I'm gonna follow up on something I said in that last entry, regarding Marvel, DC, and creator-owned comics.

There's an inherent conundrum here: I'm angry at both companies, yes, so you'd think the natural thing to do would be to stop buying their comics altogether and to encourage others to do so. But it's not quite like that.

Look, most of DC's stuff is so bland and, well, corporate, feeling way too much like their books were put together on an assembly line (because they were) and pumped out like McDonalds hamburgers or something. But at the same time, they have Alberto Ponticelli drawing the crap out of Frankenstein, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato have made the Flash into one of the greatest all-ages superhero comics ever, and OMAC is like an experiment gone violently wrong that somehow escaped the basement and got to run free for 8 months before DC finally got their shit together and put it down. Which is a shame, because I love OMAC. I will continue buying those books until OMAC is canceled and they inevitably play musical chairs for the creators on the other titles.

(that's one thing that always annoys me: Marvel and DC juggling artists and writers around so much that getting a nice team doing a long, solid run on one title is almost impossible these days)

Daredevil is hands down the best book Marvel is putting out at the moment, and anything that Jerome Opeña draws can gladly take my money.

What I'm saying is, yes, I hate the companies, but they've got some great, talented people working for them, and I like those guys and I don't want to see them lose their jobs. 

So here's what you do: Buy the good stuff, don't buy the crap. I don't care if you've been reading X-Men religiously for years, if it's really sucking, STOP BUYING IT. I wasn't saying to stop buying anything Marvel and DC related altogether, I'm just saying be more selective and go for the quality stuff. 

Nevertheless, you should still buy way more creator-owned comics than anything the big two are shilling. Here, let me help you with a nice long list of comics and graphic novels that you need to buy:

Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker
Fatale
Prophet
Glory
Haunt
Scott Pilgrim
Wasteland
Hellboy
BPRD (hell, ANYTHING involving Mike Mignola)
The Goon
Nonplayer
Orc Stain
King City (the collection is out next month, and this is my single favorite title in the list. BUY IT)
Godland
The Walking Dead
Chew
The Strange Talent of Luther Strode
Casanova
Criminal
Parker: The Hunter & Parker: The Outfit
Sharknife ZZ (out next month!)
Sweet Tooth
Locke & Key
Saga
DMZ
Northlanders
Old City Blues
Anything by guys like Paul Pope, Mike Allred, Warren Ellis, and well, any of the creators involved in the above titles.

I'm sure there are a shit ton more than this too, that list is just off the top of my head.

The biggest company represented in this list is by far Image, whose publisher Eric Stephenson seems to be the only man displaying intelligence when it comes to publishing comics, but don't count out Dark Horse, IDW, Oni Press, Archaia, and others. Hell, Vertigo and Icon are respectively owned by DC and Marvel, and they put out creator-owned titles. If Marvel fails, then Icon fails, which means no more Casanova, which is the single best science fiction comic being released right now. I don't want to see that happen.

So there you have it. Now go forth, buy awesome comics, support your favorite writers and artists, damn the spice, save the men, and fuck the police.

[Brett]

I originally had a big, 900+ word blog entry written up in regards to Marvel and DC with the whole Before Watchmen and Ghost Rider fiascos that had taken place last week. But it was REALLY too long, rambly, unfocused, and well, other guys have done a better job talking about it than I have.

The bottom line was: Marvel and DC suck, yes, so BUY MORE CREATOR OWNED COMICS. Demand them from your local comic shop! It should be fairly obvious, yeah? SO DO IT.

There's a lot wrong with this frankly draconian industry, and buying more indie comics is a great way to start fixing things. Also, stop buying shitty comics, which is uh, most of what Marvel and DC put out. Seriously, QUIT IT.

NOW. With that out of the way, I can show you guys a couple of new pieces I recently finished. This first one is the result of listening to Ritualz and reading Hellboy: The Crooked Man. Not a bad combination, really:
I think this is the best use of color I've implemented into a piece.

Also, I did a naughty drawing for Valentine's Day:
Also coloring the pages for Cyberpunk Blues 2, and trying to put together collections of my Exciting Tales! and Distinguished Gentlemen strips from last year to print and sell at cons. Looking at e-book stuff too. Waiting for Eye Alive to release so I can put Zimmik up on here in its entirety. Finally, that graphic novel I was working on over a month ago? I had 60+ pages written, and am now working on a second draft that I'm 30 pages into writing and thumbnailing. The plan is to serialize it online like a webcomic, but we'll see. I gotta get the complete story and designs locked in first.

