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------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/bGIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ----------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Interviews Paul Dale Roberts Silhouet98@cs.com Interview with Mat Nastos, Creator of Cadre from Nifty Comics! Interviewed by: Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher www.jazmaonline.com Question: Mat, tell us something personal about yourself. Maybe something about the hometown where you are from, your family, maybe the schools you attended. Let's see. I was born in Delaware when my dad was about to go on world tour -- he was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets. I grew up on Oahu in Hawaii and started the first comic conventions in the state back in the mid 80s. From there I went to the Kubert School for two years and transferred over to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. My first pro art work was as a storyboard artist working on Carnosaur -- first published work was in the BIG BOOK OF URBAN LEGENDS from Paradox Press. From there I've bounced back and forth between comics and film/tv. Question: What were some of your favorite comic books that you grew up with? I read everything when I was a kid. My favorites were Elfquest (which I'd still love to get back and draw again), X-men, the New Teen Titans and Legion of Super Heroes, All-Star Squadron. On the Indy side, Elementals, Nexus, the American, Northguard, Captain Confederacy, just about everything from 2000AD. I think I bought just about everything that came out in the 80s. Question: Tell us how you came up with the concept of Cadre? The characters came out of a Champions role-playing game that a few of us played in at the SVA dorms. When I stopped doing Elfquest and was trying to figure out what I'd like to do outside of storyboarding, I went back to the characters I'd created for the game because I'd always thought they were cool. I tweaked them a bit to turn them into a group in the same vein as the books I really enjoyed when I was growing up. And from there the original Cadre ashcan was born. They've popped up in a couple of formats on and off since 95 and, with the new launch, we go back to the beginning for everyone who missed out on the original stuff. It's really just about doing something that I'd enjoy reading...I miss the Titans by Perez and Wolfman. I miss the X- men by Claremont and Byrne...or Claremont and Cockrum...or Claremont and Smith...or...heck, Claremont and just about anyone. The Legion by Levitz. These were teams made up by people instead of by caricatures like most groups are these days. Question: Tell us about the characters of Cadre and brief us on the storyline. The Cadre tells the story of a group of brand new heroes who are coming onto the scene a decade or so after the last public heroes were killed off. So it's about the good and bad sides of living up to a legacy. The team is made up of six heroes: Basilisk, a Greek hero with power over the stone creatures; Rapture, our female psionic with mental domination abilities who is more conned into becoming a hero than voluntarily taking part in it; Thunderbolt and Skyfire are the Mexican twins who are the latest in a long line of Avatars of the Storm; Lamprey is an energy leech; and, White Dwarf is my answer to the thing -- a former super-powered wrestler more interested in doing charity work than being a superhero. If you want to know more than that, pick up the comics! Question: Tell us about some of the comic books that we will see coming out of Nifty Comics. After Cadre #2 we're putting out a mini series called "Origins of the Cadre" that goes over the backgrounds of the entire group and lays out some of the background for the Niftyverse. Instead of just doing straight origins, each issue is told by the feature character which adds a lot of personality to the books. You're not just getting a straight flashback or origin story, you're getting an origin that is a colored by the point of view of the character that lived it. Aside from that we have the "Storytelling for the Artistically Challenged" book which was finally completed this year. It's a down and dirty guide to the rules and thinking behind visual storytelling for comics. The book started out as something that Bob Harras and Darren Auck used to hand around at Marvel in the mid-90s (in a much rougher format). Sort of comic-related is the first Nifty-released film, "BITE ME, FANBOY," which is sort of like HIGH FIDELITY set in the comic industry and is a riot...well, I may have a bit of a skewed view on that (to continue my pimping: http://fanboy.niftycomics.com). Beyond that, I'm not sure. I'm hoping to take things slow and keep the Cadre going good. Question: What is Nifty Comics website address? www.niftycomics.com Question: How can someone contact you? Through the website is your best bet. Or on the Nifty Comics forums. I also frequent the Self-Publisher Association forums. Question: Tell us about your favorite comic books you read now? Quantum: Rock of Ages, Green Lantern: Rebirth (in spite of the continuity problems...I'm anal). I pick up different stuff every month, but nothing really jumps out at me right now. I am interested in seeing where the new GL series goes. Question: What are your favorite books? The Ultimate Evil, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (in spite of the movie), the WildCards series, and everything by Edgar Allen Poe Question: What are your favorite recreational activities and hobbies? I'm your prototypical nerd: comics, tv, film, video games, reading and the internet. Outside of my nerdness, I love traveling and cooking. Question: What cons will you be attending? Enigma Con and Fan Odyssey here in LA in a couple of weeks, Cascadia Con up in Seattle in September and Silicon in the SF Bay area in October so far. I'm hoping to get around a lot