Messages

Two. Ah ha ha.

This slow-mo counting is getting dull.

Is a can of Fosters standard issue to Dark lords of the Sith?

Yes. It is to help demonstrate the truth depths of their evil. Great shorthand as you can't have them flying a Star Destroyer through an orbiting orphanage every other scene.

Doesn't Alan Grant have an alternative explanation why Norm doesn't get calls from DC?

I dunno. Does he? The impression you get from the forum on Norm's site is certainly that he feels shut out by DC ...

NB: My nagging feeling is that Anarky was eventually canceled and Alan and I were more or less blacklisted at DC Comics because of the revolutionary, anti-elite philosophy Anarky spouted. But like I say, that's just a nagging feeling with very little backing it up as incontrovertibly factual or perfectly convincing evidence.

Still, it does nag. Alan could undoubtedly provide a much more in-depth answer to this question than I can, if he wanted to do so.

http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/content/conversation-norm-breyfogle-interview

DB: Have DC ever approached the pair of you to come back and do a run on Batman at any stage?
AG: Norman, you answer because I've got a separate answer.
NB: They haven't approached me except for individual one-shots here and there and they weren't with Alan. The last Batman that I did was with Alan. It was the Dreamland story which was a sequel to Batman: The Abduction. DC hasn't approached me hardly ever about anything since my Batman years. Instead, I've approached them a few times. I don't know why it is but I've gotten the cold shoulder mostly. But it doesn't really matter because I've been working steadily in the comics industry for the last three years. The last thing I did for DC was The Spectre ... but that's getting away from your question.
AG: My answer to that question is I've put in several Batman proposals over the years. Not off my own back because I've wanted to do it, but because Batman editors or senior editors have phoned me up and asked me to do it. And every proposal that I have put in has been nixed for one reason or another. I was beginning to wonder if I had might have pissed off somebody up at DC and this is their way of exacting revenge on me. One of the ideas (I'm not going to go into the idea) that I put in is far and away the strongest idea I have ever put into DC in twenty years of working for them in any feature for any character. It's the strongest idea I've ever had. They nixed it and not only did they nix it, but they were quite rude about it. I don't understand it because you might not like someone and you might not like someone's work but you know when something comes up that's decent. Without going into it you'll just have to take my word for it, it's the best idea I've ever had in twenty years of working for them. DC has turned down every proposal that I've put in since I was fired off Shadow Of The Bat.

...

NB: I was asked by Dark Horse to be the artist on the Batman/Tarzan cross-over and ________ was the point man on the project for DC and he nixed me from the project. Even though Dark Horse had approached DC and they owned the rights to Tarzan, it was their idea and they named me as their first choice, _______ nixed me on that. It was the first time I felt I'd been truly unfairly swatted down by any comic book company. I didn't understand why and in fact it did seem to me that _______ had some kind of a temper and some kind of an axe to grind against me.
AG: Don't leave me out of this. It wasn't just ________ with an axe to grind. He had to grind against you and me because of Anarky I think. If you remember he first proposed the Anarky monthly comic, he was the editor of it, he told me the way he wanted it to go and I argued with him every step of the way. ______ was a nice enough guy but he wasn't good enough to be a Batman editor. That's my opinion. I've been a freelance writer for over twenty five years. He's maybe improved now but at that time he certainly didn't have what it took to be an editor. But then again the guy was probably fighting for his job. There was a lot of backstabbing and backbiting going on between the Bat assistants and the guys who were working for them. I don't know why that should have been, but Denny's authority, which in earlier years had been absolute, Denny, as he got older, allowed himself to be usurped by his assistants. Denny is the kind of genius story-teller who, like Norm said, was hands-on with us, both with my scripts and the art, and yet was virtually non-existent. I think that Denny asked us to re-write maybe one, or two at the most, things in a script. If he had a query he'd call and if I explained it satisfactorily for him then he was happy for it run. He didn't praise you often for what you did, so when he did praise you, you knew you'd done something that was really right. But the guys who came after him and came on as his assistants, basically what they were was fanboys. They would get together and talk amongst themselves and say, "Hey, wouldn't it be great" and it ended up, and Norm was off Shadow by this time, with the Cataclysm storyline, which is one of the worst Batman storylines that anyone has ever come up with. The whole thing was created in the office by the back-up assistants. A bigger pile of shit you couldn't hope to discover and yet it was foisted upon us.

