[Neither Brandon nor James attended this year’s Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this year, but that doesn’t mean that C!TB wasn’t covering it. We sent our team of unpaid, unrewarded and unappreciated staff to the Expo to soak up the sights, take some pictures and get some interviews. In the first part of his rundown, Ryan Tomko and Cece Wower talked to some great cosplayers. This is what happened next (basically the same thing).]
[Neither Brandon nor James attended this year’s Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this year, but that doesn’t mean that C!TB wasn’t covering it. We sent our team of unpaid, unrewarded and unappreciated staff to the Expo to soak up the sights, take some pictures and get some interviews. In the first part of his rundown, Ryan Tomko and Cece Wower talk to some great cosplayers.]
[Neither Brandon nor James attended this year’s Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this year, but that doesn’t mean that C!TB wasn’t covering it. We sent our team of unpaid, unrewarded and unappreciated staff to the Expo to soak up the sights, take some pictures and get some interviews. In the first part of her rundown, Brittney Le Blanc talks about what could have gone better.]
It’s Wednesday again, and we’ve prepared a pretty special episode of Podcast! The Comics for you. Because it’s Wednesday. And that’s what we do on Wednesdays. Jesus, haven’t you been paying attention?
This episode is brought to you by Wizard’s Comics, home of the best deal on comics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Check out their website for a list of the week’s new releases and information on upcoming Magic, The Gathering tournaments, and watch their Twitter account for news and announcements about the shop and its wares.
This week, the boys finish their coverage from the 2012 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo with some on location interviews. After a lengthy warm-up with a discussion of Free Comic Book Day, TV and some comics they enjoyed recently, the boys present interviews James did on the floor of the convention with Riley Rossmo (Green Wake, Rebel Blood and the upcoming Debris and Wild Children), Kurtis J. Wiebe (Green Wake, Peter Panzerfaust, The Intrepids and Debris) and Archie artist extraordinaire, Dan Parent. Witness James geeking out as he meets one of the greatest Archie artists of all time!
Find Riley on the web or on Twitter at @rileyrossmo1;
Find Kurtis on the web or on Twitter at @kurtisjwiebe;
Find Dan on the web or on Twitter at @parentdaniel.
Download the episode here or subscribe through iTunes. If you want to subscribe the old-fashioned way, insert the following text into your audio program of choice (in iTunes, click “Advanced,” then click “Subscribe to Podcast”):
http://comicstheblog.libsyn.com/rss
You can also find all the episodes to date on Libsyn’s site here.
As always check us out on on Twitter at @blogaboutcomics, @leask & @soupytoasterson!
First, we went to the 2012 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.
Then, we talked about it.
Now the time has come for something bigger. Something more exciting. Something more… unnecessary. It’s time for…
Full disclosure: I do not cosplay. Even if I had the haberdashocity to actually assemble a costume that didn’t look like those old Halloween costumes that were plastic smocks and brittle masks, I’m lacking the personality type to get the fulfillment out of dressing up like Batman or the Scarlet Witch that the people who partake do. That said, cosplay is absolutely one of the best parts of any comic convention, and that’s because it’s all about love and celebration.
For some reason, we here at C!TB identify with that sentiment.
And so, armed with an unpaid staff member (the awesome Ryan Tomko), media passes and an editorial voice that can best be described as “problematic,” I walked the BMO Centre floors and started demanding things:
No joke: loudly telling Ryan, “I am your employer and you will take the photographs I tell you to so TAKE IT TAKE IT TAKE IT TAKE IT THANK YOU” was literally the first instruction I gave Ryan as I goaded him into pointing his camera at another man’s airbrushed, spandex-clad ass.
James Leask: Professional!
The other instructions were:
(a) Sexy photos of dudes wearing inappropriate costumes, whenever possible;
(2) Nothing too male gaze-y;
($) If you feel uncomfortable and the potential photograph can’t be considered child pornography, take it.
(;) I guess you can take regular photos, too. I guess.
As you might know, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn used to be lady bros. What you might not know is that Androgynous Mr. Freeze liked to join along. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman in the costume when I passed them, but I think we can all agree it’s incredible.
I’m not sure what’s better: the gender-flipped Kraven the Hunter complete with facial hair, the fact that I think she photobombed them, the Spider-Man cosplayers’ “Oh hey, let’s jam!” response, or the fact that like 10 spots behind these people in line was a dude dressed like Peter Parker, complete with a Spidey outfit peeking out from under his street clothes, just cold furious that nobody was asking to take pictures of him.
Spot the hilariously inappropriate part of this photo!
Correct! It’s the fact that there are two Captain Americas. Way to disrespect the canon, toddlers.
What’s better: the fact that a children’s cartoon has engendered such a passionate and active fan community, the fact that Fiona cosplayers outnumbered Finn ones by about 3-1, or the fact that there’s a guy in the background who somehow thinks the photo is about him?
As far as I know, this guy didn’t break character by speaking all weekend, and that is incredible.
Serious question: WHAT IS THIS FROM? Is it Mars Attacks? I don’t know and it is bugging me. Normally the only costumes I don’t understand are the anime ones, because nobody dresses like the characters from K-ON, the anime Josie and the Pussycats starring bored schoolgirls.
This is legitimately amazing. Do you remember ReBoot? You should, because this person does and it is unbelievably awesome. I don’t know if they had multiple masks like the real Hexadecimal.
Wait, what? That wasn’t a documentary?
For the record, that’s not what media passes at the Expo actually looked like, and after a quick moment of thought, I honestly couldn’t think of why they didn’t. Get on that, Marvel! I will literally pay for the ability to get a Daily Bugle press pass that is an actual press pass. This is money on the table. I don’t spend money wisely.
SHOCKER: A grown-ass man who likes My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic thinks that two grown-ass women wearing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cosplay outfits that are also just really well-colour-coordinated street clothes are wonderful.
However, they are still only the SECOND BEST pair of My Little Pony cosplayers I saw all weekend. On the drive home to Edmonton, my sister and I stopped at a Wendy’s to buy healthy food and saw two young men in their early 20s wearing t-shirts with cutie marks painted on them, plastic wings and, in the case of the Rainbro Dash, rainbow-dyed hair. On one level, the costumes were not as well-coordinated as the ones above, but these dudes get extra points for pissing off and (sexually) confusing two really stereotypically macho dudes in tight MMA t-shirts behind them in line. Watching the mix of disgust, interest and absolute, angry confusion on those men’s faces was the perfect cap to my weekend.
