Meet the delightful Robyn Schneider, video blogger, literary superstar and the official video blogger for DOCTOR WHO ONLINE. We spent some great time with Robyn talking books and of course Doctor Who. Catch her DOCTOR WHO Video Blogs here or find All-Thing-Robyn here. In the meantime, we asked Robyn for her cut on the end of the last WHO season and where she thinks it might be going next year – press PLAY below to hear her response.
We have more New York ComicCon coming this week and our next full PodCast ion Friday will be full of NYCC tidbits!
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While the scene at the NASDAQ at Times Square Thursday night was
the polar opposite of the geek circus this past weekend at the Javits Center,
the one thing they both had in common was Stan Lee at center stage. The Stan
Lee Foundation, a new literacy program recently launched by Stan and his
business partners at POW! Entertainment, used only the thinnest veil of
superhero banter and trope to get the message out that they are serious—deadly serious—about solving
illiteracy across the globe.
“The Stan Lee Foundation is a foundation with a message,”
said the keynote speaker. “We want to make this a planet we can live with. That
way we can, uh… live with the planet… Er, that’s what the foundation was
founded for.”
Okay, I thought from the eighth row—somebody forgot
his lines. Or never took an extemp course. He should’ve had my speech coach
Jerry Lasso at Morris Hills. Three months later, you could blither all day
about sandpaper.
I turned to Richard Manitoba (aka, “Handsome Dick” of The
Dictators) who was sitting to my right and whispered, “Don Corleone, I am
honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter… ‘s wedding…
on the day of your daughter’s wedding.”
Richard nodded but didn’t look up from his Blackberry. He
was busy texting baseball with band-mate Scott “Top Ten” Kempner. “And I hope
their first child is a masculine
child,” he replied, then added, “Andy Pettitte is rolling over the Twins. Sixty
pitches through five innings after a 1-2-3 fifth.”
“Still bothered about that autograph?” I inquired. Stan’s handlers wouldn’t let
anyone get their books scribbled in, not even a rockstar/radio host like HD.
“Nah—I’m a big boy,” said Richard, fingers flying, both eyes on his
Blackberry. “I got my picture taken with Stan. That’s enough.”
Enough indeed. It struck me how Stan Lee reduces everyone he surveys to fanboys and fangirls. Fanpeople. I’ve known comic industry’s grand old icon as
long as I can remember. He even wrote the introduction to my forthcoming ComicBook
Babylon. But I was still jacked to get a personal invite to his
foundations’ coming out party. I’d recently helped launch the Kars4Kids
Literacy Program and was hoping to get Stan to sing the Kars4Kids jingle.
Or maybe someone else would sing it. Isn’t that Ne-Yo the R&B rapstar yaking
it up with Joe Quesada in the corner? Or maybe Handsome Dick will come to the
mike after the Yankees finish trouncing the Twins. I turned to my left to see
who else was available. Gene Colan was snoring audibly.
Stan’s stage appearance followed the keynote debacle. Our
man of the hour needed no script. “I don’t even know what I’m doing here!” Stan told his standing
ovation as he stood tall in front of an even taller projection screen with his
iconic signature plastered across it. “But it’s a little embarrassing, isn’t
it? Couldn’t they make my name any bigger?”
And then came the celebrity auction. That is celebs bidding
on comics-related items that Stan had signed. That is if you consider
behind-the-scenes marketing folks celebs of any sort. They certainly had deeper
pockets than yours truly. A VG copy of a late-issue Spider-Man went for
50-times its Overstreet value. Dutch courage, they call it. Pay heed, would-be
auctioneers, to the value of an open bar.
Auction over. Sony and Sega and IMG execs and their young,
scantily clad dates are back at the bar for refreshers. Handsome Dick finally
looks up from his Blackberry.
“Yankees win,” he said, John Sterling-like. “Theeee Yankees win!”
And then he noticed the young women at the bar for the first
time. “I don’t get it,” he said. “Look at those shiksa noses, willya? They’re so small! How can they even breathe out of those things?”
