Damn it!

It breaks my heart every time I read about a comic artist finding it difficult to make ends meet, especially when they are extremely talented and were at one time among the elite creators in the field.

Welcome to the Arts!

I guess this means that comics have finally arrived as an art form. There was a time when a job in comics was just a bottom feeder stepping stone to a more lucrative career in advertising or other creative fields. Now artists are begging for a career in comics. Who would have guessed?

It was not long ago when Dick Giordano feared that the talent pool in comics was about to be extinct prompting him to create an apprentice program at DC in the late 1970′s. Around the same time Joe Kubert’s school became a fertile environment, producing numerous great talents. Other teachers like Will Eisner and Burne Hogarth also brandished brilliant torches, shining a bright light on education of the medium.

Comics now have joined the respected ranks of music, dance, literature, painting and sculpture where legions of practitioners strive for success yet only a rare few ever achieve stardom and tremendous financial reward.

Joe Kubert, Will Eisner, Burne Hogarth

Does this mean that if you are not one of the supremely talented or lucky you should just pack up the pencils paper and ink and give up? Hell no!

Artists in general have a strange sense of entitlement. Growing up, most are made well aware of their talents by doting family and friends that hail their giftedness. Stars in their own small circles, many are not prepared to face the challenge of competition in the larger arena of the real world. They expect the commendations and glories that they always knew and become disenchanted when it requires significantly greater effort to achieve success.

Success in any medium requires hard work well beyond talent and this is especially true in comics because of limited opportunity. Other than publishing yourself, there are so few publishers willing to pay reasonable fees for the work. There are also fewer projects by major publishing houses which will become an epidemic as the digital market grows.

The Big Two’s bean counters will surely realize that the seventy years of content that they already posses will be enough to saturate the digital market. Their money would be better spent digitalizing the classic material than spending it on new work that might require royalties and other forms of compensation not to mention costly editorial and production expenses.

So what’s a comic artist to do? What else? Get creative! Pave your own road to success by marketing, networking, publishing, teaching and creating comics, just like every other person that calls themselves a professional artist of the medium of their choice.

Superstars in every creative field are rare but plenty of creative folks support themselves and their families while  doing what they love by digging hard into the trenches and working it. Just ask any wedding singer, music teacher, production artist, variety entertainer. How many musicians are there in a garage band performing locally that have dreams of being a big star? Plenty.

The environment for creating comics and profiting from them has never been more full of opportunity thanks to the Direct Market, digital printing,  the internet, and digital distribution. Any one can make comics and have them distributed around the world in no time. Not everyone will get rich making comics but, like every art field, the cream will rise to the top and others will find levels of success to meet their personal efforts and some will simply give up their dream.

How To Be A Supervillain by Rachael Yu

One thing is for sure, like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play. Last week a graphic novel written by a fourteen year old girl, Rachel Yu, was number one on Amazon’s Kindle Fire, outselling any graphic novel by Marvel or DC! The playing field is as even as it is ever going to be regarding distribution and the comic creators have the upper hand when it comes to being able to create and control exciting, fresh, new concepts.

Check Out Occupy Comics

2012 has already been tagged as the year of the artist-entrepreneur. It most definitely is! If you have been following the Occupy movement you may be in anticipation of a revolution. If you are a comic creator you are in the middle of one! Now is the time for comic creators to unite and take control of the digital market and ultimately the Direct Market, simply by producing the best new comics available. Let the big guys bury themselves with reboots of tired old characters.

CO2 Comics is just one collective community of comic artists with an eye on the prize. We have a track record thirty years in the making, of jumping into the ring with the heavyweights and backing them into the ropes with speed and agility. We are lacing up the gloves again as proud supporters of creators right’s and the talents of the little guy. If you want to be in our corner, contact us, show us what you got and get prepared to deliver an uppercut. The big guys are going down!

It may not seem right making comparisons of art and war but this is a matter of survival. Comic creators have an opportunity to set an example. We have a chance to prove that as a community we can make a difference. We can pull ourselves out from under the thumb of corporate giants that have dictated this industry for decades and establish new standards for the creation of comics that will make them better for everyone.

Oh, and if you don’t think this is war you better educate yourself about SOPA and realize that there is a covert attack on our creative rights happening right now. Implementation of SOPA may as well be the implementation of martial law on the internet and we are in danger of losing all the benefits and freedoms of the systems of distribution that we are counting on for a bright future for comics. We must do what we can, now, to stop SOPA.

Carpe Diem!

Celebrating Thirty Years of Comics History!

Gerry Giovinco

I have said many times that I do not regard a comic complete until it is in the hands of the reader. I say his because I believe that the presentation of the material is itself a critical element that impacts the readers appreciation of the work. Most of my career in comics has been on the side of producing the final package wether it be in print or digital format. Bill Cucinotta and I take as much pride here at CO2 Comics in packaging other creator’s comics for final presentation as we do writing and drawing our own material. This was also true when we were partners publishing comics under the Comico label back in the 1980′s.

Last week I wrote about accessibility, primarily focusing on characters remaining accessible to their audience after decades of continuity that might obscure their fundamental characteristics that make them unique and even iconic. To many, however the concept of accessibility as it relates to comics refers more to the availability of product or more precisely, the delivery of the product.