Sorry, ladies! Next time try being less heteronormative.
First: those are some seriously badass costumes.
Second: Man, is that dude making eyes at Ryan or what? He-Man, too!
That’s right! This is Sexy Death of Superman cosplay. My hats are off to you two kids. You weird, wonderful, DTF kids.
Seriously though, there has to be fanfiction about this, right? MAKE IT HAPPEN, INTERNET!
Get it? Give it a second.
Yes, this is amazing. This girl is officially BALLER 4 LYFE. She should have business cards made out. Because she is RAD AS ALL HECK.
I honestly don’t know what this is, but it is amazing. Is that some sort of adorable militaristic Jackalope? Because all I know about is Jakalope.
Oh… yeah.
Oh yeah, there was a Star Wars reunion or something. Whatever, George Lucas. Whatever.
Yes, I was exactly as disappointed as you were to discover that wasn’t actually a giant clock/gauge hanging from Galactus’ neck, like an interstellar Flava Flav.
Get on it, nerds.
Wait for it…
BAM. Easily, hands-down, my favourite costume of the weekend. First: adventurous. Second: fuck heteronormativity. Third: he straight-up posed for these like a champion. Gender-flipped Riddler’s Daughter is serious business, you guys.
He was also super nice. Besides complimenting my Mass Effect hoodie - which seems a little silly because compared to a dude dressed in a way to confuse, terrify and excite everyone around him, a member of the press wearing an expensive hooded sweatshirt isn’t exactly impressive - he was also really interested in the Comics! The Blog ethos, namely: nerd culture needs to stop complaining so much and start celebrating. It turns out, he wrote a paper about it!
You guys, I would read the shit out of that paper.
So yeah, that’s the story of how I bullied my photographer into taking weird photographs and ended up bonding with the weirdest dude at the whole comic convention. I would absolutely do it again! I might not dress up, but I’ll enjoy the hell out of seeing people full of so much love that they do. I’ll also drink some questionable, non-FDA-approved energy drink.
Until next year, Calgary!
——-
[NOTE: If you are in one of these photos and would like to request that we add a credit or remove the image, we’d be happy to oblige! Check out the rest of Ryan’s photos over on Flickr.]
Sometimes, when a topic is too big for just one of us, we put our rings together and activate our Wonder Twins powers to take the form of the mystical and elusive Double Team. This Last weekend, both Brandon and James attended the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. For Brandon, it was a busy weekend dealing with a crowded expo hall as a retailer, and for James, it was his first convention as an accredited member of the media, which I guess means nobody at the Expo actually reads this site. Both of the boys had a pretty interesting, busy experience, and they’re here to give their own wrap-ups about the highs, lows and near-death experiences of the 2012 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo!
By James Leask
Every year, attending conventions provokes two alternating reactions in me. On one hand, I love seeing so much nerdy, geeky glee on display and all those thousands of people having fun, and I love being able to meet and talk with creators whom I respect and admire. On the other hand, I also have a severe disliking of most people, and while a lot of any con has the kind of celebration that is the whole reason C!TB exists, it also has the kinds of things that frustrate me to no end about nerds and people, mostly falling under the general category of what-the-hell-people-how-is-it-possible-to-be-so-inconsiderate.
First: if you have spent hours in line to get into a place, a place that is full with at some estimates 35,000 people on one day, as my boss informed me was reported on the news, if you suddenly stop in the middle of an aisle, in front of hundreds of people all trying to get somewhere, and form a circle to talk about something while holding up traffic, you are an incredible asshole. I am not saying you deserve to be cut (I am a pacifist, after all), but it is a distinct possibility because:
Second: I am pretty sure that a vendor skirting the rules that say you can’t sell actual weapons by selling a dull katana (as is allowed) by surreptitiously charging a customer a second fee to sharpen it for them, then allowing them to carry it around for the rest of the day at an expo centre where there is almost no elbow room, let alone murder sword room, is actually, genuinely illegal. Please don’t do it, you contemptible, reckless assholes.
Then again, I haven’t heard about anyone being maimed with a samurai sword at all since I’ve returned home, so I’m guessing it’s time to take an angry lap and remember the fact that, despite a certain amount of dicks and a fundamentally broken organizational infrastructure (more on that later), ultimately the weekend and the Expo weren’t that bad. For one thing, this was the first convention I’ve attended with a large group of friends, which meant that I always had people to joke with, wait in line with and have fun with. We went out for meals, had at least one hotel party and shared looks of shock at the male cosplayer dressed like a scantily-clad Riddler’s Daughter which was, for the record, an incredible costume.
It was also my first convention attended as an accredited member of the press, which, despite my PR contact being completely unreachable for the entire weekend and resulting in the cancelation of every single media guest interview I’d been arranging, meant that it was easier to move around the BMO Centre and to arrange on-the-fly interviews with comic creators, which was pretty dang neat. Not only was I able to talk with C!TB favourites Kurtis J. Wiebe and Riley Rossmo about the dearly departed Green Wake and their new projects, but I made some connections for future interviews. Oh, and I sat down for an interview with a certain Dan Parent, aka one of the greatest Archie Comics artists in the title character’s 70+ year history, to talk about his work with the company and the incredible amount of television he watches. Brandon and I also picked up some of Parent’s original black and white art pages, so I guess all in all it was pretty neat.
It was also C!TB’s first convention presence with an actual, genuine (unpaid) staff member. If you stop by later in the week, I think you’ll enjoy seeing our photo/cosplay wrap-up for the Calgary Expo with photos by my friend/servant Ryan Tomko, who got the “privilege” of hearing me loudly tell him, “I am your employer and you will take the photos I tell you to, so take a picture of that male Scarlet Spider cosplayer’s airbrushed ass or you’re fired, take it take it take it take it take it THANK YOU.”
James Leask: Employer of the Month!
