Making it in Comics the @NateCosboom way!
July 19th, 2010 by Riff
Ikea make some great furniture, but it can be a bitch to nail together even when it’s going right.
Add into that mix some bad beer and even worse food from the game and we’ve been really fortunate to have @NateCosboom on twitter – better known as Nathan Cosby, Marvel Editor – share some pearls of wisdom on how aspiring writers, artists and colourists should go about breaking into comics. As a resource, it’s invaluable. No, there’s no magic formula there to say “this is guaranteed to get you a comicbook job” – but they are some very sensible snippets of advice from someone who knows his job, knows what works and knows the industry.
As you guys all know, I’m not much of a writer myself but I’m very interested in the creative process and anything that helps bring new talent on is a good thing so I’ve collated his relevant tweets into a (hopefully) more long term resource for comic creators. Remember, these came from a guy who knows that it takes to break in, so pay heed, and as ever, start at the bottom of the series and work your way up and if you are on twitter, you can follow Nathan Cosby here: @NateCosboom
The links lead to Nate’s formspring feed which has more detailed responses – all good stuff too!
Enjoy and here’s hoping you find it useful!
Watch movies, documentaries, scripted tv, reality shows, news. Listen to how people talk while they eat, when they’re walking…
And don’t just rely on reading comics to show you how to write. Read novels, short stories, magazines, newspapers, Mad Libs, EVERYTHING.
Be humble enough to look at your work at say “Y’know what? That sucks.” Then try to make it better or start over.
When you’re starting out, remember you’re allowed to write shitty. Get better. New carpenters don’t build barns via osmosis. They LEARN.
…once you’ve had your script drawn, maybe you’ll suddenly realize you’re not sure that you’re writing’s not all the way there. That’s OK!
But being drawn’s just 1 step in the larger process of getting published, noticed, etc. And who knows…
Whether it gets published or not (published is obviously preferred) u at least make it easier for ur stuff to be read. It’s a BIG baby step.
The best way to get your stuff read by the top-level comic companies is to get your stuff drawn by an artist.
Getting a bunch of questions about sending writing samples to Marvel (or me specifically). I reiterate if u weren’t reading last night…
From writers, do you prefer to see completed comic sto… — I prefer to see good-ass writing. I don’t care if it’s… http://4ms.me/aofK1J
If I talk Colleen Coover into drawing a story about Ug… — Not necessarily. But by God I’ll read that entire stor… http://4ms.me/bsRhAE
“Don’t feel like your samples have to be an ALL-NEW TA… — All the advice I’m giving is not necessarily in lockst… http://4ms.me/dcUdWP
Double question: What’re your thoughts on downloading … — I honestly have no opinion on either of those issues.I… http://4ms.me/9degKx
This question should be simple enough… Who is your a… — I try not to think TOO much about my favorite characte… http://4ms.me/avoz34
Is twitter an acceptable way of getting in contact wit… — Depends on the person. I know some editors/writers/art… http://4ms.me/93dR1g
I’m a comic writer who wants to work for you. Better … — I won’t be in San Diego, and I don’t get to most of th… http://4ms.me/dxRjwg
So I have sample pages and a graphic novel completed. … — Few different ways. Here’s two…-You put either all o… http://4ms.me/9DaXk5
A card can go in their pocket. If you leave something bigger, they’ve gotta hold it & put it in their suitcase. Could get lost or tossed.
Be nice, be pithy, be open to criticism, leave a card with your website/blog behind, maybe ask if u can email them with samples.
…& they might be juuust a touch h***over from the night before. Don’t get ur feelings hurt if they happen t’not be blown away by your art.
…they’re getting inundated with tons of requests from pros & new creators, they might have to look at 100 portfolios in 1 weekend…
Just remember the editors/talent managers doing con portfolio reviews are regular people. They might’ve traveled a good ways t’get there…
…Be known as “That nice guy whose art’s not quite there” rather than “The dude that got pissed when I gave him suggestions.”
…Or email the reviewer. MUCH better to be remembered fondly (or neutrally) than abrasively. Comics is a small world…
If ur nice during reviews u can take (or not take) the advice, go back t’the drawing board & maybe show ur improvement at the next con…
If ur abrasive during reviews u could get remembered as being difficult. Harder to get reviewed in the future.
Artists/colorists at portfolio reviews: Be nice & open to reviewers’ opinions. Even if u don’t necessarily agree with all their thoughts.
(FYI: My artist tips today are serious. Or, at least my honest opinion.)