Ever since the rise of the Direct Market, beginning in the late 1970′s, it seems that  the accessibility of the comic book to the general public, or more accurately the casual comic book reader, has diminished with the relative extinction of traditional mass market outlets that drove the sales in the Golden and Silver Ages of comics.

Overlooked however is the fact that comics do exist outside of both of these markets and are thriving.  Comics may be more accessible to readers now than ever before. Comics are offered in such a tremendous array of packaging and subject matter that surely there is something for everybody and comics as a medium is poised to be recognized for its ability to have universal appeal.

I am going to attempt a breakdown of venues through which comics are currently being enjoyed. some are traditional formats others are new and still others are vehicles of marketing or use of comics as a form of communication. This includes strips, panels, short form and long form presentations. Please, if I miss any don’t hesitate to to send along your suggestions.

Newspapers – strips and panels – newstand distribution, subscription

Magazines -  strips and panels – newstand  and mass market distribution, subscription, internet sales

Comic Books – long format – Direct Market, Bookstores, subscription, internet sales

Graphic Novels – long format – Direct Market, Bookstores, internet sales

Small Press – Boutique format – Direct Market, internet sales, conventions

Web comics- Any format goes including infinite canvas – usually free on internet, some by subscription, some get collected into print packages.

Digital – comics collections on disc or via subscription on web sites.

Cell phone apps- comics downloaded to cell phone

e-reader apps – comics downloaded to e-readers like i-Pad, Kindle Fire, BN Nook

Print on Demand- Comics available as books printed to order from POD producers like LULU.

Zines – usually produced as fan publications, printed at home and mailed or distributed as PDFs via e-mail

Tracts – small religious pamphlets done as comics usually handed out freely by true believers.

Educational -comics used to illustrate a point, often seen in textbooks or educational magazines. The military uses comics to educate.

Institutional- I’ve seen comics used to describe museums and historic landmarks to name a few.

Premium -  This includes everything from free comics in Bazooka Joe Bubble Gum to comics in cereal boxes.

Instructional- Comics are used all the time to show instructions from everything to setting up a computer to flight safety on airplanes.

Promotional-comics used to advertise a product in ad form or catalogue form. I’ve seen promotional comics on comics on place mats in restaurants.

Journalistic- comics journalism has come a long way and can be found as panels or strips in newspapers to magazines and on the web.

I know that there is plenty more out there, I’d love to see samples of comics used in unusual formats, it always fascinates me so please share links or upload pictures to our facebook page.

Comics are everywhere. They are so ingrained in our culture that idioms like word balloons, panels, page layouts, effect splashes, production techniques and genre references are so common place they are easily taken for granted.

It is time for comic creators to lose the sensibility that they are purveyors of a fringe medium whose target audience is a focus group of geek culture and recognize that comics as a medium is one of power through its ability to communicate effectively to the masses in a simple, cost efficient manner. This cultural repositioning of the medium will be necessary for creators to establish their value to a market that will witness an ever increasing demand for this wonderfully versatile medium.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Another Thanksgiving is gaining on us and this year there seems to be less and less to be thankful for. The economy sucks, the world is in turmoil, and everyone is miserable. Boy, I can’t wait for Christmas! I think I’ll ask Santa for a “happy pill.”

I am generally an optimistic person and have often been accused of living in “Gerry World” by my family and friends for my unwillingness to be dragged down by life’s burdens. I am a firm believer that everything is relative. I have a hard time complaining about life in our country  when I compare it to the standards of living in an economically devastated place like Darfur.

I remember a time when I was having a particularly bad day, the car had broken down and I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with my son who was getting very upset by the situation. I shared with him two fatherly bits of advice: “shit happens” and never say, “it can’t get any worse.”

Years later we look at that experience and laugh, both at how we managed to get through that micro-crisis in one piece  and  at how many times since we have needed to refer to those two particular life lessons.

My theory of relativity was tested when I read the recent web post Tragic Tale, a lengthy, nine-page, article that details the tragedy that has befallen legendary Marvel Comics writer Bill Mantlo whose most notable works were The Micronauts, Rom Spaceknight, Cloak and Dagger, and The Incredible Hulk along with a huge array of other titles. Mantlo was struck by a hit-and-run driver while rollerblading in New York in 1995. He has been left, brain damaged and stranded by the system in a nursing home, forgotten by the legion of fans that for many years found joy in his work.

Many people were shocked and devastated by the news which was delivered with an agenda to illustrate, through Mantlo’s experience, how the Health Insurance Industry and Federal Healthcare Reform does not work in America. The story was embellished a bit to accentuate the author’s point but none of that changes the fact that Bill Mantlo’s life has been ruined by a tragic accident and his existence has been reduced to a pale shadow of his former boisterous self.

Ladies and gentlemen, anyone who has ever enjoyed a Bill Mantlo  comic, anyone who has ever worked with Bill Mantlo and anyone who has ever considered themselves a comic creator or enthusiast, please, this holiday season, please, remember that one of our own, a member of the comics family, needs us. Bill Mantlo needs to be remembered, not just for his contribution to comics but for still being human. Bill Mantlo’s body may be broken, his brain may be damaged, but he is still a person with rights to dignity and a need to be loved and respected.

