more cartooning links

comic tools
I've been reading this blog for a while. It's really a great resource for reading about different cartoonist's process and tips and tricks and neurotic tool fetishes.
make comics forever!
this blog was an inspiration, of sorts, for Blood and Ink. A technical blog about cartooning by a whole bunch of people.
Drawn!
I'm sure I've linked to this before, and anyone interested in comics and illustration has probably already heard of it but really, it is one of the more interesting and informative illo sites out there.
center for cartoon studies
Anyone interested in going to school to learn cartooning should look into this. There are a number of schools now that offer a cartooning curriculum but CCS is one of the only (Joe Kubert's school is the only other one I can think of) schools dedicated entirely to the art of cartooning.

two people I know who make comics.

(cross posted with Elijahbrubaker(dot)com)
Terminal Culture #2
By Jeremy Kemp
digest sized minicomic
I've known Jeremy for a while. He and I went to high school together. I was a little older than him and we didn't mingle much. Earlier this year he and I reconnected through mutual friends and I was pleased to learn he was making comics.
Now this isn't the part of my "review" where I tell everyone to buy this thing because I know the guy and everything he touches is awesome. Terminal Culture is pretty rough around the edges but that's because Jeremy's still feeling his way through the whole comics-making process. Fans of superhero comics or kids comics should steer clear. Jeremy's book seems to have more in common with the Zap Comics crowd than Shazam! And when I say the Zap comics crowd I'm talking more along the lines of S. Clay Wilson or Spain Rodriguez. Jeremy's book has a crude extremism found in the best crazy underground comics like Zap and Slow Death. Kemp revels in shoving crazy shit in your face. readers will most likely get the feeling that he's experimenting with what is acceptable in a comic. There's lots of violence and body piercing and insanity.
The main story is a weird little supernatural crime drama that picks up nicely from the previous issue. Terminal Culture #1 had this disjointed feeling that is lacking in its sequel. One gets the feeling that Jeremy is on his way to discovering what it is he's saying and if the comics continue to progress and improve in this way I'm sure it will happen soon.
The follow up story in TC #2 involves Jeremy's acknowledgment that everyone he knows in Portland has a tattoo and he does not. It's really just a laundry list of people describing their feeling for or against certain tattoos (look for a little appearance by yours truly.) The backup pieces in TC are really where my affections lie. In these small autobio pieces Kemp seems to be expressing something a little more blatently personal and engaging that the TC main story. In Terminal Culture #1 there's an anecdote about taking LSD that is pretty compelling.
on myspace.

Better Looking Than A Blog
by Shawn Granton.
minicomic
A lot of folks reading this already know Shawn or his comics. I met Shawn years ago at some comics event and I'd run into him here or there over the years. He really helped me out this last time I moved to Portland. Shawn's been making comics for a long time now and has come back to the form after a lengthy absence with a couple of books of diary strips.
I like the diary strip format, I've attempted to do one of my own a couple of times but drawing a new take on my life every day was too much for me. Granton pulls it off with a brilliant flair and a unique voice. That's the best part of diary strips for me, the fact that there are so many and with few exceptions they are all pretty unique to the person creating it.
I might even prefer Granton's diary comics to his older more rant-y stuff. His multi page comics often took on an air of disgruntledness (if that's a word) that could alienate readers on occasion. in his new diary strip Granton allows himself only enough room to make some (often very witty) observations and he moves on to the next day.
Like most diary strips, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. to read a single strip in this minicomic is to glimpse an insignificant insight into Shawn's world, to read the entire book is to encounter and examine much of Granton's inner life.
Shawn is one of the more active and enthusiastic portlanders I've met and he's involved in lots of interesting social circles, Reading his comics I feel like I've gained a certain vicarious insight into the workings of Portland, bike culture, hostels, zines and other sundry subcultures.
Shawn at SITO

that's a-DOR-able

Sky and Winter McCloud visit Savannah Georgia and talk to Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis. I think every interview should be conducted by a cute little kid... interviewers would be destroyed once they reached a certain age like in Logan's run.

