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| << January21, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 559.02 |
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----------------------------------------------------------------- [6] Interviews Paul Dale Roberts Silhouet98@cs.com Interview with: Scott Christian Sava - Creator of The Dreamland Chronicles. Interviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, Publisher - Jazma Online! http://www.jazmaonline.com/ Question: Tell us something personal about yourself. Maybe where you were born, something about your family/work background, schools you attended, etc. I was born in Yonkers, NY. I grew up in Miramar, Florida...and went to High School in San Jose, CA. I now live in Los Angeles with my wife and our twin boys Logan and Brendan. I went to the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. I graduated as an Illustration major. I always wanted to do comic books...but my specialty was painting. I guess I figured out a way to do them anyhow. :) Question: What was the first comic book you ever read? Oh...I bet it was those compilation books of Peanuts. I still have a few of them. My actual COMIC BOOK was Spider-Man. I also still have my drawings as a kid trying to copy Steve Ditko's and John Romita's work. Question: What were your favorite comic books growing up? Spider-Man was my definite all time favorite. I later got into Conan...around the time the movie came out. But still...Spidey's the man. Question: What is all the hoopla about The Dreamland Chronicles going online? Is this really true? Well the hoopla is indeed true. Last week (on my wedding anniversary to be exact) The first page of the first comic book went online. I'm very excited to see it up there. Question: What made you decide to go this route? I've been terribly dissappointed with the direct market. I can't even find a comic shop nearby anymore. They've all closed down. And even when I DO find one...they don't carry anything but the big 2...and of course tons of cards. I simply wanted to get the story out there for all the millions of people who have computers...and DON'T go to comic shops. A lot of time and energy goes into the production of the book and I think going online gets it out to more people who will enjoy the story. Question: For people unfamiliar with The Dreamland Chronicles, can you give us a briefing in regard to the story? The story revolves around Alexander Carter who as a kid would travel to a magical world called Dreamland when he fell asleep. One night he uncovers a magical sword and wakes a dragon. Before he can be "eaten"...he wakes up. Around his neck is a necklace with a sword pendant on it. His mom takes it away...and he never dreams again. Now...8 years later...he's in college with his brother Daniel. Mom sends a care package of some old stuff she found...and in there is....the necklace. Alexander tries it on that night and he's transported back to Dreamland. Everything is just as magical as he remembers...except...all of his friends have grown up too. Question: Who are the major players of The Dreamland Chronicles? Alexander Carter is the main character. He's impulsive and easy going. Daniel Carter is his twin brother (fraternal twins). He's more book smart and sensitive. Alexander's childhood friends who he reunites with are... Kiwi the fairy. She's a bubbly ball of energy and noseyness. Paddington Rumblebottom the Third. He used to be the runt of the group...but now is a 20 foot tall rock giant. Nastajia the Elf Princess. She was Alexander's best friend. Now she's the love interest. Question: Who are some of the staff that work on The Dreamland Chronicles? Oh... a lot to name so I'll just name a few main players. Ivan Perez Ayala (Spain) is my main character modeller. Stefano Tsai (Taiwan) is the environmental modeller and designer. Karen Krajenbrink designed most all of the characters. Antero Pedras (Portugal) also modelled a lot of environments. Peter Wong did morph targets. And so on and so on. There are literally dozens of people who I've hired and worked with in varying levels of jobs on this. I've been very blessed to get to work with such talented individuals. Question: How many times will the online version be updated? Currently it's being updated Monday's through Fridays. I've already uploaded through August...and I think by August I'll have enough to make it to January 2007. I'm going to try and stay 3-6 months ahead of the curve. Should be interesting. Question: How did the concept of The Dreamland Chronicles come about? Honestly I grew up with The Narnia Chronicles, Princess of Mars series, and The Hobbit. So I've always loved fantasy stories. I got into Little Nemo in Slumberland when I was in college. I think it all clicked around then. Question: How did you get involved in the comic book industry? Well I went to comic conventions as early as high school. Trying to covince Marvel to let me draw Spider-Man. It wasn't until I was in my early 20's that I finally got my break doing cover paintings for Star Trek comics. That eventually led to doing Mortal Kombat, Xmen, Marvel Flair cards, etc. I eventually