Fraggle Rock

Editor’s Note: One-time Robot 6 guest blogger Sam Humphries, who has a story in tomorrow’s Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock Special Edition Flip-Book, pays us a visit today to share some of his thoughts on Fraggle Rock. And if you’re in the L.A. area, be sure to stop by Meltdown Comics tomorrow to meet Sam.

I know what you’re thinking. Who is this guy to tell me which Fraggle Rock episodes will blow my mind? I mean, how presumptuous, right?

Dude, I know. I did not even grow up with Fraggle Rock. The Rock was on HBO and there was no HBO in the house. HBO showed boobies and Mama Humphries did not play like that. I am not that person who has held Fraggles in their hearts since their formative years.

But I did write a story for Archaia’s new Fraggle Rock comic anthology, illustrated by Jeremy “Eisner nominated for Bayou” Love. You can find our Fraggle tale in the Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock Special Edition Flip-Book, available at comic book stores everywhere, for FREE, on May 1st — otherwise known as Free Comic Book Day! Ah, the nice price.

If you’re near Los Angeles, come on down to Meltdown in Hollywood, where Jeremy and I will be signing copies of the free Fraggle book. Astoundingly, Red Fraggle herself will also be in attendance. Karen Prell, the OG puppeteer of Red on the Fraggle Rock show, will be there with the original Muppet, meeting fans, singing songs, and taking pictures as Red Fraggle.

So, watching Fraggle Rock for the first time as someone old enough to attend rated R films alone, I got to enjoy the series with eyes unclouded by nostalgia. And I realized: for a “kids” show, Fraggle Rock is a mind freak.

Emboldened by the success of the previous Muppet franchises, Jim Henson and company didn’t flinch from daring themselves to new heights of spectacular puppet feats. And when it came to the themes of the series, they didn’t hesitate to go deep — way deep. Compared to the groovy sunshine sessions of Sesame Street and the upbeat let’s-put-on-a-show enthusiasm of the Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock is the slightly moody teenage cousin of the bunch.

The result? A multi-layered head trip for all ages. Sure, there’s plenty of exuberant songs, bright colors, and cute foam creatures, but Gobo, Red, Wembly, Mokey, and Boober Fraggle spent most episodes exploring dark, complicated passageways of existence. It’s no surprise that Fraggle Rock has the most “cult” fanbase of the three series.

Whether you are new to the Rock or a big fan from way back, there’s plenty of crazy on this list to rock your world. Here, for your lid-flipping pleasure, are are Six Fraggle Rock Episodes That Will Blow Your Mind.

(And this is only from Season One! Maybe I’ll be back with more — if you can handle it.)

by Jeremy Love

1. The Preachification of Convincing John

Convincing John is one of my favorite Fraggles. He’s Jerry Lee Lewis as a revivalist minister with the voice of Jim Henson. Yet he has been banished to the fringes of Fraggle society because of a bizarre ability: his singing can compel any Fraggle to do anything says. Oh kay, not creepy at all…

This episode is straight out of the Rod Serling playbook with a rapidly deteriorating chain of unexpected consequences. But most disturbing is Convincing John, the Muppet with the power of musical mind control. Is he good? Evil? Secretly controlling all Fraggles without their knowledge? IS IT ALL A DREAM?

Watch instantly on Netflix.

2. The Thirty-Minute Work Week

Uncle Traveling Matt is a Fraggle who left the Rock to explore “outer space,” aka the mysterious world of humans. Each episode shows him exploring different facets of our wonderful civilization, such as ice, shopping malls, and litter.

The Uncle Matt adventure in this episode is on some next level business. The Fraggle pioneer rides on a roller coaster! But they don’t just strap some Uncle Traveling Matt dummy to the seat and film him from the ground.

No way. This is JIM HENSON’S FRAGGLE ROCK, not Lamb Chop. The camera gets right up in Matt’s screamin’ and hollerin’ face as the coaster roars along the track. An impressive feat, especially when you consider two factors. 1) This was the first Fraggle Rock episode ever filmed. 2) I can’t even recite my own birth date while riding a roller coaster, much less convincingly operate a Muppet while staying out of camera frame.

Watch on Netflix.

