Knave's Log

Zuda Team-Up

2008-03-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

Check this out! Four vocal Zuda Communiteers (it's a word; I looked it up) come together to provide comic strip commentary on the online comics culture being fostered at Zuda:
Commentary by the Ninth Doctor, Pencils and Inks by Illinest from layouts by Rob Berry, Colors by mpd57

The Knave Interviews Zuda Editor Kwanza Johnson!

2008-03-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Knave presents both text and comic based interviews with Kwanza Johnson, known to the Knave's Zudite readers as the first man you have to impress:

(Click for full size, art by Rob Berry)

Knave: But seriously, Kwanza, how did you come to work at Zuda?

Kwanza Johnson: Boring short answer; I saw an advert on the Time Warner job Website and applied. Long boring answer; Basically after my stint at Marvel I'd decided that webcomics were the way to go and despite other non-comic employment, stayed focused on the medium. When I found out the position at DC was to edit webcomics, I made it a priority to get the job.

Knave: Could you describe what your job entails?

Kwanza: Basically, I try to find great talent and original stories that people will enjoy. I also try to help that talent make their stories the best webcomics online.

Knave: What kind of editorial discussions occur between you and the talent? Are they limited to on-going series, or do you make suggestions about changes in the contest material as need be? Do you ever say "change this and you're in the competition?"

Kwanza: Sorta. In the competition we request edits for language, grammar and typos. So it is more like, "Take out all the Eff Bombs, check your spelling, cover the naked people and you are in the competition."

Knave: So are you planning on putting in a mature content filter so that content with "eff bombs" and "uncovered naked people" will be allowed on the site?

Kwanza: That's on the list, but it's a technical issue, so Dave could address that better than I. Websites don't build themselves, so with that in mind, it is something that still as to be coded. I can't put a time-stamp on when, but it is a possible feature. We'll surprise you.

Knave: What about with the talent who've been signed to a contract, either through a contest or in an instant winner scenario? Are you a pretty hands off editor? In a year from now will there need to be another "editor" at Zuda to handle the twelve plus additional series you'd presumably have by then?

Kwanza: No editor is hands off. I can't function hands off. Even if I am only complementing someone's brilliance, there is some interaction . I am at least a sounding board for ideas. I will point out what I think is working and what is not, but I also will not rock the boat if things are going well. As for more editors, well I suppose that depends on whether all of the series continue.

Knave: What do you look for in a submission? Any tips on how people can make their entries stand out (in a good way)?

Kwanza: Good artwork and an engaging story. The subject of the comic hardly matters if you can't entertain the reader. How that is achieved is the real trick. Being able to draw decently and write a coherent sentence help (like, a lot), but overall submitters should look at what is out there and try to create something better than that. Before getting in a Zuda competition, you are competing with every other comic, so make sure your work blows them away.

Knave: Bayou is proving to be a very well-regarded "flagship property" for Zuda. Why do you think it's connecting with people?

Kwanza: Jeremy is telling a story that has not been told before. That is what makes it stand out. The subject matter is interesting territory to navigate and I think that intrigues readers. It also helps that Jeramy is great artist. I've been an admirer of his work long before Zuda.

Knave: What are some of your personal favorite webcomics not on Zuda?

Kwanza: Hands down it is Scary Go Round by John Allison. I want to live in that webcomic. I read everything on Transmission X, Act-I-Vate as well as Perry Ellis Bible Fellowship, Penny Arcade, so many others and that one strip that is about video games (sometimes), with the talking cat and the troll... Man! I can't remember the name of it, but it is awesome. ;-)

Knave: Do you think there's much reason for creators of other successful webcomics to move their properties over or create new properties for Zuda? Does the catalog of work here hope to eventually include existing properties with the Zuda licensing agreement?

Kwanza: You'd have to pose that question to a webcomic creator. I would love to work with any of my favorite webcomics, if it were possible. It's really a personal choice. Do you want to manage all aspects of the IP or just draw? That is not an easy decision. Ultimately, that is a business question and my own opinion wouldn't really change anyone's mind if they are set on one way or the other.

Knave: Do you read print comics?

Kwanza: Oh yeah. I am a HUGE Naruto fan. All-Star Superman is the best superhero comic being written right now - THE. BEST. I will fight anyone who says different. Scott Pilgrim is comic book rockness.

Knave: Do you think the web will ever replace print as the primary distribution method for the comics media?

Kwanza: Not it the next few years, but ultimately it will replace it. Paper is heavy and takes up space in your home. It is the reason iPods are so prevalent - no endless shelves of stuff, just handsome, wee devices that carry loads of entertainment. A svelte, color, touch-screen eReader will hail the end of periodicals. Did you read that, Steve Jobs? A svelte, color, touch-screen eReader. I want it now!

Knave: I assume you mean something with a bigger screen than the iPhone. Will the format of such a cool new reader be 4X3? Is the "portrait" aspect of text finally turning over to a "landscape" aspect, like the one Zuda employs, that is closer to film?

Kwanza: Way bigger than iPhone. Honestly it could just be another function on a tablet notebook. The natural screen size would mimic a standard graphic novel or manga, something familiar. At that point content can be portrait or landscape. The only reason Zuda is "landscape" is because computer screens are wider horizontally.

Knave: Well thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. One final question: what are some of your goals for Zuda, short term, long term, in general. What would you like to see happen with Zuda; where would you like to see it go?

Kwanza: In the short term, my goal is to produce webcomics that people want to read. Nothing outside of that will ensure success. I would like to see the technology of Zuda grow. Aside from being an imprint, Zuda is a website and therefore it needs to continuously improve at the speed of the Internet.

The Knave and the Professor Diverge

2008-02-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

Guess what? The Knave of Krypton and the Professor of Kandor had such divergent opinions of the landmark Captain America 34 that it took them two weeks to put together their thoughts in the form of two competing reviews.

And more may be forthcoming because we're not done disagreeing on a pretty fundamental level.

The Knave Reviews X-Men: Messiah CompleX!

2008-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

With guest artist Neil Dutton, the Knave brings you his take on X-Men: Messiah CompleX. What a surprise... he loved it.

The Professor of Kandor Interviews Illinest!

2008-01-23T16:21:00.000-08:00

Fear not, Zuda-Heads, we may be finished with our interview with the competitors for the January competition, but as a parting Zuda shot, our own astute Professor of Kandor has conducted an interview with a staple of the Zuda Message Boards, Illinest.

(click for full size, "Illinest" avatar created by Lina Chen)

The Knave Interviews SuperTron's Sheldon Vella!

2008-01-22T06:47:00.001-08:00

And in our final interview of the January Competition, The Knave has a chat with Sheldon Vella, creator of Supertron.

Knave of Krypton: Could you explain the history of SuperTron? I've heard that this series was actually published, in Image Popgun? Is this a story you've wanted to tell for a long time?

Sheldon Vella: Haha, to tell the honest-to-god truth, there's puddles in the street deeper than the history of SuperTron. I was working construction and got sent to a new site on "SuperTron Avenue". Being totally bored with my job, but completely inspired by the street name, I spent all day planning out the SuperTron script in my head, while jackhammering away in 35 degree (Celsius) heat.

More often than not, most of my story idea's come from cool words I'll see out and about, or a line out of a song i like. Idea's come to me easier when I'm not trying to think of them.

And as for the Popgun Anthology, my name was passed on by my good mate Elio ( www.eliohouse.com), and I got invited to contribute an entry. Being my first ever published work, SuperTron seemed like a fairly "all-rounder" story to intro myself into the industry.

KofK: You're utilizing a pretty non-conventional, almost radioactive color palette. Is this something that you chose for the web or do you think this would also work in print?

