Posted a day late
New page of BUGHOUSE by Steve Lafler now available.
BUGHOUSE Update
Click Here to read this comic NOW!
Read the 3 Part STEVE LAFLER INTERVIEW
posted on The Comics Journal
NOW AVAILABLE,Purchase a copy of the EL VOCHO
graphic novel, now on sale
At LULU Here.
The 2011 film adaptations of Conan the Barbarian starring Jason Momoa as the vengeful Cimmerian was far from being a classic and quickly vanished from theaters. It struggled on many levels as a film. Acting, storytelling, cinematography, sound, and special effects all missed their mark yet for fans of the original Robert E. Howard pulps this movie succeeded at tapping the nerve that has attracted so many to the character. It was bloody, fierce, and full of gratuitous sex and violence, summing the character up in a simple bio, “I live, I love, I slay… I am content.”
Unlike the earlier, more polished, film versions of Conan that starred the muscle-bound Arnold Schwarzenegger who gave the character as much barbaric swagger as a He-Man cartoon, this movie, through all its crudeness, somehow just “got it.” The makers understood the true nature of the character and consequently made a film that, as bad as it was, was still enjoyable to fans who have longed to see Conan finally unleashed.
Reviews of the film reveal two types of Conan fans: Those who are fans of the original source material and those whose only familiarity with the character came from the Swarzeneggar flicks. The latter seem offended by the ferocity of the newer film, objecting that it betrays the watered-down Conan that they grew up with.
Imagine that!
This is nothing new. Audiences that only knew Batman through their experience growing up during the 1966 Batmania had a hard time adjusting to the darker yet more accurate versions of the character that came later.
Hollywood has a way of redefining comic book characters to enhance what they perceive as their marketability often sacrificing the virtues that made the character special in the first place.
This summer’s retooling of Superman may be the boldest attempt to reshape the most iconic superhero of all times. If Man of Steel is successful will it blot out or demean the Superman that has stood for truth, justice and the American way for the last seventy-four years? I am anxious to see if Kal-El is ever actually called or referred to as Superman in the film.
Will it be up to the fans of the original source material to preserve the legacy of Superman?
Probably.
And that’s a good thing because fans get it right. Fans know what makes characters special and even with limited resources they are able to capitalize on those attributes to create memorable films that capture the true essence of the subject.
The following is a list of great examples of fan films that succeed:
Wonder Woman
Grayson
Judge Minty
Y: The Last Man Rising
ElfQuest: A Fan Imagining
Lobo ParaMilitary Christmas Special
Superman Classic
The Rocketeer Animation
At CO2 Comics we have our own favorite fan film. A blast from the past, completed in 1982 by Bob Karwoski, Larry Ruggiero and the infamous Bob Schreck:
The Incredible HULK Meets the Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed THING
The THING costume created by Yours Truly conjures a truer version of a Jack Kirby/Joe Sinnott THING than any of the recent Hollywood films.
You decide
Thanks to advances in CGI, film adaptions of comic characters have gotten a lot better but directors are always in danger of putting the cart before the horse and becoming dependent on effects to carry a film rather than the character. Green Lantern proved that CGI does not a superhero film make.
So Hollywood, pay attention to the fans. If you want a beloved superhero film, stay true to the character. But if all else fails, call it a parody and make a porno!
Who cares? The original character is already screwed.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
There seems to be plenty of evidence that comics may cause amnesia.
Apparently anyone who reads, collects, buys, sells, or creates comics is prone to complete memory loss especially regarding the subject of creator rights. people associated with comics in any way shape or form are in desperate need of an old-fashioned FLASHBACK!
How can this be? It has long been assumed that comic enthusiasts excel at the ability to retain the most trivial detail regarding their favorite characters, story arcs and comic creators. They are able to recognize fine nuances in artwork that identify pencilers and inkers, idiosyncrasies in writing that denote authors, and can distinguish the differences between lettering and coloring styles and techniques.