Artists at Con portfolio reviews: Offer your reviewer some gum. Small thing, but starts the review off pleasantly.
Cons are ok for saying hi to industry people, but having your portfolio online 365 is a no-brainer. Gives people a chance your progress.
Keep updating and sending the link to writers, editors, talent managers. Keep sending! We get busy & forget. Be persistent but not pushy.
Aspiring Comic Artists: Get a blog or website. They’re free & easy to create. Even I know how to make one.
Tags: colourists, comic artists, Good advice!, Ikea, Making it in comics, Marvel, Nathan Cosby, Twitter, writers
Posted in Comics News, Crucial Blog, Reviews | Comments (0)
Hulktastic!
July 15th, 2010 by Riff
Marvel fans are almost certainly aware of the rash of upcoming Marvel movies geared towards launching the Avengers on the silver screen. We’ve already had 2 Iron Man films, and we’re awaiting Captain America, Thor and the Avengers. And we’ve had two movies featuring our favourite green-skinned hooligan, the Hulk.
Initially there was Ang Lee’s offering, known simply as Hulk, featuring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner, but that was swiftly brushed under the Hollywood carpet to be replaced with Ed Norton’s imagining of The Incredible Hulk with Tim Roth as the adversarial Abomination for the big end-of-movie punch up.
Of the two, critical acclaim largely escaped Lee’s imagining and it was slated in many ways – arguably it was because of the criticism that forced Marvel to reboot the Hulk franchise – to fit it into the Marvel Universe proper, and for me at least, that’s sad, for Hulk, in my opinion was a far superior movie.
I’ll try and elaborate: When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created The Incredible Hulk comicbook, theirs was a blatant rip of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, of R.L. Stevenson fame, reimagined for the cold war nuclear age. Instead of the gaslit smog of Victorian London, we were treated to the nuclear wastes of American desert, but Bruce Banner aka The Incredible Hulk is the same accidental protagonist that finds himself constantly battling not only external enemies but most importantly his hated alter-ego.
Of course as a pre-teen discovering the Hulk via 2 colour reprints in the late 60s and early 70s, I had no idea about classical literature and the Hulk’s origins but the story captured my imagination in a way that similar offerings failed to – Spiderman, whilst cool in costume, was a whiny loner who didn’t use his powers to their potential. Hulk however was misunderstood and Banner was annoying because he could have really done stuff with the curse he had. (Bear in mind I doubt I could have told you what kind of stuff he could have done but he should have.)
At the time, I was devouring everything Marvel I could get my hands on, Hulk, Spidey, Fantastic Four and in Thing I recognised a similarly sympathetic character but Thing had his “family”, whereas Hulk was totally alone. Well, he had Rick Jones, but Rick needed Banner more than Banner or Hulk needed Jones. What could a snotty-nosed teen offer an invincible brute or an acclaimed nuclear scientist? So yes, Hulk spoke to me, but not for the typical “Hulk Smash” reasons that others were enjoying him for, but for the struggle of just getting through the day – hounded and pursued by everyone for misunderstanding him. But then in my own life I had some notion of how that felt so perhaps that explained my empathy.
Of course the Hulk movie wasn’t the Hulk comic – and in some ways it deviated significantly – Banner’s father being the evil protagonist rather than the simple accident of a nuclear explosion, and despite the “big fight” being with the Poodle from Hell Ang Lee’s version captured a lot more of the pain and angst of having a monster inside – which ultimately is the essence of Hulk – it’s an allegory for the monster that lurks within us all. In many ways in fact The Hulk is far more humane than many “normal” human beings, even when unfettered by the constraints of the Comic Code.
Don’t misunderstand, The Incredible Hulk is not a bad movie – and it’s designed to fulfil a different role – to give the audience the dose of “Hulk Smash!” destruction that they had clamoured for (and in fairness was light in the original version.) But the acting in Incredible Hulk is of a lower standard generally. Jennifer Connelly eats Liv Tyler for breakfast and Eric Bana offers as much as Norton if not more, and however prestigious it may have been to get William Hurt to play “Thunderbolt” Ross, he failed to ignite and wasn’t close to a firebrand that his name implied and whilst Sam Elliot wasn’t exactly how you might imagine Ross from the comics, he was far more like the character than Hurt.
But then, perhaps the Incredible version didn’t need such big names in the supporting role – given that Roth as the Abomination was the central point of the story – a good portion of the movie was given over to the transition of Emil Blonsky into the Abomination (and a big hint that The Leader will be appearing at some point in the future.)