3. Marooned

Oh, you know, just another kid’s show devoting a whole episode to two characters trapped by a cave in, contemplating the effervescence of life as the seconds tick down to their inevitable death.

Day care stuff.

Watch instantly on Netflix.

4. The Minstrels

As leader of a troubadour troupe, Cantus visits the Rock with his magic flute and tells the Fraggles they must look within to find their own song. He’s a clever, riddle-weaving guru who challenges the Fraggles to dig deep within themselves for the keys to reality…the closest thing Grant Morrison may ever have to a Muppety fiction suit. Red is so befuddled she eventually steals Cantus’ flute, but that’s ok, because the kind of things The Invisibles drove me to do you can’t portray on a family show.

Cantus and Convincing John are the only two Fraggles voiced by Jim Henson himself, and they make for a fascinating contrast. One thing Cantus and Convincing John do have in common with their human alter ego: a love of music. Kick out the jams, Jim.

Watch instantly on Netflix.

5. Mokey’s Funeral

You know that old dream sequence where a character gets to witness their own funeral and hear all the inspiring things their loved ones say during the ceremony? And the testimony is so effusive and sincere that the protagonist comes away with a new love of life?

Well, perpetual hippie Mokey gets the same in this episode. Only, instead of a parade of affection, her funeral consists of a Brechtian dirge performed by Junior Gorg with all the grace of a pound of wet liver. Even more heartbreaking are Gobo and Red’s screams of anguish and their “no Fraggle left behind” courage.

So grim I updated my last will and testament to specifically prevent this from happening when I die.

Watch instantly on Netflix.

6. The Lost Treasure of the Fraggles

This is another great showcase of how Fraggle Rock pushed the technical envelope of puppetry. The regular crew of Fraggles search for the lost fortune of their species through the Rock, out in the Gorg’s garden and into their home. The difference in scale is impressive: Doozers are knee high to a Fraggle, who are knee high to a Gorg.

Henson and his ingenious crew utilized then-new technologies of blue screen, animatronics, and a variety of puppet techniques to move their main characters through a progression of relative size without losing their humanity. Er, Fragglality. Whatever.

Oh, and the end is quite beautiful, and I’m not going to say it changed film history forever, but…

Watch instantly on Netflix.

The cover to the hardcover edition of PIXU, coming July 2009 from Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse recently revealed it will publish a hardcover collection of PIXU, a unique four-way collaboration between award-winning creators Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos and Fábio Moon. Previously released as two self-published issues, PIXU is a horror comic book that tells the story of an apartment building full of haunted individuals, and the PIXU itself, a supernatural mark that portends great evil.

The four PIXU creators are scattered across the globe — with Cloonan living in Brooklyn, twin brothers Moon and Bá in São Paulo, Brazil, and Lolos splitting his time between Brooklyn and Athens, Greece. The book is at once a story, an experiment and a reflection of their tight friendship — four disparate, distant and visionary mad scientists becoming one through the magical act of creating comics together. Best of all, the book is creepy as all hell.

The original issues of PIXU were printed at a limited run of 1,000 copies each — but you can still find these handcrafted soon-to-be-eBay-bait comics at Khepri.com.

To celebrate the July release of the hardcover edition, we reached out to the PIXU quartet to find out the secret history of the book, and their own origins in the world of horror.

Which of your PIXU collaborators did you meet first? What was your first impression of them?

Gabriel: Easy. Fábio. Twin brother. Handsome guy, very talented. Very obedient, too. Does as I tell him to do.
Becky: I met Fábio and Gabriel, I think at the same time, at San Diego a bunch of years ago. I think it was 2004? Anyway, I was very impressed by their enthusiasm and skills. A year later, again at San Diego, I saw them again — and I was immediately quizzed to see if I remembered who was who. Of course, I was a good guesser.
Vasilis: That would be Becky; I thought she was a worthy art rival and really hot.
Fábio: I was right there inside my mother’s belly when suddenly I looked to the side and I saw Bá. At first, he looked small and I didn’t think much of him. He was kinda lazy and was born 15 minutes after me.

PIXU I cover

How did the idea of collaborating on a book come about? How did you come up with the idea of the horror story?