Like many people who call themselves comic creators, I have a need to work a full time job to pay the bills and provide health benefits for my family while I pursue my interests here at CO2 Comics. I have worked in a long term healthcare facility for  a number of years as an Activity Professional. It is my job to ensure that people like Bill Mantlo enjoy whatever quality of life they are capable of. I put smiles on their faces and help to make their existence as bearable as possible. I do this by respecting them for who they are, today. Though I do not know Bill personally and have never had the opportunity to meet him, I know from my own experience what kind of life he is currenrtly living.

Not everyone is as lucky as Bill Mantlo to have had the opportunity to entertain an adoring audience around the world with his writing. While we can all be sad that Bill may never write again or enjoy the life he once had we can all give back to him a sample of the joy that his work gave to us simply by sending him a greeting card this holiday season or writing him a short note of friendship or a thank you. This may sound trite but in a healthcare facility something as simple as mail is a big deal.

Mail is required by law to be delivered immediately to residents. For someone like Bill, who may not have a lot of personal interaction with staff, an extra visit a day by a warm bodied person delivering mail has a big impact. It becomes an even bigger deal when someone, wether it be staff or a family member takes the time to help him read his mail. I personally enjoy delivering mail to my residents because I know that it is another opportunity for me to impact their day and get to know them better.

Bill Mantlo and his sister-in-law Lizbeth

I have been in contact with Bill’s brother, Michael Mantlo, and he is excited about the idea of Bill getting mail sent to him at the healthcare facility. Michael stresses that there be NO requests for autographs, correspondence, or art from Bill since it would be difficult and frustrating for him to respond to them, also he asks  to please send nothing legal, financial or solicitous. A simple short note of appreciation and well wishes will go a long way!

Please DO NOT send money, clothes, gifts,  original art or anything of value as they may be stolen, damaged or destroyed. Photocopies of fan art or comic covers would be fine and encouraged since Bill seems to respond very positively to images of comics, especially ones that he worked on.

Please send any mail to the following address:

Bill Mantlo

c/o Queens Nassau Nursing Home

520 Beach 19th Street

Far Rockaway, NY 11691

It is important to note that although  the Tragic Tale article painted a devastating picture of Bill’s existence at the nursing home, his brother wrote me, “the facility is not really as bleak as the writer of that article made it out to be.  Bill’s room is pretty basic, but that is by both necessity, and choice.  Bill has “trashed” his room (sometimes severely) many times, and wants no part of a radio, TV or phone.  I had provided all of those to him, at one time or another, and all have either been destroyed by him in a fit of rage, or he has demanded that they be removed.  After 19 years, I have learned that it is far better to acquiesce to Bill’s demands than to enrage him.  No one benefits from his angry explosions, least of all Bill.”

Michael has also sent me a few recent pictures of Bill that show him smiling and happily enjoying the company of family members who had come to visit.

Nobody likes nursing homes, they can be a depressing place that people envision you go to to die. The reality is that nursing homes are where people that cannot take care of themselves or whose family are not adequately equipped to care for them properly go to live. The facility is their home and they are protected by the same rights that we all have. Some facilities are better than others but all are made better when people step up to the plate and show the residents that someone cares for them.

My wish for Bill Mantlo this holiday season is that he has a reason to smile everyday and that he knows that he is not forgotten. So please, send him mail, if you are religious, pray for him and maybe, just maybe, Bill will experience a miracle and at least feel a little bit more human everyday.

Thanks, Bill, for the happiness you gave me as a young comic reader. The Micronauts was one of my favorite comic books!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Steve Jobs’ passing was no surprise. His failed health had been quite public and his recent resignation as CEO of Apple was a clear sign. The dignity with which he handled his final days in public is as much an inspiration as his life and the impact his vision has had on the world.

It is hard, now, to imagine a day without some technological influence that Steve Jobs and the company he stewarded did not have some impact on. As a comic creator, I can tell you that the course of the entire comics medium has been redirected, in large part due to innovations derived from Apple.

There certainly were computers before Steve Jobs and Apple came on the scene. In 1974, when I was in 8th grade at Saint Titus in East Norriton, Pennsylvania, I had access to an already obsolete computer that had been used for actual Apollo moon missions. It was a clunky machine that had to be programmed with binary punch cards and its output seemed no more sophisticated to me than that of the newly released Mini Bomar that launched a frenzy of low cost handheld calculators on the world.

Learning to program that two digit dinosaur was a real trial and to this day the words of my Math teacher, Rev. Joseph Oechsle, ring in my ears, “Trash in, trash out!” The lesson was that computer was only as good as the person programming it.

Vintage home computing

A few years later I would sell computers meant for the home as part of my job working in the electronic appliance department at K-Mart where I tried making some extra cash while we struggled to build our fledgling comic company, Comico. I sold machines like the Texas Instrument TI-99/4A, the Commodore VIC-20 and the Commodore 64. These computers saved data on audio cassette tapes and sophisticated gaming was PONG.

By that point in my life I had no interest in computers. I  was totally focused on comics and the ugly pixelated images and type that these computers could barely generate were of no use to me and my aspirations to be a comic artist and publisher. I was blind to their potential.

