Archive for December, 2008

31 items.

Real Superheroes 2

December 31st, 2008 | by Scott Story

Hi, Folks:

Yesterday, when I wrote about real world superheroes, I didn’t realize that I might be onto something really interesting here. I’m going to make an effort to cover this movement as it develops. I don’t want to encourage any one to endanger themselves or others, or take up vigilantism, but I think there is something to be said for these colorful people trying to become symbols of justice. As a group, the superheroes have taken to calling themselves “Reals.”

One thing I would like to clarify: As the co-writer of Johnny Saturn, I am quite sure the proper name for these would-be do-gooders is Mystery Men. But, that is an archaic term, and the term “superhero” has more weight these days, so what can I do. I’ll call them superheroes, though they would be better labeled mystery men.

Here is a news story about these phenomena.

Here’s another one.

Here is a website devoted to more of the superheroes, http://www.citizenheroes.com/. From what I can tell, Citizen Prime is funded and has a budget for fancy film intro. They even work some special effects into the mix. I haven’t figured out if this venture is a celebration of public service, or what, exactly. It may simply be an individual or group’s attempt to empower people by making them aware of their neighborhoods.

If you want to go where the Reals are hanging out, that would be Myspace.

More as this story develops.

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Book Eight Page 24

December 31st, 2008 | by Scott Story
Book Eight Page 24
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Real Superheroes?

December 29th, 2008 | by Scott Story

In the last four or five years, there have been people who don odd costumes and go out to protect the public.  Really.  I first heard about this a few years ago on National Public Radio, and the superheroes they highlighted were Indianapolis-based.  This caught my attention, because I live near Indianapolis.  One of these was (and is) Doktor Discord, and  the other was Mr. Silent (now retired).  You can find out about many of these people on the World Superhero Registry at http://worldsuperheroregistry.com.

For the most part, these would-be superheroes are a cross between Cosplay and unofficial neighborhood watches.  They seem to be more local personas than people who take the fight to the criminal underworld.  This is appropriate, because I would hazard that the vast majority of these folks have no martial arts background, and nothing in the way of functional body armor.  They, as a general rule, lack crime-fighting gadgets such as jetpacks, power armor, and the like.

Superheroes in comics are defined by violence and their ability to kick ass.  That doesn’t work for real-world superheroes.  The law is not sympathetic to vigilantes, and beating the crap out of criminals can result in jail-time, fines, and serious judgments against the hero.  State and local laws vary, but for the most part taking justice into your own hands is frowned upon.  There are professions that allow this, such as security guards and bounty hunters, but they work under strict guidelines.

The real-life superhero movement has been called a reaction to 9-11.  Maybe, but I personally doubt it.  My guess is that the superhero has become a more powerful archetype for change in the last ten years due to all the successful live-action superhero movies.  I would say that it is also a response to the human desire to put on a mask and become someone else for a while.  Has there not also been a corresponding growth in Halloween costumes?  Has the cosplay community not also grown?

There is a comic book, and a movie spawned by it, called Kick Ass, about a would-be superhero.  The real world superhero movement far precedes Kick Ass.

Will this trend continue?  Great question.

On a related note, here is the cost, as figured in Forbes Magazine, to become Batman and maintain his high-rolling lifestyle.

The Bottom Line
Final Cost: $3,365,449

The Training: $30,000
The Suit: $1,585
The Belt: $290
The Car: $2,000,000
The Cave: $24,000
The Alter Ego: $1,109,574
The Butler: $200,000

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Johnny Saturn 2009 Plans!

December 29th, 2008 | by Scott Story

Hi, Folks!

Well, we’ve had our 2008 Year in Review blog, so now it’s only appropriate that we follow it with our 2009 Goals blog.  This is going to be a big year for us, and Benita has dubbed it the “Year of Johnny Saturn.”  I say, heck yeah!

In the early weeks of January, we are going to change over to running the strip not two times a week, but three times per week!  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!  This is a huge commitment for us, because (as I am sure you can imagine) the art is pretty detailed.  I don’t care.  If we can’t do it now, then we can never do it.  I never say never.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, for now on, we are running “Inside the Sketchbook.”  This is a rare look into my private Sketchbooks, letting you see the development of the Johnny Saturn characters, usually with commentary.  I’ve already done all scanning for this, and it is going to rock!  It was a lot of fun for me to put this together, and it should be quite informative on who these characters are.

Benita and I have other things in the pot and simmering, and we’ll serve those up at the appropriate time.  For now, the changes I’ve listed above are huge!  New material five days a week, plus all the regular blogging you’ve come to expect from me.

Welcome to the Year of Johnny Saturn!

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Book Eight Page 23

December 29th, 2008 | by Scott Story
Book Eight Page 23
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Happy Holidays!

