bay area comics folks.

None of the bigger name folks were able to make it. Two of the indie artists said they were coming, but only one ended up making it, Matt Silady.

Matt had gotten a masters in creative writing at UC Davis, so being a Davis man myself, and both of us sharing a love of comics, I’d met him email-wise through a couple of friends. I officially met him at APE-Con 2005. At this year’s 2006 APE-Con, I had mentioned to Matt that Elizabeth would be eight months pregnant come San Diego time, and if he might care to come down and help us watch the table, I’d be happy to give him some table space in return, to shop his Homeless Channel comics.

Right before he came up for this A-1 signing, he said it was all worked out that he would join us for San Diego, and that sounded like a lot of fun, and I was looking forward to seeing him.

I was amused to see that in the promotion, A-1 had listed me for “Tabloia” (my comic), and ALSO “guitarist and vocalist for Weird Harold.” That tickled me.

A couple days before the signing, A-1 sent me a list of the attendees, and I was surprised to see Ron Lim and Thomas Yeates were also listed.

Other artists listed to show up were my friend Daniel Cooney (Valentine), my friends, Tim Watts and Michael O’Connell (locals who do the web comic, “The Nice Guy”), Zac Henderson (Project i.O), and Leigh Dragoon (Spidric). Leigh I’d met at APE, because Sam Kieth had gotten in touch with her about having her do a book in his Ojo series, so she came and introduced herself to me.

My friend Mike Hampton (Captain A**Hole) also wound up being there.

I got to the store, and saw that the set-up was kind of tight. There were tables lain out at the center of the room, by the register, but we had to really squeeze to fit everyone in. I’d been told to invite whoever I wanted, and we would squeeze everybody in, but now I saw what they meant by squeezing everyone!

I knew most of the gang there, and it was fun seeing all these guys again. As you’ve been in the comics industry for awhile, you begin to realize that you’ll just see all the same folks at all the gatherings, and there’s a sort of camaraderie in all that.

I was told Ron Lim would be there early on, but would have to leave early. Thomas Yeates would be arriving later.

I wound up being seated by Ron, who is always a pleasure to visit with, because he’s so friendly and energetic and upbeat. We talked a little about how he’s changed what he draws based on how he’s seen colorists treat his work. He spent a lot of time on a background once, and was dismayed to see the colorist had just applied one neutral, flat color to the entire background, thereby pushing it back out of the viewer’s notice, and wiping away anyone’s chances of appreciating it. Ever since, he’s compositionally kept his backgrounds much simpler, presumably to keep the focus on the subject matter in the foreground.

Before I knew it, Ron had to leave, but right around that same moment, Thomas wandered in, and since Ron’s seat was now the only one available, down sits Thomas with me!

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of classic adventure literature, and I suspected these were the kinds of books Thomas enjoyed, since so much of his comics work is based on or an adaptation of the classics.

I’d recently read the first maybe four or so Tarzan books, and so we talked about how well-written the series was, particularly the first seven novels. How if you haven’t read them, you picture Tarzan books as just being these jungle adventures of tiger-wrestling, swinging on vines, savages with blow-guns. But they’re actually heart-rending, intense, and often very violent, well-written stories.

Thomas said he’d recently read The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, and was surprised how much he’d enjoyed it. This was another book I’d recently read.

I had copies of “Ojo” with me, and so Sam Kieth got brought up. Thomas was flipping through the book, and I told him about the process of me trying to draw like Sam. We went through the pages, and Thomas would say, “Is this your page? This is amazing, how you captured the ripples of the water!” And I’d say, “Uh, no, that’s Sam’s page.” And it seemed like that happened a few times, and then Thomas quit asking if it was my page. In the past, people had said, Oh, the art blends nicely, etc. etc. But now I thought, Man, that Thomas has a good eye. He’s really caught me. Shucks. And what can I say? Sam does some amazing work.

Thomas was on a Wally Wood kick. He’d brought a checklist of Wally Wood comics, and the shop had one in particular that he picked up, and we flipped through it together. Thomas was in awe of a sort of living fluid in the story, and how the esteemed Mr. Wood was able to capture the essence of this.

Generally speaking, I assume local signings at comics shops will just be sitting around for an hour, or a couple hours, and not selling anything, and then just going home. But I really enjoyed myself at this local signing.