Fábio: Bá and I always worked together. We learned long ago that collaborating with other people who you feel inspired by creates a “good internal competition.” We see great stuff and we want to do great stuff, and that has been the fuel of our brotherly collaborations, and we saw that same energy in Becky and Vasilis work, especially when they worked together and also challenged each other.
Vasilis: PIXU is the logical followup of 5. I think we wanted to take it a bit further on the way we collaborate and incorporate our teamwork on script and visuals.
Gabriel: We all wanted to do it, but we wanted to do something different from everything we had done or were doing by the time, and that’s when we came with the idea of making a horror comic.
Fábio: Horror is cool to draw. It’s a great genre to use black and white, to use closeups, to use silence and sound effects. You can really explore the language of comics making a horror comic.
Becky: Ironically, I hate horror movies. I have a really overactive imagination and I tend to be scared for weeks after I see one … But doing a horror comic was fun. I was able to step back a bit and try to figure out what scares me, why it does, and then work that into the comic.

Was it difficult to do a four-way collaboration across the globe? How did you coordinate everyone’s efforts?

Fábio: I don’t think it would have been easier if we were all together. With the Internet, the communication is much easier, and it’s possible to work from any corner of the globe.
Becky: Besides daily emails and weekly MSN meetings, we also have a “secret” blog that we started as we did 5 to keep track of everybody’s progress. On that blog we post photo ref, thumbnails, scripts, basically everything. It’s an archive of the entire process, and it’s a good resource if we need answers and nobody is around.
Vasilis: We did a lot of planning out, scouting for houses, making blueprints of the houses, assigning rooms and spaces, figuring out common areas where the characters interact.
Fábio: The most difficult part was to put together the story and write it separately and then watch it to see if it worked as one story. The melting of four heads into one was the biggest challenge, but at the same time I see it was what made the story so rich as everyone brought their own different perception of horror to the house and the characters.
Gabriel: When you’re making an independent comic where nobody is getting paid and everybody is in it for the love of the craft, you can’t really go bossing everyone around. In the end, we finished the comic one month late, but it’s a lot better than we have anticipated in the beginning.

The PIXU gang and the spoils of war at the 2008 Eisner Awards, left to right: "5" collaborator Rafael Grampá, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos

What was it like debuting the first issue together? Why at San Diego Comic-Con 2008? Any memorable moments or reactions?

Vasils: San Diego Comic-Con was ideal because that’s a time where we all meet and hang for a couple of weeks every year.
Gabriel: Becky goes to lots of conventions in the U.S., we do our rounds here in Brazil, Vasilis visits Olympus, but in San Diego we are all together and it always feels great.
Becky: We could debut it at any time, I guess, but we did the book together so it only makes sense to debut it together!
Gabriel: San Diego is like our magic place where we all live together for a week. It’s our safe place where we recharge our batteries and our belief that we’re doing the right thing and why we love comics so much.
Fábio: We felt blessed to be in San Diego doing comics because of our passion for comics, and our previous independent effort together, 5, won an Eisner Award and we were all there together and we received the award together and I felt that there’s nothing better than doing what you love with people you love and that, if you want something hard enough and you work as hard as you can, you can do anything.
Becky: Plus it’s like the Con of Cons.
Vasilis: I think my most memorable PIXU moment wasn’t at the convention, I had a couple intense ones at home while working on it …

Page from PIXU I by Gabriel Bá

What movie scared the shit out of you the most as a child?

Gabriel: The NeverEnding Story, if you believe me. I was scared of “the nothing,” but mainly of that wolf. Big, low-budget fake wolf with gloomy yellow eyes still haunts me in the dark. The scariest part is that due to the technological limitations of the time, very little was shown of the whole wolf, only his head coming out of the shadows or a shade moving through the woods. This “insinuation” of the “monster” without actually showing the thing is the most scary effect you can generate.
Vasilis: I would have to say E.T. — that hospital scene where he went all white, jeez. But truly awesome.
Becky: I gotta echo Vasilis and say E.T. really did a number on me. I was even scared of the Touchstone logo for years after I saw it. It was so fucked up.
Fábio: The Shining. I will fear hotels for the rest of my life.
Becky: Grease scared me too, but I think that was just John Travolta.

Scariest comic book of all time?

