PRESS RELEASE: Comic Book Writer Seeks Burgeoning Artists For Experiment in Comic Book Creation

Contact: Ian Thomas FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Email: ianthomas1225@yahoo.com

Website: www.ianthomascomics.blogspot.com

WRITER LAUNCHES EXPERIMENT IN CROWDSOURCED COMIC BOOK CREATION
Seeks Burgeoning Comic Book Artists to Compete for Weekly Prizes and Promotion
My name is Ian Thomas. I am a writer, trying my best to break into the Comics Industry. I run a blog called Ian Thomas Comics, which I use to examine my own tastes and to explore what goes in the annals of today’s Geekdom.

I have found one of the greatest challenges in building a body of work to be engaging potential collaborators. With limited financial resources and no reputation, it is difficult to make the case that working with me will benefit them.

On the flip side, I know there are plenty of artists out there in my situation, looking for writers with which to collaborate, but unsure how to approach them. I see them on message boards, networking sites, and in the Artists’ Alley at the cons. They are hungry to work in the industry, but can’t afford to give up their services for free.

With all the noise and distraction of today’s industry, it is difficult to get a solid line of communication with potential collaborators. This dilemma forms the basis of my experiment. I have stories to tell, but no resources to tell them. Given the nature of the Internet, though, I have a voice. While I can’t pay what the Big Boys are paying, I can pay some. I intend to pay in the form of weekly prizes worth around $25 that will usually be given in the form of online gift certificates. In addition, I am bringing promotion to the table, because every entry I receive will be featured on my site.

Here is how it will work: Every week I will post an assignment and a deadline for participating artists. These assignments will begin with the character design. Once designs are cemented, I will post the script at a rate of one page a week, with each page corresponding to one prize. At the deadline, I will post all of the entrants and open the polls for voting. The winning entrant will receive a prize, recognition, and their page will be sent to a letterer to become an official page of the story. The result, assuming this experiment takes, will be a sort of jam story, showcasing the industry’s next wave of talent.

I am not seeking to publish this story outside of the site. I am not trying to make money off of these artists. My reward for this project will be the promotion it creates for me and the finished pages that result, showing I can work successfully with artists.

I am aware that the nature of this project is highly unorthodox. But if ever there were an industry receptive to experimentation, the Comics Industry is it. Further details, along with the first assignment, will be posted on my blog on Friday, August 8, 2008. Please come to my website, ianthomascomics.blogspot.com, to see what happens.

If you have any questions about my project, please contact me through the channels listed above.

Sad-urday Night "Fun"

There are a ton of very cool desktop backgrounds over at the Dark Horse site. I'm currently rocking the Usagi Yojimbo.

Haiku Review: The Machine Girl

Revenge is dealt by
Carnage creating gadgets
Making laughs for all

Wu-Tang Comics news and reviews

I recently had a chance to check out the Method Man graphic novel, courtesy of the nice people at Grand Central Publishing. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's a lot of fun, a COMIC BOOK, in all caps.

Method Man stars as Peerless Poe, a "murder priest", excommunicated from his order of demon hunters. When the order faces a threat it can't handle alone, they call Poe in on it. That's when the fun begins.

Method Man incorporates enough Wu-Tang references to keep the fans that came for Wu-Tang happy. In addition, it has a nice back story, based on Biblical mythology. The artwork and story allude to further Wu-Tang comics.

As far as I know, the next Wu-Tang graphic novel will be GZA's Advance Knight. However, it was indicated to me that Advance Knight's publication has been postponed. Grand Central tells me that it is due to a rearrangement of the publishing schedule. I'll have more on that, as it develops.

Look out for my interview with Method Man co-writer David Atchison, coming soon.

Crowdsourcing Creation: Comics by Committee

The Triggerstreet announcement has me thinking about this crowdsourcing thing. Wikipedia defines Crowdsourcing thusly:

Crowdsourcing is a neologism for the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call. For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, refine an algorithm or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data (see also citizen science).

As I understand it, members of Triggerstreet will serve the function of reviewing comics, providing criticism and feedback. There are a few clear benefits to this type of set-up. The most obvious is that it provides the creator a chance to gauge perception before s/he has made a final commitment to pursue a particular creative route. If something doesn't play well, the artist can change it. Additionally, it gives the creator some publicity. At it's heart, this is a promotional tool. If nothing else, it puts the creators name out there for future collaborations.

From a business sense, this kind of site makes a lot of sense for creators. It's very possible, that a commercial success will result from a Triggerstreet winner. From an artistic point of view, though, this kind of thing makes me sick. A true creative endeavor cannot be focus grouped. it has to come from the heart. Names might be made on projects like this, but I think the real innovators will come up through more traditional channels, or create channels of their own. When it comes down to it, the comic industry loves innovators over innovation.

Kevin Spacey Launches Triggerstreet Comics

via Wired article. Kevin Spacey, in partnership with Devil's Due Publishing, is expanding his Triggerstreet talent search site to include Comic Book submissions. I am not quite sure if this is for artists only, or if writers can submit scripts, as well. I plan on creating an account later, to check it out.

I don't know. I am wary of this type of thing. The idea of being "discovered" through something like this rings a little hollow to me. To me, it is like American Idol. Winning American Idol is proof that you can sell yourself and navigate the system, but I don't think that it is proof of talent. I'm not sure, if like American Idol, the work of winners will belong in some way to Triggerstreet, either.

I will suspend judgment until I know more. Ultimately, I am in favor of any medium that brings talent to light and allows artists to interact with one another. However, I would caution applicants to the site to read the fine print. Fame always comes at a price.

Batman: Gotham Knight review

I got a chance to watch the animated companion piece to Dark Knight, Batman: Gotham Knight, last night. (Lots of nights in that sentence, ha). It's an anthology and, as such, it's pretty hit or miss. For an obvious cash in, though, it's pretty good. With executive production by Bruce Timm, Gotham Knight casts Batman in many different lights. Or shadows, as it were, giving Batman different costumes, character designs, and animation styles in each piece. In terms of story, Gotham Knight portrays the little seen aspects of the Batman mythos. These shorts find Batman training in India, testing new equipment, and tripping balls, respectively. Also, a fair bit of focus is given to Batman as he is seen by bystanders, cops, and other villains. Only the last sketch, Deadshot, really gives the viewer an A to B to C story, and I think that it was the weakest of all of them. The animation quality leaves a little to be desired. There are some instances of that classic anime trick of placing a soundtrack against still cels. I would say that this merits a rental, unless you're a die-hard Bat-Fan.