SV: Even before Popgun, SuperTron was intended for print. But, this being my first published piece, my experience with printing colours was ZERO. If this were a perfect world, everything on screen would look like it does on paper.

That said, my reason for the colour selection was simply a question of mood. SuperTron being a "fun/frenzy" themed comic, one would assume the colour scheme should reflect and support said theme. After some colouring tips (thanks charmaine! xoxo) I went with the acidic/toxic greens and yellows pushing out the baby-ish pinks of the robots.

KofK: What was it about the Zuda model that was appealing to you and caused you to submit this series?

SV: The money.

KofK: Honest answer...

SV: Haha, well that AND the fact that I saw so many hardcore critics on there slaying and praising the other entries, I just couldn't wait to get my share of those sweet sweet comments. I'm a total whore for attention.

KofK: Okay. So who are some of your artistic influences?

SV: Like I mentioned before, I get alot of my drive from things outside the comic industry like graff/urban culture, tattoo art, heavy metal music, porno e.t.c. But as far as PICTURE artists go i'm a big fan of Geoff Darrow, Katsuhiro Otomo, Frank Frazetta, Simon Bisley...blah blah blah. Name dropping influences is boring.

KofK: Sorry I asked! I particularly enjoyed the diagram cut-away on page six. It really adds to the industrial/technological feel of the series. Are there any bigger ideas you'd like to make with SuperTron or is it mainly for entertainment?

SV: Haha that panel was a total fluke, but I'm glad you liked it. I needed something to make Spinbot's little "talking-to-himself" moment a little more exciting. And i think because i made the design of the characters fairly simplistic, i wanted to show that they still had all those awesome moving parts underneath their shells. And i pretty much just referenced car parts for Spinbot's insides, it was a lot of fun to draw.

So i guess the next time the comic starts to "slow down", I'll come up with something to make it entertaining.

KofK: Do you think it's a challenge to make dynamic characters out of robots? Do you look for ways to humanize them?

SV: "Challenging", not really. "Fun", oh fugging definitely. You could be drawing any kind of "mechanical/inorganic" object, so long as you give it the flair and the fire, it'll jump right off the page. And given the assumption that their faces are made of metal, giving the mouth that slight bend or twitch to an eye-brow expresses that tiny little hint of emotion and, I think, gives them all the humanity they need.

KofK: Anything else you'd like to add?

SV: Just my love and appreciation to my entervoid.com crew, and all my other freinds old and new, home and abroad who have supported me this far (not just in Zuda either) and have brought me to where I am today.

The Knave Interviews Pieces of Eden's Seth Sherwood and Diego Tripodi!

2008-01-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

Next, an interview with the creative team behind Pieces of Eden.

Knave of Krypton: Your series is one of many Zuda competitors this month that are less traditionally narrative. Why are you presenting your story in this way?

Seth Sherwood: As soon as Zuda released their format guide I was exited by the possibilities. It looked like a Sunday comic strip, and yet I couldn’t shake the notion that this was DC, and that they might be wanting what boiled down to an online comic book. If these panels were going to be one-a-day though, I’d hate to break up the narrative. To me, each panel would have to stand on its own in some way. The traditional word bubbles and runs of dialog wouldn’t work. Of course, since I initially thought that, a ton of Zuda strips have done it just fine. What I did though, was to come up with a few different formats and styles that would work one-a-day. My favorite was a stream of consciousness confessional of sorts. That struck me as perfect—so the form came first. From there I came up with a character who might think like that—and the broken Eden just came to life from there.

Diego Tripodi: Once we decided where we wanted to go with Eden's story, our working process for this comic went something like this: Seth would send me the text of what Eden is thinking about. Based on that, I would draw what I thought was fitting to Eden's words. Being a character whose point of view and reality are broken, it just seemed fitting to be as fragmented as possible. The cue to all of this is on page 3, where we see Eden in a fractured mirror.

KofK: Your artwork is very engaging. Care to tell us about the process at all?

DT: I usually start by drawing very rough layouts of what I have in mind for each page. Once I arrange the panels in a way that I thought would tell Eden's story while also allowing me to doing cool graphic stuff, I started penciling. Due to the tone of the story, I wanted the inking to be grittiest thing I had ever done in terms of texture. Once I was finished with the first round of pages, I sent them to Seth, who tried a color approach that was different to things we had tried on projects in the past. Early on he came up with the color style that the pages now have. It was a collaborative process.

SS: VERY collaborative! When Diego sent me the inked panels I had been planning to do low key, matte colors. The inking though… it was SO moody and had his controlled chaos to it that coloring it traditionally, even in muted colors, killed it. It took a bit of experimentation, but eventually I settled on this red palette, with the occasional spot colors that really looked cool. When I made it all noisy though, that’s when it seemed to really match the art. It’s funny, Diego’s art made me color as grainy as I could—and yet when I sent them back to him, he responded by making his inks even noisier. We were trying to out grit each other I think. I also felt like this time out our roles intermingled. Diego certainly directed the story by working based on Eden’s words alone and not a script, and I had some influence on the art with the color. It’s like we handed it back and forth until it came out nicely sculpted.

KofK: How did you guys meet up and decide to collaborate on this series?

DT: I first contacted Seth in mid/late 2006. He had placed an ad on Digital Webbing and was looking for an artist interested in working on a "Jack Kirby meets Ed Wood" type of project. I thought that sounded interesting, so I emailed him with a link to some comic pages that I had recently finished working.
(http://diegotripodi.deviantart.com/art/SMA-Chapter-I-Page-1-of-6-37482730),
The pages starred a Mexican luchador called Diávolo. Later that same day, Seth e-mailed me back telling me about the project he had in mind. It turned out his story shared some of the elements that I had drawn in my pages (a wrestler, a car, the desert, etc.). So we took it from there, pretty much mixing what we had done on our own and added new stuff. Looking back, it could be seen more like an experiment than anything else, really, but it was a good learning experience. After that, we worked on some other comic projects, and we've tried different approaches every time, doing what we thought was the best for each of the stories we were creating. When we learned about Zuda, we already knew that we worked well together so we started talking about creating a new series for the format.

SS: I used to really abuse Digital Webbing’s classifieds. Sometimes I get an idea, and throw an ad up before I really know what I am doing. Diego responded to more than one of them. Not because he was just he was one of those people who respond to any ad—but because we have the same taste. Midgets, luchadores, zombies, dirty clowns, Ed Wood, demons, one-armed hookers… really the weirdest stuff I can come up with Diego has already doodled. That first project which he mentioned—I was so excited. He was literally drawing stuff I thought I just made up. From there, we had an open dialog.

KofK: Why did you choose to submit to Zuda?

SS: It’s run by DC. There’s an open submissions policy. They pay. It’s really the best of multiple worlds. I was excited for it from the first press release. I know Zuda has some serious detractors, who tell me I could put a webcomic up on my own site, and maintain the IP rights. That may be true, but we’re newcomers here—and it’s not that easy to get people to know my website even exists. Even if we lose, it’s great exposure considering that the top 3 slots in both competitions thus far have tens of thousands of views.

KofK: Is this series something you developed for Zuda or something that you'd already been working on?

DT: We started developing this series right after we learned about Zuda, purely to submit it to them.

KofK: Who are some of the influences you're looking to as you develop this series?

DT: That's hard to say. Our working method usually begins by building up a story by talking about the things we'd like to do, and discussing why they would or would not work. I guess the readers are probably more able than ourselves to detect influences. I think anything-- comics, movies, music, books, etc., can become an influence and show up in our work even if we don't realize it. That said, some of the things Seth and I talked about while working on Pieces of Eden included Jack the Ripper and David Lynch's movie Blue Velvet. I remember having mentioned to Seth a video by Guns N' Roses for "The Garden", which I thought that, visually, was something that could be part of Eden's world.

