Hi, Gentle Readers!
Monday’s update will either come later in the day or early Tuesday.
I know I’ve had years of always being on time, with a few small exceptions, and anything I say will be an excuse. But, as excuses go, this last week was a misadventure in time management. It finally came down to doing three eighteen hour days in a row. Crazy times.
So, in a lame attempt to say something useful with subtext, here are some pictures I like:
I’m not going to write a long, personal account of what Gene Colan’s work means to me. I could, but that’s so clichéd. Rather, his passing has made me think about mortality. Even when we don’t acknowledge it, mortality is the white elephant in the room. And, if we live a long life, we get to see all our heroes precede us into that unknown country. I’m not trying to be morose, because I was simply born old.
As far as I know, there are no true immortals, men or women who simply don’t die but persist for ages. Be this the Wandering Jew, the Fisher King, Casca Longinus, or Prestor John, there are no ancient humans walking this earth as they have for centuries. (It would be fascinating to be proven wrong, mind you.)
Barring physical immortality, the only way for a man to live on is through his progeny, or through his works. More than a thousand years have passed, and still we know the deeds of Charlemagne, Paul the Apostle, Alexander the Great, or Ramesses the Great. So, in their way, they live on. In a way, they have made the transition into imagination, and they have become meme’s.
How about great artists? Frank Lloyd Wright, Jack Kirby, Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, Frank Frazetta, Johnny Cash, Norman Rockwell, etc. etc. Their work endures, and by extension so do they.
So, there you have it: Do great things, and become history’s beloved child; or, create great things, and live on as long as those works last.
For me, Gene Colan’s work lives on, and his work was indistinguishable from him, so he lives on through his work. Wrap your mind around this, because, as the great Steve Goodman put it, ‘the cradle to the grave is a mighty short trip, so you better get it while you can.’
Hi, Folks:
I know I’m counting my chicken fingers before my eggs are cooked, because I haven’t drawn anything yet, but I plan to have Johnny Saturn back on schedule beginning Monday 8-15-2011. I’m ambition like that.
We didn’t get the the trade paperback done do to other demands on our time, but we’re much closer. This is one of the times I almost wish we had a publisher to put the darn thing together for us, but…
See you Monday! Scott
Hi, Saturn Readers!
I just thought I’d share a few notes.
First, I haven’t blogged here much lately, mostly because I’ve fulfilled that urge on Facebook. I resisted FB for a long time, but it has become increasingly indispensable. I don’t know about Google+ yet: I’ve got an account, but I don’t really know how to use it.
Lately, I have purchased Poser 2010, and Manga Studio Ex 4. While I know it’s the artist and not the tools that make a good illustration, I feel pretty strongly that these programs will help me make Johnny Saturn in a quicker, more streamlined fashion. I don’t really know how to make Poser do what I want yet, but I have a bit of experience with an older version of Manga Studio, and I am impressed and excited about what is included in this package.
Scott
Hi, Folks!
People have been kind and not mentioned what a mess the JS site is. Because, you know, it is. A mess.
After years in roughly the same configuration I decided it was time to refresh the site, and this bled into a site redesign. It didn’t take me long to find out that I was making a real mess of it, and the site became a tar pit of unfinished details.
Well, enough of that. I got wise about it. I set up another WordPress Site, installed the Comicpress theme, and one of Phil Hofer’s child themes. Now I can tinker with that site until I get exactly what I want and leave this one in peace. Later, once the other site is perfect, then, presto, I’ll install it here.
My relationship with CSS is spotty at best. In the early days of the internet I set up HTML sites all the time. Now we are in the realm of the CMS, and CSS is an unknown country to me.
So, do all these acronyms sound like a lot of gibberish? Sure, but you can also read it this way: Making a site perfect is just plain hard word.
I’ve got terrific Johnny Saturn news coming down the pike, with lots of new options, content, and merchandise. None of it gets done till the website looks pretty.
Hi, Everyone!
I’m proud to announce the “Johnny Saturn” 10 and 11 are now available on Indyplanet! Click on the covers to get there!
…and this is what I’ve come up with.
For it to work with Comicpress it would have to be a modify of the Comicpress theme.
What do you think? This comic is one of the most important things in my life, so it deserves a nice hangout.
The exact diminsions are a work in progress.
Now, to find and hire a theme developer…
Hi, Folks:
My friend A.P. Fuchs, the prolific publisher of Coscom Entertainment, has produced a quite a few Axiom-man books, but so far they have been mostly prose novels. (Check them out. They are available on Amazon.com, and in the Kindle Store) Now A.P. is taking the dive into a monthly Axiom-man comic, and the results should be great.
On the surface, Axiom-man is a coming-of-age story; it is also a nuts-n-bolts, ground view of becoming a superhero. Gabriel Garrison is granted amazing powers by a mysterious stranger across an internet connection. In biblical times this message and gift would have been delivered by an angel, and perhaps it’s that way here as well. Gabriel’s own name also alludes to this angelic connection, as the original Gabriel is one of God’s four arch-angels. I could go on making connections, but really I should leave that to you, the readers.
↓ Read the rest of this entry…
I’m putting together my link page, collecting all my links, but I thought I would post them here as ‘in progress’ type of thing.
Traffic is our currency and cash, so to speak, so I would really appreciate it if you checked out my Social Network section and friend/follow me. I know that the internet typically dictates that about %5 to %10 of you will friend/follow, and I ask from my heart that you join that group.
Thanks!
Johnny Saturn Store — All
Amazon — Graphic Novel
Comics Monkey — Retailers
Drivethru Comics — PDF
Graphic.ly — App
Indy Planet — Single Issues
Indy Planet Digital– App
Panel Fly– App
In the words of Shadowflame’s Joe Martino:
Now that Curse of the Cortes Stone is in the Previews Catalog you can rely on the fact that I will be selfishly self promoting for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Be warned. 
Oh, By the way. The order number is APR12 0788 CURSE O/T CORTES STONE #1. Please ask your LCS to stock a few. It is on page 236 of in the catalog.
If you haven’t seen this book, it’s written by Frank Dirschirl, and drawn by Roland Bird. It is really high quality, in both script and art. And, you know, it features “Johnny Saturn” as one of the characters. My art is on the back cover, too!