This all seemed to change in 1984 when the hammer was launched into a giant screen during Apple’s first and most memorable Super Bowl commercial. Not only did it change the impact that Super Bowl commercials had–it changed the way the world would look at personal computers. It also introduced Graphic User Interface (GUI) which put icons on our desktop suddenly making computers much more intuitive and useable to the general public.

We had one of those Macs at Comico when it first came out and immediately we used it to generate all of the type that we used for our letters pages, graphics and editorial columns. Between the Mac and our photocopier we had practically eliminated our dependancy on our local typesetter and the graphics house where we had most of our photostats done. This transition to a variation of desktop publishing ended up saving us us a ton of money.

In 1985 First Comics published Shatter by Peter B. Gillis and Mike Saenz. This was the first all-digital comic commercially published. It was created on a Mac exactly like the one that sat in our office at Comico.

Digital comics have come a long way since Shatter. Where Shatter’s pixelated digital imagery made it obvious that it was generated on a computer and was in fact a badge of honor for its accomplishment, today it is nearly impossible to tell which comics are drawn by hand on paper and which are generated completely digitally.

Michael Saenz interview from Comics Interview #21, © Fictioneer Books

Steve Jobs recognized the power of digital art which was evident when he bought Pixar from Lucasfilm in 1986. Under his guidance Pixar changed how animation was created and delighted the world with Toy Story in 1995 followed by a long list of incredible 3D CGI films that set new standards not for just animation but entertainment in general

3D CGI has had its affect on comics. Many creators use it to create their comics entirely, others use it as a form of reference for everything from anatomy to architecture.

The biggest impact that Steve Jobs has had on comics in my opinion, however, has been in the area of web comics which would not have ever been possible without the advent of the personal computer. Since the turn of the century (boy that sounds weird!) digital comics have been proliferating on the internet at a rapid pace. Almost anyone with a computer, a scanner, and internet service can now publish comics on the web.

Thanks to the personal computer there has never been more diversified work available in the comics medium. We take full advantage of that here at CO2 Comics. The computer and the internet have given Bill Cucinotta and me a chance to publish comics again and to reach an audience that before was never possible.

Distribution of comics is also changing thanks to Mr. Jobs and company. Just as Apple redefined how music was heard around the world with the 2001 introduction of the iPod and iTunes, the iPhone and the iPad are quickly becoming the place where people read their comics with apps purchased through the App Store. These of course are not the only options for digital comic distribution, but as with the introduction of GUI and the Macintosh personal computer, Apple seems to always be the innovator of record.

Maybe I’m biased. This blog is spat out of my dependable iMac every week and Bill does all the designing on his. We’ve both done our fair share of work on other PC’s but it is our Macs that have always been the faithful workhorse. This is a certain to me as the notion that the future of comics is brighter and more diverse now than ever dreamed possible thanks in large part to innovations set forth by Steve Jobs and Apple.

Rest in peace, Steve Jobs but expect your legacy to survive for a long, long time. You made a difference in the world and it will always be remembered. Thank you for making a difference in the world of comics, wether you intended to or not. The art of making comics is far richer thanks to your innovation and inspiration.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Monkey & Bird…a Love Story by Joe Williams and Tina Garceau is AVAILABLE NOW!!!

The highlight of my week was receiving a copy of Joe Williams and Tina Garceau’s printed mini comic, Monkey and Bird, in the mail. Snail mail, that is.

Back in August we featured a couple of posts by Señor Williams that outlined his experience personally  making the mini comic. He peppered his posts with so many juicy details that almost anyone could go out and make one themselves.

I’ve known Joe and his lovely wife Tina for years, we go all the way back to our college days at PCA and I am well aware of both of their incredible attention to detail and quality not to mention their brilliance as designers yet I still did not expect to be so taken by what a gem their mini comic turned out to be.

Holding Monkey and Bird in my hand as a mini comic was a defining moment for me especially after having published it as a web comic here at CO2 Comics for the last two years. Maybe my reaction is a reflection of my long history of publishing on paper or just evidence of a generational  preference for things printed on paper, but I liked it. A lot!

The web affords us comic creators so many options to be able to present our labors of love to a potentially vast audience with minimal expenses compared to the printed product. Everything about making comics for the internet is so much more convenient and spontaneous that it has given us the opportunity as creators and readers to be able to witness the biggest creative explosion of the medium in its history. All those virtues, however, in my jaded eyes, do not supersede the experience of reading comics in print. I will always have a warm place in my heart for the tangible paper package.

mathmanauts

Mimeograph machine

It has always been clear to me that a comic is never complete until it is in front of an audience. The reader’s experience is a much a part of the final execution of the comic  as any step taken in the creative process along the way. Because I have always felt so strongly about this I began publishing my own comics almost as early as I began creating them. My first published comics were printed on a mimeograph machine. My audience had as much fun smelling them as they did reading them. I slowly graduated to photocopiers and small offset presses before finally dealing with  large, commercial, four-color presses to make Comico comics.