Believe it or not, that wasn’t the weirdest things got over the weekend, because I hadn’t yet paid four dollars to drink a foul-tasting energy drink that:
Minutes after drinking the can of Verve, I indeed felt a rush of energy and “thrilling results,” defined, I’m guessing, as “dizziness,” “pain,” “the urge to sit down and rest,” and the frequent request to friends that “I need an adult.”
Keep in mind, the product’s tag line includes the word “Insanely,” so it’s not like I shouldn’t have known what I was getting into. Hours later, I was finally feeling fine and, for reasons unknown, discussing with Ryan my plan to “have three cans [on Sunday], get weird and do some interviews.” Unsurprisingly, the only friend who would lend me some extra change to buy some Verve was Brandon, despite the physical attempts at protestation by our friends, because he is a good friend. In the end, I decided to buy some onigiri instead and then later discovered that I potentially escaped a case of selenosis, the symptoms of which include “garlic odor on the breath, gastrointestinal disorders, hair loss, sloughing of nails, fatigue, irritability, and neurological damage,” extreme cases of which can involve “cirrhosis of the liver, pulmonary edema, and death.”
In other words, we have finally found the line I will not cross, and I say that as someone who bought a non-FDA-approved energy drink because “I want[ed] to make some bad decisions.”
All this puts what I was going to wrap up with – namely, that the Calgary Expo’s repeated assertions that, despite turning away hundreds of attendees who had already purchased advance passes because the fire marshal wouldn’t let any more people into the convention, they weren’t actually oversold are factually untrue at the fundamental level of language – kind of inconsequential, because no matter how many vacationing young families with children and advance passes were turned away, how many times Ryan was delayed getting his press pass because he was told that if he stepped outside the hall, he wouldn’t be allowed back in due to overselling, or how many volunteers actually told people in line that the convention was oversold and that they should just go to the Craft Expo next door instead, I survived. Some days, that just has to be enough, because not only did I get to meet Dan Parent, I managed to live to see another convention.
By Brandon “Nerp Patrol” Schatz
I didn’t murder anyone and I haven’t murdered anyone and quite frankly, I think that is an accomplishment.
At about 2pm on Saturday, as the torrent of people kept flowing in and out of the 3 section booth I was working, I felt my brain enter a panic mode. I needed the people to stop coming, and I needed there to be nobody for five whole minutes. Just five. But that wasn’t going to happen, clearly was an impossibility, and through sheer force of will, I wrangled my brain back under my tenuous control, produced a smile, and continued to deal my wares.
But then there’s the people who ask if they can get an extra discount on $35 hardcovers that we’re selling for 10, the ones that haughtily exit your booth because they feel like they’re owed a better deal than less than half when we attempt to politely tell them “no”. There’s the people that grab $500 worth of product and ask if you’d be interested in letting the whole lot go for $100 total. And sometimes, there’s the odd douchebag that walks right into your booth asking if you got anything that isn’t tactile because “paper is fucked and if you don’t start selling movies or some shit, you’ll be out of business in a year.” Yes, some people come to comic and entertainment conventions to tell you how your comic shop is going to fail, while your ever expanding fistful of twenties, fifties and hundreds starts to get unwieldy.
And there’s the set up, which takes hours and makes you tired before the convention even begins. And then there’s the take down, which takes hours, and makes you tired as you begin your long drive home. The bathrooms, the food lines, the ticking clock that tells you that you should be heading back to your booth so the next guy can have an hour to tour around the show as the guy in front of you starts his lecture on why they liked so-and-so’s take on a character better and couldn’t they write them or draw them a little more like that?
Conventions can be maddening, especially when some of your favourite creators are just a walk away, and you’re stuck in the trenches.
However.
Through the day, you are beset by friends, acquaintances, and customers who are positively beaming and vibrating with excitement, because holy damn the things they have done! They have a sketch by George Perez. They met Stan Lee, and he signed their favourite comic. They sat in the Batmobile, shined Patrick Stewart’s head, and had sex with the Honky Tonk Man.
That last bit might be a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. You get to see people that you know, that you love utterly giddy at what they’ve been able to do, what they’ve been able to acquire. And that? That’s the good stuff. You get to drink all of that in, and more often then not, you can smile to yourself when you (somewhat selfishly) realise that they’ve come to you to let you know, because you’re a part of this. You’ve been a part of their love of comics, of media, of whatever, and you’ve helped them down the path. You’ve chatted with them, and you’ve spent time and countless hours helping nurture and foster a love that has culminated, in some cases, in this giant burst of excitement.
You really feel like you’re part of something larger than yourself - and no matter how tiring or frustrating the job can be, helping people get that feeling (and getting that feeling yourself when you’re let out of the pen for a few hours) is just about the best thing in the world.
Comics are fucking rad you guys, and whenever I finish a con, that’s the thing I always take with me. I’m in an industry that I love, helping people love it back. And that’s amazing.
Plus, sometimes to cap off a convention, your girlfriend finds a booth selling pins with phrases from iCarly emblazoned on them, and she buys them for you. And that’s pretty rad too.
Interview: Scott Kurtz
One of the creators that we had a chance to talk to on the weekend was Scott Kurtz. Scott is a true pioneer in the field of webcomics; his strip, PVP (Player Vs. Player) began in 1998 and, 13 years later, has grown and evolved to be one of the most successful webcomics in the business. He is the co-author of the book How to Make Webcomics and, with Kris Straub, creator of Starslip Crisis and Chainsaw Suit, he makes Blaminations, which air on Penny Arcade TV.
Until July 8, 2011, you can pre-order a signed DVD copy of the first season of Scott and Kris’ Blaminations, complete with bonus features, including three bonus Blam Knights episodes, commentary from Scott and Kris on each episode, video of the duo’s live panel from PAX East 2011, and The Alliday single “Scott’s Song”, and that’s not even to mention the crazy awesome, limited edition map of Rivenshire, which is totally a thing you should watch the Blaminations to learn about. Basically, this is an embarrassment of riches, and I can’t believe you haven’t ordered it yet. Why haven’t you? Come on!
Our conversation with Scott was a lot of fun, ranging from the current Canada Post strike [Ed note: Yes, really] to digital comics and the Reuben Awards. Scott’s role as one of the primogenitors of webcomics means that he has a lot of useful insights about the medium, and we were lucky enough to talk to him quickly about that and more.
James: So how’s Calgary treating you?
