Incoherent Rambling about SAGA #1

A few hours or so ago, I finished reading the first issue of Brian K. Vaughan's new series, Saga. He co-created it with Fiona Staples, who always does great work... but if I'm being honest here, I showed up to the party primarily for BKV. I often go back and forth about who my absolutely favorite comic book writer is, and I almost always settle on either Brian K. Vaughan or Alan Moore. Nick Spencer, Scott Snyder, Brian Lynch, Joss Whedon - they're all up there, for sure, but BKV's work on Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and Runaways has completely changed the way I look at comics as a medium and perhaps even the way I look at storytelling. BKV is a master, and this is the first time that I've had the privilege of following one of his comics from the first issue on the day of its release.

Saga gets off to a great start. Perhaps the best start of all of BKV's series. While his other series often take a few issues to fully live up to their premise, I'm already invested in the strange characters that populate the world(s) that BKV and Staples have created. The seeds of many interesting ideas have been planted, and a lot of it hits home in really weird ways because I'm working on a book called Roadkill with Ian McGinty (my Blood Pong co-creator) that has a few similar themes. Romance in the midst of an intergalactic war is nothing new, I suppose, but I'm ecstatic and absolutely relieved that BKV's version is nothing like my own. There's nothing scarier than when the best writer in comics announces that he's doing a new series with a concept similar to something you're working on.

Anyway, that aside, the writing here is as excellent as I'd hoped and (frankly) expected. Especially the stuff with Prince Robot IV. That character (an alien whose head looks like a TV screen - he may or may not suffer from erectile dysfunction) proves that those worried about BKV's normally pop-culture infused writing suffering in this aliens-only story can breathe easy. Vaughan's strength is that all these characters, no matter how alien they get (and man, they get alien as all fuckout), have insecurities that we can relate to... but through the screens of fully fleshed out alien cultures.

It's too early to say "Saga is great and will revolutionize comics," but I think this first issue has come at a great time. Image Comics seems to be attempting to prove that the comics industry has talent, that creator owned books are the future, and that the line should remain drawn at $2.99.

And hell - I'm with it.

-Patrick Shand

"Just" Work for Hire

I went back and forth about whether or not I'd actually write this post, but I think it's pretty important. I've been lucky enough in my career in comics to meet a bunch of awesome and talented people, and I'm grateful for that. I read a comic today that made me pretty mad, though, and it made me decide to write a post about an experience I had with the writer of said book at this past New York Comic Con.

This writer is a really well-known creator of a bunch of wonderful indie books. Books I love. When NYCC rolled around, though, his latest release was the first issue of a series he'd written for a company owned property. I still respect and love the guy's work, so I won't give anymore than that. Anyway, I walked up to his booth, did the whole "nice to meet you" thing, and told him how much I loved his first issue of _________.

He looked at me as if I'd just said "Would you like a bite of this shit sandwich, good sir? I made it myself. Just now."

Nervous that I'd somehow walked up to the wrong table, I laughed and said, "You... you did write that book, right?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, but it was just work for hire. Did it a while ago. I guess they're putting it out now."

Flabbergasted and a bit put off, I nodded, talked with him for a minute or two more, bought one of his other books, and left. Hoping he was just having an off day, I went online and searched to see if he had posted anything about having written this book. Annnd he did. He did an interview that talked about that book and another property he was writing (one that I love). In this interview, his response was dismissive of the interviewer's question and he even reiterated that both of these projects were work for hire, so that the devout fans shouldn't expect much.

...What.

I was let down that a creator I respect would say this about any work of his, much less work that I enjoyed. And as his just-work-for-hire series went on, I noticed the drop in quality every issue. As it went on, the levels of shits not given increased exponentially, climaxing in the final issue, which I got around to reading today.

And here's my thoughts. Some pretty cool blog recently described me as an "up-and-coming comics writer" so I'll go with that. My first gig was my dream gig... Angel. Working in a world that Joss Whedon, my writerly hero, created was more than I could have hoped for - but I only had two pages with which to tell my story. I made those two pages the best damn two pages I was capable of. And after that, did I fulfill my second dream of doing a Supergirl/Stephanie Brown/Stargirl team book? Naw, I got some work for hire. I've been writing comics for Zenescope ever since and, yeah, it's work for hire, but there is no "just" in the equation. I was offered a shot at writing a good portion of their 1000 Ways to Die graphic novel. I'd never seen the show, but you can bet I watched every episode I could before I went to script.

Point is this... if you, as a writer or artist or actor or whatever, can't find it in yourself to care about what you're writing, then don't write it. Just don't write it. I am the last person to say "never write for money" because, let's face it, that's an inherently flawed piece of advice to give to writers. If you're a Career Writer, what you're doing is attempting to make a living out of writing - you write for money. The dangerous thing is when you start looking at work for hire as a "just" instead of a privilege and a challenge to live up to. Thing is, there are hundreds of other hungry, talented writers out there who would love to get their hands on the book you are currently not giving a shit about.

And so help you if you give a fan a weird look for saying they like your work, even if it's something you just pulled out of your ass for a check. The day I do that is the day I stop writing.