Comico Covers

As I sit here holding Joe and Tina’s  32 page (including covers),  full color, 4 x 5.5 inch, landscaped pamphlet that  is hand folded and saddle stitched with a good old-fashioned Swingline stapler I can’t imagine what my comic producing  experience would have been like if I would have had these production capabilities available to me back in the seventies. I would have traded tracing mimeo stencils and hand cranking purple inked copies for full-color pages spat out of an ink jet or laser printer in a heartbeat!

I did not have an opportunity to go to SPX this weekend but my fond memories of past shows include my amazement of the array of unique and creative packaging techniques that are always displayed. Monkey and Bird would have fit right in! Today’s community of independent comic artists and publishers take full advantage of the technology available to make comics that deliver an experience well beyond panel-to-panel sequential art.

Many people are pondering what is to become of the familiar pamphlet style comic that has been a fixture in the industry for over seventy years. Most believe that digital content will force it into extinction in the not too distant future, watching the sun set on a beloved package.

When I look at my little copy of Monkey and Bird, or think about what I witness at shows like SPX, APE, MOCCA, PACC and Stumptown, I see a different horizon, the shimmering rays of a new day cast by the lights of endless creative opportunity that will offer comics in print and digitally in infinite shapes and sizes. Each format, unique to its creator and not limited by the constraints of a few publishers or a single distributor.

I remember the first glimpse I ever had of this expanding possibility. In 1980 I was mesmerized by the first issue of Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman‘s anthology comic magazine RAW. The full color view out the window of a man committing suicide had been pasted on to the black and white cover of the tabloid sized periodical publication that featured an insane amount of groundbreaking comic art between its pages. The simple collage of the cover alone was enough to have numbed my creative mind for decades, especially in regards to packaging.

RAW

That, to me, was the beginning. Now, the art of making comics has firmly expanded from mastery of designing a page to the mastery of designing the whole package wether in print, on the web, or digitally for a specific device. The day where packaging that requires an entire production team is passing. The comic artist, if they choose, now has the ability to have complete control over the reading experience of the audience if they want it.

As a publisher, like CO2 Comics, today’s technology gives us the opportunity to open new doors of creative discussion with the artists that makes making comics more exciting than ever before. We plan to enjoy every minute of it!

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Remember learning penmanship in grade school? I used to get a kick out of the tool that the teachers used to draw lines on the chalkboard, it was a series of wire clamps mounted on a strip of wood. Each clamp held a piece of chalk and when the tool was drawn across the chalkboard several parallel lines were produced that  then the teacher could demonstrate proper penmanship on. Music teachers also loved this chalk line tool for creating staff lines on the chalkboard.

Folks that do lettering for comics have a similar tool called the Ames Lettering Guide. Most lettering in comics done today is created using fonts on a computer so there is little concern about type not being ruled properly but those traditionalists that still like to letter by hand have a best friend in their Ames Lettering Guide.

Ames Lettering Guide

This handy little tool fits in the palm of your hand and is made of durable plastic that will last a lifetime. My Ames Lettering Guide is over thirty years old and is still going strong. There is and adjustable wheel in the center of the tool that has rows of tiny holes in it. This wheel can be turned to adjust the distance between each line that will be drawn when you put a pencil in the holes and drag the tool across the edge of a t-square. Move your pencil down into the next hole in the tool and drag again and repeat. Eventually you will have a series of parallel lines similar to the ones drawn by your grade school teacher.

Chris Kalnick, my pal, former ROBOTECH inker and creator of NON and DEPTH CHARGE both featured here at CO2 Comics recently sent me this video of the Ames Lettering Guide being demonstrated. A comic letterer will rule guide lines wherever lettering is expected on the comic page. The lines are drawn very lightly as they are merely guides and will be eventually erased. Some letterers prefer to rule these lines with a non-repro blue pencil. After the lines are drawn the letters are penciled or roughed in. The final lettering will then be done in india ink.
I’ve attached the instructions that accompanies the guide. They explain how to use the tool in detail. You will note that you can accommodate for type size and leading simply by skipping holes.

I’ve attached the instructions that accompanies the guide. They explain how to use the tool in detail. You will note that you can accommodate for type size and leading simply by skipping holes.
For some letterers the size of the letters they plan to create can be very personal. I suggest that, once you determine the size you prefer, you either mark the wheel so that it can always be returned to that mark or tape the wheel in place so it will not be accidentally moved. My experience has been that the Ames Lettering Guide always attracts the attention of curious visitors who might be in  my studio and is almost always played with. People just love turning that wheel as they try to figure out what the dinky contraption does. Maybe I’m a crank, but I taped mine in place because I got tired of having to reset the little bugger.

The Ames Lettering Guide is a more versatile tool than you may expect by first glance. Because the wheel is housed in what it is essentially a small straight edge with one side at a 90 degree angle and the other side a 68 degree angle it can also be used to draw vertical lines as well as angled lines to assist the letterer in keeping letters uniform wether they are intended to be vertical or italic.

The three straight edges of the tool can also be used to conveniently draw small strait lines on the comic page which makes it a great when drawing lines on buildings and machinery. Even the circular shape of the wheel can be used as a guide for drawing curves that may match its particular arc.

I have also found that the guide can be used to make circles by placing a push pin in one hole and a pencil in another. The pin anchors the center point of the circle and as you wind the pencil in the guide around the pin you will complete perfect circles every time. You can make concentric circles simply by moving the pencil to holes closer to the pin. This is a great option especially when a compass or a circle template is not readily available.

