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.
Hello and welcome to the fifth issue of The Final Draft, SBC's very own magazine format column. We've got news, opinion, reviews, the noticeboard and the Panel featuring Marvel's E-i-C Joe Quesada, top writer Peter David, up and coming artist Jock, SBC's very own Craig Lemon, top retailer Evil Rick, Dark Horse's Publicist Lee Dawson, yours truly and of course a question (and answer) from one of you, the fans. This week we've also got the gen on SBC's presence at Comics 2003 the UK's top comicbook festival.
Enough mindless banter, time to get on with the show.
This Week
Every week I take a gander at the stories that caught my attention.
The headline: N/A (First appearance here) The new 'Ellis Forum'.
The history: The Warren Ellis forum was for years THE place to be. Rumours, news, flamers and friendly banter were exchanged in equal portions. Since it closed down fans and creators have been searching for the new happening place to chill out.
Personally: The Mark Millar forum came close but by all reports it is a little too hostile a place to visit (I didn't think so but I've heard a large number of horror stories).
The story: The wait is over: http://forums.delphiforums.com/andydiggle/ the Andy Diggle forum. Mr. Diggle started his own little Delphi forum, made a quiet announcement about it and then suddenly mere days later the forum was packed out with loads of threads and well over 2000 posts from fans, hacks and top comicbook pros.
Opinion: This is a forum that has exploded so quickly it's unbelievable, you look away for a day and suddenly there's 242 pages (pages not posts) of unread posts on a single thread and most of them are worth reading! Time will tell how this pans out but at the moment there's very little negativity on the board (lots of sarcasm, some of it dark but nothing really negative that I've seen), Trolls and flamers are discouraged and what we have is a great forum for all. It's worth a visit if you have the time, there's loads there already.
The headline: Court throws kryptonite on Superman name plan
The history: It's hard to believe but the tax authority in Sweden control what people can and can't call their children.
Personally: Talk about a Nanny State! Now I can understand trying to cut down on the number of Brooklyn's (David & Victoria Beckham's sprog), Moonunit's, Tigerlilly's, Fi-Fi-Trixibell's or what ever the latest pop sensation's name is but something as innocent as Superman!
The story: Sara Lindenger and Johan Leisten of Goteborg, Sweden wanted to call their son David Rune Staalman Leisten (Staalman is Swedish for Superman). The Swedish government told them they couldn't as it might "lead to discomfort for the person who uses it."
Opinion: What a country! What an infringement of basic human rights (though if you did call your kid Superman they could probably sue you under the EC Human Rights bill)! I say all SBC-ers should bombard the Swedish government with emails of protest...not that I agree with naming children after comicbook characters. Silly idea [Very silly indeed, isn't it, Alan? How is your son, young Master Bruce? How did one of the world's biggest Batman fans come by that name? - Craig]. Of course they could have just called him Clark.
The Panel
Eight very different people from different parts of the comicbook industry, with different experiences and ideas on the industry come together to answer your questions. Jock, the New Boy just breaking through internationally; Peter David, the Old Boy, he's been there and done that, a comicbook superstar; Evil Rick Shea, the Retailer, he's on the front line pushing comics, listening to fans; Paul Peterson, the fan, he supplied this week's question; Joe Quesada, the Publisher, he's the Daddy at Marvel; Lee Dawson, Dark Horse's Publicity guru; Craig Lemon, the Hack, SBC's second-in-command, he edits loads of columns and runs one of the most respected review sections in the industry (remember to look out for Craig at the UK comic festival in Bristol); and me, The Columnist because I really ought to get involved.
This week's question is:
"What do you consider to be the state of the comicbook industry at the moment?"
New Boy: Jock was too busy to answer this week. I'm pretty sure he was working on The Losers or 2000AD stuff but he could have just been posting on the Andy Diggle board, everyone else is...
The Old Boy: "New York."
The Publisher: "The comics industry is at an all time creative high.
