Snatch the pebble

No, it’s not the name of some new story I’m writing…

Remember the television show “Kung Fu”? Okay, you probably don’t, but there was a scene where the main character Caine (played by David Carradine) tried to take this pebble out of the palm of his master’s hand. The master was called Master Kan, and he basically told Caine that when he could take the pebble he’d be ready for the outside world. Caine had to prove he was skilled enough to take it. He had to earn it.

I feel like Caine, and comics is my Master Kan. And I’m still too slow.

I talked a while back about getting the amazing opportunity to pitch ideas to Jim Valentino and Kris Simon at Image Comics’ Shadowline. I’ve put together quite a few pitches in the past with full art that cost me an arm and a leg, so the opportunity was the most welcome one of my fledgling career. It gave me the prospect of getting an idea at least partially approved before hiring any artists to develop it. This is a big deal because, trust me, approaching an artist (whether penciller, inker, colorist or otherwise) with a guarantee to get something published is a lot better incentive than approaching an artist with the hope of getting something published. It also means being published at Image Comics. And getting published at Image Comics is my dream. It’s why I do what I do.

I pitched five ideas, Jim had a basic interest in two of them. I worked on them for a couple months. I re-pitched them…

And Jim didn’t like either of them.

Yeah, so that’s a little more lighthearted than I felt at the time. Instead of snatching the pebble from Jim’s hand, he snatched the heart right out of my body. I felt really discouraged when I heard back from Jim about the pitches. I think it’s only natural to feel that way. You put a lot of time and effort into creating something that you think has merit, and when it doesn’t work out you feel… drained.

And at first all I could really see was my disappointment. It flooded my senses so that everything I looked at had an aura of dullness around it. Everything I touched had less substance and every smell was tinged with it. I’m not writing this because I’m expecting pity, but because it’s the truth behind how I felt. Failure is a powerful thing. It can make you feel like you’re not good enough. Not just unable to do what you attempted, but not good enough to do anything.

But after a while that sense of failure started to fade. And when I looked at the email Jim sent in response I started to understand the advice he was giving me. So much so that it’s given me new insight into my writing and what I hope to accomplish with it. I think I’ve always regarded my comics writing as important to me, but when I tried to think of the best stories to submit to comic book publishers like Image I was always looking for the flashiest, most action-packed story I could find by default. There was no real substance behind it. Instead of writing something that was important to me, instead of using my voice and my individual intelligence and personality to bring life to my characters, I simply tried to write what I thought might make the most impact on a reader, editor, publisher, etc. And that’s not the right way to go about it.

So I’m learning. A bit at a time, I’m learning. Breaking into the world of comics isn’t easy, but it truly is what I want to do with my life. If I can continue to grow and improve, I’ll snatch that pebble yet.

The Olympics

I’ve been watching quite a bit more than I thought I would. When they first started I thought I might watch a little bit of the swimming because I was vaguely interested in Michael Phelps and his pursuit of the most gold medals ever (a mark he’s already reached and surpassed) and I figured I’d try to catch a few of the “Redeem Team’s” games for USA basketball. But NBC is doing a great job of switching things up and giving viewers a glimpse of multiple events. Immediately following a Michael Phelps race, we cut to the Chinese national men’s gymnastics team doing their routine on the rings or the parallel bars, or a clip of Togo winning their first ever Olympic medal (a bronze in Canoe/Kayak), and I find myself drawn in.

Not because I have a vested interest in Togo or Chinese men’s gymnastics, but because watching these amazing athletes strive for their dreams is riveting television. And they really are amazing athletes. I see the American basketball team all the time in the States, and I’ve seen and heard enough about Michael Phelps to realize he’s one of a kind. But the Chinese men’s gymnastics team did things I didn’t think were humanly possible during their routine. I literally couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen. And then, by extension, NBC did a terrific job of incorporating the slim chances the American team had to beat these juggernauts of gymnastics by cutting to the team preparing for their next event. So by the time swimming was over and the network went to gymnastics for the duration, I wanted to keep watching.

And I guess there’s also the fact that I love an underdog. The Chinese are apparently some kind of gymnastics gods walking among mere mortals. And when I look at the medal count online, the Chinese are also dominating the field when it comes to earning gold medals (although the US has a slight lead in total medals). So when faced with odds like that, it was easy for me to root for the United States gymnastics team to beat the Chinese. They didn’t, of course (had the lead and lost it), but for a team that wasn’t expected to medal, earning a bronze was a nice accomplishment. And even though the US team was disappointed in their inability to beat the Chinese, they were gracious and still pleased to earn another piece of hardware for their country.

What those guys do is incredible, by the way. I keep thinking of Batman and Robin training in the Batcave. Batman and Robin are always listed as “world class gymnasts” in their “list of powers”. Now I finally know what that means. And it is awesome. Is it realistic to let go of a bar, flip and twist three times over in midair and then grab the bar again at the last possible second all without losing any shred of momentum? Not for you or me, no. But for these guys it’s possible. They do it all the time.