this year to get the word out on the film and comics. Once I get off my butt and get it up, there will be an appearances section on the Nifty Comics website (www.niftycomics.com). Question: Favorite TV shows, cartoons, movies? I hate to admit this, but season 4 of the Surreal Life was a huge addiction for me. I don't know why, but it was. Cartoon-wise, Starship Troopers, Bionic 6, C.O.P.S ("fighting crime in a future time"), the Justice League cartoons, Family Guy...there's a lot of good stuff. My top movies are Casshern, Empire Strikes Back, Highlander, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Much Ado About Nothing. Question: Your thoughts on the comic book industry. The biggest problem with the industry (aside from the distributor monopoly) is that creators have spent the last 20 years trying to prove that comics aren't JUST for kids only to turn into something that ISN'T for anyone but adults and long time fans. And, truthfully, the comics aren't any better than they were, they just have graphic language and violence now. Not that I have anything against those things, I just wish the comics that contained them were actually well written. I think the past 10 years or so has been a dark time for comics in general. The work has become more and more inbred and full of "creators" whose only goal is to top whatever obnoxious event just came out. Question: Your 3 favorite fiction heroes are: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, of course), Black Belt Jones (he had a gang of hot chicks on a trampoline hanging around his house!) and Inigo Montoya. Question: Your 3 favorite real heroes are: Mike Zeck, George Lucas and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, of course). Question: If you were stranded on an island, what 3 things would you bring and why? Jessica Alba -- do I really need to explain this one? A keg of rum to get Jessica Alba drunk enough to be stranded on the island with me. And a raft made from sea turtles lashed together with the hair from my back to get off the island when all the rum is gone. Question: If Cadre became a movie, who would play the character parts and why? Dude, Ben Affleck could play all the parts...even the shark in Jaws. Seriously, though, I think I'd want all unknowns for the thing because that keeps a lot of baggage away from the characters. Most of the best adaptations have unknowns (or little knowns) in the roles and the films benefited from it. Question: Well, that ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? If you want to create comics, get out there and do it. Don't spend all your time online talking about doing it. There's no such thing as a wanna be comic creator -- there are wannabes and there are comic creators. Do or do not, man, there is no try. ****** Interview with: Byron Preiss, President of Ibooks! Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher - Jazma Universe Online! http://www.jazmaonline.com/ Question: Tell us something personal about yourself. Maybe where you were born, something about your family background, schools you attended, etc. Born in Brooklyn. Attended Univ. of Pa. And Stanford film school masters program. Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? Probably Superman. Question: What were your favorite comic books growing up? Superman, Batman, FF, Avengers, Spider-Man. Question: Please brief us about all of the excitement over at ibooks. I hear that ibooks is coming out with some graphic novels on such classics as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and William Shakespeare's MacBeth. Actually ibooks has its own line of graphic novels which you can see at www.komikwerks.com, our sister website. Byron Preiss Visual has just produced for Penguin's Puffin Books division a line of new classics graphic novels illustrated by some of the hottest illustrators in comics. Although these books are meant to generate interest in classics, like the old CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED did, they are also very cool and likely to interest comics fans because of the art. Question: Who are the creators that are involved with MacBeth and Treasure Island? Some of the artists and writers in the Puffin Graphics line are familiar names. Here's the line up: Gary Reed, of HONOUR AMONG PUNKS and DEADWORLD, wrote DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN. They are illustrated by Becky Cloonan, whose comic book, "Demo" was named best indy book of the year by Wizard, and Frazer Irving, who is doing work now for DC. Art Cover (DC's Space Clusters) wrote the adaptation of William Shakespeare's MACBETH, which is illustrated by manga artist Tony Leonard Tamai and Alex Nino. Nino also illustrates Neil (Brownsville) Kleid's adaptation of Jack London's Call of the Wild. Wayne Van Sant of Marvel's classic THE NAM, wrote and illustrated the Adaptation of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE. June (Power Pack) Bridgman did BLACK BEAUTY and Tim Hamilton, DC artist, did a knockout Howard Pyle-esque TREASURE ISLAND. Finally, Mike (66 MPH) Cavallaro does a whole new version of THE WIZARD OF OZ. The first three books go on sale in June: Black Beauty. Frankenstein and The Red Badge of Courage. Question: Will there be a new take with MacBeth and Treasure Island, from what we originally know about these classics? Yes, Macbeth is set in the future, Otomo meets Shakespeare. There's a cool making of feature in the back of Treasure Island with photos of the models playing Robert Louis Stevenson's characters. Question: Do you have a website and if you do, what is the URL address? www.penguin.com www.komikwerks.com Question: How can somebody contact you? bpreiss@aol.com Question: How can someone order MacBeth and Treasure Island? From their favorite comics shop, bookstore, Bud Plant, Mile High, bn.com or Amazon.com. Question: What inspired ibooks to place these classics in comic book format? A desire to see kids