We can look at our past and remember many hallmark storylines with glowing nostalgia, but when you put those great story lines in context to the entirety of stuff that was created at the time, you'll probably find that the industry was still not where it was supposed to be. Today, when you look at the industry as a whole, from the ranks of the independents to the halls of the big publishers, there is material being created today that is far beyond what came before and the quality level on a whole is much stronger. Of course we couldn't have this creative boom if it weren't for what came before, but the hard truth is that if you look back or reread many of the great storylines that we remember fondly, placed against today's context, only a few would still stand out if they were released new today.
I often ask myself, as much of a creative debt of gratitude as we owe something as brilliant as Watchmen, how would it be perceived if it came out today? Of course this isn't a fair comparison, but it does give you insight into the high level of creativity that today's talent is operating at.
This to me is the incredible creative state of the industry. If we can now couple that with some strong business sense from everyone involved, we stand a chance at incredible mainstream growth. By the way, for signs of the seeds of growth blooming, go to any book store. There you'll find a plethora of new fans, fans that aren't commenting on the net to every word of mine in this rant. Just fans who are picking up the books reading them and buying more."
The Publicist: "I think it's an exciting time for the comicbook industry! We're again seeing a shift towards mainstream acceptance of comic books we haven't seen in a long time. Feature films such as Spiderman and X-Men have put a positive spotlight on known comic book properties but also films such as Road to Perdition and Ghost World have raised public perception about different types of comic material out there. Mainstream publications such as Entertainment Weekly now run monthly comics review sections and recently USA Today had a large feature on graphic novels. I think what's great about the "outside world" looking at comics this time around is that it's not coming from speculators looking to make a buck, but from people just looking for great stories. Additionally, the industry trend towards graphic novels/collections has been great not only for regular comics readers who love getting the story all at once or want a "reader" version of their favorite comic, but they also serve as a great starting point for the uninitiated and can now be found easily in mainstream book stores. This new found acceptance of the comics medium from the general public will only help continue to bring in new readers and increase sales, and that is good for us all!"
[Hold up. Who're you? - Alan]
"...here's the short version: Life long comics reader Lee Dawson has been with Dark Horse comics for four years and currently works as their Publicist. Rumor has it he is also an out of control toy collector and may or may not have an off site storage facility for said collection. -- Lee Dawson Publicist"
[Welcome to the panel I have a feeling you'll fit right in - Alan]
The Retailer: I believe the comic industry is in a state of constant improvement. It got really ugly during the 90s when unfortunately the most people were reading, or at least buying, when comics were at their worst. Now that comics are generally much better, it's a tragedy that more people aren't enjoying comics and graphic novels, although the numbers continue to improve each month.
I do everything I can to get new people reading comics including giving them away to get new readers hooked. Over 70% of our business comes from comics and graphic novels and that percentage is rising all the time. Luckily today's market has a better variety and higher quality comics than we've ever seen before. I believe the market will continue to improve as most of the creative people in the industry genuinely care about comics and want to see the business continue to grow. I'm pleased to see the comic book market in an ever-improving upswing.
The Hack: "Quality-wise - excellent. Sales-wise - very poor. Prospects - bugger all. Except for trades. The saviour of the industry."
The Fan: "I think that the industry is at an all time high. I don't know much about sales but the comics are really cool!"
The Columnist: "The quality of the comicbooks being produced at the moment are remarkable. This isn't simply a matter of art and writing but of production too. No longer are we constrained by 4 colours and dull toilet paper but instead we've got a near photographic range of colours with glossy, tough paper. Black hair is no longer blue, uniforms can be realistic because texture and darker tones show up better...and so on. The downside of this is that comics are allegedly far more expensive to produce nowadays. Some of the best writing and art combined can't help an industry when their basic product costs far, far too bloody much.
I can't talk about the US situation but in the UK the industry is in a terrible state. The newsagents only carry Ultimate Spider-Man (and many have dropped this in favour of a Beyblades hunk of shite) and very rarely 2000AD (though to be fair the biggest newsagent chain does carry Ultimate Spider-Man (UK reprint), 2000AD, The Megazine and US format reprints of Wolverine and the X-Men). The only comicbooks you can buy almost anywhere are the children’s humour books The Dandy and The Beano.
