If you enjoy Benita’s “Indy Friday” column, we invite you to send more indie comics for her to review.  PDFs are preferred, but if you feel the need to send a hard copy, just email us and we’ll give you the address to send it too.  Benita also reviews webcomics, so keep that in mind as well.

Thanks! Scott

Good Morning, Folks!

Something occurred to me Saturday night-on the web, the distinction between the comic strip cartoonist and the long-form comic artist has just about faded away. It feels like we’re all in the same boat again, and two disciplines that broke apart decades ago are finally spiraling back together. On the web, cartoonists produce sequential art to be distributed one episode at a time. Some comics are funny, some are individual story beats in a greater tale; some have continuity and character development, and some don’t. I for one think this is all tremendously cool.

Thirteen years ago, I labeled myself a “comic book penciler,” or more simply “penciler” to those inside the community of comic enthusiasts. Now I call myself a cartoonist. I once heard John Byrne refer to himself as a cartoonist, and it caught me off guard, because that wasn’t the title I figured he would bestow on himself. He’s a legendary comic artist, right? Well, he’s also a writer and inker and letterer, and he’s capable of delivering everything but color. (Actually, he might color, but I’ve never seen an example of that, so…) Then, there where the John Byrne guest strips in Funky Winkerbean. So, if “cartoonist” is good enough for John Byrne, it’s good enough for me.

I don’t call myself a webcartoonist (or webcomicker, etc.). The comics I make also get printed on paper. At this point in time, I don’t feel that printed comics are any more valid than webcomics, or less valid. A comic is a comic, and the medium of delivery shouldn’t enter into it. The web is an outstanding form of distribution, with lots of great opportunities to get the work out (RSS, email, iPhones, and so forth), but in the end it is still a form of distribution.

I don’t want to ignore the role the web has had on content, though. Print comics tend to be orientated around superheroes, horror, fantasy, and a few other genres. Web comics have been able to explore far wider subject matter, often wildly mixing genres, and free from many of the print format limitations. There are lots of reasons for this. For one, since it is relatively cheap to put out a webcomic, cartoonists can really experiment with all sorts of subject matter that wouldn’t fit into mainstream print comics. Another reason is that younger cartoonists have been attracted to the web, and these people aren’t hobbled by preconceived notions of what comics are and how they should or shouldn’t be presented.

For a short while, it appeared gimmicks might swallow webcomics. Partial or full animation, sound tracks, infinite canvas, these all proved to be more annoyances than advances in sequential art and storytelling.

Superheroes came to the web with comics, but they are a rarity in webcomics. Most superhero webcomics are parodies of print comics, and few are drawn in the same style they are presented in mainstream comics. I’d like to think “Johnny Saturn” stands out because of this.

So, there you go. In a decade of participating in the indy comic scene, I never had even a tenth as much fun or satisfaction as I have in the webcomic scene.

Scott.

In America, we are surrounded by superheroes.  They inhabit our movies, television shows, advertisements, and they have also crept into sports, music, and pretty much any corner of pop culture you can imagine.  Is Save-A-Bunch Man going to save you money at the thrift mart?  His cape, tights, and big smile say “yes.”  Wrestling, a strange mix of sport and theater, long ago succumbed to superhero imagery, but now many major sports figures in other sports have also taken on superhero nicknames, complete with tattoos and jerseys.  This is just a continuation of the old practice of naming children after saints, a bid for the blessings and protection of the holy intermediary.

The origin of the superhero genre has been much discussed.  It has been described as adolescent power fantasies and a modern mythology.  Both are true, I suppose.  I favor the mythology theory, because I believe superheroes are largely allegorical in nature.

By allegorical, I mean that character’s nature is evident in their physical appearance.  Comics are a graphic form, as much as they are literary, so why not?  That unique blend of pictures and words makes it a perfect medium for allegorical characters.

It would be easy to explain all this in terms of traditional superheroes, from the Messianic, Zeus-like Superman, to the Hades-like Batman, the Loki-like John Constantine.  It’s a fun exercise in correspondences and archetypes, really.  It’s no different in the Johnny Saturn setting, where characters wear their strengths and flaws as graphic elements and they descent from mythological archetypes.

One unfortunate meme that got attached to the superhero archetype is that of muscularity.  This is nothing new, of course: All the Greek gods had bodies like, well, Greek gods!  Hercules was huge and strong, as were many other mythological heroes and gods.  Physical supremacy was included in the superhero myth from the beginning, but by the 1980’s and 1990’s the rise in the popularity of weight-lifting and body-building had transformed most superheroes into bloated grotesques.  Even Spider-Man was looking hugely beefy in the 90’s.  Overdeveloped physiques had become associated with superheroes, and live-action actors who played these parts had to wear ridiculous and insulting rubber muscle suits.  Luckily, in comics themselves, hyper-muscularity began to give way to well-developed musculature as the 90’s ended.  Some characters now look simply fit and trim, which is also a vast improvement.