SS: Visually I took a step back on this one. In the past I have ideas of how things should look, but this time I let Diego do it all. I wanted to just write her thoughts, and let him imagine the world. Tonally, we talked about things like Lynch films, noir classics and a lot of trashy 70s and 80s heavy metal, Hollywood hooker stuff. I suppose you also can’t really do anything about serial killers without invoking Seven in some way… no mater how hard you try not to. Narratively, I looked to some of my favorite books from the fragmented, stream of consciousness field. Kathy Acker in particular. Then I filtered that through the lens of the horror genre.

KofK: Thanks for the interview, guys, anything else you'd like to say?

DT: We really enjoy reading the comments that people leave. We appreciate that somebody would take the time to write about what they like and don't like about Pieces of Eden. We have many ideas about where Eden's story is heading to, and are looking forward to developing this project. Last, but not least, a BIG thank you to all the people that voted for us!

SS: Definitely a big thanks to everyone who voted for us. I know that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but we really hope we get to continue developing the tale. It’s been a fun experiment for us.

The Knave Interviews Demons in the Closet's John Zakour and Amy Watson!

2008-01-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

Behold an in-depth interview about Zuda, working on spec and Demons in the Closet with:

Knave of Krypton: Tell us a little about how you guys found one another and collaborated?

John Zakour: I heard about Zuda and knew I wanted to enter Demons in it . I work with a number of different artists but none of them were right for Demons. So I posted a couple of "help wanted" ads on sites artist types hang out at. I offered money in advance , a lot of people applied. I thought Amy's style worked the best.

Amy Watson: John put up an ad on OnlineComics.net. I answered it since he actually offered payment, and most would be writers who advertise on forums don't... Most (usually very amateur writers) expect artists to see how "fantabulous" their mediocre work is and offer to work like dogs for nothing. Anyway, as it turned out, John is a published author with a number of books, scripts, comics, etc. at companies with recognizable names, and he's over 13, so that made him a diamond in the rough on the internet. Although, I think that particular ad was for someone to do a graphic novel version of one of his sci-fi stories. He suggested I illustrate Demons in the Closet later after seeing my comic work, unless I'm mixing them up. He's sent me scripts and story concepts for a lot of different projects. He's not a one-hit-wonder, for sure. He might be better at pitching than writing though; he's so prolific on ideas.

JZ: Could this perhaps read: EVEN better at pitching...

AW: I suppose it could be changed to that. :P

KofK: Wow, so John, you believed in your project enough that you were willing to pay to get it made?

JZ: Short answer: Yes. Longer Answer: Oh yeah.

AW: John's a professional writer. If he didn't believe he would get paid by Zuda, he would not have paid me. Furthermore, why bother submitting at all if you don't think you have a good chance of success? If we were just doing this for fun, we could have made a goofy webcomic and posted it on a webcomic community site or a personal site and avoided a lot of stress.

KofK: Why do you think it takes that to get an artist you're comfortable working with? I know a lot of people who cannot find artists to collaborate with them, who'll go into as a joint venture, and I know a lot of artists who flat our refuse to work on spec. Why do you think the writers have to shoulder the financial burden?

JZ: I think it's just a question of time and demand. It takes more time to draw than to actually write (though writers spend a lot of time developing ideas and stuff) and there aren't that many talented artists out there.

AW: Frankly, I don't need a writer. I can write and draw, which makes me a one man (woman) show.

JZ: Frankly, I don't need an artist either, I just would have had to do Demons in stick figures (ala Avast Ye) and while that worked for Avast it wouldn't have worked for Demons.

AW: Hey, Avast Ye did much better than I thought it would. Don't knock stick people too much.

In fact, if I didn't write my own stories, I wouldn't have gotten into comics at all. I would work as an architectural draftsman and draw ponies as a hobby (or gotten more deeply into civil engineering or architecture). However, though I don't really need a writer, I do need money. I have a work at home job so that I have the time I need to work on my comics, but it doesn't pay well at all. If someone wants to pay me a decent amount to do a task that I do everyday anyway, I'm likely to take them up on their offer. So, if John had just said, "Here's my story, will you draw it?" I would have said no. Even if he'd said, "Here's my story; if you draw it and we win then you can have half the money," I would have said no, because I 've been burned on that kind of thing before. A certain person told me he had an inside track with an editor at a certain company that printed graphic novels, and he asked me to do character designs for his story submission, which was sure to be printed since he'd been published there before. This person didn't pay me and ended up going with another artist, so I got nothing for my time and effort and can't even do anything with the art because the characters aren't mine.

AW (cont'd): A writer who is not also artistically (visual arts) talented has quite a problem on his hands if he wants to make comics, which are a visual medium. He must find someone who can not only draw well, but who can lay out pages and panels in a logical, appealing manner. Drawing pages takes a great deal of time, not to mention all the equipment and software involved, which can be expensive. A comic artist is like a draftsman. If someone is going to ask him or her to do spec work, I think it only fair to compensate for the skilled labor involved. Comics probably take more work than any other form of commercial art, yet pay the least (for the time invested). The writer is the one who is most attached to a story. It is his creation, his baby, and usually, his copyright. Therefore it is on his head to do what is required to get the story published, which includes hiring and paying an artist.

JZ: That's why writers whine so much.

AW: If the writer happens to know an artist personally, and the artist likes his work, then the artist may work for free, especially if the artist contributes significantly to the plot. This happens, but it's pro bono, and not something a writer should expect. The artist may bail on the project whenever he gets bored, since the project is effectively just a hobby. He's not under any contract, nor does he have any professional responsibility to the writer. It's a big deal to ask someone to illustrate a full length series. It's also very difficult for the artist, since he doesn't know what the writer is thinking, and scripts are often either not descriptive enough, or too insanely micromanagingly descriptive, or try to cram too much into too little space, or something. I've worked on scripts for a handful of writers, and it's always been a headache to convert the text into pencils, if only due to the fact that I wasn't the one that originally imagined the scene. This is one of the reasons many artists refuse to do work for hire.

KofK: Back to Demons itself: where did the idea for this series come from?

JZ: The series actually started a couple of years ago when a company that no longer exists asked me to produce "some sort of magna" for them. The only specifications they gave me is, "it has to be like Death Note and Bleach but different and fun and happier." The concept I came up with was Demons. The company never got to see it because they decided they wanted to get out of comics.

KofK: What are some of the ideas you had that didn't make it?

JZ: Well first I had one about a kid coming from a planet with a red sun, then one about a kid who watches his parents get murdered and become a vigilante, then I had an idea about a kid who gets bitten by a radioactive spider. But then I found out all those were already taken, I was pretty bummed. Then I came up with this concept.

For a while it was called Demons in the Workforce and was all going to place in the DMV, but then I figured, "nah, too realistic." I also toyed with the idea of "Demons coming out of the Closet" about a bunch of demons who stop hiding their sexual preferences but then I figured that's been done to death!

AW: Oh darn, you know, I would have loved that. Somehow I don't think this is the right audience for that, though.

JZ: I kicked around the idea of Dancing with Demons, where each week a different demon would dance with a popular star and then eat them but then I figured FOX must be working on this concept already.
AW: With the writer's strike to contend with, what else can they do?

KofK: What are some of your influences?

JZ: That's a pretty personal question! Or you mean on my writing. I come from the pulp SF and cartooning world so I'd have to say: Douglas Adams and Charles Schutlz and Tom Seaver. I'd like to think Ghandi, Einstein, Divinci and Ben Franklin have played in my career but they probably haven't. Though I bet Ben would have loved Demons in the Closet.