And of course, I'll keep working on other stuff involving pretty ladies. Just gonna keep moving and making work. YEAHHHH.

[Brett]

And here we are, in the year 2012, waiting for the Mayans to rise from their graves and obliterate civilization as we know it. Or something. I'm not so sure.

Here is my final drawing made in 2011, drawn while watching Top Gear and Louie:
Remember when I said I was considering doing more stuff in the same vein as Embrace Infection? I wasn't kidding. I already have a model lined up to do some shooting next weekend.

I am basically leaping headfirst into 2012 with guns blazing. The first half of 2011 absolutely kicked the crap out of me, I sincerely felt like I was at my lowest point. But I got back up and proceeded to repeatedly throatpunch 2011 into submission before finally setting its head on fire and graduating from ETSU with a BFA in Graphic Design. Whatever obstacles or challenges lie ahead for this new year? I say bring it. I will tear 2012's throat out with my teeth if I have to.

I usually never do resolutions, but I have some for this year: Make more comics. Travel more. Be even more awesome.

On the comics front, I completely finished Zimmik Looks For Love in a Barren Land yesterday. Sterlin says he'll hopefully have everything for the anthology book thing together around February to print and distribute, and is letting me come up with a cover for it. Then of course there's Project Sense, and then I'm also brainstorming on some stuff to submit to publishers. Zimmik, being only 5 pages, is also the perfect beginning for a Burst Reach #2, wouldn't you say?

The plan is also to go to several comic conventions this year. Especially Heroes Con, which I really wanted to visit last year and missed out on. I was also told my the wise man Massie that I would probably do well with my work at anime cons, so I may look into a few of those too. And if I know anyone going to cons that I can't make it too, I want to throw a bunch of work at them to hand out to people at said cons. They can be my representatives, yeah?

The idea behind doing more Embrace Infection type stuff is to keep me on my toes in between comic related things, to strengthen my skills in all areas, and if I churn anything particularly good, I want to try and start selling prints. Possibly through deviantART, maybe Etsy, but if nothing else then on this site. I'm going to have to do a bit of research on that. But not all of that will be digitally done. I've started painting again at work, trying to finish a barn I started painting for my mother over a year ago, and I think I'd like to try my hand at doing some acrylic and watercolors of strange mutated naked people, yeah?

I also need a new computer soon, because if this laptop finally gives up the ghost then I'll be stuck on the side of the road for a while...can't forget that...

So there we go, my plans for this new year. Who knows how much of it will actually pan out. I may not make it to more than one or two conventions, I may only come up with a few things to pitch to publishers and most likely none of it will be accepted, but still, I just have to try. I can't stop moving.

For the time being, the Portishead song "Machine Gun" is my anthem for the new year. I'm honestly not sure why, aside from the fact that it's Portishead, and that discordant beat is absolutely SICK. Also because someone decided to set the music to clips from Tetsuo the Iron Man, which is pretty awesome:

That's it then. Let 2012 know who they're messing with. What are your plans?

[Brett]

Merry belated Christmas! And a happy new year too, I guess.

Things I'm most excited for in 2012:
Prometheus
Brandon Graham's Multiple Warheads
Corey Lewis's Sharknife 2 and other comics he has up his sleeve
The return of Geof Darrow's Shaolin Cowboy
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Brandon Graham writing Prophet
OMAC and Frankenstein crossing over
Drawing a bunch of comic stuff

I have a feeling it's gonna be a big year, full of stuff. And hopefully it won't be quite as weird and awkward as 2011 was.

Best of 2011:
Hanna
Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE
X-Men: First Class
Shadows of the Damned
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Drive
Batman: Arkham City
Getting out of that apartment in Johnson City
Burst Reach #1, Exciting Tales! of a Strange University, and the Distinguished Gentlemen
Embrace Infection
Drive Angry 3D
Troll Hunter
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack
Nonplayer #1
Casanova: Avaritia #1 and 2

I'm heading into 2012 the proper way, with a new 5-page comic for Sterlin's next Pizza Flag Books thing. Here's the first completed page:
Not a single scrap of clothing to be found in this comic. Also lifting a bit from both Moebius and Michael DeForge for this. I'm trying hard to develop more backgrounds and settings and such, but this whole thing takes place in a barren landscape with little buildings in the background, so I'm not stretching out of my comfort zone too much. I think the next short comic I do will take place entirely indoors, so I'm forced to draw a bunch of interiors and stuff.