Becky: I’ve read a lot of very creepy comics, including Uzumaki by Junji Ito, and The Abandoned by Ross Campbell.
Fábio: Otomo’s DOMU was disturbing, and Black Hole made me feel like I was going to die in the forest if I wanted to have sex. There’s something powerful and scary in the silence these two stories show.
Gabriel: Black Hole. It’s very creepy. Those woods.
Becky: Horror is, I think, the hardest genre to pull off in comics not only because we have a total lack of sound, and unlike novels (which can leave more to the imagination) comics relies heavily on visuals … I think what draws me to horror in comics is the challenge, because to get the audience in that particular mood is, I think, very difficult to achieve.

Page from PIXU I by Becky Cloonan

Have you ever seen a real-life PIXU? What did it look like? What happened next?

Becky: Thank God I have never seen a PIXU in real life, or else I wouldn’t be here today.
Gabriel: PIXO (with an “O”) is a kind of graffiti in Brazil, just writings mainly, with this very particular kind of calligraphy. And the people who write these words, they really break the boundaries of where you can go and “how the hell did they get there,” you know? So it’s this kind of transgressive graffiti that can appear anywhere, with words and sentences very hard to understand, but that bare a message.
Vasilis: I’ve seen some stuff, but they were truly indescribable. Really, really uncanny.
Fábio: I see it all the time, and I’m sure you have, too. Try to remember a place you know where something bad happened. After that, that place was never seen with the same eyes by you, as if it was tainted by the bad memories. We remember places by events we had in those places (or events we know happened there), so the “bad” places will always have that stain, that ghost.

PIXU depicts the lives of tenants in an apartment building. Would you live in an apartment with your PIXU collaborators?

Gabriel: I lived with Fábio for 31 years and I’ve shared a hotel room with Becky and Vasilis once.
Becky: The closest we got to living together was last summer after San Diego Comic-Con. We shared a hotel in L.A. — that explains the earthquake we had! For the good of the planet I don’t think we should ever live together; who knows what natural disasters will occur?
Gabriel: The scariest moments were when Vasilis would turn on the TV. He would never turn it off.
Becky: Although living closer would be nice! Or seeing each other for more than a few weeks a year.
Vasilis: I kind of am already, ha-ha. Me and Becky share an apartment when I am staying in the States. And we plan a long visit to the twins, too.
Fábio: Didn’t we tell you PIXU is autobiographical?

Page from PIXU I by Vasilis Lolos

Would you do it all again?

Gabriel: Not in the circumstances we did this one, among lots of different projects at the same time.
Fábio: We are still learning to choose projects and determine what will we do, as the possibilities grow, but the itch to work together will never die, so I guess it’s just a matter of time.
Vasilis: We are going to do it again but not all over, ha-ha, we want to keep it different and interesting.
Gabriel: We respect and admire each other too much not to work together again. We don’t want to do the same thing again. Next time we do something together, it’s gonna be something entirely different.
Becky: I love collaborating with Fabio, Vasilis and Ba. I don’t know when it will happen, but we’ll start another comic fire one day.

What’s next?

Gabriel: Who knows? I’m almost done with Umbrella series 2 (Dallas), I’m getting deeper on the BPRD: 1947 series, and Fábio and I are making our series at Vertigo called Daytripper. It’s all ending by the third quarter of this year and I honestly don’t know what I’m gonna do next. More Umbrella? Sure, there’s more. Casanova? Yeah, it’s coming back. That’s all I know.
Becky: I just finished writing a script for Buffy: Tales of the Vampires, which Vasilis will be illustrating, and I’m currently working with Brian Wood on Demo. I’d love to go back and finish my graphic novel East Coast Rising, but right now it’s tied up with Tokyopop so we’ll see … Apart from that, I have a few other projects in the works, one is a webcomic with my dear friend Hwan Cho, and the other is in the pitch process with two friends as well, so we’ll see. I’m always making room for new projects though, I have a bad habit of taking on too much at once.
Vasilis: Some sort of cosmic adventure. Or a slice-of-life story.
Fábio: Right now I have my hands full working on Daytripper with Bá and on the BPRD: 1947 with Bá, Mignola and Dysart. Whatever comes next will have to wait for these projects, and that’s at least one year away, so right now I’m focusing on the present because the comics I’m working right now are too exciting to let me think of the next ones.