Using the Ames Lettering Guide to make circles.

I have just one more favorite use for my Ames Lettering Guide and that is as a burnisher. Back in the day when Zip-A-Tone was the best way to achieve half tones and when a print mechanical was made of photostats mounted with a waxer, I would lay a piece of tracing or bond paper over the work and burnish with my guide . The smooth, roughly three inch edge covered more ground than most burnishers and the short hand-held size offered just the right leverage for applying minimal but firm pressure to the delicate materials being bonded. Boy, talk about ancient history, but it still seems like yesterday!

Using the Ames Lettering Guide as a Burnisher

The Secrets of Professional Cartooning by Ken Muse

You can probably tell that my Ames Lettering Guide and I are best buddies. Hey, we go back a long way, but who wouldn’t like a simple little tool that could do so much work and make a job so much simpler without ever complaining.

As a last side note I know that some folks are just too cheap to part with three bucks to pick up one of these handy gizmos or just can’t find one anywhere even though they are easily found on the internet. Maybe yours is lost and you are up against a deadline. I found this alternative in Ken Muse’s classic book The Secrets of Professional Cartooning.

From The Secrets of Professional Cartooning by Ken Muse

However you like to line your page is your preference. The important thing is that you enjoy making your comics your way. I know I do and that is where I draw the line.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Cover of the finished product.

Last week I covered the digital side of producing our Monkey & Bird Mini-Comic. I told you about the layout and printing process of our little book so we wouldn’t arrive empty-handed when we went to the Philadelphia Alternative Comic Convention. Going to PACC gave me the impetus to actually go ahead and get it done!

The digital work was all out of the way. We had two stacks of signatures fresh from the printer. Now came the hand-done part of folding, assembling and stapling our Monkey & Bird Mini-Comic! Tina and I cleared the dining room table of dinner dishes; got out our supplies; neatly stacked the two signatures within easy reach; tuned in Pandora on the Roku box, and had ourselves a folding party.

So we folded the signatures down and placed the inner signature into the outer which doesn’t sound like much, but it took a couple of hours, and we listened to a lot of Bowie and Lou Reed on Pandora.We used a bone folder to burnish the folds so that they were nice and crisp. They are called bone folders because they are made of real bone. I’m not sure where they get the bones, but it does a nice job on folds and saved Tina and I some blisters.

Bostitch 615

We got all of our books together and now it was time for stapling. I borrowed a Bostitch #615 saddle stapler that has a metal V where the book sits and a helpful little guide so you can put your staples in the same place every time. Unfortunately, it was a well-worn stapler which had seen some better days. It would stick every now and then. The V was also giving me a hard time in that it was scratching the toner from my center spreads which was really annoying after all of the work that went into the books. Tina reassured me that nobody would notice, and we were giving them away for free anyway. I couldn’t get around my annoyance so I pulled out my Swingline Long Reach Stapler which I didn’t think would be as good as the Bostitch.

It was better. Much better. It sailed through my booklets.

I was going to buy a #615 which is 2-3 times more expensive than the Swingline depending on whether you could catch a deal or not. I’m glad I didn’t.

Swingline Long Reach Stapler

As I was merrily stapling along I ran out of staples and learned a valuable lesson: Don’t go cheap on the staples. I loaded store brand staples into my Swingline and loused up a couple books. Fortunately, I remembered having a box of vintage staples from the early 1970s. I put the old Staples in, and they worked beautifully!

Thanks, secretary lady! I love you, and I love your Speedpoint No. 4 Staples in the convenient plastic box (not pictured.)

I did the stapling and soon we wound up with what we thought was enough books for PACC.

Now they needed to be trimmed. I decided against risking a fingertip or two cutting them myself with a utility knife or a No. 11 blade. Besides, they would probably come out ragged. Why risk ruination at this stage of the game? I took it to the printer and their cutter chopped down almost a hundred books in what seemed to be less than 10 minutes.

It cut the top and bottom through the folds on the signatures, and it was cut on the right side making a beautiful, neat and even little 32-page comic book.

…and now a BONUS, of sorts. After completing last weeks installment of Creating the Monkey & Bird comic, I realized that I may have some of you confused as to how to create the map or dummy for the little booklet. I had a diagram of the comic with page number indications, but I figured I’d prepare a little something that may give you a better idea of how to create that little mock-up. So here’s an annoying animated GIF that will hopefully clear the air. Again, your layout may vary, but this is how I did mine:

AZ #2

I recently had an opportunity to reread and old blog post by Tom Spurgeon on his site The Comics Reporter. In the blog post Tom takes a look at one of our old Comico publications, AZ by our late partner Phil LaSorda.  Tom questions the cultural impact that such an obviously crude attempt at making comics may or should have on the market and the medium.

Now I along with my current publishing partner Bill Cucinotta who was also a partner back in those early Comico days may be biased but we also have a unique perspective just by having been there. We know, retrospectively, that the work we did in those days was seminal at best and was often criticized as being crap. It is easy to look back and be embarrassed by our rudimentary attempts to both create and publish comics. The irony, I suppose, is that as rudimentary as that material was, we are both still very proud of it for many reasons, so much so that we published it all again, right here on CO2 Comics.