...

AG: I'm not sure how much you know about the story of me being fired. Norm had already left on his own as he pleased...
NB: [laughter] I wish!
AG: ...but I was under contract. As I said the three Bat assistants sort of formed a triumvirate which became a barrier between writers like myself and Doug Moench and Denny who was still the senior Batman editor. More and more of their opinions were enforced. The ways they thought Batman should be were enforced. The stories they thought were good were enforced. Ideas they didn't like, Denny wouldn't have gotten the chance to see or hear them. I guess it was kind of like overthrowing the king or something.
NB: Whenever I hear stuff like that I always can't help but feel it's not so much that they thought they had better ideas necessarily, but that they wanted to make a big splash with their own names.
AG: I think it's more that they genuinely believed their ideas were good and that fandom was dying. Every fanboy I've ever spoken to has said, "Hey, I've got this idea," yeah, ok, right, as if you're the only person in the world who's ever had that idea. I think it was that they genuinely thought their ideas were better.
NB: I guess they would have motivation to feel that way because it would ameliorate their guilt.
AG: Because they didn't know what a good story was or what a good villain was or anything else they were really incapable of making that decision. So anyway, one night at midnight my fax went off so I came up about half an hour later to check the fax. It was a four page fax from Scott Peterson, who was not my editor, Denny was my editor on Shadow Of The Bat and Scott Peterson was the editor on Detective Comics. The fax was from Scott. Basically it said, "You guys are probably wondering how the Cataclysm storyline is selling. I've got to tell you it's getting great reaction from the fans, retailers love it, Batman sales are up," I've still got it, the original fax. I kept it because it's an historical document because there's so much pish contained in it, "Sales are going through the roof, they love it," and it went on like this for half a page. I honestly was thinking the guy was leading towards the fact that it was going so well, even though you thought it was crap, it's going so well we're going to give you all a $10,000 bonus. When I finally got halfway down the second page it got around to saying, "What's all this got to do with me as a Batman writer you're asking? Well the answer is this: as of next month you will no longer be writing Batman. That's right. You are off your title. We will be getting other writers in to take over." They sent out the same fax to Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon.
NB: That kind of demands an explanation after all that praise. Did he offer any kind of an explanation?
AG: There was no explanation.

Its a great interview and well worth reading for an uncompromising look behind the curtain (and it is not rocket science to fill in the gaps):
http://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2007/01/batman-alan-grant-norm-breyfogle-speak.html

Kinda reminds me of Dave Taylor being told he'd never work for DC again, and yet his next project is Batman. Might have been a changing of the guards and it might be a good time for Alan Grant to get that killer pitch in.

If in doubt try some Moorcock, I'd start with Elric and work on to the Eternal Champion books:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric_of_Melnibon%C3%A9

The dip into Corum, Hawkmoon (Rune Staff and Count Brass), Erekose and, although it is not strictly fantasy, you'll want to read the Oswald Bastable books, especially the Nomad of the Time Stream trilogy with their proto-Steampunk (more Steampunk than the novels that went on to be the basis of Steampunk and all the better for it ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corum_Jhaelen_Irsei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erekos%C3%AB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_Hawkmoon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nomad_of_the_Time_Streams

The good thing is they are usually arranged into three or four book sets none of which are the bricks of books you find with fantasy novels, so they don't overstay their welcome (I was picking them up by the handful from secondhand shops as a kid and blasting through one a day in the holidays). I don't think there is really a reading order between the series but worth a check as it has been a while. Best bet is to see what takes your fancy and got for it.

