Sunday, October 16, 2005
I thought I'd take a break from my usual angst-ridden posts about trying to break into the comics industry to talk about a book that caught everyone's attention this week: Infinite Crisis #1. I'm not really going to do that much summarizing so there shouldn't be too many spoilers if you've not read it yet (and if you've not gotten your copy I imagine you'll be waiting until the second printing) but one may slip in so be forewarned.
First of all, I'm firmly in the Garth camp in that I fear change. Good change, bad change, indifferent change, it doesn't matter. I fear it. So, I've been one of those watching with mounting trepidation the goings on in the DCU. As a brief aside, I get a few snide comments every now and then on how I could let the goings on in "funny books" cause me any kind of emotional response. I point out to these folk that it's the same thing as worrying what's going to happen on your favorite soap, or worrying if who might die on Lost this week, or is your favorite on Survivor going to be voted off (which is a concern of mine as well). Anyway, the dark path the DCU has been traveling of late has had me worried. Not that I'm wanting a return to giant washing machines with a need to kill that are dispatched by happy-go-lucky heroes that chortle and call each other chum. No, I like a mixture: some grim and gritty balanced by some old fashioned heroics and humor tossed into the mix.
Plus, I don't know where I stand on the death of characters. I realize that there has to be the possibility of death. If you put all these characters in extreme peril all the time and no one ever gets hurt, then you've lost a vital source of dramatic tension. At the same time, I think that almost any character, probably more like any character can be made vital and reach an audience with the right writer on board. Catman, a 3rd stringer at best, has some new fans thanks to villains United. Look what Miller did with Daredevil back in the day. Even Detective Chimp is getting some props. So, in my mind, when you kill a character, you've lost potential. Of course, this is comics so just wait a few months and bring the character back, I guess.
Let's summarize: fear change, mixed emotions about character deaths. You know a book like Infinite Crisis is going to shake things up and you know characters are going to die. So, it was with mixed emotions that I started to read it. Guess what? I like it. I cringed at some of the deaths, sure, but I liked the story. I read it all the way through, quickly, and I found myself wishing I had issue #2 so I could read more. What else can you ask from a comic?
One more thing before I go. Geoff Johns, the writer responsible for Infinite Crisis, took time out to answer around 500,000 questions on Newsarama (not really that many, but a lot). He answered them as honestly as he could without ruining upcoming surprises, and rarely, rarely, fell back on the "See above for the answer" even though many of the questions were variations on a theme. Now, the man doesn't have to do something like that to be a good guy, but the fact that he did, shows his commitment and love of the fans and makes him a class act in my book.
First of all, I'm firmly in the Garth camp in that I fear change. Good change, bad change, indifferent change, it doesn't matter. I fear it. So, I've been one of those watching with mounting trepidation the goings on in the DCU. As a brief aside, I get a few snide comments every now and then on how I could let the goings on in "funny books" cause me any kind of emotional response. I point out to these folk that it's the same thing as worrying what's going to happen on your favorite soap, or worrying if who might die on Lost this week, or is your favorite on Survivor going to be voted off (which is a concern of mine as well). Anyway, the dark path the DCU has been traveling of late has had me worried. Not that I'm wanting a return to giant washing machines with a need to kill that are dispatched by happy-go-lucky heroes that chortle and call each other chum. No, I like a mixture: some grim and gritty balanced by some old fashioned heroics and humor tossed into the mix.
Plus, I don't know where I stand on the death of characters. I realize that there has to be the possibility of death. If you put all these characters in extreme peril all the time and no one ever gets hurt, then you've lost a vital source of dramatic tension. At the same time, I think that almost any character, probably more like any character can be made vital and reach an audience with the right writer on board. Catman, a 3rd stringer at best, has some new fans thanks to villains United. Look what Miller did with Daredevil back in the day. Even Detective Chimp is getting some props. So, in my mind, when you kill a character, you've lost potential. Of course, this is comics so just wait a few months and bring the character back, I guess.
Let's summarize: fear change, mixed emotions about character deaths. You know a book like Infinite Crisis is going to shake things up and you know characters are going to die. So, it was with mixed emotions that I started to read it. Guess what? I like it. I cringed at some of the deaths, sure, but I liked the story. I read it all the way through, quickly, and I found myself wishing I had issue #2 so I could read more. What else can you ask from a comic?
One more thing before I go. Geoff Johns, the writer responsible for Infinite Crisis, took time out to answer around 500,000 questions on Newsarama (not really that many, but a lot). He answered them as honestly as he could without ruining upcoming surprises, and rarely, rarely, fell back on the "See above for the answer" even though many of the questions were variations on a theme. Now, the man doesn't have to do something like that to be a good guy, but the fact that he did, shows his commitment and love of the fans and makes him a class act in my book.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
I thought I'd talk a little bit about perserverance. If I were giving a Valedictorian speech, I'd start out with something like "Webster's defines perserverance as..." Now, since I try to avoid cliches when possible and I'm too lazy to walk across the room and get my copy of Webster's, I'll just give you my own definition. Perserverance is trying to move forward even when it feels that you're not getting anywhere.
I think this is one of the greatest tools of the writer. There's also talent, sure-although many would argue that you don't necessarily have to have talent in order to become a successful writer (note the difference between successful and good). Good contacts are also frequently mentioned, which is bad news for people like myself that have the social graces of a piranha at a Denny's. And people say that you need a lot of luck.
