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Showing posts from 2011

Propheteering

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Last week, I visited a bit with Brandon Graham , the all-around nifty dude who draws King City and Multiple Warheads. He's currently writing a book called Prophet for Image comics, and the roster of artists he's brought onto the project is a murderer's row of new talent, including Farel Dalrymple and Giannis Milonogiannis . The first issue is drawn by  Simon Roy , whose work I love very much: I haven't been this excited about a new comic in... I dunno, forever. Having heard from Brandon what he has in store for future issues, I'm getting a little bit of that kid on Christmas morning feeling. Brandon gives his imagination a very long leash. I suspect that when I'm on my death bed and going over my list of regrets, close to the top will be remorse for not having been as brave as Brandon with my creative choices. If I could save game right now, live out the rest of my life the way it's currently headed, and then come back to today and live out my remaining

Hat In Hand

Does anyone work at, or know someone who works at, a Seattle-area game studio that may be looking to hire a reasonably genre-agnostic concept artist/comic book creator/low-poly modeler? Because I know a guy... oh, who am I fooling? I need a job. This does not spell the end of Nonplayer -- in fact, this is just about the only way that Nonplayer has any chance of getting finished. And if I turn out to work faster while holding down a day job, I'm going to be kind of mad at myself for this whole meandering sabbatical. More mad at myself than I already am, I mean. If anyone knows of an opening, please contact me at nonplayercomic at gmail. Resume and portfolio available on request. Apologies for the blog-spam. Thanks!

One Way to Fail

Every thousand years This metal sphere Ten times the size of Jupiter floats just a few yards past the Earth. You climb on your roof and take a swipe at it, Hit it once every thousand years, 'Til you've worn it down to the size of a pea. Where you gonna be? Where will you spend eternity? I'm gonna be perfect from now on, I'm gonna be perfect starting now. - Randy Described Eternity, Built to Spill When you're working on something big, the most difficult part is always the middle bit. Starting a project is easy -- you're full of new ideas, untapped energy, and naively optimistic notions about scheduling. And you'd be surprised what kind of spiritual reserves become available as the finish heaves into view.  But the middle is a drag. If you'll indulge another cycling metaphor: drawing a (slow) comic is like riding (slowly) in the Tour de France.  The peloton has left you behind, the cheering crowds that lined the streets of the last hamle

Podcasts are Better Than Arm Casts

Hi guys! Arm's out of the sling and I'm drawing again. Hopefully we can push through to the end now. I participated in a couple of podcasts this week. First, I was interviewed by Gaincarlo Paniccia over at Complete Geek Radio, and we had a splendid little chat . Thanks, Giancarlo! Then I had a fascinating conversation with a couple of other artists who have been climbing Mount Comics over the last two years, Jason Brubaker of ReMIND and Daniel Lieske of the Wormworld Saga . We talked for more than two hours, and the first half of that epic roundtable  can be found here . These guys are industrious, talented, and articulate creators, and I expect that a lot of interesting stuff will come out of this podcast in the future. Cheers!

Oops

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On the morning of Wednesday, September 14th, I crashed my bicycle. I was standing on the pedals, accelerating downhill from the intersection of Pine and Boren, when the chain popped free of the chain ring and the pedal jerked itself free from my cleat. I don't remember the crash. There was a "ping" as the chain came free, and then I was on my back, trying very hard to breathe. Some other bike commuters dragged me out of traffic and stayed with me until paramedics arrived, at which point my shirt was cut from my body and I was loaded into an ambulance. My shoulder hurt something fierce, and I had some pretty nasty road rash. So what did I break? Well, I'll start with what I didn't break, which was my head. My helmet was completely cracked open above my right temple, so if I hadn't been wearing a lid, I would now be either dead or waiting in line at the brain store, receipt in hand. Let this be a lesson to you fellow velocipede cartoonists: the quality of your

NEAR MINTerview Podcast

Quickie post (because darn it, I should be drawing right now). My interview with Ben Peirce over at the NEAR MINTerview podcast went up today. If you're interested in hearing the details about how Nonplayer evolved from pictures on this blog into a full-on Image comic, you may find our chat illuminating! We also talk about the reasons for the issue 2 delay, as well as what's being done to get it finished. Plus lots of other stuff. Ben's a great interviewer. I really enjoyed doing this one. BACK TO WORK.