Scott: Oh man, the show was insane! I mean, like, I sold out at eleven on Saturday morning!
J!TB: Yeah! I got here at noon yesterday, and I was thinking, I’m going to buy a bunch of your books!
Scott: Nope.
J!TB: And they were all gone!
Scott: I did not bring near enough. Completely underestimated how much to bring.
J!TB: Once the postal strike is over, I’ll have to order a bunch of stuff from your store.
Scott: Yeah, what is up with that?
Brandon: Uh… shenanigans. It doesn’t really happen that often, but when they do…
J!TB: They might be getting back to work legislation this week, though.
Scott: There was an airline strike, right?
B!TB: Yeah.
Scott: And then a mail strike?
B!TB: Yes.
J!TB: Mmm-hmm. And the airline strike used to be our national airline that we owned. It was an odd week: one crown corporation and an old crown corporation both go on strike.
Scott: Oh, wow.
J!TB: And then Vancouver rioted.
Scott: Yeah… that’s really… that doesn’t count, that’s just a bunch of assholes.
B!TB: That’s a bunch of people fucked up on hockey, that’s what that is.
Scott: Yeah.
J!TB: So how has the move to Seattle treated you?
Scott: I love it in Seattle. It’s an amazing city, I wish I had moved there earlier.
J!TB: I’ve only been there twice, but I really liked it. I went there for PAX 09 and another time just for fun.
Scott: Yeah, PAX is great!
J!TB: So what kind of things are you reading right now? Like, comics, books, anything.
Scott: What comics, books or anything am I reading right now? I’m not reading anything right now actually on a regular basis, I’m not picking up current titles. I haven’t been to a comic book shop in a long time. I’m reading mostly online stuff. And I’ve kind of been reading novels again, so I’ve been really into A Song of Fire and Ice, I’ve been reading George R.R. Martin stuff.
J!TB: I recently had Patrick Rothfuss recommended to me.
Scott: Yeah, The Name of the Wind, I need to read that. [Mike] Krahulik [of Penny Arcade] loves that.
J!TB: It’s great. I’m about halfway through it and I’m loving it. But speaking of reading a lot of things digitally, you’ve long talked about digital comics being just as important as print ones,
Scott: Sure.
J!TB: So what do you think about the big announcement from DC, that they’ll be publishing everything digital day-and-date?
Scott: I think they’re completely different animals, I think that for the comic book companies, that digital is a secondary market, and for us it’s our main form of monetization, so they look at it – and have to look at it – completely different from the way we look at things. They are making comics and then remonetizing them, so I think it’s really smart. I think the trick is going to be them letting go of having to help the retailers.
B!TB: Yes.
J!TB: Yeah.
Scott: Because I think that’s going to doom everybody.
B!TB: Everyone was asking why the price point, and the moment that they can make it work otherwise, they’re going to drop the prices, and they’re still going to do $1.99, which I don’t think is right either, but the moment that they can make it work without kind of the retail numbers being so important to them, they’re going to do it.
Scott: Yeah, they’re going to. They’re going to have to. So I think that’s going to stall things for a while.
J!TB: So I heard you went to the Reuben Awards recently, what was that like?
Scott: Yeah! It was amazing, we had a really good time. The NCS [National Cartoonists Society] is really open to learning about webcomics and how they work, and that kind of monetization, because their main business model is dying off. And pretty much all the cartoonists there are just really excited and open that webcomics are comic in, and it was really good. And it was fun to meet all my heroes and stuff!
J!TB: I know Bill Amend [of Fox Trot] is pretty big on digital comics.
Scott: Oh yeah, Bill gets it. Bill has no problem understanding it.
J!TB: I liked seeing that as soon as he went to digital production, you could see the shift in his work a little bit; some of those references became a little more obscure, a little more nerdy.
Scott: Yeah.
J!TB: And so now I read Fox Trot and think, Yessssss, I have loved you since I was a kid and now I love you even more.
Scott: Yeah, Bill is in a position where he can take a couple more chances these days.
J!TB: Definitely. Well, thank you very much!
Scott: Yeah, no problem!
J!TB: And, of course, our customary final question: will you adopt us?
Scott: Will I adopt you?
B!TB: Yes.
J!TB: We’re willing to relocate.
Scott: Um… alright. I don’t have any kids. I hope you like dogs, we’ve got two.
J!TB: Of course!
Scott: Alright, we’ll adopt you.
B!TB: Hooray!
Thanks again to Papa Scott for taking the time to talk to us and for agreeing to adopt us, thus ending our gruelling daylong search for comics parents.
Interview: Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen
Over the weekend at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Brandon and James had the great fortune to be able to talk with husband and wife writer/artist team Kathryn and Stuart Immonen. The resulting conversation was absolutely wonderful, with constant laughter and wild gesturing. It ranged from Patsy Walker: Hellcat to Ernest Hemingway, to Hemingway! The Musical and back to Patsy Walker: Hellcat, who stars in it. Somewhere in the middle, we talked about the pair’s upcoming graphic novel, Russian Olive to Red King, as well as a certain Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock film about a time traveling mailbox.
Assume that everybody involved was constantly laughing, and join us as the RECORD button finally got pushed, a minute or two into a discussion about planets.
James: The industry should be dedicated towards more Patsy Walker: Hellcat.
Kathryn: That’s what I think!
Stuart: Yes!
Kathryn: If there should be crossovers, they should be with Patsy Walker: Hellcat.
Stuart: It should be Patsy Planet; all super heroes resemble her in some way.
Kathryn: That’s right.
J!TB: The Patsyverse!
Stuart: Yes!
Brandon: We need to get Axel Alonso on the phone.
Stuart: Yes!
B!TB: Because we’ve got a crackerjack idea for him.
Kathryn: That sounds like a winner.
J!TB: So what is your favourite thing that you’re reading right now? Books, comics…
[Stuart signs an autograph for a fan, apologizes.]
Kathryn: What is on the bedside table right now? Oh, it’s Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream, which is the most lovely and beguiling story. But really, you know, comics right now, it’s for work. It’s one of the unpleasant side effects of working for Marvel or for any of them. The amount of reading you have to do kind of eclipses the reading that you might want to do.
J!TB: Whatever brings you joy, I mean that’s what we’re about at Comics! The Blog: things we like.