BLOOD PONG: six page preview of my new creator owned comic

Hey all. So, one more post to celebrate Creator Owned Day! Here's a six page preview of my creator owned comic, BLOOD PONG. Frustrated with the modern depiction of vampires as romantic creatures, CHAD and JOHN, two vampires who spend their days playing beer pong with blood, hit the town with a video camera. They’ve decided to make their own reality/horror movie that gives vampires back their badassery.

Open publication - Free publishing - More blood pong

The art is by the wonderful Ian McGinty (co-creator). We've been pitching it around, so it would be great to get any thoughts or reactions.,

Creator Owned graphic novel: THOMASINA'S HUMAN ZOO (preview)

Happy Creator Owned Day! To celebrate, I'm going to post two previews for upcoming creator owned graphic novels. First, here's a 2-page sneak peak at THOMASINA'S HUMAN ZOO, an all-ages graphic novel created by me and Sarah 'Pickles' Dill!

Open publication - Free publishing - More animals

THOMASINA is a work in progress and will be pitched to various publishers this summer. Leave comments and feedback, please!

Shhh. I've been cheating on this blog.

Doctor Who/Sherlock parody in my upcoming graphic novel THE COMIC CON TALES

Here’s a preview page from my upcoming graphic novel THE COMIC CON TALES. Inspired by Chaucer’s classic “The Canterbury Tales,” this graphic novel tells the story of a group of friends who take a road trip from New York to San Diego Comic Con. Along the way, they each share a tale. This is the first page of “The Fangirl’s Tale: Professor Whom and Detective Sherrock,” illustrated by Oly Pelaez.

Of course we can’t say the names, but we’re pretty clearly parodying Doctor Who and Sherlock fanfic. The story gets pretty… well, you see, it’s from the mind of a character who writes some pretty intense fan fic, so I think anyone who has been really involved with fandom will get a kick out of it.

Comment if you want to see this happen! THE COMIC CON TALES is made up of many, many stories, comedic and serious. Every story is illustrated by a different artist, and the script is the strangest most diverse thing I’ve ever written, and I’m pretty proud of it.

Hope you dig it. Tell your friends!

Final Comic Book Wednesday

Welcome to the final installment of...

Comic Book Wednesday

Issue #33

Yep, you read that right. After this issue, I'll be unable to continue my weekly blog. It's been a blast writing about the books I read here, and I think it's actually increased my enjoyment of those comics. I've been working as a Screenwriting teacher at Five Towns College, and my workload has increased threefold this semester... and I think it's time to focus all of my writing attention on - well, you know, my writing. I'll still write about comics, and I'll even post reviews, but I definitely can't do it on a weekly basis any more.

So alas... let's get to it!

Thankfully, this was a good week. Angel & Faith, TMNT, and JLD all delivered fantastic reads, and even the books that didn't totally impress me weren't quite bad.

Angel & Faith #6

Daddy Issues - Part One

Written by Christos Gage

Art by Rebekah Isaacs

Dark Horse Comics

It makes sense that the best installment of Angel & Faith thus far has the best cover. Steve Morris' cover, featuring a younger Giles emerging from a Russian doll-version of Giles as we know him... it's perfect. It's perfect because it intrigues and mystifies while also accurately representing the inside story. It also functioned to tease the fandom a bit, as it was released before we got a chance to read A&F #4, which many fans thought to be the climax of the "Angel resurrects Giles" arc. However, it wasn't, and Christos Gage is telling that slowburn story over the course of the whole twenty-five issue series. What this cover did was make the fandom wonder if Giles was going to be brought back successfully as Ripper - which is a great idea, but Gage has something else in mind.

Angel, while still obsessed with the idea of bringing Giles back, continues his mission of using Giles' Watcher's Diary as a yellow pages of the supernatural. He goes after a Lophrage demon, a mosquito lookin' mamajama who we're introduced to in a kickass flashback to Giles' time in Watchers Academy. The show, because of obvious age issues, never gave us a look at the teenage, pre-Ripper Giles... but now, in this comic, all those old impossibilities are nothing but memories. Along with the rest of his senior class, Giles has an encounter with this horrifying Lophrage demon, which serves to give Angel a new mission as well as to shed some light on why Giles became Ripper in the first place.

Faith is kept busy, investigating a vampire named Mother Superior. Faith's story is still very tied to Nadira, who is about as fun to read as Rona was to watch in Season Seven, but at least the Slayer Juniors get very little page time here. As Angel brings Faith on board with his Lophrage hunt, it becomes clear quickly that the elusive Mother Superior is involved with the demon in some way. I'm just going to go ahead and spoil the reveal at the end, because... well, anyone who has seen the covers knows, and really - anyone that knows Drusilla knew it would be her as soon as the name "Mother Superior" was mentioned. What other vamp who would warrant a reveal would choose such a name?