Both movies have positives, and both have faults – and neither is entirely faithful to the comics, but then which comic movie has ever been? At least with neither movie did Marvel make the horrendous cock-up they did with Daredevil – throw everything and the kitchen sink into 90 minutes and not give anything time to develop.But for my money, Hulk trumps The Incredible Hulk in almost all aspects except maybe action – but even the first movie has some great action moments – Lee captures much of Kirby’s classic Hulk rampaging through the desert in cinematic form and Kirby’s influence in the latter is almost non-existent, sadly given Kirby’s hand in the creation of one of the mainstays of the Marvel Universe. For me, the beauty of Hulk is how it makes you feel and how you think about it, whereas the Incredible Hulk is simply a spectator sport.
Neither film commands a high price on disk now, whatever the format and if you are a fan of the Hulk or comics in general, it won’t do you any harm to have both in your collection and if you ever watch them back to back you might find some pleasant surprises, and both have their merits. Enjoy them for what they are but I’d advise you to look at Hulk especially with a different perspective.
Tags: Ang Lee, Bruce Banner, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Ed Norton, Eric Bana, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Jack Kirby, Marvel, Marvel Movies, Rick Jones, Sam Elliot, Spider-Man, Stan Lee, Thing, William Hurt
Posted in Comicbook Movies, Crucial Blog, Reviews, Riff | Comments (0)
The Ultimate Superhero Game?
July 1st, 2010 by Riff
So… you love comicbooks and if you’re like me it’s because it’s the Superhero genre that really grabbed you.
That’s definitely how it worked for me. Having been an RPer (what a horrid expression) for many years, I found that MMOs didn’t't actually quite do it for me. Don’t misunderstand me, I’ve played a few and the principal games available today are City of Heroes and Champions Online and in their own way they are fab.*
By their nature, MMOs are very limited and in very many ways. MMOs don’t allow the player to tell the story except in very limited fashion. Sure, you can RP within a fixed framework, but it’s very finite. I will however admit that both the games are very rich in content. However there is no capacity for the player to expand on that. (I will gladly argue the merits of the Mission Architect system, but given it’s horrible mismanagement by Paragon Studios and the fact it’s been consigned a slow, painful death without reaching 20% of its potential it’s irrelevant to this argument.)
So a few people got together and said “remember the days when you sat around a table with a few beers and snacks and actually role played?”
A few others said “Yeah I do and I miss those days.”
A couple of people said “Ok we’re gonna make it happen again.”
Today a new site launched, courtesy of yours truly, the Gaffer, and Herczeg, It’s a superhero RPG with a difference.
Check it out and take part atwww.thatsuperherogame.com
Enjoy!
Tags: fun, Games, MMOs, Role Play, RPGs, superheroes
Posted in Crucial Blog | Comments (0)
Comic or literature?
June 29th, 2010 by Riff
So today I happened across Google. I know, I’m the only person to use Google today, it’s one of those “microsites” we hear so little of. But it’s actually a search engine. Check it out if you get time. I noticed they’d got a different logo today and so I checked it to discover “Le Petit Prince” the opus of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Nothing significant in that you might argue. Google change their logo almost daily – it’s a trick of theirs that’s almost a trade mark. So why is it significant?
The simple answer is I’m not totally sure. I loved the book when I was a kid. It was a very very thin volume, mostly devoid of content, and with some very badly drawn pictures if we’re honest. But it was friendly. It was accessible – just looking at the pictures would give you a sense of the story… and I’m remembering this some decades later. As a kid, learning to read, pictures meant a hell of a lot. That’s why educational books tend to use them whether full blown illustrations or simple pictograms. Either way, The Little Prince captured my imagination, despite not being very well written and with drawings that were more simplistic than anything Kirby was doing (and he was the bloke capturing my imagination in 1970 via three-colour reprints.)
What LPP did have, was a beautiful gentleness, with kind colours and metaphore that even a small child could get. The Fox (big nod here to Reynard City… well worth checking out, although not related) was wise beyond description without being a “know-it-all” and for a small boy in a lost and lonely childhood it seemed living on a planet in isolation would have been an ideal existence… and I got the whole bit about possessing the rose to keep it perfect- from my young eyes at least.