Kathryn: I like Hemingway… I like Hemingway!
B!TB: There you go, that’s what we needed to know.
Kathryn: He’s an okay writer, right?
Stuart: I think he’s going to go places!
Kathryn: I think that too. He’s got potential.
Stuart: He’d fight you to prove it.
B!TB: That would be fantastic, I would love that story.
Kathryn: Apparently he wasn’t that good of a boxer. It was all a lot of bluster, not a lot of technique.
J!TB: But a story about Ernest Hemingway, the failed boxer? That sounds wonderful.
Kathryn: Well, didn’t they do a movie that was about the fight – the so-called fight – between Hemingway and… on come on… help me out…
J!TB: It wasn’t Faulkner… I know they had an odd, occasionally–
Kathryn: I think it was in Toronto, and they were in the ring, and it’s like… aw, I can’t remember who it was. I don’t think it happened the way he talked about it.
Innocent bystander: Wasn’t it called Fighting Hemingway?
Kathryn: I think it might have been. That was a very longwinded answer.
B!TB: No worries, this is exactly the thing we’re interested in.
J!TB: So what kind of things are you working on right now? That you can obviously talk about?
Kathryn: Yeah, you know, I hate that so much. People online say, “Aw, I wish I could talk about-“ Oh, shut up. If you can’t talk about it, then don’t talk about it. “Look at me!”
B!TB: “You know, this thing’s coming, and it’s–“
Stuart: Oh, look at you!
Kathryn: “–It’s just fantastic, but I can’t! I wish I could tell you!”
Stuart: “–Way too important.”
Kathryn: “It’s way too top secret.” I am right at the beginning of working on something that’s just one issue, I can’t, It’s not… whatever. So I can’t tell you, but what’s happening is that in the fall, Stuart and I are taking a little break, hopefully, to work on our next book together, so it gets a little–
Stuart: Not hopefully, definitely.
Kathryn: Yeah. Definitely.
J!TB: It’s a working vacation.
Kathryn: Yeah. So, it’s Russian Olive to Red King and that’s really the next thing on our list of things to do.
Stuart: Actually, it’s already been scripted, and I did the first 20 or so pages in pencil form, and then I started Fear Itself and had to put it aside, but it’s always been sort of in the back of our minds that we had to find time to do it. And then, you know, I got the email from Tom Brevoort, who’s the editor on Fear Itself, just a few weeks ago, saying, “Oh, we’ve got something in mind for you,” which of course I can’t talk about. But it won’t start until later on in the year, maybe in 2012, and I said, “Well, that sounds perfect, because I want to do this other thing.” It all works out.
J!TB: So would this project you’re working on together be something like, will it be serialized like Moving Pictures or will it be a book that people buy?
Kathryn: A book that people will buy.
B!TB: It’s true.
J!TB: We’re going to force people to on the site.
Kathryn: Nice! When we serialized Moving Pictures, it was not really because we wanted to do a webcomic, it was just because we needed a way to have a deadline in between all the Marvel stuff to make sure that it happened. As a result, it took three years, which is a very long time, so this book will take three months and then it should be basically done, so it could be out sometime next year.
Stuart: Well, that’s a little bit optimistic; we don’t even have a publisher yet lined up for it, but the same way that Moving Pictures was completed before we shopped it around to different interested parties, Russian Olive to Red King is going to be completely done before we ask anybody to look at it. And that doesn’t mean that there’s no room for the editorial process, because we’re very keen on that, we’re very keen on getting some fresh eyes to look at the material and tell us where, you know, we might have gone astray from the original idea.
Kathryn: And where we forgot to have a car chase and a gunfight.
Stuart: We deviated. But at the same time, we’re very much aware that publishers at every level in the industry are really interested in having complete works that they don’t have to wait on before they can decide whether it’s good for them or not.
J!TB: Any word on what Russian Olive to Red King will be about?
Stuart: I’ll let Kathryn handle that.
Kathryn: It’s a scorcher. It’s basically a love story. It’s about loss, I guess. It’s wrapped up in a delicious package that looks like a ghost story. It’s two parallel narratives: it’s about a man and a woman, and they are together, but in this story he’s at home, experiencing writer’s block and also a lot of personal trauma, and she’s just been in a plane crash in Northern Ontario, which she may or may not have survived. It’s uncertain, it becomes more clear as you go along that at one point she may have actually died, and it may not be until the end. So it has all the hallmarks of a love story.
Stuart: A love story in which the two main characters never interact with each other at all.
J!TB: Oh, The Lake House!
Kathryn: Oh god! Yes! It’s like The Lake House-meets–
Stuart: –The Time Traveller’s Wife.
Kathryn: Oh my god, I’m sorry–
J!TB: That’s the pull quote!
Kathryn: Oh dear… talk about a beguiling tale. Inspired by Hemingway, and then she fights a marlin… and Faulkner.
Stuart: That sounds like a Patsy Walker story.
J!TB: She’s already fought Oppenheimers. [Ed note: in Heralds #1]
Kathryn: That’s right! I am so happy.
B!TB: That happened!
Stuart: Punch that fish on the nose!
Kathryn: That’s right! Patsy Walker fights Hemingway. That’s where we’re going with this one. Nice! Patsy Walker is Hemingway: The Musical! Hemingway, exclamation point!
B!TB: Exclamation point, exactly! I would see that!
Kathryn: Dancing fish?
B!TB: Yeah yeah!
Kathryn: Awesome!
Stuart: They won’t be able to capture the physical element of this conversation. [Ed note: it was incredible]
Kathryn: That’s right! Bracket, dancing, close bracket!
B!TB: No worries.
Kathryn: Oh my god.
B!TB: That was fantastic.
J!TB: And now our customary final question at Comics! The Blog: will you adopt us?
Kathryn: Well, do you know what? Andy Belanger, Kill Shakespeare artist, has already asked, so you’ll have to get in line.
Stuart: We have one slot available.
Kathryn: That’s right.
Stuart: And he took it up, earlier on, just earlier this weekend.
Kathryn: If only you’d gotten here a little bit sooner.
B!TB: Well, I guess that’s fair enough, because then we would have had to fight and that would have been bad.
Stuart: Yeah.