Page from PIXU I by Fábio Moon

Four creators in PIXU, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the final book of the Bible. Which PIXU creator best matches each Horseman of the Apocalypse? (War, Famine, Pestilence, Death.)

Vasilis: I think Becky is War because she fires us up for comics; Fabio and Gabriel are Famine and Pestilence because those two are related, ha-ha, and I think I am Death, because I come when everyone else is done.
Fábio: You’d die (and kill) to be as talented as Becky. Vasilis is a Greek god of War and he takes no prisoners. Bá is the sick bastard you can’t stand how awesome he is, and I’ll always leave you hungry for more, so I think it’s pretty easy.
Gabriel: I’d say we made our turns as every and each one of them. We became our worst nightmares at some point, a point of no turning back, so we had to face our fears and overcome the problems we have created. Making PIXU was a challenge for all of us, as creators and as a team. And we won. On the other hand, Vasilis is Pestilence, Becky is Death, Fábio is Famine and I’m War!
Becky: If I were to answer this it would signal the end of the world, which in turn means no more comics!! Oh god, then we’d all be out of a job. And life. So let’s compare us to four something else … The Four Seasons? The Four Elements of Hip Hop? I don’t know, I just don’t feel comfortable with these Horsemen guys. They are not to be trusted.

Invincible Iron Man #14 cover, by Marc Silvestri

Thanks to our pals at Marvel Comics, we are pleased to present the exclusive debut of the Invincible Iron Man #14 variant cover by none other than Marc Silvestri!

Continuing the next chapter in Matt Fractions “World’s Most Wanted” storyline, this issue features Tony Stark on the run from his rogues gallery — and the big bad guy in the Marvel Universe, Norman Osborn! Invincible Iron Man #14 hits stores this June.

Be sure to catch this issue in its glorious variant cover by the Top Cow himself, Marc Silvestri.

Click on the image at the right to see it full size.

My Funny Valentine by Aaron Noble

Aaron Noble is a painter who uses comic books as the raw material for the work he creates. Armed with an Exacto blade, the Los Angeles-based artist combs through old comics and cuts out pieces of illustration that catch his eye. He then arranges and rearranges the comic-sourced shapes into new forms on paper. Once satisfied with a collage, he will often paint it large scale on canvas or even as giant murals in cities like San Francisco and Beijing.

Drawing heavily from the “Image revolution” style of comics, Noble’s resulting pieces look less like early-’90s superheroes and their attendant carnage, and more like abstract swirls, spikes, smoke, and explosions. The biggest nerds with photographic memories will recognize elements — Spawn’s cloak here, Azrael’s armored knee there. But divorced from their original framework, they take on a whole new identity — imploding, mutated anatomies of unknown origin, alternately soaring and crawling across the canvas wrapped in computer colored hues and chrome. They are at once compelling and challenging to observe — as the brain eagerly devours the inherent eye candy, it struggles to make sense of the improbable geometries twisting across the surface.

Of course, Noble isn’t the first fine artist to use comic imagery in his work. Roy Lichtenstein, the pop art icon, is a controversial subject in comic book circles for his appropriation of comic book panels originally created by legends such as Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr., and Russ Heath. Lichtenstein’s canvases were hand-painted, enlarged, recomposed, and recontextualized from the originals, but the source artists did not receive credit or a share of the millions made on the art market. Some accuse Lichtenstein’s work of amounting to little more than crass plagiarism — a charge that the Lichtenstein estate has been quick to silence with stern legal challenges.

Noble’s work is clearly a different beast. The source artwork is literally deconstructed — shapes separated from their context and reassembled into new forms that aim to elicit reactions far different from the originals. Collage has been used in fine art for thousands of years — and unlike Lichtenstein, Noble is working in a post-digital world where the issues surrounding sampling in all media have been explored more thoroughly.

So, how much do you have to change artwork from its source to go from swipe to original? Is Noble’s collage work enough? Did Lichtenstein do enough to make the plagiarism accusations unfounded? What do you think? Post your feelings in the comments section.

You can watch Nick Ferrall’s this short documentary on the artist, or see more of Noble’s work at his own website. Those interested in learning more about the Lichtenstein controversy should check out Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein (at least until another cease-and-desist nasty-gram takes it down).