This is a short presentation Benita and I brainstormed to be delivered at a recent Writer’s Retreat. This might be of some assistance to those prose writers who are looking to break into the graphic novel or webcomic scene.

Writing for Comics:

By Scott Story and Benita Story, © 2009

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROSE AND COMICS WRITING

Whereas prose is very descriptive, establishing the narrative through words and the theater of the mind, comics are primarily a visually based.

When we say comics are visual, this doesn’t mean the writer is unimportant—in fact, he is just as necessary as ever.  But, the comic writers’ role is different than that of the prose writer.

Consider this: With prose, you establish a mental picture or emotion in the reader’s imagination; in comics, you present a mix of images and words that instantly elicits a response from the reader.  A non-fictional variant of this would be the word “Stop,” and then seeing a red stop sign.  The word intellectually tells you to stop, but the stop sign downloads directly and creates an instant mental response (hopefully followed up by a physical stop!)

One difference is detail.  While the writer has the leisure to expound on a scene or character in great detail and subtlety, in comics the ideas must be distilled down to just enough to tell the story, no more or no less.  Some writers have noted that writing for comics is like writing Haiku, where the writer has to carefully choose his words and there is little room excess.

In prose, character traits are often internalized part of the tapestry of the character and who he is.  In comics, due to the mediums visual nature, primary character traits are often portrayed in the character’s image.  For example, in prose a character with multiple personalities might appear perfectly normal despite his fractured psyche; in comics, you’ve got someone such as Two-Face, whose split personality is externalized.  (This is why so many comic villains are scarred or malformed in some way.)

In prose, time and pacing are controlled by the writer.  In comics, which are composed of consecutive two-dimensional images, space equals time.  Panel width indicates how long a panel lasts; for example, a tall, slim panel would last just a moment; while a wide panel would cover a longer period.

With prose, Western readers are taught to read left to right, and then top to bottom, in that order.  It’s the same in comics, except that the images that are being “read” as well as the words.  Action in comics usually takes place left to right as well, unless the writer wants to cap off or end a scene, and then he may conclude with a right-to-left panel.

In prose, words are the medium that carry a narrative.  In comics, even when there are long silent scenes without words, the writer still controls the story because he is the one who decided what would happen and what the characters would do.  The writer could be said to be writing with pictures in this case.

In prose, you are usually saddled with a standard font and pt size, and all emoting or emphasis needs to be done through the use of other words with a dose of italics and bolds.  In comics, you can change the font, pt. size, color, or any other facet of the lettering you wish, all for effect.  There are different shapes and styles of speech balloons and tails, and uses of these elements telegraph different meanings to readers.  You can add numerous layers of subtlety with how the text is arranged and presented.

APPROACHES TO COMIC WRITING

There are three different ways you can approach writing for comics.  Since you are not creating finished, stand-alone prose, your script can take one of three basic forms:

1) Full Script: Much like a movie or play script, this is a panel by panel, page by page script, complete with all the information the artist needs to draw what you call for, and the letterer to letter the pages that follow.  There is no set style for comic scripts, and their basic layout varies from writer to writer.  This is the most common style of comics scripting.

2) Synopsis: Sometimes called the Modified Marvel Style, this is a short synopsis of what occurs on each page or small group of pages.  The artist decides how to break up the pages into panels, and the writer creates the exact dialogue after the art is done, making the words fit the story more exactly.

3) Marvel Method: Not used much anymore, the writer creates a synopsis for the whole comic issue, and then turns it over to the artist to break into pages and panels.  After the art is done, then the writer composes the captions and dialogue.  The synopsis might be long and detailed, almost a short story; or it can be very short.  An example of a short synopsis would be the famous “Have them fight God,” as told by Stan Lee to Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four no’s’ 48 to 50.  Kirby in turn created an epic which introduced the Silver Surfer and Galactus, used Dr. Doom for a plot reversal, and then Stan Lee wrote the dialogue to fit this truly titanic tale.  The reason the Marvel Style has fallen into disuse is because the writer has to have an artist who is a skilled storyteller in their own right, plus a level of trust between the writer and artist.  Such relationships are rare these days.

Sorry I haven’t done any direct blogging in a while—it’s not that I’m avoiding you!  Indeed, I’ve missed this.