Kathryn: That’s right, unless you know–
Stuart: –Unless there were marlins involved.
B!TB: Exactly. We were not prepared.
Stuart: Waterproof boxing.
B!TB: Awesome! Thank you very much.
Stuart: You’re welcome. Thank you!
Kathryn: I’ve gotta find a way to add Wolverine to it, that way it’ll sell.
This was maybe the greatest day ever. Thank you to both Kathryn and Stuart for their time and for being much, much funnier than us.
Interview: Gail Simone
This last weekend, C!TB attended the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, the largest event of its kind in Western Canada. One of the highlights was meeting one of C!TB‘s favourite creators, the esteemed Gail Simone. Gail is known for her work on Deadpool, Birds of Prey and Secret Six, as well as being one of the leaders in creating and advocating a diverse comics industry. Gail was generous enough to take time from her busy convention schedule to talk about the DC relaunch (where she’s writing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and collaborating with Ethan Van Sciver on The Fury of Firestorm), the opportunities presented by digital comics, and being told she’d never make a living as a writer.
James: So, any big news recently?
Gail Simone: Are you kidding me? Everything new is happening, are you kidding me? Coming out in September is Batgirl #1 with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl again, and also I’m working on The Fury of Firestorm with Ethan Van Sciver and Yildiray Cinar, I’m very excited about both projects.
Brandon: I may have gotten my facts confused, but Wildstorm is in a wheelchair, right?
G: Wildstorm is in a wheelchair, what? [Laughs]
B!TB: Firestorm is in a wheelchair, I mean.
G: [Laughs] No. You’re… you’re confused.
J!TB: So how do you write Babs differently as Batgirl than you would as Oracle? Is there a different psychology to it that you’re finding?
G: I don’t want to say too much to answer that question because a lot of that is definitely story elements that we want to reveal as the reader’s reading it. She’s still Barbara Gordon, she’s still very much the smart, compassionate, take no crap and kick ass kind of character, just like she was in or out of the wheelchair. There’s a different take on it, it’s all very positive and I feel there’s changes in her that will effect her psychologically a little bit, yes, and we’ll reveal that as we’re going through the story bits at a time how she’s feeling about being Batgirl again.
B!TB: So at the comic store that I work at, for the past few weeks, whereas people in comics to a certain extent will talk comics, when a person goes to the comic store that’s where they have to talk–
G: Right, exactly.
B!TB: So for the last two weeks, a lot of what I find is when I’ve told people about Batgirl, because it is one of the bigger things in the relaunch, is I find first they’re a little, like, “No, no, no,” but actually, when they hear that you’re writing it, they kind of step back and go, “…I will read that.”
G: [Laughs] That is very flattering and great that people will have that kind of trust and I’m hoping that I’m honouring that when they read the work, because we all worked really hard on it, it’s an absolutely stunningly gorgeous book. One of the things we’re seeing is true joy in it and I’m having a lot of fun writing a character that’s just so full of joy even though there may be some bad things going on, so I’m really enjoying that and every panel that Ardian [Syaf] turns in is just a joy. He’s so good with facial expressions and action and the designing of the costumes and the new villains, it’s just all very exciting.
J!TB: Our big site ethos is talk about what we like, and so we like finding the joy in comics so I’m really glad to hear that, because there’s a lot of joy and that it’s fun.
G: There is. I mean, not to say there won’t be things other than joy.
J!TB: [Laughs] It’s all going to be rainbows and sprinkles.
G: [Laughs] Of course! Because it’s a girl book, right?
J!TB: Yeah! [Ed note: No.]
G: The art that they showed yesterday here at the convention for the first time, just a full page of her in the new Batgirl suit, and it’s just so beautiful and so, you could just feel the exhilaration when you looked at that page, that she must be feeling, being able to do that, so I’m excited for people to see the rest.
J!TB: Is it a difficult situation? I mean, there are verystrong opinions on both sides with Babs returning as Batgirl.
G: I don’t know if I would call it difficult, because I certainly understand everyone’s concerns. I was concerned about it as well. I went back and forth on whether this was a good idea and I would not have agreed to it if I did not think that it was a positive thing, that I could hopefully handle it well and do everything justice. There has been a strong reaction and that is such a compliment to all of the people who have worked on Birds of Prey and written Oracle in the past, how she has just really become such a large part of the DCU, and I’m excited about that idea as well, and I think with what we’re doing with the new Batgirl, with her as Batgirl, is every bit as exciting.
B!TB: A lot of people have been skipping over the Firestorm of it all, which makes us sad, because I have a feeling that book is going to be great. Ethan Van Sciver is not a person known a lot for writing, but how does that sort of collaboration work out?
G: First of all, don’t be afraid to pick this book up. This book is something completely different. It has Ethan’s energy; probably the closest thing I can relate it to is the very first issues of Green Lantern with Geoff Johns and Ethan. The stories are huge, large scoping stories that build and build and build, and the way that the project is working is that I turned down the project quite a few times [Laughs] and Ethan literally kept saying, “Gail, no, this is going to be awesome, you have to do this, you have to write it, no, this is going to be awesome.” I was, “No, I don’t want to, I have nothing to say about this character,” and I can’t write a book if I don’t feel like I have something anything to say or something new to add or something, you know? And he just kept saying, “No, it’s going to be awesome,” and so finally, he just talked to me enough and I really respect his work and his ideas enough that I finally sit down and listened. It just sparked all these ideas and he and I went back and forth quite a while and put together a pitch. He’s co-plotting and doing the covers and kind of looking at the art as it comes in – which has all been fantastic – and I’ve been scripting and also co-plotting.
J!TB: That’s really cool! I know I didn’t really know a lot about Firestorm before Blackest Day. [Ed note: Let’s just pretend this was a deliberate portmanteau, how about?]
G: Right, and you don’t have to start with this, either.
J!TB: And that’s the good part about the relaunch. There are DC books that I pick up, but there are a lot I don’t, and now I’m looking at the 52 titles and thinking, oh man, I am going to be poor.
G: [Laughs] That’s a good sign.
B!TB: Yeah, mostly because I am going to sell them all to him.
G: We’re all going to be eating spaghetti for months now and nothing else.
B!TB: Living the high life.