The true comic fan can recite, verbatim, from their favorite comics, panel by panel page by page issue by issue. Yet, regarding the long fought battle over of creators rights, the brains of most people associated with comics today are a clean slate.
This explains why artists continue to work for page rates that are the same as or less than they were thirty years ago. This explains why creators are willing to continue to be exploited by work-for-hire contracts with little or no expectation of royalties.
This explains why contracts for digital content are as archaic as those that sucked the souls from creators and robbed them blind since the dawn of the comics industry.
Comics are like rufies, you know, the date rape drug. They must be because they make comic creators forget how they have been screwed, over and over again by the corporate publishers that demand complete control over all Intellectual Property and are unwilling to share all but the tiniest crumbs left by the billions of dollars of profit that is generated by the hard labor of those that create it.
Some are immune to this peculiar neurological allergen. They stand out as rebels and spin their craft in the far reaches of the marketplace: small press, self publishing, web comics and commission work. They carry the torch for a war still fought but rarely noticed; a fight for principle and fairness. They remember the victims of the scrupulous publishers. They remember those that fought: the few that won and the many that lost.
This rag-tag band of comic rebels have their supporters: enlightened fans that sing their praise and defend their stance but in total they are a rare breed that struggles to perpetually rekindle the flame of an apparently, easily forgettable fight.
Thank goodness for history books. If not for them many a war would be left forgotten. Fortunately, the chronicles of this battle for creators rights was recorded directly from the mouths of those that first led the charge. Their words were captured for perpetuity in the pages of a magazine in the form of interviews.
David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW was the voice of comics industry from 1983 to 1995. It was the forum where everyone and anyone associated with comics was able to speak their mind. The matter of creators rights was at the forefront of many of those discussions as a heated affront to the unjust norms of the industry was erupting in the form of the first wave of independent publishers who, along with the formation of the Direct Market, created an alternative venue for comic creators to reach their audience and own their work.
Steve Gerber
Page after page of COMICS INTERVIEW emboldened the movement, inspiring, and engaging the ranks of comic creators and fans alike who were able to empathize with each other. Readers were able to experience and appreciate the perspective of creator rights pioneers like Steve Gerber who threw his mantle down in the first issue, establishing a code of honor that would endure for the full 150 issue run of the magazine.
Fortunately, COMICS INTERVIEW is not destined to be a faded memory, lost to the world in the forgotten long boxes of aging comic enthusiasts of a bygone era. It is being digitally restored and collected in its entirety by CO2 Comics who are packaging the massive collection in an eleven volume set. Each volume contains over 600 pages of riveting history of the comic book industry. Currently the first two volumes are available featuring the first 28 issues of the magazine. Volume three is currently in production.
Many of the subjects whose interviews grace the pages had careers that dated back to the dawn of the industry itself, while others continue to work in the industry today. This portal to a window in time at the center of the history of comic books makes David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection an invaluable historical treasure. It is in fact the greatest collection of interviews in the history of comic books.
David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is the perfect cure for any amnesia regarding creators rights in the comic industry. It is a history book that uniquely depicts a war as it was happening and directly told by the participants and witnesses themselves.
It is a history book that belongs in the library of anyone with any interest in understanding the comic industry today as it is as relevant now as as it ever has been.
It is a history book that belongs in every school or public library for its intimate perspective of an industry that has had a dynamic impact on the popular culture of the world as we know it today.
David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is the ultimate FLASHBACK to remind us that the war over creators rights is not, and can never be, over.
Never forget. Never give up.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
The first Saturday in May has become an major holiday for comic book retailers around the world! Free Comic Book Day has been described as “Christmas” for comic book fans because it is the one day of the year that anyone can go to a comic book shop and get comics for FREE! This successful marketing bonanza is highly regarded as a great way to get new people into comic shops and introduce them to comic books.
What a great idea! Who can pass up getting anything for FREE?!!!