More stuff forthcoming, I've been out of town, sorry.

Comics writers take note.

Jesse Hamm has some interesting (though not entirely convincing) things to say about why comics writers should step off and let the artist draw. I'm not sold on his line of action "rule," his ideas on visual cliche's seem a little too vague, I kind of like the "archie andrews two-face" and a few of his examples are really worse-case-scenario kind of things where the artist should just call the writer up and call them names. Hamm's always pretty insightful though, when it comes to the technical conventions of comics and it would do everyone well to read his post and mull it over.

I'll have some of my own opinions on the collaboration process for comics in a day or so.

words and pictures.

Inspired by a topic on the ever irritating comics journal messboard I've decided to tackle the heady topic of text in the creation of comics.

Many people, me included, see comics as a primarily visual art form but there is no denying that the use of text, punctuation, speech and thought balloons and various types of linguistic gymnastics has an equally long history in the creation of "sequential art."

The Reading Experience

In his book The Act Of Creation Arthur Koestler introduces the concept of bisociation. Bisociation is described as "The perceiving of a situation or idea [...] in two self consistent but habitually incompatible frames of reference." Koestler then goes on to explain that this process is the mental basis for the creation of all art, science, and humor. The concept is similar to the very definition of abstract thought and connects very strongly to Scott McCloud's definition of comic as "juxtaposed pictorial and other images in a deliberate sequence" and his concept of “closure”

These concepts point to how we as thinking and reasoning humans can see two images and connect them together in a sequence to infer a type of meaning whether it be representational art or abstracted symbols such as letter-forms. This is why comics possess an inherent and almost unavoidable reading experience with or without the use of text.

Silent comics

Silent comics are comics that play out without the use of text. Usually involving characters acting out in a pantomime and can range from deeply moving and thought provoking work to stooge-worthy slapstick.

Silent comics are ubiquitous and have an advantage over other, more text oriented work by being generally legible to an international (and even illiterate) audience. I have seen examples of many kinds of stories told in silent form from all over the world. One of the drawbacks of silent strips is the loss of nuanced character development. Dialogue has a way of offering insight into a character that we cannot fathom otherwise. Many silent strips have attempted to surpass this hurdle by offering visual representation of thoughts and dialogue within balloons but this approach often falls flat. Visually representing a persons thoughts is often equally broad and lifeless as drawing an expression onto someone's face and hoping and audience gets it. Imagine daffy duck with a thought balloon and a baseball with a screw going through it. Thus dialogue has been added to comics to make a character more concrete in a readers mind. This is not the only reason for dialogue of course but most other reasons (advancing the plot, formal play) could also be accomplished visually with negligible loss of narrative information.

The words and pictures kind of comics

This is the most common kind of comic and the type of comic most people think of when they think of comics. The reason this kind is most common is due to the obvious amount of experimentation possible. There are almost limitless permutations of drawing and text that can be placed with a panel. Some comics offer straightforward narrative stories where characters interact and have relationships much like movies on paper, there are strips with wildly imaginative flights of fancy in writing style and idiosyncratic uses of pictorial representation. There are strips where the words and pictures work in incongruous ways to add up to a more cumulative meaning. One of the primary risks of this type of comic art is redundancy. I recently was reading an old issue of Daredevil (you know the superhero comic?) and Stan Lee’s script could easily have been removed from most of the pages. There’s a scene of Daredevil on a rooftop looking over the city or something. The narration reads “Daredevil looks over the city” and a thought balloon bubbles over Daredevil’s head as he thinks “I’m looking over the city.”
The concept of text versus picture is discussed in Understanding Comics chapter 6