AW: Since 2003 my work has been predominantly manga/anime influenced. I fell in love with the beautiful backgrounds and character designs in Escaflowne, Miazaki's works, especially Howl's Moving Castle, and assorted other series. Full Metal Alchemist, Bleach, and Inuyasha are also heavily reflected in my work, both by way of character designs and emotional content. Of course I grew up with Disney, Dreamworks, etc. so movies like Fern Gully, The Secret of NIMH, The Lion King, Titan AE, and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron form the basis of what I think a graphic story should look and feel like. I flirted briefly with superhero comics, like Wolverine, The X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman, but presently I prefer softer character designs and supernatural content rather than pseudo science and utility belts. I enjoy stories that provoke a lot of emotion; otherwise I get bored and can't work on them for long.

KofK: What are you trying to do with this strip?

JZ: Make money and entertain people. Not necessarily in that order. It's meant to be a long range kind of project. For instance it ends with Sky becoming president.

AW: Demons in the Closet means a lot of different things to me. If it wins the contract, this will be the first time I've done work for a large company. It would be a validation that I can eek out a living as an artist, which is rather important since to my parent's horror I pretty much threw away a lucrative career path in order to work in comics, which is not exactly known for high salaries, when it pays at all. Actually, I suppose at this point I can say I've done fairly well, since we've made it into the competition, at least, and what's more, we're not dead last in the rank or anything. This is also practice for me, since I'm the sort that does epics (my webcomic, Crowfeathers, is now at 27 chapters and barely begun). My goal is to become the best graphic storyteller of my generation (small goal, yes), so the more comic stories I can manage to complete (either as illustrator or writer-illustrator), the better. This will be my second stab at illustrating a campy, comedy style story. My personal preference when I write is drama interspersed with light comedic moments, so working on this story, which is comedy sprinkled with dramatic moments, will be an interesting change.

KofK: Care to tease any of the other demons we might meet? Are any of them more sinister than the friendly two we've met thus far?

JZ: Ah, yes. The first two are the mellow demons. Others aren't big fans of humans they think they are wastes of molecules (except they love Dick Cheney for some reason.) Of course Amasta has an agenda of her own also. Part of the "hidden message" of Demons is things aren't always how they appear, the world has more shades of gray then we can comprehend. and one person (or demons) good is another's bad or real bad.

KofK: Amy, I noticed you drew yourself into one panel of this series. Was that your idea or was that in John's script?

JZ: That was all Amy's idea. Her quest for the limelight. :)

AW: Yes, that was my idea. It just seemed like the kind of story that would break the fourth wall, make pop culture references, and all that sort of thing. I probably shouldn't have done it, since that sort of thing ticks off the erudite comic critic elitists to no end, but then, it didn't seem to me that this particular story was a work of high brow literature. It's not as low brow as Ren and Stimpy, of course, but certainly campy and not too far removed from Futurama or Disney's Aladdin (specifically referring to Robin Williams' character, "Genie"). At least that was my take on it.

JZ: That's a pretty fair take on it. Especially since I am now pitching Futurama stories to Bongo. (Like Sage says I write a lot.)

AW: I can't say that I know the entire script, and I'm not even sure whether it's entirely fleshed out.

JZ: It's fleshed out but not all written. The next 8 pages are drafted so if DC said, "You win you go live next week" I'm ready for that. I do know where the story is headed but we're at the point where we could still modify things depending on what the readers like and don't like and how things jive and technical stuff like that.

AW: John's sci-fi novels are meant for the pulp fiction crowd. It's also a common feature in manga for the mangaka (head artist) to add editorial commentary either within the story pages or as a quickie comic between chapters or at the beginning or end of a graphic novel volume, so since this was meant to be manga-styled, it seemed appropriate.

KofK: Anything else you'd like to say?

AW: Please vote for us, the winter is oh so cold, and heating oil is so expensive... a contract would be so very nice...

Seriously though, I wish the best to everyone. I thought several of the other entries were worth following regularly, so I hope the contestants consider continuing their comics elsewhere if they don't win. If we don't win this round, I expect we will enter again either together or separately, possibly both, as time allows. I'm not sure what will become of Demons, but we'll see. Also, if you like my work, you can check out my webcomic, Crowfeathers, at http://www.crowfeathers.net.

JZ: Well I'd like say a vote for us is a vote for world peace, but that's probably not true. I've been really impressed with the wide array of talent this month in Zuda, I wish the others luck but I still want to win.

The Knave Interviews The Fool King's Alexander Kanaris-Sotiriou

2008-01-20T08:39:00.000-08:00

Another comic strip interview for you today, this time with everybody's favorite jester monarch, followed by an interview with the Fool King's creator, Alexander Kanaris-Sotiriou.

Knave of Krypton: Tell me a little about the history of the series. Is this something that was conceived of specifically for Zuda?

Alexander Kanaris-Sotiriou: I became interested in attempting a comic at the beginning of last year. I had fleshed out a couple of ideas when a friend sent me a link to a news story about Zuda.

I thought it'd be an ideal opportunity to 'cut my teeth' on something. I went away and wrote the 8 page script and then started on the character designs and art. So it was all Zuda tailored from the off.

KofK: What are some of your influences, either in the art or the writing?

AKS: The two big influences growing up were “Asterix” and “Tintin”. In the last 4 years I've been reading more American books. Grant Morrison’s “Invisibles” sparked my interest followed by “Preacher”, “Y the last man” and “the Walking Dead”, pretty much anything that grabs my imagination. My current favourites are Robert Kirkman's “Invincible” and the Luna Brother’s “Girls”.

KofK: What do you think is the strength of webcomics? What are some of the weaknesses?

AKS: The strength of a webcomic is in its accessibility, you can reach people anywhere around the globe very easily. It’s been a big thrill to receive comments from people around the world in the contest.

On the other hand, I like to read in the bath and I guess with webcomics that’s a big 'no no'. I think I would miss the tactile elements of a physical book, but it seems everything is going in that direction: video games, movies and music.

KofK: So does that mean you want to achieve success in print comics, or are you primarily focused on the web?

AKS: Either, I'm not fussy. As long as I get to have fun writing and drawing I'm not that concerned which avenue the end product would take.

KofK: Your series starts out showing us how the story ends. Have you plotted your series out for 60 screens, to be completed by the time your contract ends, or could you go on indefinitely with the Fool King's adventures?

AKS: It’s plotted to conclude at 60 screens. In any media, comics, books or film I always appreciate when things aren't drawn out too much. I wrote the script over the Christmas holidays and it’s pretty much complete. I want to revisit it to make a few alterations in light of some suggestions from the forums, but generally it's done and I’m excited about it.

KofK: Anything else you'd like to add?

AKS: Not really just thanks for reading and good luck to the other competitors.

The Knave Interviews Untrue Tales' Sam Little!

2008-01-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

After a disastrous comic strip format interview with the as-of-yet-unseen star of Untrue Tales, Gabe Stein (see below, art by Sam Little with colors by Rob Berry), the Knave finds solace in a much more pleasant interview with the strip's creator, Sam Little.

Knave of Krypton: Sam, your series is almost the text book definition of a talking head strip. Will future strips break some of the conventions set by this first outing? Will every screen be three panels? Will we ever see action, movement?

Sam Little: Well, the next strip I have lined up involves a couple of guys with Uzis getting in the soup with some cops. It's even got a car chase. Although I quite like the three panel talking head format as a story-telling device, if every episode were like that it'd get real old, real fast. More fun to mix things up.

KofK: Well that's good to hear. I certainly didn't mean to imply that the visuals are lacking. Care to tell us about how your process, how you get this distinct look?

