In his dreams Alan Donald is a multi-award winning
writer of comic books, animation, theme park shows and rides, children’s books,
novels, television, internet animation and more.
In real life Alan writes this column,
which has been described as
more than a lifestyle than a
weekly column. He used to write
SBC's All The Rage.
Here we are again. What do you mean, 'what do you mean again'??! Perhaps I should clarify...welcome to week TWO of Final Draft the new magazine column on SBC from me, Alan Donald. If you missed last week's column you missed one hell of a ride. Check out the archives NOW to go and see what you missed.
This Week
Every week I take a wander through the weeks stories to see what catches my interest and what you may have missed.
Let's get started:
The headline: SBC's Hues Bows Out Of All The Rage To Take Future Comics Position
The history: J. Hues was once the News Editor at SBC, his extremely popular Rolling with the Punches column brought him acclaim across the industry and his 3 weeks on All the Rage gained him further recognition.
Personally: Huesy's a nice chap, he knows his stuff and he's very committed to comics.
The story: J will be taking on Michael Savage's former position as Marketing and PR guy for Future Comics.
Opinion: I may have lost the column in an April Fool's joke and then a silly vote but there's no way I'm going back to ATR, The Final Draft's too cool. Good luck Jason, I hope it all works out for the best for you.
The headline: CrossGen's Forge and Vector Cancelled
The history: Forge and Vector (formerly Edge) broke new ground by offering something new an innovative to readers...monthly anthology graphic novels. For a pittance you could pick up an entire month’s worth of Crossgen comics.
Personally: I love Forge and Vector, especially the new Traveller's editions.Great reads, great value for money.
The story: They gave them over a year but the experiment failed. Readers initially took to the format but then decided to either subscribe to the individual titles or to pick up the individual graphic novels.
Opinion: This is a bloody shame, a company actually breaks the mould and does something completely different, I'm pissed off. I loved the format and I thought it had so much more to offer in the future.
Ten mostly silly questions
Take a comic pro, lull them into a false sense of security with a few jokey questions then hit 'em with a few serious ones. This week legendary artist Chris Weston's in the hotseat.
Q.) Which do you prefer - dirty nappies or cleaning up your own vomit after a night on the beer? A.) Changing nappies can give you a sense of satisfaction, if the job's done well.
Q.) What's your favourite colour? A.) The colour of Creme de Menthe.
Q.) Is it true a certain E-i-C once described your art as sordid'? If so who? A.) Someone at Marvel said Joe Q thought my characters looked seedy. I can't blame him if it's true, 'cos when I showed him my portfolio at San Diego, it was full of pictures of a naked Nikolai Dante shagging bearded ladies and snogging male servants (from the 2000ad not-very-sexy Sex Issue). Some of my best work, but, you know, first impressions...
Q.)Sylvester or Tweetie? A.) Sylvester. I wanna draw a crossover where he teams up with Tom and together they feast on the fried corpses of Jerry and that bastard budgie.
Q.) What's your favourite kids TV show? A.) Jimmy Neutron.
Q.) Are you and Warren Ellis speaking at the moment? A.) You are so shallow...! :) Thought you'd sneak that one in, did you? Stop stirring, Alan!
Q.) A purple spotty Tiger jumps out in front of you, what do you do? A.) Take a picture of it with my trusty digital camera, and use it in The Filth.
Q.) Who/what in the comic industry really gets on your tits? A.) Here we go again! What is this: good cop, bad cop?! What gets on my tits? People who think I'm happy to jeopardise any future employment possibilities just to provide salacious gossip, Alan! :)
Q.) What did you have for dinner last night? A.) Spanish omelette.
Q.) Other than The Filth what are you working on at the moment? A.) I'm chatting to John Smith about a big idea... it's dark, gothic and ultra-gorey. Whether any publishers will share our enthusiasm remains yet to be seen. But before that, Tom Peyer and I have got something strange up our sleeves, for the DCU. Oh yeah, and Ministry of Space 3....
New Boy, Old Boy, Publisher, Retailer and Hack
Five very different people from different parts of the comicbook industry, with different experiences and ideas on the industry come together to answer your questions. The New Boy, fresh faced and full of hope, the Old Boy more than just established, he's a cult figure, the Publisher, his decisions can make or break careers, the Retailer, he actually sells the stuff plus he talks to the fans and the Hack, lurking in the shadows...Every week our panelists will answer one of you lucky folk's questions.
