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.

29th year

So I’m 29 years old today. I don’t plan on doing anything special, but you never know what family or friends might have in store for you. Family and friends if you read this, please send money.

The birthday makes me realize even more that I need to really focus on making my comics dream into reality. I think I’m trying to do what I can as best I can, but I feel almost certain there’s always something more I could be doing. I write for at least an hour every day. If I’m not actively writing a script , I’m revising one, or I’m hashing out details on a new idea, or I’m emailing artists, editors or fellow writers to get work done, advice, opinions and anything else I can think of. I do have some friends in the industry. Most of them started in the same sort of place that I did. They decided that this is what they wanted to do and they strode purposefully towards that goal with as little deviation as they could manage.

At least, that’s what I envision they did in my head. To be truthfully honest, I’m not sure how one person makes it when another doesn’t. I know part of it is talent, and part of it is luck, but sometimes I wonder if there’s more to it than that. I’m not talking about anything as overbearing as destiny–but maybe karma? Sure. Do onto others as you’d like them to do to you and perhaps you will see a little bit of positive change in your life. There’s also the fact that real life has a way of interfering with what you want. I have an eleven month-old son. I love him more than I love pretty much anything in this world. But writing can be a bit difficult at times when you have a responsibility to something far more important in your life.

Okay, enough ruminating (big word of the day) out of me. I saw Iron Man this weekend, so I can’t be that swamped with work and family, right? The movie made it necessary to set aside the laptop for a second or two though. It was fantastic. Tons of action and the actors seemed to really enjoy and embrace the characters they were playing. It’s nice to get away for a while and lose yourself in a good film, and when the actors give themselves to the roles they’re playing and really let their personalities shine through it just makes it that much easier to escape. There was a very welcome highlight at the end of the credits, so I highly recommend that anyone who goes to see the movie stick around for that. I’m going to seriously consider going to see it again, and I haven’t done that since the second Spider-Man movie came out. Iron Man was that good.

Shadowline

I’ve been talking to Shadowline for a while now. Shadowline is a branch of Image Comics run by Jim Valentino (creator of ShadowHawk) that publishes a number of comic books and graphic novels. The Shadowline imprint focuses primarily on a 4-issue mini-series format, so if you’re thinking of submitting to them you should keep that in mind. They’ll look at ideas that don’t strictly adhere to that format, but they do prefer the 4-issue mini.

I’ve sent two completed pitches to them. One was a western (kind of), and one was a superhero team book. Both of those pitches were rejected for various reasons. The superhero team book got a little closer than the (sort of) western. The benefit of pitching the ideas to Shadowline was that I got the opportunity to speak with Kris Simon and Jim Valentino.

Kris Simon is the editor at Shadowline. She oversees all of the books published by the Shadowline imprint of Image Comics. Kris was the person I brought my two ideas to, and she saw enough potential in both of them to show to Jim Valentino. Jim made the final decision not to accept them, but I received valuable advice from him concerning the way I approach my writing.

After both of my pitches were rejected, Kris gave me the opportunity to pitch new ideas to Shadowline without the hassle of putting together a finished 5 to 10-page proposal. A few months ago I sent five ideas to Kris Simon that she showed to Jim Valentino. About a month ago Jim sent me a message saying that he saw some merit in two of them. He gave me a number of helpful comments and asked me to revise the ideas based on what he had to say.

Now one of the biggest problems I have as a writer is trying to rush things. I tend to value quantity over quality sometimes, and I cycle through ideas so quickly that I don’t dedicate the proper amount of time to any particular concept I have. It was one of the biggest criticisms I received from Jim Valentino, and I’m trying my best to correct the problem. I’ve been tweaking and revising the two concepts Jim showed interest in for the better part of a month now. I’m dedicating time to them each and every day in an effort to make them the best they can possibly be.

Writing in any medium is a learning process. Talking with established professionals like Kris Simon and Jim Valentino has allowed me to take another step towards my goal, but listening and applying their advice has been even more beneficial.

I’m not planning on screwing this up.

Writing comics…

Yeah, I’m one of those aspiring comic book writers you hear so much about on the news.

This little slice of the internet will be dedicated to my (hopefully successful) progress towards that goal.

I’ll also be posting about pretty much anything else I want.

So there.