Now getting into the debate of whether or not our lives are determined by the whims of chance or the laws of design is, in itself, a whole other post, and not one to be entered into at 11:46 at night. So let's just confine our thoughts to writing. Do you have to be lucky to make it as a writer? It's a different profession than most. Want to be a doctor? Go to med school and, assuming you can get through the classes, you've got a pretty reasonable chance at success. Not so with writing. There's no right way in and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. So the question has to be asked again, does making it as a writer require a lot of luck?
It seems that way sometimes. Some writers seem to just catch that break, just seem to be in the right place at the right time. But I like to think that they've been in the wrong place at the wrong time or, like Dr. John, were in the right place at the wrong time. They've had their share of setbacks: the times it seemed that publication was a sure thing but then went south, the contacts that fizzled. But they kept going. And finally, finally, they were in the right place at exactly the right time.
I like to think this way because it's what keeps me going. Even, like tonight, when I don't feel like I'll ever get there. Thinking this way keeps me trying to move forward even when I don't feel like I'm going anywhere. It even keeps me writing this thing even when I'm not even sure there's anybody reading it.
Because, someday, there might just be.
I think this is one of the greatest tools of the writer. There's also talent, sure-although many would argue that you don't necessarily have to have talent in order to become a successful writer (note the difference between successful and good). Good contacts are also frequently mentioned, which is bad news for people like myself that have the social graces of a piranha at a Denny's. And people say that you need a lot of luck.
Now getting into the debate of whether or not our lives are determined by the whims of chance or the laws of design is, in itself, a whole other post, and not one to be entered into at 11:46 at night. So let's just confine our thoughts to writing. Do you have to be lucky to make it as a writer? It's a different profession than most. Want to be a doctor? Go to med school and, assuming you can get through the classes, you've got a pretty reasonable chance at success. Not so with writing. There's no right way in and what works for one will not necessarily work for another. So the question has to be asked again, does making it as a writer require a lot of luck?
It seems that way sometimes. Some writers seem to just catch that break, just seem to be in the right place at the right time. But I like to think that they've been in the wrong place at the wrong time or, like Dr. John, were in the right place at the wrong time. They've had their share of setbacks: the times it seemed that publication was a sure thing but then went south, the contacts that fizzled. But they kept going. And finally, finally, they were in the right place at exactly the right time.
I like to think this way because it's what keeps me going. Even, like tonight, when I don't feel like I'll ever get there. Thinking this way keeps me trying to move forward even when I don't feel like I'm going anywhere. It even keeps me writing this thing even when I'm not even sure there's anybody reading it.
Because, someday, there might just be.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Okay, this may be a little disjointed, as I've been sitting in front of this computer for quite a while, but bear with me. Future posts will prove that I love nothing more than running down a good tangent.
I've finally figured out enough HTML, FTP, LSH, and JLA to get my website up and running. Three evenings of total hell that resulted in my computer desk being less than pristine (from smacking it) and my tongue blistered (from laying my tongue to every curse word I could think of--including a couple last spoken by the ancient Aztecs).
So why am I doing this? Why am I spending my hard earned money and time creating a website? The question to that one is both pretty easy and dang hard to answer. The easy answer is to create a place to send editors and, hopefully, future fans to look at my comic work. Most writers I've spoken with say that having a web site is an invaluable tool to breaking into the business.
Now for the hard part of the answer. Every scrap I've read on the internet, every interview with a comic professional, all point to how incredibly, read incredibly, hard it is to break into the comic business. Especially for writers that don't draw all that well--a category in which I'm firmly entrenched. So why am I still pursuing this knowing how hard it is to get in?Because I love comics. And I love to write. And I can't imagine a better job than marrying these two things. I'm working with a couple of artists on some projects and it is such a thrill to see these images I've had in my head actually put down on paper (only better!). I can't imagine what it would be like to have that all the time-and maybe even getting paid for it.
So that's why I'm pursuing it. People do break in. It may read hokey or cliched, but if I don't try, then I never will be one of those people.
That's it for this time. I warned you it would probably read a little disjointed. Stick around, it'll probably get worse.
I've finally figured out enough HTML, FTP, LSH, and JLA to get my website up and running. Three evenings of total hell that resulted in my computer desk being less than pristine (from smacking it) and my tongue blistered (from laying my tongue to every curse word I could think of--including a couple last spoken by the ancient Aztecs).
So why am I doing this? Why am I spending my hard earned money and time creating a website? The question to that one is both pretty easy and dang hard to answer. The easy answer is to create a place to send editors and, hopefully, future fans to look at my comic work. Most writers I've spoken with say that having a web site is an invaluable tool to breaking into the business.
Now for the hard part of the answer. Every scrap I've read on the internet, every interview with a comic professional, all point to how incredibly, read incredibly, hard it is to break into the comic business. Especially for writers that don't draw all that well--a category in which I'm firmly entrenched. So why am I still pursuing this knowing how hard it is to get in?Because I love comics. And I love to write. And I can't imagine a better job than marrying these two things. I'm working with a couple of artists on some projects and it is such a thrill to see these images I've had in my head actually put down on paper (only better!). I can't imagine what it would be like to have that all the time-and maybe even getting paid for it.
So that's why I'm pursuing it. People do break in. It may read hokey or cliched, but if I don't try, then I never will be one of those people.
That's it for this time. I warned you it would probably read a little disjointed. Stick around, it'll probably get worse.