"What do you think makes a great comicbook?"
Old Boy: A great writer, great artists, and great fans.
Retailer: What makes a great comic book? A question that could have so many answers. It could be the interesting, evolving characters. It might be the fast paced action or the brilliant art. It could be pacing, plotting, surprise twists or even the dialogue. The best thing about the comic industry is the diversity that a creator can achieve with 22 pages. Sometimes you get a little piece of a multi-part arc and other times you get a full story with a beginning, middle and end. My tastes range from Amazing Spider-Man to Transmetropolitan and far beyond. Great comics could be by any creator, feature any character or be published by anyone.
The difference between a decent comic book and a great one is that the creators actually seem to be enjoying themselves. They seem at least as interested in what the character would realistically do in that situation as the readers are, and that shows in their work. Some writers churn out as many books as possible for a quick check, but luckily most only handle a few really well done books every month. Some artists have an affinity for certain characters while others turn in half-hearted work on characters that don't hold their interest, and in turn, doesn't keep ours.
I've read some outstanding ideas that were poorly executed as well as some decent ideas where the execution makes it worthwhile. There are great comic books for every taste and genre. Read what you like and only support the work that you actually enjoy. Whether it makes you laugh, cry, think, or forget your troubles, a great comic book should entertain you.
Hack: What makes a great comic? great writing + great drawing = great comic In general, if the writer is also the artist, the comic has a higher chance of being great. Also, if there is no real deadline pressure on either script or art, the comic has a better chance of greatness.
Sorry about the trunicated panel this week but Joe Quesada's been swamped with work this week and our New Boy's moving house. About that New Boy, last week I said I'd introduce him...it's Jock Losers, Judge Dredd and Hellblazer artist and one of the guys whose riding on the current wave of British talent invading the US at the moment.
If you have a question you'd like the panel to answer then email me on aland@silverbulletcomicbooks.com
Why aren't you reading...
This is a regular feature where I'll look at some of the titles I've been reading lately that I think need a bit more publicity than they're getting. To begin with these'll be titles I read normally or that my local comic guy has recommended to me, eventually, however, I want to look at titles that you recommend to me. Have you read (or are you a creator on) a comicbook you feel is being overlooked? If so let me know all about it. If possible I'll have a chat with the creators/publishers and find out more about the story behind the title and what's coming up in the future.
The Judge Dredd Megazine
The Megazine is a monthly anthology from Rebellion. It features an extended Judge Dredd strip and a wide range of other excellent back up stories. The Megazines changed a bit over the years but the current format is the best of the bunch, 100 pages for only £3.95. As with all anthologies there is the chance you won't enjoy everything in it but there is a very good chance you'll find plenty that you do.
Currently there's an excellent Judge Dredd story by Garth Ennis set before the tales in 2000AD. This is a great tale that recaptures a lot of the feel of early Dredd stories. Other highlights are Family (Mafia with superpowers), Darkie's Mob (a reprinting of a classic British strip by Judge Dredd creator John Wagner, this is awesome), Young Middenface (a great read from the excellent Alan Grant), Devlin Waugh (vampirism, homosexuality and more), Black Siddah (Pat Mills at his very best), Slaine (a reprint of a very dire period in the characters history, Pat Mills at his worst) and more.
Now who could I possibly call on to promote the Megazine? Oh, I know...the Editor:
1) Who are you? Alan Barnes - current editor of the Judge Dredd Megazine, former editor of Panini Comics' Doctor Who Magazine, and occasional hack.
2) For whom? I've written books on Hammer Films, James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and most recently, 'Sherlock Holmes On Screen' (www.rhbooks.com), plus Doctor Who audio plays starring Paul McGann (www.doctorwho.co.uk) and various journalistic bits and pieces. It's been some years since I had any strip work published, but in my pre-editorial life I was responsible for a few (mostly awful) Dredd scripts for both the Megazine and Lawman of the Future, and was the regular writer on the Doctor Who strip for awhile.
3) What's the history behind the Megazine? Launched as a monthly spin-off from 2000 AD in September 1990, went fortnightly soon after, then trimmed back to monthly in the fall-out from the less-than-spectacular performance of the Sylvester Stallone Dredd movie. A lot of ups and downs and format changes in the interim, but now settled at 100 pages every four weeks. And on the up!