There are (or at least it seems that way) a growing number of comicbook shops in the UK and there is strong support for the industry. I gave it 2.5 years as a retailer, I had very loyal customer base that was growing when we shut. Unfortunately several factors went against me some of which are common to many comicshop closures (such as excessive overheads, customers ordering and not turning up, bad advice and befriending customers too much (thus lacking the 'killer' business instinct that is needed to succeed)). Many good customers did drop titles due to cover price increases but actually getting people hooked isn't a problem.
I believe that there are a huge amount of lapsed and potential comicbook readers out there. We need to get the product to them, we need to have BIG advertising campaigns from the likes of DC, we need more comic shops (or simply a greater availability of comicbooks in general) and we need to support and use FCBD properly.
Graphic novels are great, I love them and they are everywhere doing wonders to promote the industry and proliferate the product but they are not an alternative to comics, they are not the future of comics, they are a fantastic extra that will suit some better than others."
Why aren't you reading...
I promised you a guest presenter for this week's article and here it is from the boss, Craig Lemon:
...The Devil's Footprints Writer: Scott Allie Artists: Paul Lee & Brian Horton Publisher: Dark Horse The most successful early Vertigo (and pre-Vertigo) titles, in my opinion, were those that delved into the realms of horror by starting off with a relatively comfortable real-world situation and slowly turning the screws, revealing a little more of puzzle and/or situation as the pages and issues go by until you're left with something quite hideous. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing did this excellently, once you accepted the Swamp God as "real" his cataclymsic heaven vs. hell storyline built over numerous issues from innocuous beginnings. Similarly, the Delano Hellblazer issues (regarded by many as the definitive set of stories on that title) kicked off in everyday Britain and slowly screwed you to the floor. And so to Dark Horse's inaugural book in their non-line of horror stories. The Devil's Footprints #1, it is undeniable, starts off slowly. There's a normal town. There's a bunch of normal people doing what normal people do. Except strange things are happening to one particular family - nothing too outre at first, but it's getting worse. And it all seems to be connected to a pair of brothers and their dead father, a powerful dabbler in the black arts - someone...or something...is seeking to avenge the sins of the father onto the sons. And half the battle for them will be realising that this is happening... The art is dark and moody, setting the ominous scene well, you might as well being slap bang in the middle of Innsmouth the atmosphere is spot-on. The script has been adapted in response to the artists' work rather than laid down religiously for them to follow, so from #2 onwards the look of the book becomes more in tune with the words, it's developing organically and although an easy and straightforward read, there's still much to think about. It's a great start for the Horror non-line - although maybe a little too low-key for some, still worth checking out regardless.
Digging Deeper
An occasional column where I peek beneath the surface of a recent story.
The REAL Caped Crusader
Many thanks to Bryan (Luther Arkwright) Talbot for bringing the following story to my attention (visit Bryan at http://www.bryan-talbot.com).I have since seen mention of this on Neil Gaiman's site. He spotted it while in Madrid (I believe) Mr. Talbot got passed it by an Italian friend.
Barely a week has gone by since Reggie posted his column talking about how comics were leaking into the 'real world' (you are reading the excellent FOOL BRITANNIA (http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/fool/) aren't you? If not why not? Nip off and read it, I'll still be here when you get back) and low and behold this happens:
"A Caped crusader was reported to be doing good deeds in Tunbridge Wells during the Bank Holiday break. People watched in disbelief as a man wearing a brown cape and mask "swept" on to The Pantiles to rescue victims.
The Kent and Sussex Courier has received letters from stunned residents who watched as he "came from nowhere" to lend a helping hand on Monday last week.
Although activities with entertainers were organised for the historic colonnade to celebrate the holiday, no traders claim to have employed the services of a super hero.
Counselling and psychotherapy student from Eridge 21-year-old Ellen Neville was having a drink outside Chaplin's wine bar at about 7.30pm.
She said: "Up to the day I had never experienced the strange phenomenon of what most people refer to as the "good old days".