New York Comic Con was a bevy of action and a flurry of announcements erupted from said convention. One announcement involved the future of CAPTAIN ACTION! It was revealed that Mike Bullock, current writer of Moonstone’s BLACK BAT comic for Moonstone’s RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS comic line, will be taking up writing chores for the good Captain and team in CAPTAIN ACTION: SEASON THREE!
“I’ll be taking over the writing on the main Captain Action title beginning with #1 of season III that should hit shops later on in 2011,” reported Bullock in an interview with ALL PULP. “Steven Grant, the writer for season II has done some really incredible things (wait until you read #3 & 4) and I’m excited to build off that for the future of the A.C.T.I.O.N. Directorate’s top agent.” When asked what appealed to him about writing CAPTAIN ACTION, Bullock responded, “Once the Captain Action comics started coming out through Moonstone, I really liked what they were doing and loved the premise of the character that Fabian Nicieza had crafted. Then, when I got my turn to write a story with Cap (The Phantom/Captain Action miniseries) it really seemed like writing Captain Action would be a lot of fun. He lands somewhere between James Bond, Big Jim and all my favorite superheroes mixed into a giant vat of little boy wish-fulfillment, which are all things right up my alley. So as you can imagine, I’m pretty jazzed to write this book.”
It turns out Bullock is not the only one excited about this announcement. According to Ed Catto of Captain Action Enterprises, “”We at Captain Action Enterprises, LLC, were so excited to have Mike Bullock at our booth at NYCC. Not only did fans love all the promotional material for the upcoming Savage Beauty, but they were excited that Mike will be writing Captain Action Season 3! As usual, Mike was a big contributor and this was our best NYCC ever!”
The ComicMix team was on the ground at New York Comic Con this past weekend – but we were having too good a time bumping elbows with the luminaries of the comics industry to report on every panel. But now that we’re back on the grid, here are the ComicMix Six best announcements to come out of the weekend.
Holding The Line At $2.99 – Easily the most-discussed announcement of the weekend were the Big Two each announcing their own initiatives for keeping their publishing line at a $2.99 cover price. DC is doing it by cutting story pages from 22 down to 20 and eliminating most co-features in their most popular titles, but reserving the $3.99 and up price points for “premium” titles like annuals and specials. For Marvel’s part, they’re not going as far, with only a commitment that all new titles launched in January will be $2.99 – but they say that they can be flexible on that price because of the success of their digital comics program. Which is a nice segue to…
Dark Horse, DC Destined for Digital – Dark Horse announced that rather than partner with Graphic.ly or other digital comics providers to serve as distributor, as the other major publishing houses have, they’ve put together a “proprietary bookshelf app” for web browsers and Apple iOS devices. The benefit of rolling their own store? No censorship and a $1.49 price point for single issues. Additionally, while specifics are hard to come by, Dark Horse says that they’ll be providing brick-and-mortar comic book stores with “exclusive digital content.” Meanwhile, DC reaffirmed their commitment to making digital copies of comics from their archive available and announced expanded support for day-and-date digital releases. DC also announced a Google Android app for their comics will be made available in the near future.
MIKE BULLOCK, New writer, Captain Action: Season Three, Moonstone Books
AP: Mike, thanks for stopping by ALL PULP again, especially after your busy weekend. Tell us a little about New York Comic Con?
Mike Bullock: The show was a lot of fun. We started off Friday night with the Lions, Tigers and Bears panel put on by the fine folks at our new publisher Hermes Press where I was able to spend time with some great fans of the books. The convention wasn’t too crowded on Friday and it was pretty easy to find your way around and see some of the wild things going on.
Saturday, I think half of NYC crammed into the building, or so it seemed. I spent some time in artist alley talking to a lot of fine folks, then did several interviews and finished off the day by signing Phantom, Captain Action and Savage Beauty swag at the Captain Action booth.
My lovely wife and I spent Saturday night and Sunday bopping around Manhattan and Brooklyn, doing the tourist thing. I can certainly see why so many writers want to live in NYC. I can’t imagine ever running out of story ideas when you can walk through Time’s Square, Chinatown, Central Park, SoHo and Brooklyn Heights all in the same day.
AP: Now, you weren’t at NYCC just for fun and giggles? Share with our audience the major announcement that concerned you.
