Jimmy Palmiotti has more comic book credits
under his belt than can be sensibly listed in a sidebar biography.
He's done lots. Trust us. We don't lie. Much.
Notable amongst the above mentioned credits
are: Co-creator of 21Down, The Resistance,
Gatecrasher, Ash, and Painkiller Jane. Editor
and founder of Marvel Knights, working on Daredevil,
Black Panther, Punisher, Killraven, and
The Inhumans. Writer/co-writer on Beautiful Killer
and Superboy.
Jimmy is also one of the comic industry's
most popular ink artists, having put his pen to Superman, Batman, Catwoman, Midnight Mass, Codename ; Knockout, Sci -Spy, Punisher, Nick Fury, Brotherhood, and many, many more.
Justin Gray has been extremely lucky in
that he has managed to slide his way into a number of exciting
and interesting situations for which he was distressingly under
qualified. He traveled to the mountains of the Dominican Republic
and mined amber with the local people, spending his nights partying
on the balconies of Santa Domingo. Along with eccentric inventor
Roy Larimer, Justin has delivered previously undiscovered species
of insects to the curator of entomology at American Museum of
Natural Histrory.
Currently Justin is co-creator and co-writer
of 21Down and The Resistance, with Jimmy Palmiotti,
as well as being co-writer of Chastity Re-imagined from
Chaos! Comics.
His upcoming projects include a piece of
sequential fiction for the official Matrix
Movie Website with artist JG Jones.
This is one of those topics that, although done before and readily available, bears repeating. Since a number of my friends and their friends or family members that do not read comics have begun to follow this column, I thought I’d take a moment to throw a little light on this wonderful medium. It’s not something I can discuss at length over dinner without gathering blank stares or questions like “so how are the cartoons working out?” so a captive audience is a good thing. Relax, I’ve had to listen to you ramble on about Jeffersonian politics invading the Middle East, color coded alerts, disgruntled co-workers and the problem with finding a potential husband in your early thirties.
For those of you familiar with the evolution of the comicbook, or if you’ve read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, feel free to skip down the page (or just look at these great ads from comic's past courtesy of steveconley.com) because you’ll already know that the first graphic novel was created and drawn in copper by Joseph Freiherr von Goez in 1783. You’ll also know that it was based on a poem entitled Lenardo and Blandine written by A. Bürger (no not an all beef patty with sesame seed bun). Although extremely melodramatic, Leonardo and Blandine with nine panel pages of single or paired figures lamenting the loss and pain of love, it does offer a study in the physical conveyance of emotion. Much like early film it also has a staged and theatrical feel.
Possibly the first use of speech balloons is documented in James Gillray’s “The Table Turned” in 1797, prior to that descriptive text and dialogue, was placed at the base of the image. You know, like a silent movie.
For non-comic readers, the historical significance of the medium rests heavily on the shoulders of Archie, Richie Rich, Casper and other funny books, superheroes like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and the occasional underground comic thanks to R. Crumb.
Every so often I listen to people discuss the medium of comics or sequential art as they relate to history, and the most common terms are “Silver Age” and “Golden Age”. Stick with me here. Occasionally there is some reference to a “Bronze Age”, but not often. These discussions center primarily on the genesis of superheroes, with the emergence of Superman in 1939 seeming like ancient history, something akin to the big bang theory where comics were born. It wasn’t always that way, but somewhere along the line a costume defined the genre, even if it was only a pair of form fitting swim trunks. This is where your perception blurs into cartoons and comics. Mickey Mouse is a cartoon, Road To Perdition is a graphic novel.
So my non-comic reading friends I ask you, who invented comics? Was is some frustrated pimply young man dreaming of big breasted women in bathing suits? Perhaps it was the skinny fellow on the beach getting sand kicked in his face?
Strangely enough it was Rodolphe Töpffer the son of a German painter, who due to an eye defect, was unable to carry on the family tradition. Judging by his choice of medium, working in India ink and black and white line art, the possibility exists that he was colorblind. Just a guess, I have no proof. Töpffer’s “M. Crépin”, translated as 'Obadaiah Oldbuck' in 1842, was the first comic book ever published in America. There goes the theory that comics are a truly American medium… at least we still have Jazz. OK, so if you’re interested to know more and want to stop looking at me like I’m talking about Jughead and Veronica every time I tell you I’m writing comics, here are some useful links and more links. Next time we have dinner and I’m pinched between baseball stats, what happened on the Real World and who gives a shit about Eminem wanting to kick Moby’s ass, you better be able to use the name Rodolphe Töpffer in a sentence.
Duck And Cover: It's Only Radiation
New Yorkers are notoriously neurotic at least that’s what most of the country believes after watching Woody Allen movies and Sienfeld, but President Bush and crew are working overtime to turn the country into one big knee jerking, paranoid square dance. If it’s not domestic terrorism, it’s Saddam’s big badda boom weapons program that has us jumpier than a Georgia waitress at a Muslim convention.