Surprise
"To my great surprise though a masked man wearing a brown cape rushed past me to assist a woman who was having bother with a group of youths.
:He swept in, broke up the commotion and ran off leaving myself and the woman in a state of shock. We thought it was hilarious."
Miss Neville, who admitted the eccentric do-gooder may have been a mere mortal in fancy dress, added: "Is it possible that we have a local hero? Well done to him, whoever he is.”
On the same day Ruth Barker from Mount Ephraim claimed she was "tapped on the shoulder" by the man who returned her purse.
"He said I had dropped it while I was checking my handbag for tissues. If only there were more people around with this kind-hearted spirit," she said.
It appears the good turns were not limited to females, Peter Norfolk of Grove Hill Road even went so far as to claim the man appeared on the end of the rope. He said he had been chased by some youths when the man "shocked the gang so much they ran off. He saved me from a good beating," he said."
I've spoken to the newspaper in question and they had the following extra information:
They believe this could be a hoax, either way they are taking it with a pinch of salt and reporting it with their tongues in their cheeks. They've had even more letters this week, 2 from people claiming that the hero has arrived out of nowhere to help change their tyres (one of these claimed to be an 80 year old). They have spoken to a few of the correspondents and while there are no obvious fakes several of those spoken to are adamant that they are telling the truth. One mum sent in an email on behalf of her 2 sons who saw the man on a roof and simply described him as HUGE. She insisted her sons wouldn't lie!
This has been widely reported now and they've heard from newsagencies across the globe. The French call the character Zorro but more commonly he is known as 'O' or Spa-Man (Tunbridge Wells is a Spa town). He has a big 'O' on his chest, a cape, a mask and a kind heart. The local council deny having any schemes running and mobile phone giant Orange (a big 'O') deny any involvement.
The hardened journalist I spoke to was amazed by how much crime there seems to be in Tunbridge Wells and how Spa-Man manages to find it so easily.
I also contacted Ann McCarthy the Media Relations Officer (not Press officer, don't make that mistake...) for the Police in Tunbridge Wells and she could supply the following information:
They are only aware of the story from the media. They have had no calls on the subject except from the media. They are not investigating, there is nothing to investigate. They have no advice for people on this subject and they refuse to even talk about vigilantism in general.
In fact they were useless.
They are not looking for anyone in connection with this vigilante action. They know of no sightings of this masked man, ever. They were aware of people in fancy dress on that day. The Police's view on masked vigilantes taking the law into their own hands will have to remain a mystery for the moment...heck I had loads of questions, all of them blown away with a basic, we know nothing response. I didn't even get to ask if they have considered investigating any orphaned Billionaire playboys or former circus performers in the area.
Could be that simple but I'm reminded of the '89 Batman film where Knox is constantly brushed off by the Police, they had heard nothing about any 'Bat', only what was said in his column, nobody had spoken to them (and in the background a skell was screaming about the Bat). Could it be there is a file and we are being given the brush off?
This columnist for one has to ask the question WHY DOES HE WEAR A MASK? WHAT DOES HE HAVE TO HIDE?
All joking aside there have been many attempts at 'real world' takes on superheroes and masked adventurers. The first, really, was Stan Lee with the afore-paraphrased J.Jonah Jameson and then later the whole 'world that hates and fears them' with the X-Men. The general thinking has always been that we'd hate any masked vigilanites, that we'd lead a hunt, torches blazing to find Batman if he existed but here we have normal members of the public praising and encouraging such bizarre behaviour (but could you ever see anyone praising Batman for his 'kind hearted spirit'?). Just proves that nothing in fiction can be as crazy as the real world.
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.
Comics 2003 - SBC has landed!
There's always been a presence from SBC at the UK comicbook festival but it has been rather low key up until now. This year SBC is arriving with a splash!
Not only will you have the chance to meet SBC's first officer, review editor and all round top bloke Craig Lemon, the tremendous Fool Britannia's Regie Rigby and myself but you will also get so much, much more too!