MB: Well, there were several. First was the news that my all-ages series, Lions, Tigers and Bears has moved over to Hermes Press as the flagship title in their new line of original graphic novels. We’re putting out the long awaited LTB volume III in March of ’11 and artist Michael Metcalf and I are already laying the groundwork for volume IV. Pulp fans should certainly have Hermes on their radar already, as Hermes is putting out the Phantom and Buck Rogers newspaper strip reprints, among other things. They debuted an awesome John Buscema book at the con, also. It’s something every comic art fan should own.
Next up was the announcement of the format for Savage Beauty #1, which is now an oversized 40-page book, featuring a 22-page main story, a golden age Sheena back up tale and other goodies all for the low cover price of $2.99. There was a great buzz for the book going on, which was certainly exciting. I think I signed more SB shwag than anything else.
The third announcement was that I’ll be taking over the writing on the main Captain Action title beginning with #1 of season III that should hit shops later on in 2011. Steven Grant, the writer for season II has done some really incredible things (wait until you read #3 & 4) and I’m excited to build off that for the future of the A.C.T.I.O.N. Directorate’s top agent.
AP: That’s fantastic! Getting a new gig is always a big deal, but is there something special for you about getting to write the further adventures of Captain Action?
MB: As a kid, I missed the Captain Action boat by a few years (I was a die-hard Big Jim kid) but when I discovered it later on in life I felt like I really lost out on something special. I mean, what kid in the ‘70s wouldn’t want an action figure that could turn into the Phantom, Spider-Man, Flash Gordon or Batman? Once the Captain Action comics started coming out through Moonstone, I really liked what they were doing and loved the premise of the character that Fabian Nicieza had crafted. Then, when I got my turn to write a story with Cap (The Phantom/Captain Action miniseries) it really seemed like writing Captain Action would be a lot of fun. He lands somewhere between James Bond, Big Jim and all my favorite superheroes mixed into a giant vat of little boy wish-fulfillment, which are all things right up my alley. So as you can imagine, I’m pretty jazzed to write this book.
AP: As a writer, what do you think you bring to Captain Action that will make it stand out as similar, but different from what’s come before?
MB: Honestly, I don’t know that I’d ever thought of it in those terms, so I’m not sure I can give you an answer that suits the question. But, the 8-year old inside me will certainly have a blast playing with the original A.C.T.I.O.N. hero in the pages of comics. I’ve never done spy stories, so I’ll have to stretch myself/challenge myself, which is good, too.
AP: Any major plans (or even hints and teasers) of what’s to come for Captain Action and crew from the pen of Mike Bullock?
MB: Well, you can expect to see new villains, new heroes, new threats, the return of some familiar faces and a mission that’s out of this world, literally.
AP: Thanks, Mike! Can’t wait to see what happens with Captain Action!
MB: Thanks for having me! ________________________
Day ten, and also day three or four or ninety-seven of the New York Comic Con… and the sad truth of how they can wreck your schedules. So let’s pick up a few quickies:
For those who find they are having a little trouble there are a number of tips online that can be helpful. Below are a few tips that professionals in the industry have posted on blogs and news sites over the last couple of years.
Online at the Clockwork Storybook blog site is a nice in depth look at the writing process by Bill Willingham (writer of Fables). This takes a whole look at scripting keeping in mind that this must also be interpreted by the artist.
On his personal website Warren Ellis (writer of Transmetropolitan) posts an helpful answer to character motivation and action concerning “Want/Get/Do“.
And from our own site archives: two years ago John Ostrander (writer of Suicide Squad) posted an article with writing tips all writers can benefit from, covering the creative process and what being a writer means and does to you as a person.
Also: Dennis O’Neil did a more detailed write up on the differences between the full script method and the Marvel method which is much better than mine, and I should have lifted it directly. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.
Instead, I’ll lift his RECOMMENDED READING and suggest his book, The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics, which somehow wasn’t included on our first list of writing books to look at. It’s truly excellent, and the only reason I can think of that it slipped my mind is that it’s constantly out on loan to other people who are using it to become better writers themselves.
