A baritone hiss breaks the silence as pressure from the pod's opening slices through the silence, as the cryo-pod opens. His eyes open, and his chest rises and falls. The air is old, but it's cold and clean, and he breathes it in greedily..."
Ok, thats enough of that rather long metaphor. I used it to illustrate the rise of my consciousness and drive after an abysmal showing at C2E2. After not completing my book in enough time to have it with me as I strolled the floor, I opted to go anyway and salvage what I could.
I'm so glad that I did.
I would be a boarish lout, if I did not mention the handful of people who took the time to show kindness, well intentioned and enlightening advise, and even a hug.
In chronological order...
I met with Jim Zub. This guy is the grand mentor of mentors, to those of us breaking into comics. I've never come a cross a larger repository of exceptional advice. The guy's a peach too. Friendly, generous with his advice, and direct, without being the walking personification of the male phallus. He was awesome and I was blown away at being able to get a face to face with the man. I'd buy a chewing gum wrapper if he wrote a haiku on it. He's that good!
I know I'm not the only person who's been so deeply engrossed in a particular comic, in my case it's Starbrand and Nightmask from Marvel. And the two guys that caught my attention were Dominike "Domo" Stanton, and Greg Weisman. "Domo's" art on this book is sick!, It takes me back to the time when Marvel tried to "new-up" its universe, and one of the best things to come out of it was Starbrand. Domo is an awesome cat, with an easy smile, super humble and very patient with a leviathan-sized fan, geeking all over his table. And, he hipped me to who Greg Weisman is, and you have to be incredibly humble to divert attention away from your art, and "big-up" your writer. Domo is a stand-up guy and an incredibly artist.
Then I met Ariela Kristantina. I started following her on DeviantArt back in 2014, and then on Facebook. And she is a monster! Her artwork is blisteringly good, and her technique is deceptively elegant, as evidenced in her work on Deep State, to her work on InSEXts with Marguerite Bennett, published by AfterShock Comics. It's filled with grace and energy, just like the artist that draws it. She's also one of the sweetest people I've met this side of Kelly Sue DeConnick. A couple of weeks before C2E2, I posted an image of homemade beef jerky on my facebook page, and she actually liked it (full disclosure, I'm always stoked and flattered that people I follow and admire, follow ANYthing I post...it's the fanboy in me) , and I mentioned that if she's ever at a convention near me, I'd bring her some.
And as luck/fate/fortune would have it, she was at C2E2 this year, and I promised I would make some and bring it to her. And I got a hug out of the deal as well...score! She a wonderful person, a part from being an amazing artist. And she's a beef jerky fan too!
Justin Jordan is an immensely talented, humble as pie, and surprising kind of guy. He's the kind of guy, that if you met him in high school, or at a shared workplace, you'd wind up being fast friends with him. He's the epitome of affable, which is something that can not be said of many people. However, I've yet to meet a wholly ignorant professional at a con, so in that regard, he's of a particularly excellent standard. I've been following his career since the first announcement of his Luther Strode series to his John Flood series, now to his Strayer series also with AfterShock comics, and since then, he's consistently produced work that will make him one of the greats of our generation.
It stuns me, sometimes, how truly cool comic book professionals are in real life. Case in point - Scott Hepburn. Scott was a dude. A complete and total class-A nice guy. Sitting at his table, just chilling, and did not get freaked when this grizzly bear sized fan, called out his name (laced with complimentary expletives), from the middle of the aisle. His incredible work displayed to the side, he graciously looked at my work, gave solid and insightful critiques, and made me envious of his place in The RAID Studio. He was sitting directly by Francis Manapul who was cooling out drawing, a few tables down was Ramon K. Perez, and further down, was Marcus To (away from his table at that time), and these guys are very friendly, scary talented, and well-deserved of their accolades. One of these days i'm going to get these guys to sign my baseball, and hopefully throw in a visit to the studio...fingers crossed.
Last but the exact opposite of least, was Skottie Young. Skottie Young has the kind of career that anyone breaking into comics would sell their life's possession just to have a single iota of the acclaim. He did it the old fashioned way... he was on his grind! He kept his head down and just did exemplary work. And the word exemplary is not lightly used. With his work on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he garnered accolades that include the New York Times best seller list, and an Eisner Award...the man is a beast! I went to C2E2 wanting to salvage my plan to have a book to show, so I brought my first self published comic Drag along, and gave it to him. On the final day of C2E2 he took it and told me at the first chance he gets to read it, he will. There's nothing on earth that forces a man to do anything, and out of a genuine regard for his fans, he chose to do that. He is, in my book, the very best in the field, both personally and professionally.
So, my goal to have another book to peddle at the convention was a total failure. But from failure, if you're honest with yourself, a lesson can be learned. And the lesson I took from it, was that if I want this, this dream of being in the comic book industry, creating good and solid work, meeting people who I admire and who motivate me to do the best I can, and be the best I can, I need to follow the example of these remarkable people. I need to put my ass in the chair, keep my head down, and focus on creating work that I'm happy with, and is deserving of the attention of someone like myself. Someone who love comics, and respects their place in the literary firmament, and will except nothing short of amazing. I am a fan, who dreams of being a creator. And that's not a bad way to live a life.
The dark phoenix rises, and gets his ass to work.
Watch this space...
Last but the exact opposite of least, was Skottie Young. Skottie Young has the kind of career that anyone breaking into comics would sell their life's possession just to have a single iota of the acclaim. He did it the old fashioned way... he was on his grind! He kept his head down and just did exemplary work. And the word exemplary is not lightly used. With his work on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he garnered accolades that include the New York Times best seller list, and an Eisner Award...the man is a beast! I went to C2E2 wanting to salvage my plan to have a book to show, so I brought my first self published comic Drag along, and gave it to him. On the final day of C2E2 he took it and told me at the first chance he gets to read it, he will. There's nothing on earth that forces a man to do anything, and out of a genuine regard for his fans, he chose to do that. He is, in my book, the very best in the field, both personally and professionally.
So, my goal to have another book to peddle at the convention was a total failure. But from failure, if you're honest with yourself, a lesson can be learned. And the lesson I took from it, was that if I want this, this dream of being in the comic book industry, creating good and solid work, meeting people who I admire and who motivate me to do the best I can, and be the best I can, I need to follow the example of these remarkable people. I need to put my ass in the chair, keep my head down, and focus on creating work that I'm happy with, and is deserving of the attention of someone like myself. Someone who love comics, and respects their place in the literary firmament, and will except nothing short of amazing. I am a fan, who dreams of being a creator. And that's not a bad way to live a life.
The dark phoenix rises, and gets his ass to work.
Watch this space...