Everything's Different But Everything's the Same

At around 1 p.m. PST today, Variety magazine reported that Nonplayer had been picked up by Warner Bros., which is a company that makes moving pictures. We (or at least I) had not anticipated this leak, so I was a little unprepared for the new experience of sailing Nonplayer out past the sheltering breakwater of the comics world and into the choppy seas of the Internet at large. Over the past twelve hours, Nonplayer has become something of a lightning rod for certain angry constituencies inside and outside of the comics world. Probably most common is the "one and done" critique, which suggests that I have cynically created a single comic book with the express intent of selling it off to a movie studio, never to draw another comic again. Some see a dark portent in Warner Bros.' eagerness to sign on the strength of a single issue -- is this the moment when Hollywood's comic book strip mine hits the water table? And still others just think Nonplayer isn't developed

Unmanned While Manning

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It takes the same amount of effort to make bad art as to make good art, and you won't know which you've made until you release it into the wild. You can continue to refine a work until it doesn't set off your own quality alarms, but that's no guarantee that what you've made will touch anybody. A lot of artists, including many of the best ones, don't particularly care whether their art is "good" or whether anybody else appreciates it. Regrettably, I am not one of those artists. The way that I deal with this uncertainty is to assume that everything I make is bad, which prevents me from being surprised by negative criticism. But a side effect of this stance is that I feel like a fraud when someone says something nice about my comic. That doesn't mean I won't revel in the attention -- I've developed quite a little addiction to praise. But I have trouble shaking the sense that the world will someday realize, en masse, that my work is crap. A

San Diego Do-Over

I've been making noises like I wouldn't be making it to San Diego Comic Con this year, but it turns out those noises were inaccurate. I'll be at the Image booth next Friday from 3:45 to 4:45. Feel free to swing by and say hello -- I'm happy to answer questions, talk shop, smile at babies, sign stuff, talk with babies, shop for questions, quest for answers, and sign babies. See you there!

Home Archaeology for Fun and Profit

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While helping my mom move to a new place last week, I discovered a portfolio full of old drawings. Most of it was pretty iffy stuff, but I did find this unfinished Captain America sample (please excuse the smudginess and crappy scan quality): The year was 1995. I'd just driven back to school in Chicago after having my portfolio shot down by the Marvel editors at San Diego Comic Con ( that story is told here ). As soon as I got my drawing table set up, I funneled all of my embarrassment and anger into this new page. I wish I could find the sample I'd shown at the con, because it would make a nice contrast -- this version is sort of a watershed moment in my development as a draftsman. It's definitely got some problems (Cap's musculature is... creative), but it was a giant leap forward in quality from what had come before. For the first time, I told myself to forget about speed and to just work on a drawing until it felt right. Until that point, I'd prided myself

Chasing Windmills

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I've been seeing lots of pretty art lately. How about I pull a royalboiler and just, you know, show some of it? Here's M.C. Barrett : You have to see this guy's sketchbook . Watching him go to town on that thing last week, I felt simultaneously inspired to start a sketchbook of my own and ashamed to even make an attempt. I love his composition instincts. It's like he's constitutionally incapable of making an uninteresting image: One more by Mr. Barrett: Next up,  John Kantz . One day I want to write a comic and have him draw it. But can he draw environments? Yes. Here's Marcel O'Leary , who is going to be famous someday: Check out this page from his 24-hour comic. I can't believe this guy graduated from art school this month. This next thing is from  Clement Sauve , a brilliant artist from Montreal who passed away a few months ago. He left us some rare gems: What a tremendous loss. It's all so beautiful: Oh, and I found B

Vancouver Comic Con

I'm in Vancouver -- Canada's life-sized Sim City map! You can find me at the  Vancouver Comic Con  today from 11 am to 5 pm. I've brought a few stacks of Nonplayer #1 to sell, as well as  some new posters  (the first four pages of the comic are now available in poster form). My studio mate Moritat (The Spirit, Elephantmen) will also be attending. If you're in a gift-giving mood, I quite enjoy donuts, while Moritat prefers alfalfa sprouts.  See you there!

Nonplayer #1 Back in Stores Today

Nonplayer #1 is back on the stands today! If you live someplace without a comic shop, I have bad news and good news. Bad news: you don't have a comic shop, which is sad. Good news: you can now also buy Nonplayer #1 at the Nonplayer online store ! International shipping is available, as well.  Here's the product description: Nonplayer #1 - Second Printing. 32 pages, full color. Contains pinups by Brandon Graham, Ben Templesmith, and Moritat. Final page includes a letter from the artist. Includes polypropylene bag with backing board. Shipped in a 9"x12" non-bendable envelope. All copies will be signed inside the front cover. 