This Friday is the last episode of Johnny Saturn no. 9!  After this, we’ll be moving into the realm of double digit issues!  Benita and I have been hard at work on writing issue 10, and I can promise that it delivers.  Big action, big reveals, big shockers—its all there!  This is not me trying to be a circus announcer, promising things that may or may not be true to bring the crowds in.  Issue 10 will deliver the goods!

Issues 7 and 8 of Johnny Saturn have arrived from the printer, and they look gorgeous!  I will let you know when I put them up in the store.  With issue 9 essentially done, we may well have it printed in time for Wizard World Chicago this year.  I still have a few mistakes to correct, and a cover to paint, but otherwise it’s done.

Inside the Book, our long-running behind-the-scenes feature, will begin with a new phase of material next week.  It’s cool!

Scott Austin, creator of Heroes Inc., one of my favorite webcomics ever, made an interesting ad—this kid has great reading taste!  If you have not read Heroes Inc., I fully endorse it.  Tough as nails action, old superheroes, it’s all right down my alley.  In other words, if you like Johnny Saturn, it is very likely that you will also enjoy Heroes Inc.

This piece was created in Sketchup by my new friend, Joe Singleton.  I took and immediate liking to Joe, because he’s around my age and we share a lot of the same references.  Joe is also an excellent cartoonist, and has created a thrilling webcomic, Ad Astra.  Ad Astra is unique among the strips I’ve read in that it comes with a long, highly developed history, giving its world a sense of substance and realness.  I’ve added Ad Astra to my RSS feed, and you should too.

Scott.

Comics And Time: Dundee, 28 June 2009

I really like trade-paperbacks.  I do not like single issues, which now cost $2.99 to $3.99.  As far as I’m concerned, the economics are way against collecting the floppies.

Dick Grayson makes a fine Batman.  Is it really important to the franchise that Bruce Wayne returns?  Sure, I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s back, but does that make for a better story?

Norman Osborn is a fascinating character.  I love the way Brian Michael Bendis’ mind works, because the Dark Reign stuff makes for a compelling read.  This is one of those cases where the villain makes a lot more sense than the heroes, after all.  I love villain-centered stories, and I wish I had dreamed this up first.  Alas, I did not.

Digital comic distribution seems to have arrived.  As usual, the way was paved by the pirates and all their file sharing.  ComicsXP is my favorite of the new digital distributers, and you can watch an excellent presentation about it here.

Does comic coloring seem darker and more dingy than it used to appear?  Overall, I’m tempted to say “yes.”  It seems to me that the current technique in widest use, coloring from dark to light with lots of screen effects, is the cause.  Many of these colorists, very talented in their own right, seem to have forgotten the need for clarity and contrast.

In my opinion, Freddie E. William’s book “The DC Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics” is perhaps the most important book on cartooning written this decade.  I like “how to” books, but most of them cover the same time-tested material again and again.  William’s book is something new, a new way to cartoon.

I’ve been reading Ed Brubaker’s run on Captain America.  It’s easy to see why he won his Eisner’s.  Because of the rich supporting cast and super writing, the book has continued on for several years with the main character dead.  I haven’t read any of the Rebirth material yet, because it’s not collected into trades, but I have high expectations for that too.

So, the Black Widow is the new Captain America’s (James Buchanan Barnes) girlfriend.  Natasha has been around the bend a few times, also having had relations with Hercules, Daredevil, Hawkeye, and Iron Man.  There are probably others, but I just don’t remember them.  She doesn’t rank as the most sexually active Marvel character, though, because that seems to be a long-running contest between Tony Stark and Matt Murdock.  Those dudes get around!

I’ve got an interview coming up in the new ComicsXP magazine, available free at http://www.comicsxp.com.  This magazine has not been released yet, but the interview is by John Wilson, and some of my answers may surprise you.

After coming to the conclusion that I have no place to sit in and read in our house, I have taken it upon myself to remodel our guest bedroom into a hybrid bedroom/den.  I have idyllic visions of myself, sitting in my grandfather’s easy chair, drinking coffee or perhaps tea, and reading in a pleasant, well-lighted environment.  I’m only about halfway done clearing out the room, however, because I’ve managed to hurt myself several times working on it, and most recently I sprained my drawing hand.  I remain undaunted.

I have taken it upon myself to create a master Photoshop resource file on my computer, one that includes all the brushes, textures, tool presets, custom shapes, custom paths, filters and patterns that I’ve either collected or created myself.  This file also contains my photographic morgue, as well as Sketchup files I use regularly.  I backed this file up a few days ago, and it took two DVDs to hold it, and would have taken 9 CDs.  Yikes.

Lately, when I do watercolor, usually at the Indianapolis Art Center, I’ve foregone drawing the subject matter in pencil and gone straight to watercolor.  I’m so used to using a brush that this is not that difficult for me to sketch in color.  Yay me.