J!TB: So what’s your take on, say, the digital side of the announcement? That’s one thing that I think – I mean, I’m very interested in it and I’ve written about it a few times for the site – but people kind of talked about it that first day or two and then once the announcements and the solicits happened, nobody talked about the digital part of it.
G: I think that’s probably just because of who’s talking loudest on the internet, might not be talking about the digital part. I think a lot of people are really excited about it, the creators are excited about it, and I’m excited about the fact that we have this opportunity now, that we can read an audience, that’s not to take away from our local comic book stores or anything like that. There’s a lot of places that don’t have a comic book store, my hometown didn’t have one until very recently, and so we don’t have access to the comics or we can only go to the comic book store – because this one is an hour and a half away – I can only go every once in a while. Sometimes when I got there the new cool stuff that I didn’t know was going to be cool was sold out. So, if something is sold out, you can get it. If you don’t have access to it regularly, you can get it. You can get back issues that aren’t available. I think that a lot of new readers are so used to reading things via computer, and the way video gaming works, that I think it gives us a great opportunity as creators and readers to put more content out. Like, maybe you are reading along and maybe a story that’s taken place previously is mentioned but you didn’t read that; you could have a little link to that story if you’re interested, or we could tell you more about the city of Gotham or more about Lois Lane, her background. By pushing at different things you can get deeper into the story and deeper into the characters, and I’m excited by that and I think that stuff that’s come out digitally on the DC app on the iPad in particular, which is what I have, is amazing. I think that Welcome to Tranquility in particular looks great on the iPad because it’s got different art styles and panel arrangements, and it just looks gorgeous on the iPad. So I’m excited about that too, and I know a lot of artists I’ve talked to are pretty excited about the possibilities of what they can do digitally as well.
J!TB: I know Tim Seeley has done Double Feature on the iPad.
G: Right!
J!TB: That was so much of a revelation, with the commentary and the different stages of the art. That’s something that you used to get if you got the hardcover deluxe version of something, and now I can see that and it’s wonderful.
G: Yeah! I think it’s great.
B!TB: From the retailer’s standpoint, I get a lot of people coming up asking about it, as to like, “Oh, are you worried? Is everything going to collapse around you?” I think there’s always that thing in, let’s just say our heads – in nerds’ heads – that’s just like, “I like this so much, I need it. I need it to take up space in my life.” Which is what the collections are for.
G: Yeah, and not only that, but to hold it, to interact with it. Some people are not as comfortable doing that digitally as they are with an actual paper cover, and each thing… I see the art come in in stages; I see the pencils, and then I see the inks, and then it’s the colour. Well, at each stage it changes, and it’s still fantastic at each stage clear on up to the final project, and no matter if we’re seeing it digitally or on paper, it’s still going to be great and worth seeing, but it’s not going to be exactly the same. I think if people really love that tactile experience with the paper and the ink and everything and the collecting, they’re not going to give up and just go straight to digital. I think people are going to use it more as a supplement, per se, and then maybe some of the younger crowd, that’s how they’ll get their comics. But I feel it will all still get people to try things that they wouldn’t try normally and then maybe come to the store and buy more of it–
B!TB: Yes!
G: –I really think it’s going to have those kinds of effects.
J!TB: I’m interested in seeing what happens with the combo packs.
G: Yeah, I’m interested too, I think it’s going to be well received.
B!TB: It’s… a bit of a tricky situation, because I know on the one hand it’s sort of, well, now you have your comic and you can go read your digital copy, but it’s very interesting to try and figure out what to order, from an ordering standpoint too, because I guess we can order a whole bunch of the regular copies, but does it really, do you order 50 of the bonus packs?
G: Right, and you’d have to talk to somebody more experienced with the comics retailing that I am to help you through that, but I think if people really love something, they’re going to buy a hard copy of it and keep it in good condition and I think they’re going to buy a digital copy with them to carry around and read on the train or the bus or wherever.
B!TB: I’ve had one customer, just be like, “Well, it looks like I’m done,” but that was to be expected. He’s very into, like, he gets his Silver Age collections, those big expensive hardcovers, and he gets the series that he’s been collecting.
G: These things are still going to happen, guys. These products are still going to be available. I don’t think we’re cutting back those types of things at all.
B!TB: And for that one customer that we’ve had, six of seven people will be like, “Well, I need to have half the DC comic books.”
G: [Laughs] I’m so sorry, guys. Not really.
B!TB: It’s a balance. We lost 8 monthly books [from that customer] and gained like… this. [Ed. Note: Brandon’s hand gesture here is too much to show on the internet.] It’s a fantastic market opportunity to go around to the community and be like, “Hey, if you like your Batmen, here’s a new #1 issue of Batman.” It’s everything, across the board.
G: I agree, and I also think that making stuff available, like I said, if you happen to go into a comic book store and you see Issue #4 of something that looks great, and you pick it up and you like it, and maybe your comic book store is sold out of 1, 2 and 3, then they can go back digitally and be caught up story-wise. I think that it’s going to be used a lot of ways and I’m excited to see how in a year where we’re at.
J!TB: I know you started off, as you refer to it, as a depraved hairdresser–
G: [Laughs]
J!TB: –How did you move to working in the comics industry?
G: I actually came to a point in my life where I felt like I needed something a little bit more creative. Hairdressing is very creative and I loved being a hairdresser, but I had aspired to be a writer and possibly a screenwriter or actress – I was really involved in theatre – and then, you know, I had to eat, for one thing, and I was always told growing up that I’d never make a living writing, so I got way sidetracked. I just got to that point in my life where I was like, “Whoa, I need something more creative, what can I do?” and I started listing things. “Well, I certainly can’t draw, I’m not a sculptress, I don’t really sew,” you know, I went through all these things that I can’t do and, “Oh, I used to write, I wonder if I can still do that?” Also, at that same time, we were having comic book chat rooms and like I said we didn’t have a comic book store in my small town, nobody to talk to about comics, so I was going on the chat rooms and I was writing these weird little parody pieces that people thought were funny. They started circulating, and then that led to a column that I had weekly on CBR called “You’ll All Be Sorry!” I wrote that weekly, and that just caught a lot of people’s attention, a lot of editors’ attention.