Text heavy/text only comics

Occasionally a cartoonist will experiment with the idea of creating a comics composed entirely of text or use text in a page to convey information economically. This effects the reading process in various ways. Effective reading often relies on the continuation of a type of rhythm set forth by the author and the understanding of various rules set forth by learning to read when we are in school. The reason we can read text quickly is because we have learned (been brainwashed) to recognize familiar rhythms in written language. When that rhythm is broken we seize up momentarily and are jarred away from the reading experience. Same goes for the rules laid out in written language, if we understand that grammar or punctuation work in one way and a text is working in another then we are similarly jarred until we can reconcile the two frames of reference. This same concept can be extrapolated to encompass comics as well. We learn to read comics and when the rules get broken we get momentarily confused. Sticking large amounts of text with boxes and laying the boxes out in a page is a jarring and provocative corruption of how most people have learned to read comics as well as how we've learned to read text. Sometimes this is a worthwhile pursuit and causes a reader to begin thinking and reading in a new way but often it is frustrating for a reader who just wants to keep up the rhythm of reading.

Some sort of conclusion

Like any experiment the use of text in comics is a tricky proposition. A cartoonist using heavy blocks of words to convey information runs the risk of ruining an audiences reading experience as well as being redundant and verbose. It is important to try to see your own work through the eyes of a reader. Like any act of experimentation you should begin with questions, some of those questions might be "will readers understand why I've incorporated so much text, will they even read the text or will they move on to the next comic that conforms more to their expectations?"

images stolen from

bugpowder

Phoebe Gloeckner

some fumetti site (Italian)

lazy links.

because I've been neglecting the ol' blood and ink I thought I'd get back into things by posting some links to cool shit because I'm too damn lazy to write anything substantial.

James Brown (not that James Brown) has started a blog in preparation for his master's thesis. The blog is an interesting examination of architectural presentation. This includes many comics references and cool pictures of weird buildings.
no words no action

chances are if you're into comics and you're on the internet you've seen Lambiek's giant cartoonist encyclopedia. I could spend forever there.


I hesitate to post things that read like "news" here but here's a couple of time wasters.

tom spurgeon has a link to booklist's top ten children's comics that might interest those with or around kids.

I hesitate to mention this but there's a big nerd battle going on all over the internet about whether or not comics of the nineteen seventies were more or less important or good than comics of other decades. start here and follow some links if you care. I would weigh in with my own opinion of the subject but it would just boil down to a big "who fucking cares?"

come back tomorrow and I'll have something a little more interesting (seems like I say that a lot lately)