There is a series of omnibus editions collecting the stories that have an order but I'm not sure it is worth worrying too much:
www.amazon.co.uk/Eternal-Champion-order/lm/1WBP1NKIAOD0B/

Moorcock is no fan of the high fantasy work (that I think you are trying to avoid) and if prodded recommends fantasy like Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea books, which I enjoyed at the time too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthsea

Although I read most of the fantasy books I have 20+ years ago so can't really go into detailed recommendations, other than scanning the shelves and seeing what jumps out at me. I tore through the Witch World books one summer, dunno if that means they are any good or not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_World

By my mid-teens I'd pretty much burnt myself out on fantasy (the start of my life as a "genre perv") which is why I was happy to see a new wave of writers screwing around with it. Which brings us back to:

I read a review of China that suggested his work was a little bit 'overwritten'. Hmmm...

I have a low tolerance for overwritten works and I couldn't have been happier with them (although it is fantasy after all and he may have made me forget about the frilliness of the writing but...). I suspect you are waiting for my to get frustrated and come round to your house with all three Bas-Lag books and make me stand over you while you read them There are very few books, films, comics, etc. that everyone likes, you might hate every single recommendation made here (its possible fantasy just isn't for you) but it is worth a go - Amazon has a 100 reviews and only 8 1 stars, including:

Mieville has obviously just been playing a lot of computer games and reading old issues of 2000AD, which this book closely resembles in tone, "plot" and style.

And they say that is a bad thing?

www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0330392891/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

And as those reviewers make unflattering comparisons with Gormenghast then why not give that a whirl (I'm sure Dark Jimbo would second that):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gormenghast_series

Or Pullman's His Dark Materials:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials

I imagine a library card could allow you to grab an armful of this kind of thing and you can go through them at your leisure and see what works for you.

This is all very disappointing - I was hoping for a story that starts:

I was having a slash in the toilets at the Bristol Comics Expo and...

so I'm stuck with the USB mmouse that works fine but means I'm having to sit in an akward postion cause of the shortness of cable.

You can get USB extension cables - I'm using one at the moment to allow me to plug my pen drive in without having to jam it in the back (or worse the front). Not sure I paid for it so assume it came with something (I tend to acquire useful bits of cable from people). Looking on Amazon you can get 1.8 - 3 metres worth of cable for a couple of quid, either throw it on an order or pick one up from an electrical shop as you pass by.

If it isn't anything silly like distractedly putting down a half eaten apple on your mousemat which them makes the mouse move oddly until you realise what a numpty you've been... then it sounds like you might want to just reinstall the mouse driver, although there is a diagnostic tool you can run in Vista/Windows 7 if you have it.

You might want to first check you haven't got a virus, then if it is fine check that a process hasn't crashed and sucked up the memory (press CTRL+ALT+DEL which should bring up your task manager - the performance tab will show if your resources are being hosed away and process will let you spot what is doing it and possibly killing it). Also try rebooting it may just be One of Those Things.

If that doesn't work take it further following the advice here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321122

Also this is a common problem (although possibly with a few sources) so it is worth nosing through:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mouse+problems+windows+erratic

British comics creator Mike Bunt is looking for someone to colour his Zuda entry:

April 12th, 2010 5:37 AM
Colour Artist needed!

Hey I'm working on a comic I intend to try and get on Zuda Comics. I'm looking for a Colour Artist to colour my work.
The inked pages are here: http://www.comicspace.com/mike_bunt/comics.php?action=gallery&comic_id
=27893
If anybodies interested please private message me for more info!
Thanks,
Mike

http://www.comicspace.com/mike_bunt/bulletins.php?action=read&id=46086


A few colouring bits and bobs I ran across:

Breaking up planes & drawing attention to important elements (the bit about darkening the foreground plane to throw focus on other figures is a great one - I know Jim used it to good effect in the first page he coloured for Fractal Friction):
http://www.dave-co.com/gutterzombie/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11966#p113593

Artist's resources from Tony Moore - pencils for inkers and inks for colourists:
http://tonymooreillustration.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=792

It may be a "stable door situation" but I've now "locked it".

Seems I haven't added FF:

http://twitter.com/fractalfriction

I've read nothing fantasy since I was a lad. Back then, I remember enjoying a couple of Dragonlance novels and, of course, my weekly diet of Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson gamebooks.

Well then don't be shy about dipping into a bit of Robert E. Howard.