Project Sense's page count is now in the 70's. Had to tweak some stuff and add a scene or two to the beginning of the book. Once this ZIMMIK comic is compltely done I'll dive back into it for a while.

And I'm also beginning to entertain ideas of another series like Embrace Infection, gods help us all. Who knows if it'll come to be or not.

Enough, there's work to be done!

[Brett]

Only someone who is an Argento or witch house fan may get that. I don't know if my "audience" comprises of either of those. Oh well.

So uh, I graduated yesterday morning. That was exciting. I think. More exciting was finding pads of comic board at Michaels this week that were buy one get one free. Even more exciting was the stack of comics I bought in between three different stores.

But no, graduation. The ceremony was thankfully short and relatively painless, due in part to some nice conversation about movies and nerdy things with the girl I was next to and because I paid very little attention during all the speeches and stuff because I was too busy doodling all over my program:
I nearly flubbed when it came to the whole "walking across the stage" thing because I was dizzy and my head was hurting, but no one commented on that, so I think we're good.

I was around page 51 or 52 of the comic I keep talking about, which I shall from here on out refer to as "Project Sense." Now, though, I realized the past 10 pages weren't working so well, so for the second or third time I am rewriting this scene. Still, progress is progress.

You may have noticed the new banner up top and such. That carcass is the remains of this:
This is a giant monster originally supposed to appear in Project Sense. It was also a bit of an attempt at doing some Geof Darrow style detail in a drawing. Or if not Darrow, then James Stokoe. However, after showing the original sketch to a friend, we determined that, for the purposes of the comic's story, the monster was way too, um, dinosaur or kaiju in design, not nightmarish enough, so it's back to the drawing board there.

Here's the entire carcass:
I've made some other minor changes to the site here and there, and I plan on doing some more soon.

Also in the pipeline is a five page comic for my friend Sterlin's next Pizza Flag book, a sort of anthology of comics, short stories, and poetry from local talents.

Word. Now back to last-minute Christmas crap and playing Zelda: Skyward Sword, which I want to eventually talk in more detail about.

[Brett]

I'm stupidly late with this, but here's the final strip for the East Tennessean, the conclusion to the epic adventure of Professor Bear and Professor Waterbear:
That first panel is probably one of my favorite things I have ever drawn.

I had to do a Powerpoint presentation on Embrace Infection this week. I think it went well, considering my Powerpoint had a grotesque shot from David Cronenberg's the Fly and some early 20th century photographs of skin diseases. I talked at length about my comic book influences too. I'm not terribly good at doing presentations or talking to groups of people so I always try to throw in weird, funny things in order to make people laugh and keep them entertained because I know no one enjoys sitting through a bunch of students standing up and trying to talk about their work. I sure as hell don't.

I just need to write up a grant proposal thing and I'll be done with that class. I graduate this coming Saturday. HOLY CRAP I GRADUATE THIS SATURDAY I'M SO NOT READY.

"So what are you going to do next, Brett?" SHUT UP LEAVE ME ALONE

Actually, I do know that no matter what happens next, I'm going to keep doing comics. I'm in the early stages of figuring out some stuff to pitch to guys like Heavy Metal, thinking about webcomics, and of course working on that big comic I've remained kind of hush hush about.

Actually, I haven't remained so hush hush about it, my last few posts on Tumblr have been examples of how I'm trying to figure out the overall look of the comic, playing with different colors and styles. And I've posted some of the rough layouts over there too. Here's a colored one I did last night, in case you're too lazy to click on that link:
40-some-odd pages have been written, with the last 8 or so frequently rewritten. I'm still figuring things out. I have no clue how long it's really going to be. I know the last page, last panel, but...I don't know how to get there. You know how it is.

Um, that's it. I got stuff to do now. AWAY.

[Brett]

Sorry about the rough period there of inactivity, but I'm sure few of you noticed, and those of you who did, probably didn't care much. That's the proper attitude. Last week was busy with work, a trip to Asheville in which I bought comics and helped my friends beat the Simpsons arcade game, Thanksgiving, and purchasing Batman: Arkham City on Black Friday. I'd rather be playing that right now, so let's do this.

First off, due to the holiday, there was only one paper last week, in which I concluded the Distinguished Gentlemen:
I'm a little sad to see them go. Perhaps I can continue their adventures another day in the future, and continue to get paid for it?