Several decades later as I discovered the history of military aviation, M. A de Saint-Exupery’s name appeared again. He had a very very interesting career and more than one close call with the desert sands. I’ve heard more than one account of his demise – but then I heard Glenn Miller was killed in a truck driving with Eroll Flynn so who knows? But, we can be sure that de Saint-Exupery lived an extraordinarily privileged life and died as he wished, in the thick of things pushing boundaries, and in the process, leaving a legacy.
It always struck me as a strange book, but I never quite got my head around the fact I was encouraged (actively) to use The Little Prince as a basic reading book, and yet, somehow, Spiderman wasn’t appropriate. I guess Le Petit Prince didn’t use word balloons in the same way, so that made it ok. Or something. Maybe it was simply that de Saint-Exupery was French nobility and StanLee was some kind of Jewish upstart with delusions of grandeur. In my case it was simply the fact I enjoyed Spiderman more than the Little Prince so we got to read Little Prince more often.
Just an update: You can read the whole thing, with the original illustrations online. Here’s one site that’s done an ok job of making it available.
Posted in Comics News, Crucial Blog | Comments (1)
Marvel Shorts?
June 21st, 2010 by Riff
Here’s some potentially exciting news, courtesy of Slashfilm.com the gist of which is that Marvel seem to be considering a short movie to play alongside their main features.
Why’s that so good? Well as the article states, it allows non-comic fans to get a taste of Marvel’s less well known properties, and to see why runs well too. It worked for Sin City after all and the Tron remake. But here’s an idea that hasn’t been mentioned: Marvel are making a series of movies – they have a 10 film deal going already and that was before they were taken over by Disney. So they can do potentially two exciting things here. Each short could be not just a taster, but if they wanted, they could make it a serial, for example making a 6 episode serial, 10 minutes long, that would introduce a character such as Moon Knight or The Inhumans or… whoever to us, and tell their origin at the same time. Get the audience interested and then when the character in question gets a movie, well, no need to go through the whole boring origin thing.
Let’s face it, as fans, we know the origin. We’re done with it. We want to see our favourite heroes translated onto the big screen in action. That’s why the Hulk movie tanked. It was dark and slow and spent interminable hours dealing with an origin that wasn’t even canon anyhow. (But personally I think it remains superior to the Ed Norton movie.) But… the studios are the ones fixated with the origin – perhaps because that’s a comicbook fixation. But as readers, we rarely need the origin. I read plenty of Fantastic Four and X-Men and Spiderman before I got their origins. I want to see the Thing punch stuff not grind through 75 minutes of flashback about how he got to BE the Thing.
Maybe that’s just me – after all, Iron Man was excellent (but the Origin wasn’t the whole movie – get it?) But maybe this idea of a 10-15 minute live action short can kill all those birds with one stone. Maybe even a pair of 10 minute shorts, different characters. Hey when I was a kid we’d get double features as standard. They seemed to vanish when home videos and VCRs arrived.
Let’s have them back!
Tags: Disney, Hulk, Iron Man, Marvel, movies, Sin City, The Thing, Tron
Posted in Comicbook Movies, Crucial Blog, Riff | Comments (0)
Great Superhero Art
June 18th, 2010 by Riff
I stumbled across this today as I was just surfing. Sadly I can tell you nothing about the artist or their inspiration, but I figured I’d share with you anyhow – it’s a very different take on many of our favourite comic characters.
Tags: art, original takes, superhero
Posted in Crucial Blog | Comments (0)
How to do Comics – the Jim Shooter way!
June 15th, 2010 by Riff
Ok I wasn’t planning this and I’ve got a helluva lot of other stuff happening right now, so appologies, dearest reader, for its brevity and lack of otherwise unenlightening commentary.
However this is an interview with “shouty shouty” Jim Shooter, former EiC of Marvel, and often comic writer. He was the man in charge when I got into Marvel in a big way… his influence has been felt in many different ways.
He did an interview with CBR, and it’s seriously “Wow!” I mean, if you have ANY DESIRE AT ALL to be involved in comics, this guy’s giving you gold. For free.
You may not agree with everything in it… that’s your right. But the guy’s been in comics almost as long as I’ve been alive. That says a lot. He knows his stuff – even if some former artists and writers at the Ol’ Bullpen might not have him on their xmas card list.
Check it out here, and be enlightenend: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26692
Tags: CBR, comics, creation, DC, Jim Shooter, Marvel
Posted in Comics News, Crucial Blog, Reviews | Comments (1)
Back in Action!
June 14th, 2010 by Riff
We’re back! Just when you thought it was all over… CCB returns, larger than life and twice as ugly! 