How to make comics

tools:
Obviously you like to draw right? I mean, you DO like to draw? If you don’t like to draw then screw you… do not make comics. Comics involve drawing and you should get something from the process of making them. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing better than having a finished product, finishing up a nice crisp page/strip/book and sitting back with a satisfied almost post-coital grin on your face but there’s a lot to be said for the actual deed itself you understand? Don’t make me drag out the sex metaphor any more than I have to.
So when you start out you’re going to need some stuff to draw with. It doesn’t matter what you draw with just as long as it makes a mark. There are a million “how-to make funny doodles” books out there and they all basically say “use what works for you.”
That’s kind of a cop out though right… I mean who buys a book so they can learn that they need to figure it out for themselves?
Pencil:
With few exceptions the pencil mark is not the mark that people will see. Cartoonists use a pencil to build a cohesive underdrawing and to figure stuff out on the page. These pencil marks will eventually be inked over and erased therefore the type of pencil to use is largely unimportant. Keep in mind that you’re going to need to erase the marks left by said pencil so you won’t want something too dark, don’t use soft lead, don’t, for christ’s sake, use charcoal or grease pencil.
Graphite pencils come in a range from soft to hard lead. Soft lead is smudgy and darker while hard lead is light and often hard to see. Since we don’t want to see pencil marks on the finished page I say the harder the better… uh, you know what I mean. You can tell the hardness of a pencil by looking at the end down where the eraser usually is. Those jive-ass yellow pencils we used in grade school were marked 2, the hard leads will have a number and an H, 2H, 4H, etc. the higher the number the harder the lead. Soft lead is marked with a B.
Eraser:
Do yourself a favor and get a decent eraser, it will save you much heart-ache and ripped pages. Those pink pearl monstrosities are for the birds. Either a kneaded rubber eraser like the ones I stole from the art-room in high school or the harder white plastic erasers. Magic rub is the brand name I prefer, I think Mars also makes some which, in my opinion, are of slightly less quality.
Paper:
This I can’t really help you with. Everyone has their preference and everyone like different things about the paper they use. A lot of cartoonists today work on paper like they’re going to be hanging that shit in louvre. If your intent is to have people see the finished pages then by all means get a good quality illustration board and really work on that mother. If you’re going to be scanning the page in and printing it out in a book then the page only has to look good long enough to scan it. For a novice I’d recommend just working on bond paper like you have in your printer. For someone a little farther along I’d recommend some kind of cheap bristol that comes in pads. Bristol is a cardstock paper that is sturdy but still affordable there are different variances of smoothness and weight. Unfortunately I can’t tell you what would work best for you. Try out a bunch of different brands and weights, you’ll figure it out. I use cheap, smooth, 11X14 Bristol board from Strathmore.
Ink:
Again, this is a tough one. Ink comes in a variety of types and flavors. You’ll want to find a good black India ink that doesn’t bleed out too much. I hear Dr. Marten’s super black is good as well as Windsor and Newton (the one with the dragon on the side I think) I usually just use cheap Sumi ink and let it evaporate a little. Note that sumi ink is non-water resistant so if you’re going to watercolor over the ink then you’ll be screwed… when I need a waterproof ink I use koh-i-noor rapidograph ink.
Pen and brush:
Generally people use a brush or dip pens to draw with. I like to switch it up and use different tools for different jobs. I usually use a big ol’ drawing nib (I can’t tell you the brand or anything because it’s so worn that I can’t read the side of it) I also tend to just beat the hell out of my pens until they are completely useless… I drew a bunch of pages not too long ago with a nib that was split apart like a piece of firewood. Just because I’m a lazy bastard when it comes to tools doesn’t mean you should be… take care of your stuff and when it does go bad, throw it out and get new stuff.
Anyway there are a few different kinds of nib, go for the kind with smaller points that can spread out a little and offer you some line density. A crowquill nib is a special, smaller, pen nib that fits into a different size barrel than the others. I think Hunt 102 is the standard. They take a little more finesse than the kind I normally use but if you can get it they give excellent lines. I’ve only recently been able to draw anything with a crowquill.
Brushes are another story. A brush gives a good line weight but can be tricky to master. Every cartoonist nerd out there swears by the Windsor and Newton series 7 sable brush… they are more expensive than your first child though. Many cartoonists I’ve talked to just buy cheap knock off synthetic brushes and throw them out after a few pages… this is also really expensive. Let’s face it, inking with a brush is for rich yuppy assholes… just kidding, brushes are great but they do put a damper on the pocket book if you want to be able to work consistently.
go to your local art supply store or here, buy some cheap material and start drawing.
More later.

how to make comics

Introduction.

So I’ve been laboring over this for a while, wracking my brain as to how I should start out. Should I go full on Scott McCloud and start defining terms and building taxonomy, or maybe go for the freewheeling “this is just my personal process” sort of thing? The problem is that comics are a broad topic in art history and I’m not entirely qualified to cover every aspect of the form. I’ve got my personal tastes and method, I have a specific type of pen and ink I prefer and to be honest with everyone… I really don’t read a lot of comics nowadays anyway.

So why in god’s name do I feel qualified to impart my “wisdom” onto the masses? Why am I doing this? Why am I here? Lest I get bogged down in some existential funk and decide to just give up my answer to these questions is “well, I’m doing my best and hopefully it will do some good.”