Slaughterman #1

Skrog #1

SLAUGHTERMAN and SKROG may not have had many more redeeming qualities than AZ but they were all cornerstone publications that established a foundation that Comico, one of the most influential independent publishers of the eighties, was built on. For this reason alone, despite their critical ineptness, yes, they had, and continue to have cultural impact.

I remember a scathing review by Cat Yronwode in the Comics Buyers Guide that questioned, “who gave us the right to publish such crap?” My fiery response was that we all have the right to publish what we want to in America and that, crap or not, it will be the market that decides the success of the product. I wish I had those CBG articles today.

One thing we did well at Comico, in those early days, was to learn from our mistakes. It did not take long or us to realize our success would come from publishing others. It was, however, our relationships that we had developed hanging in artist alleys at comic conventions, and our ability to relate to young and maturing talent that allowed us the opportunity to work with the likes of Matt Wagner, Bill Willingham, Sam Kieth, Chuck Dixon, Judith Hunt, Neil Vokes, Rich Rankin, Reggie Byers and many many others.

We also published a new talent showcase called Primer where we published the earliest work of many other budding artists who were not quite ready for the Big Two.

Comico Primer #1-6

To me the biggest impact that Comico had on the comics industry, was that it gave evidence that if a handful of guys with apparently limited talent and experience could build a company that at one time was ranked #3 behind Marvel and DC in monthly sales, then maybe, just maybe, anybody can.

I believe we created an opportunity for creators to get bold enough to publish their own work or feel more confident when presenting it to others. We all did it as artists, looked at other work that we considered weak and say, “hey, I’m at least as good as this, if this can be published than so can mine.”

Gerry Giovinco, Bill Cucinotta & Phil LaSorda

We may have been naive or overconfident when we launched Comico but we had one mantra that we held to that was first spoken by Phil,  “We don’t want to look back years from now and regret that we didn’t try when we had the chance.” To us, the fear of failure was never as great as the fear of never having the opportunity to make comics professionally.  To do what we loved.

Today the internet is the greatest thing for young comic artists and for the entire medium. Anyone can publish on the web and, yes, there is a ton of incredible crap out there but more people than ever are taking a shot making comics and we fans of the medium are the winners because tremendous comic talent that may have never tried before is now offering our eyes a feast of variety that has never existed in comics.

So to answer Tom Spurgeon’s quote: “The question that many of us near comics ask — if only to each other — is if the art form can survive without the occasional cycling back to cruder efforts like this one, unpretentious material devoid of any hope for life or riches beyond its publication schedule that helped revitalize the art form four or five times during a low ebb.”

No! The art form, or more accurately the medium of comics or any medium for that matter, cannot survive without a cycle that includes cruder efforts. No crude efforts would imply no young talent and with no young talent to revitalize a medium, that medium will die a death of eventual mediocrity.

To paraphrase McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, “When you’re green you grow. When you’re ripe you rot.”

So, be brave and create! Express yourself as well as you know how and be willing to show the world.  Make mistakes. Learn from them. Never stop growing. But when you do someone new will begin making their own mistakes and we will all have the pleasure of witnessing their adventure.

Holy crap, it’s the circle of life, comics style.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco

Part I: How the Book was Built

by Joe Williams

Bill Cucinotta told us about the Philadelphia Alternative Comic Convention a while back, and Tina Garceau, Bill and I all planned on attending to see what the other kids are up to as Tina put it in her articles at Willceau Illo and Bleeding Cool. I decided that I didn’t want to go empty handed so I decided to turn the first chapter of Monkey & Bird into a printed mini-comic. It would be small enough so that I could do it inexpensively and easily. I knew it would look awful in black and white so I wanted to do it in full color. I explored my options and looked into pricing.

I got quoted a price that was more than fair so now it was time for the hard part – the layout.

We had 24 pages worth of story in chapter 1. Throw a cover on it, and that makes it 28 pages which I could have stuck with, but Dan Love, Master of the Layout Arts, gave me the notion of making two 16-page signatures so that they could be folded down, one placed inside the other, stapled, and finally chopped down for a nice, clean and even little book. I padded the book out a little with a sneak preview of chapter 2, and I wound up with the required 32 pages.

Front and back of Signature #1

I did the layout in InDesign as I do with the regular cartoon installments that you read at CO2 Comics. I created a high quality PDF from my comic and placed the pages at a reduced size into the 12×18 layout. Originally, I had an idea for doing the mini-comic on a smaller scale possibly at home on an inkjet printer. My thinking was to fit the two-page spreads across a typical 8.5″ x 11″ sheet so I made the individual pages 5.5″ across by 4″ high with a decent white border. Of course, trying to print these out at home would have been an expensive and painful process on an inkjet printer. Being I was offered a price I couldn’t refuse, and Tina and I were going to assemble the books ourselves further lowering the costs, I decided to have the book printed on a Ricoh C-900 which is a toner-based printer. It’s similar to a color laser copier, but it doesn’t have the glass or a scanner so you can’t make copies. It’s a huge color laser printer that prints on a number of different stocks. It prints mainly on 12″x18″ stock which is nice for tabloid prints with a bleed. It handles color nicely, and after trying a test print, it was going to be perfect for my needs.