4) What's the future for the title (both longterm and as far as up coming stories go too)? Bright! The mix is working really well: up to 15 pages of new Dredd by top-notch creators including John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, Garth Ennis, John Higgins, John Ridgway (too many to list!); two 'Dredd world' strips featuring supporting characters from the main Dredd/2000 AD universe; and two extra slots where we push the boundaries of the 2000 AD style. Currently we're featuring the camp occultist Devlin Waugh in a very gory sequel to the classic 'Swimming in Blood', by John Smith and Colin MacNeil; 'Black Siddha', which is Pat Mills' and Simon Davis' fusion of Hindu myth and superhero tradition; and 'Family', which is a sort of psi-powered 'Sopranos' by Rob Williams and Simon Fraser. Coming later in the summer: a second series of Robbie Morrison and John Burns' 'Bendatti Vendetta', which is a blend of contemporary thriller and revenge tragedy; 'XTNCT', which is a very weird sci-fi series about genetically modified dinosaurs by novelist/TV writer Paul Cornell and the completely brilliant D'Israeli; oh, and an unmissable new Judge Death series by John Wagner and Frazer Irving, which sees Dredd's arch-nemesis take a road journey across the Cursed Earth. Guaranteed to go down as an all-time classic!
5) What Dredd/2000AD characters should we expect to see turn up? We've been putting a lot of work into expanding the back-up cast: at times, in the past, I've felt that the 'Dredd world' strips have erred towards 'Judges in Bermuda shorts/kimonos/hula skirts' -- leeching off the mythos rather than enriching it (God, that sounds pompous). Hence Juliet November, Bato Loco and shortly Johnny Woo - strong characters who offer a different perspective on the Dredd universe. I think we've also been guilty of not following through some spin-off opportunities. For example: the Genetik Infantrymen, who appeared in the recent 2000 AD Dredd story 'Reprisal', are naturals for further development.
6)Sorry, go on... The Megazine also publishes feature material, and following on from David Bishop's much-acclaimed history of 2000 AD itself, we'll be telling the story of the British war comic up to the golden age of IPC's 'Battle'. We've been taking the opportunity, too, to republish John Wagner and Mike Western's still-shocking Battle classic 'Darkie's Mob', and we'll be following that early next year with Pat Mills' and Joe Colquhoun's unsurpassed 'Charley's War'.
7) Charley's War? Wasn't that a bit controversial, to say the least, when it first came out? Not 'controversial' in the sense of inspiring mass outrage, but certainly it was that rare thing: an anti-war serial in a war comic. It's as shocking as an honest, 'trenches'-eye' account of the so-called 'War To End All Wars' needs to be, and it follows a regular boy soldier, making do and largely helpless to determine his fate - rather than an officer type or a conventional 'war hero'. There are no inverted-commas 'heroes' in Charley's War, which makes it a rarity - even today. Charley has its own following now, and a lot of people have been waiting for it to reappear in some form. It's kind of fantastic that Charley has been kept alive by readers sand webmasters (see, for example, http://charleyswar.tripod.com/battle/id9.html and http://www.frothersunite.com/files/marbles/fanboy/battle.html), rather than publishers or marketeers, who've neglected it terribly. It's been said that it's the finest comic strip ever to come out of the UK, and I don't think that's so far wide of the mark.
8) What do you think makes the Megazine so unique? It's a bloody big read - certainly the meatiest anthology on the UK news-stand. Broader and deeper than 2000 AD, but executed in the classic 2000 style. Hopefully, it's much more than simply an optional extra for the most fervent Squaxx Dek Thargo!
9) What does the Megazine offer to international readers such as fans of American comics? Individuality! Class! Attitude! We don't believe in pigeon-holing comics: we don't hold with labels like 'Mature Readers', we've never once used the word 'demographic' in an editorial meeting, we don't have rigid 'style guides' and we don't encourage artists to clone each other's work. What we do is unique, quirky, rough-edged, clever, 'sui generis'. (I can't see any mainstream US publisher touching, say, 'Black Siddha' or 'The Bendatti Vendetta'.) We'd sooner spit on our readers' expectations - in the right way, of course! - than pander to them. Many of the strongest voices in comics came out of the 2000 AD stable, and hopefully you'll see the stars of the future continuing to rise up through our ranks.