In other words take all this with a grain of salt… a big grain, like that non-iodized sea salt, that should do you well. These are my opinions and I’m not writing a guide book to the ultimate successful comic strip. I’m jabbering away on a weblog and seeing what sticks. If you, the aspiring cartoonist, find my advice does not work for you or you have a different working method then by all means have at it. Do good work and let me know where I went wrong.

An aspiring cartoonist will notice the slew of action adventure “comic book” movies in theatres lately. You’ll notice the abundant collection of thick little Manga books in Borders. You’ll notice everywhere you turn someone is trying to convince you that comics are a viable and interesting art form. These are not reasons to become a cartoonist though, sorry. No one decides to become a painter because painting is considered “viable and interesting.” People make art because they enjoy it, they have a little encouragement along the way and they realized they can express themselves in unique ways. It’s my hope to impart what passes for wisdom in making comics and add a few inspirational tidbits along the way. Later in the week I’ll get into the meat of making a comic and examine the unique structural elements of comics. In the meantime here is a brief reading list for aspiring cartoonist and would-be ink pushers. This is just a beginning… I’ll have more books and resources for you later when we really start to get into it.

Comics and Sequential art by Will Eisner

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Making Comics by Scott McCloud

How to read nancy by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden (pdf)

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Story by Robert McKee

minicomics

Steven Stwalley (yeah him again) has posted a guide to making minicomics PDF over at the cartoonist's conspiracy site...

He also has a list of parlor games that cartoonists can engage in while hanging out. I've never been too big on the parlor game thing but I've got to admit when I'm in a group of people all I usually want to do is retreat into my sketchbook... this is a good way for nerds like me to be able to draw but still interact socially.

for more minicomics tutorials there's this (the metric system... Americans beware) and this
I'll be posting my own hairbrained ideas about making mini's whenever I can get my notes together.

some comics related links.

the daily crosshatch, a new comics themed blog is looking for people knowledgeable about comics to write for them. but what are you doing going there when we want people to write for us? jeez.

Steven Stwalley (of soapy the chicken which, for some reason I really dig.) has some tips about putting comics on the web... the second part is where it really gets rolling and he's planning on further installments.

the New York Comic con is going on the 23-25, looking at the exhibitors list will give you a good idea of what to expect. Lots of movie people but Archie comics is going to be there.

these are a few of my fav-o-rite thiiings!

above, one of the funniest god damned photos ever.

click here to see some of Mr. Dave Coopers favorite studio equipment.

also here to see a great step by step account of his painting process.

internet killed the radio star

Thanks to the blessings of high speed internet I’ve recently been enjoying some comics podcasts. I’ve also been severely irritated by a few.
So far the two that I’m able to listen to are inkstuds and indie spinner rack… both shows display a relatively broad knowledge of comics and the hosts are usually pretty entertaining, usually.
Anyway, I’ve been enamored with the podcast idea for a while. I’m sure I’ll never get around to doing one because I have a deep seeded fear of saying things out loud but anyone interested in radio should check out this site for some pretty good nuts and bolts tutorials, resources and ideas.

How to survive a comic book convention.

By Elijah Brubaker

Introduction.
I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist my entire life. Like most aspiring ink pushers I've had ample opportunity to attend comics conventions both as a fan and a minor "professional."
Those of you unfamiliar with the world of comics shows might have some preconceived notions about these strange dens of sequential iniquity but I’m here to set the record straight for you. A little luck will afford me the grace to advise both fans and table humpers alike.