Free Comic Book Day Signing at Arcane Comics

Yet another hit-and-run post. I yearn to sink my teeth into a long post soon. Could someone please call God or Obama or whoever handles these things and ask them to add one more day to the week? I need a day for blogging. Anyway, on to business: Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, May 7, and I'll be making an appearance at Arcane Comics from noon to 4pm! I will be selling and signing advance copies from the second printing of Nonplayer #1, as well as selling some very handsome little posters. Please drop by to say hello! Arcane Comics is located in Ballard -- they're my hometown shop, located only a few blocks from my studio: 5809 15th Avenue Northwest Seattle, WA 98107-3006 Hope to see you there!

Second Printing Info

Two posts in one hour! Clearly the internet isn't distracting me from my work AT ALL. I just wanted to remind you guys that the second printing of Nonplayer #1 will be hitting stands on May 11. Image bases the size of their print runs on the number of preorders they get from retailers, so if you want a copy, now's the time to call up your local comic shop and reserve one. The deadline for ordering is April 18 -- this coming Monday. Please tell your friends! Content-wise, the second printing is identical to the first -- the cover will be slightly different (and slightly prettier, I think) and there may be some different bonus stuff in the back, but the comic itself is the same. There's really no need to go to Ebay for a copy unless you're a super hardcore collector. Okay. Really working now. Really.

Stumptown Bidniz

Quick morning post before I commence to doodlin'. This weekend, I'll be at the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland, OR. If you're in the area and you'd like me to sign your copy of Nonplayer, please visit! I've got my signin' wrist all limbered up. I will also be selling (and, if you like, signing) posters. I had not anticipated the shortage of issues of Nonplayer #1, however, and I'm only able to bring ten copies to the convention. There will be a raffle, with five issues given out on Saturday at 4pm and the other five awarded on Sunday at 4pm. But wait, that's not all! When you enter the raffle, you're guaranteed first priority when second-printing copies of #1 go up at the Nonplayer store on May 11. So in the loosest possible sense, everybody wins! I'm hoping that everybody who wants one will get one this time around. Also, if you have sent me a message online over the last couple of weeks and haven't yet received a response, please

Hurry Up and Wait

No matter how much an astronaut sacrifices, no matter how hard she's worked to get her shot, there has to be a moment -- probably right after a million and a half pounds' worth of propellant lights up under her -- when she wonders if she's made an error. Having put every last ounce of myself into the promotion of Nonplayer over the last few weeks, I suddenly have a similar feeling of unease going into the debut weekend. Promoting something does some pretty strange things to your head. For one, there's the endless bragging. I've been looking at my comic for long enough that it's hard to see past my own mistakes, but that doesn't square very well with the job of being a salesman. Sadly, I don't think people will rush to pick up the book when I tell them to "check out Nonplayer -- on one panel, a character's eyes don't quite point in the same direction!" So I'm trying to be a good cheerleader for the book. I recognize the necessity o

Pounding the Pavement

Four days to Final Order Cutoff, the last day that comic retailers can order copies of Nonplayer #1 (which hits the stands in less than a month). It turns out that the work of making a comic doesn't stop when you send the finished pages off to the printer. There's this whole other magical, impenetrable thing called "promotion." I don't have much experience to inform my decision-making in this area, so I've opted for the blunt-force approach: I'm contacting individual retailers and reviewers one-by-one via email. I'm sure there are useful force-multipliers that I'm overlooking (for example, a shout-out from somebody like Patton Oswalt , Chris Hardwick , or Felicia Day would probably quadruple my sales, but I don't really know how to make it across their fan-moats). If anybody has any good ideas, I'm putty in your hands. So far, I've focused on Twitter , the Nonplayer website , this blog, DeviantArt , and the Project Waldo Facebook pag

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

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Emerald City has come and gone, and it's time to sit down with this big sack of memories and sort them out into neat little piles. First off, thanks to all of you who came by to visit the Nonplayer booth in person. Everybody was eager to talk shop, and it was a pleasure getting to put faces to names. I feel like I'm writing this blog for real people now, rather than for a bunch of disembodied internet beings. I hope the folks I met this weekend turn out to be an accurate sampling of Nonplayer readers in general, because every age group, gender, and lifestyle was well-represented. The only thing you all had in common was niceness and smarts. I especially enjoyed meeting all your kids (and I'm proud that I thought to laminate my sample comic before it was drooled upon by so many babies). And to all of you who bought posters, I hope you like them! Which brings me to a bit of business: those very posters are now available for purchase at the Nonplayer online store . One las