SBC has gone all out to help those companies that for various reasons can't make the festival. We're representing Dark Horse, Penny Farthing, CrossGen and Dan Schaffer's excellent comic Dogwitch. Look out for leaflet's, bookmarks, postcards and all sorts of other goodies from them (we'll also try to answer any questions you've got about the companies but if we can't we'll take your email address and use the Batphone to contact the top guy's with your questions at the end of the Festival).
BUT this is not all! We've also got what must be the biggest free to enter contest at any UK comicbook festival (if not at ANY festival), just look at some of the prizes you can win:
Flash of Two Worlds Statue (rrp £160) Complete Set of PF Trades Twelve individual prizes of one PF trade each Signed copy of Decoy #1/Decoy Storm of the Century #1 Copy of Victorian, limited edition, signed by Bernie Wrightson Copy of Victorian, limited edition, signed by Steranko HUGE Steranko Victorian poster HUGE Tim Bradstreet Victorian poster Original sketch by Courtney Huddleston (Decoy chap) Four Avatar limited release hardback trade collections (Warren Ellis x 3, Alan Moore x 1) Some Dark Horse stuff yet to arrive A huge bunch of CrossGen volume 1 trade paperbacks Some stuff from 2000AD's parent company Rebellion Even more trade paperbacks too! And MORE!
Details of how to enter etc will be availiable from the SBC table at the Festival.
BUT that is not all! We will also have many of the best artists at the festival signing and sketching at our table AND we may be running an event in the Small Talks Room AND you will be able to exclusively see the original art for two brand new Small Press comic books that are currently in the works. These are Utopia an action packed sci-fi opus written by myself with gloriously atmospheric art by Glenn Carter. And Sins Of The Father a thriller that has the UK Police desperately hunting a prolific serial killer also written by yours truly with art by Neil. AND there is still a chance you can also see why it is I want to be a writer and not an artist as I have sent in an entry for the Charity Deck of cards I don't know if it has been accepted yet but if it is it will be up to be bid on at the grand charity auction!
Is your appetite whet yet? All this and the rest of the Festival to look forward to too!
Go visit www.comicfestival.co.uk for more details then you WILL be buzzing!
Oh and get to our table early to pick up one of the very limited signed copies of Dan Schaffer's SBC/Automattic Comics exclusive 2 page Dogwitch Promo.
German Festival
"We are organizing the International Berlin Comic Festival and Comic Fair = from 7th of August until 31st of August. There will be exihibitions, workshops, public readings, animated films = etc. As we put a special focus on Great Britain this year - the british comic = scene is not very well known in Germany - we want to invite small = press) publishers from the UK to attend our comic fair, which is open = for public and a sales fair. Editors from all over Europe (Finland, = Netherlands, Spain, France a.s.o.) will be there. As it seems a little bit difficult to get in contact, especially with = very small publishing companies, I would like to ask you whether you = could help me with e-mail and mail adresses of publishers, (many of the = e-mails return or are never answered so I don't know whether they ever = reached their destination) so I can send them information material. Thank you very much for your help! Best regards, Steffi Goebel Berliner Comicfestival Spreeufer 5 10178 Berlin Tel. +49(0)30/28 87 98 90 Fax +49(0)30/28 33 98 4 kontakt@berliner-comicfestival.de www.berliner-comicfestival.de"
Now go see what you can do to help.
That's it from me this week. Those who've been reading for the last few weeks will be pleased to hear the decorating is nearly finished! I've dug 3 flower beds, 1 big veg bed, put up and adapted a shed and concreted in a whirly-gig clothes dryer and then there was all the 7 layers of wallpaper that had to come off, 11 layers of gloss and then all that washing and cleaning...it's all coming to an end, the last of the glossing has been finished, the carpets come Monday and we move in (finally, that bloody wait for the carpets was a killer) Tuesday. So the up-shot is you'll be having a far more professional and comicbook based sign off from now on!
TTFN
Alan Donald - Signing off with a worker’s suntan, aching muscles and loads of Red Ant bites in unmentionable places.
Damn, forgot to say email me with all sorta stuff on AlanWJDonald@aol.com
The Final Draft, its contents, it's 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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