Hawaiian Dick Think

I've got a fairly audacious idea in mind for the next chunk of Hawaiian Dick.

Gonna try to map it out and chat with Eric Stephenson about it in San Diego. Over drinks, one would hope.

Also, unrelated...Billy Smoke picked up a potentially interesting project hitchhiker this week.

Pro Fan Art

I love seeing people handle my characters.

Ryan Cody just posted this Mid-Nite Hour sketch on my message board:

One of these days, when I have the time, I'll get a new Mid-Nite Hour book rolling.

Internet comic reviewers...

A note: HAWAIIAN DICK #4 came out last week, and Griffin, operating on the advice of Tony Moore, figured out how to adjust the color levels to a degree that made him happy. I haven't seen the issue yet, but Steven says the color ("colour") looks great. So check it out:







So, Griffin sent me this "Mondo" review, and it made me happy.

Not because the guy liked the book, but because he clearly approached the book with genuine enthusiasm...as if he picked it up hoping to enjoy it, and then just let himself get into it:

http://www.mondomagazine.net/?p=1124

Hawaiian Dick is a book that is beyond negative criticism. Why? Because it accomplishes exactly what we set out to accomplish, and if that's not your cup of tea, it's not because we failed you, it's because...it's not your cup of tea. It's a fun genre comic book, and we don't half-ass the effort, which is all you can ask of us. So if I read a negative review of the book from a guy who praises by the numbers photorealistic cape melodrama, I just get depressed that someone sold him the book in the first place. It's like listening to Poison fans review Barry Manilow albums. Or Teletubbies fanatics reviewing a Maysles documentary.

On reflection, "Beyond criticism" is probably the wrong way to put it.

But making a negative judgment call on something because it's not up your alley is the problem for me. Hawaiian Dick is a good example, because some people may not respond to the art. And if that's the case, fine. What I can't tolerate is someone making a qualitative judgement on the art because they don't personally connect to it.

I think anyone who pisses on creator-owned books in reviews should be smacked in the head with a mallet. Somebody saw something in the book, and someone sacrificed to make it happen. Someone will probably enjoy it, and the book sniping a smidgen of sales from the latest Mark Millar/Popular Artist juggernaut isn't going to kill anyone. To have failed writers with a limited comprehension of the medium trash the work simply to assuage their own superior egos is maddening.

Someone once wrote a bitchy letter to CMJ magazine, asking why they featured so many glowing CD reviews. The response was along the lines of, "A lot of stuff comes out each month, and we only have so much space. Instead of dumping on an artist, we try to guide people to music they might enjoy." As someone who bought the magazine looking for recommendations, I greatly appreciated that. What I didn't need were 200 pages telling me what NOT to buy.

Sure, I'd like intelligent analysis of things, and I don't need to read reviews from a guy who loves everything without applying any filter, but I get so fucking sick of the snarky condescension.

Addendum: I just read a THIRTEEN PARAGRAPH review of IRON FIST, which was, you know...a fun mainstream comic book. (look! I summed it up in four words!)

Addendum to the addendum: Okay, that was a cheap shot. There's nothing wrong with analyzing a book you find interesting, and thirteen paragraphs isn't unduly excessive, but it is very easy to lose sight of what you're reviewing (a mainstream superhero comic) when you take it that far.

Bluejacket debuts in September

On the advice of wise old comic book sage Mark Waid, Seth Peck, Chris Samnee and I will be debuting Bluejacket here:

PULP TALES BENEFIT BOOK FOR JOSH MEDORS

Contributions by Steve Niles, Josh Fialkov, Kody Chamberlain, Tony Fleecs, Dan Taylor and more!

Cover by Ben Templesmith and Josh Medors

24pgs,

FC SRP: $3.99

Help BOOM! Studios support comic book artist Josh Medors, recently diagnosed with cancer, by ordering the benefit comic book PULP TALES. This two-fisted one-shot features all-new, action-packed stories by horror master Steve Niles, P.U.N.K.S' Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain, '76's B. Clay Moore & Seth Peck, Capote in Kansas' Chris Samnee, In My Lifetime's Tony Fleecs, and more! Featuring a cover by Ben Templesmith! ALL PROCEEDS will go to Josh Medors and his family. HELP NOW AND PRE-ORDER THIS BOOK TODAY! PULP TALES WILL SHIP SEPTEMBER!

http://www.boom-studios.com/node/2025

We've cooked up what we think is a great little intro to the world of Bluejacket, so I hope that gives people extra incentive to support a worthy cause.