When moving on from Tolkien I did enjoy the Thomas Covenant books:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Thomas_Covenant,_the_Unbeliever

As well as Hugh Cook's Age of Darkness series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronicles_of_an_Age_of_Darkness

Not sure how they stand up today but the Wikipedia entry for the Age of Darkness series describes them as:

The novels aren't high fantasy. They could be described as New Wave Sword and sorcery or Planetary romance/Sword and Planet. They also include elements of comedy.

At different times, the novels portray or allude to murder, bestiality, female genital cutting, cannibalism, racism, sexism, speciesism, abortion, masturbation, mutation, incest, inbreeding, constipation, assassination, gambling, drunkenness, brawling, diarrhoea, capitalism, leprosy, castration, slavery, evolution, patricide, regicide, venereal disease, forgery, treason, dwarf tossing, torture, orgies, incontinence, suicide, disembowelment, capital and corporal punishment, drug use, religious fraud, bribery, blackmail, animal cruelty, disfigurement, infanticide, the caste system, democratic revolutionary movements, rape, theft, genocide, transvestitism, premature ejaculation, prostitution, piracy, and polygamy.

Which sounds like the ingredients for an... interesting tale (although it might also summarise the Bible so...).

I really like the sound of that China Mieville book, in particular. Gritty, character-driven with elements of horror and steampunk could be good. Sounds like the plot for a Final Fantasy game, only with Danny Boyle directing.

I think everyone that is reading this (presumably all 2000 AD fans) - you'll love it.

The bonus too is that most of these can be picked up pretty cheaply.

I am always happy to recommend China Mieville's Bas-Lag books, I love them and it is the injection of new blood fantasy needed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas-Lag

There is a big map there but it seems someone made it up and no such thing is included in the books - promise

They are in essence fantasy but with strong horror elements and just plain weirdness, plus a clockpunk/steampunk technology stirred into the mix.

Although set in the same world the books aren't a huge fantasy trilogy, so different characters feature in the books, it is just handy to read them in order as it establishes the world.

If you enjoyed that then Scar Night might be a good next stop - I haven't read the sequels yet but it is a good solid, self-contained book:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scar_Night

I'm just about to tuck into The Year of Our War which sounds promising:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_Our_War

Not sure what you've read but if you haven't dipped into Michael Moorcock's Elric then now would be a good time.

no thats another steven howard more of my work is here http://stejam13.deviantart.com/

Ah ha good stuff - you should probably look into arranging an "accident" for the other Steven Howard (I'll PM you the name of the chap who does all my accident work - so many False Emperors, so many flights of stairs to lurk under) and it looks like we might have got the better one!!

As part of my civic duties I feel I should save Jim Campbell some time and point you in the direction of the monthly competition:

www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,28034.0.html

Best of all? It isn't an exact adaptation, which gave it the legroom to take some fantastic artistic license and implement scenes that were never in the comic.

Its not really an adaptation per se - I saw an interview with Vaughn and he says Millar pitched them the idea and the comic and film were in parallel development (with the film being finished before the comic) and if there was a good bit that came up in writing the screenplay Millar would use it and vice versa.

Second week and I loved this more than the first (although it does mean changing a story idea I had - curse you Moffat!!).

One thing that leaps out at me -  Moffat has an interesting handle on the creepy, just where it edges into the surreal. Dream logic, fairy-tale logic.

Definitely agree and the Doctor Who Confidential underlines it. There is a definite undercurrent of the creepy British children's stories, with the disturbing subtext there for all to see.

In the first episode we had that odd Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (and other children's adventure stories, going back to the Swallows and the Amazons and beyond) where there don't seem to be any grown-ups in charge of the young Amy Pond - granted she is said to be an orphan but what is she doing rattling around in that big old house?

This episode had Peter Pan overtones with a bit of a Roauld Dahl spin to it (both his children's work and his Way Out/Tales of the Unexpected adult TV work).

I believe all this is A Good Thing and since the reboot I think it is this Doctor Who I'd most like to have grown up with if I was a nipper today.

The trailer for next week's feels awfully deja vu - the daleks crop up in a 20th Century setting and then reveal that it is all some sinister plan for the next stage in their plan... Wasn't that Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks? However, with lower expectations and some similarities to previous episodes it might be just the one to blow away the earlier competition.