So basically, I like what I’ve seen so far. Michael Phelps has me watching more swimming. Men’s gymnastics has me watching women’s gymnastics (USA placed silver in that, second again to the Chinese). And the events I wanted to watch are so good that they’re allowing me to find hidden gems I had no interest in before. And I still haven’t been able to catch USA basketball yet.

What I’m reading…

Hellboy.

I have to be honest, I’d never read much Hellboy at all up until a few months ago. I’d certainly heard of the character, and I’d heard how fantastic the comic was from a variety of sources. And I knew full well what a genius Mike Mignola was because all I ever heard about was how unique his art style was and how it complimented his story of noir/horror (noirorr?) so brilliantly. I’d heard all that and more… but I still wasn’t really that interested.

And I don’t know why. I’ve watched the movies. I really liked the first one, and thought the second one was… okay. I’ve seen two of the animated features after they were released on DVD a while back. They were both fantastic. But for some reason I’d never picked up a Hellboy or BPRD comic book, neither in single issue format nor trade paperback (graphic novel for those that insist). I knew quite a bit about the character, and thought the concept was absolutely killer. For those that aren’t aware (from Wikipedia):

“Hellboy is a creature summoned or perhaps made in the final months of World War II by the historical figure Grigori Rasputin on Tarmagant Island, off the coast of Scotland, having been commissioned by the Nazis to change the tide of war (“Project Ragna Rok”). He appears in a fireball in a ruined church in East Bromwich, England, on December 23, 1944. Proving not to be a devil, in the traditional sense, but a young, devil-like creature with red skin, horns, a tail, and an abnormally disproportionate right hand made of red stone, he is dubbed “Hellboy” by Professor Trevor Bruttenholm.

Taken by the United States armed forces to an Air Force base in New Mexico, Hellboy is raised by the United States Army and by the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD), a federal agency dedicated to combating occult threats.”

Um, that’s awesome. So I really have no good excuse for why I wasn’t reading it before now. I suppose the root of the problem (and yes, I consider it a problem) is that I was always an exclusive reader of Marvel Comics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I got started reading comics with Spider-Man (Spectacular, Amazing, Web of…) when I was younger and stayed extremely faithful for a number of years. I have longboxes full of ASM with no issues missing. It’s very cool to look at, but it also resulted in me missing out on a number of excellent titles along the way. I was a devoted fan of Spider-Man (a Spider-Fan, if you will), and took immense pride in it. The fact that Sal Buscema, Erik Larsen and Alex Saviuk stayed on the titles for a lengthy run after I started reading them helped keep me in one place, I think.

I do remember following Erik Larsen to Image when he started Savage Dragon, and by extension I was exposed to a number of early Image titles like Valentino’s Shadowhawk and McFarlane’s Spawn. I think Larsen actually started my slow (ever so slow) evolution as a comic book reader because he was the first artist I followed from one title to another. Mark Bagley took over duties on Amazing Spider-Man, and I became such a fan of his work that I went back and read his New Warriors work as well and followed him everywhere he went.

And as I continued to grow up I started following any artist that caught my eye. And then as I grew up even more I started becoming more interested in the story complimenting the art and started following writers as well. I was still in love with the characters and the art that brought them to life, but my appreciation for the role of the writer in the medium swiftly matched that love. Comics is a collaborative process, and I think my enjoyment is collaborative as well. Instead of admiring one aspect of the creative process I can now touch on numerous aspects that appeal to me. From the writing to the pencil lines to the inks, colors, lettering and beyond.

So I guess it was only natural that once I started reading Hellboy that I would immediately be drawn to it. Mike Mignola started by letting John Byrne script his artwork, but he soon began tackling the written word as flawlessly as he mastered the images captured on the page. And the images he captures on the page are, quite frankly, an incredible sight to behold. I’ve heard people state that Mignola’s art can be simplistic in one breath, and then gasp away that breath in the very same instant. What he’s capable of with the barest notions of form and shadow consistently amazes me.

So why did it take me so long again? I guess the only legitimate reason is that I’m a lazy bastard. There was just so much content to devour that by the time I got around to thinking about trying I had let even more content amass. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing either, because now I’ve just finished reading The Conqueror Worm, the fifth trade paperback, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sixth. And the fantastic thing is that I only have to wait as long as it takes me to get to the comic shop because the work is all right there to be had. I actually feel a little sad for the folks that have read it all and have to wait for the next issue to be released. You poor souls, you.

So was Hellboy worth the wait? Absolutely. I have a greater appreciation for comics after reading each and every trade, and I don’t think I could muster a better compliment for a funnybook than that. It inspires me to become better at my craft, and it sets a goal that, though it might seem unattainable, will make me a better creator…

Kill Mike Mignola.

Kidding! Only kidding!

How about… Make something as amazing as Hellboy.

Yeah… I can give that a shot.