But why waste such a tremendous idea on only one lousy day each year? Why waste the other 364 days having to dole out hard earned cash for your comic fix?
What if you could get FREE COMICS EVERY DAY? Just the idea of it makes your head want to explode; doesn’t it?
Well hang on to your jockey shorts, boxers, panties and thongs because FREE COMICS EVERY DAY have been right at your fingertips all along!
Go ahead, type it in: freecomicseveryday.com… and poof! Off you go to a magical place where comics are FREE every day at right here at CO2 COMICS! No Waiting! No Marking your calendar! No standing in line hoping to get a freebie before it runs out!
FREE COMICS EVERY DAY!!! A dream come true for every comic fan! Check it out! Over a thousand pages of comics updated daily with new material! Dozens of features by comic creators that have worked for every major comics publisher in the biz! Top notch comics!
And that’s not all!
There are blog posts, galore, covering tantalizing issues of history, technique, creator rights, ethics and observations that concern comic fans everywhere.
All FREE!
CO2 COMICS may just be the best kept secret in the industry! Now the cat is out of the bag! So what are you waiting for? Saturday?
SNORE! ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!
Click on that colorful FREE COMICS EVERY DAY banner and immerse yourself in a ton of great comics NOW!
Once you experience all the great FREE comics at CO2 COMICS you will want to be a HERO and share your dazzling find with all your friends on facebook, twitter and all the other social media outlets that everybody is hobnobbing at when they should be hanging at the dang-blasted, water cooler.
CO2 COMICS wants to be in your network too so don’t forget to click on all those colorful icons of your favorite social site.
All this FREE stuff has got to be making heads spin out there! Don’t worry you can spend some money if you have to!
CO2 COMICS and the creators on-board like to eat too so there is plenty product available that does require a price to pay. You can buy the three beautiful graphic novels Heaven and the Dead City, The Heavy Adventures of Captain Obese! and Ménage à Bughouse along with two volumes of David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW the Complete Collection all available in paperback and hardback editions.
If you want some swag you can get any of the four, ultra cool DEATH FATIGUE T-SHIRTS http://www.deathfatigue.com/index.html.
Please, make it a point to visit links to creator sites, support their other projects and services and tell your friends to do so too.
So there you have it, FREE comics are a great marketing tool that allows everyone to be a winner when enjoyed properly! We hope you do stop by your local comic shop on that first Saturday of May and load up on some free comic books, just remember when you’re done to stop by CO2 COMICS and get your FREE COMICS EVERY DAY the rest of the year!
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
Spring has sprung! The grass is once more turning green. Flowers are blooming and the leaves are budding on the trees.
Expect a new found empathy for the trees thanks of a new comic feature presented by CO2 Comics Serialized on a weekly basis, Cid and Francis, created by Mike Sgier, is a fantasy story deeply rooted in nature.
Cid is a wandering tree spirit that possesses great wisdom derived from him being as old as the hills themselves. His perspective of life is drawn from ancient experience and observation. Conversely, Francis is a young gnome with restauranteur aspirations on his own mission to discover new recipes and himself in the process. Together they forge a bond of friendship that strengthens through their journey as they encounter humor, love and tragedy.
The strange world through which they travel is known as Vespers. It is filled with unexpected romances, friends, enemies and long forgotten creatures that provide plenty of opportunity for adventure for the two pals.
Creator, Mike Sgier, weaves a whimsical tale that is laden with a unique charm that makes this fantasy world an inviting and accessible place with strange characters that are oddly relatable. His textured yet simple drawings do a wonderful job of establishing a reality that is mysterious, earthy and timeless without being pretentious.
Cid and Francis will make you look at nature in a new way. Trees will suddenly have personalities that you were never aware of. They will have a sentient quality that will garner a new found respect. The wind through their leaves will become a twitter of laughter as you realize that nature is as amused by us as much as we are of it.