Ricoh C-900

Front and Back of Signature #2

Obviously, the comic was printed without the Bingo balls. I placed them there so you, dear readers, could see my imposition. Your imposition may vary depending on the size of the book, but I wouldn’t want to go with anything more than 32 pages as far as stapling this baby. I know that the big comic companies would churn out saddle-stitched 80-Page Giants but they would print that stuff on toilet paper. I have a few long boxes filled with yellowing newsprint that can attest to the quality of paper that comic publishers used back in the 1970s and earlier. I went with a 70#, uncoated, text weight stock which is a beautiful paper, and Monkey & Bird looks great on it. Maybe they have lighter paper that will still work with that machine. I’ll have to explore that aspect of the process in future iterations of the mini-comic.

In short order, I had a nice,  fresh stack of printed comic book pages that needed to be assembled.

NEXT WEEK: It’s a folding party! Learn about bone folders! I take the Pepsi Challenge as far as two different brands of staplers are concerned, and learn that they don’t make staples like they used to!

The heirs of Jack Kirby took a huge hit last week when a judge in New York ruled against them. The determination that all of Kirby’s creations were protected by a 1909 Work-for-Hire copyright law insured that those creations remained the property of Marvel/Disney.

Many had hoped for a different outcome that would have seen aged comic creators and the heirs of deceased comic creators finally enjoy at least some substantial reward from the works that made fortunes for the comic companies that exploited them.

Naturally there is outrage from supporters of the creators, fans who appreciated the talent and creativity of the people that created the iconic characters that we have all grown to love and which have become ingrained in the fabric of  the medium and popular culture worldwide.

Folks with less of an emotional investment in the history of the medium seem more than willing to side with the comic book companies siting their investment, risk and marketing expertise as the reasons those institutions have earned and deserve the windfalls derived from these same works.

The discussion gets heated because both sides are right, not just from their own perspective but from the dial of the moral compass as well where choices were made and agreements established in a time where no-one could have anticipated the longevity of the properties and the monumental successes to be derived.

The true long-term potential of comic book characters and how it may affect the coffers of the comic book creators did not seem to be such an issue until the technology in film developed to the point where we all believed that a man could fly. The first Superman movie opened the doors for the comic book blockbuster and ignited the first significant challenge from the creators of the character that had sold their rights away decades prior. Over thirty years later that battle is still not completely resolved and may never be.

The problem stems from how the business of comic books was done from its inception in the age of the Great Depression. Young, hungry artists signed away their work happily just to have a job and be able to feed their families. Most artists looked at comics as a mere stepping stone into  the more revered fields of advertising, illustration and design. Many used pseudonyms to ensure that they would not be stereotyped by their work in comics which was not considered with high esteem at the time. Those that left comics for the more reputable work rarely looked back.

By the mid sixties Marvel had created an atmosphere where creators began to feel like they could have a career in comics and enjoy it. With Marvel’s success came contracts, benefits, and enough work to be able to depend on and DC soon followed suit.

The notion of Work-for-Hire, however, remained the norm and, for the Big Two, generally remains the same today especially regarding the characters that are the staple trademarks of each company.

The judgement against the Kirby heirs emphasizes one thing, Creators BEWARE of this business model. If you ever expect to reap full benefit from your creations, seek  other options. Thankfully today there are plenty.

Traditional publishers of other works have generally reserved the copyright for the creators and negotiated royalty arrangements that created financial opportunity for both sides. That is not to say that other media were not capable of taking advantage of the talent. Plenty of stars in film, television, music and sports had to suffer as examples of why their industries all needed to change compensation standards.

The conclusion of the recent NFL lockout is proof that negotiation is reasonable and necessary  on a regular basis to insure some type of perceived fairness in any entertainment industry. Their current deal will be renegotiated in ten years in which time much may change.

The chance for new start-up companies to offer different business models that offered creators the opportunity to retain ownership of their rights and to share in profit was perhaps the greatest opportunity that was derived by the creation of the Direct Market in comics. These virtues had already existed in the Underground Market but the opportunity to generate a more mainstream product and compete directly with Marvel and DC gave many creators new options. Companies like Eclipse, Pacific, Capital, First and Comico, generated creator owned lines of color comics in the eighties that set the foundation and the standards for future independent companies with similar creator values.

Today, the Internet and Digital forms of comic distribution are offering complete autonomy for creators as we demonstrate just one option in our collective cooperative here at CO2 Comics were creators own 100% of their properties. Because of the internet there are more comic artists in the world than ever before.  Finding ways to successfully generate revenue remains a risky proposition but the opportunity to reap full benefit is now where many believe it belongs, in the hands of the creators.

As we all look toward the future of the Comics Industry I hope we remember the heavily licked wounds of the many creators that were retrospectively victimized by their lone Work-for-Hire option. The list of creators is long and sad but it can end with a simple choice not to work under those conditions, ever. If you do, expect no sympathy when you cry for additional merit compensation and fail to get it because your choice will have been an educated one that we all know the unfortunate answer to.

Making comics because I want to.

Gerry Giovinco