SL: Once I get a script nailed down I do really simple thumbnails of the action and the character expression I'm looking for. Then I take a bunch of photo ref since I like to go into a lot of detail and complex facial expressions. I'm sort of playing with the readers perceptions of "how true is this story, how real are these characters?", and using this type of super-realistic line drawing helps to further blur that line.

Anyway, I pencil each panel individually usually about three times the size it'll appear on the actual "page". Sometimes I'll pencil a full background by itself and drop it in behind the separately drawn figures (like in this case). Then I scan the pencils and digitally ink each panel by tweaking the levels in Photoshop and tightening things up with a drawing tablet. Finally, I put the whole thing together in InDesign.

KofK: Is Gabe based on any real entity?

SL: Gabe is a far worse and much better version of various incarnations of myself.

KofK: So the series is autobiographical?

SL: It's 100 percent autobiographical except for the fact that I'm making it all up. Let's just say, a comic book about my life would be dreadfully boring, but a comic about Gabe's life has the potential to be anything but. The series is called "Untrue Tales" for a reason.

KofK: What about the girl you interview in the first thing? Is she based on some one you know?

SL: I did used to know a girl like that. More I ain't saying.

KofK: Why did you choose this sequence as the first installment of your series? What makes this a good introduction?

SL: It fit nicely into 8 screens? Seriously though, I think this story is a pretty good showcase for my developing skills as a writer and artist. Plus, I did want to tell a story that could stand as a complete and satisfying experience for the reader even if the comic doesn't end up winning.

Also, I figured having a pretty lady talk about boobies wouldn't exactly hurt me with the voting public.

KofK: Will other entities in the series pop up more than once or is Gabe going to be the only real through line, the only recurring character?

SL: There will be several major reoccurring characters whose stories will intersect with Gabe's and occasionally branch off onto their own paths. We'll also see subtle subplots carrying through several stories. This is a really, really big puzzle and the pieces are going to slowly come together to eventually form a complete picture of a life. The process I have in mind is a long one though, which is why I feel it's important to tell this story in segments that can be enjoyed as complete in themselves.

KofK: Well thanks for stopping by and taking the time to talk with us. Anything else you'd like to say?

SL: Just that I'm incredibly excited and honored to be part of a contest featuring such a talented group of people. This is pretty much the first comic stuff I've done that's seen the light of day and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to show it to a wider audience than I'd ever imagined would see the darn thing.

And big thanks to you guys for taking the time to do these interviews and Knave of Krypton strips and stuff. It's a lot of fun and adds a cool extra level to the Zuda carnival.

The Knave Interviews Danetropolis's David Michael Daneman!

2008-01-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Danetropolis's David Daneman gave the Knave a little insight into his series, and brought a piece of original artwork created exclusively for this interview! Just like the good old days!

Knave of Krypton: So a world of only yous... Are you actually this much of a narcissist or do you just not have any friends?

David Daneman: The comics MERE MIRROR is actually a response to the narcissism claim. Besides narcissism, schizophrenia is a common diagnosis drawn from my comics.

I have plenty of friends.

KofK: Kidding aside, though, is it for convenience's sake that you use only yourself as your model, or do you have access to other people as models and this is a stylistic choice. Were you really influenced by that one scene from Being John Malkovich?

DD: First off, I think Kwanza wrote that "Being John Malkovich" thing and as good of a movie that was, I would never have compared my strips to it. My strips are more like Aesop's Fables.

I don't know if its evident after reading just eight of my comics, but those guys in the strips aren't me. Those are the DaneMen and they are like stick figures. They're place holders. When I am thinking up a strip, its always Guy A and Guy B.

And at first (using myself as a model) was out of necessity, I was the only actor I had access to 24 hours a day. Also, I was easy to direct, but as time went on, I think the gimmick began to take on its own meaning. In a nutshell, it symbolizes the fact that at one time or another, we are all David and we are all Goliath.

KofK: You mention actors, and that's interesting that you think of it that way, and that ties into the fact I think people are very interested in your process. Could you walk us through how you create a typical strip? Do you retrace photographs with a wacom or is it a simple photoshop filter? What about the compositing?

DD: Well, the writing is the most creative part of process, but nobody ever asks me about that. They just want to know what I do to make my images.

KofK: Well, you can always imagine somebody writing. Your art is a little harder to picture in its creation.

DD: People do seem to be interested in my process, don't they. When they see them, it elicits different emotions, well just today someone called me "A Two-Bit Tracer", I think this is unfair. I have the utmost respect for beautiful draughtmanship. I love the artwork of Winsor McKay, Moebius and Bill Watterson. But its ART. When the camera was first invented, there was a lot of debate as to whether or not photography was an artform. The debate continues.

I also have some sympathy for people who see my comics in the contest and get mad. I get mad when I find out that a DJ makes the same amount of money as the five guys who cram into a van and lug all that equipment around...oh and then actually PLAY MUSIC. So, yeah, I can relate, but my comics are my comics. Would they be better if they were anthropomorphic critters with giant eyes or underwear perverts hopping from roof to roof....i dunno.

Yes, they start as photographs. No, it isn't a simple Photoshop filter. And yes, I heart my Wacom tablet. The process is pretty much standardized at this point in time, but I'll tell you this much...It takes me at least, 30 minutes per DaneMan, which means in a comic like "Read All Over" where there are 3 DaneMen in 6 panels, it probably took at least 15-20 hours to make.

When it comes to writing, I tend take inspiration from really simple places. "Too Hot" or "Guy has to go to the bathroom" are the sort of premise that I'd make a comic out of.
KofK: Glad we got to peek behind the curtain a little. Now another big feature of your comics is that they're very often wordless. Some of your earlier strips feature dialogue. Why are you moving away from that?

DD: In my opinion, the first good strip I ever wrote was "Thought Crime" and someone I showed it to someone (a comics buff) who pointed out to me that it was silent/wordless. They said "that's really tough to do" and the rest was history...

I make my strips in direct opposition to most of the strips I read. I find them to be far too chatty and having nothing to say. Also, I think my strips will make as much sense in 10 years as the do today.

Another advantage to wordless comics is that they are easily read internationally.

Having no words can be an albatross sometimes, but I reserve the right to use language whenever and however I want. Purple Monkey Dishwasher.

KofK: What do you think your series has that other Zuda series don't? Besides a whole lot of you?

DD: This question is difficult to answer without trashing on other people's strips, but I do think mine is the best gag strip to premiere so far (no offense to Absurdity, American Strife and Thomas). I think my strips have broadened the sensibilities of what Zuda can be and I'm glad that it was picked for that reason. I get the feeling that Zuda advertised a lot in DC comics, but not so much on the websites of well established webcomics. I wrote a post to this effect. Are we bringing webcomics to DC, or are we bringing DC comics to the web?

Oh...and a whole lotta me.

KofK: Why did you submit to Zuda? What do you think Zuda has to offer?

DD: Exposure and the chance to make money from my comics. Are there other reasons?

KofK: Your series is effectively a series of stand-alone, single screen installments. How calculating were you in selecting which strips made up your submission? Were there any strips you shelved since they weren't up to snuff? Were all of these strips created specifically for the Zuda competition?

DD: I wish I'd put more thought into the strips I reformatted into Zuda's bizarre 4:3 page. The reality is, I tend to make 3 panel comics and and that doesn't work so well on Zuda (at least for me). So, I took the strips that were 6+ panels and Zuda-ed them. Which, thankfully, totaled 8.

I thought "Digital Analogy" was golden, but on Zuda, not so much.
KofK: Well thanks for taking the time to do this interview, David. Any closing thoughts?