Spring, as always ushers in a new beginning as a dormant world awakens from the dead of winter. This year, Spring is special because it brings us a new creation from an obviously old soul.
Enjoy Cid and Francis and experience the wonder of something new that is bound to make an impression that will last a lifetime.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
It is amazing to see the number of women that attend comic conventions these days. Maybe their inclusion is more pronounced to those of us that were attending comic cons thirty years ago when seeing a woman at a comic con was akin to spotting a Yeti on the beach.
Women abound at cons these days and though those that participate in cosplay seem to get all of the media attention because of their skimpy costumes and exhibitionistm portrayals of sexy characters, it is more than comforting to see the growing numbers of women that are comic creators, readers, bloggers, and collectors.
At the Asbury Park Comic Convention, two of the many highlights for me involved the presence of women at the show.
Meeting the extraordinarily talented illustrator, Stephanie Buscema was a thrill. She carries on the tremendous legacy of her grandfather, John Buscema, and great uncle, Sal Buscema, both gentlemen legends in the comic book industry. Though she bears the mantle of comic book royalty, she does so while maintaining her own individuality with her unique and refreshing retro style.
Lining up to meet Ms. Buscema was the other surprise of the show, a parade of female fans of all ages. They were not there just for her but her beautiful art was a magnet that attracted the ladies like a moth to a flame. Those same women soaked up everything at the show with the same enthusiasm that was once only expected from the old “boys club.” Mothers with children in tow, Grandmothers wearing Batman swag, teenagers, tweens and toddlers of the female persuasion were all there genuinely showing an interest in comics and not because they were dragged there by a dad, husband or boyfriend.
I don’t know why I am always surprised to see waves of women at conventions. I guess I fall prey to the stereotyping as easily as anyone because I do remember quite vividly those early days of comic conventions that were attended so sparsely by women. I am well aware, however, that women have played a significant role in comics for decades and it is about time that they share the limelight with the men.
Our newly released second volume of David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is a testimonial to the efforts of some of the women that played pioneering roles in the history of comics featuring a long list of interviews that were originally published in 1984 and 1985.
Harking back to the earliest days of the Silver Age, Marvel Comics’ very own Gal Friday, Flo Steinberg gives us an intimate look at what life was like in the fabled Bullpen and talks about her own attempt at independent publishing with the anthology Big Apple Comix.
Maggie Thompson, one of the earliest pioneers of comic fandom along with her husband Don, describes the dawn of fandom through her experience evolving fanzines into trade periodicals as she chronicles the early history of the recently retired Comics Buyers Guide.
Marvel Sales Director, Carol Kalish, discusses Marvel’s role in the structuring of the young Direct Market and revolutionary marketing programs that she was responsible for implementing that impact the industry to this day.
A young Colleen Doran talks about the development her comic creation A Distant Soil that is still in publication twenty-eight years later!
Influential editors Karen Berger, Jo Duffy and Cat Yronwode give their take on their responsibilities guiding creators at DC, Marvel and Eclipse respectively.
Round it out with creative insight from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents writer, Mary Bierbaum and American Flagg colorist Leslie Zahler and there is clear evidence to the significant roles that women played in comics for a long time.
Of course these special women are just a percentage of more than seventy subjects who’s interviews are packed into this one volume but they stand out dramatically among the scads of men that are generally associated with comics.
So next time the question is asked, “Where have all the women in comics come from?” Remember that their numbers have risen from a strong foundation of pioneers that have been in the trenches for a long, long time.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
CO2 Comics proudly announces the immediate release of the second volume of David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection.
That is right, Volume 2 is On Sale Now!
It can be purchased exclusively, through direct links to CO2 Comics’ Product Spotlight Page.
We at CO2 Comics are on a mission to preserve comics history one volume at a time. We are collecting the entire 150 issue run of David Anthony Kraft’s popular COMICS INTERVIEW magazine that exclusively featured interviews with everyone and anyone that was involved in the comics industry in any shape and form.