December 25th, 2008 | by Scott Story

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2008 In Review

December 24th, 2008 | by Scott Story

Year in Review: Johnny Saturn

As 2008 winds down, and Benita and I make big plans for Johnny Saturn in 2009, I think it’s worthwhile to review our year.  In many regards, this year was huge for us.  In other regards, it was a “rebuilding” year.

The biggest event of our year was the publication of our graphic novel, “Johnny Saturn: Synns of the Father.”  It was very heady for us as the book’s listing came up on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, and numerous other websites.  Later on, we also published “Johnny Saturn” no. 6, and the “Johnny Saturn Pinup Gallery.”  This latter was particularly satisfying, because artists from all over the planet contributed pinups.

Next up for us was building of the current johnnysaturn.com site.  Prior to this, Johnny Saturn was distributed among Graphic Smash, Webcomicsnation, Comic Genesis, and Drunk Duck, while the blog was located on Myspace.  We had pretty much maxed out the scattershot approach, and now it was time to consolidate.  In June, we discontinued or downgraded all those other sites and established a WordPress-based, Comicpress run site to be our hub.  This was a titanic undertaking, one that involved reformatting all the old strips, learning new skills, and eventually even changing web hosts.

The third biggest coup for the year, and arguable more important than the first, was placing twice in the Webcomic Readers Choice Awards, winning first place for Antagonist of the Year (Dr. Synn), and third place for protagonist of the year (Johnny Saturn).  Many benefits issued from this honor, including the friendship of Phil Hofer, aka Frumph, of the Frumph Webcomic List.

After that, the comic collective Palace in the Sky asked us to join, and we happily did so.  This collective is primarily made up of high quality fantasy comics, but Johnny Saturn, while not a traditional swords & horses fantasy, came to fit in quite well in their lineup.  Palace in the Sky continues to be one of our big referrers, and we are proud to be associated with them.

Also of note, 2008 saw Benita and I interviewed on a Podcast for the first time, and our friendship with Chuck Moore of Comic Related.  I had one article in Sketch Magazine this year, and have submitted two more.  Benita and I joined the Indy Webcomics Group, a local collective of cartoonists who have garnered national attention.

All in all, this was a year to remember!

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Book Eight Page 22

December 24th, 2008 | by Scott Story
Book Eight Page 22
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Awesome Fan Art!

December 23rd, 2008 | by Scott Story

Hi, Folks!  Cap. Hardman from Brazil sent us this very cool Johnny Saturn, drawn and colored in the Warner Bro.’s animated style:

We love it!

Scott.

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Mystery Men & Lobsters

December 22nd, 2008 | by Scott Story

Hi, Folks!

It’s the week of Christmas, so I don’t know how many people will be keeping up with blogs.  I can only assume that some of you are busy doing last minute shopping, or traveling, or decorating, or what have you.

I week or so ago I purchased “Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus,” written by Mike Mignola.  This is a fun book, yet Mignola has gotten so much cache nowadays that it’s not a “guilty pleasure,” per se.  It’s all mystery men, zombies, Nazis, dragons, Asian crime lords, and action.  The writing is very spare, and it seems that the only words that made it to the page were those absolutely necessary for telling the story.

(In fact, Lobster Johnson reminds me a lot of Johnny Saturn.  Both are tough, humorless, laconic tough guys.  This is no surprise, because both characters are pulled from the same hard-boiled genre.)

This leads me into an appreciation of Mike Mignola, the cartoonist.  The original draw for me was his art—I assume everyone here is familiar with his style, but if for some reason you live under a rock here is his website.  Adjectives for his beautiful work would include: moody, Gothic, abstract, chiaroscuro, and Jack Kirby-like.  His dead-weight line art and copious use of black make his art less than appealing on most mainstream superheroes (other than Batman, of course), but it is perfect for nourish supernatural tales.

As a writer, Mike Mignola has an odd style that is hard for me to pin down.  As I mentioned, his language is sparse, reminding one of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and REH’s muscular writing.  His plots are often simple to the point of absurd, and often reminiscent of old fables and folk tales, but with special Mignola twist.  My favorite thing about his writing is that monsters are people until proven otherwise.  Really, you could summarize his whole Hellboy arc as one of Nurture, not Nature.

Incidentally, if your knowledge of Hellboy depends on the Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy movies, this is not a substitute for Mike Mignola’s own work.  The Del Toro Hellboy is good (especially the first movie), but your research cannot end there.

Mike Mignola is big time, and it’s very unlikely that he would ever read these words.  But, if you haven’t yourself explored Mignola’s work, and you enjoy Johnny Saturn, then I really strongly suggest you pick up some of the Hellboy graphic novels.  It is, after all, the week of Christmas.

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