DD: Zuda is a contest. An American Idol-like contest. Have you ever noticed who wins on American Idol--pretty people who perform a specific kind of music. Johnny Cash wouldn't win and neither would Placido Domingo.

That said, its hard to predict what Zuda will become. It may actually be a brilliant idea.

If not me, I really hope "Untrue Tales" wins. "Supertron" is good, but it was too busy. My eye had no idea where to go.

The Knave Interviews Urbis Faerie's Robert Burke Richardson!

2008-01-19T06:40:00.000-08:00

Next up is the Knave's Interview with Robert Burke Richardson, the brain behind Urbis Faerie.

Knave of Krypton: So you chose to break the fourth wall and have your lead character speak directly to Zuda viewers. What allows this particular series to be metafictional?

Robert Richardson: I’m not sure I specifically chose to have Lauren speak directly to the reader. She has a tendency to do things that surprise me.

I had started to watch a lot of anime around the time I wrote Urbis Faerie, and I really liked how the best of it pulls influences from every form of comics and all eras of film and television, and I wanted to establish a narrative style that could accommodate some of those same elements.

Also, Zuda is metafictional anyway, so I figured no one would notice. :)
KofK: What attracted you to Zuda?

RR: Even if you don’t win the top slot, I can’t imagine a better platform to launch a new project from. Urbis Faerie was my “dream project” – the baby I spent way too much time dreaming up the story for, and the thing I could never sell the rights to. And then that special thing became a project called The Matriarch. And these days it’s a fantasy story I’m doing with Martin & Carolina called The Pure Lands. So Urbis Faerie is still very special to me, but ultimately I was willing to trust that the folks at Zuda would do right by it if they ended up acquiring it.

KofK: Tell us a little about the history of this project. I know you said this character originally came from a short story...

RR: Yeah, Lauren appeared the first time I decided to try a more personal sort of writing, so I was very happy when that original short story, “The Coming Years of Good,” found a publisher. It’s always nice whenever anything you write does well, of course, but seeing Urbis Faerie get out there and connect with an audience brings a specific sort of validation with it.

KofK: Your series has one of the only "full compliments" of comic book disciplines. A separate writer, penciller, inker, colorist... How did you wrangle all these different creators together?

RR: We’d all joined forces previously on a webcomic called Elf-Help (currently available as a free download at Wowio). After putting the initial pitch pages together for Urbis Faerie, Martin and Carolina went off and drew an OGN called The Network for Jay Busbee (coming soon from Arcana), and Robt went on to color Zombie Highway and other things. Now the band’s back together so to speak, and we’re working on some new Urbis Faerie stuff right now.

KofK: Is the philosophical discourse we saw in these first 8 screens typical for where you'd like to see the series go?

RR: I always really liked Chris Stevens, the DJ character on Northern Exposure. Chris could (and readily would) expound on all sorts of topics, and it was just a part of his character. I wanted to try and establish a character sort of like that in the world of Urbis Faerie – someone not afraid to get a little wordy. Cat gets his next chance to delve into some flowery language when Lauren is forced to leave town…

KofK: What are some of your artistic or literary influences?

RR: Some of this was covered above, in that I’d been influenced by manga and anime when telling this story. I’m also a huge fan of television – those rare instances when it’s done right, it’s probably the perfect medium – and Urbis Faerie is my contribution to the long history of shows about specific places, from Springfield to Deep Space Nine and back on over to Stars Hollow. Twin Peaks set the standard for me, and Deadwood brought a town to life in a more fully realized way than I’d ever seen before. I miss both of those shows terribly. Martin and I decided to treat Urbis Faerie like a TV show to some extent, choosing to indicate the fantastical ancestry of the characters as if they were played by actors. In this initial stage of the story we’re just doing things with ears and hair – things prosthetics could handle in a television production.

KofK:Would you like to say a few words about the name for your series?

RR: I wanted to come up with a phrase that would basically mean “fantasy town” or something like that. The closest cool-sounding word I found was “urbis,” which is latin for city.

KofK: Anything else you'd like to add?
RR: Um, vote for me?

The Knave Interviews A Spelunker's Guide to the City's Gary Epting!

2008-01-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

Continuing our series of interviews with the January Zuda Competitors, the Knave talks up Gary Epting, creator of A Spelunker's Guide to the City.

Knave of Krypton: All right, Gary, tell us a little about Spelunker's Guide to the City. Was this something you conceived of specifically for Zuda?

Gary Epting: SGC is a piece of a larger project that I’ve been working on for a number of years. When I stumbled on Zuda last July I was most interested in the fact they were asking for submissions that were out of the ordinary.

KofK: You've taken some heat, as well as received some praise, for the anti-narrative nature of SGC. What's the motivation for creating a mood and atmosphere instead of telling a straightforward story?

GE: Actually it wasn’t a conscious decision to be difficult or opaque. The simple truth is that the story I want to tell is long and very involved. I just didn’t see a way to launch this as a 007 whammy before the credits. I want people to be intrigued by the environment.

KofK: Could you discuss the process you use to create the art for this series?

GE: The artwork I’ve created for this and most other projects is really consciously eclectic. I want to have as many styles and media at work as possible. I bring many pieces of original art into the process, watercolors, oils, drawings and small sculptures, but I also find plenty of uses for my photographs and video grabs. Of course, I rely on Photoshop to smooth off the edges and create a patina. But on the other hand, any PSD over twenty layers and I start to get woozy.

KofK: Is SGC something you think could work in print? Are print comics at all something you're interested in?

GE: I think SGC would make the transition to print, but it’s not my primary interest. (Although I may create a limited edition of giclee prints at some point.) My first interest is in exploring what story-telling on the web can be.

KofK: What have you thought of Zuda so far?

GE: I think Zuda is an admirable experiment. Of course there are some things that are still a little rough, but that’s only natural for a start-up. They are doing a good job of community building and that’s what this is all about. I hope they will continue to push the boundaries and not just become an online version of print comics.

KofK: What are some of your visual influences?

GE: I am a painter and a writer. I don’t have a background in comics per se. I have always loved Krazy and Ignatz and Bugs and Wile, but a major part of the Zuda experience for me has been to receive a whirlwind education in the comic tradition. I know film well. Early Hollywood, pre-code and the late silents. To me this experimental phase of film-making corresponds the best to the current web situation.

KofK: Anything else you'd like to add?

GE: I am really pleased to have been selected and participated, but I think Zuda is just getting started. I can’t wait to see what they are doing next year at this time. I hope I’m part of it.

To see more of Gary's work, visit his online gallery Tatu, a part of the Amalgamated Artists.

The Knave Interviews Absurdity at Its Best's Victor Bonilla!

2008-01-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

In the first of a series of interviews with the masterminds behind the series competing this month at Zuda, the Knave had a chat with Victor Bonilla, the creator of Absurdity at Its Best.

Knave of Krypton: So what do you think is the draw of absurdist, non-sequitur humor? If you've seen previous Zuda competitions you'd know these series don't necessarily fare that well.
Victor Bonilla: As with most things it was a decision based on many factors. I for one obviously find it entertaining. I also had a pretty good amount of "screens" written out. The strength of it is its very weakness, because they're is no continuity to it. Any person can jump in at any time without being lost. On the other hand it has no continuity, no recurring characters, no overall longer story arcs. I have a couple of traditional stories in the works but: 1-they're further from being done 2- I would rather do them on my own 3- I would like to improve my art (drawing, inking, coloring) and craft (sequential storytelling). This was another attraction since in this type of series I could experiment with layouts, timing, using color, without it feeling jarring, interupting some "continuity"... Oh, and I also submitted this way back, I think November, but before the end of the November competition, so I actually had not seen the outcome of November or December Zuda Competitions.
KofK: So it seems like you have a lot of freedom with this method. But what goes into your decision making process when creating a strip? Are you putting a deceptive amount of thought into each strip, or are they whatever makes you laugh, whatever demented idea pops into your head?