From Maintaining Bohemia, by Harold Sipe and Buster Moody

The grim side of DC’s Zuda Comics program is its swiftly growing graveyard. With 10 competitors every month and only one winner, that leaves the vast majority of promising webcomics in arrested development. Each story has eight pages to make its case — and if voters aren’t feeling it, page nine won’t be around the corner anytime soon.

This month’s Zuda Thunderdome includes the new comic from Harold Sipe and Buster Moody, Maintaining Bohemia. The team behind Screamland, Fangoria Magazine‘s Best Horror Series of 2008, turn their attention to a truly terrifying subject: art school. In their hands, the black sheep of higher education gets a scathing group critique from the janitorial and security staff that keeps the place from falling apart under the weight of its own pretensions.

Sipe’s writing pulls out the laughs as well as the knives (there are at least two “oh, snap” moments on every half-page that rang true for this art-school dropout). Moody’s artwork is, well, moody; his expressive caricatures convey an atmosphere that amplifies the dark, cynical humor. This is a wild webcomic that pulls out the stops, hopefully we get to see what comes next.

You can read Maintaining Bohemia for yourself over at Zuda Comics. If you like what you see, be sure to vote for it, lest we are kept waiting for that ninth page indefinitely.

Having come from the manga and anime worlds, C.B. arrived at the doors of Marvel to create the Marvel Mangaverse line. It was there that he started fostering new creators for the House of Ideas. In addition, C.B. is a creative talent himself, having written the recent Marvel sellout X-Infernus, and his creator-owned Wanderlust with Image Comics. Next up for him is War of Kings: Darkhawk.

Possessing one of the sharpest eyes for talent in the industry, C.B. is known for being generous with his time and advice. “There were lots of people who helped me get to where I am today in comics and I am only happy to return the favor,” he says.

To that end, he has been using his Twitter account to post pointers for comic book hopefuls, distilled into zen-like chunks of 140 characters or less. If you haven’t been following along, grasshopper, you should start immediately!

We’ve collected some of these indispensable koans of wisdom for your guidance. Call it The Tao of Breaking Into Comics, According to C.B. Cebulski.

THIS IS A JOB
When I say “breaking into comics,” I’m generally referring to working for the more major mainstream publishers.

Barely anyone has “broken in” at Marvel or DC directly. We always say it’s better to be published elsewhere first.

Truth be told, it’s easier than ever for anyone to “break into comics” via webcomics and self-publishing these days.

The Internet and/or print-on-demand services mean anyone with an idea, motivation and a little money can bring a comic to life.

The most important thing to remember about working in comics is that THIS IS A JOB!

Your portfolio is your resume. Talks with editors are your job interviews. Be professional.

Yes, working in comics is a lot of fun, but it’s still work and has to be approached as such.

ADVICE FOR ARTISTS
Advice for artists? Start a blog. It’s the best way to get your work looked at. Picasa, Deviant Art and flickr are impersonal and bulky.

Keep click-thrus to a minimum. With a blog it’s just one click and the editor can simply scroll down & see everything you have to offer.

And blogs are easily updated and personalized, which will let more of your individuality and voice come through along with your art.

Artists, you should always post sample pages to a blog and send an editor a link rather than fill up his mailbox with files.

Sending a 15-20MB e-mail that will choke an editor’s inbox and his/her company’s server is the best way to simply have your art deleted.

The best way for an artist to get critical feedback from an editor is to attend portfolio reviews at conventions.

I can usually tell by the first page or two of an artist’s portfolio if they have what it takes to be working professionally. Most editors can.

Tip #1: Put your newest work in the front of your portfolio.

Tip #2: Never put in incomplete pages.

Tip #3: Always include sequential pages. Not just pin-ups.

Tip #4: Don’t make excuses when an editor critiques you. Listen and learn.

Quote Jim Hill: “Also, never make apologies before they say anything. No need to undermine your own work.” The perfect Tip #5.

And I’d recommend bringing a pad & paper if you do meet an editor. Take notes. If they’re taking the time to talk, write down what they say.

The two main things we look for are style and storytelling. Speed is something we learn and judge later.

ADVICE FOR WRITERS
Advice for new writers? Be realistic, start small. No major comic publisher will hire you for a mini or run on a book as your first gig.

You’re better off pitching 8 or 11 pagers or one-shots. Anthologies, back-ups and fill-ins are where many new voices are being tested now.