And next up is part one of mine and David's two-part collaboration, which will probably overlap the sidebar or something due to the format:
This was so tough to draw. It was David's first time writing a comic, and it was a tad...problematic. Eight panels, and he had written each of them packed with detail I just couldn't do, along with WAY too much dialogue. I unfortunately had to hack it down quite a bit.

The second strip, for Thursday, he did a MUCH better job with writing, but I'm afraid I screwed it up myself by accidentally drawing it a half inch shorter than it's supposed to be. Way to drop the ball, Brett.

There will be one final paper next Monday and that will conclude my job as official cartoonist for the East Tennessean. It sucks that it was only for a single semester, because the job kept me on my toes and I feel like I really improved a lot as an artist doing these silly strips about weird creatures. Everyone's opinion seems pretty positive, I haven't received any negative feedback. My editor told me of a couple compliments they've received, and pointed out to me that generally most people don't write or say anything unless they're upset by it.

...So my comics did not upset a single reader. Damn. I'll have to try harder next time.

Work continues on the still-unnamed comic book, with some 30-odd pages written and thumbnailed and still more to come. However, with my cartooning job ending, I feel like there's going to be a void...so I will try to keep doing other comics that won't take months to plan out and write and such in order to stay limber while I tunnel through this massive beast of a project.

Graduation in less than a month. Holy crap. And what will I do then? I don't know, don't ask me that. All I know is that, no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I'm going to keep drawing, and more importantly, I'm going to keep drawing comics.

Now, I have to go hunt down Mr. Freeze's wife. Arkham City waits.

[Brett]

Okay, what the hell is up with the spam comments about handbags? Why do I keep getting those? I think that's the first time I've ever even typed the word "handbags" ever in my entire life. Worst. Spambots. Ever. Couldn't I be spammed with something more interesting? Like, I don't know, fresh organic produce or something? I get comments so rarely as it is, and that makes the spam even more annoying.

Oh well.

Here's today's Distinguished Gentlemen strip, in which things get pretty epic:
Exciting right? Though I have to confess, I completely jump the shark in next week's strip. How do you jump the shark in a comic strip about a giant fire-breathing penguin? You'll see. Here's a hint: there are only two or three methods for getting rid of a giant monster, and none of them are all that sensible.

That's a terrible hint.

HEY! I HANG THE PIECES FOR EMBRACE INFECTION IN THREE DAYS. HOLY CRAP. The time is upon us! Get stoked! Reception next Friday! Come see me trying not to be a massively awkward nerd surrounded by my own art! There are two other people exhibiting as well, and I think they're both more talented than I am, so if you don't come to see me, you should come to see their work instead. Especially since one girl's exhibition is about a secret agent cat going to Paris to stop a mouse's diabolical plans.

I'll be so glad when this is all over and done with. Did I mention I can't stand to look at the pieces anymore? Because I can't. I'm just glad I got all that weird psuedo-sexual mutation stuff out of my system so I can move on to things that are hopefully more easily digested by the public.

(yes, I'm already working on another comic from the ashes of that action comic I gave up on)

(it's already incredibly weird, sorry)

(no I'm not talking about it yet, too soon)

[Brett]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Would you like to see today's Distinguished Gentlemen strip? It's another one that I'm proud of:
That line in the bottom panel, spoken by the penguin in the distressing font? That may be the greatest piece of dialogue I will ever write. I seriously think that I am just BRINGING IT with these recent strips, I am so happy with the work I've been doing.

Which is why it's so disappointing when they get shoved into a tiny space in the newspaper, barely readable at all. Monday's Ghost Monkey strip was printed so freaking small. It angered me, that something I put a lot of effort and love into, was made to look almost like an afterthought, like "oh we have this little tiny bit of space left so let's just throw this stupid comic strip in there." I know that's not what it is, I know the guy who does the page layouts has to deal with the articles and ads that HAVE to be a specific size on the page (its the ads which keep the paper going) and that he doesn't really have a whole lot of time to sit and come up with a layout that's nice and balanced, pleasing to the eye. But, you know, it still kind of hurts, especially because of the detail I've been throwing into these lately. I just have no control over it. But hey, that's why they're all online too!