Our enforced hiatus is over (for now at least) and we hope to be rejigging some things around here a bit – but more of that to come later.
For now, just be glad/sad/terrified/amazed/surprised/blase/unaware* that Crucial Comicbooks is back to bring you occasional insight into what we love most.
As a wise man once said: It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you place the blame!
*delete as applicable
Tags: CCB, news
Posted in Crucial Blog | Comments (0)
“The Man”
March 11th, 2010 by Riff
I had occasion to be reading a bit of Daredevil the other day, just a page or two mind you, but a random thought struck me.
It was from the “old school” DD, pre-Frank Miller, and so it was pretty insane and far more “happy go lucky” than anything post-Miller – but I digress. The issue in question was drawn by “Gentleman Gene” Colan, and written by Stan “The Man” Lee.
Of course those guys weren’t the only people in comics during the 60s to have extra titles appended to their names. There’s Jack “King” Kirby and Sal Buscema seemed to have as many nicknames as he drew issues, and he was prolific. Even Marv Wolfman was “Marvelous” from time to time. Most of the time though, the guys in the Bullpen didn’t use their tags, but Stan was always “The Man.”
Of course the Bullpen itself never really existed. We all wanted to believe it was this huge hive of activity – thousands of writers and artists all glued to drawing boards and typewriters, and a huge printing press (drawn by Jim Steranko) churning out our favourite monthly books day after day, and this mighty Marvel empire was run by “The Man.”
The Man. That’s so… ordinary. I mean, they were all men. Even today the comics industry is predominantly patriarchal. It’s run by boys, for boys. But with all the alliterative adjectives and reckless rhymes being bandied about, Stan became synonymous with “The Man.” Not “Stupendous Stan”, “Super Stan” (although occasionally he did sometimes become his alter-ego of “Smilin’” Stan (but never to my recollection “Smilin’” Stan “The Man” Lee.)
Stan was prolific, and also one of the giants of the comic book age – and seemingly single-handedly launched what we now tend to refer to as “The Silver Age” of comics, with his talent for creativity and self-publicity. The man was a dynamo and still is by all accounts. So why such an uninspired nick as simply “The Man”? I mean sure The Man gives a certain gravitas and authority to a person. Even Roy Orbison wrote a song about it, “Working for The Man” – although I doubt Roy had Marvel in mind at the time.
So I read that couple of pages of DD and pondered – and then it struck me. I remember reading some time back that more people had read or seen something written or created by Stan Lee than had read or seen material by William Shakespeare. That’s the kind of impact Stan’s had on modern culture. Our world is permeated by The Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, and of course Spider Man. There are other brands out there too but none seem to have quite the same impact. Batman, Superman, massively iconic in their own right, were created by people known only for creating that one icon: Bob Kane, Siegel and Schuster respectively. By comparison, Stan created an entire Universe (several in fact.)
Granted he didn’t do it in isolation, and it’s important to acknowledge the impact of his co-creators, especially “The King” and Steve Ditko – but Stan was the powerhouse behind it all, driving Marvel from obscurity to one of the biggest comicbook publishers on the planet.
That’s why he had to become known as Stan “The Man” Lee, because without those two words reinforcing his humanity, he’d be elevated to godhood as a new Messiah
Tags: Avengers, Batman, Bullpen, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Frank Miller, Gene Colan, Iron Man, Jack Kirby, Marvel, Roy Orbison, Spider-Man, Stan "The Man" Lee, Superman, X-Men
Posted in Crucial Blog, Riff | Comments (1)
Every Hero needs a sidekick!
March 3rd, 2010 by Riff
Meet Buddy.
Buddy is my new best friend and he arrived this morning at approx 10.30 am, which probably explains the slightly bewildered expression on his face. It’s been a big week for him. Buddy used to race, but he is past his fastest now and so was pensioned off at the age of around 5 to make way for a younger laddie. So he arrived at with the good folks at the Retired Greyhound Trust, in Wolverhampton.
Happily he arrived a day before I went there, on a quest to look for a new pal. That was last week – some might call that kismet or serendipity. I call it bloody good luck. He’s fantastic and even the kitties aren’t too put out by his arrival, so it’s all good.
I’m really chuffed he’s here and judging by how he’s flaked out on the rug I don’t think he’s too unhappy either. Here’s to many years fighting the good fight, writing wrongs and chasing wabbits!
Right come on then, WALKIES!!!!!
Updated with a new pic:
Posted in Crucial Blog, Riff | Comments (1)