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.
I look around and I see a lot of intelligent young men and women with chaotic, unfocussed energy, and great passion for the medium of comics. I see forums full of artists, writers and fans, web mags, review sites, interviews and sites picking up the same news stories. I have piles of email pouring in from newsgroups looking to build the perfect comic website, but for some reason it just isn’t happening. One day those emails stop; months go by and then things start to boil again. In the twilight hours of the Warren Ellis Forum, free and creative ideas were left on the table; they’re still there, a vast warehouse of discussions and thoughts gathering dust. Where are the hip, inventive, underground comic mags and webzines slapped together by frustrated visionaries discontent with the pop mainstream comics world?
I know you’re out there. You’re reading Pop Gun War, you’re reading Teenagers from Mars, Black Hole, Rex Mantooth, and these are the books you want to read. These are the books you want to promote. More importantly you want to create books of your own, telling your stories in your way. Of course the problem, as far as you may see it, is that unless you can fork over the cash to self-publish and get a distribution deal and advertising there isn’t much of a chance they’re going to happen. Bullshit, and I’ll tell you why.
For one thing comic shops aren’t like some massive chain store where everything has to be coded and approved by a corporate purchasing agent. You could make your own comics and, if you really believe you have the best product you’re capable of creating, bring them to a retailer and see if you can’t cut a deal. It’s the same as taking a demo tape to a radio station. Be a fucking Garage Band, make fliers and make mini-comics, Xerox comics whatever. This is actually how the whole damn thing started. Drop them where you know they’ll stick to people that are going to like them.
Making comics sexy for disinterested youth:
Jointz Magazine is a free monthly, pocket-sized publication created exclusively for Los Angeles club-hoppers, distributed to local young professionals, college students, DJs, musicians, artists and visitors that want to experience the L.A. nightlife. The purpose is to provide readers with the most expansive coverage of club listings and events, as well as trends in music, art, and fashion. Jointz covers the latest in L.A.'s subculture through interviews with international and local DJs and musicians, scene reports and so on.
Take the same concept and incorporate comics with the music and film based content, then deposit these items into the proper hands with information on how to GET product both online and in local shops. Content exclusively comics related will not do the job.
And now Jimmy discusses visiting one of my favorite countries and believe me I'm jealous that I was unable to be there.
-Justin
VIVA ALMERIA
Hey folks, been doing a bit of globe hopping lately and figured it would be fun to fill you in on the current comic scene in Almeria, Spain and relay some of the culture. One of the best perks of working in the comics industry is when people invite us to be guests at the various international conventions. As a rule, I never turn down a show if it happens to be located someplace Amanda and I have never been before, and although I’ve made the trek to several different parts of Europe time and time again, this was my first trip to Spain.
Amanda and I were invited by the good people of Almeria to attend a small but very important convention/gallery show. The month before, we had to ship [via David Macho who as luck would have it was on his honeymoon here in NYC] 45 pieces of assorted artwork by Amanda and myself. Included in this package was the entire first issue of original art for 21 down #1. They were put on display in the Almerian town hall…a beautiful building in the heart of the retail district of that city.
After a quick 7+-hour fight and puddle jumper from Barcelona down to Almeria we finally arrived. The wild thing about the smaller flight was noticing the terrain change from lush forest, to a vast desert, topped off with a beautiful view of the ocean.
A brief history of Almeria is needed to really understand this wonderful city.
Tartesos, Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Greek exploited Almeria’s mines and commercialized on their coasts. The Romans, established here starting from the third century BC, turned it into the "Porto Magnus" of the Mediterranean and dominated the area until the late arrival of the Visigoths in the seventh century. The Arabs created Almoracín, the actual capital, in the tenth century where one of the most important faction kingdoms of the Muslim Spain would be governed from. The Arabic influence has been the strongest due to their stay in the land for almost eight centuries. Everywhere you visit there has a feel of Arabic design.