Originally published from 1983 to 1995, COMICS INTERVIEW gave voice to the comics industry at a pivotal time in its history. The magazine was able to provide insightful interviews with writers, artists and editors that were active in the earliest days of the industry as well as the young Turks whose careers since continue to shape the industry today.
Page by page, volume by volume, David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is an accurate, candid, and authoritative perspective of the history of comics that comes directly from the mouths of the people that lived it.
Amazingly relevant to current issues that affect the industry today, every volume is a necessary source of vital information for anyone who wants a complete understanding of the comics industry today.
Planned as an eleven volume set, CO2 Comics is delivering David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection one volume at a time. Previously released and currently available, the first volume, proved to be impressive. Featuring 680 pages of incredible content the huge book meticulously preserved issues 1-14 of the historic magazine, bound in either paperback or hard cover editions and reasonably priced at $34.99 and $54.99 respectively.
Volume 2 continues the tradition of excellence, delivering 688 pages that compile issues 15-28 and is immediately available for purchase direct to customers online through CO2 Comics’ Comics Interview portal, www.comicsinterview.com where, as an added bonus, sample interviews from over a dozen industry legends can be reviewed.
Carl Macek Interview
Scott McCloud Interview
Flo Steinberg Interview
Bill Willingham Interview
As with volume 1, a Premier Edition featuring the classic Comics Interview logo will be available for just a limited time in both paperback and hardcover editions. Standard editions of both featuring the traditional Comics Interview logo are and will continue to be available for both Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Comics Interview Volume 2 Premiere cover
David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is a massive and beautiful centerpiece intended for any comics library. Accumulated one volume at a time it continues the tradition of anticipation and fulfillment that is experienced by every comic collector. If you love comics, now is the time to begin your own collection of the greatest interviews in the history of comics. Order your copies today!
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
Creative people, beware! What is worse, having your worked ripped off by pirates or being forced to channel your creative efforts through a labyrinth of laws and high tech security defenses that are supposedly intended to protect you and your creations but in reality herd you to a desolate pasture guarded by dogs whose only interest is to control and profit from your work?
Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are all jokes. They only protect those that can afford to enforce them.
“Hi! I’m a comic artist. I created a work and I have a copyright and a trademark on it but now it is viral on the web in torrent sites and a big company is publishing a comic just like it. They have plans to make a film. I can’t afford to go after all or any of the pirates so my trademark is naked leaving me unprotected. I’d love to go after the big company but I can’t afford representation. Any lawyer who will take my case will bleed me after settlement if I win.”
Sound familiar? It’s tough being a starving artist.
Oppose DRM-Click here and visit Defective By Design
Now there is DRM. Digital Rights Management programs are intended to protect creative works from being copied in this digital age. Sounds good but for creative folks that consider themselves “the little guy” DRM becomes another hurdle that ends up costing money. You self-publish a comic and make an e-book out of it but now need to buy a different ISBN for every platform that it is on or become locked into a platform because of exclusivity contracts. Pick the wrong platform and your project is dead in the water.
We all got an eye-full when Marvel crashed Comixology. Headlines should have read, “Industry Giant Floods Market. Blacks Out All Competition.” What does the crash have to do with DRM? Apps like Comixology are intended to facilitate monetization of digital comics that formerly relied on the internet for “distribution” They are also intended to deter piracy by making legally paid-for, digital content easily accessible the way iTunes did for music in the hope that inherently honest people would avoid torrent sites.
But DRM prevents you from owning what you have bought. It is more like a library card that lets you borrow a comic to view whenever you want to with certain limitations. Whatever you do don’t share it!
Marvel’s blackout of Comixology was more than a big reminder that we don’t really own what we plunk our cash down for. It also showed that Marvel had the power to prevent accessibility to smaller works just like they do when they flood the Direct Market with a million popular titles.
According to a recent article HTML5′s overseer says DRM’s true purpose is to prevent legal forms of innovation.