got to do Spider-Man in 2002 when the movie came out. And I've been self publishing ever since. Question: What is your URL website address? Dreamland is online here... www.thedreamlandchronicles.com And my company site is here... www.bluedreamstudios.com Question: How can someone contact you? Both sites have contact info. Question: If you can have 6 dinner guests, 3 fictional and 3 real, who would they be and why? What? Huh? Where the heck did THAT question come from???? Ha ha... Ok...um...in random order. Wayne Gretzky Jesus Stan Lee Peter Parker Captain Kirk (or William Shatner) Superman I wanted a hot chick in there from some cool comic or movie...but with Jesus there...and most likely he'll tell my wife that I was spending all my time talking to her...ah...forget it. :) Question: What is the most unusual thing that has ever happened to you? Having twins. (not me PERSONALLY...my wife) They're really a life changing experience. Question: Your thoughts on the comic industry? Almost gone. As soon as all the fan boys die...there will be no one left. Unfortunately there aren't any new readers because the industry slogan since the 90's has been "Comics aren't for Kids anymore". Which of course sounds cool... except... there are NO KIDS reading comics anymore. Question: What cons are you going to? I ALWAYS go to the San Diego Comic Con. But I'd really like to go to some more. It's just a matter of finances. Question: What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? Anything Pixar. I have been watching 24, Alias, West Wing. Cartoons? Nothing really hits me. I liked Cat Scratch and I loved Invader Zim. Question: What books do you read? None right now. I'd like to read more. Oh...I DID get the Calvin and Hobbes Essential big old book of everything kind of book. That huge one. Question: What are your hobbies and recreational activities? I just quit hockey...after like 13 years. I'm now playing golf. It's pretty cool. Question: What comic books do you read now? I haven't had a chance to get any books regularly. I've read the trades for Invincible...that's pretty good. Question: That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? Please, Please, Please...let's get more books out there for All Ages. I want my kids to read Spider-Man and Batman and such when they're older. PLEASE! _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- COMICS OBSCURA Mike Curtis shandafa@cyberback.com [COMICS OBSCURA are facts Mike Curtis has dug out during his 30 years of collecting Superman and writing about comics. His website for his comic imprint is www.shandafantasyarts.net ] WHILE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CHANEY AS FRANKENSTEIN Lon Chaney played the Universal Frankenstein monster in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN and in one scene of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, as well as several television appearances, like RED SKELTON and others. But he portrayed a DIFFERENT Frankenstein Monster on early TV. The series TALES OF TOMORROW announced a live production for an afternoon time slot, with Chaney as the Monster. The makeup was very different (since the "flat-headed" design was copyrighted by Universal). The show exists on kinescope and is known for a famous mishap. Chaney was confused and thought the live broadcast was a rehearsal. He stormed about as the monster and picked up objects, only to set them down again gently, so they would be ready for him to break in the actual performance. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [7] Thoughts From the Land of Frost Alex Ness Alexander@popthought.com http://www.Popthought.com [Alex has taught college level history and is a full time father. His interests include cats, comics and militaria. His writings have been featured on SlushFactory.com, UGO.com, and are currently on the Popthought.com web site. ] An Interview with Cartoonist Marc Hansen I have done a lot of interviews with great talents. This interview is no different from that perspective, Marc Hansen has great talent as shown in his unique works Ralph Snart, Weird Melvin and Doctor Gorpon. But this is still different than all those interviews. I am a fan of the work of Marc Hansen, and his work affects me. Why? I do not know. All I know is that I made certain to subscribe to CBG when his title Weird Melvin was run as a serial comic there, and he made me laugh all the time. I have always believed in humor as medicine for pain, and while my life is good, I am a happy person, his work helped me in times of pain and difficulty. Therefore, I am grateful to him, and wish to thank him here for that. Alex: Where are you from, are you married, do you have cats, kids? MH: I'm from Michigan, divorced with a 14 year old son. I have a British Shorthair cat. Alex: How did you get into creating comics? MH: Just by chance. I was working at an advertising art studio in Chicago when I was introduced to Tony Caputo (publisher of NOW Comics) who was, at the time, an art director working a few blocks away. I'd always been interested in comic books and newspaper strips. At the time I was more into trying to get syndicated. I had no idea or