Articles by aaron-rosenberg
Sun Sep 21, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Why Write Games?
Or, whaddya doin' wasting time on that thing?
I’m a writer. It’s what I do. More than that, though, it’s who I am. I can’t not write—I actually get something similar to withdrawal symptoms if I go too long without writing. Writing is an essential part of my nature.
So what do I write? Almost anything, really. I’ve written over a dozen novels in the past seven years. I’ve written over a dozen educational books as well. I’ve written articles, essays, reviews, and children’s books. But the thing I’ve written the most? The one area I’ve been writing—and publishing—in continuously since 1992?
Roleplaying games.
“Why?” is what most people ask when they hear that. “Why roleplaying games?” Okay, except for other gamers, whose response is usually, “Cool!” But that’s only because they already understand.
So why do I write roleplaying games?
Is it because they pay so incredibly well? Hardly! Sadly, the RPG industry is tiny when compared to almost any other form of entertainment media, and it pays accordingly. Most RPG writers could make more money working entry-level jobs. Most also have other jobs in order to make ends meet. I was lucky enough to support myself for several years with my RPG writing, but that’s because I was writing A LOT and writing all the time.
Okay, so it’s not the vast fortune, then. Perhaps it’s the fame and the glory?
Sun Sep 7, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Why Game?
A Look at Role Playing Games from Someone Who Knows
Often when I talk to new people the topic of roleplaying games comes up (particularly after I’m asked “so what do you do?”), at which point I learn whether they’re gamers or not. If they’re not I usually get the classic question, “What’s a roleplaying game?” Then I explain about tabletop gaming—most often I define it as “collaborative interactive storytelling, like a mix between improv theater and a staged reading.” Sometimes they ask a few more questions about how it works, but that definition is enough to satisfy most people. But then I may get the follow-up question: “Why?”
Why do we game? It’s a fair question, actually, and especially now with our preponderance of entertainment options. Why game when I could read a book, watch a movie, play a computer game or video game, surf the Web, play cards, play a board game, etc.? What’s so cool about gaming?
There’s the escapism aspect, of course. Had a rotten day at work? Slaughter some orcs or raid an alien enclave. Feel like you’re not getting enough respect in your life? Play the conquering general or the rescuing hero. But most of our other entertainment provides that as well, at least vicariously—you can sit back and imagine you’re John McLane or King Leonidas or Bruce Wayne, or lose yourself in the adventures of Harry Potter or Sebastian or countless others. And many of those other forms provide more immediate escapism, with far less effort. So there must be something more, something else a roleplaying game offers.
Tue Jul 8, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Whilce Portacio
His (wet)works are brilliant!
Born in Sangley Point, Cavite City, Philippines in 1963, Whilce Portacio joined Marvel Comics as an inker in 1985 but soon began penciling for them as well. He worked on The Punisher, X-Factor, and The Uncanny X-Men before leaving in 1992 to found Image Comics with several other well-known comic book artists.
Portacio soon withdrew from the partnership but in 1994 he published his title Wetworks through Jim Lee’s Wildstorm imprint. In 2006 Portacio and Wildstorm began Wetworks, vol. 2—after the first six issues he stepped back from the interior art duties but continues to illustrate the covers.
Portacio has also been drawing the new DC series Batman Confidential. In October 2008 he will become the new artist on Todd MacFarlane’s Spawn.
Wed Jul 2, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Al Wiesner
Shalom to the Man of Stone!
Born in Philadelphia in 1930, Al Wiesner loved comic books as a boy but noticed a curious thing—there were plenty of Jewish writers and artists but no Jewish main characters.
At the tender age of 48 he decided to correct this deficiency, and released Mark 1 Comics, starring the mighty Shaloman! He has been writing and drawing the Kosher Crusader ever since.
In March 2007 KewlJu.com, a subsidiary of RJB Broadcast Corp., announced that it had signed a deal to take over the publication of Mark 1 Comics. Wiesner stayed on as the book’s artist and writer.
Mon Jun 30, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Shawn McManus
The art's the [swamp] thing
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1958, Shawn McManus got his comic book start in the early 1980s, working for Heavy Metal. He illustrated two issues of the Alan Moore run on Swamp Thing, then went on to draw most of the "A Game of You" storyline in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.
McManus also drew issues of Omega Men, Batman, Doctor Fate, and the Thessaly limited series in The Sandman Presents. He has done work for Marvel Comics (Peter Parker Spider-Man and Daredevil), Dark Horse (Cheval Noir), First Comics (GrimJack), Image (Supreme), America’s Best Comics (Tom Strong), and others.
In 1985 he was nominated for a Jack Kirby Award for Swamp Thing #32.