Seriously?
We really are being herded.
Controversy over creative ownership and sharing has to be as old as the earliest cave drawings. Imagine them arguing over copying each other’s stick figure, animal drawings. But those drawings preserved stories that needed to be shared. Their value became measured by a culture that grew from their sharing. We are their ultimate beneficiaries. Copying was not stealing. it was sharing.
Before records, cassette tapes and mp3 players music was copied and shared by anyone with an instrument or a singing voice. Somebody whistling a tune they just heard could be considered a pirate in the strictest terms today. The person who wrote the tune could feel jeopardized that the whistler is entertaining others with the tune while returning no royalty. The whistler in reality is free advertisement for the song writer and the professional that originally performed the song.
There is value in sharing and a fine line to ownership when it comes to culture. We all want to be recognized and rewarded for our creations but do we have to protect them so dearly that only those that can afford to can have access to them. This stinginess ultimately hurts everyone including the artist.
Imagine where South Korean musician PSY would be today if his K-Pop single, Gangnam Style didn’t make him a world sensation by going viral on the internet. All that shared free publicity resulted in over $8 million in revenue from paid iTunes downloads and commercials.
People may settle for a copy if they have to but they will always value ownership of the original. As much as we hate the idea of knock-offs, the truth is they drive up the value of the original by increasing demand and simulating popularity.
Artists, don’t be manipulated by fear! Big companies and content providers will be the first cry foul and instigate unfettered fear among artists to justify radical defensive measures regarding laws and security plans like DRM. Behind the frenzy is a calculated plot to control the artists whose free thinking poses the greatest threat of all to the big wigs at the top.
The internet has provided us with the greatest, most fertile environment for creativity ever. The digital age has given power to the artist. Do not be fooled to hand over the keys to big business and their strangling tactics. Do not be manipulated.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
After finally putting to bed a huge project that we’ve been working on here at CO2 Comics (expect a big announcement next week) I snuck out with my wife for a guilty pleasure.
We went to the movies!
Beside my professional credentials as a comics creator and publisher, I am proud to admit that I am also a variety arts entertainer with a fair range of diverse skills that include balloon sculpting, juggling, stilt walking, puppetry and magic. There has been a buzz of excitement among my friends in the magician community about the new movie, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” Sporting a great cast that includes Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Steve Buscemi, Alan Arkin and the stunning Olivia Wilde with a cameo by David Copperfield, himself, this magic parody film was hard to resist, especially for anyone that has ever dabbled as a magician.
I don’t intend that this blog post be a review of “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” For me, movie was entertaining, though it did not live up to my hopeful expectations. I did find myself, however, identifying with the central theme which paralleled closely to last week’s essay about Jerry Ordway and his experience as a formerly successful comic book artist now struggling to find work. The film had a lesson to be learned by all artists and entertainers which can be summed up simply as “never lose the wonderment that attracted you to your creative medium of choice.”
In the film, Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and his partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) rise from childhood friends with a voracious interest in magic to a world-class act that headlines in Vegas with their own dedicated theater. Their performance, dominated by Wonderstone’s ego, becomes routine and, eventually, stale as audience numbers accordingly shrink. The new, hot attraction in town is Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) whose brand of street magic is more “Shock and Awe” a la Criss Angel than a Vegas style production like Copperfield . What classic technique Gray’s magic lacks is overshadowed by vile displays of self mutilation that engage his audiences through what he calls “Mind Rape.”
Wonderstone and Marvelton’s act is no longer deemed viable. The two are out of a job and can’t find work anywhere, now considered washed-up hacks. They must rediscover that wonderment that initially drove them to greatness before they can force their classic act “out of the box” to overcome the superficial sensations of their competition.
This theme is a common challenge that faces all of the arts. Many artists are not prepared to accept the transitional point where the act of doing what they love becomes a job. Many artists discover an inner resentment that their creative freedom is lost because of a necessary need to pander to a market compounded by deadlines, schedules, editors and critics. Their work becomes routine and eventually mundane. They lose the creative joy they once had as artists. They lose the wonder.