the small mainstream convention.
Example: Eugene comics and collectible show
Most larger cities have a comics convention somewhere in their midst. These shows are usually billed as a comics and sci-fi convention, comics and toy fair, comics and (fill in the blank.) The point of billing a show as comics AND something else is that the people putting on the show are trying to appeal to nerds of every stripe. These shows are generally for collectors and people who like superhero comics, you can probably pick up a nice bust of the Hulk while you’re at it. These shows are usually put on by older collectors and fans. There’s a quaint nostalgia at work at shows like these. You can usually pick up old superhero books for pretty cheap and reflect on how much the industry has changed.
Advice:
Fans should be polite and patient, this is generally good advice anywhere. I’ve seen people fighting (literally fighting) over a long white back-issue box. I think the scuffle involved some rare old copy of phantom lady or something… Trust me; no issue of phantom lady is worth a black eye.
At small mainstream shows a fan can expect to see some local superhero writers and artists (superhero comics are generally written and drawn by separate people.) who have been offered twenty bucks to come and sell their books, sign autographs and do sketches. Many fans don’t know how to relate to pro’s. The biggest tip I can give is that these people are here to promote their work. No one wants to see your poor drawings of Catwoman. I once met Mike Mignola at a small show like this, I asked if he had any advice on becoming a cartoonist and he told me I should have brought a portfolio… so maybe people DO want to see bad drawings of Catwoman. If there’s a line to see this person please keep your visit brief.
Professionals who have the opportunity to sit and sign autographs should count their blessings that people read their work. I’ve heard all kinds of complaints about comics shows and it always boils down to cartoonists not knowing how lucky they are to be able to draw little pictures of people punching each other and get some recognition for it. Take a vitamin, drink some coffee, stay in a good mood.

The small indy convention
Example: STAPLE, Portland zine symposium, local craft fairs.
These small venues are where comics take on the feeling of folk art. Where zines and minicomics and hand made beaded seat covers all compete for the attention of vegan, bike riding, anarchist, pregnant lesbians. It’s at these shows that a photocopied minicomic can really be appreciated. Often the line between creator and fan is blurred at shows like these, the point being that everyone can make art so everyone does. The point of these shows is to support your peers and trade. Commerce is a little shaky when every single person at a convention is a cartoonist trying to sell their book.
Advice:
Any fan that wanders into something like this is probably a librarian or someone who read about it in the local weekly and decided to check it out. Be prepared for these shows to be insular and cliquish. It’s pretty difficult to horn your way into a group of minicomics creators. It’s like walking into an AA meeting and saying “Hi, I’m not a drunk.”
Fans should do a quick walk through the convention hall, noting what looks good to you and what doesn’t, this way one can avoid spending all you’re money before you get to that one priceless artifact. Zines and minicomics are not collectible, there is no minicomics price guide that I’m aware of but they are rare and special. Everyone should have a shoebox full of mini’s and zines.
Cartoonists shouldn’t worry so damned much about sales, we’re all poor as dirt otherwise we’d be at the mainstream comics conventions. Be open to trades, and be open to those that walk by your table. It always seems like these small shows attract cartoonists who either put on their ‘hard sell’ face and talk their book up like it’s the second coming or they sit moping behind the table talking with their buddy about the war.
That’s another thing I’d like to rant about. Comics are apolitical, the last thing a bunch of left wing anarchist bandana wearing Che Guevara’s should be doing is arguing politics at a comics show… leave that shit to the bar later that night. If that guy over there wants to put out his skin-head manifesto then he should be allowed to sell it if he wants as long as he’s polite about it… you don’t have to buy it or trade with the guy if you don’t want.

Uh….

The medium sized mainstream show
Example: wizard world
These shows are big spectacles with so much going on that you can’t possibly get to it all. There are panel discussions about industry mumbo-jumbo and Q&A with whatever hot name of the hour. Portfolio reviews and interactive high def video game action on every wall, in other words a circus.
Advice:
Everything I said about smaller mainstream shows applies here except these are the shows you want to bring a portfolio to. Prospective superhero artist can expect to wait in line for hours only to have their work shat upon by industry bigwigs. The point here is to actually listen to what these guys and gals have to say. No one is trying to crush your dreams. They might be a little unfair at times but most editors are pretty unfair. Mainstream industry people see this stuff as a commodity and if you can’t deliver the right quality yet then you should know that… and if you can’t break into Marvel or DC then you can always make mini’s or put stuff on the internet to get feedback.