Humbug!

I was just bitching about the lack of a quality reprint of Harvey Kurtzman's HUMBUG, when Rantz Hoseley directed my attention to this:

From Fantagraphics, this summer.

Fantastic news.

July 1st

New Dick Trade in August

Screaming Black Thunder. Cover by Griffin.

The Local Scene & Casey the Blue

Article on Fraction from the KC Star, which also ties in the larger "scene" in the area. The writer was planning on a larger piece about the Kansas City comic creator community, but editorial thought the Iron Man tie-in was more topical (and it is):

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/604187.html

Also...

CASEY BLUE preview up at Newsarama:

http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/May08/previews/wildstorm/7th.html

Con Report Addendum

The real highlight of the con for me was bumping into Jamie McKelvie here and there, and running into Kevin Mellon a couple of times.

Those boys are handsome with their open line drawings.

I also saw Dennis Hopeless briefly. Other people I saw or met and enjoyed rubbing up against: Phil Hester, Robbi Rodriguez, Greg Thompson (though I never saw Jen), Paul Maybury, Tim Seeley, Dean Haspiel, Liz Gerhlein, Andy Serwin of Wizard, Sterling Gates, Mike Perkins, Marlin Shoop, John Lucas and Mindy (two of the absolute most amazing people associated with the comic books), Will Dennis, Pat Loika, Andy Schmidt, Lee Loughridge, Pornsak Pichetchote, Mark Sable, Alex Segura, Fletcher Chufong, Arvid Nelson, Josh Dysart, Chris Powell, Aubrey Sitterson, Josh Williams, Chris Burnham, Ian Sattler, Jim Valentino, Joe Keatinge, Traci Hui, Randy Jarrell, Joe Nozemak, Becky Cloonan (so damn good), Filip Sablik, Christos Gage, Phil Noto, David Gallaher, Rachel Gluckstern, Jeanine Schaefer, Nachie Castro, Ken Levin, and so many more.

Two regrets: I walked past Kerry Gammil sketching at a table, and wished I'd stopped to shake his hand and thank him for being nice to me when I was about ten years old at Dallas conventions. And Siuntres told me Irwin Hassen was there somewhere. Wish I'd had a copy of my Wildcat story to give to him. It's probably one of the first Wildcat stories in a long time to directly link to his original work...

A kind of Con Report

McKeever, Moore, Haun, Norton in New York

The first real con report I've done in years. Sprinkled with graphics to keep you entertained.

Don't get me wrong. There are some real class-A douchebags in comics. But by and large, I enjoy being around creators and love meeting new ones. I mean, ultimately these are people who battered their way into a fucked up business because they have stories they want to tell. This goes for writers, artists and editors...

J. Torres

Mike Norton

As a result, the most fun I have at cons is running into old friends and just catching up. My oldest friend in comics is probably J. Torres, so it was nice hanging out with him during the DC events and afterwards, and if I've known J. for the longest time, I've known Mike Norton almost as long, and Mike generally had Sean McKeever tagging along, so hanging with those guys was great. Staying with Jeremy Haun (and Haun's pal Aaron Norton) and Jason Latour, I obviously saw a lot of them, as well. Got to meet Latour's sort-of girlfriend, Tracy, who was great company.

Haun, with Newsarama's Vaneta Rogers

Latour

The DC "media mixer" on Thursday night was a lot of fun. I got to chat with my primary lifeline at DC, editor Mike Siglain (although chatting with editors is a tricky proposition, since someone is always trying to pull them away), and ended up sharing a table with Darwyn Cooke and Jimmy Palmiotti. I've known Darwyn for years and actually first met Jimmy at a barbecue of Darwyn's a few years ago. While I wouldn't say I'm close to Jimmy, I think it's safe to say he's one of the nicest guys in comics, and he understands the business as well as anyone. If you need advice on any aspect of comics, Jimmy's the best guy to go to. Darwyn was his usual self, holding court on any number of things, as Bob Wayne, Amanda Conner and Rodney Ramos chipped in. The lovely Jann Jones hosted the event for DC, and was all over the room.