Hat tip to Kyle Gnepper for the assist on tracking down articles. Remember: you can follow all the NaGraNoWriMo posts here!
From Michel Croteau, the webmaster of The Official Philip José Farmer Home Page
For the first time, Meteor House has put THE WORLDS OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER 1: Protean Dimensions on sale for 10% off; through October 17th only. Still not convinced you need this book, check out this excerpt from Randall Garrett’s essay, “The Bite of the Asp,” which you may not have known was Phil’s original title for the story, “The Biological Revolt.” Just how unhappy was Phil with this story? It has never been reprinted. And fifty years later, as we were putting together the mammoth collection of rarities, PEARLS FROM PEORIA, Phil still refused to let it be reprinted. And, just in case you missed them, there are also excerpts online from A Kick in the Side by Christopher Paul Carey, and the Editor’s Preface by Michael Croteau.
Also, Michael had some good things to say about a certain website, that the Spectacled Seven definitely appreciate…
“Speaking of Win Scott Eckert, he was recently interviewed at the All Pulp. Just click on that link and scroll down to the headline: WIN SCOTT ECKERT AND ERIC FEIN, Writers of THE GREEN GHOST, for RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS. After reading the interview, go ahead and kill an hour or three at this excellent website. “
AP: First, ALL PULP is tickled pulp to have you here today, Kelly. Can you share with us a bit of personal background about yourself?
KE: Well I grew up in southern Ontario, Canada where I was feed a steady supply of monster movies, comic books and pocket novels.I went to college in London Ontario where I graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts. Shortly after that I meet my wife Michelle and we decided to take a road trip across Canada in 1995. I fell in love with the mountains on the west coast so we ended up settling in Vancouver, British Columbia where I try to make a modest living as a freelance artist working for a variety of clients producing book illustrations, storyboards and concept drawings for the film industry. I also work on my own comic books and paintings.
AP: You’re an artist, some would even say a pulp artist. What sort of work have you done in the pulp field art wise?
KE: I’ve done a cover for Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ The Eternal Savage quite a few years ago and some illustrations in various pulp related fanzines. Currently I’ve been illustrating some books for Airship 27/Cornerstone books. The books available so far are “Dan Fowler G-Man” and “Tales of the Bagman”. Both can be found on the Airship 27 website – http://www.gopulp.info/
AP: Pulp Artist. Do you think there is something that sets a pulp artist apart from an artist in other, perhaps more traditional fields? Is being a pulp artist different somehow?
KE: I guess pulp art would fall under the illustration category. The definition of what work is considered ‘illustration’ and what is considered ‘fine art’ has always been up for debate. For me the only difference between them is, illustration artwork is done for a specific purpose usually with a commercial application while fine art is done with no real purpose other than the artists desire to do the piece of work for themselves. Of course the definition isn’t really that simple, I could go on all day about this. While every artist’s main goal is to catch the viewer’s eye and pull them into their world, it is an even more critical part of an illustrator’s job. You want the casual browser walking by to stop in their tracks. If you look at the old pulp covers from the 1930s and 40s you can imagine what an awesome field of bright colours the old news stands must have been. All designed to attract the attention of anyone strolling by.
AP: Do you have a certain technique or approach to pulp art? Do you do anything special to get in the right frame of mind to do a pulp piece? What process do you go through in getting ready to complete a pulp piece?
KE: Every piece of work is a little different. I guess there is always some outside stimulation that influences any piece of work I do. It may come from a book I’m reading or a movie I’ve watched, a conversation, going for a walk, anything can spark ideas. However the pulp artwork is usually done for a specific project so I just read the stories and other material that the publisher sends to me. I usually get a copy of the manuscript from the editor with notes detailing where they need a drawing. I skim through the stories to get a feeling for the writing style, every writer is different so I try and tailor my work to best compliment the story. I start off with some quick sketches and I jot down a lot of notes for anything I need to reference. Most pulp stories take place in a specific time period and location so I always need to find reference for old cars, clothes, buildings and so on. Google images is great for this, I used to have to make many trips to the library for reference. Once I have a good rough sketch done and I’ve worked out the composition and black and white areas I start in on the full piece. Sometimes I do a lot of the rough work on the paper or board I do the completed drawing on especially if I want to keep the piece loose and energetic. If I do too many roughs the final piece usually ends up being to stiff and you can lose interest in it pretty quick. I also like listening to old radio shows while drawing, they can really get the brain juices flowing particularly with the pulp stuff.