10) Who's your favourite Megazine character? Apart from Dredd? Probably Devlin Waugh, who for the uninitiated is best described as having Noel Coward's head on Arnold Schwarzenegger's body. Even in the middle of the most terrible carnage, dear old Devlin is always there with the bon-est of mots. And we British do love our queens, don't you know?
11) Why should people read the Megazine? See my answer to question (8)! Rebellion - 2000 AD's parent company - has invested a lot of time and effort in returning the Meg to its glory days, and it's really started to pay off. Certainly, we seem to be getting a lot of lapsed readers returning to the fold: every other day I'm getting e-mails from people saying, basically, 'Wow! When did the Meg get so good again?', which is immensely gratifying. But it'd be nice to be not quite such a secret pleasure ...
12) What else are you reading at the moment? Anything and everything! In particular: 'Y - The Last Man' is fantastic, a very different kind of post-apocalypse thriller in the tradition of John Wyndham. One of those 'I wish I'd thought of that!' ideas, but the execution lifts it way above just a neat concept. I thought the first few issues of 'Cla$$ War' were terrific. And LOEG II is even better than the first.
And to round it all off here's a quick exclusive look at the next cover to the Megazine:
Sigil
Lizard's, sci-fi action, haunted ships and Chuck Dixon...what more do you want? Oh...how about a new artist? From issue #36 Dale Eaglesham's taking on the art chores. Here's a few promo pics:
More pic's can be found at:
Sigil's a very cool read at the best of times but the change of artist gave me the perfect excuse to contact Dale to ask him about his new job:
1) So your first issue of Sigil...are you happy with it? Are you happy to be doing it? I'm not happy to be on this book, I'm ecstatic! Sigil fulfills every aspect of my escapist and artistic needs. A few days ago, I went to shut the lights off in my studio to head to bed after a real long hard day of drawing. It was almost one in the morning. I looked at the piece on the table, and don't you know it, I sat down and started drawing, just like that. A half an hour had passed before I remembered I was supposed to be in bed. I feel like I'm coming alive on Sigil. I haven't felt this artistically alive in almost a decade. I'd almost forgotten how fun it was to draw comics until now. Chuck's stories have always been a real treat to work on, and with the epic space adventure that Sigil is, even more so. Seeing what (inker) Drew Hennessy and (colorist) Andrew Crossley have done with my pencils is making me very excited for the future. I love what they are doing and I feel this is the best art I've produced in my career.
2) What's it like down in Tampa then? Well, we're moving down there in June, so all I can tell you right now is that it's hot and humid, and that they have giant spiders and alligators. At least that's what everyone keeps telling me...
3) You've had a chance to start settling in now how're you adjusting to the office environment? In previous interviews you commented that you were finding this to be a challenge. It was definitely a challenge because I've never worked in an office before. I've always worked in my home office, alone, with the door closed! So it was hard at first, but I adjusted pretty fast and managed to concentrate on the work. The hardest thing to get used to was people talking around me. I'm not used to that, but like many others, I just learned to work with a walkman on.
4) So Sigil #36 - Anything special about it (other than it being your first)? What makes this issue so special is that I get to work with people that I've felt I had great chemistry with in the past. Plus, I'm coming on Sigil just when big things are starting to happen, and I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
5) Why should people read Sigil? I've always liked the title, but for the uninitiated, what's it all about? Are you kidding? There's nothing like it out there. A reluctant hero fights a war against a lizard race and other shadowy beings. He gets branded with a mysterious Sigil, which gives him extraordinary powers. His best friend dies but lives on as a hologram in their ship. A runaway sultan's wife joins their team, along with a mysterious man with glowing eyes. Science fiction, muscles, pretty and heroic women, action, aliens, exotic locales... What's not to like?
6) What does the future hold for the title? Shocking revelations, intrigue, new threats. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. ;)
7) What does the future hold for you? Have you got any other projects you'd like to promote? Right now I'm focusing all my energy on my CrossGen work. The company and the book deserve all my attention. I do have my own personal project, and I've been working on it for years. It's huge (think Lord of the Rings) and probably won't happen for many years yet.
8) Oh and finally the question I should have asked at the beginning, who are you? [stands up] Hello. My name is Dale, and I'm an escapist. ;)
My career started with Conan, seventeen years ago, at Marvel. Back then, I could work on a fifty-page story for a year, and I had an unusual rendering style that got my Conan dubbed "Corduroy Conan". I did quite a lot of Punisher stories too, including Punisher Year One, and a couple of stories with Chuck Dixon - and I'm now thrilled to be reunited with Chuck at CG! Actually, we go way back to one of my first published projects, a Kull story.