Jimmy and Darwyn

Friday at the con was uneventful. I camped out with Tony and Kara at the booth they shared with Rick Remender, Eric Powell and Steve Niles, since Rick, Eric and Niles had yet to show. (Any port in a storm) Ran into Josh Fialkov, Marc Bernardin and Tony Lee, and chatted a bit. Josh has done a fine job of forging a career by following his own path, even if he stopped seeking my advice after I told him to abandon Elk's Run. Had lunch with my Wildstorm editor, Ben Abernathy, who's a truly great guy. Friday night Jason Aaron and I wandered over to the DC party, where I ran into old friends Mike Hawthorne and Christine Norrie. Mike's another guy I've known for almost a decade, having published some of his early work way back in the Love in Tights days... And Christine used to run with the Oni gang back in the day. Also bumped into KC area creator Nathan Fox, who had with him some amazing pages for a new graphic novel he's working on. That guy's a step ahead of most people in the game. Met Vertigo editor Mark Doyle for the first time, and managed to hook up with Ramon Perez and Andy B., from the Canadian posse.

Jason Aaron

I owe Andy a script, and Ramon is doing amazing work on my Wildcat story for JSA Classified, and it was gratifying to have people come up to me all weekend and insist that we badger DC into letting us do a regular Wildcat book. Andy B. was doing his best to drink the bar dry before it was time to split. Before Remender, Hawthorne, Mike's friend Pierre and I left to go meet Ivan Brandon's crew at the Irish Rogue, Brian Azzarello summoned me over to discuss a "mystery authors" even we've both been invited to in November up around Milwaukee. Brian told me a funny story about how he "insulted" Fraction by asking if he was the guy who wrote Hawaiian Dick...

Azz

The Irish Rogue was a great time. Bumped into CB Cebulski (another one of the nicest guys in comics), Jade Dodge, Matt Camp, and the usual gang of idiots: Paul Azaceta, Ivan, Andy McDonald, Ivan's better half Kristin, Rick Spears (but no Rob G.)...Esad Ribic was with Ivan, along with Nicky Barucci (who regaled us with tales of his bowel movements). Spears and I vented about the industry, and then argued the Clash, before Ribic, Spears, Ivan, Remender and I started debating the music of the 90s. Those guys were all veterans of the punk wars, whereas I spent the decade on the fringes of every scene. For me the 90s were about Britpop (yes, I defenses Oasis), twee and emerging singer-songwriters like Elliott Smith.

Saturday was eventful. Shawn Crystal was kind enough to treat me to lunch at Burgers and Cupcakes. I always enjoy hanging with Shawn. Had a long conversation with Top Cow's Matt Hawkins, did a little video thing for Word Balloon's John Siuntres, and had a signing at the DC booth, followed by missed meetings and the Wildstorm panel. The panel was at six o'clock, and as a result a little lacking in energy, but I did get to meet and chat with Keith Giffen about a project, before listening to Keith mutter annoyed observations about the panel for an hour. I bumped into Larsen on the way back to the hotel, and asked who he had in mind to draw a recent Next Issue Project story that I wrote. I was kind of jazzed to hear him say he thought he might do it, although he hadn't read it yet, so...

Cage, Giffen and Moore at the Wildstorm panel.

Shawn Crystal

At the Wildstorm dinner that night, Haun and I sat with Tom Fowler (who's now doing regular work for Mad), and Glenn Fabry, whom I'd never met before. Glenn turned out to be a delightful dinner companion, and we discussed movies, television, sports, books, and, of course, art supplies, before Glenn and a number of other Brits wandered off looking for a pub to watch a boxing match. We soon ended up at another local bar, where we gathered Chris Neseman from Around Comics and KC homeboy Ande Parks, who joined our sordid crew. Ande later took Jeremy hat shopping. Ande is a man of fine tastes.

Tom Fowler

Ande Parks

After gathering Shawn Crystal and Andrew Robinson, we made our way to another bar (the Gaff?), where we found Doyle, Siglain, McKeever, Norton, and the Kids in the Hall's Kevin McDonald. Latour and his gal pal arrived before long, and we spent the evening drinking and debating (Latour and I ended up arguing politics, despite sharing nearly identical political views).

Andrew Robinson (with Lee Loughridge)

Sunday? Yes, Sunday. Slept in (I don't get to do that in real life) before hitting the Wildstorm booth for another signing. Chatted with Wildstorm VP Hank Kanalz, and was amazed at Jim Lee's memory as he recalled our first meeting, at a Steak n Shake in Dallas four years ago... Met with Mark Doyle, had a chat with Top Cow's Rob Levin about a project, did a Wizard pod thing, and bid farewell to Brian Hurtt (who I never saw leave the Oni booth) and the Canadians (including Kalman and Cameron) before heading to the airport. Oni's James Lucas Jones walked me back to my hotel, and we discussed a few things, including the upcoming OGN Billy Smoke, which I need to get cracking on.