VB: I would say both. Probably leaning to deceptive amount of work. Moreso because most don't realize the amount of work that goes into one comic , especially when one person is doing all the work (penciling, inking, coloring, writing). I did think about panel composition, leaving space for word balloons, color, timing i.e. using a longer horizontal panel can seem as more "time" or a pause than a vertical panel. Comedic timing and all that. I also tried some things with color going almost mono-chromatic in panels to describe a feeling like anger or disgust. Of course none of this is new; I'm simply experimenting with ideas others who I look up to use. I would add, since I'm rather new to sequential storytelling, it also took more time just finding what was best. Changing the number of panels to find how short could I make it while still retaining a pause before the punchline. They're are of course as always compromises, many of mine I felt were done with the lettering , and the words chosen , the speech not feeling probably as naturalistic as it should be. Example: in the "Cigarettes Kill" strip, the child should be saying, "Cigarettes kill y'know?" Even just adding that y'know to me sounds a lot better than the "Cigarettes kill" I eventually went with. However, again, I was trying to do something where the reader didn't have to zoom in to read the text I tried the text very large. On some in fact, like the Koala screen, I am able to upload a jpg to my digital device (mp3 player) and read it! So all these things were things I wanted to experiment with and continue to do so throughout the series should I be chosen. Introducing opposing diagonals to give more of sense of movement, all of this is actually considered. I was quiet happy with screen 8 (see left) in panel 1, everything: the hill,the clouds, tree, stick, even Job's hair/smile all point the reader up to panel 2. and panel 4 both the color/value and drawing instruct the eye down to panel 5.

KofK: What made you submit to Zuda? What do you think you, as a comic creator, can get out of it?
VB: In earnest it was the idea of the money that is attached with Zuda.
KofK: I'm hearing that a lot as I talk to Zuda competitors...
VB: Well it's what is in essence a "steady" income. Which is getting paid doing what you love, also experience with deadlines working with an editor. Having this as my job would give me the opportunity to work on my other stories as well, easily.
KofK: So you're talking about some of your other work. Are any of your other comics projects more traditional?
VB: As previously mentioned I am working on some more "traditional" narratives, 3 or 4 of which I'm happy with in their development. Hopefully I'll have some stuff to show in the upcoming summer con season.
KofK: What's your favorite screen from your Zuda submission?
VB: Artistically, the last two. I think I started to get a hang of it. Writing wise I think the Koala screen's a hoot considering the different interpretations (koalas are not actually that nice).
KofK: Was there a screen that you considered putting into the Zuda submission that you decided against, anything you thought was too crazy/not crazy enough for your showcase installment?
VB: There are screens I didn't submit, more so because I planned to use them should I win. As I said I have about 20 or so written.
KofK: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Victor. Anything else you'd like to add?
VB: Thanks to everyone who enjoyed even one screen. MORE thanks to those who left comments and voted or fav'd us. It may interest a few to know I don't have fixed "style" and to see some more not nessarily cartoony art of mine can check out my online sketchbook at
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114062. Lastly, thanks to everyone at "The Knave of Krypton" for the interview!

Con Quest

2008-01-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you go a comic book convention and they're selling trades for half off, you talk the vendor down to two $15 Marvel Essentials for $5 each. You feel like you are so awesome for getting the price down to a third of the MSRP.

Other times at the same comic book convention when a different vendor is selling Marvel Essentials for $5 dollars apiece and you want to haggle him down to $8 dollars for a pair and he won't budge because he "has a store," you are angry and feel like you are a failure.

Comic book conventions are weird.

Flash in the Pan

2008-01-08T14:21:00.001-08:00

So as of tomorrow's issue, Mark Waid is done writing The Flash.

Full disclosure: I haven't been picking the Flash up now for a while. I read the last issue of Fastest Man Alive, but that's about it. Excluding Jay Garrick, The Flashes have never been characters who particularly resonated with me, nothing personal. The two suddenly-aged children didn't pique my interest enough to get me to pick up the book, although I enjoyed
the Waid-penned issue of Brave and the Bold in which they appeared a great deal. And I don't love Daniel Acuna's artwork. I mean no disrespect; it's certainly stylized and cohesive, just not my cup of tea.

All that being said, I hate to see Mark Waid leave this book so quickly. I hate to see so many of the creators out there leaving books so quickly. Love Bendis or hate Bendis, you have to give him credit for generally being committed to the books he writes for the long haul, as pointed out by Tom Brevoort.

I don't mean this as any kind of critique against Mark Waid, who is, after all, the Editor-in-Chief of an entire, albeit minor, comics company. But I suppose I wish that the handful of writers out there whom I'd consider the best in the business (of whom Waid is certainly one) were willing and able to commit to the kind of lengthy runs on major properties, or properties with a lot of potential, that will hereafter be referred to as seminal points in the character's history.

As things are right now, all many of the finest writers and artists have to offer us are some very nice six issue arcs, the perfect size for a single trade paperback.

Amalgamated Artists

2008-01-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

The Knave of Krypton is now a part of the Amalgamated Artists. There's some pretty cool content including a sequential adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses, a competitor in this month's Zuda competition and the Knave's latest project: Continental Comics. Check it out.

Tomorrow's Comic Book Readers... Today!

2008-01-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Am I alone in thinking this is great and awesome? Marvel is really doing a good job with the Marvel Adventures line, often getting top notch creators to craft self-contained out of continuity stories of fun that are appropriate for all ages. They've stepped things up with their Marvel Kidswebsite, especially with exclusive video content like this.

And for those of us who aren't potentially seeing these characters for the first time, it's kind of nice to watch Spidey and Iron Man engage in some nice angst free banter while fighting a giant robot.

20,000 Leagues in the Comic Book Shops

2008-01-05T06:56:00.001-08:00

So this week, as I was purchasing my new comics on a Friday (thanks a lot, New Year's), my friendly neighborhood LCS owner noticed that Rick Remender's new ongoing for Dark Horse The End League was on my pull list.

He expressed that ordering this series gave him pause. He couldn't put his finger on any reason why this particular number one should be different from the many other medium-profile titles that Dark Horse launches periodically, and yet for some reason he felt that for this book there would be a higher demand, so he ordered more End Leagues than he would for other books of similar publisher, profile and subject matter.

We looked over at the wall and he was right; there were only two or three copies left, and it was only one o' clock! And as happy as I am for him to have read the situation well and not be saddled with a bunch of non-returnable extra copies, I can't help but be a little confused by the strange notoriety this series enjoyed before it was even released. I don't feel like it has much buzz. I can't recall a particularly high volume of internet interviews. Newsarama and CBR have run some banner ads, but no more than they have for several other series that barely even registered with me.

And, come to think of it, how the hell did this title get on my pull list anyway? I really don't read much outside of the Big Two (mainly because I am a stubborn snob). Was it such a light week that I was just itching for another book? That would make sense, except I know deep down I've been waiting for this title. It's been on my radar. Why?! It doesn't have an earth-shattering pitch; in fact, it's a pretty standard dystopian superhero story. The preview artwork didn't blow me away (although I was intrigued by the character "Prairie Ghost"). I don't have previous experience with the creators.

This has gone from a casual "Gee, funny how everybody's buying this book!" to a more bewildered "Why is everybody buying this book?" to my current condition, the paranoid "What did they do to make us buy this book?!!" My generally unimpressed reaction to the number one issue itself is irrelevant when compared with my deeper concerns that Dark Horse, encouraged by the wild success of Buffy Season 8, has resorted to subliminal messages and brainwashing to ensure high sales on The End League.