The real reveal, though, is that Drusilla is sane. This intrigues me a lot, because the optimist in me thinks that this may be Christos Gage attempting to tie his stories into IDW's work on Angel and Spike, considering Drusilla's sanity (and the fragility of it) was a major, major aspect of Brian Lynch's final Spike arc. On the other hand, I can see Drusilla using the Lophrage demon to steal other people's sanity - but there's enough speculation on the boards. From where I stand, it was the best issue of the series so far. I love how we're playing with the motif of fathers (Angel - Drusilla, Giles - his father, and Faith - her father... who we meet in this issue as well), which solidifies my hope that this series isn't just throwing Angel and Faith together for the hell of it. This series is about something, and I'm very, very engaged.

The most awesome aspect of the book, though, is Rebekah Isaac's artwork. Her characters are the perfect marriage of stylization and capturing likenesses. The action moves nicely, the small character moments really sing, and it has a dark, consistent tone that elevates this book quite a bit. I may like the lightness and the wordplay in the Buffy: Season Nine book slightly better than the story Gage is telling, but Isaacs' art just makes this one the winner. That might be, though, because BtVS:9 is such a vast improvement over BtVS:8, which Angel & Faith has just been really consistently good.

I hope this title continues to grow, but it really has everything right. I hope that the one-shots and the comedic stories are a bit better going forward, but Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs knock the arcs out of the park.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6

Story by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz

Written by Tom Waltz

Art by Dan Duncan

IDW Publishing

I originally tweeted that this was the best of IDW's ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, but I'm going to amend that... it's the best since the first issue. And don't think I'm trying to turn this issue into Pluto, but I just went back and reread all of the issues, and that first one is really the perfect comic book. This one continues the story in an incredibly exciting way, continuing to blend the original gritty comic with the pizza-celebrating cartoon, creating a book that all generations of fans can embrace.

In this one, shit begins to hit the fan. It's revealed that Baxter Stockman hired Old Hob to bring down the turtles, and this uneasy alliance makes for great reading. It leads to the awesome reveal at the end of the issue which reintroduces the MOUSERS to the TMNT-verse, but the best think about the Hob/Stockman team-up is the humor. My favorite scene in the comic:

HOB: Holy...

STOCKMAN: Impressive, aren't they? We've been developing them as part of a program to locate and destroy I.E.D.s on the battlefield.

HOB: I.E.D.s?

STOCKMAN: Improved Explosive Devices.

HOB: ...

STOCKMAN: A booby trap that goes boom.

HOB: Ah. Gotcha.

All of the plotlines from the previous issues continue here. Casey Jones meets up with April O'Neil, the turtles and Splinter continue to talk about and debate their presumed reincarnation, and the Foot Soldiers brew up some trouble. It's all building toward something big, and I can't wait to see what the ongoing and Brian Lynch's two remaining microseries bring.

Aquaman #5

Lost

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Ivan Reis

DC Comics

I liked this. I liked it a lot better than JL#5. It's about as "written for trade" as JL, but the thing about this book is that it's a hell of a lot stronger than JL, so the overall effect is a bit less damning. It's a quick read, but the narrative device of throwing Aquaman into the desert and then showing us how he got there by alternating from the desert to the past is strong.

The current arc is leading to a major storyline having to do with Atlantis, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I like Aquaman as this likable, badass, overlooked hero. I like that the events of the previous arc are still bothering him. I like that the new mystery is still attached to the events of "The Trench" storyline, giving this book a cohesive "big picture" feel. I like a lot of things about this book and I think that, in good time, I may even love it. This issue doesn't do much to make Aquaman climb to the top of my pull list, but I'm consistently enjoying it.

Justice League Dark #5

In the Dark finale: There Was a Crooked Man

Written by Peter Milligan

Art by Mikel Janin

DC Comics

And the first arc of one of my favorite New 52 books comes to a close. It's a satisfying, if not perfect, ending that leaves me wondering where the hell Milligan's going to take the story. The dark tone that makes this series such a creepy read permeates this issue especially, so there is no happy ending for June Moone... but it's not heart-crushingly dark either. At the end of the issue, our team of characters isn't a team at all. Hell, they don't want to see each other, and I don't blame them. Milligan is cooking up some nastiness for them in each issue, and none of these people are true heroes. They lack the moral fiber of Superman and his kind, but some of them still try to be heroes... which leads them to clash. A lot.

One minor complaint was that Constantine was a bit too much of a jerk here. I know he is no longer the man who wants to save the world that we first ran into in Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, but he's a bit... well, he's sort of like Spike in the finale of the second season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For those of you that don't worship at the altar of Whedon, that means that Constantine claims to only be interested in saving the world because he is on the world. The Constantine I've read has lost a lot, but isn't selfish enough that he only values his own safety. Maybe it's just him being a hardass and I'm reading too literally, but that was a bit jarring for me.

The art is perfect. Mikel Janin's work is perfect for this book, and I hope he's in it for the longrun. He is perfect for this book and certainly vice-versa.

I know some folks have lost patience with the slow-boil narrative, but this is one of the most consistently enjoyable books in my pull list. I can't wait to see what fate has in store for these poor bastards next.

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Thanks for reading. I'm going to keep updating this blog, so hang around. I've got a lot more to say.