Fri Jun 27, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Butch Guice
From Knights to Captains and beyond!
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1961, Jackson “Butch” Guice started out drawing for fanzines and designing patches and emblems for a company in North Carolina.
In 1982 he ghosted some artwork for Pat Broderick on the Rom annual, and drew the first two issues of the independent comic book Southern Knights. Then Marvel editor Al Milgrom offered him a chance to draw Micronauts #48. Guice penciled Micronauts until its cancellation with #58 and did other titles for Marvel as well, including work on X-Men, Dazzler, The New Mutants, and X-Factor.
In 1987 Guice teamed with Mike Baron on several projects for First Comics (Badger, Nexus, and The Chronicles of Corum) and DC (including the second Flash series). Guce has continued to work for both Marvel and DC since, and also did books for Dark Horse, Valiant, CrossGen, and Acclaim.
In July 2007 he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, where he is currently drawing Captain America and Ultimate Origins.
Wed Jun 25, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: William Woolfolk
A talented writer in three different media
Born on Long Island, New York in 1917, William “Bill” Woolfolk once claimed that he didn’t create many comic book characters but he did coin many of their most famous lines.
He was responsible for Captain Marvel’s exclamation of “Holy Moley!”, among other well-known lines.
Woolfolk started writing comic books in the early 1940s after he graduated from New York University. His first jobs were with Will Eisner and Jerry Iger’s company but he also wrote for Police Comics, DC (Superman and Batman), Timely (Sub-Mariner and Captain America), and Fawcett (Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Bulletman).
When Eisner went off to fight in World War II in 1942, Woolfolk and Manley Wade Wellman took over writing The Spirit. Woolfolk also served as chief scriptwriter for the 1961-65 courtroom drama The Defenders and wrote more than a dozen novels, including the 1968 bestseller The Beautiful Couple.
Woolfolk won many awards over the years, including a Scribner for short-story writing in 1940, two Emmy nominations for The Defenders, and an Inkpot in 2002. He died in 2003.
Wed Jun 25, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Clark Kent
Our nation's finest import!
On June 18 (pre-Crisis version), a tiny spaceship crashed in a field outside Smallville, Kansas. Jonathan and Martha Kent happened by and discovered the spaceship—and its black-haired, blue-eyed infant occupant.
They took the baby in and decided to raise him as their own. One week later, on June 25, the adoption was made official and “Clark Kent” was born.
The last son of Krypton would keep that name, and his humble mortal identity, even after he grew up and came into his full powers as the Man of Steel, the mighty Superman.
Tue Jun 24, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Jesse Santos
One of the first Philippino comic artists
Born in Teresa, Rizal, in the Philippines in 1928, Jesse F. Santos was already displaying his art as a young boy—at the age of ten he did the mural for his church.
By 14 he was working as a professional artist. During World War II Santos sketched portraits for American G.I.s. This led to an invitation to work on Halakhak Komics, the Philipines’ first serialized comic book, in 1946. Santos teamed with writer Damy Velasquez to create Kidlat, and later they created the detective strip DI-13 for Pilipino Komiks.
In 1969 Santos and his family moved to the U.S. He then got work with Western Publications, where he illustrated books like Davy Crockett and worked on several Gold Key comic books, including Dr. Spektor, Brothers of the Spear, Tragg, and Dagar.
Mon Jun 23, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Frank Bolle
A monumental talent for many, many years
Born in 1924 in New York City, Frank Bolle grew up doodling. He went to the High School of Music and Art and then served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946.
After the war Bolle attended Pratt Institute and began looking for work—his first job in comics was in 1948 and he has been working in the industry ever since. He illustrated westerns like Black Phantom, Tim Holt, and Redmask for Magazine Enterprises; worked on Sherlock Holmes, The Lone Ranger, and other adventure stories for Western Publishing; drew several strips and covers for Boys’ Life; and did Doctor Solar, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and others for Gold Key Comics.
In 1982 Bolle joined Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip, which he drew for seventeen years—Bolle also drew the Winnie Winkle comic for twenty. He is still drawing Apartment 3-G, which he took over in 1999.
Bolle has won three Graumbacher Gold Medallion Awards for his oils and watercolors. In 2003 he was awarded the Inkpot Award for lifetime achievement.
Sun Jun 22, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Al Gordon
He's a Wildstar!
Born in San Francisco in 1953, Alan “Al” Gordon is actually the second comic book artist by that name—the first, who is no relation, was active in the 1950s and worked for Atlas Comics, Lev Gleason Publications, Toby Comics, and Trojan Comics.