If that's the case, Dark Horse can expect a very angry letter from the Knave. Right after I fulfill my strange compulsion to purchase three copies of every issue of The Umbrella Academy.

One More One More Day

2008-01-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

The Knave speaks his mind about One More Day! Now let this be the end of it! Straczynski! Not another word! I'm looking at you!

Even Odds Make Betting Boring

2008-01-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

Marvel.com's main news article this morning is about the return of the Young Avengers in a book that is most certainly not Young Avengers. Marvel is still under the delusion than Allan Heinberg will at some point be able to commit to a monthly series. I don't get why they don't just hand it over to some equally talented writer, if not some more talented writer, since Heinberg now has a giant fumble called the relaunch of Wonder Woman on his resume.

But I digress. This is more what I want to talk about in relation to this news article.

It's coming soon, and personally the Knave can't wait. Everything Brubaker has done on Captain America has sounded like a terrible idea. Yet everything Brubker has done on Captain America has been awesome. Brubaker's earned my trust. The new Captain America, with his gun and hunting knife, has me genuinely excited (I cannot, however, speak for Mr. Rob Berry). So the burning question becomes: who's under the mask?

Judging by the last page of Captain America #33, and the issue description of Young Avengers Presents #1, it's apparently not supposed to be a surprise when the big issue ships on January 23. I'm fine with that, I guess. Surprises and reveals are cheap and over-rated as plot devices on some level. The front-runner to become the new Cap, the Number One Seed, the guy Vegas is giving even odds to take the cowl is certainly an organic choice, one that makes sense within the broader context of what Brubaker's been up to.

But now's probably the time to make a longshot bet on Hawkeye, just in case.

crossoVers

2008-01-02T18:10:00.001-08:00

Yesterday's Year in Review got me thinking about crossovers. Everybody's always whining and complaining about crossovers. "Crossovers are too sensational." "Crossovers only kill characters who are going to get brought back in two months anyway." "Crossovers cost too much." Yeah, well, when done right, crossovers are also awesome. You don't hear many people proclaiming that, but they sure say it with their wallets. And I'd like to posit that crossovers aren't done wrong any more often than single issues or single arcs are done wrong. It's just that when crossovers don't work, it's a lot more apparent, since four or five books on your pull list become a chore to read (yet you are unable to bring yourself not to buy them because you, like me, are pathetic).

To that end, let's look at a few of the bigger crossover events of the past weeks:

Green Lantern Books: Sinestro Corps War

Here's an example of an awesome one. I go into detail about why the "Sinestro Corps War," especially the finale, is so effective in this review, but I'd like to also point out that, as far as crossovers go, this really didn't feel like some big "event," even though it was a huge one, because it was such a natural progression of the stories of both Green Lantern and Green Lanter Corps. It was an organic fruition of months of planning in two well-integrated titles. As opposed to...

Bat Books: Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul

...which was, well, not so good. I think a big part of this, aside from the relative irrelevance of Ra's Al Ghul's return (the demise of whom was, what, a mere three years ago?), is that the Batman books aren't a cohesive unit any more. You can't have a return to the No Man's Land era old school Bat crossovers if, outside of the scant spin-off books Nightwing and Robin, the two remaining Batman-centric titles are admittedly presenting different versions of the Dark Knight. Both Detective Comics and Batman are at creative acmes, piloted by two of the industry's finest writers, but they're not playing in the same sandbox. I think it's great! I love that there's a place to get a series of done in one detectiving fixes. I love that there's a place to get, uh, whatever the hell it is that Grant Morrison's giving us. But these two takes don't gel with each other, and they certainly don't gel with whatever's going on with Tim or Dick in their solo titles. Sometimes when you put Grant Morrison together with equally talented writers (like, uh, with 52) the fruits of the collaboration are as nectar to the gods, thanks in no small part to the even playing field they all come in on. But other times when you put Grant Morrison together with some equally-to-pretty talented writers so that they might synthesize some kind of joint venture out of four existing storylines... the results are what you get here. An unevenly paced jaunt to Nanda Parbat where the stakes aren't high enough, the action is thin and spread over too many issues and the finale falls flat. If you're looking for a Batman crossover event that's good, check out Frank Tieri and Jim Calafiore's Gotham Underground, which is "Where the hell did this come from?" good and, in only three issues, has run circles around Resurrection and seemingly resurrected a far more surprising character.

This is not to say that the Bat books need to all function in congress. They don't. Batman's solo titles are great as they are, both givens on the pull list every month, and if Nightwing or Robin were given similarly stable and capable creative teams (as it appears at least one of them may be getting), they'd be equally worth picking up. But they don't operate as a single unit. As opposed to...

X-Books: Messiah CompleX

...which has been probably the greatest straight crossover I've ever read. Seriously. And it ain't even done yet. There is a gorgeous over-arch to this series. It is well thought out. It's been in the works on some level since House of M. It had months of set-up in the "Endangered Species" back-up stories. And now that it's happening, there is no exposition. There is nothing else that needs to be explained. It careens at dizzying speeds. Something huge happens in every issue. Every creator involved is bringing his A-Game. The anticipation for a good story was earned through months of set-up in the books, and that anticipation is paying off thanks to months of planning behind the scenes.

The moral is that crossoVers should be treated like any other kind of story, albeit on a larger scale. You make sure the story will result in worthwhile change. You make sure that everybody in the story has a reason for being in the story. You make sure that everybody writing and drawing the story has a reason for being involved in the story. And you make sure that it's fun to read. Generally speaking, when it comes to event comics, they probably are more inclined to make sure things are well planned out since the stakes (not in terms of how many lives the superheroes are saving, but in terms of sales dollars and street cred) are much higher. In my unscientific poll here, two out of three did it right. Come to think of it, that may be a better record than would be enjoyed by a random poll of three non-crossover comic book stories.

2007: The Year in Review - The Knave Proclaims the Best of 2007

2008-01-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here they are, the Knave's annual picks for which comics were the best on the stands.

Best Graphic Novel

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier

This long-delayed installment to Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's dense journey through (what has now widened from Victorian novels to basically include) all of literature is among the most groundbreaking graphic novels ever published. Armed with a diversity of style, format and dimension, all of which are handled with impressive versatility by both creators, Black Dossier's lack of traditional narrative structure is its greatest asset, as the reader explores a false but familiar universe concocted from our own literary history, a literary history that is enriched by Moore's commentary.

Best Single Issue

Captain America #25

To say it simply: superbly done. "The Death of Captain America" marks the rarest instance in which the sales and the hype, both of which were prodigious, still did not do justice to the excellence of Brubaker and Epting's masterpiece (and I use masterpiece like how they used it in the old guild system of artisans, meaning that Brubaker and Epting have both now achieved the rank of Master Craftsman, not that either of them have created their best work and consequently peaked... oh, nevermind).

Best Book

Justice Society of America

In in extremely tight race for Best Book, since there are several can't miss series in print, it is Geoff Johns' flawless re-integration of Golden Age grandeur into the DC Universe that is truly the finest book on the market, with its sprawling cast, spot-on artwork from Dale Eaglesham and, tipping the scales in its favor, the covers and design work of Alex Ross.

Best Event

52

Civil War edged out 52 last year, before either had finished, and while I don't wish to take anything away from CW, I think that what truly made 52 sing was the back half, the breathless final 20 issues that, after all the set up and exposition, were able to careen toward a riveting conclusion every week without a break. It really did make comics history. Civil War may be remembered as a crossover event that did everything right (and so will, I think, both the superb Sinestro Corps War and X-Men: Messiah CompleX), but 52 will be remembered as a true pioneer of sequential storytelling possibilities.