It’s definitely harder for writers than artists to break into comics these days, in my opinion. The fact of the matter is that it’s much easier to look at an artist’s portfolio and gauge their skills than to read a writer’s samples.

It’s so much harder and time-consuming to review submissions and samples scripts from writers. Which is why we prefer to be given previously printed work from other publishers to review from new writers. So much easier to get a sense of their story/pacing skills.

New writers, I would advise against pitching any ideas verbally to any editor or publisher at a show. Con floors are not the place to pitch. Introduce yourself, strike up a conversation and pass on your previously published work, but follow up with pitches and proposals later.

The bulk of a new writer’s work needs to come after the con, with follow-up and pitching the people you’ve met.

THE ART OF THE PITCH
One thing to keep in mind, each pitch is ultimately a unique experience. It will change depending on company, character, editor, etc.

Use message boards/websites/blogs to find out about other people’s pitching/submissions experiences. There’s a lot of info out there.

I’d say sending a letter of introduction first is a good idea when pitching to ANY company. May help save you time and effort.

Never send anything in to anyone at any major comic company cold. It’s just bad business, won’t get read and will make you look stupid.

Always review a company’s submission guidelines before sending anything to anybody. Know who you are submitting to and what the rules are.

In regards to pitching indy publishers, every one is different. E-mail and ask about their policies before sending anything.

Know who you are pitching to. That’s very important. If you follow the industry, you should know what kind of book editors work on/like.

And as for pitches, I’d keep them to one page. Tagline, high concept, and a full overview with the beginning, middle & end. Less is more.

MEETING EDITORS
My advice for meeting editors is to go to the bar where everyone drinks at the con and buy them a beer.

Seriously, if you buy an editor a drink, you’re at least guaranteed a few minutes of his/her time to toast & chat. Use it to be social.

If you meet and editor at a con and get his/her e-mail address, I recommend waiting at least a week before following up. Let them get back to their lives/jobs first. They’ve been away for the weekend and usually have a lot to catch up on. And when you do follow up, send a polite e-mail with no attachments.

If you have published work, it’s better to send the editor the actual books than links to the stories online.

NEVER LIMIT YOURSELF
Best way not to get work in comics? Use the words “I deserve …” or “I’m just as good as …”

No, seriously, I heard “I deserve …” and “I’m just as good as …” maybe 5 or 6 times at NYCC from writers & artists looking for work.

“Good, fast or nice.” If you’re two of the three, you can get a job in comics, as the saying goes.

But sometimes this old adage is still the most apt: “The best way to get published by Marvel and DC is to get published elsewhere first.”

I always recommend people make comics, whether it’s for themselves or to try and break in professionally.

Never limit yourself. Comics is a medium without boundaries. Explore all options available to you in this glorious form of storytelling.

Los Angeles Ink Stains #7 by Jim Mahfood

The first time I saw Jim Mahfood’s art was in 1999, in the pages of his creator-owned book Grrl Scouts. The book was filled with cute chicks, hip hop, comics and weed, pretty much everything that made me want to move to Los Angeles a year previous. (Sorry, Mom!) Every page was crammed full with Mahfood’s manic, graffiti-inspired line work and laid-back, don’t-give-a-fuuuuuuuuck sense of humor. I was in heaven!

Ten years later, I’m still in LA and Mahfood is still kicking it. His semi-irregular online series Los Angeles Ink Stains is one of the best comics on the web. Each auto-bio installment documents random highlights from his life in Southern California. The subjects range from late night taco runs to creating art to mourning his long-lost best friend.

Mahfood chronicles it all with that same expressive, always-experimenting artwork, and sincere storytelling that doesn’t go for easy glamorization. Rain or shine, moment of glory or walk of shame, Mahfood shares it all.

It’s a fantastic way to experience Los Angeles beyond what you see in US Magazine — the house parties, the creativity, the beach, the good friends, and the lost loves. And the amazing tacos. It makes me nostalgic for a place I’ve never left.

You can check out past installments of Los Angeles Ink Stains here, and catch new installment on Mahfood’s blog, updated regularly.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #8 cover by Jo Chen

Jo Chen delivers some of the most gorgeous and striking comic book covers in the business. Her work first caught my eye on Runaways, and she’s continued her stellar track record on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.