Over at the Webcomic Planet Collective forums, I’ve been given two sub forums to run, one on Photoshop, another on Sketchup.  These will be collections of resources, and advice, and initial reactions to these are positive.

Scott.

There are a zillion “Kick-Ass” reviews out there, so I decided not to do one at this time.  I really enjoyed the comic, and I thought the movie was excellent.  You can probably draw all the review from that you want.

Since I’m not doing a review (A+), I’m going to talk about the movie-going experience.

The theater is about ten minutes from my house, and there is a great cinema at Hamilton Town Center, all new and clean.  From what I could see, two other men were in the audience with me.  One I didn’t get a good look at because he sat up above where I sat in the middle, more or less, or the theater.  The other fellow who sat parallel to me looked like any of a thousand guys that visit comic shops.

The action was so refreshing, because there was none of the ridiculous wirework and slow motion actions that are so common to modern action movies.  Characters could not take endless beatings and get back up for more, but keenly suffered their injuries.  The only scene that rattled me was when Kick-Ass was hit by a car—I knew it was coming, but it still shook me up.

Unlike other superhero movies I’ve seen, this movie made great use of the here and now.  There were tons of references to Youtube and Facebook and GPS navigation, and all the other technological oddities we surround ourselves with.

The movie rattled along, and I never got bored or distracted, and the endless violence was far more realistic than any John Woo movie. Now that I think of it, that would be one of this movie’s basic points—that real violence is nothing like comics or action movies.

After the movie, one of the guys who had also watched the movie approached me in the bathroom to talk about the show.  I was a trifle uncomfortable being approached like that in public restroom, but the guy seemed enthusiastic and nice, and he let me finish at my urinal before he spoke up. Leaving the bathroom, we spoke for several minutes, and I quickly learned that he too had read the comic and loved the movie.  Under other circumstances I might have hung out with him at a comic convention, but as it was I wished him a great day and headed home.

I guess I’ve come to expect emotional resonance and heart from my superhero movies, and Kick-Ass, much as Watchmen, the Incredibles, and Mystery Men has loads of heart.  I felt somewhat uplifted by the whole movie experience, to be honest.

Addendum:

I forgot to mention the previews that were shown prior to the movie.  The Expendables, the A-Team, Robin Hood, and some others I have already forgotten.

These things were full of that ridiculous wire work, over the top animation, and logic-defying action that is so common to action movies.  Every one of these movies touted “they are best at what they do,” or “they specialize in the impossible,” etc. ad infinitum.

How freakishly boring!  Why does Hollywood think that a movie needs to defy all probability and physics to be interesting?  And, why are “only the best at what they do” the main characters in these movies?  As I’ve said before, wouldn’t the fourth best be more interesting?  Ah well—I won’t belabor the point.

Addendum II:

With the premiere of Kick-Ass, all the real superheroes, or “Reals,” are getting a lot of good attention from the mainstream media.  This is fine with me, because this scene has always intrigued me.

Real Life Superheroes (aka RLS or Reals) rarely fight or engage in violence, but they do sometimes put themselves in dangers way.  They have been known to break up brawls, stop domestic violence, chase off and turn in drug sellers and users, and perform a role that is similar to that of non-costumed citizen patrols and citizen watchdog groups.  They also distribute supplies to the homeless, and this undoubtedly can be risky when walking the streets or subways at night.

Combat is not the main focus of these costumed people.  They are usually unarmed and rarely armored.  I suspect few of them have studied martial arts seriously.  This would be the main difference between the Reals and Kick-Ass, or the Reals and the standard comic-book heroes. Well, that and the conspicuous absence of super powers.

It would be easy to label these folks as fetishists, or cosplayers, but I feel confident in saying there is more to most of them than that.  The fact that this movement really bloomed after 9-11 illustrates the general feel of helplessness we all felt.  Maybe this isn’t the most orthodox way of donating time to your community, but you can’t fault their intentions.

I’m really proud to announce that our “Johnny Saturn” Store has gone live.

This means that the single page store that was formerly on this site is gone, replaced by the much more expansive “Johnny Saturn” Store site.

In addition to our comics and graphic novels, we are also selling original art and shirts. Comics are available as single issues, or in combo packs.

As original art goes, so far we have the pages from issue one posted for sale. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be adding art on up through issue 13.

In the near to intermediate future, we are also going to offer one-of-a-kind commissions, Scott Story sketchbooks, and digital versions of our books in various formats (pdf, cbr, etc.)

As the store develops, it is also our plan to ad professional grade posters and buttons.

So, please go to the “Johnny Saturn” Store, look around, and let me know what you think.

Scott & Benita