The second Alan Gordon started out in the mid-1970s, working as a penciler and inker for independent publisher Star Reach. He began inking for Marvel in 1978, first freelancing on Captain America and then becoming the regular inker on Spider-Woman. In 1982 Gordon left Marvel for DC and began working on Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.
He worked for Eclipse Comics next before going back to Marvel and inking Fantastic Four and other books. In 1987 Gordon began working on Justice League of America with Kevin Maguire and Keith Giffen.
A few years later he followed Giffen to Legion of Super Heroes, and even wrote four issues of the series. In 1992 Gordon created WildStar for Image Comics—Jerry Ordway penciled it and Gordon wrote, inked, edited, and produced it.
More recently he worked with Alan Moore at America's Best Comics. In 2000 Gordon won two Eisner Awards, one for Tom Strong #1 and one for Tom Strong #4-7.
Sat Jun 21, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Gary Carlson
Beware the Big Bang!
Born in 1957, Gary Carlson first appeared on the comic book scene with his self-published superhero anthology Megaton back in the early 1980s.
He created the character of Vanguard with Erik Larsen, whose Savage Dragon also began in the anthology. Carlson later wrote Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Berzerker, and Supreme.
He and Larsen also co-wrote Aquaman for DC and Nova for Marvel. Carlson created Big Bang Comics, initially for Calber Press—he later moved Big Bang to Image and now self-publishes it, functioning as writer, editor, and publisher.
Fri Jun 20, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: John Workman
The king of the letterers!
Born in Beckley, West Virginia in 1950, John Elbert Workman Jr. grew up in Aberdeen, Washington and studied at Grays Harbor College and Clark College, getting an Associate in Arts degree in 1970.
He worked in advertising briefly before creating the science-fiction comic series Sindy and the humor strip Fallen Angels in 1972. In 1974 his work on Star*Reach attracted attention from DC Comics, and they offered Workman a job in production.
From 1977 to 1984 he was art director Heavy Metal magazine, where he wrote, drew, edited, colored, designed, and lettered. Since then he has written and drawn for DC, Marvel, Archie, Playboy, and others, but he is best known as a letterer. He worked on many projects with Walt Simonson, including Thor and Orion, and also did the lettering for Jim Starlin’s Cosmic Odyssey series.
More recently Workman lettered The Question, Bullet Points, and 1985, all Tommy Lee Edwards books. He has also done the lettering on ComicMix’s own GrimJack and Jon Sable: Freelance.
Workman is well-known for his tight craftsmanship, his distinctive style, and the fact that he still does traditional lettering on art boards instead of using the computer and digital fonts.
Thu Jun 19, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Julius Schwartz
Honoring the Dean of DC Comics
Born in the Bronx, New York, in 1915, Julius “Julie” Schwartz is considered one of the most influential editors in comic book history.
Schwartz got his start in science fiction and fantasy, publishing a fanzine called The Time Traveler in 1932 with his friends Mort Weisinger and Forrest J. Ackerman. He and Weisinger also formed Solar Sales Services, which represented H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, and other popular SF authors.
In 1944, Bester introduced Schwartz to the people at DC Comics, who hired him as an editor. A few years later, Schwartz was put in charge of DC’s new SF comics, and in 1956 he added Showcase to his list of responsibilities. The first few issues of Showcase didn’t do particularly well, so Schwartz decided to bring back and revamp an old, Golden Age character—and thus the new Flash was born and the Silver Age of comics began.
In the 1960s, Schwartz began editing the Batman titles, and in 1971 he took over on Superman, helping to modernize both characters. Schwartz retired from DC in 1986 but continued to be active in fandom until shortly before his death in 2004.
Schwartz received many awards over the years, including an Alley, a Shazam, and an Inkpot. He was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1998, Dragon-Con created the Julie Award for universal achievement in multiple genres. Schwartz presented the awards personally.
Wed Jun 18, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Mark Gruenwald
The patron saint of Marvel
Born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1953, Mark E. Gruenwald is a rarity in the comc book industry in that he spent his entire professional career with one company.
After graduating with an art degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Gruenwald moved to New York and applied at both DC and Marvel, with no luck. He then switched his focus from art to writing (he had been a Literature minor in school). He self-published a fanzine called Omniverse, which caught the eye of new Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. Shooter offered Gruenwald a job as an assistant editor in February 1978.
Two years later Shooter promoted Gruenwald to full editor. In the late '80s he became executive editor there. Gruenwald also wrote for Marvel, and is probably best known for his ten years writing Captain America, and for his work on The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. He also wrote the Squadron Supreme 12-issue series, which many consider his finest work.
Sadly, Gruenwald suffered a fatal heart attack in August 1996. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes were mixed into the ink used to print the Squadron Supreme trade paperback, thus ensuring that he and his greatest work would always be together.