One of my favorite projects was called The Creep, with John Arcudi. That was back in 1991, at Dark Horse. Then I did everything from Excalibur, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, and Silver Surfer, to Superman, the JLA, lots of Batman, and Green Lantern. The funnest part about the Green Lantern days was the great interaction with the fans on the DC message boards. My wife (known as Wolfgangsta on the MBs) and I interacted with posters there regularly and made great friends that way.
And now we're moving to Tampa and CrossGen, where I hope to tackle my best contribution to comics yet!
And now for an exclusive pic from issue #36 that you won't see anywhere else yet:
Digging Deeper
This is an occasional column where I dig a little deeper into a story from the last month or so.
I was looking at Vertigo's tenth anniversary last week and to celebrate it I was annoying the hell out of some top comicbook people! I had hoped to bring you the views of some non Vertigo guy's on the imprint but Marvel, Dark Horse and CrossGen all declined to comment. Rather bizarrely Vertigo themselves declined comment despite this being a free promotion of their excellent work. One last, disappointing no-show this week is Neil Gaiman. Neil will hopefully be answering the Vertigo questions some time in the next couple of months but at the moment he's surrounded by insane deadlines and then he's off on a European tour. Let's face fact's what would you prefer...more new Gaiman books and comics or a poxy interview?
This week I managed to catch up with Axel Alonso:
1) When was the first time you heard about Vertigo and what did you think? It wasn't so much that I heard about Vertigo as I happened to pick up an issue HELBLAZER, and noted the Vertigo logo. Vertigo then became something that I sought out.
2) What is your favorite work published by Vertigo? I hate picking favorites, but Eduardo Risso is a genius. He could draw "Kitty Pryde 2099" and I'd buy it. And I'm really looking forward to HUMAN TARGET.
3) What is your least favorite? That would have to be RAWHIDE KID. I mean, what are Vertigo trying to do -- teach little kids to be gay!?!
Wait -- that's published by us . . .
4) What do you think Vertigo has done (if anything) for the industry? Among other things, it provides the safe haven of a Spandex-Free Zone. And, of course, some of the best writers and artists in the industry got their start at Vertigo.
5) What do you think Vertigo has done for your career? I started my comics career there. So, a lot.
6) Did you think Vertigo would last this long? Yes. I knew DC's commitment to the imprint.
7) What's your favorite Vertigo memory? It involved a pantless Wonder Woman scolding one tardy English freelancer -- and I was not responsible.
8) Who is you favorite Vertigo creator? That's like asking, What's your favorite booze? All I'll say is, I think Peter Milligan always hits the spot.
Noticeboard
From the biggest comicon to a signing in a shop the size of a postage stamp by the guy who edits a self published magazine on wanking printed on toilet paper, we'll promote them all. All you have to do is email me to let me know. The noticeboard will be here every week to promote your events.
Just the one thing pinned to the Notice Board this week:
Foufounes Electriques 20th Anniversary
18 MAY - 15 JUNE 2003
ZINE FAIR
24th May 2003
In partnership with Broken Pencil magazine, North America's most prestigious zine reviewers. MOTEL/KING16 magazine presents the first Quebec zine and small press fair.
Contact
Calcagno.l@sympatico.ca Leonardo Calcagno Editor-in-Chief/Publisher [MOTEL/KING16 magazine] MOTEL MEDIA GROUP | KILOBEATS MEDIA GROUP 514.527.8973 | calcagno.l@sympatico.ca
Remember I need you to be sending in your announcements, signings, events and such like to pin up on the Board.
That's me done. This is a magazine format column, some articles are always going to be here and others will come and go, check out last week's column for full details on what to expect. Many thanks for reading, see you in 7.
TTFN
Alan Donald - Signing off from a very hot island that had snow a week ago.
The Final Draft, its contents, its style and the concept in general are the intellectual property of Alan Donald. All contributions remain the property of the contributors who have given Alan Donald permission to use them in this format. The views expressed herein by contributors are theirs alone and not necessarily those of SBC nor the columnist. Conversely the views expressed by the columnist are not necessarily shared by the contributors, SBC or even the columnist himself.
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