During the show, I asked Matt Silady about sending my comics out to reviewers. He really keeps up on the industry, and on whose reviews are being read, and whose reviews influence readers. He had some good advice to give, and I take his advice very seriously. He said that many reviewers, you need to send your books out well before the book is actually released, so that the review can coincide with the release of the book. Then he said, send them out again when the book is out. The idea is to get people thinking about your book when it’s time to order, and again when it’s out. And if people can keep seeing interviews or reviews or mentions of your work, over and over, they’ll eventually have to take note. Or maybe they thought your book sounded good from the start, but then forgot (because so many comics come out every month), so you want to keep reminding them as much as you can.

Afterwards, Matt joined Elizabeth and I for a quick bite to eat before he drove back to the Bay Area. Matt is a person who, however much time I have with him, I wish I had more time to visit. I’m looking forward to sharing the booth with him at San Diego.

Publish three comics in three months??!!

It’s sounds much more ambitious than it is. Dr. DeBunko will be 32 pages, and each Doris Danger book will be 16. So to start, that’s only two issues worth of pages.

I’ve got twenty-four completed pages of Dr. DeBunko stories that were already published in Tabloia, and five more from the two mini-comics I threw together for Soup-Con (Super-Con). That means, all I need is a cover, back cover, and one more two-page story. Then compile already-written letters about Dr. DeBunko from Tabloia, and throw together an ad, and I’ll be there. One issue completed. That’s easy.

As for the two sixteen-page Doris Danger comics. Long ago, I did a five-page story that I planned for Dick Ayers to ink. It was going to be in the sixth issue of Tabloia, but the comic was cancelled at number five. I never ended up sending Dick the pages, so all I would have to do was ink them myself. When I’d finished that, I threw together another four page story. Add to that, I’ve got ten pages worth of pin-ups – five pages per issue I can subtract from my drawing schedule. So that doesn’t leave much work to do by the end of the year.

With just a few pages of work, and some clean-up and coloring and laying-outs, it should be very doable. And along the way, I’m slowly getting more proficient with Photoshop.

Let me tell you about my day job as a guitar instructor. I now charge my students for four lessons a month. If there is a fifth Monday in the month, for example, we take that Monday off. I began this new policy in March (so my first month with the new policy, I immediately had a heavenly five-day weekend.) April had miraculously NO FIFTH DAYS, but this last weekend in May gave me another five-day drawing-spree. Between those two humongous weekends, I’ve managed to crank out some serious work, so I’m to the point I only need a Dr. DeBunko back cover, one monster cover and back cover, and six more monster pages. No problem, right? Right?

I had dinner with Wayne Jones, my former “business manager” for Salt Peter Press. I told him my plans for finishing out the year. I asked if he thought people would be able to read more than three Dr. DeBunko stories before they got sick of the predictable format. Because let’s face it, the Dr. DeBunko stories are just the same joke over and over again.

He said, Look at Danielle Steele. Look at Grisham.

I asked if he thought it was a bad idea, market-wise, to do basically an “only thirty-two page trade,” and tiny little pathetic 16-page comics. He made a suggestion. He said I should scrap all these ideas, forget drawing comics, and start an “advice and counseling agency” for aspiring comics guys. I’ll set up a phone number and have people call, and I’ll bill them $500 for advice. People can ask any advice about the comics industry, and how I can help them to make it in comics, and what I’ll do is, no matter what their question, I’ll shout in their ear, “THAT’S AN ABSOLUTELY STUPID IDEA! IT’S IDIOTIC! DON’T EVEN BOTHER WITH THAT HAIR-BRAINED THEORY! MY ADVICE TO YOU IS TO GIVE UP WITH THIS MORONIC DREAM OF GETTING INTO COMICS! THERE’S NO WAY TO MAKE ANY MONEY IN THIS INDUSTRY! FIND A REAL JOB! FIND SOMETHING WITH BENEFITS, THAT WILL HELP YOU PAY YOUR RENT AND GET YOU SOME FOOD! THAT’S MY ADVICE! NOW DO YOU WANT TO PAY BY CHECK OR CREDIT CARD?”

And of course this is this some sad, sick joke, because I’m beginning to wonder how anyone makes money in this industry. Nothing I’ve tried so far has done me any good in generating interest or additional sales.

That’s why I’m going to try and “flood the market” with three books in three months. My wife encouraged me to pound it out, hard and violently, right now, and for the next few months. Just get as much out there as I can, while I can, before my son Oscar arrives into this world and wipes out any hope of spare time I may have.