Most larger shows have an itinerary they give you as you walk in listing off all the cool events going on that day. Take a little time to schedule the stuff you want to do… remember, if you want to see someone famous then get there early.
Professionals traveling in from out-of-town should arrive the day before and spend some relaxing time in the city. Get a good nights rest, wake up early enough to shave and shower. Get to the show early to pick up your badge and figure out what the order of the day is. Be prepared, arrive early, bring a sack lunch, a bottle of water and maybe some aspirin.


The medium sized indy show
Example: APE, SPX
Here is where the larger independent publishers push their new books and try to get people to realize “comics aren’t just for kids… blah, blah, blah” There’s usually a lot of schmoozing and boozing.

Advice:
Essentially the same as the above but the portfolio reviews will be a little different. Indy publishers admire craft but generally value uniqueness over composition and anatomy. Most indy publishers nowadays want to hear a complete proposal for a book. If you only do pencils or you only write the script then you’ll probably need to team up with someone on your own.
Fans of indy books will be pleased at the accessibility of some of their favorite cartoonists. The fact that Hollywood hasn’t yet glommed on to most of these people means they aren’t generally surrounded by crowds of admirers, there are some exceptions but at the moment I can’t think of any.
At shows like these there will be a mixture of small press minicomics makers and larger industry names. The general dynamic seems to be the minicomics people trying to get their work into the hands of the bigger publishers. This seems a little foolhardy seeing as most big publishers will go around and actively scout for talent. Minicomics people should just concentrate on being friendly to potential buyers and have a good short pitch ready in case anyone asks (and only if they ask, most people don’t want to hear it, trust me.)
Cartoonists should avoid drinking so much. Most indy people drink like it’s illegal and this usually leads to hangovers and regrettable nighttime trysts and subsequent drama down the road. Please look at this as if it’s your job, don’t come to work hungover, don’t sleep with your co-workers.


Big mainstream show:
Example: San Diego Comic-Con
The bitch-goddess of all American comic shows. This multi-day excursion into collector mania and debauchery is enough to make you want to puke. It’s shows like this one that put images of people dressed like Wolverine into people’s minds. San Diego even has a costume contest. At shows like this you’ll find that a little money will go a long way and everyone in the comics industry is a raving lunatic. You know that part in Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas where Hunter Thompson is writing about Circus Circus? Well that’s the San Diego Comic con right there.

Advice:
Remain calm. Breathe in, breathe out. Buy as many back issues of Swamp Thing as you can, Hit on Julie Strain.
San Diego in particular is a star attraction for Hollywood types, there’s as many movie people hyping stuff in SD as comics folks. Be prepared to see movie stars and people dressed as superheroes. By the end of the weekend nothing should surprise you.
Those that like to meet and bullshit with cartoonists should make a note of the older pro’s that attend shows like these. Not to be morbid but you may not see them there next year. It’s great to shake hands with Frank Miller but you never know what that old geezer over in the corner has done for the industry.
It’s important not to get too high and mighty about shows like this, sure they’re repulsive in a child-beauty-pageant sort of way but since you’re there you should enjoy it. Go to the costume show, go to the award show, and try to remain respectful in the midst of all the crassness. When you get home you can take a long shower and thank god that it only happens once a year. Oh and you know all that stuff I said about drinking too much and sleeping with your editor or whatever… that doesn’t apply here. Drink all you want, I’ll see you in the emergency room.

big Indy show
Example: America doesn’t really have a big comics-centered art festival yet. I’ve never been to Angouleme but I think it’s generally regarded as a big “art comics” festival.

Like I said I’ve never been to a big indy show. I think that’s kind of why we still use words like “independent, alternative and underground.” I imagine Angouleme is a pretty nice yet thoroughly exhausting experience. I have no advice for a show like this. They have a big sculpture of Herge’s head in the middle of town.

computer comics

d'isreali shows us how to draw comics on a computer.