thoughts about breaking into comics. Alex: What life events are the most influential in the development of your being a creative talent? MH: There wasn't any event(s) that made me want to be a cartoonist. I was just attracted to comic art and telling humorous stories from a very early age. Alex: Whose artwork would you say inspired your own? MH: John Stanley and Harvey Kurtzman. They were two of the funniest men in comics. Kurtzman had a tried and true technique for composing stories and developing gags which I still use. Alex: Why do you tell stories in the genre of humor? Are you a "funny guy"? MH: I wouldn't say I'm a funny guy, but more of a very cynical and irreverent person. I've never thought that comics were something to be taken too seriously, which is why I take the humorous side. I think it's hard to write good humor though. It's a lot harder than writing straight fiction, which may be why not many do it. There are far more expectations with humor than other types of fiction. Timing, pacing and delivery are as critical as for a stand-up comic. What's funny and what's not funny, etc. Alex: Will there be more projects coming out from you from the new NOW Comics? MH: No. The "new" NOW Comics is on its last legs - it's brain dead but still on a respirator. NOW doesn't have much of a future with no money and a line-up consisting of Vespers, Vinny the Bug Man and Mirrorwalker. Alex: Ralph Snart is a journey into nuttiness, what is he, an avatar of chaos? A metaphor of some sort? MH: Ralph is the personification of hypocritical excess - the typical American. His life is one of extremes. He's also a lovable dumb ass. Alex: Your work at Now V.1 and V.2 with Ralph Snart had sales numbers unheard of today. To what degree would you say that those wild sales numbers were a result of NOW's newsstand presence, the absence of other similar titles either in Newsstand or Direct Market, and/or a new generation of comic book readers who had not seen the type of story before that Ralph Snart was? MH: A lot of RSA comics were printed, but that doesn't mean they all sold. The newsstand had returnables, so who know how many initially sold through. However, it was mostly the newsstand sales that gave RSA the good numbers. When something is available, and people can find it, if they like it, they'll buy it. Maybe the fact that there weren't a lot of humor books about beer-drinking morons helped a little, but mostly it was the presence on the stands. Alex: Doctor Gorpon was insane crazy fun. I read that you thought it to be premature or incomplete when it originally was published. How so? What was the particular angle you were attempting that was not successful? MH: DG was okay story-wise, but the concept and design wasn't well thought out, and I worked hard on the book, but just I cranked it out. I wasn't really inspired at the time and didn't have it clear in my head what I wanted to do. Too many of the elements were rehashed from RSA also. All I knew was that I wanted to do a monster comic, and to get something out there that wasn't a NOW comic. Alex: Weird Melvin spoke to me. I was the kid in his search for the lost grail of his collection and the horrifying Comic shop owner. Was this your personal experience? MH: Weird Melvin was a more thought out evolution of DG. I had done two WM stories for a Tundra monster book, but they never paid or published them. That's when I decided to turn it into a weekly strip for the CBG. Unfortunately, the comic book series caught the back end of an industry bust. I think everyone's had the wanderlust for some "thing". The excitement isn't in the having, but the pursuit of whatever you covet. Those who've read a comic have most likely pursued some certain issue or the work of a certain artist or writer. Weird Melvin is more than that though. It's a bunch of very nostalgic things for myself personally; comics from the 50's and 60's, monsters, hot rods, two-tracks leading to old haunted houses, etc. Alex: Where can readers find your work online? MH: All of Ralph Snart Adventures and my latest stuff is available at Marc Hansen Stuff.com Sometime in 2006, I'll make available all of the Weird Melvin books and strips. It's all free for online viewing. Alex: What new projects are on the horizon for you? MH: I'm working on a new Ralph Snart graphic novel for the web. I just finished writing the code necessary to display it, and I'm about halfway through with writing the story. After that comes the art. Not really sure on the deadline, but I'm not in any rush. Better good than fast. FINAL THOUGHTS: Thank you to Marc Hansen for his answers. I rarely find good comedy; in fact I have said that comedy to me is often misnamed. I rarely laugh at comic book humor, but I have been blessed to read and fully enjoy the works of Marc Hansen. ***** 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. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. 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| << January21, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 559.02 |
January21, 2006 - [ComicBookNetwork E-Mag] CBEM 559.06 >> |
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