O.k., with that out of the way, Amanda and I came in and were hand delivered by some of the people running the show to our hotel, smack dab in the middle of the city. We had a perfect view of the most famous landmark in Almeria, the Alcazaba a defensive fortress build in 995. The thing that made this different for us was that it was not a convention, but a diplomatic meeting of sorts, to discuss comics and their future in Spain.
Joining Amanda and I - the multi talented writer, and all around fun guy Pete {ENIGMA, EXTREMIST, GIRL, X-STATICS, SHADE THE CHANGING MAN] Milligan, multi talented Oscar [a small killing] Zarate, and my crew on 21 Down and the Resistance, Jesus Siaz, Juan R Cano Santa Cruz, and Francis Portela, as well as David macho, his wife and several others.
Each day, we met at the gallery at around 6pm,where the artwork was featured, then would go up to what looked like the supreme court room of Almeria to do q&a sessions for about a hour . After we would all go downstairs and sketch and sign books till around 11 pm. A really nice and relaxed atmosphere all around and some of the nicest fans we ever met. Maybe it was that none knew English that made them so sweet in my mind…lol…but we all have a great time.
The interesting thing about the comics that were brought my way to sign was that there were tons of marvel knight DD. And punisher books I worked on, and a few of the older DC books …all re packaged and obviously in Spanish. It was interesting to see how nicely they were put together, sort of like mini trades, and with a wizard magazine type of format in the back. Wish I could read what the hell they were saying but it's not a bad format to incorporate here.
The next day, we all got in a mini van and headed out to the desert, famous for the place where Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns were filmed, as well as many other classics. I am a huge Clint Eastwood fan, so this stupid little fact makes my whole day. Sad, isn’t it? The landscape was so alien to anything I've seen here in the states, its no wonder that filmmakers make it their home now and again. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to grasp the landscape. All that was capped off by the most amazing sunset extravaganza we have ever seen. You know when you are seeing something special when you can almost hear music to it. Amazing.
Well, I could go on and on about our trip, especially since we took a train ride to Granada for 3 days, but this is a comic book site and I think most of the wonders I experienced would be better suited for a travel magazine. That said, we had a really great time off from the day in and day out of things and look forward to one day going back and seeing the other 89% of the country.
On a side note, I want to recommend a few books that I have been reading lately that have me extremely happy to be doing comics for a living. First up is the perfect comic book in my opinion. CATWOMAN. Brubaker and Stewart draw me into their world each and every month. I find myself savoring every panel. Funny thing is, being an artist and an art collector; I really know I like a book when I want to buy all the art. That’s my first sign to myself that I am hooked. Trust me, if you must buy one book a month, other than Justin’s and mine…lol…. this is it.
Other books I am really enjoying these days are Paul popes 100%. Paul has made leaps and bounds in his storytelling in this series, and I love the fact that every page turn is another lesson in graphic design. This is a guy to watch and thank god he isn’t doing too many mainstream books. Next, Vertigo Pop! London. Written by Pete Milligan and Philip bond. Just a totally fun title by a couple of really cool guys. I also love Pete’s x static’s as well, but the indicia in Vertigo Pop! London gives me a warm glow. They own a piece of the action. Nothing makes me happier. Next up and just trust me on these, are Global Frequency, Garth Ennis’s War Story with David Lloyd, and Stormwatch Team Achilles by Wright and Portacio. All solid books for adults and people who grew up in comics. Right now I am sticking with what I read, I know there are a ton more out there, but this is what is on my nightstand at the moment. Give them a try.
Making comics sexy for disinterested youth:
VIVA ALMERIA
After a quick 7+-hour fight and puddle jumper from Barcelona down to Almeria we finally arrived. The wild thing about the smaller flight was noticing the terrain change from lush forest, to a vast desert, topped off with a beautiful view of the ocean. 
Each day, we met at the gallery at around 6pm,where the artwork was featured, then would go up to what looked like the supreme court room of Almeria to do q&a sessions for about a hour . After we would all go downstairs and sketch and sign books till around 11 pm. A really nice and relaxed atmosphere all around and some of the nicest fans we ever met. Maybe it was that none knew English that made them so sweet in my mind…lol…but we all have a great time. 