When doing what you love becomes work it can sometimes be like losing your best friend. It is either time to move on with your life, find a way to rekindle that relationship or be miserable in it. At CO2 Comics we know first-hand what a slippery slope working in the comics field can be regarding this issue and we remind ourselves every day with our tag line, “Making comics because we want to!” For us it’s true. We love making comics and making them available to an ever changing audience. Bill Cucinotta and I have had a friendship that has endured all these years through good and bad times. It is our mutual affection for the medium and respect for each other as artists that has kept us together on this mission as comic publishers.
My clown friends in the entertainment field have a mantra that paraphrases McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc. They say, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot!” It is a challenge to stay fresh and to continue expanding the horizons of your craft for your own self esteem and for the sake of the audience while always being grounded in the classic fundamentals.
Fundamentals are the key to longevity in any field. Those that embrace them structure their work with a classic frame that will support any inventiveness used to establish the artist’s creative signature. Art with no regard to fundamentals will usually not stand the test of time and will fade into obscurity as a dated novelty.
“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” is an observation of how any medium can be distracted by the extreme. This is not lost on the cast of the film. In a Newsday article Steve Carell is quoted as saying,”It’s the idea that something that is classic and perhaps a bit well worn can casually be replaced by something that might not be considered art, but is new and shocking,” he said. “I think that not only happens in magic but in the comedy world as well. I think there are lots of parallels, especially in television, in terms of what people are watching at this point. People are getting so much info on a daily basis, you need to do something ridiculous just to garner any attention.”
Olivia Wilde follows up with, “”It’s an observation about what people want to watch, and what audiences seem to be demanding,” Wilde said. “People want to be pushed to the brink, to see what they’ve never seen, It’s interesting because it’s happening in sports and in film as well — horror, comedy. People want to be pushed to the edge. I wonder if that’s a reaction to technology and what’s available at our fingertips, or the demands made on entertainment that you pay for, because free content is so plentiful.
“If our film is a love letter to anything, it’s to a classic style of entertainment.”
So comics are not alone in their struggle to attract an audience and to maintain a classic integrity. It’s too bad that this film is ultimately a piece of fluff that will not be taken seriously enough for people to fully digest the message. There is hope for me, however, that classic values in comics will win-out over what I see as a current knee-jerk marketing frenzy that is destabilizing classic and iconic characters and fracturing the fundamentals of good writing, visual storytelling and dynamics. All is good in the world!
Thanks Burt Wonderstone for reminding me of the wonderment that attracted me to comics!
With all that in mind now, grab a pen and jot down these dates and events that Bill Cucinotta and I will be at in the next few weeks. Stop and see us at our booth at The Asbury Park Comic Convention in Asbury Park , NJ on Saturday March 30, 2013 and at the Comic Geek Speak Super Show in Reading, PA. April 6-7, 2013 . Both shows are chock full of classic comic book artists. Show them some love! We want to meet you too and are excited about looking at portfolios of aspiring comic creators. See you there!
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
Popular, classic and brilliant comic book artist, Jerry Ordway, whose work throughout the 80′s and 90′s defined the DC Universe recently wrote a heart wrenching essay, Life Over Fifty, describing his current professional situation which is unfortunately comparable to that of many of his peers.
If you are in the comics industry or aspiring to work in the field, this is an honest and fair observation of the current state of the industry that you must be aware of and willing to change if you ever hope for a secure career as a comic artist.
Jerry asks a simple question toward the end of the essay that is at the heart of his discontentment.
“Getting back to the beginning of this essay, and to the artists I loved as a kid, all I ask is for some of the same consideration my generation of creators and editors gave to the older guard in the 1980′s. My work is still sharp, my mind is still full of stories to tell, and I’m still willing to work all hours of my day to meet my deadlines. Why am I out of work from the publishers? Why are my friends, people who turned in great work, worthy of hardcover and trade paperback reprints, not able to get work? ”
The answer is simple and unfortunate. It can be summed up in a single word. Disrespect.