AP: Any characters you haven’t worked with yet that you would give your pen and ink to put your signature on art wise?
KE: There are quite a few. Any of the jungle adventure characters would be great to work on since I love the jungle genre. I’d also like to work on some of the horror pulps, another favorite genre of mine. And characters like The Shadow, Domino Lady, The Spider, and The Black Bat would be a lot of fun. And being Canadian, it would be great to work on a Royal Canadian Mounted Police pulp as well.
AP: Why is art tied to pulp at all? Of course there were the great covers and illustrations of the past, but it seems that there’s more to the relationship between words and pictures for pulp than just past association. What do you think?
KE: Aside from the fact that the covers were designed to attract as much attention as possible, I think the illustrations where present to really add to the story telling. Pulp yarns are fast paced white knuckled thrill rides with little room for long descriptive prose. Pulp writers didn’t waste a lot time on describing each character or setting in complete detail, they chose their words carefully and got right to the meat of the story. The illustrations add those extra details the reader needs and they can get them with a quick glance while racing through a tale and never slowing down. A picture’s worth a thousand words after all.
AP: Any pulp type art in the coming days, weeks, and months you want to discuss?
KE: I’ll be starting another project with Airship 27, unfortunately I can’t discuss the details yet but it’s one of the things on my list I’ve been itching to work on. I’m also working on some other great pulp style comic book projects of my own, Jungle Tales and Trilogy of Terror with my wife Michelle who writes all the horrific yarns. And a comic I’ve been working on with my friend and fellow artist Robin Thompson called Frenzy Comics, an anthology of terrifying shark stories. You can always visit my website to see what’s new – http://members.shaw.ca/kelticstudios/Keltic_Studios.htm
AP: That’s great, it’s been awesome to visit with you, Kelly.
Glen Keane, one of Disney’s current Nine Old Men and a master animator, spoke with the press on Tuesday, the day Beauty and the Beast made its debut on Blu-ray. Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided ComicMix a transcript of the discussion, moderated by Mindy Johnson, and below are excerpts from that discussion. Mindy Johnson: Ttoday we’re going to get a rare opportunity to take a look at the building of Beauty’s Beast, one of the most iconic characters today. And here we are with Glen Keane, who is just freshly back from Paris, and you spent several weeks there, Glen, preparing for an upcoming show. Is that correct?
Glen Keane: Yes. Yes. I’m actually having a – my first art show, where I’ll be showing a little bit of a retrospective of my animation drawings, my rough drawings, some from Beauty and the Beast, as well as the rest of my career. And then, that’s a third of the show. The other two-thirds are actually drawings from my sketchbook, speaker drawings, things that I’m going to actually be selling.
But the idea is to give an insight into what goes on in the life of an artist who is an animator and where do you get your inspiration. And actually, those are a lot of the things that we’ll be talking about today specifically about the character of the Beast.
But this show is at the (Arloudic) Gallery on the Ile Sainte Marie in Paris on November ninth, yes, so I’m excited about it. If you’re there, you’re welcome to come to the (Vernusage) and it will be there for, I don’t know, a good month.
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and 
!
While the scene at the NASDAQ at Times Square Thursday night was
The ComicMix team was on the ground at New York Comic Con this past weekend – but we were having too good a time bumping elbows with the luminaries of the comics industry to report on every panel. But now that we’re back on the grid, here are the ComicMix Six best announcements to come out of the weekend.
Day ten, and also day three or four or ninety-seven of the New York Comic Con… and the sad truth of how they can wreck your schedules. So let’s pick up a few quickies:
Glen Keane, one of Disney’s current Nine Old Men and a master animator, spoke with the press on Tuesday, the day Beauty and the Beast made its debut on Blu-ray. Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided ComicMix a transcript of the discussion, moderated by Mindy Johnson, and below are excerpts from that discussion.