read the classics again! Question: If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you bring with you and why? Water, peanut butter and a pc to connect to the world. Question: Your thoughts on the comic industry? Very vigorous, exciting, full of amazing illustrators right now. Question: Your 3 favorite fictional heroes and why? Captain America-the embodiment of American patriotism. Sherlock Holmes-the coolest detective. Philip Marlowe-the most evocative. Question: Your 3 real life heroes and why? Kennedy and Churchill-the leaders of their times. Lincoln-the father of modern American freedom. Question: What cons are you going to? San Diego Comicon . Mocca . Booths at each show. Question: What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? The Prisoner, Top Cat, Frasier. Question: What books do you read? Will Eisner's THE PLOT, Rubicon by tom Holland, Murder in the Marais by Kara Black, john Grisham's THE BROKER, joe Canon's Alibi Question: What are your hobbies and recreational activities? Gym. Collecting comics. Question: What comic books do you read now? JSA, Green Lantern, Jessica Abel, Flight, Identity Crisis, Demo Question: That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? Read comics! ****** Interview with Chris Tsuda, Artist of Lineage - Approbation Comics Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher, Jazma Online! www.jazmaonline.com I was born and raised in Sacramento, California, the oldest of 2. I lived there for 27 years until I moved out to San Francisco. I've lived here for about 10 years now. Umm... My favorite color is purple. Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? It was The Uncanny X-Men. I can't remember what issue it was but I know it was by Claremont, Byrne and Austin and it had something to do with Magneto and a circus. Question: What were your favorite comic books growing up? All of them! Seriously, I would read anything I could get my hands on. But I were to pick out my favorites at the time, which were the 80s and 90s, I'd have to say X-Men, Teen Titans, Jon Sable-Freelance, Excalibur (Claremont/Davis) and anything that Barry Windsor-Smith did. Question: Please brief us about your art experience? I started drawing as a child in the first grade. If you gave me a pad of paper and a pencil, you wouldn't have to worry about me for a while. My first illustration gig was with Starblaze Graphics in 1986. I did some illustrations for Robotech, Art 2 along with some other artists. From there, I did a few jobs with Marvel and other indies. Question: Do you have a website and if you do, what is the URL address? I have a web site that's basically an on-line portfolio, if you will. You can view it at http://www.tikiproductions.com. Question: How can somebody contact you? You can contact me through my web site or you can send an e-mail directly to me at chris.tsuda@mindspring.com. I always answer. Question: What was the catalyst for you to create the story and characters that eventually became Lineage? Sheer and utter boredom. It was 15 years ago and I wasn't working on any projects so I decided to just draw a bunch of stuff to "keep in shape", so to speak. The illustrations took on a life of it's own and after 11 pages of drawing, I had sort of a semblance of a story. Keep in mind that this was a long time ago and I had no idea what I was doing. Question: O'Ryn and Janus are compelling characters... how did you come up with their appearances? Did you base them off of people you know? I didn't base the characters on anyone I know but I did base them on the characters that I created 15 years ago. Just updated their look a bit. If you look at the older pages (and you can see them on my web site), you'll see that Janus had big, 80's hair and O'ryn didn't have elf ears and was a bit prettier. Question: You do all the art from the penciling through the greyscale and letters yourself. How much time does it take for you to do a complete page, start to finish? It depends on the complexity of the page. I would say that a page can take anywhere from 3 to 5 days, from start to finish. However, the first page of the first issue took the longest. I would say that one took 3-4 weeks. First page being the hardest and all and I really didn't know what I was doing. It seems to take less time now. Question: In Lineage, you had to come up with what the world of the 24th century looked like. What were your inspirations and ideas for the technology of the future? Science fiction movies, TV shows and Japanese manga. I'm like Star Trek fan and when I did the original city layout, I was thinking, "Hmm, Borg homeworld, meets Neo Tokyo, meets Blade Runner, etc, etc". Question: In contrast to the technological appearance of Janus and the people of Earth, O'ryn and his forest have a mythical feel. What did you focus on to make certain the people and creatures of his magical reality looked distinct from those of Earth? Actually, it's mostly Jay that gives me the information on what's goes in there. I like fantasy and take my cues from movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Plus there's this big area of vegetation outside of my house, next to the freeway that I use as reference for the way the plants look. Of course, it all changes in issue 2. Am I giving too much away? Question: The layout of your pages seems to be a melding of Manga and Western Comicbook styles. How do you determine which will work better? Intuition mostly. I do some rough layouts on scrap paper and adjust it accordingly when I do the actual boards. Question: If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you bring with you and why? 1. A Tent 2. Rations 3. Jay Jacobs (because he'd have everything else I'd need to survive). Question: Your thoughts on the comic industry? I think that the comic book industry is in a place where they can make a really strong come-back. I know that there's been a big downturn in the market but I think