Jim Lee

Delays at the airport and I bumped one more time into Brian Azzarello and then Brian Hurtt (whose plane was held up by my plane's failure to depart on time), and I was OFF.

And that was my con in a nutshell.

New York Comic-Con Memories

DC has a podcast up of the Wildstorm panel. It's not too long into it before we briefly discuss Casey Blue: Beyond Tomorrow:

http://www.dccomics.com/media/podcasts/DCComics_2008-07-19_Wildstorm_Revelations_New_York_Comic_Con_2008.mp3

DC photogs snapped me signing:

Was a good con. I have to say, DC editorial, in all three branches, is hard to beat.

NEW YORK COMIC-CON SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, APRIL 18th

3pm-4pm: Signing at the Image booth (I'll have some book on hand to buy)


SATURDAY, APRIL 19th

1pm-2pm: Signing at the DC/Wildstorm booth

6pm-7pm: Wildstorm Panel (room 10E7)


SUNDAY, APRIL 20th

12pm-1pm: Signing at the DC/Wildstorm booth


Still trying to work out Image signing times.

College

In retrospect, I wish I'd approached college with absolutely no thought of eventual vocation.

That'll be my advice to my kids. Study what interests you, see how things go.

Just realized my last few entries have been texty.

Here's a graphic from my hard drive:

Just a little something that Peck, Samnee and I are devoted to.

JSA CLASSIFIED #36 out tomorrow...and stuff

Just got my box of Wildcat, and it just looks awesome. Kudos to Ramon and Dave McCaig on a stellar art job.

Morbid musing, I suppose, but that's life:

Ran into an old friend while in Wichita. His mother died of cancer ten years ago, when he was in his twenties, and he was one of the first people I happened to run into back when my mom was diagnosed about a year ago. He shook his head and said, "Your mom's the only one who always has your back. When my mom died, I realized I'd have to pull myself out of trouble alone from now on." Amen to that. I'd feel that way if my mom had passed away when I was seventy.

My brother-in-law's father died of cancer a couple of years before my mom did. His father and my mother were probably the two most reliable people in the world. This weekend he said, "Man, why'd your mom and my dad have to go? We kind of needed one of them to stick around. Now we've got to be the parents."

Cancer sucks.

March Madness

Got invited to this in November:

http://tessgerritsen.com/blog/2006/11/15/murder-and-mayhem-in-muskego/

Should be fun.

My K-State Wildcats tip off tonight against USC in the "marquee matchup" of the opening round. Beasley vs. Mayo. Whoop! Whoop!

Out this week: WILDCAT!

I'm really jazzed about this one. JSA CLASSIFIED has just about worn Wildcat out, but I really think this arc is different.

The intention was to do something different, anyway. Per Dan DiDio.

Since it's out this week, I think it's probably all right to flash some interior art. Check it:

Hawaiian D & Superman C

Out this past week:

Oh...

...the things I could tell that kid:



Still posing together, though, all these years later:

Casey Blue solicited for May (Wildstorm)

I'm guessing some people find this one surprising.

It's been a lot of fun, though. Hope to get on the PR wagon soonishly.

Pops mulls Cedar Crest...

The Wichita Eagle featured an article this morning on my father's potential run for governor:

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/314617.html

Something I learned: The Eagle's "comments" section is even worse than Newsarama's. I don't mind comments sections, but they should really be separated from main articles. It's very easy to lose the gist of whatever you've just read when you're immediately confronted by angry little people with too much time on their keyboards...

I'm not sure how I feel about this idea, to be honest. I think a lot depends on what happens with the presidential election. There's a strong chance sitting governor Kathleen Sebelius, with whom my father served as Lt. Governor for the first four years of her administration, could end up in Washington should Obama be elected. That would mean she'd be leaving office early, which could shake up the playing field.

But the main reason my father chose not to run again with Kathleen was to spend time with my mother. With her passing away in September, he has the time, and he's never lacked for work ethic.

I dunno. Part of me thinks retiring to the lake sounds more appealing, but it's his life, and someone needs to beat Sam Brownback.