The first professional comics work I did was for The Simpsons #50, and then I did Killer Princesses and Deadpool and then shortly after that I started writing Birds of Prey at DC. And I had my salon for the first probably 5 or 6 years of my writing career; I’d cut back one day at the salon and add more writing, and then another day, and then eventually… because I was told I couldn’t make a living writing all my life, so I was terrified because I made a living as a hairdresser. So eventually, it just got to a point where I was having to cancel people, I was getting so many phone calls in the middle of doing hair, I was having opportunities to travel, and it just seemed like… and then I was offered an exclusive contract for a decent length of time, and I decided, “If I’m ever going to try to make a living writing, now is the time to do it.”
J!TB: We have one more question: will you adopt us?
G: [Laughs] I’ve adopted the whole comics community, what are you talking about?
J!TB: Well, thanks!
G: I’m not wealthy enough to leave you a big inheritance, so if that’s what you’re going for, sorry.
J!TB: We write about comics for free on the internet…
G: [Laughs] Yeah…
C!TB would like to thank Gail for taking the time to talk with us and for being just as awesome as we always hoped she would be. It was a delight and an honour.
Nerds! Man, are we excited to see you! Both of us just got back this evening from the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, and we had a great time. Of course, we spent far too much money and James discovered that Brandon will sell him comics even if it’s not from his own store and it’s just “some dude” like Jeff Lemire who is begging for nickels [Ed note: There was no begging]. Anyway, we’re both coming back from the weekend poorer in money but richer in spirits (and comics), especially after some invigorating interviews with some of comics’ best. Expect interviews up the pooper this week, in that there are three, but first, enjoy the comics we liked best from last week.
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’ IN FUTURE REDHEADS, OR: PARENTS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND
You’ve probably realized by this point that any time there’s a new Kieron Gillen comic released, we’re probably going to name it one of the best comics of that week. There is a very simple reason, of course: THIS MAN DOES NOT RELEASE COMICS THAT AREN’T THE BEST.
Feeling like doubting us? Look at the most recent issue of Generation Hope. In Issue #8, we see Hope Summers’ team face its biggest foe yet that’s not either a biometallic tentacle monstrosity (Hi, Kenji!) or an unborn baby that can control minds and doesn’t like the idea of comin’ out of its mother’s lower <CRUDE REFERENCE HERE>: the legal system. Apparently, when Hope and the X-Men took Teon to live with them, they might not have asked his parents first, which is kind of like kidnapping except with more spandex and multiethnic code names.
From all this, we get one of the most interesting reveals about Teon’s powers yet: his hyperinstincts don’t always result in the monosyllabic primitive we’ve seen so far; sometimes, he can be… well, you should really read this comic, because what happens totally caught me off guard and made me think about where the series can go from here. I wasn’t the only one thinking, though: Teon’s court case gets a couple of the Lights thinking about Hope and the team, leading them to make a rather… ominous decision.
Shit, is that general enough? I don’t want to ruin this comic for you, because it’s an absolute beauty that you should experience for yourself. It’s a wonder to behold, like Gillen and Salvador Espin have been giving us for months. Their ruminations on the modern primitive leaves me no choice but to award them the first ever Encino Man Award. (J)
Oh Jimmy Olsen, you ginger haired minx. You know what I like, and I like it when you’re in comics, hitting on ladies and making floundering attempts at radness.
This week’s Superman/Batman opened with our favourite bow-tied action photographer taking pics of a girl for completely professional reasons, when he sees a body floating in the water, with a copy of the Gotham Gazette stuffed down his throat. Awkward right? Well, the proper authorities are informed, and then things happen. Turns out, this guy was a reporter for the Gazette, and he was about to hand in a huge story: mainly, one that involved the true identity of Batman.
In short order, Clark is called into the offices of the Daily Planet, and told that he’s being sent to Gotham to get more on this story. What results is an effort by both papers to complete the story. Clark is handed a box of evidence, and unfortunately, all signs are pointing towards Bruce. What’s a guy to do? Rat out his bro? It sure doesn’t help that Batman has been acting pretty suspicious about all this jazz, what with the fact that he torched the reporter’s apartment when the cops showed up, rather than have them look at a wall of evidence all pointing in Bruce’s direction. (Relax, he swiftly put out the flames before anyone got hurt.)
Anyway, Joshua Hale Fialkov has put together quite a nice story here, coming from an angle that I don’t think has really been explored, Clark’s capacity as a newspaper man, and his duty to do that job, in the face of… well, whatever shenanigans is going on here. Did the guy really know that Bruce was Batman? And if so, why was he killed? And hat does it all mean? There’s two more issues left in this tale, and I can’t wait to see what happens. Thus, I reward this book with the Mystery Machine Award for Jinkies. Which totally makes sense, SHUT UP.
You would think that this would get easier at some point in time. You read your comics, you sift through the rubble, and come out with something that you enjoyed above all others. That process shouldn’t be too difficult - but god dammit, if comics haven’t been rad as shit lately. And so this week, it was less of a situation where you could easily pick your favourite child, and more like Sofie’s Choice. Except way, way worse than that. But in the end, there could only be one…
Longtime readers will know that we were head over heels in love with the Knight and Squire mini-series Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton put together recently - and while we’ve missed those characters terribly since the final issue shipped, we always knew in our heart of hearts that they would be back to be rad once again. Flash forward a few months, and this is in our hands.
Batgirl #22 features Stephanie Brown partaking in one of those nifty team-ups that made this book such a fun read over the past year. Starting with the Supergirl issue in which the pair had to team up to defeat a dozen Draculas with stakes comprised of science, through to jumping with Damien in a bouncy castle and getting Klarion’s cat laid, there’s been an undeniable joy present when Brian Q. Miller brings in another superhero. And in this issue? He has Steph team up with the Squire to fight the Orphan (so named because he always wants some more), who is plotting to steal the Greenwich Mean, from which all time flows.
YEAH.
Anyway, James talked about the issue last week, and he pretty much covered it all - from the fun, down to the end, where Steph gets a nice little pep talk from Squire about her role in the Bat-verse, which was pretty amazing. This run is just a scant two issues from coming to an end - which is a shame, but as we said above when we talked about Knight and Squire, Steph is a great character, and she’s bound to show up somewhere soon enough. (B)
This is Comics! The Blog. We now commence our broadcast week.