there's room for growth. Question: Your 3 favorite fictional heroes and why? The Phoenix (X-Men): Fire and life incarnate. Need I say more? Piper (Charmed): Anybody that can blow stuff up by waving their hands around is a plus in my book. Plus she's got a lot of human frailties that I can relate to (read: she's really moody) Superman: Super-strength, the ability to fly and the body of a god. That's what I want to be! Question: Your 3 real life heroes and why? I don't really have a hero to speak of. There are people that I admire and respect that I will always listen to and take advice from. I don't like to put people up on a pedestal as I don't want to have expectations that can't be met. It would be unfair to the person. Question: What cons are you going to? I'll definitely be going to San Diego Comic Con. I'm thinking about going to DragonCon but I'm still not too sure yet. Question: What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? I'm totally into the new Battlestar Galactica series. Along with that, I like Charmed, The Teen Titans, Smallville, The PowerPuff Girls (strange, eh?). Question: What books do you read? Anything by Terry Brooks. I'm also a big Harry Potter fan. Question: What are your hobbies and recreational activities? I don't really have any hobbies right now as doing the art gig is the only thing I do in my spare time. I do socialize with my friends on occasions. Wow. I sound like a total introvert but I'm not. Really! Question: What comic books do you read now? I read the Uncanny X-Men right now. Phoenix: Endsong is another. Other than that, the only other thing I've read was Batman: Hush. I guess I don't read as much as I should. Question: That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? Follow your heart and take a chance. You never know where it will lead you. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [7] My Life With Comic Books Paul Howley pmca@together.net http://www.thatse.com A brief introduction: My name is Paul Howley, owner of the Eisner Award winning pop culture collector's store known as "That's Entertainment" in Worcester, Massachusetts. Some people have called me the "luckiest man in the comic book business." My store has been around for over twenty-four years and it's been a long and interesting combination of events and people that has brought my store to its current place. It is not my intent to boast or brag about my store or my life. I just want to tell you my story. In many instances, my wife remembers things a little differently, but this is the truth as I remember it. The current cast of characters: Paul Howley: age 42 Mal Howley: my wife Adam Howley: my son, age 17 Cassy Howley: my daughter, age 12 MY LIFE WITH COMIC BOOKS: THE HISTORY OF A COMIC SHOP-Part 116 It had been several years since I had talked with my previous comic book business employers, Gary and Peggy Walker, owners of "The Great Escape" in Tennessee. We decided to take a family vacation to explore Nashville with our kids and to rekindle friendships with our old friends. I called the Walkers, confirmed that they'd be available for a visit, and booked our travel plans. When we arrived in Nashville, we drove around the areas where we had once lived while we reminded our children of our lives there before they were born. We didn't have much money back in those days but it was a very happy time for us. We loved Gary and Peggy and enjoyed working for them. We had arranged to meet Gary at his huge comic book, record, and collectible store in downtown Nashville so our children could get an idea of the incredible inventory that put "The Great Escape" in a class of its own. Gary introduced us to many of his employees while explaining each of their "specialties." I was interested in this idea of each employee being "experts" in separate kinds of collectibles. In my store, I had always hoped that each employee could be trained to deal with all of the different products that we bought and sold but as our own inventory expanded it became much too difficult for any one employee to be able to know all of the information needed to be considered an expert. Gary's success at "departmentalizing" his employees prompted me to encourage specialization of my own employees. Mal and I and our kids spent the next day at "Opryland," the big music-themed amusement park. Adam and Cassy loved the rides but because of their interest in musical theater they enjoyed the music and dance shows even more. The next day, Gary and Peggy treated us all to "The Grand Ol' Opry" with special backstage passes. Gary had some important contacts because of his involvement in the music business and we were thrilled to be able to see "behind the scenes." We were also happy to get to spend some time with our old friends, Ray and Virginia Sawyer. They were good friends while we worked with Gary and Peggy back in the 1970's but we had lost contact with them. Ray remembered how much I liked rock and roll music so he pulled a few strings when he heard that "The Eagles" were going to appear on the popular "Crook and Chase" television show. We all had "VIP" tickets and we sat in the best seats in the television studio. Ray was very embarrassed when he realized that it wasn't going to be the rock-band "The Eagles," but a demonstration of real American bald eagles! I still get a laugh out of this as I occasionally watch the videotape of the show as these birds flew back and forth over our heads. We had a great time revisiting Nashville and Gary and I got a rare chance to share business ideas with each other. I always learn something valuable from Gary. Next chapter: A tale of greed and a lost collection. _________________________________________________________________ Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. 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May21, 2005 - [ComicBooknet E-Mag] CBEM 524.08 >> |
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