Chen’s flowing style, dynamic compositions and easy naturalism always comes through beautifully, even though she does most of her work digitally. (Broke my heart to learn that, only because it meant there were no original Jo Chens to own.) Best of all, she’s got a playful sensibility that keeps the covers from getting bogged down in overwrought gravitas, no matter the subject. For my money, she’s right up there with James Jean and J.G. Jones. (What’s with all the J names? OK, Paul Pope too.)

Luckily for me and the other Jo Chen fans out there, Dark Horse has assembled a glorious gallery of Chen’s Buffy work on its website. Trust me when I say it was a painful Sophie’s Choice to pick just one piece to post here — it is well worth your time to experience them all for yourself.

Scott Allie (Chen’s editor on Buffy and an expert on breathtaking covers) announced the gallery in his most recent column on Dread Central — don’t miss it for insight into Chen’s creative evolution at Dark Horse, and the connection between pomegranates and vampires.

VIKING issue one cover by Nic Klein.

Viking #1
Script: Ivan Brandon
Art and cover: Nic Klein
Publisher: Image Comics
Release date: April 1, 2009

“Do you see Finn? What your obsession brings?”

Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein’s Viking is about men possessed with ruthless ambition who wield their obsessions like giant swords across the world around them. And as the first issue makes clear, the price these swaggering badasses pay for their obsessions is unpleasant — and violent as hell.

The first issue of Viking explodes right out of the gate, and wastes no time in establishing its own obsessive ambition. Billed as “a crime book for the 9th Century,” this comic features the brothers Finn and Egil, “hungry men” who maraud across the Nordic landscape with reckless abandon, grabbing hard and fast at wealth wherever they can find it, and perhaps something more intangible. Also present is the savage King Bram, who has achieved everything, it seems, but the means by which to satisfy his own heart.

The first thing to mention is all the grim viking action. (These guys aren’t infamous for their slumber parties, after all.) The blood doth run freely in this book, over panels, into the gutters, and practically onto your own fingers. Fools and innocents alike meet grisly ends on swords, spears, or bare hands. The creators do not shy away from the lurid nature of the world they have chosen, but it is never gratuitous. There is a sort of bloodthirsty balance between the violence and the constant threat of violence that keeps the reading experience taut without being oppressive.

Beyond the hack/slash, Brandon and Klein do a great job of resurrecting a long-dead society. The dialog is impressive — characters feel lively and natural when they talk, without a single dude-bro-dude or other embarrassing modernization in sight. Klein draws with a captivating eye for authentic detail — the atmosphere is so strong you can practically feel the grime under your fingernails. If there were a Lucca Brazzi Award for Best Use of a Horse Head, this issue would win it.

All that said, Viking would be nothing more than a leaded History Channel reenactment without the vividness of its core characters. Finn and Egil practically leap off the page with an endearing enthusiasm for their own short-sighted greed; just two smooth-talking hustlers looking to make a dollar out of twenty five cents (with swords). Anyone with a sibling will find their relationship familiar right off the bat. Brutal Bram is king of all he surveys, but only sees the flaws around him. Haunted by his own entrepreneurial determination, he is perpetually unsatisfied except in the company of his daughter Annikki. “My goal is that the son of your son hold stars in his hand,” he tells her. Amidst all these ruthless men, the gutsy Annikki stands out as one of the most compelling characters; her unique perspective on this relentless world makes her the most unpredictable of the bunch.

Brandon and Klein deliver an impressive debut, well worth the anticipation that has been building. Of course, no one (including myself) can talk about Viking without mentioning that other viking book, Brian Wood’s excellent Northlanders. The question implied seems to be, do we need another viking comic book? Is there room on the shelves for two of these books? How many viking comics can there be, anyway?

Viking buries these concerns deep in the ground where they belong. This is a bold book, fearless and driven. It may take place twelve hundred years ago, but its fiercely beating heart comes directly from the world right outside your window. These thugs and barons would not be out of place in the present day, “men with time and dedication” prepared to carve their ruthless obsession across society. This is series to keep your eye on, and a hell of a way to celebrate April Fool’s day. Who says this isn’t the Viking Age of Comics?

Read a seven-page preview of Viking at MySpace Comic Books.