Of course, there have been other strips in the past which were printed pretty huge, which is awesome. And, regardless of size issues, I've heard that the comics have been getting praise, and I've heard some funny stories too. Apparently a friend of mine that works in the library on campus has people occasionally come up to him and ask what my comics mean. And David told me a story the other night about how he watched a guy open up the paper to the page that last week's Distinguished Gentlemen was on, stare at it for a long time, and then slowly smile. Heh.

Anyways, onto better things. I accomplished a lot yesterday. For one thing, after a few excruciating hours, I got my vinyl sign cut out for Embrace Infection:
It'll be going vertically on one of the gallery walls, most likely.

On top of that, I received my postcards for the show. I only ordered 50, which was barely enough. I distributed about 30 or so throughout the art building on campus and handed out quite a few too. Today I mailed a couple to some good friends. ADVERTISING. Finally, I picked 10 of the 12 prints to hang and dropped them off to be professionally mounted. Next Sunday is when I'll be hanging the pieces.

To sum things up: SHIT IS GETTING REAL, DAWG.

Oh, and that comic I was working on, that I talked so much about earlier this week and last? I uh, stopped. The story got too far away from me. So I'm setting it aside. What was it that I said in that one entry? That I hoped it wouldn't get scrapped or something?

Oops.

But hey, at least I've got a thrilling story going with the Distinguished Gentlemen being chased by a giant fire-breathing penguin in Antarctica, right?

[Brett]

Hello, here's yesterday's Exciting Tales! strip, which I sincerely believe is one of my absolute best comics yet:
After doing the Professor Bear strip? I HAD to do one about Professor Waterbear.  It also gave me the opportunity to do a figure drawing gag I had been wanting to do from the beginning.

Man, Harold just can't catch a break...

As mentioned before, Thursday's Distinguished Gentlemen will be pretty amazing, and Monday's Halloween strip will be even more amazing.

A friend sent me this video on Facebook. See if you can figure out why:

I think I like this guy. "MAY THE POWER OF THE COSMOS BE WITH YOU!!"

So I mentioned before that I'm working on a new action comic that I'm taking my time on. Since then, much progress has been made. I've been writing and thumbnailing simultaneously, which seems to be the best way to work, considering that I always get bogged down if I just try to sit and type out a script. I finished laying out the first chapter, which at 16 pages is longer than anything I've done before, but a bit short for even a single-issue thing. Still, it is what it is, and I may do a bonus supplementary chapter to squeeze in a few more pages. I started the second chapter today, with three pages thumbed out so far.
The guy on the far right is introduced in the second chapter, explaining how he bought an isolation chamber that he never uses.

I keep referring to this as my "dumb action comic," but it's hardly that at the moment. The fight scene in the first chapter takes up about 5 or 6 pages, and the rest is just two characters talking. No idea if there'll be much action in the second chapter, because I'm finding that it's more fun to develop the characters and the setting, but at the same time, I have to fight and keep myself from making it all just a big, boring exposition dump, so I have to figure out how much info to let out and when. There's a lot of questions between the two main characters, and figuring out what they are, when to ask and when to answer is a big chore.

There's a lot of designing to do too. In trying to give the town the comic takes place in a life of its own, there's a lot of defining to do. For instance, the hotel itself needs look as though it's been around quite a while, but the TV, furniture, and other little bits need to look new and different, like they've replaced the old furniture but left the room itself as is. Does that make sense? It's a science fiction future, but the town itself hasn't quite caught up just yet. And it's doubly difficult because I've never really drawn any real interior spaces before, my backgrounds are always light, and I'm going to try and break that with this comic. Also, a scene with a car. I'm going to hate myself when I start to REALLY draw this.

And compared, to the other comics I've done, there's not really any super weird and random crap. Not yet, anyways. I want things to slowly get more and more ludicrous as time passes, so maybe later on it'll become what it was originally intended to be. I realized I can't just make a comic that's a bunch of fighting and make it compelling or interesting if the characters don't do much else and the setting is ambiguous.

I mentioned No More Heroes and Old City Blues last time as influences, but I realized there's more going into it than that. Akira, the Woman Trap, King City, Ronin, and hell, I quote David Lynch's Lost Highway in one panel and in another do a scene similar to a Batman panel from the only Justice League comic I own. It's coming from all over the place, which is totally a good thing.

I probably won't start drawing the actual pages until December at the earliest, once the semester and my job doing comics for the East Tennessean is done.

Also, unlike previous Big Ambitious Projects I've come up with, hopefully this one won't get scrapped so quickly, especially after having written about it here.

[Brett]