Disrespect in the comic book industry is a cancer that threatens to destroy the fabric of the industry that has now survived an average person’s lifespan. It is a cancer that has always been there and just as it seemed curable it mutated into a uglier threat.
The comic book industry itself struggled with disrespect from its inception. As a product, comic books were the bottom feeders on any magazine rack; cheaply made, poorly printed, sold to children. Comic books originated as a disposable, impulse purchase. Nobody expected the cultural impact they would have or the durability and value of the character trademarks in the market.
Early comic book creators and publishers had little respect for the industry, themselves. Work in the comic book industry was considered an underpaid stepping stone to a future in some other graphics or communication field. Few admitted to working in the field and fewer stayed to make a career of it.
Those were the few that had respect for comics as a medium and as an industry. Those few became legends and solidified respect for comic books and comic book art. In the 1960′s Julie Schwartz at DC and Stan Lee at Marvel created environments that, for the first time, made the idea of a career in comics attractive and secure.
The creative legends of comics came together and made DC and Marvel commercial powerhouses that propelled their trademarks into the forefront of popular culture. Writers, artists, editors and even production people gained respect and credit for their work. And they worked, well into retirement.
All was not perfect. Creator’s rights became an issue. Work for hire contracts were viewed as a necessary evil but the legends didn’t seem to care so long as there was work doing what they loved. It was just part of the industry they knew and had built. It supported them and their families.
As the legends grew old new generations of creators came in to fill their shoes and carry the mantle, insuring that the quality and integrity of the trademarks remained intact. The Big Two had distinctive “styles” that set them apart from each other.
When Jack Kirby defected to DC after establishing himself as “King” at Marvel, editors at DC would paste house style faces of Superman over his stylized work to maintain their preferred look of the character. Kirby understood.
There was respect for creators, the characters and the companies.
Jerry Ordway is from the last generation of creators that held that respect and he had hoped to retain it himself, but times have changed. Disrespect has gained a foothold again but different than before. Creators now are cut-throat and disposable. Editors have no loyalty. The companies have no respect for the trademarks other than the bottom line.
The style sheets that one time served as bibles have been tossed aside. Entire universes are rebooted from scratch establishing new versions of old characters that are barely recognizable. The comic books and to some extent the films, thumb their noses at classic, established trademarks that are cultural icons. Why wouldn’t the industry “flip off” the creators that for decades diligently maintained the integrity of those characters?
Those iconic trademarks are now derogatorily deemed “Old School” by the new elite powers of the industry and grown, snot-nosed fans, long weened from the classics, who prefer their superhero comics gritty, racy and violent.
Ironically, the old classic trademarks hold their value with licensees who plaster the images of them on every conceivable piece of merchandise. Images by Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Herbe Trimpe, Sal Buscema, Dick Giordano, Jonny Romita, and Jerry Ordway skim the surface of the list of classic comic book creators whose work continues to generate huge revenue in forms of royalties, royalties that neither they nor their heirs see a lick of.
In the meantime the trendy, “new look” reboots of the comics struggle to sell the most modest of numbers in a perpetually shrinking Direct Comic Book Market.
If DC and Marvel respected their product and their trademarks, there would always be work for creators like Ordway. They would be necessary as mentors to insure that the integrity of the trademarks is passed along to the next generation of creators.
Kevin Tsujihara
There is hope at Marvel, now under the wing of Disney which is rigorous about preserving the iconic looks of their trademarks.
Maybe DC, under the guidance of Warner Bros new, traditionalist CEO, Kevin Tsujihara, will see the light and re-embrace that which has stood the test of time. Maybe the Old School will get the respect it deserves.
Making Comics Because We Want to,
Gerry Giovinco
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